Zypher: Well, I'm glad for all those that have enjoyed the first chapter. Thank you all and now I present to you the next chapter.
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Curse of the Shadowheart
Chapter 2
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Once he regained his bearings and checked to make sure that his shadow was still in place where it should be in case of lighting, he left the restroom and ran to his class before the second bell rang.
Everything was fine up until lunch. After getting what he wanted to eat, he left to sit in his favorite spot since Myrrh and Diamond had Study Hall, Jou and Kaiser had lunch detention with the gym teacher and Ryou was absent for the day with a mysterious illness that doctors claim he should get bed rest and drink warm drinks until it passed. He smiled as he sat under the cherry blossom tree upon the hill and started to eat his hamburger in the warmth of the sunlight on the cool October day. Of course, that was blocked by a shadow and he gulped as he looked up, seeing the only person that would harm him physically.
"Well, well. If it isn't the little baby..." Ushio sneered as he looked down to the small teen. 'O...oh no...' he thought, frightened as he kept his head down. "Look up at me when I'm speaking to you!" he shouted, kicking the smaller in his side, knocking him over. He gave a small cry from the hit and placed a hand to his side, never noticing that his own shadow was becoming restless.
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Within said location, the two that hid within were becoming angered that their charge was being assaulted when no one was around. "We cannot let this continue..." The hidden one whispered, eyes of dark crimson looking to the other. The other gave a venomous smirk.
"And we won't..."
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Ushio was still beating upon the younger when he saw the shadow beneath him move. He was startled by it slightly; moving back but the shadow followed his movement inch for inch. "W-what are you up to, you little brat?!" he hissed but Yugi didn't say a word aside from a quiet whimper, his mind still reeling with pain from his brutal attacks. With no answer, Ushio found that the little phenomenon was a threat and was ready to bolt off when he gave a yell as the shadows caught his feet. Unable to move, he tried valiantly to free himself but only felt himself sinking into the dark abyss. He continued to fight but was still sinking until he was completely under.
The blackness around him felt so frigid that frost started to collect upon his eyebrows, hair and clothing as his lips started to gradually turn blue. He looked around the darkness, not only trying to figure out why he was here but where "here" was. From his peripheral vision, he saw something that seemed to be swimming in the shadows and he turned to try and catch a glimpse of it but he was gone by the time he turned. His movements started to become sluggish as the creatures within continued to swim about him in the darkness.
"Who are you?" he snarled as he tried to catch the unseen figures in the shadows. "Your worst nightmare," Hissed one as it appeared before him. Before he could even glance upon its form, it tore off his head, leaving a bloody spray to coat the figure that was grinning with glee, its slithery long tongue lapping at the blood raining from the decapitated body. "Even foul, his blood is sweet as honey, Yami..." The one holding the frozen head in his icy grip spoke to the other that came over to him.
The spray of blood ended as the body slumped in the grip of the shadows. Yami reached a pale hand out, catching a few drops of blood and licked it away, testing it like a professional wine taster would and nodded. "Ah, you are right, Aqua." Yami looked down to the body then to his eager sibling. "Go ahead and feast, little brother. My tastes are for something much sweeter." he whispered, disappearing back into the darkness once more and Aqua grinned, gulping down Ushio's head with little resistance and started upon the meager feast presented to him.
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Large amethyst eyes opened when he realized the beatings stopped and he looked up to see that Ushio was gone. Knowing the older male to be persistent in his plight, he knew he wouldn't have run off easily. 'Unless...' Yugi thought with fear as he looked down and indeed, his shadow was now taking up the spot where Ushio once stood. Because of this, Yugi knew something happened and he stood up shakily, moving back but when he did, his eyes widened as he saw something red appear from the place where his now deemed evil shadow rested. Becoming faint-hearted, he continued to move back, revealing more and more of the red liquid and soon caught sight of bleached skeleton bones and nearly cried out in terror.
There laid Ushio, nothing remaining of him except for the clothes that was on his back when Yugi encountered him and was short a head. Yugi fell back once more, nearly tumbling down the small hill in the process.
'The curse...it's more than a curse...it's a nightmare...' Yugi thought frantically and knew he couldn't stay here. Quick on his feet, he was up and away from the place of death, mind in turmoil from what he witnessed and worried for his own health about the creatures that are living within his own shadow.
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After school, he trudged home in silence, trying to think of the curse and what to do to possibly get rid of it. 'My only clue is the tome in the library but after yesterday, I don't even know if that librarian would even let me inside.' Yugi thought and gave a small sigh as he continued on home. He greeted his grandfather, who was managing the shop, as he went into the house portion and went upstairs into his room. He dropped his schoolbag onto the floor and sighed once more as he went to lie down upon the bed.
Lying there, he tried to think of what to do but each idea sounded worse than the last. He soon drifted off into sleep, never seeing the shadows break off into tendrils and caressed him almost lovingly before slipping into whatever accessible opening it could, reaching into Yugi's mind and freezing it with its cold grasp.
-Dream-
Yugi gasped as he found himself in complete darkness. He didn't know where he was or how he got here. He attempted to pinch himself to see if it was all a dream but couldn't move his arms. He heard chuckling from the depths of the cold world he was in and started to shake in fear.
"Oh look. Tis be our little host. He looks so delicious." A voice whispered with such a cool air that Yugi started to fear for his life. Was this how everything was to end? Was unleashing this curse be his death? And worse enough, will his body even still be there in the waking world if all this was a dream?
"Now, now, little brother. We can't eat him just yet. We don't even know him too well." Another spoke with such a regal tone. The first that spoken gave a disgruntled hiss and Yugi knew that whoever spoken first might've wanted to end his life quickly and a part of his conscious mind had to thank the supposed older brother of the first creature. He gasped lightly when he felt a hand touch his cheek, shivering from the coldness of it. "Such a beautiful little creature you are, little one. And your skin...so pale and tender." There was a soft chuckle. "You would indeed make a delicious meal."
Yugi's eyes widened at the proclamation and tried to move his head away but the figure hidden grasped his chin so he wouldn't move away. "Why are you trying to move away? It isn't like we're going to eat you now."
Another hiss came from the other, crimson eyes now peering out from the shadows. "Yeah, because onii-chan won't let us make our appearance for true until that night." he whispered. Being bold, Yugi asked, "What night...?"
The second that was still gripping his chin turned to him, cerise glowing within the shadows. "Why, the night where all creatures can be free to roam." Yugi tried to think of what night that could be when he yelped as a cold claw slipped up his back. Another chuckle was heard as he felt the cold snout of the first lying upon his shoulder, nipping lightly at the side of his neck with jagged teeth. "Oh please, onii-san. Just one bite? He's so tasty." he murred. "Otouto," The older warned and he hissed before backing off.
Yugi was still terrified of his fate. 'But I guess as the old saying goes, curiosity killed the cat and I'm soon about to befall that same fate.' he thought. His chin was lifted again so he was peering into those cold, calculating eyes. "Well, our time is up for now but I assure you, you will not escape so don't try to do anything funny, my sweet." He released Yugi's chin and slipped back into the shadows. Yugi was now left with the first who was still contemplating snitching a bite of the boy. He was just about to do that until a loud, angry call of "otouto" rang through the darkness and he growled before disappearing as well and Yugi was left to return to the waking world.
-End Dream-
He gasped as he shot up in bed, screaming and alerting his grandfather. The old man rushed upstairs and into Yugi's room. "What is it, my boy? Did you have a nightmare?" he asked as he walked over to Yugi's bedside, touching his shoulder and reeled back. "Yugi...why are you so cold?" Yugi only sat there, shivering from his exposure to the frigid darkness he was just in and knew that whether it was a dream or reality, he knew the events that just happened were true and he had to worry about the creatures coming out from their cold home into his world to take his life and go on about their lives, destroying others in the wake of freezing darkness.
After gaining a little warmth back from his little trip, he got up and went downstairs to be in time to eat dinner. It was silent at the table, Yugi never speaking a word of what happened to him or the reason why he was cold so Sugoroku passed it off as being outside for too long except for his bout of cold couldn't have been a possible result of the mildly cool October days. After another moment of silence, Sugoroku spoke. "So, Yugi, are you planning to go out with your friends for Halloween?" he asked.
Yugi's eyes widened as he heard about the festive holiday of trick-or-treating and parties. 'That must be the day...the day when they will arrive...and it's only a week away...' Yugi thought with terror and knew that he couldn't possibly hang out with his friends then or else they may be fated to the same thing he will be on that day. "Oh, well, I'll have to see about that, jii-chan." Yugi said and he nodded as he went back to eating, leaving Yugi to muse as he tucked himself into his meal that felt like lead in his stomach.
Once he was done in the bathroom with brushing his teeth and placing on his pajamas, he returned to bed but feared to fall asleep after what happened before. 'But I'll be tired tomorrow if I try to stay up throughout the night...but I must for the sake of me in that world...' he thought as he sat upon the bed and decided to attempt to stay up the night. But around midnight the shadows rose once more and Yugi gasped but that gave the shadows time to slip through his mouth and up to his mind, catching it in a freezing grip once more, putting him to sleep and a deep, evil chuckle was heard as he was brought into the cold, darkened world once more.
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Zypher: And that's all for the second chapter. Now I worry about who's the worse psycho? Aqua in this story or Marik. -thinks- And then again, Marik in a very happy mood means destruction everywhere so I'll say him. Any who, hoped you all enjoyed and I'll have the next chapter up for you by next week.