Chapter 2--Speakers for the Dead
Didn't hear?
Don't know...
Thought that we could--
Well, Master said! So, thought!
But--
Try again?
This time hear.
Sure?
Didn't work last time. Sure this time?
Sure! Lots sure!
So...try again?
Yes!
But...if he doesn't hear...
Keep trying. Hear sometime. Right?
Doesn't understand, maybe?
Talk more. Now we looked, so we know. We can talk.
But...
If he doesn't understand, why?
Next time understand!
Sure?
Said that last time...
This time sure!
Very sure?
Very, very sure?
Very, very sure! All sure!
Well....
All right...this time, maybe?
Yes! This time, see, hear, everything. This time understand. Sure!
.....okay....
All right. This time....maybe...
Not maybe, sure! Let's go!
Yugi spoke to no one of his bizarre dream; sometimes, pretending that something didn't happen can make it seem less real, less important. In any case, it was only a dream to him; he couldn't think of it as anything else. So he forgot about it for most of the day, except for feeling oddly tired. It didn't seem so important in daylight.
Other eyes had not forgotten about him.
Day passed in this World, and in many others. They have been waiting, but it seems as nothing to them; they count neither hours nor days. They are eager for the nightfall; they wish to understand, or rather for someone else to understand. They have not spoken in a long, long time; they grow impatient to speak again. They have not done such a thing in all their collective memories, for they think and feel as one, and it has been long since they thought or felt.
They are waiting.
Yugi has no way of knowing that they are waiting, or even that they exist. He can see and hear them, but without the knowledge that they are speaking, he cannot understand them. They do not know this; it is long since they have spoken to an Outsider. They are an odd people, having neither species nor age; they simply exist--or they used to. They never cared about the Outside before, as far as they can remember (but they cannot remember anything), but they do now. They have found one who can see them, hear them, speak to them, and they are excited, as they have not been in many long years of forgetfulness.
They are waiting, but not for much longer.
Yugi doesn't know that they are waiting. He doesn't know that they really don't mean any harm--they just can't understand the consequences of their actions. They are innocent, or perhaps simply apathetic.
Their waiting is over now.
Time?
Time--let's go!
Sure? This time, sure?
Yes! Now come!
This time, understand?
YES!
Okay...
Let's go...
Yes, let's go!
*dream sequence*
Again, Yugi stood in a featureless, empty landscape. Everything was drab and vague, and an almost disinterested silence filled the air. In dreams, one rarely knows that one is dreaming, but Yugi suddenly remembered his other dream, and felt a prickle of fear. He knew what came next in this dream, and sure enough, there was Farran. He turned to face Yugi.
"Hello, Yugi. Why are you so shocked? Aren't you glad to see me? You said you were my friend--wasn't it true?"
At this point, Yugi lost most of the logic that would normally point out the fact that Farran was dead, so he couldn't be talking, or that this was only a dream, and therefore not real.
"Well--of course you were my friend! It's just...you're dead...you can't really be here..."
Farran looked troubled. "Why did I die, Yugi? We were friends--why didn't you help me?"
"Farran, I didn't want you to die! I didn't mean for you to be killed...I didn't mean for that to happen..."
The Clanner child's face grew cold. "You didn't mean for it to happen? You didn't even try to help me! You didn't stop them from killing me--you weren't much of a friend."
Even though, logically, there was nothing Yugi could have done to save Farran-dak's life, he felt incredibly guilty.
"I'm sorry, Farran...I didn't help you....I failed you..."
"A whole lot of good 'sorry' does me--I still died, and it's all your fault."
He faded away, heedless to Yugi shouting after him. But, before he could really think it through, Atrius appeared, just as last time.
"Ah...you seem to have been expecting me. Oh? Upset, are we? You really shouldn't bother--I know you couldn't care less that I died by your blade."
"No--that isn't true! I didn't mean to kill you! I didn't mean to!"
Atrius smirked at him. "Yes, and I'm sure those good intentions are among those that pave the road to hell--isn't that what you humans say? You killed me, and nothing can change that. You needn't apologize; it's still your fault, whether you're sorry or not."
"Atrius, I didn't mean to kill you! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!!"
"Why should I care, you murderer?" Atrius, like Farran, faded away after this parting blow. Shi-kai-dek, the last death for Yugi's sake to date, returned as well.
"We meet again, Yugi. You seem so sad--do you regret our deaths, now that it is too late?"
Yugi tried to put what was happening into logical terms.
"Shi-kai-dek, all of you are dead, and this is only a dream anyway! How can you be real? This can't be real...can it?"
Shi-kai-dek shrugged noncommittally. "We are as real as you, Yugi. Only your physical body is in a state of sleep; your conscious mind remains active. This is no dream...this is real."
"....but....how can that be?"
"It simply is, Yugi. We are here, as are you; what further proof do you need? You are in no position to demand answers, with the blood of my people staining your hands. What right does a murderer have to an explanation?"
"But--no! I didn't mean to kill you, Shi-kai-dek! I didn't mean for you to die! I'm sorry--I'm sorry...."
Shi-kai-dek looked at him coolly. "Your words are empty; death is still death, however you may excuse it. You are dead to me, Yugi; you are a disgrace to your people."
"...I never meant to kill anyone...I never wanted anyone to die...."
"You may not have wished death upon anyone, but you still brought it with you! You are the one who deserved death, Yugi, and you still do. You are nothing more than a killer, as evil as the foes you fled from. You cannot escape from that truth, Yugi--you are nothing but a murderer."
"No! I didn't mean to kill you! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!!"
*end dream sequence*
Yugi's cat wasn't fast enough this time; he woke up screaming, still talking to a bunch of dead people. Amazingly, Yugi's grandfather managed to sleep through this, but Yami was much more observant. He was not in the best of moods for having been woken up at three o'clock in the morning, but we must give him credit for waking up at all.
....what is it?
"Nothing...it was just a dream..."
Thank you so much for waking me up at three o'clock in the morning for nothing.
"Yeah....sure..."
With that, Yugi fell asleep again.
...didn't understand!
Next time. Keep trying!
Maybe believe in us next time?
Sure!
...always say sure. NEVER sure!
Am sure! Maybe this one's just slow?
...maybe...
Don't know--not working well.
Next time, work!
....well....
Guess so...
Try, at least.
Think he believe that we're real now?
Maybe--not sure.
Try anyway?
Yes--understand more next time.
Explain?
Yes!
...will that really work?
Guess so. Not sure. Never done this before.
Try, at least. Will try.
Worth it to try. Try lots!
Yes--needs to see!
.....okay.
Come too.
Also come.
Good--we'll try again!
They are still out there--still watching. They are determined, and they have all the time in their almost-World. They are ready; they are waiting...