M I N D - G A M E S

Written by FriendofFoes

Dedicated to Onyx_moonz

Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins

Stray flickers of silvery light shone bright this night, illuminating everything in the small, abused room – including the figure curled up in the middle of said room. The figure moved slightly, revealing a young man with a shirt on one of his arms. His back was freshly marked with twenty fresh new scars, all of which were just starting to scab.

Yugi continued to lie down in that spot until the pain reached a tolerable level. His back felt like it was on fire. His father had made sure to prove his lesson, putting all his strength in the whip as it arched through the air to meet skin.

As he laid there, he Yugi felt a strange sensation, pulling him toward the pillow where his puzzle hid. He tried to ignore it, but the longer he lay there all curled up, the more the pull affected him. Ignoring the pain that laced through his back, he slowing pulled himself to his hands and knees.

Oh, god, Yugi thought. Just moving that small amount killed him. It was going to be sheer insanity to make it on top of the bed in one piece.

But he could still try…

He started moving, inch by inch toward the tattered mattress, pausing often when the pain flared up his back. It took a couple minutes, but he finally made it to the edge and pulled out the puzzle.

"I'm almost done, Grandfather…" Yugi whispered, "I'll finish this for you…"

Only five pieces remained on the puzzle he'd been working on for a year. Only five and his promise to himself would be fulfilled. His grandfather loved puzzles and had been the first to give him one (granted he had snuck it in, but it was still a gift). He had been the only person to treat him like a person, a somebody rather than a nobody.

He promised himself that his greatest puzzle would be finished in honor of his grandfather – and maybe, if he was lucky and his father was generous, he could place it on his grave in honor of the man he was.

Click.

Of course, it didn't matter if he didn't know where he was buried. All he wanted to do is give something to the man that gave him everything.

Click…

Then again, if his father caught him outside, he probably would be forced back inside and tied back in the basement; only this time, he wouldn't let him back out.

Click, Click…

Yugi felt around for another piece when he couldn't feel another piece. He looked around and noticed that there was only one more piece left. Reaching down and pulling out what little reserves of energy he had left, he reached under his pillow and grabbed the final piece. The smooth metal felt unnaturally warm, but Yugi paid no mind to this as he grabbed the last piece. Slowly, he placed the last piece – a nearly whole eye – into the puzzle.

At last, it was finished.

Yugi held the puzzle up. It was a small inverted pyramid that just barley barely fit in both of his hands. In front of the puzzle, an eye looked out as if staring directly at him.

"It's finished, "Yugi said with finality. He felt his strength return to him, as if he never visited that dreadful room that day at all.

Downstairs, a grandfather clock chimed twelve times…

Suddenly, the puzzle started glowing, just a small dim. Yugi's eyes widened in confusion. What was going on? The puzzle started glowing brighter and started pulsing faintly. Yugi also noticed it was heating up and promptly dropped the puzzle on the bed. Yugi could feel the heat radiating from the puzzle that and he was nearly afraid that the bed would burst into flames. Heck, the light was reaching a point that it would be nearly impossible for anyone to miss it. Yugi didn't have any more time to worry about the heat as the puzzle sent a strong pulse, knocking him over on the floor. He quickly scurried over to the door and covered the bottom of the door with his body. He could only hope his father had hadn't seen the light and prayed that the light would go out.

It did.

Yugi laid there for a moment before turning his head toward the puzzle and opening his eyes. All looked the same, until his eyes reached the puzzle. His eyes widened. The puzzle no longer looked like a puzzle. It had no creases, not one piece of evidence that the object was a puzzle. The newly formed pendant seemed shiny and wet…

Mostly because of the strange furry monster that was currently using the newly finished puzzle as a chew toy.

"Hey!" Yugi whispered heatedly, causing the creature to jump and roll away. Yugi quickly crawled over to the pendant and picked it up, inwardly shuttering at the slimy stuff now covering his hard work. He quickly held it close to his body.

"Kurri?" Yugi heard the monster sound.

"You… y-you need to leave now." Yugi said as firm as he could as he sat down in an Indian style pose. Inwardly, he was shaking like crazy. What the hell was going on? First the strange light and now a random puffball… The monster floated over to one of Yugi's knees and tried to nuzzle it. Yugi tensed up as her felt the puffball rub his face (or was it his body, Yugi questioned) on his knee.

"Kurri, Kurrrrrrriiiii…." The monster purred.

Yugi looked at the creature again before calming down. "What are you and how did you get here?" He'd never heard of a creature like this nor had he seen one (which wasn't saying much – not many people even knew he existed) and it seemed harmless enough. Yugi hesitantly reached out to touch it… The creature made another sound and rubbed the top of its head on Yugi's hand. Yugi chuckled. "You're not half bad, aren't ya?"

The creature purred and nuzzled deeper into Yugi's hand.

"Yugi quickly pulled away as a sharp pain flew through his hand. "Ow!" The creature had bit him!

The monster jumped at Yugi, startling him just long enough to grab the pendant from Yugi's hands. The fuzzball grabbed it in his tiny paws, which were nearly unseen in his shaggy fur, and proceeded to fly out the small window above his bed.

"Hey!" Yugi yelled, hoping his father wasn't around to hear him, "Give me that back!" Yugi jumped on the bed and looked out the window. There, dangling at least two stories above his mother's prized garden, was the little Kuri monster, still gnawing away on the pendant. Yugi tried reaching out to the creature and coxing it back in with no success.

"Come on back here, little Kuri."Yugi said, "Give Yugi back his gift."

"Kuri, Ku-kurrrrri!" The puffball floated down to just above the bushes.

Yugi looked down to the creature then out toward the city. It was apparent that Kuri wanted him to follow it, but could he. He'd never been outside the house, not for school, not for his grandfather's funeral, not for anything. All his life, he'd been taught that knowledge equals pain. Curiosity kills. Thinking is death. But was it? Thinking led him to him finishing the puzzle and that didn't kill him. Perhaps his father was right on all the examples he gave him but…

What was life without learning?

Yugi looked around again; making sure no one was around before he turned back to the window and started climbing out the window feet first. He made it out before he realized that he was still three feet from the bushes. Kuri came up to him and started nuzzling him on the face.

"Stop it!" Yugi whispered, "Or father's going to hear me!"

The creature pressed his body into Yugi's face, causing Yugi to sneeze.

The fall was quick and fairly painless (Yugi has sustained greater injuries that very evening and for some reason, they weren't hurting anymore), but the noise alerted someone in the house. Yugi didn't think twice. He jumped out of the deformed bushed and ran for the tall buildings in the horizon….

And something far greater than this life…

Yugi was shocked. The lights of the city twinkled high above him, substituting for the normal starts he saw every night from his bedroom. Even though it was well past midnight, the streets still teemed with life. Yugi watched from a dark alleyway, taking in all the sites and sound while looking around for Kuri. It's shouldn't have been that hard. He was a flying fuzzball. How could you miss him?

Yugi sighed and wondered not for the first time if he had made the right decision. Maybe if he went back, his father wouldn't punish him as much.

"Kuri!"

Yugi's head snapped to the sound. Kuri was floating on the other side of the street, still gnawing on the pendant. Yugi ran out of the alleyway toward the puffball. Kuri saw him and took off, floating just above the random citizens.

Yugi ignored the beeps and the screams of cuss words, trying to catch up to Kuri. Kuri seemed to float along with no care in the world while everyone looked at Yugi as if he was a loon.

"Wait, Kuri!" Yugi shouted, but Kuri didn't listen. The puffball turned a corner without waiting to see if Yugi was behind him. He started to pick up the pace. All he had now was that little puffball – if Kuri was to leave him now. Yugi quickly turned the corner and froze…

Kuri was gone.

Yugi's panic skyrocketed as he started looking around the alleyway. Garbage cans littered the sides. The smell of rot and decay filled his nose so badly, he almost turned around. But one thing stood out. In the middle of the alleyway, there stood a simple door. Yugi slowly approached the door. As he neared it, he noticed that the door handle and frame were adorned with small shimmering stones. He felt the door knob and, when he felt no shock, opened it.

It was pitch black.

Yugi took one look and turned away. Kuri couldn't have possibly…

"Kuri!"

Yugi's head turned back to the door "Kuri! Kuri, get back here!"

"Kuri!" This time it sounded fainter.

Yugi bit his lip. So far, he'd been bitten by a puffball, led around a strange city, seen a creepy door AND was still alive. That was considered good.

But how long would it last?

The urge to run home grew stronger within him, but something kept him by that door and told him to jump in.

His instincts hadn't killed him yet… And they wouldn't, he could hear his grandfather say.

Yugi closed his eyes for a second…

Then stepped through that door…

A/N: Ugg... reality is a bitch sometimes ain't it? Anyway, I want to say thank you to everyone whose even looked at this story. It makes me feel good that people are liking it. Also... I nearly fainted. One of my favorite authors put an alert for this story. When I saw the username, I nearly fainted. I had to visit the profile to make sure it was them. And, no, my fav's do not work for some odd reason...

Crymson: I should mention you in the story. You are the person this story is dedicated to. Thanks for the great review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter

HelloMaru: Thank you so much for tha compliment! I've been trying to work on my vivid descriptions and, based on your review, it seemed to work! Also, thank you for your encouragement. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Also, on another note, I'm going through a stressful time at college. My professors are kinda being pains and they are causing me grief. So, this has also become a stress reliever from everyday life. I don't care if you put good chapter or interesting chapter. I love that this story has gotten over 100 different visitors but I would like some feedback, if possible.

So, make me not dread my Calc and Chem test next week and review?