Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, and all people, places, and events from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! were written and are the rightful property of Kazuki Takahashi (as it should be; if any of us fanfiction writers get our little hands on it... well, then it wouldn't be Yu-Gi-Oh!).
Author's Note: Now I have11 reviews! Oh, I am SOOO glad that there are people out there that actually CARE enough to review my stuff! But ... I KNOW that there are more of you readers out there, and I KNOW that you are reading this, and I KNOW that you are not SO mean as to not review me, right? So DO IT! I know that I haven't been on here long, but at least give me a sign that you are OUT THERE! And no FLAMES! Those are just mean (or so I've heard).
#2 Author's Note: All words and/or phrases that are in italics are thoughts, or the warnings of a particular spirit who will now officially make contact with our heroes! If you know who this is, pat yourself on the back and start reading! If not ... then start reading anyway!
Revival of the Heart
By: Angel's Nocturne
Chapter 4: Warnings from the Dead...
"Hey, it's Yugi and Anzu!" Joey shouted as the pair entered the classroom. Tristan and Joey both turned, laughing away at a recent joke while Anzu and Yugi made their way to their seats. "The bell's gonna ring in a couple of seconds! You guys were really riskin' it today!"
"Yeah, what took you guys so long?" Tristan asked.
"Oh, well, I woke up late this morning", Anzu said as she took out her homework from last night. "And Yugi walked with me to school, so that's why he's late too." Suddenly Joey got a sparkle in his eye as he faced Yugi.
"Yugi, you turnin' into a Casanova on me, are ya? Gettin' Anzu all alone, walkin' her ta school instead of her walkin' you taschool... Are you gonna put the moves on her next, or are you gonna start stalking her, like Tristan and Duke do to my sister?" Joey gave an evil glare to his friend, and Tristan started to blush a light shade of red.
"Hey man, it's not like that!"
"Hmph! I don't think Serenity would lie 'bout seeing an odd figure outside her house last week, with YOUR hair! Seriously dude! If you're gonna stalk my sister, wear a wig or something!"
Tristan blushed deeper. "I-I was hoping to ask her o-out, b-but I got nervous... will you just let it go already, man!"
Joey shrugged at his stammering friend. "Geez, it's not a big deal, dude, I forgive you! But if I ever catch you doin' it again, I'll have my Red-Eyes Black Dragon burn you to cinders!"
"Come on guys, settle down!" Yugi said weakly, but that seemed to do more than any loud voice could ever do. Both Joey and Tristan sighed and smiled at each other.
"So, we cool now man?" Tristan asked.
Joey nodded. "Yeah, we're cool."
Yugi at seeing his successful peace request answered looked at back at Anzu cheerfully. "Joey and Tristan can have such a change of heart, right Anzu?"
"What?" The brunette responded. "Oh, yeah, sure." In reality Anzu hadn't even realized that something had occurred directly behind her. She was staring into space so much that she actually missed a small argument happen between her two goofball friends. At this point Yugi finally noticed this as well. He frowned.
"Anzu, are you sure that you-"
"Good morning students!" The teacher for first period, Mr. Mizumoto, interrupted Yugi's concern as he took a seat at his desk in the front of the class. The class mumbled out something along the lines of "Good Morning, Mr. Mizumoto", but it was a bit scrambled since everyone was still half asleep. The teacher didn't appear to mind, since he continued to feign a grin. "Is everyone ready for a pop quiz?"
"What!" Joey half- yelled, half-whispered, along with almost every other student in the whole class. Complaints started flying, but Joey's was the most defined from the crowd. "I can't believe this! That's a bunch of bull-"
"Joey, relax! Don't curse at the teacher!" Yugi warned. Joey settled down, as did most of the others once the shock wore off, grumbling about how unfair it was. Mr. Mizumoto waited until it was completely silent to clear his throat.
"Yes, well, I can see that you are all very anxious to get started this morning, so I don't think I should delay you all any further." He began to pass out the papers. "It's really short, so I don't think it should take any of you much time to finish. Start once you get your paper passed back to you from the front of each row."
Anzu sat in front of Yugi, and when he didn't receive his quiz he wondered what was wrong. "Anzu?" he whispered. Still she did not respond. He tapped her on the shoulder, to which she abruptly turned in surprise.
"Huh? What?"
"Anzu you have to pass down the pop quiz for me!" he whispered. Anzu wasn't sure what he was talking about until she saw the packets in front of her. She sighed. Why was I zoning out again? I'm going to get in trouble if I don't focus. As quietly as possible she handed Yugi his paper. He looked at her, worried.
"Anzu, is there-"
"No talking during the pop quiz." Mr. Mizumoto interrupted again, not even looking up from the work on his desk. Both of the teens jumped, startled. "Or else I will assume you're cheating and I will have to flunk you on this quiz!" Anzu looked back at Yugi.
"Let's talk later", she whispered. Yugi nodded, and then Anzu turned to the task at hand: the dreaded pop quiz.
After the first half of the questions, Anzu realized that she actually knew the stuff they were asking for. For once, Mr. Mizumoto was right; this isn't so hard. Anzu began to answer the last part of the quiz, which was the section on open-ended questions, with complete confidence in her knowledge on the subjects they discussed. However, by the end of the second question, she started to doubt that she would even finish it, let alone the quiz.
For some reason, she began to feel dizzy. Actually, she didn't really feel dizzy, but she assumed that she was since the text that she was reading was starting to blur on her. The brunette blinked several times, but that didn't seem to do much good. The writing still continued to look all smudged and run together.
Uh, what's wrong with me? Why can't I read these words? She was about to request if she could go to the nurse's office when her vision began to clear, and the blurry mess she saw before became readable again. Wait, never mind! I'm good again! Now where did I leave off...? She gasped aloud.
This isn't my quiz! I-I... how can this be? Her heart skipped a beat. Then another.
This doesn't make sense!
It looked like normal writing. It was normal writing. But instead of giving a question, this paper was giving a warning. For her. For Anzu.
"Please run!" The paper read. "Anzu, please! You're in serious danger! The darkness is coming, and it wants you! It will kill you! Please listen, run...run...PLEASE!"
Anzu shook her head, trying to keep the words from echoing in her head; tears were starting to form and pain blossomed in her heart. She knew this voice, this weary, warning voice…she knew it all too well. Her mind began to spin as her heart began to race, and a soft chiming noise was being emitted from her chest. It was the cartouche, Atemu's pendant, and it rang a heavenly sound that seemed to resonate from the very messages that swirled about inside of Anzu, like a multitude of screaming spirits howling to the note of an angel's voice….
Anzu was ready to pass out when she heard the teacher's voice being directed at her. Immediately, all the chaos and noise that just a moment ago erupted like Hiroshima inside of her had calmed within an instant. Anzu's blue eyes then looked up to notice that almost everyone in the class was looking at her, including Yugi.
"Miss Mazaki?" Mr. Mizumoto asked again.
"Y-Yes?" Anzu stammered, still unable to fully come back to reality and focus. Her head still felt like utter turmoil was only seconds away from returning.
"You look sick. Do you want to go to the nurse's office?" Anzu thought about it for a moment, and then realized that if that incident did re-occur again, she might pass out from the dizziness, and that would be extremely embarrassing in front of her class. She nodded. "Okay, then you're dismissed. You can finish your quiz another time, Miss Mazaki."
"Thank you, teacher." Anzu whispered. Though, at first, walking made her fell sick, she eventually felt better once she reached the door. She slipped out, hardly noticed once all the commotion died away.
"Anzu…," Yugi whispered.
---
Anzu moved quickly past the classrooms, through the hallways as she tried to breathe. Her thoughts were all scrambled, and she wasn't sure what to do. What had happened in the classroom earlier was so frightening to Anzu, but at the same time it made her wonder about its cause. Did I just imagine the change in the writing? Then why did I feel safe? Why did I hear his voice instead of my own when I read it? The Pharaoh's voice...?
The walk through the halls were calming for Anzu's mind; the sunlight warmed her back as she past by a large set of windows looking out at the school courtyard, and it was very quiet since everyone was in their classrooms. All of a sudden, a cold chill ran up Anzu's spine as a whispering voice made its presence known.
"Anzu!" the voice shouted, though it sounded like it was very far away. Anzu turned abruptly, hoping to see Yugi or Joey coming after her, but it was to her fear's delight that no one was in the hall behind her; it was completely devoid of all human life.
"Anzu!" the disembodied voice said again. This time Anzu failed to turn around, her gut feeling restricting her from doing so. Instead she quickened her pace, speed walking down the deserted hall. Anzu could feel herself breathe faster, her mind racing as she sped down the hall.
Where do I go! What do I do!
"Anzu!" Charging into a run, Anzu found the stairwell that led up onto the roof of the school. Somehow she unconsciously ran here without thinking about where she was running to, but she was glad that she was here anyways; the school nurse would think she was crazy if she told her the reason why she was there.
Terrified to look behind her, Anzu ran up the steps, jolts of adrenaline pumping through her. She could feel the mysterious voice following her, chasing her up the staircase. Reaching for the exit, Anzu grabbed for the silver handle, pulling the heavy metal door that brought her outside; the door slammed behind her, producing a loud thud in its wake. Once again silence revered around her, the troubling situation inking into her thoughts. She sank to the floor, her back against the wall near the door. She felt like crying, after the shock wore off into tears of overwhelming grief. Once again she knew the voice that spoke her name, and though she knew who it was she couldn't help but feel fear against it, since it was so alarming and sudden.
Is Atemu in trouble? What is he trying to warn me about?
"Anzu?" The voice that called her now was different from the one before, and Anzu immediately turned to see Yugi standing in the next to her. He seemed distraught.
"Yugi… why are you here?"
"You ran out of class so…strangely." Yugi took a seat besides her on the ground. "I was worried. I've never seen you so upset before, or at least not since…." His voice trailed off with the wind. "Anyway, what made you leave like that?"
Anzu sighed, inwardly hoping that Yugi would not become more upset when she told him her reason. "Yugi… I think I've received messages from Atemu."
A moment of silence, then it seemed to hit Yugi with the force of a tidal wave. "What!" Yugi's eyes grew to the size of baseballs. "Atemu! But how-"
"I don't know", Anzu replied, pondering whether or not she'd regret telling Yugi. "It was really odd. I was doing the quiz, and I was on the second word question when out of nowhere the words changed into these warnings. It said things like 'Run Anzu' and 'You are in danger'! The whole thing looked like that!" The brunette looked over at Yugi; still in shock, he stared ahead of him as if he had died. "And then, as I was going through the halls, I could hear Atemu's voice calling from behind me, but no one was there! I ran up here, and that was it."
A silence purged the moment, allowing the new information to adjust within Yugi. Anzu was afraid that Yugi, after hearing about Atemu, had lost his sanity or fallen into a comatose. "Yugi", she whispered, "are you there?"
He turned his head to slowly face hers. Anzu could see the tears mounting his sad eyes, his face tensed up to hold them back. "Anzu…."
"Yes?"
"Did…did you see anything strange last night?"
She shook her head. "No, not really. How come?"
Yugi remained persistent. "No fog on your bedroom window?" Anzu gasped.
"How did you know?" she spitted out, disturbed. Her memory reversed back to the moment where she was looking for Yugi out the window, her sleeve cleaning away an odd mist that had formed on the glass. "Did you-"
"I saw it on my window", the amethyst-eyed teen began. "Last night, close to twelve. I was doing my homework, 'cause I spent the afternoon looking at Duel Monsters cards." He smiled sheepishly. "I was about to go to bed, when I saw this fog on my window. I figured it was just my breath on the glass or something. There was something written on it, and when I read it, it said: 'Danger looms near'." He stared deeply into Anzu's azure eyes, serious and trusting. "I know that was Atemu. No one else could have that but him."
"Yugi, I know that sounds great, but it makes no sense. Why would he be warning about some form of evil? What could possibly be coming that he'd have to send us messages from the afterlife?"
"It must be something; otherwise he wouldn't be so persistent, right?" Yugi turned to face the crystal blue sky, his manner strained. "I only wish I knew, that's all. Even without Atemu, I've been sensing something strange, something dark... I just wish Atemu were here. He'd know what to do."
Absorbing the moment, Anzu knew what Yugi said was true. If Atemu were around, there wouldn't be as much fear as to what the incoming danger was as there is now. Plucking up her courage, Anzu turned to her spiky-haired friend. "Yugi?"
"Hm?"
"I've been thinking. You and Joey and Tristan… you all seem so happy now. I know that you… but what Joey and Tris-"
"They miss him too, don't worry", Yugi replied. "You know how Joey and Tristan are, always needing to be strong. But when they come to hang over at my house, they break down and start crying right with me. They haven't forgotten. If anything, they remember too much. None of us will let go of his memory, ever."
"I believe you, Yugi." Relief washed over Anzu. Now she knew that she shouldn't have doubted her friends, when she knew all along what the outcome of her question would be. Anzu smiled, feeling a weight being lifted off her shoulders, and she let the breeze flow over her face. Now she knew the truth.
"Anzu?" Snapping out of her joy, Anzu looked over at Yugi. He was already standing, waiting for her to get up. "We should go back to class now, don't you think. Mr. Mizumoto might that think we ran away to America by now."
Anzu rose to his feet, aware of the stiffness in her legs as she stood up. "Yeah, we probably should. Let's get going." Yugi pulled open the metal door for Anzu, allowing her to enter the stairwell first. She was half-way down the stairs when the usual thud of the door bounced through the narrow room, along with Yugi's voice.
"Um, Anzu?" She turned to face Yugi, who was at the top of the staircase. "If you get any more messages from Atemu, or anything strange happens, just call me up, okay?"
"Sure Yugi, I'll call."
"Good. I don't want you to feel alone with this, Anzu. We're in this together, just as we've always been, and… I miss you, Anzu. It's been a long time since we've seen each other after school."
A knot caught in Anzu's throat. "It's okay, Yugi. This whole thing with Atemu's got me a little shaky, so having someone to talk to would be a good thing." Yugi ran down the staircase to catch up with his friend, and as the sunlight shimmered like a glimmering spotlight down the hall, the two walked back to class together.
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Author's Note:Alright, that's Chapter 4 everyone! I don't have much time on the Internet today, so this will be short. Can't wait til next chapter to talk! Bye!