Yu-Gi-Oh: Tale of the Dark One

By Hikari of Dark Rose

Chapter 4

Opening Moves

It was 5pm in Cairo, Egypt and Ishizu Ishtar had just climbed the last flight of stairs to the top floor where she shared an apartment with her two brothers, Marik and Odion. Ishizu had recently received a promotion at the Cairo museum, Assistant Director. This meant that when the current Director retired Ishizu would be taking over that post. She had already taken on Marik at the museum as a research assistant, Odion probably could have come to work there as well but he had developed a love for cooking in the years he had cared for his siblings and now actually worked at a popular four star restaurant. Considering he practiced the menu on Marik and Ishizu, neither really found it in them to complain. In fact as she opened the door and took a deep breath the air was a fragrant mix of herbs, spices, roast vegetables, and fresh caught fish picked up from the open market.

The scene inside that greeted her eyes was far less appealing. Odion stood in his black cooking apron with cobra shaped oven mitts, holding a pan in one hand and trying to set the table with the other. Marik sat on a bench under a window, totally engrossed in a video game and not seeing the looks Odion kept giving him.

"Good evening Odion." Ishizu said as she dropped her bag inside the door and swooped forward to take the plates and finish preparing the table.

"Greetings Mis... I mean Ishizu. How was work?" Odion smiled, grateful for the help as she stepped to his aid.

"Long, it seems some of my colleagues doubt I can handle my future station. They will come around but after the meeting I had, I'm just glad today is over." The Egyptian woman looked to her adopted brother and saw him wince. "What?"

"I might not be... you left your computer on and about 3 hours ago when I came back from the restaurant it said you had mail." This news made Ishizu sigh, no one e-mailed her unless it was work or the Pharaoh. Pinching the bridge of her nose Ishizu thought for a moment. If it was the latter whatever information that might be requested could be needed urgently, but with the time being midnight or later in Domino right now the best action was to wait.

"I will get to it after dinner." Ishizu smiled at Odion. "When will that be ready?" Odion said nothing but pointed to Marik who was still oblivious to anything but his video game. Reaching over Ishizu snatched the game system from her brother who let out a yelp of shock.

"Marik... sit down and socialize at dinner or I'm going to turn it off and I don't care when the last time you saved was." Came Ishizu's stern warning as her blue eyes met her younger brother's own captivating violet. Part of Ishizu still to this day expected him to fight back or show some sign of the dark spirit that had ruled him up until recently and that part of her was quick to point out the main reason it had gotten so bad was because they had missed several of the early signs, but she needn't have worried for Marik quickly looked away and meekly walked to the table.

Dinner was as usual for the Ishtars, awkward at first since Marik had not ever been well socialized to begin with and possession along with guilt over his actions certainly did not help, but after a little while with both Ishizu and Odion coaxing him to join their conversations he opened up and talk soon turned to one of his favorite side projects, a database connecting all Egyptologists and the various areas they specialized in. As the conversation went on though Ishizu had a brain storm, cleaning her hands she went and opened her e-mail. There in the inbox, was the e-mail from the Pharaoh.

Ishizu began reading, her interest piqued as she read more. There was a new ancient spirit? The accompanying photos (courtesy of Tea) showed both forms, so similar that until one got to the eyes a observer who didn't know what to look for would miss the transformation entirely. The coin shown and described didn't look familiar to anything Ishizu had come across, except for the eye of Anubis... but there were only seven millennium items so what was this?

"Marik... please come here, and bring your notebook, I believe I have found the perfect trial for your system." Ishizu called her brother and soon he was there typing away on a little red laptop.

"Okay, Ishizu." Marik read what information was provided then turned back to his system. "The coin was on display in Domino. Who is the director?"

"Charles Colvin." Ishizu said looking it up.

"Right ... says here he specialized in Mythology... especially a legend called The Dark Lady... that sounds a bit familiar, maybe we have something in the tomb archives?" Odion finished cleaning the dinner table and approached the other two, taking a quick look over Ishizu's shoulder.

"There is a book somewhere with that Ankh and lotus design... when I was still attempting to be a Tomb Keeper I tried to read it several times." Odion hung his head slightly. He still wanted to have been an official Tomb Keeper, but lacked the bloodline.

"Tried?" Ishizu glanced at her older brother as Marik began sifting through another part of his database searching by symbol.

"Yes it seemed to be a collection of different accounts about a series of events, but the writer had a bad habit of smearing with the brush so it was rather hard to read... I will see if I can find it." Odion got up and left the apartment heading for the underground city where most of the records were still kept. Ishizu watched him go, and then turned back to where Marik sat.

"I hope he finds it soon."

In Domino

It had just gone four in the morning and Molly Bowen stayed awake, staring at the ceiling. For some reason, inside her now dwelt an ancient possibly evil spirit and Molly was afraid. What did it want? Why her? Molly knew the best ways to find these answers was to allow herself to sleep, face the spirit, and figure out exactly why it had come but fear stopped her. Finally though, as time ticked off another hour, she was dragged under by the pull of sleep.

Soul Room

She found herself in a large room, a sort of mental projection of her inner mind. The room was a combination study, library, and warehouse with several tall bookshelves containing odd and ends Molly had seen in the various places she had traveled with her grandmother, some toys, and a lot of books. Malloy had seen this place before when she took classes on meditation, it was a manifestation of her heart and mind but now the room was not exactly as she remembered it. One corner that had previously been rather barren was now occupied by a jumble of objects all huddled together as if their owner was trying to take up as little space as possible. The largest of these objects was a golden bed, just big enough for one person... or two if they were entwined. The legs resembled lion paws and at the top there was a gorgeous wood framed headboard with a design inlaid in gold, lapis, and red granite. Molly peered closely at it for a moment before recognizing the ankh and flower from her own coin.

A slight movement brought Molly's attention to the occupant of this furnishing, lying on her side with her back facing Molly was the spirit in question. Other than the slight shift of her weight the spirit was as still as a statue, resting peacefully as if she wasn't trespassing in the one place Molly had all to herself.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" Molly shrieked as she stormed toward the spirit on the bed. "This is MY room! I don't know who you think you are! But…" On the word but the spirit tossed a casual glance over her shoulder and twitched her hand, Molly choked on the next word because she suddenly found herself unable to move or speak. Unable to do anything else the girl glared daggers at the spirit trying to hide the fear that suddenly gripped her heart.

"All right" the spirit said as she rolled over and sat up "I guess we have to lay a few ground rules first" rising to her feet the spirit studied the girl closely and began to circle her. Her voice was only a shade or two richer than Molly's own and everything from how she spoke to how she walked practically dripped with a self confidence Molly didn't have. "One. Don't shout. You clearly weren't raised in a stable and I hear perfectly well. Shouting doesn't do anything but make you look juvenile, so from now on keep your temper." the Spirit paused back in front of Molly and raised the girls head to look at her with one hand.

"Two. Respect me. I am not to be addressed as you, especially in that tone. I have a name, call me by that name. Which is Anat by the way and don't worry I'm not going to ask you continuously call me by a title, bow or any of that. But I do come from royal lineage and as such would like to see a little deference." Anat continued to study Molly and the girl felt her breath catch in her throat as tears welled in her eyes. The spirit's face showed no change but the eyes softened a little and Molly was suddenly able to move again and found herself seated next to Anat on the bed as the spirit put an arm around her shoulders. "Shhhh, Don't cry. Crying solves even less than shouting and causes more damage. I'm sorry I over reacted but it's been a tough day for both of us."

"But," Molly let out a quiet sob, the stress from the day's events coming to a head "This is my room!"

"Yes, Yes it is" Anat said patting Molly's hand gently. "And again I over reacted, as soon as I find a way to go I will be gone if that is your wish. But until then I must beg your hospitality, I will help make this easier in any way I can." Molly looked up and locked eyes with Anat again.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Molly studied the spirit who sat next to her thoughtfully. "You didn't answer anyone's questions. For all we know you're evil and trying to take over the world."

"Why would I want the world? I have enough problems as it is… Besides, look at me." Anat said. She stood up and walked into center of the room, turning around so Molly could see her. "Do I look evil? Am I laughing manically, while lightning flashes behind me?" She looked at Molly with a slight grin to show she was joking and Molly found herself chuckling.

"I guess not." The girl shook her head "But then why didn't you answer Yugi's spirit when he was asking you questions?"

"By "asking" you mean shouting." The spirit said sitting down again, "And you remember what rule one is right… uh…"

"Molly." The girl filled in her name when it was clear the spirit didn't know hers, "If I remember right, Rule one was "No shouting" but it couldn't have hurt to at least try right?"

"People don't often listen properly when they are that upset." The Spirit admitted, "I seem to be in a bit of a tight spot. I died; well … you don't want the details. All I had with me was this." Anat pointed to her neck around which a manifestation of the coin hung. "This was designed for me by my dearest friend a long time ago, I made it a reality. Right before I met my end I poured as much of my soul into it as possible, but that leaves me here with no way to get out."

"You... sealed your own soul into your medallion?" Molly blinked as what Anat said caught up to her, "You didn't think that was a bit dangerous?"

"Considering my options? Not much of a choice…But that's enough for now. We can always talk more later and you need proper sleep." Molly started to open her mouth to protest but Anat waved her hand and the room darkened as Molly slipped into a natural sleep.

Upstairs

Yugi wished he could sleep without dreaming. Here he was, merged with someone he didn't know in a dream he didn't want. Standing in a jail cell Yugi paced back and forth restlessly before approaching the wooden door.

"I can hear you out there... how long do I have" The part that didn't belong to Yugi was sure that he would be killed by the end of all this.

"I've been told you are to be held until dawn two days from now." Came an answering response from the guard outside the door. "Though the thing is… none of the guards on duty know why. There's some pretty hefty bets going around."

"You placed one of those bets?" Yugi asked with an arched eyebrow. Yugi would never tolerate his own soldiers back home gambling but if this one was desperate he might be able to bribe his way out. 'Wait… I have soldiers? ' Yugi thought hard trying to figure out exactly what was going on, but then he felt the same dual sensation as he had in the other dream when he had been poisoned. The feeling got worse and worse the more Yugi struggled, giving him a horrible case of vertigo, but then things clarified a little. He was Yugi Mutou right now, but he was also someone else, and Yami was nowhere in reach even with their mental link. Slowly Yugi focused on the someone else and tentatively prodded at the other consciousness like he would if he were trying to gently wake Yami and almost shocked himself awake when he felt the other personality actually recoil.

It was the other entity itself that held him asleep as it latched onto him and the vertigo came back full force when Yugi once again began to struggle but the other person kept their hold.

"No I haven't," Said the guard on the other side of the door, "It's hard enough to earn and save my wages, I want to start a family next year."

"A family…" The person that Yugi was merged with looked down at his feet then back to meet the guards semi familiar piercing eyes through a barred slot in the door, "I had one, a woman who loved me, even a child… Don't take it for granted when you get yours." The guard listened then moved closer to the door and looked through the window in the door, Yugi could see a more subdued version of Yami's hair.

"That part of why you're here?" The guard paused and suddenly a light went on behind his eyes "Wait there's no children and only one woman here that you could have been sneaking in to see… no…That evil sorceress being kept in the isolation pit? You love her?" The venom in the prisoner's glare almost made the guard take a step back, and Yugi could feel the emotions of the prisoner at that moment as well. A black cloud of anger burnt through him leaving a cold, bitter, empty, sorrow that left him almost to tears.

"She is not evil." The prisoner spoke and Yugi got the slight nagging feeling the message was as much for him as the guard. "She did make a few decisions resulted in some executions but none of them came easily and everything she did … even that, was for the good of other people." The prisoner sighed and sank to the floor, "I don't know what is causing the Pharaoh and Queen to allow such rumors about their sister spread, let alone actually believe them. Anat would have been happy to stay back home on the outskirts, Studying magic and governing our village. She would have been a great ally to her siblings and let me tell you I see a day when some threat will loom and the defenders of Egypt will seek for magic as a last resort."

"Are you a sorcerer as well?" The guard asked for as the man spoke he visibly shuddered, somehow what the prisoner had just said was true… maybe not now but someday it would, he could feel it in his bones.

"No but I lived with her for a while and picked up a few things. None of which will save her, I promised her I would protect her… but I can't. Not from her siblings and not from history. Probably forever she will be remembered as evil, instead of being the leader she could have been, the scholar she is, or the wife and mother that she wanted to be." The prisoner once again made eye contact with the guard. "If you can at all, please, please, please make sure she is buried properly. I don't trust your King and Queen to give her even that much."

Knowing quite a bit about the beliefs of ancient Egypt from his grandfather, Yugi felt his stomach lurch when he thought about what that could mean. Yami had lost his name and all his memories along with it, if a body was badly damaged a spirit could be stuck wandering forever, and a spirit that lost both its body and name would disappear permanently. The thought of it bothered both Yugi and the spirit he was dreaming with so much that it snapped Yugi awake. Glancing past the hovering, worried Yami Yugi noted it was nearly noon.

"Did they leave already? " Yugi asked his guardian as he scrambled from bed and over to his computer to check his e-mail. Quickly seeing a message from Ishizu he clicked on the link, almost not surprised to see what she had written.

Apartment of Charles Colvin

Charles sat in a chair, clutching his head as the spirit which had saved his life poured through his knowledge, reading his mind as if it were a book. As it went, mentally clawing and snarling its host tried not to look at the fallen body of his servant Ettore. The poor man had approached the possessed Egyptologist when Charles had first entered the apartment covered in drying blood and had been felled by a wave of dark energy.

"Unbelievable!" The entity shouted and Charles winced as he felt a pounding reverberation travel through his skull, "By … the … gods!" The spirit then began ranting in a dialect of ancient Egyptian so obscure even Charles found it completely foreign.

"Please… Whatever you want with me. You have to calm down or I won't survive for you to get it." The older man croaked as he tried to ride the waves of anger coming from the thing he was now sharing headspace with.

"Want… Want…" the strange voice whispered before suddenly turning violently angry again "Want Her!" Charles was suddenly treated to a flashback of the girl who had sent him tumbling with a burst of magic, only this time it was overlaid with a near identical image of what could have been the same woman in another life lying half dead on the sands of Egypt. "Mine… She stole mine… and with her own power…" It roared again causing Charles to clench the arms of his chair with his hands to try and distract himself from the pain,"Revenge… it will be mine!"

"Argh! ... yes, but…. I can't be of any help if you keep me in this much pain!"Charles shouted closing his eyes and holding his head. Suddenly he had a pair of visions, one was the girl from before with Egyptian text reading Dark One across it though the determitive glyph was clearly a woman so it could be translated as Dark Lady. The other figure was an imposing male sorcerer with the text Sage of Set identifying him. Charles eyes snapped open as he realized what he was being shown, what he had assumed was the same person was actually two entities… and the relationship between them didn't seem to be happy. "You want revenge on her?... Why do you need me?"

"What I need is a body" The entity whispered and Charles wondered why the spirit seemed to suddenly have an easier time connecting to him, "You opened your mind." Came the response in a voice that seemed mildly amused by the Egyptologists fear and confusion.

"Why?" Charles said though he was sure the spirit was reading his thoughts it made him feel better to speak out loud. "Why her? Is there a reason or just some old grudge?"

"Her and I… we are alike … almost one." The spirit told its host "I can use our magic better than she, to win her power and a new life I must defeat her properly."

"Properly?... and how will you, I mean we do that?" Charles wished he hadn't asked that as his body rose to its feet against his will and walked till he stood over Ettore's body.

"We will start, by issuing a challenge" The spirit held Charles's hand over the corpse and began chanting once more. Slowly a pulsing orb of dark purple and black energy began to form, once it achieved the proper mass the orb began to reshape itself and solidify, shaping itself into a green and red insect like creature the like of which Charles had never seen. With the free hand the entity opened the corpses mouth and then dropped the writhing mass of tentacles and pincers down the throat, "She will recognize the game"

"No! What are you doing with him?" Charles winced as the creature crawled deeper into his friend with a series of sickening cracks and squelches.

"He will be our first move, once my pet breathes new life into him that is." The elderly Egyptologist could barely stand to watch as suddenly what had once been Ettore opened its eye and let out a sinister hiss.