Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Chapter 8
Green Eyes
The knock at the door is loud enough that I can't really ignore it and pretend that I never heard the sound, even though I don't want to see anyone else today.
"Eh ... come in" I call hesitantly, unsure if this is how I'm supposed to answer a call at the door. Thankfully, it seems to work alright even in this world.
The door opens to reveal a small figure with a shapely, female form and long, dark hair, carrying a tray.
"Good evening, Your Highness" the girl greets me.
Is it evening already? In this strange world, it seems I have absolutely no concept of time; time may not even be the same here as it is in the real world, the world that I am used to. For all I know, the standard twenty-four hour day that I know does not exist here.
"Um ... good evening" I reply, trying to sound polite although I don't know who this girl is or what she wants or what the correct procedure is for receiving visitors at the door. If I am the king of this world, am I supposed to see visitors like this?
"Your dinner, Your Highness" the girl says, beaming at me. "Shall I leave it with you?"
I hesitate before nodding at her. Well, at least I no longer have to wonder when I'll be getting food.
The girl enters the room and sets the tray she is carrying down on a shelf nearby the bed on which I am sat. A glance at this assures me that there is food on the tray, but from this angle I cannot see what it is. However, it smells lovely whatever it is; unfamiliar but not unpleasant.
I draw my eyes away from the tray long enough to take a good look at the young girl who has brought me my dinner. Upon closer inspection, I see that her eyes are almost dark and that her long hair is a navy blue colour. She is dressed in a pitch black dress with a starch apron and although she seems to be a servant, her smile is bright enough to assure me that she is a sunny-disposition sort of person, at least at first meeting.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" I ask her, trying not to offend her.
She turns to me with an expression of surprise which quickly fades into a gentle smile. "My name is Blair" she tells me. "I'm your person lady. I attend to all your needs within your private chambers."
I blink a couple of times, but her kindly expression lets me know that these 'needs' are things such as meals and not anything sexual.
I take an instant liking to this girl, Blair, and it is for this reason: unlike most of the others, she does not intimidate me in any way. She seems friendly enough and I can finally ask her the question which has been bothering me since I left the meeting.
"How many more people do I have to meet, Blair?"
"That depends," she says, "who have you met already?"
I think for a moment, trying to make sure that I don't forget anyone before I list them. "Chazz, Jim and Axel, Zane and Aster ... um, the duke?"
"Bastian?"
"Yeah," I nod. "I know the under-lord and lady, Atticus and ... um ..."
"Alexis" Blair finishes. "She's his sister."
I nod again. "I've met Hasselberry, the head of security. And ... oh, and my secretary. Syrus, I think."
"Yes. Well, Your Highness, now that you know who I am, you've met all but one person of importance."
"Importance?" I inquire.
"Well, there are various servants and staff in the castle, Your Highness, but me and the others oversee their employment and work, so you don't have to bother about them. The only person that you need to know about in the castle is the keeper of the vault."
"Who?"
"The keeper of the vault" Blair continues. "Your Highness, you truly don't remember any of this?"
I look down, and she takes this as the negative and continues, "you see, Your Highness, there is a vault in the very bottom floor of the castle which holds all our riches and treasures. The treasury of Dark World holds the valuables of the kingdom. And the keeper of the vault looks after the vault and makes sure nobody can get into it or interfere with it."
"Who's the keeper?"
"A boy around your own age. His name is Jesse."
I take this all in and then mentally debate whether or not I wish to meet this final person – on one hand, I don't want to meet any more new people today – I'm tired – and yet on the other hand, if I meet them all today, I don't need to do so tomorrow.
And since Blair did say she was here to tend to my needs...
"Can you take me down to see him, Blair?"
"I can go and get your right hand man to do that, Your Highness. I only attend to things in this chamber, so I don't even know my way to the vault."
I gape for a moment before the girl inclines her head – damn it, why the hell does everyone keep doing that!? – and departs from the room in search of my right hand man.
Meanwhile, I collapse on the bed, my appetite forgotten and the food on the shelf no doubt going cold. It is the first time in the four years of my life that I remember that I have genuinely had no interest in eating.
/
"It's just through here" Chazz tells me grumpily.
About ten minutes after Blair left, Chazz appeared, his face annoyed but nonetheless he told me that I was to follow him and he would take me down to the vault.
I followed him as he said – wordlessly since I don't really know how to make conversation here – and now we stand in front of a massive stone door, on which he knocks and shouts that he has brought the king to meet him.
There is a shout back from inside the room in an accent that, back in the world I know, would be described as a southern accent, and a reasonably thick one at that, though neither unintelligible nor unpleasant. There is then a scraping sound as the door opens – mechanically, I notice, not manually – and a room lit by torches is revealed.
This room is not like the others: where the others are stone and dull, this room appears to be formed of crystals and is either white or colourless all around; I cannot see a vault yet, but it's likely – by pure common sense – hidden away.
What I can see is a young man walking towards us. He looks to be about my age, with blue hair and a rather odd fashion sense – old fashioned by the standard of the world I used to know, and different from what the others here seem to be wearing. He stops in front of me and inclines his head – damn it, I'm starting to really hate that gesture – before raising his eyes to meet mine.
And what eyes they are! I have never seen, in four years time, eyes such a stunningly clear shade of green. They are the colour of emeralds; of the greenery in the forest; of the green of the oceans – they are rather beautiful, even on a man.
So beautiful, in fact, that I lose my voice for a moment, because I have the feeling, deep down in my gut, that I have seen those eyes somewhere before...
Please R&R
