Chapter 9 – The Last Night


Now it was a matter of playing the waiting game. Kaiba had insisted for the group of duelists to stay at the Guild of Shadows for the night until morning when the assault on Horus Watch would begin. Tristan stayed and kept watch over Miho in Kisara's temple. The injured girl still lay on the table, like a sleeping beauty. The tears on her school uniform was still evident, but the open wounds had begun to close. The moon next to the window had begun to rise and the room was drenched in the white of pale moonlight.

He clutched her hand. His warmth felt the cold of her own. "Why won't you wake Miho?"

"She received a critical blow. It's miraculous how she has survived thus far," A calming feminine voice from behind him spoke. He turned to see Kisara standing above him as she observed his intimate attention to Miho. "What Marik Ishtar did was inexplicable."

"I guess I should be thankful that Kaiba did this for us. And you with your ability to heal people and all." Tristan moped.

"As long as I put my faith in the gods, anything is possible." She smiled a weak smile. "Recently, I've been hearing the gods call to me louder than usual lately. Do not tell Kaiba, but Gods may soon request my audience."

Tristan wasn't sure what she meant, but he assumed it was things the priests in this world spouted. He retained his focus back to Miho in a constant hope she would soon awaken.


Meanwhile, Joey, Tristan, Duke and Serenity were sat around a table bored out of their skulls. They had retreated back to the main room of the Guild of Shadows, under the nerving watch of several of Kaiba's men. Much like in the front of the Scarab Arms Tavern, they felt out of place, but this time the possible glass in the back would be replaced by a rusty silver dagger. Each of his members in the room must have at least killed on man or more; they had a certain glint that murderers had.

Either way, they didn't seem to keen on killing anything until money was placed in front of them. Their minds were focused on the raid on Horus Watch the following day, but the heightened activity around the building during the night was a cause of concern. Yugi Moto sat at a wooden table and fumbled with his gold puzzle, trying to figure out what caused it to activate with a red light recently as if it were a broken toy; but he couldn't find anything different on it. He closed his eyes and began to focus, slipping his mind inside the relic so he could communicate with the Pharaoh.

He stood before his mirror image in his soul room before long, the ancient relics inscribed on the walls made it feel like the home to an Egyptian King.

Just as Yugi was about to speak, the seated Yami spoke first "It's just like a fantasy, but all of this feels real. I feel like I'm dreaming."

Yugi envoked some confidence into his reply "It's a nightmare, but we'll soon wake up from it. We just have to keep working together Pharaoh!"

"...You're right. But, it's not as simple as it were before partner. If it wern't for you being here... I think the spirit of Zorc would have ripped me to pieces. Do you not feel the demon that sleeps in both of us?"

Yugi nodded. But he didn't want to feel scared. It was just a game. Defeating Marik would rid them of the dark thoughts that beckoned to them in both spirit and mind. "As long as we're both there for each other, we won't fall in battle like last time."

"...The energy that caused the Dark Magician to evolve was through that same very power. The Puzzle is a manifestation of both of our souls in physical form. We must keep the creature that prowls within it at bay. It should not find our Soul Rooms so long as we don't taunt to it."

"Exactly." Yugi concurred.

Yami smiled for a change. It was like a heavy burden on his shoulders had been lifted. "Thank you Yugi. Without you I don't think I could have made it this far."

Yugi blushed a little. "It's nothing! I've got to go back now. Remember, negativity feeds the devil! Literally!" With that he faded out of existence and was back in the Guild of Shadows. Time had passed a little around him, he noticed the activity of the thieves had begun to increase and some were preparing for sleep.

He heard a voice beside him. Joey was still mesmerized by Serenity's white wings. "What's with those?"

Duke winked across the table. "She's a Fae. A rare type of winged human. Eradi at the carnival obsessed over her as some kind of freak of nature and wanted her put up for display. Didn't seem it was enough for him though."

Joey beat the table with his fist. "That bastard." He looked at Serenity with brotherly love.

As his interest in finding the answer waned, he noticed Kaiba pass him by with two thieves either side of his person. They seemed to guard him without question. It was then the brunette boss turned his face to the group. "Newcomers. Lucky for you the silver jackals have died down on their advance on the Guild of Shadows. We should make it through tonight without needing to defend to vigorously. I suggest you get some sleep while you can."

The party had removed their armour and went to sleep that night soundly. They were given some empty bunkbeds given to them by the passing of several assassins who had died the previous night. Needless to say it kept Joey wide awake. Rather than sleep, Duke continued to pester him with scary stories from the opposite bunk. "The man's vision began to blur as the blank faced man's stared into his own!"

"Nyeh! Cut it out! At this rate I'm not gonna get any sleep."

Duke was led like Cleopatra on his bed. He shrugged "Well dude, you did say you were completely desensitized to kids ghost stories. Your funeral."

Joey grumbled as he tried to calm himself down and rolled upright, focusing his eyes on the bunk above him. "Y'know, tomorrow is going to be a big deal."

"Joey, it might be best if you leave Serenity with me. If we came with you, it could put your sister in danger."

Joey nodded. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I wouldn't want her to be dragged into this. I feel kind of worried for Yugi..."

An eyelid opened on the bunk above. Yugi awoke suddenly and was listening in to the conversation.

Duke didn't seem convinced. "Why is that? Kisara told you everything he needed to know about his power right?"

"That's what bothers me. Could Zorc be trying to revive himself from within both poor Yugi and the Pharaoh? When we first were freed a while ago from Marik's dungeon, Yami seemed almost dead without Yugi and his Puzzle. He was witheringly like a flower. Even with it back, he still seems to be rotting away; just much more slower than before." Joey clutched his pillow "I think if we don't act soon... he could die."

"I know. But you guys will make it for sure!" Duke winked.

"Well we better get some shuteye or we'll be spending our morning sleeping instead!"

Joey and Duke eventually quietened, but Yugi remained awake for a bit, pondering on his impending doom. For some reason, he wasn't scared yet like the Pharaoh had been. Yami was a confident person, if anything, Yugi should have been the one scared, but wasn't. He figured it was because Yami was no more than a spirit trapped in the Puzzle and was left vulnerable to the foreign darkness that accumulated inside it. He closed his eyes.

Immediately, he saw blood. Blood of crimson, splattered beneath his feet. Black silhouettes that represented bodies lay on the floor. There were five of them. Across the way, he saw a huge black shadow lumber. It noted his attention and went to add him to the corpses on the floor.

Stop. Stop. Stop.

"STOP!" Yugi awoke with his hand hanging in the air, as if he were halting the roof in his path. It looked silly, but he felt fear once again. The exact fear that he had been engulfed with when he was attacked in the Millennium Puzzle returned.

It didn't seem he had woken anyone up through his night trauma, but it was the least of his concerns.

"How much longer is this going to go on?"


Time had passed, and the party had gathered on a large boat by an abandoned dock to the west of the city. Tristan, Joey and Yugi followed Seto Kaiba onto the ship to meet with several other men. Some faces were familiar, resembling members back at the guild, but they weren't under suspicious hoods any more. Kaiba was in a white longcoat that bared resemblance to the one he wore in the real world, complete with spiked pauldrons. "We've had to discard our uniform so we don't garner suspicion when we get on the island."

Yugi looked down upon his blue jacket. "Is that why we don't have our armour?"

"You'll have to make do without it for now. But we've hidden your Duel Disks on the ship when the time is right. They'll be hidden in bags. We'll need to pretend we're travelling bards that have come to sea Tea. Then we get her out and my brother."

At least Yugi no longer had the gold armour chafing his collar. Tristan was saddened he couldn't wear his cape though. Joey on the other hand wasn't fully paying attention to Kaiba's orders; instead looking down from the side of the ship at his winged sister. Next to her was Duke Devlin. "We'll see you soon! Be sure to come back for the Duke!"

Serenity also gave her input "Big brother, whatever you do, make sure you come back!"

Joey raised a thumb "You can count on it Serenity!"

"We'll be at the Scarab Arms till things blow over." Duke added. "I'll keep an eye on this one, just do what bro's do best."

With that the boat began to slowly pull away. In the air something small and light flew towards him at the last moment, like a single blossom in the wind. He reached out and grabbed it with his hand and inspected it. A single white feather from one of Serenity's wings.


Tension began to rise. Horus Watch was just on the horizon, visable from the dock at Pharaoh's Gate. Ocean water splashed against the boat, knocking it from side to side. Yugi watched mindlessly at the golden tower in the distance, with his chin on the railing and his arms hung over. He felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Hey, this reminds me of the time when we first boarded the rig to Pegasus's island." Joey tried to break the quiet atmosphere by reminiscing on past events. "It was a rough journey, but looking back at it, I would have never saved Serenity if it wasn't for what you did for me Yug'"

Yugi looked back and smiled "Hey that's no problem." Joey seemed to be on the right track. Keeping his mind off of the impending island ahead of them would prevent him getting cold feet. He turned his attention away from the sea and looked for Tristan. He too, was above deck. His face seemed to be more at peace ever since he had seen Miho under Kisara's care. For some reason, thinking on this made him think of Tea, and how much he missed her. Though there was something inside him that screamed out for her more.

Yami.

Note:

The scary story Duke was telling to Joey was a reference to Slender.