Twilight at Midnight
Chapter Eleven
Discussions (part one)
Edward sat of the loveseat in the Cullens' living room; Bella sat next to him, her weak fragile hand clutched in his stone hard and cold ones. Emmett stood strong and still behind them, Rosalie at his side a scowl marring her beautiful face. Jasper leaned on the wall to the side, he was silent and his face held no emotion. Small bouncy Alice sat at Edward's feet, a still white statute.
The exchange students stood in an uneven row near the door. Yami was slightly ahead of them; his stance was on the defence and his face arrogant. His hands were folded over his chest and his bright crimson eyes radiating royalty.
Bakura stood on his right, looking casual, hands tucked into the deep pockets of his jeans although Yami and Malik knew he was clutching the small gold dagger he kept there for protection. A cruel smirk played on his lips.
Malik stood to Yami's left, his hands were balled into fists at his side and his face was challenging and his pale purple eyes narrowed on Edward's face.
'I think we should each explain what we are and how we came to be.' Yami spoke diplomatically while Malik snorted sarcastically and Bakura's smirk widened. Edward started and they all grew still-even Bella froze.
'I don't understand.' Edward spoke slowly and calmly, he spoke as if he was trying to decipher some hidden code in Yami's words but couldn't find any.
'Come off it!' Bakura suddenly snapped, he sprang out of his casual stance and stood side by side with Yami. 'Do you think we haven't noticed? You don't eat. You don't sleep. You don't go out when the sun's out.'
'You jump out of second floor windows. You're not exactly normal.' Malik added pointing at Edward. He glanced at the rest of the Cullen family and took a step forward so all three exchange-students stood shoulder to shoulder, 'none of you are.'
Edward glanced at the middle boy; his tri-coloured head was bowed as if he was in deep thought, when he looked back up his eyes were deep violet. 'Shall we take turns in telling each other about ourselves? I'll go first then Edward can go then Ryou and so on?'
Edward looked at his family, reading their thoughts and actions before nodding. 'Okay then.'
Yugi glanced at Ryou and then at Malik, he knew it could be harder for the spirits than them, but not as hard as it would be for Malik, who would have to tell them about his childhood and his darker self.
'My name is Yugi Mouto, when I was two my parents died in a car crash; my paternal grandfather took me in as there was no one else. I was very small as a child and bullies often picked on me because of it. My only wish was to have friends, and I did have one- Tea Gardiner. She wants to be a dancer.
'When I was seven my grandpa-who's an archaeologist- gave me a gold treasure box from Egypt. Inside held a gold puzzle, on the box in was inscribed that who ever completed the puzzle would have control over the Shadows.' Yugi paused and laid a hand over the Millennium Puzzle before continuing.
'He gave it to me because I loved puzzles and he had tried for more than ten years to complete it. I finally finished it when I was fifteen. Upon fitting the last piece I made a wish. I wanted friends. I got my wish in the form of Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor.
'Then I made friends with Ryou, and Mai and Isis and Malik and Seto. But not before the black outs began. At first I didn't know what was happening but if a bully ever threatened me again shortly after they became insane, one bully that I owed money to was made to believe everything was money even leaves and trash.
'And a teacher that threatened my friend found that her cheerful and fake mask would crack and her true grotesque soul would shine through whenever she was cruel to another person.'
Yugi glanced up at the Cullens who were watching him wearily now, 'at first I didn't realise what was happening. I couldn't remember small periods of time when all these people were being attacked and I didn't understand why or how until Seto Kaiba kidnapped my grandfather.
'You have to understand, where we come from Duel Monsters are more than a game. In Japan nearly everyone plays it and some gamble on the outcomes. My grandfather's best friend had given my grandfather a very rare and powerful card: one of the four Blue Eyes White Dragons.
'Seto had the other three and he wanted my grandpa to sell him the Blue Eyes but grandpa refused. To him it was more than a card- it was a token of friendship. Seto then challenged grandpa to a game to Duel Monsters- each betting their most powerful cards.
'Seto sort of cheated, he had them play in a Hologram Arena. The realistic holograms caused my grandpa to have a heart attack. Seto then ripped the card.' Yugi paused a bit and Bella gasped, her beautiful face a mask of horror for the boy. Yugi seemed to nod to himself before continuing.
'While my friends took my grandpa to the hospital Seto challenged me to Duel in hopes of winning the pieces back. While I Duelled Seto I felt a presence within me-helping me. This helped me believe in the Heart of the Cards and I was able to call forth Exodia the Forbidden One.
'I was able to win. But that was only the beginning. I still didn't understand the presence I felt but then a man named Maximillian Pegasus sent me a video asking me to Duel him. We played over the video and against time due to Pegasus calling forth the Shadows and making a Shadow Game.
'I lost due to time running out. As punishment Pegasus stole my grandpa's soul and locking it into a card. I joined Pegasus's new tournament Duellist Kingdom. Joey came too because he wanted to win the money to pay for an eye operation for his sister.
'This all happened shortly after we met Ryou. While journeying the island we met him and we went to the castle together.' Ryou seemed to flinch when Yugi mentioned they had met him on the island. Edward wondered why.
Yugi was still talking, 'we met Seto on the steps of the castle. Pegasus had kidnapped his little brother and Seto was desperate. He challenged me to another duel on the steps. But when Seto began to lose he got up on a ledge, he knew if I attacked I wouldn't just wipe out his life points, the force of the attack would knock him over the edge and onto the rocks behind him.
'I surrendered. But when I was about to it was like someone else had control of my body- they wanted to call Seto's bluff. We fought and although I won I hurt. Seto duelled against Pegasus but also lost his soul. During my first Duel in the finals I tried to block the presence but it just hurt me more.
'We came to an agreement. I didn't want anyone else to be hurt so when we fought Pegasus we came up with a plan. Pegasus had the Millennium Eye that allowed him to see into other people's minds. If the presence and me kept in our respective Soul Rooms we could win.
'It worked for the most part until Pegasus called another Shadow Game. The energy that's needed to be supplied for the Shadows is massive. It quickly wore me out and the presence was fighting alone.'
Yugi paused again before speaking more slowly. 'We won and Pegasus released everyone's souls but it was really only the beginning.'
Before he could continue Malik spoke coolly. 'No Yugi. Let us say our stories first before they make judgements.'
'You have some guy living in your head!' Emmett burst out staring incredulous at Yugi. The Japanese boy looked slightly embarrassed but his head ducked down and when it came up his eyes were a bright blood red.
'I can answer that perhaps.' Yami said arrogantly. 'I am Yami. I do not reside in Yugi's head. I belong in the Puzzle. But Yugi is the only one I am able to speak with. This is because he is a lighter half of my reincarnated.
'I don't remember my past I only know that I was a pharaoh in the Great Gap- a time five thousand years ago of five hundred years where nothing is known about Egypt. Edward, I believe it is your turn.' Yami bowed his head again and Yugi was staring at them with innocent violet eyes and an embarrassed expression.
Edward regarded them with as closed expression before he spoke coldly. 'Me and my family are vampires.' He waited for their response, fear, anger or disgust. He got none of those.
Malik slapped himself on the head and snapped 'why didn't I think of that! It's so obvious now!' Yugi and Ryou both looked at their friend as if they were worried about his mental state and then in sync tilted their heads to the left and said together:
'Huh?'
Malik wasn't listening. 'Of course! Why you don't out in the sun, why you don't eat, why you don't sleep!'
'You know about vampires!' Alice chirped looking stunned. She glanced at Edward and then to her mate who was no longer leaning against the wall, Jasper's stance was defensive of Alice and his alabaster face was pinched.
'Only the stories passed down from clan leader to clan leader. My sister told me a tale about a priestess from three thousand years ago, during the Great Gap. She sparkled when the sun hit her unnaturally pale skin and the people deemed her a human reincarnation of a God. They sacrificed slaves to her.'
'Oh.' Ryou and Yugi said together again, their heads snapping up again. Yugi spoke before Malik could continue, they were supposed to learn about the Americans too. 'Edward?'
Edward nodded before speaking, 'I was born in 1901. I was dying of the Spanish influenza in 1918 in Chicago. Carlisle was working as a doctor there and he had treated my parents and me. Neither of them survived.
'Carlisle chose me for that reason. He was lonely, as he had not found a coven or anyone of his kind to be with. We only drink from animals and to our kind that's unnatural. He knew I was alone and so he changed me. It was…painful.'
Edward pinched the bridged of his nose and Bella gripped his hand tightly before he continued. 'He smuggled me out with the dead. No one noticed, it was so hectic many of the living were accidentally carted in the morgue anyway.'
'When I woke up I could read people's thoughts. At first it was only Bella that I couldn't hear and then you came. But yours are different. With Bella it's silence. With Yugi I hear myself-like he has a mirror around his head. With Ryou it's a heavy buzz, like a bad reception on the radio. And with Malik it's too low and indistinctive to make out any of the words.'
'Hmmm. Perhaps because of the Items.' Yami questioned his friends, Bakura shrugged and Malik frowned and tapped his lips with a slim tanned finger as he pondered what was happening. 'Edward, please continue.'
'I have always been with Carlisle. Except for a few years after I was…created. You have to understand that drinking from animals is considered abnormal…we deny our very nature by drinking animal blood. About ten years after I woke to my new life, I hunted humans.
'From the moment I became a vampire I could hear every thought of the people around me. I believed I could differentiate the innocent from the guilty. If a man was planning on to kill a young a girl and I stop him surely I wasn't a monster?'
Bakura nodded slowly before his head dipped and his dark reddish-brown eyes became wider and turned a darker, more innocent chocolate brown. Ryou had taken control of his body. He looked to Yami before taking a deep breath and started to talk.
'I'm Ryou Bakura (1). My story is not as…pleasant as Yugi's. Yami only wanted to protect Yugi. My other half – we call him Bakura- is not as nice. My father gave me the Millennium Ring when I was ten…a present for missing another one of my birthdays. Bakura called me his "Landlord" when he came forth.
'I was an outcast in school, didn't have friends and people that picked on me seemed to…disappear. I knew it was Bakura. Unlike Yugi who was completely blocked out, I saw everything but I couldn't do anything to stop it.
'My father never could look me in the face after my mom and sister died in a car crash when I was six. I look a lot like her, see and I guess he didn't want to be reminded about them. He buried himself in work and I learnt to live on my own.
'We lived in England before we moved to Japan, my father got a job at the museum, one where he'd be paid to research and dig over countries. I met Yugi and his friends. I still didn't fit in much at school but people were kinder to me.
'Bakura was interested in the Millennium Items, there were seven total…of course Yugi has the Puzzle; it's considered the most powerful Item. Bakura wanted to collect all of them and rule the world.
'During Duellist Kingdom, Bakura believed it was his chance to steal the Puzzle. During a Shadow Game Yami won and banished Bakura from me. But he came back. And Yami defeated him again and again.
'Then he came back and it was better. He stopped torturing people for the hell of it, he realised that he needed me just as I needed him.' At the Cullen's incredulous faces he quickly explained. 'The Yami's are our other halves. It's like two sides of a coin. The Light are like the head side and the Yami's are the tails.'
Malik sighed before turning to Cullen's, 'so whose next?'
Rosalie tossed her gold hair out of her face and spoke coolly. 'I'll go next. I came to this family after Esme and Edward.'
To be continued…
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A/N: okay not much of a cliffhanger, I decided to split the chapter into two bits.
(1) I'm sorry but I'm not that clear on Ryou's past so I'm sorry if I missed some things.
