Took me a while, huh? I'm mad at myself for taking forever! Well, enjoy!

Chapter 12

Morning at the Motto's

Ghost white mist floated just off the cold, hard, black ground. The darkness in the background swirled dark violet and black. The chill air was crisp and odor less.

This seemed to go on and on in all directions. No end to it. The gloomy obscurity went on… forever.

Was this a dream?

I stood there gazing at my surroundings. I never had a dream so clear my entire life. My dreams were usually fuzzy. Hard to see. Why can I see things so clear now?

I took a step forward. My step echoed in the darkness. I took another step. Another echo. Thus, began a pattern. Step. Echo. Step. Echo.

I wandered aimlessly in the shadows. I was there for a reason, I knew, but why, I did not. I thought that if I literally searched for the reason, I'd find it. What else could I do?

Step. Echo. Step. I stopped. Somewhere up ahead was something. But what?

I scampered to it. It was a door. A door made entirely of light.

I stepped through.

On the other side was a room. This room was filled with puzzles and games. It was filled with simple toys. It was also filled with pictures of creatures- Duel Monsters, they looked like- and other things of the picture nature.

That was what filled the room. The walls and ceiling were of old rock. The rock had ancient hieroglyphics on them. Ancient Egyptain to be exact.

I marveled at the room. I had never seen anything like that before.

Nor had I seen a door like the one on the other side of the strange yet comforting room. It was white with big, blue, glass orbs on it. The doorknob was of the same blue glass.

The beauty of it. I stared at it for what seemed like hours soaking in all I could of its splendor.

I finally grabbed the doorknob. I found it to be real crystal. I stroked the other larger orbs on the door. All real blue crystal.

I turned the handle and opened the door. With curiosity my guide, I penetrated the threshold. Once inside, I saw such majesty, such magnificence that I nearly fainted.

The room had a bluish- violet- pink glow to it. Artifacts of great worth were scattered throughout the extent of the space. Golds and silvers. Bronze and gems. All of great value and rarity.

There were silks hung from frames and strolled about the floor. I delighted in the touch of my bare feet against the smooth silk.

Everything was beyond astonishing. But what caught my eye was a golden symbol on one wall. It was of a daisy. I traced the outline. Smooth, perfect curves. Symmetry just right. How could something created so flawlessly exist?

As I finished tracing the last of the circle in the middle of the flower, the room vanished.

Scenes, images began to flash before my eyes.

A woman with blue white skin and dark purple hair with a daisy on her neck. An ancient city. Duel monsters cards. Five jewel pyramids. A Yami No Game.

What was I seeing? What did it mean?

I woke up with blinking eyes. From the window on the other side of the room golden sunlight poured in, brightening the room.

I was lying on my side, blanket still covering me, pillow still behind my head. I guess when I sleep on couches I'm not as restless of a sleeper like I usually am.

I sat up rubbing my smarting eyes. My eyes plus sunlight equals AH. (The eye doctor says that, because of the light color, anyone with blue eyes, like me, needs to wear sunglasses in bright sunlight for it hurts them more than other eye pigments.)

When my eyes got used to the dazzling luminosity, I looked around at my surroundings. I was still in Yugi's living room. And Aeron was still… asleep. Surprise, surprise.

I got up from the couch and walked over to Aeron. I shook her awake.

"Five more minahhh." She muttered. I shook her again. This time she woke up. "Eh…" she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Erica, why are we up so early?"

"I truly don't know how early it is, but I do believe we shouldn't sleep in. It would be rude to our hosts." I sat down on the loveseat next to my friend, who was sitting up by this point.

"You still," Aeron stifled a yawn, "feel awkward about staying here don't you?"

"Yeah, I mean, they believed our implausible story, allowed us to stay in here, and aren't freaked out at all. Ra, have you honestly seen anybody who was like that except on TV?" I admit I can believe in Santa and magic, but people acting humane to the extreme, I couldn't comprehend the fact.

"Yeah, not many people act like that. Just be," Aeron isn't a morning person, she'd rather be asleep, hence her body demanded a yawn be placed in order, "glad Yugi and his friends do. Besides, they said they were waiting for us. We're supposed to save the world. So what'd'ya expect?"

I contemplated for a moment. She was right… a bit smug… but right.

"Ooohh." She moaned. "I am sooo tired. And my clothes feel… slept in."

"That's because they were slept in genius." It was true. Both I and Aeron slept in our clothes that night. Our clothes… but, smartly, not our shoes.

I stood up and staggered across the room. I wasn't much of an early bird myself either, although, I do try to get up around noon the latest.

I was heading toward the couch I had slept on and when I got there I picked up the blanket, folded it correctly, and set it down on the couch. I set the pillow on top of the folded cover. Something I never did at home too much, if I could help it. But I wanted to be polite, so I did it today.

Aeron stood up, tottering a bit. She obviously wasn't going to be polite and fix the 'bed', so I walked back over and did it for her.

Aeron just moved over to a chair, the chair that Yugi was sitting in the night before, and collapsed right down on it.

Funny, I though while I cleaned up the loveseat, making it look neat, Aeron is so tomboyish, lazy, untidy, and… I 'm the opposite of her. I admit I have my moments, which happen more often than not. I am girly-ish, more active, tidier-ish… you could've sworn Aeron and I were Yami and Hikari.

I stole a glance at the lounging Aeron. Perhaps we were just that. But not in the gay fanfic way…I smiled in humor at that thought. Part of the humor was that I couldn't believe I had that thought. The other… it just sounded funny.

When I finished making her mess look presentable, I sat down. I was tired. But I was also something else. Hungry.

I was hungry but didn't have the courage to leave the room and find the fridge. I didn't really want to seem, as I said before, impolite.

Good thing I didn't have too, because just then we heard knock on the door. From behind it, we heard a muffled Yugi voice asking "Is it alright if I come in?"

"Yeah, it's alright Yugi." I called back.

The door opened revealing a Yugi overloaded with three plates. One on his head, one in each hand. How that one on his head stayed there, I don't know. You'd think his hair would push it off.

Aeron giggled behind her hand. I guess she did something, ineffectual, to keep from seeming boorish.

I was on the verge of chuckling too, but I asked instead, "You need some help?"

"Yes please," he answered balancing the plate atop his spiky head.

I ran over there and took the dangerously wobbling plate. It turned out bacon, eggs, and toast (let's not forget the fork) was on the white platter.

"I thought you guys might want some breakfast." He explained. "Hope you like eggs and bacon."

"Oh, thanks!" I said. I just walked back to the couch ready to eat the food on the plate I was already holding.

Yugi handed a plate to Aeron who took it, greedily taking in the smell of the toast. She likes toast. But no jam. She only likes the toast and the butter.

Yugi sat on the loveseat and picked up an egg with his fork.

"Hm," Aeron said taking a humongous bite out of her toast, "coming in here to eat with us… you want to hear more of that TV show don't'cha?"

"Aeron, don't talk with your mouth full." I sighed.

"It's ok. I'm used to it. Hanging out with Joey and all." Yugi said. I gave a nervous laugh. "But that hadn't crossed my mind," Yugi continued, "I just can't leave my food sitting anywhere- if it has eggs on it. Atem likes eggs. If he sees any eggs, no matter whose plate it's on, he'll eat 'em!"

After a small silence, I said, nibbling on a piece of bacon, "So do you always get up this early?"

"No. I usually sleep at most four more hours." Yugi replied. "10's the latest I'll sleep."

"What, did you expect we'd be up this early?" Aeron opposed.

"I wasn't exactly sure. I thought it'd be best if I got up early. Besides, I woke up pretty early and didn't go back to sleep so..."

"I pretty much woke up." I stated to no one in particular.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for Miss-The-Early-Bird-Gets-The-Worm here, I'd still be asleep for another 8-10 hours." Aeron said. "I'm amazed you're up this early, Erica."

"One: I didn't say that. Two: something woke me up is all." I defended.

"What woke you up?" Aeron asked. She always needed a reason after that day we became friends… I guess I taught her that.

"I don't know… that dream I had I guess."

"Was it a nightmare or just a dream?"

Yugi just sat there eating his eggs. He apparently didn't mind we were having a conversation alone without him, ignoring him.

"Eh… just a dream, I guess. I'm not that sure. It wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't a normal dream either, though."

"That doesn't really explain anything."

"I know." I thought back on the reverie. I couldn't forget any part of it. It was permanently burnt into my mind…

Sensing tenseness between the two friends, Yugi decided to change the subject.

"So what do you think will be happening, what'll make you save the world?" he asked. He didn't know.

"If this copies any plot from the series, an evil guy who wants to either destroy or rule the world will come here to Domino, join a tournament to get to us (a tournament that we'll have to join ourselves), and we'll have to beat him in a duel." Aeron said. She seemed pretty sure.

I wanted to say that I wasn't exactly sure about her reckoning. But I wasn't exactly sure about my own myself. Ugh. That dream really confused my brain. I thought shaking my head.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Yugi agreed.

At that exact moment, Atem stuck his pointy head through the door.

"Oh that's where you were, Yugi." He said.

Yugi turned his head to face the door. "Yes, this is where I were." He said jokingly.

I giggled behind my hand while Aeron rolled her eyes.

"So what're you doing in here?" Atem asked Yugi as he walked over and sat down on the loveseat next to him.

"Eating and talking to Aeron and Erica." Yugi simply stated at he took a bite of toast. Atem eyed the eggs on the tinier twin's plate. He really looked like he just wanted to reach out and take one to eat. He tried to do just that.

Key word: tried. Yugi must've realized what the Yami was intending, just before made the effort to try. The Hikari stood up and walked over to the couch and sat down next to me.

I held back a laugh. Poor Yami, I thought.

I looked at his plate, then mine. Mine was empty. His still had two eggs and half a piece of toast on it. He also had two pieces of bacon on it.

Make that one egg and a corner of toast. He just ate difference between what he had before and what he had then. There was still the bacon to eat. He didn't look like he had the intention of eating it though.

"Are you going to eat that bacon?" I asked. I really didn't want to be rude by asking that question, but I like bacon. If he wasn't going to eat it, I sure would.

"Oh, nah. You can have it if you want." Said Yugi to my surprise, I didn't think he would actually say that I could have it.

He put the pieces of bacon on my plate. I picked the first one up and noshed on it.

Two seconds later, Yugi said aloud, "Listen Atem, I wasn't going to eat them anyway so stop complaining."

Aeron and I looked at him funny and Atem made a face.

"Our… uh… mind link still works." Yugi explained to me and Aeron.

Our expressions turned from confused to happily not confused (meaning we understood what he said, but you probably already knew that so…).

We didn't see it, since we were looking at Yugi at the moment, but Atem smirked. "Yeah, it still works. So no secrets and no finishing your own sentences."

"You are not…" Yugi began.

"Finishing your sentences?" Atem finished Yugi's sentence to his annoyance.

"Why do you do that?"

"It's funny." Atem laughed. "And you know it's all in good fun. I know you know that." he tapped his head as if to say "I read your mind again".

Yugi growled angrily. He really wished his Yami would stop doing that.

"Perhaps," Aeron suggested, "you should ask Ryou how to close off the link. It seems to me he does it a lot."

"You know he does and that's a good idea!" Yugi said to Aeron excitedly.

I just sat there. Why enter the conversation when it was much too interesting to watch? Better than cable, is all I can say.

Sadly, my show stopped due to a song sounding out of nowhere.

"My sister's sight is on the line, I gotta win- they'll learn to run soon as they see my creepy chin- I'M SCARY-"

I realized at that point that it was my phone which I left on and in my pocket.

"OH BOLLIX!" I cried. I reached into my skirt pocket and hurriedly fiddled with my phone to turn it off. Once I did, I just stared at the small, black phone with the word: Yu-Gi-Oh! written in golden rhinestones on the back.

"What was that?" Yugi asked.

"What, my ring tone or my cry?" I replied back.

"Um… let's go with the ring tone for now."

"It's Brooklyn Rage. A Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged parody of Lady Gaga's Poker face."

"Should I ask for a further explanation… or would it be too long to listen to?" he asked Aeron in a whisper. I made a frown. They didn't even notice anyway.

"Everything after or is correct. Don't." she whispered back. My frown deepened.

This time Aeron saw it and asked me this to get that faker-frown off my face. "Who was it anyway?"

"I dunno?" I muttered really low. I didn't look in my haste to turn it off.

"Well check! If it's your parents, you'll have to lie and tell them something about why you're not home right now! I don't think they'll believe us if we said we were in the same room as the main characters of our favorite TV show!"

I did her bidding. It wasn't Mom or Dad. The Caller ID on my cell said it was somebody else. Eldred.

"It wasn't Mom or Dad."

"Was it my aunt? I doubt that but..."

"No, it was Eldred."

"Oh. What does the geek want?"

"I don't know! He didn't leave a message! I don't think it'll be wise to call him here anyway!"

"Who's Eldred?" Atem asked suddenly.

"Oh," Aeron answered his simple question, "he's Erica's nerdy friend."

"He's also the vice president of a fan club at school." I added. "I'm the president."

"I'm not even going to ask what fan club it is, because I think I already know." Yugi said. We all giggled at this. Everything lately was revolving around Yu-Gi-Oh! And it was completely obvious.

After we all finished our breakfast, Yugi volunteered to take our dishes to the kitchen. As he did so and after he came back, we talked of what we might do for the rest of the day. Yugi suggested that he and Atem give us a tour of Domino, but of course he wanted to ask the rest of his friends if they'd like to join also.

After we excused him to go make the calls, he jogged to the phone. The first person on his list to call was the Bakura residence.