Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, and all people, places, and events from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! were written and are the rightful property of Kazuki Takahashi (as it should be; if any of us fanfiction writers get our little hands on it... well, then it wouldn't be Yu-Gi-Oh!).
Author's Note: Sorry about that little wait, guys! I got 43 reviews, so I've been as happy as could be! Oh, and let me first make two things clear: a.) Atemu is NOT coming back for a bit of a while, so stop asking for him! It would ruin the whole plot if he came in too earlier. But don't worry, he will return! And b.) If there is any dueling in this here fanfiction, it will be quite brief and with as much detail as I can muster, which isn't a lot since I never liked trying to narrate a duel anyway. When it comes to YGO, I like the story line and the relationships between characters, not the duels. Frankly, the only reason I like watching the duels is for the back-talk, some exciting new drama to be created,or for a great Kaiba quote. Let's get on with this now, shall we?
#2 Author's Note: All thoughts are in italics.
Revival of the Heart
By: Angel's Nocturne
Chapter 14: These Memories That Remain….
Anzu dragged Ryou's almost lifeless body up the stone staircase into the empty museum; though perfectly conscious, Ryou complained that he couldn't feel his legs at all, as if they had gone numb all of a sudden. Anzu could understand how he must have felt, with all the running she had performed this odd night: running to Yugi's place, running to the museum… it was a long and endless affair. Her legs felt like they had turned to stone as she barely pulled herself, as well as Ryou, into the quiet building.
The interior of the Domino Museum was the same as the last time that Anzu had been inside of it: slate-colored floor tiles, slate-colored walls, and a lot of glass cases with gold objects inside. Nothing had really changed, to Anzu's dismay. Walking through the gigantic main hall and the various separate rooms within brought back memories of when she had brought Atemu here to find out about his mysterious past, and that reminded her of the airport store in Egypt where she had bought Atemu his cartouche- her cartouche now. At any random moment it would stir underneath her shirt, making her remember his sweet face, his kind smile, his ancient eyes-
Anzu shook her head sadly; she knew that it would only upset her more to think about Atemu, but it seemed to be a hopeless case when it came to trying to control that desire, for the more she resisted the harder the memories hit her. It was as if she were cursed by his angelic face, haunted by his ever-present voice whispering in her ears: "Anzu…" and then no more.
I wish I knew why this is all happening.
"Anzu, we're going this way!" Malik's voice brought Anzu out of her thoughts; she was surprised to see that she was all the way at the end of the long hallway, with Malik standing back by the automatic doors. He had Ryou on his back, his pale arms dangling uselessly off of Malik's shoulders. "Don't stray too far, otherwise you'll get lost."
"Don't worry, I'm coming." Anzu walked back down the hall, wanting to catch up to her friend, until her eye caught a little gift shop where Egyptian merchandise was being sold; it was closed for the day due to the investigations, the overhead lights beaming on the gold items. At once Anzu saw a group of cartouches hanging off some hooks attached to a wooden post, and the memories surged through her like lightening.
"Atemu…" the brunette whispered as she approached the tiny shop. The necklaces sparkled next to each other, their blank surfaces reflecting the light around them like mirrors. Tempted, Anzu mindlessly reached out to grab one, to pull it towards her, to have in her hand, but then she discovered what she was doing.
"Am I… stealing?" she thought as she stared down at the trembling hand, her wanting fingers still desiring to have that cartouche. Finding it impossible to keep herself away, Anzu realized that she could do only one thing-
"$3.50?" The price tag on the counter didn't lie, so the teen pulled out a five-dollar bill and placed it on the cold glass of the display counter. "Keep the change."
Anzu pulled off the brightest cartouche from the bunch, her fingers gliding over its smooth, golden surface. She still didn't understand why she wanted another necklace, considering that she already had one pulsing quietly against her chest. It called to her in a way, as if this blank cartouche wanted to be with her. Pulling the string over her head, the two necklaces jingled against one another; the sound made Anzu smile.
"Anzu, hurry! Ryou's getting heavy!" Malik was staggering by the automatic doors, his burden slipping off to his right. Devoid of any other distractions, the brunettes ran over to Malik and helped Ryou into a more comfortable position, preventing him from falling in further incidents. He appeared to have fainted from the extreme straining that his yami had put his body through, and Anzu only wished that she could do the same; her legs felt that they could give out from under a moment's notice.
"Anzu, are you okay?" Malik's violet eyes were looking at her frail form in a nervous way. "You don't look so good."
"I'm alright, Malik. Don't worry about me." Anzu straightened up and tried to look convincing. "I'm just a little tired from all the running we did."
"If that's so, then you should try to keep your energy up. If things are as bad as you say they are, we might be running a lot more." Giving her a kind smile, Malik pointed to one of the smaller hallways that branched off the main one. "Ishizu should be down that hall somewhere. Let's go."
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The museum was quieter than Anzu had expected it to be; her heels clicked against the smooth floors loudly that Anzu wondered if Malik could hear her heartbeat. They moved through the corridors in silence: Malik too preoccupied with Ryou on his back, and Anzu became caught up in her own thoughts. Images of Yugi's cryptic face before Yami Bakura came sent shivers straight through her. The menacing, purple pits that were supposedly his eyes constantly bore a hole in her head, his voice hissing I unison with Samira: "This is the end, Anzu."
What if I never see him again?
"You know Anzu, I've been thinking about everything that you told me", Malik said as they walked down the hall, interrupting Anzu's grief session. "It all seems kind of odd, you know? Yugi putting a knife to your throat? A blue Millennium Eye? Yami Bakura playing the role of savior? It makes your head spin a little."
"Yeah…."
"I mean, I've never heard of a blue Millennium Symbol before. They've always been yellow. And Yugi actually put a dagger to you?" Anzu nodded sadly. "That's definitely mind-control right there. There's no other reason as to why he would attack you like that."
"Yugi would never hurt anyone on his own free will. Never."
Malik looked off to the side. "Hmm…. All the more reason to wonder who this Samira person is. She's obviously powerful." Anzu looked up, slightly intrigued.
"Really? You sure?"
"Anzu, I used to own the Millennium Rod. Granted, I was controlled by an evil influence, but I can still remember how it felt to hold someone's will in your grasp, to bend as you saw fit." Malik's eyes glazed a bit, as though remembering a forgotten love. "When I used Joey against Yugi, it took a lot of my will to manage his strength. I can only imagine that Yugi is also as strong in his heart, if not stronger. With this Samira, he did break through her control and spoke to you on his own free will, but the fact that in the end you were quite close to dying at his hands means that she has a will much, much stronger than the likes we have ever seen."
The silence around them settled for a moment, their minds clouded with thoughts. Anzu shuddered in remembrance of that memory, the way Yugi stared at her with his dead eyes. The whole scenario made her wonder about the mysterious Samira.
If she is so powerful, why didn't she appear earlier, such as the Grand Tournament or sometime before when commotion wasn't as noticeable? Is it because Atemu left, she pondered sadly. Is it because now the world is free to be taken over by anyone?
"Anyway, I still don't understand why Bakura saved you", Malik said as they turned a corner and headed down a new hallway. "I mean, this is Bakura we're talking about here. Evil, cynical, thieving Bakura. If you look up 'evil' in a thesaurus, Bakura would be under there for reference. He's that tough." An icy breeze fluttered Anzu's hair, as well as Malik's, almost making her jump; it seemed that Yami Bakura had every intention to listen in on them while he took residence inside the Ring.
"I know, but he still rescued me. That's pretty selfless, if you ask me." Their footsteps echoed through the corridors as they continued on into the museum.
"It's ironic, if you think about", Malik tried to joke, "you were saved from the wrath of Yugi by Bakura. That's role reversal right there." He paused, waiting for Anzu to laugh. The dead quiet took away his smile. "Seriously though, it is kind of strange. After all, Bakura is a thief with dark, sinister Shadow Realm powers, and I'm sure that saving someone other than himself is the last thing he'd want to do. It got me thinking…."
"Thinking about what?" Anzu glanced at Malik's eyes, and saw them sparkle with realization.
"Thinking that Bakura may have saved you for his own selfish reasons."
"What?"
"You remember the Battle City semi-finals, right?" Anzu nodded. "The battle between Bakura and Yugi? When Bakura lost that duel to save his host's body? Well, you could think he was being nice and all, saving Ryou, but I was talking to Bakura telepathically. The only reason he saved Ryou was because if he didn't, his body would be destroyed and Bakura would be locked inside the Millennium Ring forever. He only did that to save himself." Anzu listened intently, Malik's words finally making sense.
"So he never thought about Ryou when he did that? It was only to keep from being stuck inside the Millennium Ring." The puzzling news from being fit into the equation perfectly, and Anzu wondered why the motive was so obvious yet she didn't see it before.
"Exactly with that in mind, I'm sure that your 'savior' has a secret reasoning for his actions. Something that benefits him in a way I haven't come up with yet, but I'm still thinking." Turning his head to see her, Malik grinned at Anzu warmly. Now feeling safe among her friends, Anzu could take a breather within the protecting fortress that was the Domino Museum.
Samira won't find us here for a long time.
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Author's Note: Thanks for waiting on me, my readers! Love all of you from the bottom of my Yu-Gi-Oh! obsessed heart XD. See ya!