Crystal stood outside Maximillion's bedroom door, hesitating. How could she face the man she had once trusted completely, the man who had saved her from endless torment. He'd comforted her when she couldn't sleep, held her hair back when she had the flu. He even homeschooled her. With his guidance she'd skipped a few grades and graduated highschool a few months back. Maximillion had been her foundation; he'd been one of the few constants in a life she kept forgetting.
A life he'd been making her forget.
She took a deep breath. Pegasus didn't care about how close they had been, so she shouldn't either. Crystal opened the door and stepped in. She was relieved to see that someone had covered his empty eye socket with bandages. Pegasus opened his eye when she came in and he smiled at her weakly. "I didn't think you'd come," he said, his voice soft. Crystal walked towards him and stopped at the end of his bed. He raised his hand, and she noticed it tremble slightly. "Come closer, Crystal."
"I'm fine right here, thanks," she told him stiffly.
Pegasus closed his eye and sighed, "I deserved that." He was quiet for a few seconds, before speaking. "So, you want to know about your family?"
"How'd you guess?"
He laughed softly, "Sweetheart, I don't need a magic eye to know your devotion to you brother is unbreakable. You want to know everything about him. Everything I made you forget."
Crystal nodded, her heart beating faster.
"I'm afraid I cannot help you."
"What?" she yelled at him, her temper flaring. "You think you can waltz into my life, make me lose everything important, EVERYTHING I loved, and then say 'My bad. Oh, and I can't help you remember it either'! Who the hell do you think you are?"
Pegasus watched her sadly. "Crystal, I just can't remember. The Millenium Eye was a part of me. It contained much of my strength, leaving me weak and bed-ridden. It also contained the memories I masked, becasuse I didn't want to think of them. Your past is as much a mystery to you as it is to me."
Crystal closed her eyes, fighting back her despair. She had nothing. Not even a face to go on.
"Crissy," Pegasus said, trying to get her attention, "I may have something that could spark your memory. Look in the drawer in my bedside table," he told her.
She walked over, and when she opened the drawer she found a bundle of cloth. Crystal picked it up and sat in the rocking chair a few feet away. "What is it?" she asked.
"It's what you were wearing when you were in the Shadow Realm."
Crystal sifted through the clothing and froze. A gold circlet rested in the center of the bundle. She picked it up and examined it. It was simple, yet beautiful. It was not a complete circle; at the front the gold curves end's tilted up and curled, almost making circles on both sides (I'll draw this and put it on the cp if I can. I know my description sucks). A gold thread was tied to both sides just before the curve turned up, and suspended from it was a teardrop shaped piece of amber. The Egyptian eye, the one on every Millenium Item, was carved on it, but the carving seemed to be inside the amber. She set the bundle of clothing down and walked over to Pegasus' dresser, watching in the mirror as she placed it on her head. The drop of amber rested right in the center of her forehead.
Her eyes widened. She did remember something. The Egyptian eye (I'm just gonna call it that, since it isn't exactly the Eye of Horus) shone on her forehead, and the light passed through the droplet of amber, bathing the room in a warm, golden color.
Crystal was sitting in her bedroom, looking into the mirror. Her calm, eight-year-old face stared back at her. She was holding her mother's circlet in her hands, the circlet she wore in honor of her mother's spirit. Mama had died a few months ago giving birth to her brother, the future Egyptian Pharoah. Crystal had gladly given up the position. The fate of Egypt should not rest on the shoulders of a deathly ill girl. Her mother would be placed in the same cave her father would be, waiting to enter the beyond with him.
She heard the door open and turned to see who it was. "Hello father," Crystal greeted bowing her head slightly.
"You miss her a lot, don't you?" he asked her. His grave eyes were filled with pain, reliving the loss of his wife all over again.
"How did you know?"
He smiled slightly, "You're always formal when you feel sad."
Crystal turned away. "I still can't believe it. Mama was perfectly fine, and then..." She bit her lip, her eyes watering. Crystal forced the memory of the blood from her mind and stared down at her lap.
Daddi's hand touched her shoulder. "I have a feeling that's not the only thing you're upset about."
She looked at the crutches she needed to walk, then back at her lap where the black dress she wore hid her wasted legs. "I don't think I'll be able to make it all the way to the cave."
"I'll carry you if that's what it takes to get you there," he said, kneeling next to her. He picked up the circlet she held and set it on her head. "You look just like her, you know."
"Really?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face. When he nodded, Crystal threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. That was the highest praise anyone could ever give her.
The door opened again and Wingweaver entered, holding her dear baby brother. She walked over to them and bowed. "My Pharaoh," Wingweaver greeted, then smiled at Crystal. "My princess," she said, reaching out to ruffle her hair.
Crystal giggled and reached out for the baby cradled in Wingweaver's arm. She smiled at how easily he fit in her arms, and shifted him a little so he didn't press on the painful, ugly mark on her left arm. "How is my little prince this morning?" she asked him, brushing a stray lock of hair from his eyes. His hair was surprisingly long for someone so young. His large, purple eyes blinked up at her and she noticed his cheeks were flushed. "Have you been crying, my sweet? Of course you have," She said, answering her own question, "You know that today is a sad day." Crystal stroked his cheeks and kissed his forehead. She rested her head against his, feeling her shoulder's relax and the ache in her legs lessen. Her little brother was the most important thing in her life, and Crystal would protect him until the day she died.
No matter how short a time that would be.
Crystal blinked and was staring in Pegasus' mirror again. She clutched her little brother to her, but realized he was no longer there. The loss hit her like a physical blow, and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ease the ache in her heart. "Crystal?" Maximillion asked, sounding worried, "Crystal, are you alright?"
"Yeah," she said after a few seconds. She removed the circlet and stared at it. This once belonged to her mother; Mamma had worn it. Not only that, she, Crystal, was the daughter of a Pharoah! A princess!
Crystal couldn't stop herself from rubbing her left arm where the black bruise once was. Her skin was unblemished, and she didn't understand how that could be. She'd been dying, slowly but surely. Back then, she could barely walk without the aid of crutches, and now she was perfectly healthy.
Her hand moved farther up her arm to where her baby brother's head had rested such a long time ago. She'd seen him! She'd held him in her arms!
And now he's gone again.
Shh... Wingweaver soothed her. Now is not the best time to examine what we've learned. We should be somewhere we won't be disturbed before looking at them closer.
To emphasize her point, Pegasus questioned her again. "Did you learn anything helpful, Crissy?"
"Yes," she told him, standing up. Her legs felt funny for a moment; the memory making her think they should be weaker. Crystal waited a until the feeling faded before walking back over to the rocking chair to pick up the clothes she had worn in the Shadow Realm. She wrapped them around the circlet and walked towards the door, lost in her thoughts.
"Crystal," Pegasus' voice caught her attention. She turned around and saw Maximillion was trying to sit up, but succeeded only in propping himself up on his elbows. "Will you ever be able to forgive me for what I've done?"
"Maybe someday," she said truthfully, "Not today, not tomorrow, but someday I might."
He nodded sinking back down onto his bed. "Thank you," he whispered. She could tell by the rise and fall of his chest that he was asleep a few seconds later.
His soul no longer contains the darkness it once did, Wingweaver noted, The Millenium Eye may have been influencing him to commit the acts he did.
What do you mean? Crystal asked, surprised.
The residue of a Millenium Item's previous owner is often left on the item, influencing the next to use it, Wingweaver explained, The one who wore the Millenium Eye before Pegasus must have had a dark heart, and that left a mark upon the item, a mark that darkened Pegasus' soul. Still in grief from the loss of his wife, he would have been very susceptible to this evil.
Crystal turned away from Maximillion's sleeping body. Evil residue or not, there was no excuse for what he had done. She slipped out the door and shut it quietly.
"Crystal!" said someone right behind her.
She jumped and whirled around. "I've been looking all over for you!" Johnny told her. He looked at the door she'd just exited, then back at her. "I heard that someone stole Pegasus' Eye. Is he alright?"
"Yeah, just tired," Crystal said, "Did you already find Mokuba?"
Johnny shook his head, "Kaiba took off as soon as I showed him out of the dungeon. He said something about not trusting one of Pegasus' suits and how he could find his brother himself."
"Typical," she sighed. "They'll be fine. The guards are like a duelist without a spell cards when Pegasus isn't ordering them around. They won't give anyone trouble."
"What's that you're holding?" he asked.
"I'll tell you later. Right now I need to pack for a trip."
"Where are we going?" Johnny questioned.
Crystal smiled, "Egypt."
"It's time then?"
"Yep," she said, "It's time to go home. I have a little brother to find."
Author's note: Ok, so the chapter after the next chapter is when I go on a tangent. I really suck at guestamating. Then again, I wasn't planning on writing so much. Yes I know it's not much compared to some people, but I like shorter chapters. Means I update more frequently and you, the reader, can stop at good stopping places and eat or something. I am always interupted in the middle of a chapter and it annoys the hell out of me! While I was ranting, I just go over 2,000 words so this is actually one of my longer chapters, since it doesn't have a duel play-by-play in it. Next chapter Crystal meets up with everyone, then they don't see each other for a few chapters (coming from me, that probably means six or something). :'( Why am I mean to myself? Anyway, plz review!