Chapter 14

Yugi couldn't understand what had happened to SK. One minute he'd been helping him search for Téa, the next he'd disappeared and was refusing to answer his calls. It just wasn't like him; something was up, but he couldn't figure out what.

'SK,' he tried raising his voice for what felt like the millionth time, 'SK get here now!'

As if he'd suddenly hit the right frequency, the older guy appeared out of nowhere, dressed in a jet black Romanesque tunic. His tongue then skated across his lips several times as he glanced nervously about.

'SK what on Earth are you wearing?'

'Shh,' he hissed, 'she can't know I'm here.'

'She?'

'Dee, I mean Liekta Dayena.'

'What's going on?'

'I've been…' he gave a disgusted sigh, 'transferred.'

'What? Why?'

'She's claiming it has something to do with me not accepting my death,' he rolled his eyes as his tongue passed over his lips again. 'But I get the feeling it has something to do with Jay.'

'Why?'

'I told you I thought his grief was making him act weird, right? Well the first thing it made him do was go see Dee and according to him she wasn't the only one waiting for him,' he gave a heavy sigh. 'When he came back he was acting really weird and... he said he was sorry, but he wouldn't tell me what he was sorry about. I mean, like I said, I thought it was just his grief making him act weird, but now I'm not so sure.'

'I wonder what they're up to,' Yugi turned his gaze upwards. 'Don't they understand now's not exactly the best time for this?'

'Who knows; but the sooner the three of you can get me transferred back, the better,' he licked his lips. 'The only problem right now is that Joey's still grieving over the death of Nayta; I'm sure the last thing he needs is to be stealing me back from the Lady of Death. We're better off waiting for tomorrow and I'm pretty sure I can stick this for one day.'

'But that leaves me searching for Téa on my own.'

'Well without me around you can at least join up with the police, right?'

'If only,' he shook his head, 'Téa's mum called me again just now, apparently the police won't start looking till she's been missing for twenty-four hours.'

'But what about you finding her phone in the trash like that?' SK frowned. 'Surely that indicates suspicious circumstances.'

'That's what I said and then Mrs Gardener got all weird and evasive. I think she knows something I don't and that's making the police delay their search.'

'This is just getting more and more complicated by the second,' he licked his lips again. 'Look, I know Jay's probably going to be as weird with you as he was with me earlier, but you might want to call him in to help you.'

'But that would put both of our powers down, remember?'

'I know it's not ideal, but…'

'I'll think about it.'

SK shifted from side to side for a few moments, as his gaze went edgily up towards the sky.

'I think I'm being summoned,' he licked his lips.

'Go,' Yugi nodded, 'I'll be fine.'

'Okay, but please call me if you need me and I'll do my best to get away.'

'Don't get yourself into trouble over this SK.'

'But working for the Mistresses is all about getting into trouble,' he smirked as he licked his lips again, 'and I wouldn't have it any other way.'

The second Mai had taken off, Ahna knew it had something to do with her suspected pregnancy. After all, if she was already worried about it, the conversation she'd just had to go through was more than enough to upset her further. It was just a relief the others had all jumped to the conclusion that Mai had taken off because being reminded about Joey's near death when her friend had just died had been too much for her. As they debated over whether or not they should go look for her or just wait for her to return on her own, Ahna turned her attention towards the two infants.

Crovell, who'd been placed inside the crib next to his sister, was repeatedly squeaking Jo's name, whilst happily waving the toy block she'd given him. Smiling sadly, her mind drifted back to her encounter with their older selves. As she did she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, looking up she saw Joey staring at her.

'I'm going to look for Mai,' his voice was mute, 'you mind watching Jo for me?'

'Sure,' she nodded, 'but what do you think,' she indicated towards both of his children, 'pretty cute, huh?'

'What do you expect when they have me as a father?'

'That's not what I mean,' she rolled her eyes, 'I mean their closeness.'

'I think they're too young to have a closeness,' he shook his head dismissively, 'all they see is another person about the same size as them.'

'I don't think so.'

'They're babies, Ahna.'

'Yeah and sometimes I think you forget just how intelligent your son is, despite being just a baby.'

'I don't forget,' he shrugged, 'I choose to ignore it.'

'Why?'

'Because I'm scared he's more intelligent than I am.'

'And that's a reason to ignore it?'

'It is when you just want to treat your son as a baby. I mean, intelligent or not, that's still what he is.'

'I know.'

'So as far as I'm concerned, they're too young to have a closeness and the less intelligent thoughts he has, the better. I mean, he causes enough trouble as it is.'

'I know, but you can't begrudge him that.'

'I'm not begrudging him anything; I'm simply going to ignore the fact he's more intelligent than I am for a few more years.'

'How many more years?'

'Until he's at least sixteen.'

'You're terrible,' she rolled her eyes again.

'I know,' he shrugged, 'but what you going to do?'

'Weren't you going to go look for Mai?' Ahna gave a heavy sigh and turned her attention back towards the crib.

'Yeah,' his voice was filled with thoughtful tones.

'What is it?' She turned back to look at him.

'What's what?'

'There was something in your voice, what's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong, I just…' he hesitated.

'You just what?'

'I've just got this feeling something weird's going on. I mean, first the fire, then Nayta and now Jo using her powers, that's a lot for one day.'

'I don't know,' she sighed again, 'feels like an average sort of day to me, minus Nayta… well you know.'

'I know, but I still…'

'Still what?'

'I don't know,' he shook his head again, 'I guess I'm looking for things that aren't there.'

'Probably,' she shot him a weak smile. 'So why not look for something that is there, I'm sure Mai will appreciate you going to find her.'

'Okay, see you Ahna.'

'Arenon Veronie.'