Hey everyone!
So, the funeral is over, my health is okay, and I don't see any reason for not updating in a timely manner anymore. So hopefully you'll be seeing two or three chapters a week, just like I hoped from the start!
Thank you once again for all your patience with this story! I'm really hoping you guys are enjoying it!
Chapter 14 : The Card Shop
Pushing the shutter door to the card shop open, Seto was unsurprised to find it nearly pitch black inside the building. Only a light ray of sunlight entered, and it was quickly swallowed whole by the darkness. He sighed in frustration as he raised the flashlight and turned it on. "Doesn't look like there are any enemies walking around right now," he noted out loud, waving his flashlight around as he slowly took a step inside. Jounouchi followed suit behind him, closing shut the door and effectively blocking out the only natural light.
"What the...?" Jounouchi frowned as he approached Seto. "Where are we?"
Seto's eyes widened as he, too, scanned their surroundings. This was not what he anticipated for a card shop. An open, perfectly-square lobby greeted them, vacant except for a few wooden benches and potted plants. On all sides were shutter doors leading into connected rooms, and two stairwells near the back led up to the second floor balcony. Seto couldn't make out what was up there on the second floor due to the darkness, but the wooden, central pillars appeared to go up and up, disappearing above them into the pitch black ceiling. Returning the light to what was in front of them, he slowly took a step forward, listening as it echoed off the wooden panel flooring.
"Creepy...just like everything else in this fucking game..." Jounouchi muttered.
Seto swallowed hard. The more he examined, the more on edge he became. The room was not as empty as he had been led to believe. Sake cups littered the floor, as did empty boxes of cards, matches, flower petals, and other paraphenalia. Paintings that bordered on pornographic images hung from the walls, depicting beautifully nude women in natural settings, like hot springs or a forest. He realized that it was not a regular card shop but a brothel.
A brothel that looked as though a major fight had just occurrred in.
"Blood," Jounouchi nearly spat, pointing on the floor in front of him. "Surprise, surprise. Blood trails. Don't tell me we have to follow another ghost around."
"I don't believe so," Seto answered, flashing the light on the multitude of bloody footprints, blood trails, and even bloodied pottery. No weapons, though. "The note from our friend indicated that the little girl we saw was the only friendly ghost we would encounter."
Seto listened as Jounouchi sighed heavily. "Not sure which is worse... Following a friendly ghost, or having no friendly ghosts at all."
By now, Seto was standing in the middle of the lobby. Pointing his flashlight upwards, he frowned in dismay when he saw no sign of the ceiling. With the light that he had, he could only make out the first and second floors. Just how big of a place is this? he thought as he slowly turned, counting the number of doors on the first floor as he did so. And will we have to examine every room? Unlock every door? He groaned. No, there has to be an objective. Whoever imprisoned me in here wants me to wander around aimlessly for eternity. But every game has an objective.
"Yo Kaiba, come here a sec."
Blinking, Seto turned and flashed the light towards Jounouchi, who was now standing in front of one of the many shutter doors located on the first floor. He watched as Jounouchi slowly pushed the shutter open, the sound grating and echoing in the emptiness of the lobby. Curiosity got the better of him, and he quickly rushed over to the blonde's side, using the flashlight to see into the room.
What he saw made his stomach turn.
Two overturned, wooden tables lay precariously on the floor. The mats used to sit on were covered in sake and wine, stained beyond use. Blood stains covered the floor and were splashed against the walls like paint. Dirt from a destroyed bonzai tree was scattered on the floor, and Seto's eyes widened when he noticed a pattern outlined in the dirt. "Footprints... Distinct footprints."
"Yeah," Jounouchi replied, his voice much lower than before. "Someone else has been here. Maybe recently, too."
Seto's lips pursed together. "Most likely a ghost or two... We better do what we came here to do."
"Which was?"
"Solve a puzzle," Seto replied, turning on his heels as he did so.
"And how do we solve this particular puzzle?"
"That's the tricky part..." Indeed, Seto had nothing to go off of in terms of clues or hints. The note from the room told us where to find the second puzzle but not what the puzzle was or how to solve it. We don't even know what we are looking for... Seto's frown deepened. I cannot imagine where I would be if it wasn't for our friend or Jounouchi. If I entered this place, thinking I could just walk out of this game, when there are ghosts around... He shivered. Why am I thinking like this? I need to focus. I need to figure out this game and get the hell out of here. Reflecting on horrifying 'what ifs' gets one nowhere.
He shook his head to brush aside the negative thoughts before turning his flashlight in the direction of the lobby. Might as well see if there are any clues in here... Hearing footsteps, he turned to see Jounouchi quickly approaching him, that cheeky grin on his face. "Did you find anything?" he inquired, hoping the blonde's grin meant success.
To his surprise, Jounouchi shook his head no. "I went to search," he admitted, "but then I kinda remembered I don't have a flashlight. And how am I supposed ta look around when it's this dark?"
Seto growled slightly in frustration. If only I hadn't lost the first one...then we would each have one, and it would make searching this place so much easier. He watched as the blonde slowly walked around in a wide circle, examining the contents on the ground. Seto himself began examining the doors around them, using the light to search for anything that stood out. A name, a key, a picture... Anything that might indicate a clue as to our objective.
"Hey Kaiba, point the light over here, man."
Looking down, Seto saw that Jounouchi was kneeling next to an overturned table. He frowned at being ordered around but nevertheless pointed the light at the blonde. Seto watched in confusion as he turned over the table, setting it right-side up. "I thought it looked weird...check this out!"
Indeed, Seto noticed it as well now that the table was properly placed. Approaching the table, he laid his hand down on the wood and felt the two perfectly rectangular imprints carved into the material. "How did you notice this?" he asked.
"Well, I mean, none of the other tables have these indents."
"But how did you know to look for this?"
Jounouchi shrugged. "You might not give me a ton of credit, Kaiba, but I can pay attention to details when it means my survival." The blonde returned his attention to the table, feeling around it with his hands for anything suspicious. "On the streets, a light in a nearby alleyway might mean the difference between a fight and an easy way home. A weird car could be owned by an enemy. Noises in my house often meant my dad was drunk. I'm not good in school, but I know how to pay attention to surroundings." Slamming his hands down in frustration, he muttered, "Shit, nothing that fits into these things. Maybe we gotta find 'em? Whatever fits in these indents, I mean. Could that be the puzzle?"
Seto was too busy processing the blonde's words to really be paying any bit of attention to him. What in the world is he talking about? His dad is...was a drunk? He bit his lower lip. What the hell...
"Uh, Kaiba, you a'ight, man?"
Noticing Jounouchi's hands waving in front of his face, he brushed them aside, though not as roughly as he had before. "Yes, I'm here. Just...thinking. About how we're going to get out of here."
"Well, look at this." Placing his hands on the ends of the table, Jounouchi seemed to pull with all his might. Grunting, he twisted right and left. The table stayed in its position. "Thing is stuck to the floor. Don't know how. Maybe putting it up properly kinda triggered somethin'. Might mean that, if we find these objects, we can move it. Think it leads to a secret passage?"
"I think it is curious enough to look into," Seto muttered. Standing from his position, he glanced around. "But that means we will have to find two objects." He once again looked at all the doors surrounding them. Which means this is about to get interesting...
"Well, if there's only two floors, it shouldn't be quite so bad, should it?" Jounouchi pushed himself up and brushed the dirt from his pants. "And I dunno about you, but I have yet to see or hear any signs of ghosts."
Seto had noticed that, too, and he wasn't sure what exactly to make of it. The note warned that there would be ghosts here...and those notes have been right up to this point. Perhaps something triggers them? If so, wouldn't finding the table do so? Unless the table has nothing to do with the puzzle...
"Got a game plan?"
Seto slowly turned to look at Jounouchi. The blonde had his hands in his pockets, and he was smiling calmly at him. Seto slowly nodded. "If the table requires two cards, and there are two floors in this building, then it is easy to assume that there is a card on each floor. Rather than starting on the first floor, though, we should start on the second. I have a feeling that something will trigger a ghost's presence. I don't believe this area is as safe as we want it to be. We can get the first card on the second floor just in case. That way, if something is triggered, we can quickly scan this floor and rush to the table without worrying about the stairs."
Jounouchi's eyes widened. "Nice plan, man! Wouldn't have thought of all that. But how will we know what rooms we entered?"
Seto scanned the area quickly one last time. "It seems the building makes a complete square. We can use the stairwell as a marker. I highly doubt it will cause too much trouble, but we can also keep the shutter doors open to mark where we've been."
Jou nodded. "Sounds good. I just don't wanna waste time in here revisiting rooms, you know what I mean?"
Seto nodded in agreement. He turned and began approaching the stairwell, listening to the blonde's footsteps behind him. Climbing the stairs two at a time, he swiftly made it to the second floor balcony. His light revealed more blood stains on the floor, but he ignored them, choosing instead to turn left and approach the first shutter door on his left-hand side. He reached forward to open it, but a sudden noise caused him to stop.
His hand froze. What...what was that...? He turned to look down into the lobby. There was no sign of any activity. He then glanced over at the blonde, who was now eyeing him curiously.
"What's up?"
"Did you...hear anything?"
Jou frowned. "No..."
Seto's frown deepened. Sighing, he muttered, "Maybe it's just my nerves." He reached forward once again to open the shutter door. But the second he grasped it, he saw it.
A shadow.
Before he knew it, a blade pierced through the shutter door in front of him. The sound of the door crunching echoed throughout the lobby. The outline of another person on the other side of the door became visible by the falling flashlight.
And Seto felt the blade pierce his chest.