Chapter 21: Of Lullabies and Magicians

For those who were wondering, yes the Marik chapter was originally supposed to be before its previous chapter, but because it would have entailed spoilers of sorts, it was placed after the aforementioned chapter. I apologize if that last chapter seemed jarring and out of place.

Yugi flipped through his card, determining his strategy for hit next duel, the pamphlet from earlier that day open and next to him. He sat a a table in the corner of his suite, hunched over, music playing in the background. His cards were scattered across the table as he thumbed through them, thinking. There was a small golden box on the table as well, the lid half off and the Eye of Horus seeming to perpetually gaze at him, judging each decision he made concerning his choice.

"You're always watching me, aren't you, Atem?" Yugi chuckled at the box. The box made no answer, as he expected it to, but at the same time, he almost wished it would, anything that would help him through this. The day had been trying, to say the least. It seemed eerie, how Vivian collapsed the way she did. It felt familiar, especially since Valon had been the one dueling her. He had heard about Valon occasionally the past few years, on some news or another about tournaments he had won. Valon had been one of the first duelists to become sponsored, meaning that companies paid him to compete in tourneys, as long as he promoted the company, usually by wearing an article of clothing with their logo or mentioning them in interviews. It was a lucrative gig; Yugi had been offered to become a sponsored duelist, but he declined, focusing on his studies.

"Now, should I add in Sage's Stone?" He wondered. "Or stick with Dark Renewal? Or both?" He fingered the cards, contemplating. His violet eyes glanced furtively at the clock, noting the time. It read nearly eleven thirty at night and the call time in the following morning was at nine. He thought of going to bed, but decided against it; he had work to do.

"You know, now that I think about it, I haven't seen Kaiba all day really." He knew that Kaiba had won his duel as well as Ishizu. Kaiba nearly set a record, defeating his opponent in three turns, without even the smallest dent in his life points. "I wonder what he's up to." He suspected that Kaiba was too busy investigating Midas, for the man had never appeared on their radars until now. It set off bells in his head.

There was a knock at the door and Yugi nearly jumped form his seat, startled. He had been so focused on his deck building that he completely shut off the outside world. "Coming!" He shouted at the door, ignoring the fact that he was only dressed in his black tank-top and black pants.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tea fidgeted at the door, nervous. She had decided against swimming that night; it had been much too brisk for her tastes. She probably managed to disappoint Mai somehow. At the least, she should toss the woman a bone, so to speak. Mai was always curious about her friends' doings, especially in the romantic area. "Yet Mai won't even talk about her own," Tea thought. How ironic it was, she determined.

She giggled as she spied a violet eye peering through the peep hole, looking much larger than usual. The door cracked open. She waved. "Hey."

He stammered a bit before replying "Hey Tea, what are you doing up?"

"I thought we could hang out. I noticed the light under your door." she paused. "I'm not bugging you, am I?"

"Don't worry, you never bug me," Yugi answered. "I was just working on my deck. You can come in, if you want." He opened the door even wider, and Tea spotted the fact that Yugi was wearing his tank-top. He noticed her starring and he flushed. "Sorry, I'll go and get my jacket."

She said, flustered, "Oh no, you don't have to do that! Oh this is just great. Mai's going to be rolling when she hears of this. Well, if she hears of this."

Yugi led her in. "Here, I'll grab you another chair. I'm almost finished with my deck anyway. Not really, but hey, I can get it in the morning." He dragged another chair across the carpet, placing it near the table. Tea took a seat, flipping it around so that she was resting her arms on the back of the chair. She inched it closer to the table, watching as Yugi started to put his cards away.

"Here, let me just finish this up here," he said quietly, placing the cards in the box. Tea stopped him with her hand, clasping it by the wrist.

"You don't have to worry about that," she said. "I don't mind watching you work. It's relaxing and kind of fun."

"You think so?" he asked, brief confusion crossing his face, mildly surprised at her comment.

"Yeah, it's kind of fun." she released his hand and he paused. She reached for one of the cards. "Maha Vailo, I remember this card."

"Yeah, I still have it."

"Didn't you say once that this card was the most like you?"

He was tempted to take the card from her, but decided against it, the memory bubbling up. It had been so long ago. "I might have. Why?"

"Just reminiscing. Do you think the card still is the most like you,even now?"

He mulled it over. "I'm not sure, actually. Maybe back from when I was younger, but I 'm not sure now." He decided to turn the tables on her. "Do you think it is?" he asked, smiling slyly.

She was taken aback. "Actually," she reached for another card. "I think this one is most like you now." She held the card up, allowing him to see.

"The Dark Magician? That's my favorite card, but I don't think it's most like me. That was the card most like Atem."

"Of course it is." she insisted.

"How so?"

She mulled it over. "Well, like you, it's strong." She began, placing the card back on the table. "But, if you give it the right cards," she pointed to Dark Magician Girl, Dark Renewal, and Mystic Box. "It becomes even stronger. Just like when your friends and loved ones are with you."

"Huh," Yugi picked up the card, as if seeing it in a new light. "I guess I never really saw it that way before. You have a point."

"Aren't I always right?" Tea leaned back in her seat and smiled.

"Well, you were when Joey decided to put those ghost chilies on his pizza."

"Ah, the night of the porcelain throne." Tea pulled a face. "Tell me again, why does he do those crazy things?"

"Because Duke dared him to do it? And that we're boys?"

"Well, you're a boy and you haven't done something that crazy."

"I think I've done some crazy stuff, or did you forget those years in high school."

"That is a different sort of crazy. What Joey and the other boys do is a stupid crazy. There is a difference." She pointed out.

"And speaking of crazy, you know, I haven't seen Kaiba all day, since we boarded the boat."

"I know, it's like he turned into some sort of hermit, only emerging from his cave to duel."

"I think it is because of Midas weirding him out, especially since I heard that all the Duel Disks we received were Kaiba Corp template Disks, for companies to use for promotions."

"Midas is weirding us all out, frankly." Tea added. "There's something, not "right" about him."

"Well, he does wear a creepy golden mask."

"No, there's something else," Tea tapped her chin in thought. "Something really familiar about him, like we dealt with him before."

"Now that I think about it. . ." Yugi trailed off. "It feels like we have dealt with him before." The thought suddenly chilled him; the more he thought of it, the idea of an old foe reaching beyond the grave grew more and more frightening, and disturbing. But which one? He had no idea where to start. Maybe if he found a way to contact Kaiba, he could at the vary least find some footing to get started on his "research". His eyes glanced at the clock. More than a hour had past since he began talking with Tea. The time had slipped by so quickly he barely had time to notice.

"Yugi?" Tea waved a hand in front of his face. "You're zoning off."

"Huh? Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Don't worry yourself over Midas yet." Tea said, echoing his thoughts perfectly. "Who knows? Maybe we're just a bunch of paranoid young adults and Midas is just one of those eccentric millionaires."

Yugi flashed a smile. "I hope so."

"Hey, I got an idea," Tea began, changing the subject. "Maybe we could go hang out some time tomorrow."

"That would be nice, actually. We haven't hung out in quite a while."

"Not unless you count all the Skype sessions," she joked. During her stay in New York and his in Egypt at the dig, they had set up respective Skype accounts, to keep in contact. Yes, the hours were unusual, trying to figure out the time zones, but it was worth the odd hours and occasional sleepiness after spending hours on Skype. Her eyes caught the clock. "Well, I guess it's getting late and you should get some rest for tomorrow." her hand slipped on top of his as she got up from her seat. "good night Yugi." she seemed reluctant to remove her hand, but eventually did so, slowly.

"Good night Tea." He watched as she left the room, his hand still tingling as she left the room. The idea of hanging out with Tea, just Tea and not the rest of the gang, made him smile.

And he could not, for the life of him, figure out why.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

She knelt to the floor, on her hands and knees, agony ripping through her body and soul, pain she had never truly felt before. She watched through her mane of hair as her Harpy Lady obliterated in thousands of pieces like broken glass, the monster pieced by a single arrow.

"Stay on your knees, Valentine!" Raphael leered, the Seal of Orichalos emblazoned on his forehead, a brand of sickly green. "Like the traitor you are!"

She struggled to stand upright. "Can't you see what the Seal is doing to you!" she screamed. "It's destroying you from the inside out! You've become nothing more than Dartz' lapdog!"

"What's the matter Valentine?" Raphael sneered, his normally blue eyes a vibrant shade of red, just like his monster, Guardian Eatos, hovering above him like a guardian angel. "Is your love for Wheeler making you soft?"

"Shut up! Shut up!" she screeched, her hands clenched. "You don't understand! The Orichalcos. . ." she trailed off, her vision now double. Was this was Joey felt, she wondered, when he dueled against her, that one last time? She fumbled for her next card. She gasped when she saw it: The Claw of Hermos.

Joseph's card.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I summon The Claw of Hermos!" The monster appeared above her, in all its glory. She smirked. "You're in for it now, Guardian Boy."

Then, the monster bellowed mournfully and shattered into a million pieces, showering all over her.

"What. . What happened?" she said, forlorn.

"You aren't the true wielder of the card." Raphael explained, as if he were telling this to a child. "It won't work for you." he smirked. "My turn." he pulled a card. "Not as if I need it for my final blow. Guardian Eatos, wipe out the last of her Life Points!"

The angelic monster aimed her bow at Mai-

-and fired.

She woke up to a start, hand at her chest, as if she were trying to yank the arrow out of her chest. Her heart raced, the dream so vivid and real, it was like she was experiencing the duel all over again. "I haven't dreamed that in years," she mused. "So why now?" her other hand slowly released its vice like grip on the sheets and she hugged her knees in the absolute darkness. She turned to her left, where Vivian's bed was. "Vivian? Vivian, are you awake?" she paused, waiting for Vivian to mutter something under her breath, but wake up, nonetheless. She sounded like a frightened child, scared of the thunderstorm on the horizon.

There was no reply and as Mai's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized that Vivian wasn't there. Mai recalled the day's events. "Right, I forgot." she felt adrift, lost at sea, a boat without an anchor, with no one to talk to.

Well, there was one person she could talk to.

She shook her head. That was a poor idea, to say the least. She knew he was staying with both Duke and Tristan, so that would never work.

She slowly got out of the bed and padded softly to a desk and chair, where her jacket was hanging. She pulled it on and walked out of the room, bare-footed, to her comatose friend in the hospital ward.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Remind me to never have a mini-party with Tristan, Duke and Bakura," Joey grumbled, stomping down the hallway. "They will clean you out." he had woken to a growling stomach and decided to take a look in the small fridge the room had. Unfortunately, all he found was a half full can of soda and a nearly empty bag of chips. Granted, he had helped the three clean out the refrigerator, he was still a little miffed that there was almost literally nothing left.

So, he devoured whatever was left in the bag of chips and decided to head down to the kitchens to see if he could make himself a midnight snack. Or, at the very least, he could find a vending machine and get something from there. For Joey, an empty stomach meant a poor night's sleep and a poor night sleep will lead to a poor performance tomorrow in the next round of the tournament. Something he did not wish to happen.

As he meandered down the hall, he was struck with an idea. "Hey, maybe I can go check on Mai's friend Vivian and she how she's doing." He smiled at the brilliant idea of his. Mai would like that, he thought and then paused at the way he worded it. "Eh, whatever." he began to make a beeline down the hall. Plus, if he recalled, there was a nice old Grecian nurse at the hospital ward who seemed to have an endless supply of pudding cups on hand.

Eventually, he made his way down to the hospital hall, a trip that was out of the way and rather lengthy, considering that the hospital ward was in another building. Thankfully, the residential building where the duelists stayed at was connected to the hospital "building", by a enclosed corridor. His feet slapped against the tiled floor, the occasional light on the ceiling on. "Should have worn shoes," he mumbled, looking down at his feet. They were probably dirty from the floor too, now that he thought about it. The floor didn't bother him though, it was how loud he was. He adjusted his jean jacket and roamed down the hallway, trying to remember Vivian's room number. He couldn't remember it off the top of his head—not that he was really paying attention—so he had to make do with peeking into nearly every single hospital room. There wasn't a single nurse around. The hall was as silent as a tomb and he wondered if there were any on staff, should some emergency occur. He suspected they were, but somewhere else at the moment.

He finally found her room, being the only open one at the moment. It struck him as odd, the room left open like that. When Yugi had to stay in the hospital overnight after the fire in the warehouse, the nurses had closed his door, but leaving it unlocked so that he, Tristan, Tea, and Grandpa Muto could visit.

He poked his head inside, seeing the faint light off the machines hooked up to Vivian. There seemed to be no signs of change from the woman, but he took note of something different in the room. There was someone else, sitting in a chair at Vivian's bedside, head tipped to one side. Curious, Joey quietly tip-toed inside. It was Mai, dozing off at Vivian's bedside, wearing a breezy tank-top and a pair of flannel pajama bottoms. Her signature violet jacket was sitting on her shoulders, a make do blanket. For Joey, it was surprising to see Mai in something other than her white top, short skirt and knee high stiletto boots. It made her look vulnerable.

He went inside the room, looking for something to at least, cover Mai in, a blanket or something. She looked awfully cold in her current outfit. He began to rummage in each of the cabinets in Vivian's room, finding nothing more than hospital equipment. He opened the last cabinet, one up higher on the wall across from Vivian's bed. The door creaked loudly and he froze, watching to see if Mai would awaken, or worse, some nurse would come by and investigate. There were no signs of either event happening, so he opened the cabinet door slowly, one hand on the hinges, praying fervently that it would stop squeaking.

"Ah-ha," he whispered, for he found a mound of folded up fleece blankets, thick and plush. He pulled one out, quickly shutting the door, lest it creak even louder. The blanket he picked out was a pale cream color and very plush and soft. He unfolded the blanket and began to place it around Mai's shoulders.

The weight of the blanket made he stir from her rest. "Who's there?" she mumbled quietly.

"It's me, Joey."

"Joseph? What are you doing here?" Mai asked softly, groggy from sleep.

"I was heading towards the kitchen, then I thought I would check on Vivian for you, but then I found you sleeping here instead." he explained. "Here, why don't we get you back into bed."

"But. . " she protested softly, sleepy eyes looking over at Vivian.

"Hey, I'm sure that your friend here wouldn't want you acting like this. She'd want you to go out there in the tournament and win for her. And that means getting a good night sleep."

"Then why are you up?" she mumbled, half arguing, holding the blanket tightly around her. She knew full well why, since he told her, but he guessed that she, despite her torpid state, was trying to rile him. Typical Mai, he smiled

"It's a long story, remember? Better yet," he amended. "Why don't we both get back to bed. We got a long day tomorrow."

She wanted to protest his reasoning, in spite of her sleepiness; it seemed ingrained in her character, but she decided to let it slide,just this once. "Okay,"

He helped her out of her chair, Mai still with the blanket around her shoulders like a cape. Joey could tell she was still sleepy, so he placed his hands on her shoulders to help guide her is she should stumble. He helped steer her out of the room and back down the hall. He passed the front desk, seeing a nurse playing solitaire on the computer there, taking no notice of Joey and Mai.

"Huh, guess there was a nurse here after all," he said to himself.

"What?" Mai asked sleepily.

He shook his head. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

He finally led her down to the residential building, asking her for the number of her room. It was on a level higher than his, so they had to ride the elevator. The elevator was all but silent, quiet strains of typical elevator music playing. Mai yawned and leaned against Joey's shoulder. He froze, unsure what to do. The change of events were highly unusual, to say the least in his book. "We're almost there, Mai." he told her.

"I know," she mumbled into his shoulder.

Eventually, he elevator pinged open, the moment over. Joey guided her back to her room. "Got a room key?"

"It's in my pocket," she pulled out a hotel key and placed it in the door slot, the little light flashing green and unlocking the door. She opened the door slowly, but stopped halfway in the door. "Thank you," she said to him.

"Yeah, no problem," he said, hands behind his back.

She gave him a sleepy smile and went inside, closing the door behind her. Feeling that she was back into bed and hopefully not out for another night stroll, he too, headed to bed, his empty stomach forgotten. He could wait until breakfast.

Mai sat back in bed, the blanket still around her shoulders. It was so soft and warm, comforting her, reminding her of a lamb. She cuddled with it as she fell back to sleep rather quickly.

The dream did not disturb her for the rest of the night.

For the record, Yugi's scene with Tea was actually kind of hard to write. It was going rather well, until I hit the line connecting Yugi to The Dark Magician. Then I drew a blank for about a week, trying to figure out how I managed to somehow write myself into that hole. Sometimes, they just write themselves, you know?

I like writing Peachshipping, but that part was a bit of a wall-banger. No authors were harmed in the writing of that scene, however, so you can rest easily.

And Polarshipping hints sprinkled liberally throughout this fic makes me happy :D. and hopefully you guys too.