A/N: After the last chapter…whew, the drama was intense, but this chapter is a little more on the light side since we're skipping ahead an hour of the events that occurred.
Note: I'm so excited. This story now has 100 reviews. Just want to thank Princesa de la Luna. This chapter is dedicated to you. It is also dedicated to my 100th reviewer Taurus Warrior. Oh what the hey, this chapter is dedicated to all of the reviewers. Thanks so much everyone!
Disclaimer: Too lazy to write one.
Chapter 29
We've Only Just Begun
8:19 p.m.
Mina P.O.V.
Darkness. That's all I can see.
When I said I was walking the path of darkness, it wasn't supposed to be taken literally. However, since I'm in this situation, the only choice I have right now is to wonder what the heck is going on.
Last I remember, that idiot Joey attacked the assassin after I told him to escape. Sure, I'd been about to get killed, but maybe that wouldn't have been so bad for me. Other than saving my father, I didn't have much to live for. Of course, thinking such things is entirely stupid.
Still, it's because of Joey that I've been forced to face the path of darkness that I walk on.
Surely, this is a dream though. I can't literally be walking in an endless void of darkness. Things like that don't happen in real life do they? Unless…am I dead?
No, I'm not going to think like that either. I mean, one can't rationally think when they're dead right? So then…what is going on?
A murmuring of voices broke into my thoughts as I continued to try and process what was happening. The voices were very incoherent at first, but after a moment things started to clear up.
"I can't believe this happened," a girls voice said. Probably Tea if I'm guessing right.
"I can't either," another voice agreed. I figured it was Tristan.
I heard someone bite into a candy bar. "Pegasus must have done this." Obviously this person was Yugi."
"Pegasus?" another girl questioned. This voice was unfamiliar though.
I heard a slight groan next to me.
"Hey, I think Joey is waking up!" Tea exclaimed
More rustling and fumbling. It was minutes before I heard anything else.
"Hey…what…where's Mina!"
I mentally sighed. "Thank goodness. That knucklehead isn't dead."
"She's right here next to you," Yugi stated. "Don't worry she's just unconscious."
"Will she wake up?" Joey asked.
I felt my lips move, but not much came out. My voice was really raspy.
"Mina?"
My eyes started twitching a bit and when I was finally able to open my eyes the light of the fire almost blinded me. I turned my head and saw that Joey was looking down at me, the light of the fire reflecting in his brown eyes.
I stared at him and tried to smile as I spoke. "You. Are. An. Idiot."
Joey scowled slightly. "Well, looks like someone's feelin better. Now somebody get me some chips. I'm starving over here."
My eyes had to adjust to my surroundings as I tried sitting up. I felt hands on my shoulders, trying in vain to get me back down.
"Hey, you're in no condition to move," the unfamiliar voice said. I looked and saw who the voice belonged to. It was a young woman of about nineteen or twenty. She had long blonde hair and violet eyes. She wore purple…
"Do I know you?" I asked, not sure where I'd seen her before.
"No, but I did bandage all your wounds so its probably best not to reopen them."
"Wounds?" I wondered inwardly. "You bandaged them?"
She nodded. "Thank you…"
"The name is Mai."
"Right, thanks Mai, but I'm hungry too," I said. "Come on, I have enough strength to at least sit up. Besides, if Joey is allowed to I should be too."
Mai smiled. "Alright, I guess I can allow it." She let go of my shoulders and I sat upright. I quickly grabbed a bag of potato chips and a soda.
"Can you guys explain what happened though?" Tea asked, stroking Artemis's fur. He was gazing worriedly at me so I smile at him to reassure his worries. He smiled back.
Joey however had an expression of livid fury. "Well, I was walking with Tristan when I heard rustling. I tried to figure out where it'd been coming from and by the time I turned back around Tristan was gone and I'd lost my sense of direction. So I was aimlessly walking around with the firewood and then I tripped. Artemis scared me half to death and then he started hissing. I guess he was trying to warn me of what was happening. Out of nowhere these guys show up wearing all black and say their going to use me to get to Mina on account of Pegasus."
Yugi scowled. "But why would Pegasus go after you Mina. Weren't you working for him."
"After I lost that duel to you…he called my cell and asked it I would…kill Kaiba."
Everyone froze.
"He asked you to do what!" Joey screeched. "Why that slim ball!"
"Calm down Joey," Tea ordered gently. "You might open that wound on your shoulder."
"What did you do?" Tristan asked me.
"I helped Kaiba escape Pegasus's goons," I answered. "Obviously Pegasus expected me to, just like he expected me to take that card from him."
"What card?" Mai asked.
I figured Mai wouldn't know about the mystic stuff so told her that it was a card very valuable to Pegasus. Mai nodded her response and I continued.
"So…he used Joey to draw me out," I told them, expertly maneuvering around the fact that Joey had been in possession of the soul card. "To get the card back."
"Did those goons get it?" Tea asked.
I glanced at Joey. His expression told it all.
"Yeah, they got it back," I stated. "Still, I'm just glad that we made it out of there in well…almost in one piece."
Yugi frowned. "Pegasus has crossed the line this time. He can't play with peoples lives like it's a game and get away with it time and time again. I swear as soon as I get to that castle…"
"Take it easy Yugi," I cut in. "We'll have plenty of time to enact revenge on Pegasus later. For now lets try to relax."
"Kind of hard to do that when you were almost killed," Joey commented, taking a hefty gulp of his soda. I smacked him across the head.
"Hey! What was that for?"
"For being an idiot again," I replied impishly. "Like I said, there's no point in worrying about Pegasus now. He'll pay for what he did. I'll see to that."
Joey scowled at me. "Mina…"
"Shut up and eat," I interrupted, throwing potato chips into my mouth.
Silence lingered around the campsite as we all ate. Dizziness fell upon me every now and again, but I did my best to keep a straight face through it. Obviously the head wound I'd received had caused some damage to my senses. Still, with a little time I'd be just fine. After all, Sailor Scouts are known to heal pretty quickly.
The others relaxed a little bit. They started talking about random things in order to stray off the topic of Pegasus. That was fine by me. Pegasus was the last thing I really wanted to be thinking about anyhow.
Of course, it's hard not to think about Pegasus and what he nearly did to Joey and me. It's hard not to think about the harsh realities that keep plaguing me over and over again. Still, justice can't be served while I'm wounded like this. I'm going to need to get a good nights sleep tonight if I plan on dueling tomorrow.
"Two more star-chips," I thought idly. "Then I'll have enough to enter the castle and really give Pegasus a piece of my mind."
"Anyway we should probably stop snacking on this junk food and finish cooking up the real food," Mai stated, cutting into my thoughts. I watched her as she lightly kicked Joey's leg. "Come on and help me out Joseph."
"Would you quit calling me that!" Joey exclaimed. "And for your information I'm not exactly in the best shape right now."
"Yeah, I don't want him opening up that shoulder wound," Tea stated.
Mai just smiled it off. "He doesn't need both arms to help. I just need him to stir the contents of this little package." She held up a small bag of instant rice and a bag of instant pot roast.
"Fine, whatever," Joey replied getting up slowly and taking the instant rice from her. "Let me rip these open for ya."
"Oh, no need for that," Mai replied, gently taking it back from him. "I can do that myself."
"I insist," Joey told her, taking it back.
"I said that I could do it!"
"Can't you see I'm trying to be polite?"
"How? By insulting me?"
"How am I insulting you?"
My head was ringing as they continued shouting. Yugi and Tea continually tried to stop their arguing, but they weren't doing any good. So I stepped in with something I knew would shut the two of them up.
"You know, the two of you act like an old married couple."
That did it. Joey and Mai immediately stopped arguing and cooked the food in a peaceful, quiet manner while trying to avoid looking at each other as much as possible. I laughed silently to myself when I noticed the both of them were blushing. I suppose love is in the air.
"Wow, nice one Mina," Tristan commented. "I've never seen Joey so quiet in all the time I've known him."
Tea laughed. "He's probably embarrassed and it looks like Mai is too."
"Shut up," the two of them ordered at once.
We all laughed then, though laughing probably wasn't the best thing to do with the injury across my chest. Opening it up would cause all of us to slip back into a somber mood, and I didn't want that. Truth be told, I wanted to forget any of it had happened at all.
Once the food was all cooked, Mai put servings of it on paper plates and handed them out to everyone. We all immediately dug in.
"Wow, this is great," I exclaimed, eating it up.
"I agree," Tristan said.
"You bet it's great since I helped make it," Joey proclaimed, devouring the food on his plate like he'd never eaten before in his life.
"Tasty," Yugi stated. "How's yours Tea."
Tea chewed on the food happily. "I give it four stars."
This seemed to remind Yugi of something so he perked up. "Speaking of stars, how many do you have Mai? Was it eight or nine? Either it way it seems to me that you are in the zone."
Mai had been sipping on her soda, and after she swallowed she gave Yugi a pointed look.
"Nice try, but I won't fall for your nice guy routine."
Yugi looked hurt and the happy atmosphere that had surrounded us a few minutes earlier was suddenly ruined.
"Besides it's only a matter of time before you…"
"Can't we forget about the tournament for one night?" Tea asked angrily. "Have you not realized how many people have suffered because of it Mai."
A cold and bitter silence fell upon everyone. The memories of what had happened only an hour ago filled my mind and it was then that I remembered the horrible mistake I'd made.
I called out Joey's name just before I sent out an attack to the assassin that was about to kill him. If he heard me, then he must know my secret and if he knows my secret…
"Please, lets just not talk about it," Tea begged.
"Yeah, lets make fun of Joey instead that's always fun right?" Tristan asked, trying to lighten up the mood. "I mean look at that hairdo, it's laughable right Mina?"
I clenched my fist slightly. "What's laughable is how idiotic he is."
Tristan's forced smile faltered. "Uh…"
"His pride got in the way at the most ridiculous moment," I continued sourly. "He nearly got himself killed trying to protect me when he had no reason to. So yeah, if anything about Joey is laughable its that he doesn't have a shred of common sense."
Joey said nothing. He didn't even look at me.
Mai got up suddenly and started walking away. Yugi turned around as she passed. "Where are you going Mai?"
"For a walk," she replied stopping momentarily. "Let me make one thing clear to all of you though. Any duelist in my way is going down."
"Man, she can really ruin a meal," Joey commented taking slow bites out of his food now. "And I did have a reason to protect you Mina. The fact that you don't know what it is makes you the stupid one."
As I glared at him, he locked his gaze with mine. I would have expected to see anger in his eyes, but instead I found that his eyes were filled with muted sadness. Seeing that made me feel immediate guilt over it. I guess I got a little carried away, but could he really blame me for it? The whole reason I was there was to save him and instead he tries to save me.
"He must have known all along that it was me." I thought. "I knew the resemblance between the Sailor Venus card and me were too incriminating. I should have known not to play it during my duel with Yugi."
I heard a sudden rustling and immediately got to my feet. "Someone's back there."
Tristan, Yugi, and Joey got to their feet too.
"It's probably Mai trying to pull a prank on us," Joey said. "Either that or…"
"Or the assassins have come to finish the job," I finished turning around to face the bushes. "We better be on our guard."
"Wait, Mina, your wounds," Tea began.
"Stay back," I commanded. "Don't get involved Tea. I'd say the same for the rest of you, but I suppose I'll need some back up."
"Back up?" Joey asked. "Hello, you're wounded Mina. You can't fight now."
"Joey…"
"Enough, stop arguing," Tristan cut in. "Both of you need to stay back too. Let me and…well Yugi you might want to stay back too. You know just cause."
Yugi frowned. "Making fun of me again?"
"No, I just…"
The rustling returned and we were all alert.
"Come out of there!" Joey shouted. "Or prepare for a throw down."
A single man stepped out from the shadows. He had long somewhat spiky white hair and dark brown eyes. He was young, probably a high school student. He wore a cream sweater over a teal dress shirt and jeans. I sighed in relief, knowing he had to be harmless.
"BAKURA!" everyone else around me screamed, causing the pounding in my head to get worse. These people really need to calm down a bit.
"See, I told you I wasn't just seeing things!" Tea exclaimed.
Joey stepped up toward Bakura. "What are you doing all the way out here?"
"Same as you guys I guess, though.." he stared at Joey's shoulder. "I somehow doubt that was part of your plans."
Truth be told, I hadn't really been paying attention to Joey's appearance. I finally really got a good look at him now and nearly gasped. His cheek had a large bandage over it and his green jacket had been discarded for the time being, revealing his white t-shirt that was stained with blood at the shoulder, though I could see that the wound had been bandaged as well. His left wrist was also bandaged. But what shocked me most was how pale he looked. It looked as if he had no color to his skin at all almost.
"And you?" Bakura asked gazing at me. "You're that new transfer student aren't you? Minako Aino?"
"Um, Mina," I replied slowly while extending my hand out to him. "Just Mina is fine. It's nice to me you Bakura."
He shook my hand. "Likewise. You look pretty good despite all the bandages your wearing."
I hadn't really had the time to examine myself either and I pretty much decided that I'd wait until later to find out how bad I looked.
"You gave us a scare creeping around in those bushes," Tristan commented. "We thought you were one of the goons that attacked Mina and Joey."
Bakura laughed nervously. "Sorry, I just got lost and when I heard voices I thought I'd see if they belonged to friendly people. Guess my hypothesis turned out to be on the mark."
"Hypothe-what?" Joey and I both asked.
Everyone else sighed.
"Well, why don't we sit down and eat," Tea cut in after a moment. "We have enough for one more plate."
"Okay."
A little later
Joey P.O.V.
I seriously cannot wrap my head around all that's happened. I can't begin to register the fact that Mina is Sailor Venus even though I saw her transform with my own two eyes. Everything that happened seems like a horrible nightmare.
But one look at Mina continually convinces me that what happened tonight was no dream. Bandages were wrapped around her head and her chest, though those bandages were mostly concealed thanks to the red jacket Mina was wearing. She wore Capri's, which made the bandages on her right calf easily noticeable. Her crystal blue eyes were somewhat dim. Obviously she was weak, but she kept trying to convince everyone else that she was fine despite all of the injuries she had. I noticed every once in a while that she'd cringe at some pain when she moved. Probably from the wound across her chest.
The others were trying to lighten the tense mood. And since Bakura had arrived they'd been succeeding partially, but I couldn't put what happened fully out of my mind. I'm sure that Mina couldn't either and she was still angry with me for going back to protect her. She knows that I know her secret. She's probably worried that I'll tell everyone.
What she doesn't know is that I don't plan on saying anything about it to the others. For one thing, they probably wouldn't believe me. For another, this was Mina's secret. I had no business telling the others about it.
Besides that, I'm still not sure if what I saw actually happened. I mean, I'd been losing a lot of blood. My mind had probably been playing tricks on me.
Still, I can't convince myself that Mina isn't Sailor Venus. To be honest, I really do believe in what I saw. The resemblance between them was pretty dead on too. Unless Mina had a twin, there's no way that Sailor Venus can't be Mina.
For now though, I'll keep these feelings to myself and try to concentrate on what the others are talking about. I'm sure Mina is doing the same thing right now.
"Hey, Joey?"
I glanced at Tristan, who was sitting next to me. "Yeah?"
"You've been staring at that card for an hour," Tristan replied. "What's up?"
What should I tell him? I can't say that I'm thinking of Mina and how she's Sailor Venus, that would blow her cover.
In a flash I made something up. "I'll tell you, just don't laugh." He nodded and I continued while glancing at the cards in my hands. "Sometimes when I'm dueling I pretend that it's me out there on the field swapping blows with whatever card my opponent has out." I laughed a bit. "Isn't that dumb?"
"Well, if you were Joey," Bakura began, "which card would you want to be."
I looked down at the cards and immediately drew my favorite one.
"This one," I said, showing it to everyone. "The Flame Swordsman kicks everybody's butt." I leaped up from my sitting position and began pretending that I was holding a sword and slashing an enemy.
"Joey!" Tea exclaimed. "You shouldn't move like that with your injuries!"
"I'm fine, and as long as I'm the Flame Swordsman, nothing can stop me!" I exclaimed.
Tristan stood. "That's true up until he comes face to face with me, the Cyber Commander."
Tea giggled a little, her worries forgotten. "You boys and your cards are hilarious."
"I think everyone has a card they can identify with," Yugi told her. "You should see if you have a card like that in your deck."
"Okay," Tea replied looking through her own cards. "I pick this one, the Magician of Faith."
"What, you got to be kidding," Tristan laughed.
"Yeah, it's more like the Magician of Freaks to me," I added.
"Oh, shut up!"
"MEOW!"
Tea looked apologetically at Artemis. She'd involuntarily wrung his tail out of anger. I thought Mina would have been mad about it, but she was laughing uncontrollably.
Bakura turned away from the commotion to talk to Yugi. "Tell me which one you identify with."
"Oh, that's easy," Yugi replied as he quickly plucked a card from his deck. He showed it to Bakura. "The Dark Magician hands down."
"How about you Mina?" Bakura asked.
Mina seemed to blush a little. "Well, there are a lot of cards I identify with, but my favorite would be this one." She pulled out her Sailor Venus card.
"No surprise there," Tristan stated. "It looks just like you."
"That's a plus," Mina admitted, "but not the reason why I love this card. You see, this card reminds me of the memories I shared with my friends back in Japan. It reminds me of who I used to be."
"Used to be?" Bakura questioned.
"I guess you could say I was a lot more carefree in Japan, but then my father…" she trailed off and shook her head. A smile returned to her face. "Anyway, it's just a really cool card."
"Meow."
Mina glanced over at the white cat as he climbed up on her shoulders. "You have a favorite too Artemis?" He purred as Mina went through her cards. He meowed and extended his paw a little when he found the one he liked.
"Nice choice," Mina laughed as she took out the card from the deck. "Lunar King is Artemis's favorite."
The card was pretty powerful with eighteen hundred attack points and fourteen hundred defense points. The picture was of a man with white hair that fell onto his shoulders and blue eyes. He wore a suit of sliver and held a long broad sword.
"I wonder what secrets the cat is hiding," I thought. "After all, he did talk to me…wait he talked to me!"
"Maybe I'm just crazy," Tea began, "but don't you all think it's a bit silly to compare ourselves to cards?"
"A little," Yugi replied, "but like my grandpa says, it's not about the playing cards its about putting your heart into anything you care about." He turned to Bakura. "So which card do you care about the most Bakura?"
"This one is my favorite." Bakura told him, showing us a card that had a picture of a half angel and half devil. In her hand she held a heart. One half of the heart was pink and the other was black.
"Isn't that the change of heart card?" Yugi asked.
"Kind of a weird looking picture don't ya think?" I added.
Mina glared at me. "Joey, that's rude."
"What, just telling it like it is."
Bakura smirked. "If you all want to see how it works, we can have a duel right now. Not for star-chips, but just for a little fun."
"Sure, I'm down for that," I said.
"Yeah, with all the star-chip madness it'd be nice to have a duel with no strings attached," Mina stated.
"I agree, a regular duel sounds like a great idea," Yugi added.
"Cool," Bakura replied. "Why don't each of you put your favorite card into Yugi's deck, it'll be like we're all playing.
"Good idea," Tristan commented, putting his card into Yugi's deck. Tea and I followed, but Mina hesitated a little.
"Come on Mina, put your cards in," I ordered.
"Well, are you sure?" she asked. "After everything I…"
"Listen," I interrupted, taking the two cards. "You risked your life tonight to save me so as far as I'm concerned we're cool alright. We understand why you did what you did and we forgive you."
Mina blinked in confusion. "Really?"
"Of course," Yugi cut in.
"Yeah, now quit yapping you two and lets start playing," Tristan added.
Mina smiled.
After Yugi had shuffled all the cards, we all took our places around him.
"Are you sure you don't mind playing alone?" Tea asked Bakura who was seated on the other end of the rock/table we were sitting at. The small playing field was ready.
"Yeah, it doesn't seem quite fair," Mina agreed. "I mean, with this all-star deck we'll be tough to beat."
I laughed. "Don't worry Bakura we'll go easy on ya."
Bakura smiled and thanked me before turning his attention to all of us.
"Before we get started, there's a little something I'd like to share with you all and especially with you Yugi."
"And what's that?" I asked already having an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"You'll see," Bakura replied, closing his eyes. In an instant he was humming something and his hands were hovering around an invisible object.
"What's he doing?" Tea asked.
"I don't know, but I don't like it," Mina replied as Artemis began hissing on her shoulder. "Something is definitely not right here."
Bakura's humming increased in volume and I swear I saw something glowing on him.
"This is getting creepy."
Then out of nowhere, the glowing ceases and he's suddenly wearing a really weird looking necklace. It was almost like Yugi's millennium puzzle.
"Another millennium item!" Yugi shouted.
Bakura chuckled darkly and his voice sounded demonic as he spoke. "Yes, and the magic of my millennium ring will take us to the Shadow Realm!"
I sighed as the world around us disappeared. "Man, I hate magic."
"What's going on!" Mina demanded firmly. "What kind of messed up reality is this?"
The black nothingness surrounded us as Bakura continued to laugh.
"Why are you doing this Bakura?" Yugi exclaimed.
"You have something I want and I aim to take it!"
His weird necklace began glowing and before I can blink I'm alone in the darkness.
"Hey, where did everyone go?" I asked aloud. "Hello." My voice echoed and it freaked me out as I continued to call out to anyone who might hear me.
"Yugi!"
No answer.
"Tristan!"
Silence
"Tea!"
More silence.
"Mina, Artemis!"
Silence was the only thing that greeted me when I called out their names. It was all useless.
"Darn it," I thought, lowering myself onto the cold ground. "There's no one in sight in this place."
Suddenly, I see a flicker of light in the distance and then before I can even try to react my body was pulled toward the light in speeds that would be illegal if I'd been driving. Still, hurdling toward a bright light was better than being trapped in darkness right?
Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. As soon as I opened my eyes after being blinded by the light, I found myself wearing a dress!
"What in the world?" I questioned inwardly as I looked over my appearance. The get-up looked similar to what my Flame Swordsman wears, but what does that mean? I'm so confused.
"What gives?" I questioned, looking left and right. Then I turned around and I swear I almost peed my pants or skirt rather.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Behind me was a guy that looked like my friend Yugi, but instead of being really short this guy was a freaking giant!
"Yugi, you're huge!" I shouted noting that I held a sword in my hands. "Aw, man, I've finally cracked."
"Joey listen to me," Yugi commanded in a firm booming voice. "Your soul has been sealed inside your favorite card. You've become the Flame Swordsman."
"I'M THE WHO!"
"If I don't win this duel I can't restore you to normal, and if you are defeated you'll be sent to the graveyard like Tristan was."
"GRAVEYARD!" I screamed. Wait, if Tristan is there and Yugi is dueling then…where's Tea and Mina?
"In order for me to win this duel, restore you all back to your bodies, and get us out of the shadow realm, I'm going to need your help," Yugi continued.
Part of me wanted to crawl into a dark corner and cry myself to sleep, but if a friend needs my help I'll do what I have to.
"You want my help you got my help," I told him.
"Are you sure your okay?" he asked.
"Okay? I think I've lost my mind, but I'm gonna go with it."
"Very well," Yugi replied.
I nodded and turned around. "Now…aaaaaaaaaaah! Giant Bakura!"
"Joey, he's not…"
"Now I know I'm nuts," I interrupted. "I'm like six inches tall, wearing a dress, and now I'm about to fight my giant friend? This is craziness man!"
"That's not really Bakura," Yugi stated. "An evil spirit from his Millennium ring has taken over."
I had no idea what he was talking about, but at this point I'm thinking that this whole thing is a messed up nightmare that was brought on by being attacked by those assassins.
Still, I can't help but think there's more to this than I realize.
(With Shadi)
Somewhere on the island
Earlier that day, Shadi had used him Millennium Key on Mina. He had thought that after he used it on her, the other Millennium items would be useless against her.
He was wrong.
He had forgotten the Millennium Ring and Puzzle, whose powers could not be stopped by any one item. Pegasus may not be able to read Mina's mind anymore, but that didn't mean that she was in any less danger.
The one who controlled the power of the ring had come.
And he was far more dangerous than Pegasus could ever hope to be.
A/N: Hey everyone. That's the end of this chapter. Stay tuned for the next one and be ready for more craziness and more surprises.
