Chapter 53, everybody! Which is technically uploaded on a Sunday, but it's Independence Day here in the States on top of me having a week off, so that's the reason. We'll be back to our reliable schedule next week, when I'm back to school and denied access to video games and TV Tropes (will ruin your life…).

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! Because he's the main protagonist, that's why! And it could also be that his luck just sucks that bad. :| You might like it—but fair warning, it's a bit of an earworm. And yes, do all that stuff—specifically Portal 2 and Don't Starve. My goodness, get Don't Starve—especially if you like Tim Burton stuff (or if you've been particularly enjoying the characters of Wilson and Willow…). You never know….Yes, a true pity—he was watching you from a distance. 0-0 Yay!...You have absolutely no idea how surreal it is to "hear" someone refer to August as being a winter month—specifically when my birthday falls in the "dog days" of summer here. *~* Too true, too true…and cool! I wish I had a shell that color—it sounds pretty….But I do have an intact nautilus shell I got at the Outer Banks in North Carolina years ago, so there's that. :)

Yu-Gi-Oh! © 1996 Kazuki Takahashi

Don't Starve © 2013 Klei Entertainment

They had successfully eluded the guard, and Mana had escorted Yugi back to his glorified prison cell and ducked back out just in time for some "entourage" to come gather him for some sort of "welcome back" feast.

It had been very awkward, to say the least.

Yugi hadn't eaten much—the whole place scared him, to be honest, and he wasn't sure if he trusted the food, anyway.

As such, he woke up the next morning with a gnawing in his stomach.

Stop that, he scolded it. You've gone for longer without eating.

Man, he missed Rae's. Why had it never occurred to him that that food could have been poisoned? Because Wilson had okayed it? Or was it because Rae had been open about her hostility?

That was it—there was hostility here, but it was contained. Something was up. Something was very much up.

But what?

Always find more information, Wilson's voice came, unbidden. The more you know, the more well-informed you'll be—and then you'll be able to make better decisions.

Well, the major decision was clear—get out of here.

The big obstacle was just how.

I'll play along, Yugi decided, as a servant entered his room. I'll play along for now, figure things out, play by ear—and keep an eye out for an opportunity to get out of here. It's got to come eventually.

Because the alternative was just too sickening to imagine.


Yugi herewith resolved that if he ever escaped, he would never complain about Wilson's lectures again.

Skirt-guy—Mahado—had a dry, intense delivery, like he was imparting the wisdom of the ancients upon Yugi. Wilson was always equally as intense, but it was a different sort—his was more I can't believe you don't find this fascinating what's wrong with you?

Worse, he implied heavily that he had a lot of work ahead to properly instruct Yugi in "the royal way"—and it sounded an awful lot like brainwashing.

But when Mahado showed a particular rune, Yugi was suddenly energetic.

"Hey, I've seen that before!" Yugi interrupted, pointing at the stylized eye Mahado had drawn on a piece of slate.

"Good—this is finally sinking in," Mahado noised. "This is the all-seeing eye, symbol of the royals, who likewise—"

"Only the royals?" Yugi interrupted—he really didn't need another spiel about how wonderful these people were.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Shall I continue?"

"I guess," Yugi sighed, sinking back into his chair.

"Good. As the Millennium Items belong to the royals, they were embedded with the royals' symbol. There are seven Items of great power: The Eye, which sees into the minds of men—"

"What about women?"

"As equally. The Necklace, which foresees the future; the Scales, which measure a person's evil against their good; the Key, which opens a person's heart; the Rod, which subjugates others to the wielder's will—"

"What does subjugate mean?"

Yugi could tell he was wearing Mahado's nerves thin. "It means that one must bend to the will of another. Shall I continue?" Yugi nodded. "The Ring, which finds all that the wearer seeks; and the Puzzle, which embodies the Crown King's power."

"Okay," Yugi said, hitting on a different tactic. "What if, say, a magic monster had that eye? What then?"

"That would not be possible."

"Say that it is, maybe."

"Then it must belong to the royals."

"But what if it didn't?"

"Is there a reason this is pertinent?"

Yugi wasn't even going to begin to explain Yami to this guy. "I'm…considering all options."

Mahado gave this some thought. "I suppose that is a good behavior to display—but please, remain in relevant terms."

Yugi resigned himself to more boring stuff, sensing that any further attempts to learn more about that eye would be met with difficulty.

"There are five parts to the soul," Mahado continued drily. "The ba, the ka, sheut…."