53. Parallel Worlds – Elliot Minor


The first hint that something was wrong came when Anzu was late for school. It wouldn't have been a major thing for anyone else, but Anzu prided herself on being punctual and often reprimanded Jounouchi for always being tardy. That she was tardy herself was weird enough, but when she entered the classroom wild-eyed, wilder-haired, glancing around as if checking for hidden ambushes, Honda, Jounouchi and Yuugi could tell something was up.

When she just stood staring at them in open-mouthed wonder they got their next, heavy, smack-to-the-head-with-a-two-by-four clue.

"You … what are you doing sitting next to Yuugi?" Anzu looked around. "And where's Ryou?"

"Ryou?" Honda echoed. "You mean Bakura?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I guess you would call him that. But … Yuugi?" She directed her confused gaze at him. "What are you doing, hanging out with these two losers?"

"Hey!" Jounouchi protested. He was no stranger to her calling him a loser, but there had been more vehemence in that remark than usual. Yuugi winced on his behalf.

"Anzu, are you feeling okay?" Yuugi asked cautiously. Worry spiked within him at her odd behaviour. "You look kind of, um, pale." Amongst other things. Actually, she looked like she hadn't slept a wink all night, and had then been greeted in the morning by a bucket of icy water and a stiff-bristled brush – to the face.

"Absolutely hunky-freaking-dory," she replied. Her manner was harsher than usual, though not harsh like she was angry or upset. Rather, her words carried the ring of a harshness born from longstanding use, as if she was used to fighting her corner all the time and had developed a timbre to match it. Except that there was no way her voice could have changed so drastically overnight – not even last night, with the big storm that had knocked out half the city's power until daybreak.

Thinking about the storm gave Yuugi pause. He remembered being in bed when the lights went out, hearing his grandfather stumble in the hall and sitting bolt upright, intending to go see if he was hurt. As he did so, Yuugi had noticed the Millennium Puzzle glowing on his desk, like the soft radiance of a nightlight. It had lasted for only a handful of seconds, and Yuugi had been so preoccupied with his grandfather's bad hip that he'd forgotten all about it until now.

It seemed especially significant when Anzu pointed at the chain around his neck and said, "You've got my Puzzle? But … why are you wearing it? And how did you get it out of my room?" She held a hand to her head. "Oh boy. I get the feeling I'm so far out of Kansas I'm not even on the map anymore."

Jounouchi exchanged looks with Honda and Yuugi, circling a finger at his temple. "Any clue what the hell she's talking about?"

"Not one," Honda replied with slightly more concern. "Hey Anzu, you need to sit down or something? You're acting real screwy."

"I'm not screwy. The whole freaking world is screwy. And why am I even talking to you?" She shook her head. "I really need to speak to Yami to find out what the hell happened. One second I'm taking off the Puzzle ready for bed, the next lightning hits my house – it blew a hole in the tiles; can you believe that? – and then I'm waking up here and everything's …" She looked around with the air of a small child on their first day of pre-school, when even the chairs seem overlarge and imposing. "… really, really wrong. Oh, please don't say I'm dead or in a coma or something. That would suck so bad."

As if he'd heard the mention of his name, Yuugi felt Yami's presence uncoil in the back of his mind. Almost immediately Yami froze, or at least did the spiritual equivalent. Every molecule that Yuugi could sense was on the alert, just as he was when confronted with dangerous psychopaths waving magic cards.

"That's not Anzu," Yami said simply.

Except that actually, impossible as it was to believe, it was Anzu. Just not, as they would later discover, their Anzu – and she was not in the least bit pleased about taking her place in their world.


A/N: Those who have been reading my fics for a while might recognise where the alternate Anzu in this ficlet came from. Cookies to those who can guess correctly.