Chapter 56
"Anzu phoned," Yugi reported, delving into the world within his mind. He peered through the darkness. "Yami?"
Yami was sitting on what looked like a throne inside the cavernous chamber that housed the giant Stone Door. Yugi'e eyes flickered uneasily towards the looming mass beyond his partner, then back to Yami. Yami's eyes brooded within themselves, and he seemed haunted and unfocused. He turned his head slightly at the mentioning of Anzu. "Who?" he said distractedly. The name seemed unfamiliar to him.
Yugi looked at his partner, concerned. "Anzu Mazaki," he repeated, and the words felt new and unused on his tongue. He withdrew, running the name through his mind, feeling lost. "She phoned, and, uh, asked if we wanted to go to a movie... or something..." he murmured, uncertainly. He shook his head in bewilderment.
Yami stared into an empty patch of air, his thoughts dwelling in some other place into which Yugi could not see. "Your friend Anzu... The image her name puts in my mind is of a... a shadow. A gift from the darkness." His voice throbbed in the dusty room, hollow and dry. Yugi said nothing.
"She has been away. It is as you sense it... Anzu has been somehow brought back." Yami's eyes fluttered briefly, as if in the foggy depths of hypnotism, or a perhaps a dream. "From what, I cannot recall. The darkness took her there, the darkness brought her back."
A deep sigh penetrated the thick, slumber-like atmosphere, and Yami raised his head to look Yugi in the eye for the first time during his appearance. Yugi's heart felt weighted as he met Yami's gaze, felt numb as Yami spoke again...
"I have been so tired lately. There is something within me that I cannot bear to see, cannot afford to keep and cannot live without. I cannot remember."
Yugi knew the reason for his recent nightmares. His brief spells of depression, his weariness.
"Have I been selfish?" Yami didn't seem to be looking at him anymore, nor did his voice seem directed at Yugi. "Have I been cruel to my partners, burdening them with the presence of my own tormented thoughts?" The shadows waited for an answer, but there was none, and never had been. Left hanging, the room was quiet as an undisturbed tomb.
Feeling useless, Yugi stood there, unable to do anything else. This helplessness, this weakness, could never be comforted or supressed- but then, leaving was not an option either. Sorrow, pain and bitterness... where had it come from? If from the darkness, would darkness take it back?
Think of this as a last parting gift, Pharaoh.
Yami smirked. Once, just once. Enough to make Yugi take notice. "Yami?"
"It is time for me to face what has happened here," Yami announced, a coldness in his eyes and heart. He stood with his back to Yugi and the open corridor, facing the immense stone door. Dark electricity prickled along the cracks in the floor.
Yugi watched as Yami stared fiercely at the sealed chamber, and wondered, briefly, of its contents. Dust and more dust, most likely. Well, whatever was in there, Yami seemed to have a bone or two to pick with the skeletons in that closet.
Yami took a deep breath, and let the words run like precious water through his mind...
What is past has passed. I give back your gift of darkness, you unearthly shadows, you hidden beasts, for it is your burden and yours alone. These words are my ritual and my very voice is the final seal. Do not try to pass along your duties, for I am the Pharaoh of our own times and my word is of the god's own lips.
It is over.
There followed a silence so profound, it seemed as though sound itself had somehow funneled away into itself.
And with it came relief, and peace, and release from the midnight ghosts haunting all their souls. Now and forever.
The two turned and walked out of the room, the sand beneath their feet making a rustling sound, each grain oiled with foreign and exotic fragrances. Desert fumes wafted out behind them as they left, but neither looked back, and the tendrils of scent drifted back to the darkness.
"By the way," Yami murmured, a light growing steadily in his eyes as he looked sideways at his partner, "your friends requested yesterday that you meet them today at the Burger World on 42nd. Did you forget?"
Yugi gazed back, and raised an eyebrow. "They did? Oh... are you sure?" he said cautiously. "I don't remember that." Yami looked away, and responded lightly. "I am fairly sure, Yugi."
Yugi looked at him, then shrugged and gave in. After all, they both knew that memory can be an unreliable thing.
They turned and met eachother's gaze, and they both saw there the link that had brought them through trials that neither of them would ever remember, but which they couldn't forget; that was the very paradoxical nature of their souls that would someday save them all again, and restore the balance. Time and time after, for all eternity. Yet hope had replaced the weariness of this task, and now it was time to renew it all.
The room began to resume its previous untouched state, as the sound of the pair's footsteps faded from the stone. "Yami. There is no Burger World on 42nd." A dark, amused laughter followed this revelation.
And after that, there were truly no more words.
~~~THE END~~~
"Anzu phoned," Yugi reported, delving into the world within his mind. He peered through the darkness. "Yami?"
Yami was sitting on what looked like a throne inside the cavernous chamber that housed the giant Stone Door. Yugi'e eyes flickered uneasily towards the looming mass beyond his partner, then back to Yami. Yami's eyes brooded within themselves, and he seemed haunted and unfocused. He turned his head slightly at the mentioning of Anzu. "Who?" he said distractedly. The name seemed unfamiliar to him.
Yugi looked at his partner, concerned. "Anzu Mazaki," he repeated, and the words felt new and unused on his tongue. He withdrew, running the name through his mind, feeling lost. "She phoned, and, uh, asked if we wanted to go to a movie... or something..." he murmured, uncertainly. He shook his head in bewilderment.
Yami stared into an empty patch of air, his thoughts dwelling in some other place into which Yugi could not see. "Your friend Anzu... The image her name puts in my mind is of a... a shadow. A gift from the darkness." His voice throbbed in the dusty room, hollow and dry. Yugi said nothing.
"She has been away. It is as you sense it... Anzu has been somehow brought back." Yami's eyes fluttered briefly, as if in the foggy depths of hypnotism, or a perhaps a dream. "From what, I cannot recall. The darkness took her there, the darkness brought her back."
A deep sigh penetrated the thick, slumber-like atmosphere, and Yami raised his head to look Yugi in the eye for the first time during his appearance. Yugi's heart felt weighted as he met Yami's gaze, felt numb as Yami spoke again...
"I have been so tired lately. There is something within me that I cannot bear to see, cannot afford to keep and cannot live without. I cannot remember."
Yugi knew the reason for his recent nightmares. His brief spells of depression, his weariness.
"Have I been selfish?" Yami didn't seem to be looking at him anymore, nor did his voice seem directed at Yugi. "Have I been cruel to my partners, burdening them with the presence of my own tormented thoughts?" The shadows waited for an answer, but there was none, and never had been. Left hanging, the room was quiet as an undisturbed tomb.
Feeling useless, Yugi stood there, unable to do anything else. This helplessness, this weakness, could never be comforted or supressed- but then, leaving was not an option either. Sorrow, pain and bitterness... where had it come from? If from the darkness, would darkness take it back?
Think of this as a last parting gift, Pharaoh.
Yami smirked. Once, just once. Enough to make Yugi take notice. "Yami?"
"It is time for me to face what has happened here," Yami announced, a coldness in his eyes and heart. He stood with his back to Yugi and the open corridor, facing the immense stone door. Dark electricity prickled along the cracks in the floor.
Yugi watched as Yami stared fiercely at the sealed chamber, and wondered, briefly, of its contents. Dust and more dust, most likely. Well, whatever was in there, Yami seemed to have a bone or two to pick with the skeletons in that closet.
Yami took a deep breath, and let the words run like precious water through his mind...
What is past has passed. I give back your gift of darkness, you unearthly shadows, you hidden beasts, for it is your burden and yours alone. These words are my ritual and my very voice is the final seal. Do not try to pass along your duties, for I am the Pharaoh of our own times and my word is of the god's own lips.
It is over.
There followed a silence so profound, it seemed as though sound itself had somehow funneled away into itself.
And with it came relief, and peace, and release from the midnight ghosts haunting all their souls. Now and forever.
The two turned and walked out of the room, the sand beneath their feet making a rustling sound, each grain oiled with foreign and exotic fragrances. Desert fumes wafted out behind them as they left, but neither looked back, and the tendrils of scent drifted back to the darkness.
"By the way," Yami murmured, a light growing steadily in his eyes as he looked sideways at his partner, "your friends requested yesterday that you meet them today at the Burger World on 42nd. Did you forget?"
Yugi gazed back, and raised an eyebrow. "They did? Oh... are you sure?" he said cautiously. "I don't remember that." Yami looked away, and responded lightly. "I am fairly sure, Yugi."
Yugi looked at him, then shrugged and gave in. After all, they both knew that memory can be an unreliable thing.
They turned and met eachother's gaze, and they both saw there the link that had brought them through trials that neither of them would ever remember, but which they couldn't forget; that was the very paradoxical nature of their souls that would someday save them all again, and restore the balance. Time and time after, for all eternity. Yet hope had replaced the weariness of this task, and now it was time to renew it all.
The room began to resume its previous untouched state, as the sound of the pair's footsteps faded from the stone. "Yami. There is no Burger World on 42nd." A dark, amused laughter followed this revelation.
And after that, there were truly no more words.
~~~THE END~~~
