Author's note:
Hi guys! At long last we get to find out a little more about Aiko! It's been too long, but Yugi has had very few chances to get to know her, and she is kind of important. It looks like this particular chapter is going to be a longer one. A lot of things need to be sorted out. Things will start to heat up again next chapter.
-TheEagerScribbler
Chapter 19: Puzzle Pieces
After their talk Seto abruptly announced that he still had work to do and stormed out angrily. Yugi honestly wasn't sure what he was angry about, but he doubted that asking would be a good idea.
Yugi walked home, and this time he refused to make past mistakes. He tried to look casual. Maybe he wouldn't be noticed if he did. He strolled down the street like the was taking a walk, although he did try to move fairly quickly, just no more quickly than anyone else. He couldn't carry a weapon into Kaiba's house without being quickly disarmed by security, so he didn't even have a weapon, and honestly, as a man who abhorred violence, Yugi wasn't that upset about it. All it meant was that he had to be cautious when he went out into public and keep his eyes open.
A boy with messy hair and a missing tooth ran up to him with a wide smile from cheek to cheek. "Wow! You're the king of games!" He must not have been from Domino, where his face was just another part of the daily routine.
Yugi smiled "Yes I am. What's your name?"
In his excitement he didn't seem to hear Yugi's question. "Mr. Muto, is that the pyramid you were wearing around your neck in all of those tournaments? It's so cool! It looks kind of like a puzzle. I've never seen anything like this before! Well, not for real or anything-they make a whole bunch of fakes, but none of them looking anywhere near as good as this! Can I see it?" Yugi's first instinct was to say yes, but he reconsidered. It wouldn't be the first time that someone had tried to steal his puzzle. But then again, the boy was so young, with his messy hair and a round face that still contained the soft roundness of baby fat he could not have been older than twelve if Yugi was being generous, although he looked about ten. He took into consideration how young he looked until he was about eighteen when he finally began to look his age. Surely the puzzle was in no danger from such a child. He lifted it off of neck and handed it to the boy.
He looked him in the eye with uncharacteristic graveness so that he would know that he was serious, "This puzzle is very special to me because it was a gift from my grandfather. Do you promise you'll handle it carefully?"
"Yep! I promise." The boy's face lit up with awe.
The boy held it up to the light and examined it in fascination. His face suddenly froze and then he looked at Yugi. "Is this really the real the real thing?" Yugi nodded. "Wow!" And then he took off with the puzzle.
"Hey! Come back here!"Yugi ran as fast as his short legs would carry him. He was still larger than the boy, so he managed to keep up with him pretty well. He chased the boy down the sidewalk and down an alleyway. Yugi's legs may have been longer, but the boy was younger and faster. It was all he could do to not fall too terribly behind.
The boy ran into an alley and Yugi followed. Alley ways usually meant nothing good in his experience, but he had no choice. He had to get that puzzle back-it's power was too great to be handled by just anyone. By possessing it the child would be in more danger than any child should be able to handle. Yugi made one last sprint and latched onto the boy's arm. He had him cornered and boxed in against a wall. The idea of physically intimidating a kid made his sick, but if he didn't get the puzzle back the boy's life would be at risk, and the last thing that he wanted was for another innocent to get hurt by Bakura.
The boy whimpered. "I'm really sorry! He told me that if I got the puzzle around your neck for him he'd make my sister better! She's only two and she's really sick," the boy's lip began to quiver and his eyes got glassy. "The grown ups are trying to hide it from me, but I know that if something doesn't change soon she's not gonna get better."
Yugi backed away a little and held out his hand."First give me the puzzle." The boy, who truly seemed contrite, did as he was told.
Yugi put it back around his neck and backed away. He could feel the thrumming of it's power and felt more steady. He made sure that he was eye level with the boy, and then carefully asked, "Tell me, did the man who promised to help you have white hair and the necklace in the shape of a ring with an eye like this one?" He pointed to the eye on the puzzle. The boy nodded. Just as he thought. "That man was lying. He wants this because he wants to use it for something really bad. He was never going to help your sister," he tried to say as gently as he could. He couldn't imagine what it must have felt like to have his hopes crushed like that.
"No, you're lying! He really was gonna help my sister and she was gonna get better! He promised!" He protested, his voice betraying his panic..
He should have known that Bakura would take advantage of some poor innocent's personal struggle. "Listen, is it that she needs an operation that costs a lot of money?"
The boy looked away from Yugi, but he could sense the boy's desperation."I listened in mom and dad when they were talking-They don't have the money, and they say that if they can't pay for the surgery she's gonna die."
Although Yugi and Tea preferred a simple life, Yugi had one some fairly extravagant sums of money in duels in which he had been asked to participate. Because he worked at the shop and Tea also worked they had decided to never touch a dime. They were saving it for an emergency, and this seemed like it was it. "I'll tell you what, why don't you have your parents call my game shop-do you know what it's called?"
"Yep! My best friend goes there all the time!"
"Have your mom and dad call that number and we can work something out. I can't do anything without discussing it with my wife, but I don't doubt that she'd like to help as well."He knew that Tea wouldn't have a problem with helping the family, but he knew that he would hear about it later if he didn't discuss it with her first. She'd be angry because, in her words, "It was the principle of the thing".
The boy wiped at the tears that had started to fall from his eyes. "Really?"
"Really. Now, why don't go home and talk to your parents. I need to get home before my wife wonders where I am."
As Yugi finished the rest of his relatively short journey home and he contemplated whether or not it was worth telling the others about the incident with boy during the meeting. Really it only concerned him and Tea, so maybe he should wait until the others had left.
Yugi found that the door was already unlocked when arrived and walked right in. Right now keeping door and windows locked were the least of their worried-locked doors wouldn't be enough to stop Bakura or shadow ghoul, so why bother? He heard voices in the kitchen so it was his first stop.
To Yugi's surprise Mokuba was already there sipping on coffee and munching on cookies that Tea had made for the evening's dessert as he and Tea had a casual conversation.
"So Tea, you'll never believe what I just saw yesterday!" Mokuba exclaimed excitedly.
Tea leaned forward with her own cup in her hands. "What is it?"
"I just saw, um...what was his name...that guy who was with you guys during Battle city. The one who used to run that game shop a few blocks away. He's working for Pegasus now, and they're working on remodeling his Dungeon Dice Monsters game. They want Kaiba Corporation to partner with Industrial Illusions to design it."
Yugi took a seat next to Mokuba. "Hey Mokuba. What were you saying about Duke Devlin?"
"He and Pegasus want us to help to remodel Dungeon Dice Monsters. It was only popular for a year or two before it fizzled out and he went on to the next thing. Pegasus said that he went through his old files and saw a mention of the game and thought that it had potential. He's thinking about asking you to be the new face of it." He rolled his eyes.
"Uh, you can tell him that while I appreciate the offer, I've already got my hands full with the shop and Akari, and now there's the Second Battle City tournament…"
"That's what I told him!" Mokuba waved his cookie around as he spoke animatedly about how he tried to get Pegasus to see reason. "That's Pegasus for you. Since when has he ever cared what other people thinks? Or other people for that matter," He took a large, dramatic bite of the cookie and then remarked, "Seto says that we should consider it, but honestly, why should we let Pegasus use us as crutch?"
Tea and Yugi looked at each other, each daring the other to try to answer that one. "Well, Pegasus is nothing if not ambitious." Tea laughed nervously. "I think that if we tell him to back off he will."
Mokuba snorted. "Not on this planet. To top it all of it's got Seto acting all weird-he's been having these massive mood swings. One minute he'll be fine and the next he'll storm out a room. I don't know what his deal his, but he won't tell me anything!" After what he had witnessed that afternoon Yugi was inclined to agree. There had to be something more to the situation than met the eye.
Tea leaned over and touched the hand that was now resting on the table. "I'm sure he only wants to protect you," she said gently.
"But I'm a grown man, I don't need to be protected anymore! I'm not a kid, although sometimes I wonder if he forgets that." Seto had always been protective of Mokuba, and no amount of talking could ever change that. He had always seen Mokuba as his responsibility, and Yugi suspected that although he never tried to shelter Mokuba, he wanted to give him the life that he never got to have.
"But you're his kid," Yugi pointed out. "Whether you're 3 or 30 doesn't matter-he raised you. He doesn't want to burden you because he's supposed to take care of you."
Mokuba sagged in his chair, though now he wore an indulgent smile. "I just wish that he'd confide in me more. He always feels like he has to do everything on his own, and he's always put a lot of energy into protecting me. He's my brother too, and sometimes I want to be the one help him. But you know, he's come a long way. He's already asked you for help, right?" Yugi nodded yes. "Well, Gozaburo taught him that admitting weakness is the same as admitting defeat, and he never forgot it. That he came to you is huge. I think you guys have softened him up over the years. He'll never be all smiles and rainbows, but before all of this magic stuff showed back up he actually seemed happy. Do you know that I can rarely think of time when he was between the ages of 10 and seventeen when he was really happy?" Both Yugi and wife nodded in understanding. While Mokuba was allowed to see the side of Seto that wasn't steel plated and razor sharp the others were not so fortunate. As far as Mokuba was concerned he was his hard working protector, even if he was a little distant for a while, but the boy that they had known was manipulative, cynical, and capable of blackmail and cruelty. He seemed deeply unhappy to Yugi in those days.
"Mokuba, have you ever considered telling him all of this?"
He shook his head. "I don't want to bother him with all of this. He's busy enough." Mokuba's phone began to buzz. He listened for a moment, said, "Do you need me at home? Are you sure?" And then hung up
"That was my wife. She was just calling to say that she and Toma can't make it. Toma's running a fever. I don't like the idea of leaving them alone, but this is important."
His phone buzzed again, and Mokuba knew who it was without even looking. "It's Seto"
Mokuba listened, simply responded with, "Got it." And then he hung up. "See, I told you it was him. He says he'll be a little late, but he hung up before I could ask him. That's odd, Seto despises being late-I don't think he's ever been late of his own free will."
Tea had strictly forbidden any talk of Bakura or the items from the table. Seto protested that his arrival before the discussion was an unnecessary waste of time, to which she replied, "You're not going anywhere. Eat your fish and make conversation like a civilized human being. We all almost died and I would want us to enjoy each other's company before we start talking about risking our lives, understand? If one of us dies tomorrow I don't want to look back and think that we wasted tonight. Now eat your fish before it gets cold."
Their eyes locked again and Yugi was waiting for another explosion, but it never came. He simply quipped, "I have a company to run. I don't have time for inane chit chat," but did as she asked. Yugi noticed shadows under his eyes, but said nothing.
"Really now, how has someone in your position never learned the value of punctuality?" Pegasus chastised. Yugi wasn't entirely sure if he was serious or not-he was the sort of person who would threaten you with a joke. Only on rare occasions would he let the facade fall.
"Shut up Pegasus." Seto grumbled.
Relaxing with his old friends should have been much easier than it was. The smell of Tea's home cooked meal (which about thousand times more appealing than the hospital food) was inviting and filled the room with the smell of rich spices. Everyone dug in with gusto except for Yugi, who found that he didn't have much of an appetite. Instead he spent it focusing on conversation, and Yugi wasn't the only one who found himself interested in conversation. Much of the dinner was spent getting to know their newest guest.
"So tell me, have you ever heard of me?" Joey asked.
Aiko shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I think so. You were in Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, right? I have a friend that duels, so she sometimes tells me about it. To be honest, it's not really my thing, but sometimes watching is fun."
"You hear that? Sometimes I forget how famous I am." Joey boasted.
"She recognized me before you," Mai pointed out. "Just face it Joey, I'm simply more memorable than you are. How could it be otherwise with these looks?"Mai winked good naturedly.
"Hey! You mean you don't find me the handsomest stud you've ever seen?" He whined. "I thought you loved me!"
"Well, I definitely didn't fall in love with you because of your looks, although you are fairly handsome."
"Dude, where have you been? Mai's clearly a ten, and you're what, a six?" Tristan snickered.
Suddenly Yugi thought that he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. It was a blur, a shadow, something that he couldn't quite pinpoint. Maybe he was being paranoid. What on earth was wrong him? Even amidst the laughter and good natured teasing he just couldn't seem to take his mind off of Bakura.
Tea must have caught sight of the expression on his face and directed a questioning look towards him. He gave her a reassuring smile. She raised an eyebrow to ask if he was sure. He subtly nodded. Yugi noticed that Pegasus seemed to notice their exchange, or at least had seen it going on in their head because he was gazing at Yugi with an intensity that made him uncomfortable, the same way that he had always felt when he was reading Yugi's mind. They chose to say nothing at the moment. What use was there in bothering the others if it really was nothing. Instead of putting any more energy into thinking about it he turned his attention back to his friends.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," She waved her hand as though it would help her gather whatever thoughts she had on the matter. "I'd say he's at least a seven. Maybe even an eight when he's all cleaned up. He's perfect, even if he is an eight. He's funny, kind, genuinely cares about people, is a good duelist, can cook, and most importantly, he is attractive enough to be with someone like me, but not attractive enough to overshadow me."
Joey shrugged in acknowledgement."Well, I can't argue with that logic."
Akari decided to hastily change the subject. It must have been getting too mushy for her. "So Aiko, what do you do for fun?"
Akari blushed a little. "Oh, I like to read and play video games, and I've been learning coding for a while now. I wouldn't say that I'm any good, but it's a good skill to have."
"You released a game a few months ago, did you not?" Kaiba asked out of the blue.
Aiko gasped. "You know my game?"
Pegasus focused his intense gaze at Aiko. It occurred to Yugi that he must have been using the power of the eye. "Hmm...Monster Journey. The player plays as a monster straight out of a horror movie and they are given the task of trying to convince certain key people to save the world. You win their consent with quests, is that correct?"
She looked like she was about to faint. "How did you know?"
He moved his hair aside and revealed the eye. "The Millennium eye gives me the power to read minds. I try to avoid being intrusive-"The others gawked at him, "I once abused it's power and do not wish to repeat that mistake, but I will admit to peeking everyone in a while. What can I say? I am simply a man with insatiable curiosity."
The rest of the table perked up and began to listen in. In Domino City, if you were recognized by Seto Kaiba you were going places. It was much the same for Pegasus, although these days the Kaiba name was even more important than ever.
Mokuba ignored the others who were listening intently and instead spoke about her game with enthusiasm. "I was surprised to learn that you're Blue-EyedGirl7! I played your game a few months back and enjoyed the plot, although the graphics could use some work. For your age, though, they're pretty good. You know, you could make a living out of that someday-we are."
Seto agreed."As long as you work diligently to improve yourself I don't see any reason why you couldn't be successful at it."She blushed even deeper. Yugi thought that if she blushed anymore her entire body would look be.
"Oh great, the last thing we need is another genius at the table. Two we have are hard enough to deal with!" Joey groaned theatrically.
Tristan elbowed him in the ribs. "That's just because you're afraid of being out shined by a teenager."
Put down the wine that he was sipping in order to gently chastise her. "Now now my dear, there's no need to be so modest. A talent should be nurtured. Both Kaiba boy and I-and by that I mean Seto, although I suppose that his brother has as well-have made a living using our talents. I was just a young artist when I was inspired by Egypt to create duel monsters. I painted the first set myself. Kaiba boy here rose to the top of Kaiba Corporation and the dueling arena when he was still a teenager."
The girl looked down in embarrassment took a rather large bite of food in order to avoid having to speak further.
Yugi took pity on her and turned to Ishizu and Marik after realizing that they had spoken relatively little during their conversation. Ishizu in particular had always struck Yugi as the kind of person who preferred to listen instead of talk, and when she did speak it was only to say something that she considered important. If she were in video game she'd be the one dispensing sage wisdom, like she did in real life. "I was just thinking, I've met you husband but not your son. The next time you feel like taking a vacation or come here for business you should drop by-it's always nice to see old friends."
Ishizu's smile matched his. "Yes, it's a pity that it took such an unpleasant situation for our fates to cross paths. I would like to extend the same offer to you should you ever wish to travel. Since my youth I have discovered that a home is happiest when shared by friends. Perhaps I will get to show you my home city. I think you would like it Yugi, it really is beautiful, and the modern city was built on the foundations of an even more glorious ancient culture whose legacy is carried on today by its descendants. As someone who has an interest in the history of my homeland I believe that you would find it interesting."
"I live right in the middle of the city-if you had told me that I would be where am I today when I was a child i wouldn't believe you. I find the city to be more vibrant and more open in ways that less crowded areas are not. After we fix this mess, you should come stay with us for a while and experience our culture. The past is interesting, but so is our present. There is a lot to see because each city has its own feel. I'm currently living in Egypt again, but a few years after we put the Pharaoh to rest I saved up some money and traveled around the world from city to city."
"I am grateful that my brother has come back to me-I always miss him when he's gone." Yugi didn't miss the hint of sadness in her eyes. He wondered if she was thinking about the time before he banished his dark side.
"Enough of the small talk. Everyone is done-let's get to the matter at hand." Yugi looked around and found that Kaiba was right. Everyone was finished before he had even realized it. His stomach began to sink with dread.
"Not at the table." Tea reprimanded. "Once we're finished cleaning up dinner we'll discuss it in the living room."
"Sounds good to me." Tristan agreed. "Anything we can help you with?"
"No, you all should just relax. You should go with them too Yugi, you just got out of the hospital. I know you're healed, but you should still take it easy." Tea eyed Yugi with concern, as though she expected him to pass out at any moment.
"No, that's a lot of dishes for just two people," Yugi protested.
"Sweetie, how many people do you think that it takes to clean up the kitchen? We invited all of these people over and it would be rude for one of us to not be in there, and since you were the one who was the most badly injured you get to be the one to do it. Besides,"She smirked, "Someone has to keep Joey and Seto from killing each other."
"Ok Akari, be sure to help your Mom, okay? I know you hate doing the dishes, but this really is a lot of people to clean up for."
She nodded seriously. "Sure. With two of us working on it they should be done in no time at all!"
Akari's assessment wasn't quite accurate. The tension in the room was was so thick he was pretty sure that it would suffocate them soon if Tea didn't finish the dishes fast. Before their mood had been light in way that it hadn't been in a while, but with the talk of battle looming over their heads it had gone down again. Mokuba, Akari, Joey, and Mai did their best to break the tension and succeeded on some level, but the tension never really left them.
"So Yugi, when are you gonna get in that new set? I'm dyin' to see it!" Joey had been anticipating the latest booster sets for a while now. He had always enjoyed testing his luck, and sometimes he still acted a bit like a ten year old boy in a candy store when it came to shopping for cards.
"Stop harassing the man Joey, he'll let you know when he gets it-he's had you on speed dial for years!" Mai pointed out. She turned to Tea, "You see what I have to live with?"
"Well, we can't all be perfect," He bit back.
"You're, we can't all be perfect, but it's okay, you can't help it." She winked and kissed him on the check. "Love you hun!"
"Whatever you say Mai."
There it was again. Just out of the corner of his eye he thought that he saw something move. Maybe it wasn't a figment of Yugi's imagination. Why was he suddenly feeling so nervous? More nervous that this conversation would have normally, at any rate? Maybe he was just paranoid because of the close call that he had just had? That had to be it. There was no way that Bakura would be recovered enough to soon.
After that the room became dead silent again and all Yugi could hear was the sound of Kaiba typing an email on his phone and the process of putting dishes away. Aiko kept looking at Seto as though there was a question on the tip of her tongue that she was too afraid to voice.
Without even looking up from his phone he asked, "What is it?"
"It's just...I was wondering...we haven't met in person before, have we?"
At least he put down his phone to address her. "No."
She fidgeted in her seat at the very edge of the couch and looked away. "Oh," for a fraction of a second Yugi thought that he had heard disappointment in her voice, but it was gone before he could be sure. "It's just that I feel like we've met before. Maybe it's just because I've seen you in the news or something." Everyone in Domino knew Seto Kaiba, if only because they watched the news every once a while, so her question was not so unusual.
What Yugi really wanted to say was that it was because of their connection to Egypt, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. He wasn't about to open that particular can of worms. So instead he said in jest, "I wouldn't blame you for that one bit-he's always on the news. If he were to go grocery shopping on his own I'm pretty sure they'd put it on the front page."
Tristan smirked and casually remarked, "They'd probably just use it as an excuse to talk about how cheap you are."
"All of the tabloids would blame it on aliens 'cuz there's no way the real Seto Kaiba would show up at the grocery store like the us lowly peasants," Joey said matter of factly, "I don't think I've seen a good alien story in a while."
"No way, we're due for another robot story," Mokuba protested. "I actually kind of miss those. They're a lot more amusing than the speculation about his love life. They're so boring." Seto raised an eyebrow and for a moment Yugi thought that he was going to snap at him, but then, this was Mokuba. Yugi couldn't remember ever seeing Seto treat Mokuba the way that he treated the rest of them. Mokuba could get away with a lot more than everyone else.
"I think that the press should just mind their own damn business," he muttered under his breath. Yugi couldn't help but agree with that sentiment, although he probably wouldn't have phrased it exactly like that. over the years there had been a number of ridiculous rumors about him in the tabloids. Domino was still considered the capital of the dueling world, so the tabloids took advantage of the number of well known duelists that were residents of Domino.
Tea gravely walked in and set down. "Now let's talk."
"Where's Akari?" Yugi asked.
"Right here!" She poked her head around the corner. "Sorry about that, I was just putting up the last plate. She took a seat next to her Mom so that the three Mutos were united in solidarity at last.
The others were waiting for him to begin but he didn't know what to say. He'd already told them quite a bit. "Why don't you just ask me what you want to know?" He figured that, at least, should give them so direction. Sometimes he wished that they could just make do without these semi-formal briefs-it wasn't like they needed them the last time. But things were different, he reminded himself. None of them had really known what they were getting themselves into the first time.
Just as he expected it was Kaiba that asked the first question. "I've been able to deduce that he nearly won, is that right? What happened between the beginning and end of the Shadow game? I've been able to deduce that he summoned...whatever the hell that thing is, but what happened before that, and how did you manage to summon those two things?"
It was times like this that Seto frustrated Yugi the most. He had to remind himself that it was just the way that Kaiba was to keep himself from exploding."Those two things were the eyes of Ra. You could show them a bit more respect you know-without them we'd be dead. Antagonizing the gods is not a good idea right now."
"Why should I worry about antagonizing gods that I don't believe in?"
Yugi wasn't even going to dignify that remark. "He was toying with us. He bombarded us with attack after attack and nothing we did was enough to slow him down. The Pharaoh gave me a spell to summon the Eyes of Ra, and it worked."
"The cost?" Kaiba asked.
"They said something about helping them 'when the time comes'. It doesn't make much of a difference-I don't have any choice but to help. He's gotten stronger, so even with their help we could barely keep up, so I summoned my Ka. Your shadow game ended shortly after, and at that point we were only barely holding on."
Aiko frowned in confusion, "Your ka?"
"A manifestation of his spirit as a duel monster," Pegasus clarified. "I've never seen one summoned before in person, but I read plenty when I was researching...duel monsters." Mokuba was unable to stop fidgeting in discomfort. The others were unable to look at him too, with the exception of Joey, Tristan, Mai, and Kaiba. Joey and Tristan were not so subtly clenching their fists and their jaws in an attempt to not say something, Mai looked like she wanted to hit him, and Kaiba simply raised an eyebrow skeptically. It was fairly obvious to Yugi that he could not forgive Pegasus for what he did, but he was the sort of person who refused to show weakness, and that included allowing Pegasus to know exactly how much he hated him. They knew what he was really researching, and Duel Monsters was merely a byproduct of that research.
"But Dad isn't that...dangerous? I mean, I get that we're already in danger and everything, but still…" Akari pointed out, "Did you really need to risk your soul outside of a shadow game?"
Tea was tapping her foot impatiently. He should have known that she'd still be angry even after their conversation earlier that afternoon. How did he go about explaining this without giving her any ideas? "You'll find that sometimes when you have to make an adult decision you have to be willing to fight for what you believe in, and you make that decision by looking at the risks and figuring out if they are worth whatever it is you're getting out of it."
"In other words, you should always do a cost benefit analysis before you make important decisions, and in this case he believed that the benefit was worth more than the cost because he could see no other way out," Mokuba explained as though that was a perfectly simple explanation.
"Oh, I see." Akari nodded in understanding.
"That's the explanation you understood?" Tristan questioned.
"I was clear and concise," she explained, with some confusion as to why they weren't getting it too.
Ishizu smiled with pride and leaned a little towards Akari."Your father did a very brave thing. I have met very few people as brave as your father, and most of those are sitting her in this room. But then, I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less from the Pharaoh's chosen vessel." The Pharaoh's chosen vessel. He didn't like the sound of that-it just felt wrong. Vessel just sounded too impersonal. The reverence that Ishizu sometimes treated him with made him uncomfortable, but he could not persuade her to treat him otherwise. To her it was just a matter of course. Yugi's a hero and the sky is blue-both are things that she treated to be absolute fact.
"So he's gone, right?" Aiko said hopefully.
Tristan shook his head, "Not even by a long shot."
Now Yugi had to explain what happened with the Priest without actually mentioning Seto."Afterwards, when the Pharaoh saw me he told me to head to Egypt, but then I spoke to someone else yesterday and got some conflicting advice."
"Who was it?" Tea asked. "Was it anybody we'd know?"
"It was Priest Seto," he finally said.
Akari looked at Seto and then looked towards her father."You mean the guy who was Uncle Seto's counterpart in Ancient Egypt?"
"Yes, it was him."
Tristan rolled his eyes. "Big surprise then that he'd give you conflicting information if his ancient self is anything like the Seto we know."
"Two Kaibas! Poor Yugi, most of us can barely deal with one! But seriously, if the Pharaoh told you to go to Egypt, then the Priest probably told you to stay because we're not ready, is that right?" Sometimes he forgot how clever Mai could be, and she had a way of knocking sense into him.
"That's right."
"Well I think he's right. There's no use in avoiding Egypt altogether, but first we need to recover, figure out where to go, and you," she gestured towards the item holders, "Need to figure out how to use your items. Some of you know already, but we do have three newbies, or well, I suppose two of you aren't technically newbies, but you haven't used your items before. And the rest of you should probably figure out how they were used in the past to help save everyone because there's no use in relying on card games if Bakura hasn't even challenged a single one of to a duel. Going in without a real plan is suicide, and we cannot afford another day like that one. Two miracles is already too much to ask, and unlike someone we know," she looked pointedly at her husband, "I don't much care for relying on luck."
"But the Pharaoh says-" Tea started.
"No, I think Mai has a point. He was right when he said that we need to get to Egypt soon, but I agree, we're not ready, and I think that he understands that. If I know him then he probably assumed that it would be understood that need to take time to make sure that we have the strategic advantage, just not too much time. I don't know about you guys, but I don't know all of the capabilities of the puzzle. Maybe it can do something to help us. If it's a conduit for magic, then maybe there's something that can help us weaken Bakura. You guys should do some research into what your items can do as well. We are lucky enough to have a world renowned Egyptologist on our side."
Kaiba wore a frown that told Yugi that he was thinking about what morons they were again. "No. For once I agree with the Pharaoh. We're being too defensive. We need to strike first while he isn't expecting us to act. If we can catch him unprepared it might weaken him."
"There's one problem: how do all of the items even play into this? We have limited information right now. Running blindly is exactly the last thing that we need to do. You're the one who taught me that Seto!" Mokuba protested. "You can't be serious!"
"But I am. Sometimes you have to calculate the risk, and if you know that you will not be able to face someone head on you find a way to weaken them first, and often that is to catch them unprepared with a pre-emptive strike." Suddenly Seto glared and rubbed his head.
Mokuba's glared right back, and Yugi could see the shock in them. He wondered if Seto had ever actually glared at him before. When Seto caught his brother's expression he explained, "It's not you. I suddenly have an annoying headache. He's disagreeing with me quite vehemently. It's like he's yelling at me from inside my head, and unfortunately there's no way to turn down the volume," he growled.
Mokuba looked at his brother sympathetically."Um, for the sake of my brother's sanity, maybe we should wait,"
Yugi knew Seto well enough by now to know that the priest trying to force him into submission was only going to make him want to do exactly the opposite out of spite and stubbornness just to prove that nobody could control him. Clearly this attitude did not go over well with the Priest, who was probably high enough in status to be used to obedience from most people. "No, we should attack Bakura sooner rather than later," Seto insisted stubbornly, "Just because he's ancient doesn't make him right." His eyes narrowed again, and Yugi wondered if the spirit was disagreeing with him again.
"There's one thing that we've all been overlooking," Tristan pointed out. "Exactly how do you find out everything that your items are capable of. No offense you guys," he directed this comment towards Marik and Ishizu, "But some things might have been lost to time, and somehow I don't think that it would be a good idea to actually test out everything that they can do."
"Why's that?" Mai asked, trying to understand what exactly it was that she was missing that the others understood.
"Because we're seen some of the stuff that the items are capable of, and trust me, using all of their capabilities would make us no better than them." It was universally understood by everyone, including Aiko, exactly who them was.
Pegasus moved thee hair that he had fashioned to cover his eye, "Mr. Taylor is correct-the power of the millennium eye is terrible to behold when used to fullest extent of my knowledge, and even then I'm afraid that my knowledge is incomplete, and I am certain that the same applies to each of the items, even the puzzle."
"So then what?"
Yugi looked to Ishizu and Marik to see if they could think of some other solution when he saw that Ishizu seemed to be staring out into space. "What did you see sister?" Marik murmured.
"Of course!" She exclaimed. "By observing the events of the past we may glean new insight into how we might use the millennium items."
"Can she really do that? Take us to the past?" Joey stared the necklace like he had never seen it before. "I knew that it could show the future, but to see the past?"
"Why does seeing the future shock you less than the past? You've seen the past, for goodness sakes!" It was one of those moments where Yugi was pretty sure that Tea thought that Joey was acting like a moron,
"It's just...I just never knew that it could do that. Ishizu never told the rest of us peasants about that, though I'm guessing Yugi and rich boy over there knew all about it already," he motioned towards Yugi and Seto. Yugi carefully examined Joey's face for sign of resentment but saw none. He meant it in a purely factual way.
"It seemed relevant at the time, yes. I showed them visions of the past myself in order to help them understand their connection to the ancient to the ancient past. It was not my intention to leave anyone in the dark."
Joey waved away her concern."Eh, no harm no foul. You're telling us now right? Now, when are we gonna get to see the past?"
"I was thinking that perhaps it would be easiest for my brother and I to be the ones to do it. We speak the language and already have some knowledge of rituals of the ancient past. Also, you would do well to remember that I have rarely shown these visions with other people, and it is a taxing experience. One other person is doable, but more than that could be dangerous," she warned.
Mai "The rest of us can be your guinea pigs for things that won't turn us into soulless zombies or do research of our own. I for one refuse to sit here and do nothing!"
The others nodded in agreement. "You'd do that, even despite what some us have put you through?" Marik stared at the group in disbelief.
Tristan leaned back in his seat and tried to not make a big deal out of it. He was just as aware as Yugi that the comment was Marik's guilty conscience speaking. They all remembered the way that he had turned them into puppets, but they understood that he had only done it when his now banished dark side was in control. "Of course! Face it man, if we can't trust each other we're toast."
Pegasus sternly nipped that suggestion in bug before it went any further. "No. I don't think that's a very good idea. You are all of course welcome to research if you wish, but I would advise you against trying to test it on others. If you reach your consciousness into it it should be enough to help you a great deal. I learned how to use my eye with very little outside instruction. After all, it came to us, not the other way around. It is quite clear to me that the ancients had a rather peculiar sense of irony when it gave use items because they could either ensure our salvation or destruction, and not even from the hands of our enemies. I delved further than I should have dared to and as you saw during my little tournament, very nearly destroyed myself in the process."
Mokuba's face remained neutral for the most part, but his eyes said it all- they were filled with an almost terrifying fury that looked unnatural on him, and if he hadn't had as much experience with business as he'd already had it would have shown even more. He was furious that Pegasus would even have the audacity to bring up Duelist Kingdom after what he did, but he was trying to control himself."That's what you're calling it now, your 'little tournament'? It took place on a private island. There was nothing little about it. You've always had a flare for drama."
Pegasus sighed loudly enough for all of them to hear. "You do have a point little Kaiba, perhaps it would be more accurate to refer to it as my grand tournament, but would that not be rather immodest of me?"
Mokuba scoffed. "At least you' be honest," the for once was implied.
Pegasus didn't respond to that remark. "As I warned our dear Yugi shadow magic can be addictive and have unintended consequences. The reason that you do not know how to use the other abilities of your items is because you've never needed them before, and therefore, have never thought to ask. The only way for us to learn is through a bit of healthy introspection."
A chill ran up Yugi's spine, and he found himself looking around the room in his paranoia. Despite how much he wanted to focus he was unable to. He could have sworn that he had just seen it a third time. Surely this wasn't a coincidence? Maybe he should say something. No, they had enough to worry about. They would have sensed it too if shadow ghoul was already there, which meant that that whole thing had to be in his head. His parents always said that he had a strong imagination, so maybe it was just his own imagination getting the best of maybe he still wasn't recovered from Bakura's attack. Right now he almost wished that Pegasus would read his mind and confirm or deny what Yugi thought that he was seeing.
Pegasus turned to Ishizu, but Yugi noticed that he quickly glanced at him."Perhaps Miss Ishtar can direct us to the right kind of resources right now while we're safe as houses." Pegasus wasn't stupid enough to think that was actually true, so he must have trying to subtly communicate with him and tell him that he was imagining the whole thing? If Pegasus was telling the truth then Yugi just had to take his mind off of it for now. So he listened even more intently to the conversation.
"I can make arrangements to give you access to the databases from the university that I am teaching at during my stay here. I contributed to quite a few of their texts in my field, but you should find many others as well."
"I thought we left that behind when we left school," Joey whined.
Tristan put an arm around his friend's shoulder consolingly. "Just hang in there Joey. We survived years of reading. What harm can a little more do?"
Author's Note:
This one is about eighteen pages-I think that this might be my longest chapter yet, which is funny because I thought this was going to be one of the shorter ones. I hope that this scene wasn't too repetitive. They needed to work stuff out, and Yugi's not the type of guy to make decisions and expect everyone else to follow them without their input (like some people we all know and love) so they get turned into 'family meeting' type things. I'm honestly not quite sure how I feel about this chapter. I actually wrote a great deal of it fairly quickly. Maybe I'll post an edit later.
-TheEagerScribbler
