Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Edited By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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"Who bombs the 'game shop'?" Ryuji asked as his emotions mixed into an acidic ball in his stomach. The floors kept moving past as the weight of gravity kept wanting to pull him to the ground.
"I don't know... I can give you Anzu's number?" She suggested in an effort to be helpful when he fairly flung himself against the wall of the elevator. Like he was trying to nail himself to it so he could stand up right.
The elevator slowed down and Mai glanced at the number only to see they hadn't reached her floor yet. Was this Ryuji's floor? She hadn't focused on what button he pushed for which floor, but when the elevator stopped a pair of guests of the hotel stepped in. The pair were in thick, white, robes and were fixated over a small menu that they shared between them. Meaning they were probably heading to the top floor where a spa with pool resided in the hotel.
Mai had made use of it when she first arrived and it was certainly a good quality spa, despite what her nightmares tended to do to her. But their presence put a bit of a damper on any further conversation between herself and Ryuji since they would be getting off sooner than the new fellow occupants.
"I had wondered why my dad had been so excited and pushy that I call Yugi." Ryuji finally spoke, his voice quiet. Just barely above the sound of the elevator as it moved further up the hotel. "Kept telling me something great happened, and well... its my dad so I didn't fully trust him but well..."
Mai blinked in surprise at his comment and he reached down to his pockets and began digging around for some paper. Quickly a receipt from some place was snagged and he began patting down his clothes for a pen or pencil. The marker he used from before was large but he held it out to Mai and she took the two things readily.
"Here, its Anzu's number and she can fill you in on what's been going on," Mai instructed as she began to quietly write down the teens' number. "Also apparently Bakura is leading a small group out of Japan. So if you 'think' you saw Bakura or Jounouchi out and about you probably 'have' seen them."
The scent of sharp, pungent ink filled her nose making her scrunch it up in annoyance before she finished writing the number. Not an easy task with the wide head of the marker and trying to write it without bleeding the numbers onto her skin. She wasn't sure she could trust the wall and she didn't want Anzu's number on a elevator wall like a woman's number in a mens' restroom stall.
"I think I'm going to take a break in my room for a bit. I'll meet up with you and Valon in a little while," Ryuji commented as she blew on the sheet in an effort to get the ink to dry off faster.
Mai nodded as she held out the receipt, her duelist eyes gauging his clear exhaustion. Whatever energy he had reclaimed from his power nap was wiped out with the news about Yugi. Or rather the realization of what his dad was really talking about. In all honesty she didn't expect to see him again until much later or perhaps even in the morning. "I'm in room 726, come up if you just want to talk."
He nodded as the elevator dinged at his floor and he trudged his way out of the elevator, "thanks Mai! I'll be down there with you guys soon."
She gave a half smile in answer, politely pretending to believe that he would show up soon. He watched as the elevator doors shut between them leaving him free to go back to his room. His stomach hurt as he recalled the strange enthusiasm his dad had shown while on the phone those times he called. But being a professional clown, Ryuji had begrudgingly wrote it off as part of his dad's job persona mixing with his excitement that his son's game was taking off.
Not this.
He knew his dad hated Yugi's grandpa, but he wanted to believe that his dad wasn't the type of man to 'celebrate' the death of another person. More over a 'violent' death. Ryuji pulled the room keycard out of his back pocket as he reached his room. Sliding his card in, he heard the lock release allowing him to enter. From there he quietly walked in and fell back against the door his eyes disinterestedly staring at the pale white walls of his room, the soft colors of the bedsheets and the dark wood colors of the furniture.
The suitcase rested open on one of the twin beds, and light filtered through the closed curtains just enough to remind him that it was still day, but not enough to bother him. Ryuji walked to the empty bed, dropping his keycard on the desk and held up the receipt so he could examine Anzu's phone number. She would be out of class by now he figured, so it would probably be safe to call. But he was so drained that he wasn't sure if he could function with more information.
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Mai watched the doors close between herself and Ryuji before the elevator tugged at her as it rose further into the air. She felt bad leaving Ryuji with such a downer message, of course it wasn't any easier for her when she found out. Anzu had been beside herself with worry and Mai could still recall the conversations they had after Yugi and company had been found.
Though if there was any guilt left over the matter, it was that Ryuji had gifted Mai with such a lovely looking drinking partner for the evening. While she left the poor guy with an unfortunate and sad situation to handle.
As she waited the couple seemed to have settled on what they were going for because they stood there in complete silence. So much so that the only sound was the subtle sounds of the elevator moving. And that was when the spider crawling sensation of anxiety began to crawl up her arms and brushed the back of her neck. 'Are they real? Maybe you dreamed this up?' the voices began to hiss with the hydraulics that worked with the elevator to carry her up.
But she could still remember how Anzu and the gang looked, she recalled their names and how she met them. Unlike in her nightmares where she could feel those memories slip away, and it was the only thing that kept her from screaming now. So she forced her thoughts to something far more pleasant, that being Valon.
Unlike Yugi or Kaiba, he wasn't just well toned but also muscular, building up muscles not just maintaining what he already had. His arms were toned and strong, that top was tight enough that it wasn't faking what he had under it she could suspect. He had an amazingly honest, almost boyishly sincere face that seemed impossible for an adult to have. Save Chibi-Chan Yugi because well, he looked like a ten year old child while amazingly being in his late teens. While being on eye level with most well endowed womens' breasts and the fact he could keep it together could be considered a miracle.
Even Valon's 'hair' had small throw backs to Yugi's wild hair, though thankfully Valon's hair stuck to one color and didn't try to outdo a sunset. It looked thick, healthy and honestly Valon had all the ear marks of a good thing to watch on a beach. Perhaps it was because of his facial innocent look that made her more willing to give the guy a chance.
But she wasn't stupid, he looked nice on the eyes for her and so far he seemed a decent guy around Ryuji. Only with Ryuji not showing up, would his personality change or would he follow the same course he had been on? The elevator bell went off as it reached her floor allowing her to pick up her large trophy and walk out the box. Thankful that Valon's body was good enough distraction to keep her from fixating on the coffin like quality of the elevator.
Like, speedo or swim trunks, commando in those pants... so many options to think about, like what he liked under his clothes. He even smelled nice, granted there were fumes and odors that went with someone who worked with cars or something. Probably something that soaked into his clothes and he didn't realize that he carried that scent with him. But 'his' own smell wasn't competing so clearly he bathed which was a plus.
She pulled out her keycard from the inner pocket to her jean jacket, and made her way to her door. While the sound of the guests on the ground floor was only a distant rumble that could be mistaken for a waterfall or a river rather than people. If Mai looked around, a part of her mind hissed, she would be alone all over again, forcing her to keep her eyes locked on her room door.
A quick slide of the keycard and she watched the small red light flashed out and the green light ignited into color. She turned the handle with the 'Do Not Disturb' card jostled under her touch, and pushed the door open into a dark interior hotel room. She knew that, logically, it wasn't as dark as it appeared not with the time being what it was. But right now, as she stood there alone the shadows seemed longer, the silence was deafening. She took a breath and gripping the trophy in her free right hand she walked into the hotel room.
For a moment she could see the rich tones of color that went with the carpet, the warm browns of the wooden furniture and the bright yet soft off white tones of the walls. The curtains were drawn closed yet their colors were also a warm buttery quality. As she walked the carpet faded from their deep rich tones, growing paler with each passing moment. The wooden furniture stuck out painfully, like a sore thumb in retaining its color as the rest of the world became paler.
Her new 'normal'.
The further she walked into the room, the further away she moved from other people, the more color drained away from her sight. Stay too long and the world would turn white, the absolute color of abandonment. Black held tones, shades, hints of other colors, but white was the absence of all color and when Mai woke up in the morning the world would be nothing but white, no colors not even a black or gray outline to tell her where she was.
Her dreams ended in completely darkness, an absence of all people or self identity where she would end up forgetting the people she knew. Even her own identity would be lost in the deepest black darkness of her dreams. In the waking world she would lose her identity to the pure white where even the outlines of the bed she would be sleeping on with disappear.
But for now she had Ryuji nearby and she could lose herself for a bit with a beer and some time with Valon down stairs. So she put the trophy up near the space between the nightstand and wall before returning to the already pale bathroom. A quick check of her make up, a light brush through the hair to liven it up. Nothing major in terms of cleaning up her appearance seemed needed so she made sure that her check was safely hidden away, her card in hand and she left the hotel room.
The second the door opened color began to spring back into the room, so quickly it took her by surprise until she saw the bellhop helping a small family to their room. Which was a plus for her. Small kids were noisy and it meant that there would be invasive noise to keep her room from completely whiting out.
Out the door she went and made her way down to the elevator again, when a thought crept back into her mind, not about the hot Aussie down below. Or Ryuji off in his own room. Rather she found herself wondering if Anzu was doing ok. What with her being the lone girl in a stable of highly attractive guys. Malik wasn't in school but he was hanging out with Bakura, who was already a chick magnet apparently. Kaiba was now, with extreme begrudgingly nature, part of the group. Though Anzu confessed it wasn't because he wanted to as much as stuff had been 'happening'.
Kaiba had been attacked while in America on a supernatural level that left him pretty near to a coma due to blood loss. Now, amazingly, the Dark Magician was posing as Kaiba somehow, and in that he still tried to stay close to Yugi and company. Which to the rest of the school looked like 'Kaiba' had warmed up to the gang. Even if by the most slightest of degrees.
It struck her as incredible listening to Anzu talk about how the Dark Magician was a person with his own identity wandering around Kaiba's mansion. Since that was where Yugi was forced to live after the bombing. Though she described the magician as incredibly formal and kind just utterly lost in this modern age. Meanwhile Yugi was summoning Kuriboh who played with Mokuba and kept an eye on the child for his own safety. Just listening to Anzu made Japan sound like it had turned into this living fantasy land, where Duel Monsters came to life.
Leaving Mai to wonder if she could get in contact with the Dark Magician. He was a 'magician' after all, and given what Anzu had described, a former priest... So could the spirit help her with these issues that had consumed her life? But, once again, she shook the thought out of her head, she didn't need people's help. She could adapt to this life and power through, just as she adapted to her parents death and powered through that.
Anything was better than having to be dependent on the gang, baggage got abandoned after all and she would simply 'die' if she became just a bothersome suitcase in someone elses' life. The elevator wasn't as empty going down as it had been going up, several people were dressed for a night out on the town, while a pair were drying off from the upper floor pool.
She took in the noise that kept the colors of her world in place as she watched the numbers of the elevator tick smaller each floor. Stopping to let people on, while the swimmers were left off on another floor. Ryuji didn't enter the elevator when it reached his floor and before long she found herself on the ground floor again.
Ryuji wasn't in sight, but she could see Valon sitting where they had left him, though he appeared to be conversing with some tourists. He was gesturing with his hands as though giving directions, but the moment he caught sight of her, he stood up. The conversation seemed to finish quickly as she walked up to join him.
"Sorry it took so long, ahh and I think Ryuji's going to be a bit late," she apologized as she gave the tourists a nod of greeting.
"Oh so you want to wait here?" Valon asked, caught between stepping away from the chair or staying where he was.
The family of tourists had turned their attention back to the brochures they were holding, huddled around the love seat of warm brown wicker weave and black seat cushions. Thus with them distracted she felt less reluctant to shake her head no. "Wish I could say yeah, but... I had to update him on some heavy stuff that happened back in Japan."
"Oh... You ok with me being here?" Valon asked his head cocked to the side, since Ryuji and Mai were friends already and heavy stuff was always important stuff.
"Nice of you to ask, but you saw how tired he was. I gave him Anzu's number and if he called her first then once they're done talking I can't see him staying up. But who knows, he might show up later..." Mai explained as she gestured towards the hotel bar with a tilt of her head.
Valon winced shaking his head at the news, though he readily followed her along towards the rather elite looking bar. "Anzu? I remember him mentioning about a game in Japan..."
His wording confused Mai for a bit as they made their way to the bar before she began cracking up. She reached into her small pocket book and produced a small wallet, "no, 'Yugi' in this case is the guys' actual name. Though I understand your confusion," she explained as she produced a small group picture. "He's the one with the sunset colored hair and in black leather."
Valon took the picture and held it more to the light over behind the bar with a raised eyebrow. "Guys just a kid... I thought he might be older..." Valon began when Mai began the giggle in amusement.
"The 'kid' is 19 years old, though you're right he doesn't look it at all in the picture."
"... He's the height all men aspire to be, perfect for cleavage watching without getting caught..." Valon noted as he took the chance to look over the whole gang and saw only two other girls with only Mai as the adult female in the group. Right before she elbowed him. "What?!"
"I'll have a beer," Mai told the bartender before shooting Valon a 'watch it buster' stare.
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"ACHOO!" Yugi's face scrunched up as a sneeze that came, quite literally, out of nowhere struck him.
"Are you ok Yugi?" Bakura asked as he turned from having just passed through the front door out onto the porch of the mansion.
Only to have Yugi wave it away with an embarrassed grin, "I think someone was just talking about me."