Yuki
By: Rogue Fox
Part Seven. Bad Things Always Come In Threes
I was unceremoniously dropped into a rather comfortable chair, looking around myself. Yuki, just to my right, was forced into a sitting position by her captor. To my left, Mai was also forced to sit. We were in a room dimly lit by a cozy fire. The room was rather luxurious, but that hardly surprised me. What did surprise me was that none of the guys were with us.
" Where's Seto?" Yuki demanded of her burly captor, who was standing over her as though he expected her to sprint away at any moment. The last I had seen him, Kaiba had been unconscious and was being dragged along by another goon. Then, the guys, Yugi and Kaiba included, were dragged off in a different direction, yelling their heads off, with the exception of Kaiba. Naturally, we had followed their example, to no avail other than rough threats from the men carrying or pushing us along. Yuki rubbed her right arm sorely and glared at her captor. She still seemed to be taking this whole thing as a personal insult. Mai was no different, glaring at her own captor, then mine, and then Yuki's, methodically. I stared sullenly at the fire, slumping in my chair. I was tired, angry, and thoroughly annoyed.
" Anzu?" Mai requested of me suddenly.
" What?" I asked tersely.
" What's going to happen to us?" she asked. I broke my staring contest with the fire off to look at her. She looked so helpless. It was weird for me, because I had always seen Mai as a strong feminine figure, totally fearless. I admired her, but I was also jealous of her. I had always wanted to be as beautiful as she was, to have men look at me the way they looked at her. She was so lucky, so utterly unafraid of anyone or anything. But now, without the reassurance of our other friends, and I think without Jou in particular, she looked so lost and afraid. I felt suddenly afraid myself. Up until that moment, I had merely been angry and annoyed with the whole situation. Now, Mai's fear was scaring me like I should have been scared a while ago.
" I don't know." I admitted. Yuki was watching us, a little fear creeping into her features.
" I'm scared." Yuki said suddenly. Mai and I looked at her. I searched for something comforting to say, but the more I thought about it, the worse it looked for us.
" We'll be okay." I said, trying to force more confidence than I actually had into my voice. Mai smiled, but I don't think she or Yuki really believed what I said.
" What about Himeko?" Mai suddenly asked of Yuki. Yuki started. It appeared she had forgotten about the other girl in her head.
" She's still asleep." Yuki said after a moment. I gawked at her.
" You mean she slept through all that?" I asked in disbelief. Yuki almost smiled. Almost.
" Yeah, she did." She said. Mai chuckled, but it sounded forced and didn't last too long. We sat in silence for a moment, waiting for something to happen. Our patience was rewarded. The door we had been forced through, which was behind us now, was suddenly thrown open.
" I'm so sorry, ladies! Please forgive me for being so tardy!" an all too familiar voice cried. I craned my neck to see its owner, but I already knew who it was. Yuki scowled and slumped into her chair, adopting my previous sullen glare for her own. Mai exchanged a helpless look with me, as if to ask " Why did it have to be him? Why can't we get kidnapped by someone new for a change?"
" Well, how are you lovely ladies on this fine Egyptian evening?" Pegasus asked, stepping into our view and taking his seat in a chair facing ours. Yuki directed her glare at the white-haired man and cocked an annoyed eyebrow.
" Fabulous, just waiting for the moment when it'll get better." She said, still glaring. Pegasus seemed immune to the glare I had seen stop Kaiba in his tracks.
" Oh? And when's that?" he asked, reaching for an elegant glass of wine. I briefly wondered how he could drink all that wine and not get totally drunk.
" When we get to kill you." Mai finished for Yuki.
" Oh, now that's not very nice." Pegasus remarked. I was about to say something very rude about how we didn't really give a rat's butt about being nice to him, but instead I pursued a different topic.
" Where are the guys?" I asked curtly. I was in no mood for his games. Unfortunately for me, according to the earlier statement from our captors, Pegasus's games were unavoidable.
" Oh, they're about, somewhere." Pegasus said, evasively. I glared at him. I was sure Yuki and Mai were adding their own glares to the effort. Pegasus remained unaffected.
" Alright, different question." I said. " Why are we here?"
" That's easy." Pegasus told me, sipping from his glass and then swirling the contents. I waited none too patiently for his answer. " You are here play a few games. Actually, three games, to be exact." Pegasus told us.
" Why three games?" Mai asked cautiously.
" To prove that Miss Yuki's companion and our little Yugi's older self are worthy of the battle that was promised to them." Pegasus said, as though that were perfectly reasonable. I thought about asking why the rest of us had to go through the games, why not just Yuki and Yugi? Then I decided I didn't really care anyway. Yuki, who had remained quiet, had another question.
" What if we decide we don't want to play your sick games?" she asked quietly.
" My dear, I'm afraid you don't have a choice." Pegasus told her with a chuckle.
" Don't call me 'dear.'" Yuki responded instantaneously.
" Whatever you wish, Miss Yuki." Pegasus said automatically. Boy, I hated his prim and proper attitude. I just wanted to wipe that smug look off his face. But then again, those goons standing over us were a little imposing, a nice reminder not to do anything too rash. Still, one good swing, and I'd feel so much better.
" Alright, then." Mai said suddenly, drawing herself up and trying to gather what was left of her dignity and composure. I followed her example, but Yuki continued to glare and sulk. " Let's get this over with. What's the first game?" Mai asked. Yuki looked on with mild interest. I was a little worried about her. I wondered if Himeko had woken up and was influencing her actions or if Yuki was acting this way on her own.
" The first game, ladies, is a little number I like to call 'Bloody Maze.'" Pegasus said, smiling as like a normal guy would if he were thinking of a roller coaster he really liked. " It's exactly as it sounds. A maze. Pretty complex, but I have no doubt that bright young ladies like yourselves will be able to finish it. Although, I do warn you, you'd be in a better position if you tried to finish the maze as quickly as possible." Pegasus said, sitting up fully.
" Why?" I asked.
" You'll find out. I advise you to keep that in mind, along with a few other things; since the three of you will be in the maze at the almost the same time, you will be started exactly seven minutes apart from each other. You won't be allowed to come any closer than eight meters to another girl." Pegasus continued.
" What about the guys?" Yuki asked, interrupting. I noticed she wasn't even biting her lip. She didn't appear in the least bit scared anymore. I did a double take to make sure it was really Yuki I was seeing, not Himeko. It was Yuki. Pegasus didn't appear too pleased with the interruption.
" They will not be participating for this game." He said disdainfully.
" How will you keep us from coming any closer than eight meters?" I asked. Again, Pegasus appeared displeased with the interruption.
" Magic, of course. How else? If you're getting to close to another player, you'll know. Now, let's be off to the maze itself." Pegasus said, standing. We were also yanked to our feet, none too gently. Pegasus led the goons who pulled us along, all the while yacking about something that had to do with Egyptian weather. I wasn't really paying attention. I was too busy thinking about how I was not good at mazes, worrying about what penalties Pegasus had put in the game for staying in the maze too long. Wondering if those penalties would affect Yugi or the other guys. Scared that maybe they would.
" Hey, you know what I just noticed?" Mai, just behind me, asked suddenly. Yuki grunted from behind her and I sighed.
" What, Mai?" I responded tolerantly. Pegasus had even stopped his babble.
" We're still in our bathing suits." Mai said. I started and looked sown at myself. Sure enough, I was still in my tankini, with my wrap around my waist.
" Well, look at that." Yuki muttered.
" And might I add," Pegasus began, looking over his shoulder at me. I was in the front of the single file line, right behind Pegasus. " That you all look lovely in them."
" You keep your nasty mouth shut." Yuki demanded, followed by an " Ow! Hey, watch it!"
" Gentle there, my faithful servant. Do remember that these are ladies we have with us. You must be careful with them." Pegasus said. I stuck my tongue out at his back. I know it was immature, but it was all I could think of and it made me feel a little better. " After all, we wouldn't want anything to 'accidentally' happen to them." Pegasus added. I swallowed. I didn't like the way he had said "accidentally" one little bit. Pegasus continued to lead us down a dark hallway. I noted there were several intersections where the hallway crossed other corridors. I also noticed that Pegasus continued going straight. Presuming he at least knew where he was going, I decided it might be useful to try to remember the path he took.
Finally, Pegasus took a sharp left and guided us into a gigantic room. It was simply huge. It had to be, considering what it housed.
" It's. a wall." I said, completely unimpressed.
" No, it's a maze." Pegasus corrected as though he were speaking to a child. I glared at him. " Bloody Maze." He clarified, grinning at the big wall. There was a moment of silence. " Well, Miss Anzu, would you like to start us off?" Pegasus asked me finally. I stared at him like he was a maniac. Of course, he was, but you get the idea.
" No." I said simply.
" Oh, come now. Surely you want to prove you're just as brave as anyone else." Pegasus said. His voice sounded so perfectly reasonable. I jerked in shock. How could he have seen through me so easily? I noticed a golden glow from behind the white hair that covered the left side of his face. Oh, that's how. " Yes, I see it all. All in your head." Pegasus said, grinning at me. " You're so eager to prove yourself to be as strong as Jounouchi and Honda, beautiful as Mai, fearless as Yami and Himeko, selfless as Yuki, clever as Yugi. You feel so inferior-" Pegasus continued until my fuse blew.
" Shut up!" I bellowed. Mai and Yuki stared at me. " I'll go! Just shut up!" I cried again.
" That's a good girl." Pegasus admonished like I was a disobedient child who had corrected her ways. " And Mai, so eager to prove yourself as well. You want to prove you're a friend worth having. You want to earn their trust, not have it given to you."
" Didn't I tell you to shut up?" I growled, despite the large hand of a goon that clamped on my shoulder. I shot a glance at Mai, who stared at Pegasus, shell-shocked. Did Mai really have those insecurities? Did she really feel like she had to earn our trust to truly be a part of us?
" And Miss Yuki, your mind is a swirl of emotions and thoughts, some of which aren't even yours. You're so confused, you don't know who to trust and who to fear. You're frightened, you want your dear Kaiba back, and you want your brothers back. Oh, and such anger! Such a sweet girl, who would have thought you had so much anger in you? That's not good for you, my dear. Your mind is a clutter of chaos, and you just wish that you could go back to your ignorant bliss-" Pegasus rambled, ignoring my threats. Yuki stared at the floor. He had seen through us all like we were transparent.
" I want to go into the maze!" I cried, desperate to attract Pegasus's attention.
" Really? Well, if you insist." Pegasus said, taking out a pocket watch on a gold chain and looking at its face. " You have twenty-two seconds to prepare yourself." He told me. I was immediately dragged to the entrance of the maze, which was simply a break in the wall. " You may begin in four. three. two. one. GO!" Pegasus yelled. I jumped at the strength of his voice and darted into the maze. I was immediately confronted with a choice between left or right. I choose left, well aware that I might have to backtrack. I hate mazes. I'm no good at them, at all. Even relatively simple mazes stump me. I figured I had been in the maze for about a minute, and wondered what was happening with the guys, if they were okay. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my arm.
" Ow! What the-?" I asked out loud, glancing down at my left arm. There was a two-inch long bloody gash down the length of my arm. " Damn you, Pegasus." I muttered. A drop of blood fell on my silk wrap. I growled. Kaiba had bought that for me, and Yugi had picked it out. It angered me to no end that something that Pegasus had done had caused any amount of damage to it. I immediately took off again. I came to a dead end and turned around. After another minute or so, another gash appeared on me, this time on my right calf. " Damn you, Pegasus!" I repeated, louder this time. So this is what he meant by getting through the maze as fast as possible. I ran on, trying to ignore the throbbing pain. " This had better not scar." I muttered, eager to hear a human voice. I stopped and looked around myself, moaning. What would Yugi tell me to do? He would say something like follow your gut and use your head. Okay, what was my gut saying? I sighed and turned around, backtracking. " If I'm ever able to even look at a maze again, it'll be a miracle." I muttered. I came to a three way intersection, trying to remember if I had been here. I decided I hadn't. " Yugi, help me!" I moaned, even though I knew he couldn't possible hear me. Another cut appeared, on my left shoulder blade. I winced and followed the middle pathway, still inwardly crying out for Yugi's help.
*+*+*
For the millionth time in a row, I picked up the chain that held me to the wall and began inspecting it, link by link. I started with the link that was attached to my shackles and worked my way down, investigating every possibility for a weakness. Yami looked with me, sometimes snapping orders to turn the chain this way or that way. If he hadn't been in my head, I would have told him to go investigate his own chain. Unfortunately, Yami heard that thought.
Well, it's not like I like being in here either, you know. he told me haughtily. I sighed outwardly.
This is not the time to be arguing. The girls may need us. I told him. Yami decided this was true and returned to the chain. Pegasus had been prepared for us at every turn. The chains were strong, not a trace of weakness, not even a bit of rust. That annoyed Yami exceedingly, almost as much as Pegasus himself. A little to my left, Jou planted his feet firmly against the foot of the wall and began to pull on his chain. I looked up from my own method to watch him. His wrists, like Honda's, were bruised and bloody from where the shackles had been pulled against his flesh. Those two had been tugging and yanking on their chains, convinced that if they just kept pulling the chains would eventually break. I thought they might be right. The problem was, those chains weren't going to give for another century, and we didn't have that long to wait. I had known from the start that I lacked the physical prowess to do anything like that, so I put my brain to work instead. Now, what seemed like hours later, I was still right where I started. Chained to a wall. To my right, Kaiba moaned. I immediately turned my attention to him. Honda and Jou even stopped pulling on their chains.
" Kaiba?" I asked. The young man raised his eyes to me, looking utterly and totally confused. Then annoyed. Then confused again.
" What in the- What happened?" he asked me. I sighed again.
" Pegasus got us again." I said.
" And he's got us all chained to this damn wall." Jou told Kaiba. Honda growled and started pulling again. Kaiba sat up, gave his shackles and experimental tug, and then fell to examining his chain.
" I've been trying that for a while now, but these chains are as stubborn as those two." I told him, indicating over my shoulder to Jou and Honda. Kaiba immediately dropped the chain and bowed his head in thought. I followed suit. I looked around me. Our cell had been carefully chosen. The cement walls appeared new and sturdy, not a crack in sight. The floor was the same. The chains were bolted to the wall with big screws, which were all firmly drilled into the wall. The chains themselves were obviously strong. The shackles were hard and clamped tight around our wrists, effectively binding our hands together at the wrists and chaining us. I raised my own shackles to investigate them. We had been shackled at the wrists but not at the feet. The shackles appeared to have no weak points either. Except. I noticed my shackles were not as tight as the other guys'.
" Maybe." I muttered, immediately twisting my right hand maliciously, trying to squirm it out. I ignored the pain that resulted. Yami saw what I was up to and immediately began coaching me along.
That's right, a little to the left. It's giving! Don't get excited, just keep twisting. Hey, maybe your being so small has its good points after all! Yami exclaimed.
" Oh, shut up." I muttered out loud. " There!" I shouted, twisting my free wrist to work out the pain. There was a small trickle of blood, but I ignored it and began working at my other hand. This time, I had the aid of my free hand. The others had begun to notice I was up to something.
" Way to go, Yugi!" Jou shouted, clanking his chain triumphantly as I pulled my hand free.
" Shhh!" Kaiba hissed. " There's got to be guards around here. You want to call them all here?" he asked Jou, who clamped his mouth shut. Kaiba motioned to me. " Yugi, there's a hair pin in my right pocket. Get it out and see if you can pick the lock on my shackles." He whispered to me. " You two, keep pulling so no one thinks we've done anything." Jou and Honda nodded and started tugging again, trying hard to ignore Kaiba and I.
" If you promise to forget about this as soon as it's over, so do I." I said to Kaiba before plunging my hand into his pocket.
" Agreed." Kaiba said, almost sounding grateful.
" What are you doing carrying around a hair pin anyway?" I asked Kaiba as I fished around in his pocket. I tried really hard not to think about it, but Yami was absolutely laughing it up. I growled inwardly at him, but I don't think he was particularly threatened. He just ignored me.
" I always carry around a hair pin, just in case of emergencies like this. I would have gotten it out sooner, but I can't get into my pockets with these shackles on." Kaiba explained. I pulled out the hair pin in question and showed it to Kaiba in triumph.
" Ta-daa." I intoned. Yami finally managed to stop laughing in my head for a moment.
That was priceless. he told me. I'm never going to let either one of you live that down.
" Yami wants me to tell you that he's not going to let us forget that little moment any time soon." I relayed to Kaiba mournfully. Kaiba made a sour face, but didn't say anything. Instead, he handed me his shackled wrists.
" Push the pin in, yeah, like that. Turn it to the right. No, my right. yeah, like that. Now a little to the left." Kaiba instructed. I tried to do what he told me to, but it was harder than it looked.
" I take it you do this often?" I asked him. Kaiba shrugged, careful not to yank his wrists out of my grasp.
" It's a talent I find rather useful." He said nonchalantly.
" The things you learn when you're a teenage millionaire." I muttered.
" I guess." He agreed. " Now, push it a little farther in. Okay, now a half turn to the right." he instructed. I heard the lock on the shackles snap open and Kaiba removed them from his wrists.
" Good job, Yugi!" Jou cried quietly, still trying to look inconspicuous while pulling at his chains.
" You're the man!" Honda agreed, also quietly. I handed Kaiba the pin, and nodded my acknowledgement. Kaiba got down on his hands and knees, crawled over to Jou, and picked the lock on his shackles in what made the time it took me look like eternity. He moved on to Honda, and soon, both were free and rubbing their bloody and bruised wrists.
" When you two yank a chain, you really yank a chain." Kaiba said approvingly. Jou wiped a little dried blood off his arm and grinned.
" Well, you know how it is. If you're gonna do something, do it all the way." he said.
" I hope you can pick the lock on our cell door with your little toy, cause Yugi may be able to fit through those bars, but I doubt the rest of us can." Honda said, motioning to the gate on the bars that held us in the cell. I frowned at the bars.
" I don't think even I could fit through those bars. This cell was picked with my size in mind." I said. Kaiba walked up to the gate and experimentally reached through the bars, shoving his pin into the lock on the other side. He sighed.
" Has anyone got a mirror on them?" he asked.
" Um, no." Jou said.
" Just thought I'd ask. Cause that would have made this a lot easier." Kaiba said. " Make yourselves comfortable, this could take a while."
" I don't think we have a while." I told Kaiba.
" I don't think so either, but we'll just have to deal with it." Kaiba said matter-of-factly. He went about the business of blindly picking the lock. All the while, I felt more and more anxious, and Yami echoed the feeling.
My sister is in trouble. he thought suddenly.
What? I asked.
Isis is in trouble. She doesn't know it though. I think she still sleeps in Yuki's heart, but danger is drawing near to her. Yami clarified. It took me a moment to translate the name Isis into Himeko.
How do you know? I asked.
She's my twin. I know. Yami said simply.
" We're running out of time." I said out loud. Kaiba grunted, still concentrating on the lock.
" What do you mean?" Honda asked. The tension was clear on his face and in his voice.
" I mean just what I said. We need to hurry." I told him. A few minutes passed.
" Got it!" Kaiba cried suddenly, triumphantly swinging the gate open as quietly as possible. " Let's go." He demanded, leading the way out of the cell. Jou took the lead after that, because Kaiba, having been knocked out when we were brought here, had no memory of the guard station we had passed. Jou led us to the station, where we crouched by the door as Honda peered in.
" Three. five. six of them." Honda announced in a hushed whisper.
" We can take them if we use the element of surprise." Kaiba whispered. I gulped. Take them? I didn't think I could take any of those big brutes. I hate being small, I thought in exasperation.
Let me. I'm bigger. Yami suggested. I gladly let him assume control of our body, which grew considerably. Now I felt more confident.
" No theatrics, just get in there and get them down as fast as possible." Kaiba said. Jou and Honda nodded to show they agreed. Yami stayed silent. Jou started our little attack by lunging into the small square room and decking one of the men right on the nose. Honda and Kaiba were shortly behind him. The initial attack left four men down. Kaiba had pulled a double whammy, taking two down in his first lunge. Yami slipped into the room, on our hands and knees. He got behind a goon that was locked in combat with Honda, who was considerably smaller. Kaiba and Jou were both busy with another large guy. Yami stood up and tapped on the goon's shoulder.
" Excuse me." He said out loud. If he were in a separate body, I might have strangled him.
What are you doing?! I shrilled at him in our head.
Saving Honda. he answered. The goon in question turned around. Yami promptly pressed his palm to the man's forehead.
" Dark Oblivion!" he called. Instantly, with a billow in the air around us as the mind-crushing power flowed through our hand into the man's head, the man fell. It didn't have to pass through the air, only from our flesh to his, so it was very concentrated.
" Thanks, Yugi. Or, Yami. Whoever that is." Honda said, doing a double take at us as the goon fell to the ground. Yami pulled our lips into a smirk, then gave me back control of our body, which shrank accordingly. Kaiba and Jou approached us, Jou rubbing his fist tenderly.
" Those thugs have really hard skulls." Jou informed us. Kaiba smiled grimly, stepping past me to a computer console.
" I might be able to hack into that maniac's mainframe from here, and get a map of this place. Somehow." He told us. I didn't like the way he said "somehow." It sounded like he doubted he could do that.
" Can you?" I asked him.
" With all the luck in the world? Maybe." Kaiba said, seating himself in front of the monitor, his hands already flying over the keyboard. His fingers hardly touched the keys at all. " This isn't my system, and I'm not familiar with this program. But I think I might be able to at least tap into some sort of security system, which would have to have a basic floor plan of some kind." He told us. Honda and Jou stared at his back blankly.
" If you say so." Honda said.
" Cross your fingers. If we've got a fraction of Yuki's luck, these idiots might be logged into the security system." Kaiba said, his typing speeding up. Jou happily obliged and crossed his fingers. Kaiba typed for what seemed like hours. " Hah! No hacking required! They are logged in!" Kaiba announced, the joy in his voice perfectly clear. I sighed in relief. The negligence of these guys had saved us precious minutes. In minutes, Kaiba was printing out a floor plan, studying the pages as they came out of the printer, while Jou, Honda, and I stared at a series of surveillance screens, trying to locate the girls. There were about seventy or so screens, and each one needed to be studied carefully, so it took a while. It was Honda who first saw the girls. It was only a flash, but he claimed to have seen Anzu run through a screen toward the top of the lot of them. In the one directly left of that one, I saw Anzu, still in her bathing suit, appear. She appeared to be lost in a maze of pathways. I couldn't help but notice, even under the circumstances, how pretty she was.
" Anzu!" I cried out loud. She looked around, seemed to say something to herself, then took the center of three passages.
" What the hell. This man is really maniac! There's a huge maze inside this place!" Kaiba cried, waving a print-off frantically. I looked at him, then back at the screens toward the top, which all showed a series of pathways criss-crossing each other. I noticed Yuki and Mai, both on separate screens. Anzu appeared on another screen. She looked like she had been cut, quite a few times. Something clicked in my head.
" It's one of his games! He's got the girls inside that maze!" I cried out loud. Jou made a low noise that sounded really threatening, and Kaiba wheeled and punched a wall. His knuckles were bleeding when he turned back to us, but he didn't seem to notice. I turned my attention back to the screens. I noticed that at the same exact second, all three girls flinched and seemed to get cut another time. " They get cut every minute or so, somehow." I muttered.
" What a lunatic! I'm gonna kill him when I get a hold of him!" Honda growled.
" There's got to be a way to get them through this maze. Kaiba, you've got the maze on that paper, right?" I asked of Kaiba, who glanced at the paper in his hands.
" Yeah, and I know what you're thinking. Guiding them through the maze is a great idea, but how do we tell them which way to go?" he asked me.
" I was hoping maybe you'd have an idea." I grumbled.
I could try to make a soul connection with Himeko. Yami volunteered. I grinned widely and relayed his offer to the others.
" That would work for Himeko and Yuki, but what about the other girls?" Jou asked. I shook my head.
" The only thing I can think of would be to have Yuki or Himeko, or whoever's in control, yell to them, but they might get apprehended or punished for that." I said.
" Couldn't you have Yami try that soul connection thing with them?" Kaiba asked.
" He could do it, but it would take a lot of time and energy that we just don't have. Himeko is easier because his soul is already bonded to hers." I explained. Kaiba nodded like he understood, but I don't think he did. " I just remembered. Anzu hates mazes. She's no good at them." I said suddenly, frowning mournfully. Kaiba glanced up at me, consumed by the computer again.
" Maybe we can find some plans or something." He muttered, typing away like a madman. Yuki stumbled onto another screen. She was dragging her left leg dangerously. She paused, leaned against the wall, and inspected a long gash that ran the length of her left leg. Even on the surveillance screen, I could see her wince as she tried to bandage the worst of it with a strip she tore off of her silk wrap. Mai was also occupied, clutching her arm to her side in an attempt to close her own gaping wound and clot the blood. Anzu stumbled on, painfully blind to the trail of blood behind her. I winced.
" There has to be some way to help them." Jou murmured. I looked up at him, standing silently behind me. Kaiba was carefully directing his attention to the computer. What he didn't know couldn't hurt him. Honda watched the screens from a little ways off, sitting on the small round table that the goons had sat at. Jou suddenly started busying himself by tying up the goons and stuffing them into a closet. I closed my eyes. I could almost hear Anzu calling out to me to help her. I glanced at the maze on the screens, then at the print off of it. Anzu seemed to be. about in the middle. In no time, I located her exact position. She was at a four way intersection. Take the one on your left, Anzu, your left. No, she took the middle one! No wait, she changed her mind. She was going with the left! I would have jumped for joy if I wasn't busy working ahead, trying to decide where Anzu needed to go next. But an annoying little thought kept plaguing my mind. She loves Yami better than me, I thought sadly.
What? Yami asked me, having heard my thoughts.
I really need to learn how to think quietly. I muttered, mostly to myself, but Yami heard anyway.
I really don't think that's possible. The best solution is not to think at all. Yami told me. Now, what was that about Anzu? he pressed. Just as I could always get him to tell me anything, he could always get anything out of me.
Nothing. I thought, but Yami was already tapping into my memory. Hey! Cut that out! I thought frantically. Too late.
What is this about? Yami asked me, almost upset, or as close as Yami ever got to being upset.
She does, okay?! I shrilled, watching Anzu run through another screen.
No need to get upset, little guy. Yami soothed.
Don't call me little. I growled.
Sorry. Yami thought automatically. While we conversed, I planned and followed Anzu's progress through the maze. At the moment, she was backtracking. Listen, I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. I don't have any of those. feelings about her, all right? I don't. Yami assured me.
You may not, I thought suspiciously. But she feels that way about you. It's like I don't even exist! I wailed mentally. Yami waited for me to finish.
Would you feel better if I talked to her about it? he asked me.
No! I'd feel worse! I thought frantically.
Why? Yami asked, thoroughly confused.
Because, then I'd be totally humiliated that I didn't have the guts to tell her that stuff myself! I'd look like a total chicken! I yelled, still outwardly silent. My outburst left Yami only more confused.
You don't look like a chicken. he protested. I groaned.
It's an expression, Yami. I thought in exasperation.
Oh. Yami conceded. Just tell her. You'll feel better, even if she does reject you, and I don't think she will. he advised.
Easy for you to say. You're the brave one. I told him grumpily.
No, I'm not. You know how long it took me to face up to how I felt about. about. Yami thought angrily, his thoughts breaking as he thought about the girl he had loved.
Mariah? I offered. I felt a wave of sadness from Yami.
Yes. he agreed. It took me most of. that life to tell myself I. felt that way. That was just telling myself. I never even really told her. Yami thought, his thoughts frequently breaking. I saw his emotions so clearly right then. He felt so terrible about what he had to do that day so long ago, and he wanted so much to make it all go away. Yami sensed me looking into his deepest thoughts, but he didn't seem to care anymore. You see? These stupid feelings make you weak. I can't stand it. Yami said, his thoughts seething in anger.
You loved her, didn't you? More than anything else? I asked him. It seemed like finally, Yami was ready to talk.
Love? I suppose. Yami thought reluctantly. It was hard for him. I would have given anything to make sure she was safe and happy. Whether or not she felt the same way, I didn't care. It was all about making her happy. Yami thought.
I feel that way about Anzu. I thought, directing our gaze to Anzu on the screen. She had paused to take a break, breathing hard. Even exhausted and bloody, she was beautiful.
She looks so much like my Mariah. Yami thought absently. My attention was on him instantly. He recognized my suspicion. But she's not Mariah. She's still Anzu, and as long as you love her, little guy, she's yours. I sighed outwardly. Why did I doubt Yami, who had no reason to lie to me? Because, if I felt so strongly for Anzu, what was to stop Yami, whose heart had been broken from the loss of a girl that looked almost exactly like Anzu, from feeling that way too?
*+*+*
I gasped frantically, leaning against the wall. I conjured a picture of Yugi's face in my head for courage, swallowed the pain and blinked back the tears, and then ran on. Suddenly, the picture of Yugi became Yami, and then the hormones went rushing.
" Stop it!" I cried out loud. Yami and Yugi, why did they become so confused in my mind? Yugi, who was so sweet and gentle, caring and wonderful, and Yami, who was so strong, brave, handsome, and dangerous. Both had qualities that drew me in, captured me, and their images became confused in my mind. Pain hazed my thinking. Blood was flowing out of me like a red river. I was growing tired. I blinked furiously. I wouldn't be drawn into the fatigue. I pictured Yugi again. " Help me!" I cried out again. Why was it so hard to decide, a part of me was wondering. I ignored that soft, sentimental part who felt the end coming.
" You can make it, Anzu!" I heard Yugi call. I stopped running, ignoring the pain as another slash appeared across my shoulders. " Yugi?" I wondered out loud.
*+*+*
I was running like a madwoman. I couldn't believe this. Me, Mai, running through that lunatic Pegasus's sick maze? My legs were totally slashed.
" This had better not scar." I muttered. I had nice legs. I didn't want them all scarred up. Suddenly, I screeched to halt. I tried to continue, but I had run up against some sort of glass. I pressed my hands against it. There was nothing there, but it felt as though I was pushing against a solid wall. " I must be too close to Anzu." I muttered. I would have to wait till she moved. I kept my hand pressed against the wall, waiting for some give. I wondered where Jou was, and if he was okay. Another slash appeared on my left arm and I winced. " Hurry, Anzu." I muttered.
*+*+*
" Oof!" I cried out, slamming into something very hard, very solid, and very invisible. " Alright, that hurt." I muttered, another gash slicing across the width of my thigh. I groaned, stood up and pushed against the barrier. I guessed I had gotten too close to one of the other girls. I pushed again. " Hurry up!" I demanded, but the barrier didn't give. I considered turning back, but something told me not to. Himeko still slept deeply within me. I had every intention of giving her the ultimate gripe- out of all time when she woke up. I worried briefly over Seto, then tried to push him from my mind. Wherever he was, he could take care of himself. Or so I hoped.
*+*+*
" Anzu, keep moving!" Yugi's voice yelled at me. I started and ran a few more step and then stopped. There was nothing else the voice seemed to want to say. How could it be Yugi, I wondered, running on. I came to an intersection.
" Left, Anzu." Yami's voice now. I followed it, wondering all the while how I could be hearing either Yami or Yugi. There! The end of the maze! I broke into a full run. I could make it, I had to make it, or I'd never see Yugi. Yami. Yugi. ever again. My legs, suddenly unbelievably weak, fell out from under me. I fell stomach first onto the floor, my bare stomach scraping against the concrete. I cried out in pain as another slash ran down the length of my back on top of the pain from falling. I was so tired. It would be so easy just to give up right now.
*+*+*
" No, Anzu! Get up!" I cried at the screen, even though I knew she couldn't hear me. I felt Jou standing behind me, watching as well. Even Kaiba had turned away from to computer to watch. Anzu made a small movement, but remained on the floor. She looked so weak. " Please get up, Anzu." I begged.
" Look, the other girls! They've stopped!" Honda called.
" I bet Pegasus has some kind of magic keeping them from getting too close to one another. So they can't group up and work together." Kaiba said thoughtfully. I followed his gaze to Yuki, who had slumped into a sitting position. Yami jerked in me.
" Yuki looks like she's in trouble." Honda noted. Kaiba stood, but I only smiled at Honda.
" You know, Honda, I've noticed you've been acting very concerned with Yuki lately, and I've seen you staring at her when you think no one's looking. Is there something you want to share?" I asked. Honda blushed avidly.
" Um, no. Hey, shouldn't we be concentrating on the girls?" he asked. Jou laughed, but I noticed Kaiba giving Honda a dirty glare.
Hmm. It appears that we have two developing rivals. Yami noted. I laughed. My laughter was cut short when I caught sight of Anzu, still laying where she had fallen.
" Get up, please get up." I begged. She couldn't die, not like this! She just couldn't.
Just like Mariah. Yami thought sadly.
" No!" I cried, so upset I made the cry verbally. " Get up!" I yelled.
*+*+*
" Get up!" Yugi yelled at me. I raised my head to look for him through pain hazed eyes. Where was he? Yugi? Or was it Yami? Yami, Yugi, Yami, Yugi. They both began to swirl together into the same guy. " Anzu! Get up! You have to get up! The other girls need you to move!" Yugi yelled at me.
" I can't." I muttered, lowering my head back to the floor.
*+*+*
" I can't." Anzu's soft voice murmured to me. She was so weak.
Don't let her die! Yami cried in my head.
I won't. I promised. " Anzu, please! They'll die if you don't move! Get up now!"
Wait. How can we be hearing her? Yami thought suddenly. I ignored him.
*+*+*
" Get up now!" Yugi barked at me. I made a pathetic attempt to raise myself. " That's right. Good, Anzu. Keep going." Yugi encouraged. It felt like he was right behind me. I even looked to check, but he wasn't there. I managed to get to my feet and stumble a few painstaking steps.
" Yugi." I muttered, desperate to hear his voice again. There was no confusion. Just Yugi.
*+*+*
I heard my name from Anzu's lips. So soft and loving. I couldn't believe my ears.
How? Yami muttered, even as I felt the realization strike him. A soul connection. he murmured.
" I'm with you, Anzu. Just keep going." I whispered to her. I didn't notice the silence around me.
*+*+*
" Just keep going." Yugi bade me.
" Yes." I whispered back. I was so close. I was out! Out of the damned maze! Instantly, all the pain and cuts vanished. I was still exhausted, but all the blood and wounds were gone! I was out! " Thank you, Yugi." I murmured, slipping into blissful sleep.
*+*+*
" Yes! She did it! She did it!" Jou cried out in happiness, jumping up and down in joy. " And here comes Mai! Yuki's right behind her!" Jou yelled. Honda whooped and joined Jou in a victory dance.
" Thank you, Yugi." I heard Anzu whisper to me, then felt her slip away from me.
She's just asleep. You had a soul connection with her. Yami told me.
Did I? I didn't even notice. I responded.
You've grown powerful, my little friend. Soon you'll be as strong as me, if not stronger. Yami told me.
Nah, that'll never happen. I assured him. And don't call me little. I added good-naturedly.
" Hey, look! All the cuts disappear as soon as they get out of the maze!" Kaiba cried as Mai walked out and ran over to Anzu. Yuki was a few moments behind her.
" Oh, great." Honda groaned as Pegasus appeared on the screen with the girls. I wished I could hear what words were exchanged.
" Well, I have some bad news." Kaiba said, earning more groans. Yami even added his two cents mentally. " It seems like this maze crap was only the first of three tests. From what I've read, the next thing will be harder than this one, and the third will be even harder than that one." He explained. Before I could respond, a group of goons charged into the room.
" Hey, how did you get out of your cell?" one asked.
" Oh shit!" Jou cried. I could sympathize with the feeling.
By: Rogue Fox
Part Seven. Bad Things Always Come In Threes
I was unceremoniously dropped into a rather comfortable chair, looking around myself. Yuki, just to my right, was forced into a sitting position by her captor. To my left, Mai was also forced to sit. We were in a room dimly lit by a cozy fire. The room was rather luxurious, but that hardly surprised me. What did surprise me was that none of the guys were with us.
" Where's Seto?" Yuki demanded of her burly captor, who was standing over her as though he expected her to sprint away at any moment. The last I had seen him, Kaiba had been unconscious and was being dragged along by another goon. Then, the guys, Yugi and Kaiba included, were dragged off in a different direction, yelling their heads off, with the exception of Kaiba. Naturally, we had followed their example, to no avail other than rough threats from the men carrying or pushing us along. Yuki rubbed her right arm sorely and glared at her captor. She still seemed to be taking this whole thing as a personal insult. Mai was no different, glaring at her own captor, then mine, and then Yuki's, methodically. I stared sullenly at the fire, slumping in my chair. I was tired, angry, and thoroughly annoyed.
" Anzu?" Mai requested of me suddenly.
" What?" I asked tersely.
" What's going to happen to us?" she asked. I broke my staring contest with the fire off to look at her. She looked so helpless. It was weird for me, because I had always seen Mai as a strong feminine figure, totally fearless. I admired her, but I was also jealous of her. I had always wanted to be as beautiful as she was, to have men look at me the way they looked at her. She was so lucky, so utterly unafraid of anyone or anything. But now, without the reassurance of our other friends, and I think without Jou in particular, she looked so lost and afraid. I felt suddenly afraid myself. Up until that moment, I had merely been angry and annoyed with the whole situation. Now, Mai's fear was scaring me like I should have been scared a while ago.
" I don't know." I admitted. Yuki was watching us, a little fear creeping into her features.
" I'm scared." Yuki said suddenly. Mai and I looked at her. I searched for something comforting to say, but the more I thought about it, the worse it looked for us.
" We'll be okay." I said, trying to force more confidence than I actually had into my voice. Mai smiled, but I don't think she or Yuki really believed what I said.
" What about Himeko?" Mai suddenly asked of Yuki. Yuki started. It appeared she had forgotten about the other girl in her head.
" She's still asleep." Yuki said after a moment. I gawked at her.
" You mean she slept through all that?" I asked in disbelief. Yuki almost smiled. Almost.
" Yeah, she did." She said. Mai chuckled, but it sounded forced and didn't last too long. We sat in silence for a moment, waiting for something to happen. Our patience was rewarded. The door we had been forced through, which was behind us now, was suddenly thrown open.
" I'm so sorry, ladies! Please forgive me for being so tardy!" an all too familiar voice cried. I craned my neck to see its owner, but I already knew who it was. Yuki scowled and slumped into her chair, adopting my previous sullen glare for her own. Mai exchanged a helpless look with me, as if to ask " Why did it have to be him? Why can't we get kidnapped by someone new for a change?"
" Well, how are you lovely ladies on this fine Egyptian evening?" Pegasus asked, stepping into our view and taking his seat in a chair facing ours. Yuki directed her glare at the white-haired man and cocked an annoyed eyebrow.
" Fabulous, just waiting for the moment when it'll get better." She said, still glaring. Pegasus seemed immune to the glare I had seen stop Kaiba in his tracks.
" Oh? And when's that?" he asked, reaching for an elegant glass of wine. I briefly wondered how he could drink all that wine and not get totally drunk.
" When we get to kill you." Mai finished for Yuki.
" Oh, now that's not very nice." Pegasus remarked. I was about to say something very rude about how we didn't really give a rat's butt about being nice to him, but instead I pursued a different topic.
" Where are the guys?" I asked curtly. I was in no mood for his games. Unfortunately for me, according to the earlier statement from our captors, Pegasus's games were unavoidable.
" Oh, they're about, somewhere." Pegasus said, evasively. I glared at him. I was sure Yuki and Mai were adding their own glares to the effort. Pegasus remained unaffected.
" Alright, different question." I said. " Why are we here?"
" That's easy." Pegasus told me, sipping from his glass and then swirling the contents. I waited none too patiently for his answer. " You are here play a few games. Actually, three games, to be exact." Pegasus told us.
" Why three games?" Mai asked cautiously.
" To prove that Miss Yuki's companion and our little Yugi's older self are worthy of the battle that was promised to them." Pegasus said, as though that were perfectly reasonable. I thought about asking why the rest of us had to go through the games, why not just Yuki and Yugi? Then I decided I didn't really care anyway. Yuki, who had remained quiet, had another question.
" What if we decide we don't want to play your sick games?" she asked quietly.
" My dear, I'm afraid you don't have a choice." Pegasus told her with a chuckle.
" Don't call me 'dear.'" Yuki responded instantaneously.
" Whatever you wish, Miss Yuki." Pegasus said automatically. Boy, I hated his prim and proper attitude. I just wanted to wipe that smug look off his face. But then again, those goons standing over us were a little imposing, a nice reminder not to do anything too rash. Still, one good swing, and I'd feel so much better.
" Alright, then." Mai said suddenly, drawing herself up and trying to gather what was left of her dignity and composure. I followed her example, but Yuki continued to glare and sulk. " Let's get this over with. What's the first game?" Mai asked. Yuki looked on with mild interest. I was a little worried about her. I wondered if Himeko had woken up and was influencing her actions or if Yuki was acting this way on her own.
" The first game, ladies, is a little number I like to call 'Bloody Maze.'" Pegasus said, smiling as like a normal guy would if he were thinking of a roller coaster he really liked. " It's exactly as it sounds. A maze. Pretty complex, but I have no doubt that bright young ladies like yourselves will be able to finish it. Although, I do warn you, you'd be in a better position if you tried to finish the maze as quickly as possible." Pegasus said, sitting up fully.
" Why?" I asked.
" You'll find out. I advise you to keep that in mind, along with a few other things; since the three of you will be in the maze at the almost the same time, you will be started exactly seven minutes apart from each other. You won't be allowed to come any closer than eight meters to another girl." Pegasus continued.
" What about the guys?" Yuki asked, interrupting. I noticed she wasn't even biting her lip. She didn't appear in the least bit scared anymore. I did a double take to make sure it was really Yuki I was seeing, not Himeko. It was Yuki. Pegasus didn't appear too pleased with the interruption.
" They will not be participating for this game." He said disdainfully.
" How will you keep us from coming any closer than eight meters?" I asked. Again, Pegasus appeared displeased with the interruption.
" Magic, of course. How else? If you're getting to close to another player, you'll know. Now, let's be off to the maze itself." Pegasus said, standing. We were also yanked to our feet, none too gently. Pegasus led the goons who pulled us along, all the while yacking about something that had to do with Egyptian weather. I wasn't really paying attention. I was too busy thinking about how I was not good at mazes, worrying about what penalties Pegasus had put in the game for staying in the maze too long. Wondering if those penalties would affect Yugi or the other guys. Scared that maybe they would.
" Hey, you know what I just noticed?" Mai, just behind me, asked suddenly. Yuki grunted from behind her and I sighed.
" What, Mai?" I responded tolerantly. Pegasus had even stopped his babble.
" We're still in our bathing suits." Mai said. I started and looked sown at myself. Sure enough, I was still in my tankini, with my wrap around my waist.
" Well, look at that." Yuki muttered.
" And might I add," Pegasus began, looking over his shoulder at me. I was in the front of the single file line, right behind Pegasus. " That you all look lovely in them."
" You keep your nasty mouth shut." Yuki demanded, followed by an " Ow! Hey, watch it!"
" Gentle there, my faithful servant. Do remember that these are ladies we have with us. You must be careful with them." Pegasus said. I stuck my tongue out at his back. I know it was immature, but it was all I could think of and it made me feel a little better. " After all, we wouldn't want anything to 'accidentally' happen to them." Pegasus added. I swallowed. I didn't like the way he had said "accidentally" one little bit. Pegasus continued to lead us down a dark hallway. I noted there were several intersections where the hallway crossed other corridors. I also noticed that Pegasus continued going straight. Presuming he at least knew where he was going, I decided it might be useful to try to remember the path he took.
Finally, Pegasus took a sharp left and guided us into a gigantic room. It was simply huge. It had to be, considering what it housed.
" It's. a wall." I said, completely unimpressed.
" No, it's a maze." Pegasus corrected as though he were speaking to a child. I glared at him. " Bloody Maze." He clarified, grinning at the big wall. There was a moment of silence. " Well, Miss Anzu, would you like to start us off?" Pegasus asked me finally. I stared at him like he was a maniac. Of course, he was, but you get the idea.
" No." I said simply.
" Oh, come now. Surely you want to prove you're just as brave as anyone else." Pegasus said. His voice sounded so perfectly reasonable. I jerked in shock. How could he have seen through me so easily? I noticed a golden glow from behind the white hair that covered the left side of his face. Oh, that's how. " Yes, I see it all. All in your head." Pegasus said, grinning at me. " You're so eager to prove yourself to be as strong as Jounouchi and Honda, beautiful as Mai, fearless as Yami and Himeko, selfless as Yuki, clever as Yugi. You feel so inferior-" Pegasus continued until my fuse blew.
" Shut up!" I bellowed. Mai and Yuki stared at me. " I'll go! Just shut up!" I cried again.
" That's a good girl." Pegasus admonished like I was a disobedient child who had corrected her ways. " And Mai, so eager to prove yourself as well. You want to prove you're a friend worth having. You want to earn their trust, not have it given to you."
" Didn't I tell you to shut up?" I growled, despite the large hand of a goon that clamped on my shoulder. I shot a glance at Mai, who stared at Pegasus, shell-shocked. Did Mai really have those insecurities? Did she really feel like she had to earn our trust to truly be a part of us?
" And Miss Yuki, your mind is a swirl of emotions and thoughts, some of which aren't even yours. You're so confused, you don't know who to trust and who to fear. You're frightened, you want your dear Kaiba back, and you want your brothers back. Oh, and such anger! Such a sweet girl, who would have thought you had so much anger in you? That's not good for you, my dear. Your mind is a clutter of chaos, and you just wish that you could go back to your ignorant bliss-" Pegasus rambled, ignoring my threats. Yuki stared at the floor. He had seen through us all like we were transparent.
" I want to go into the maze!" I cried, desperate to attract Pegasus's attention.
" Really? Well, if you insist." Pegasus said, taking out a pocket watch on a gold chain and looking at its face. " You have twenty-two seconds to prepare yourself." He told me. I was immediately dragged to the entrance of the maze, which was simply a break in the wall. " You may begin in four. three. two. one. GO!" Pegasus yelled. I jumped at the strength of his voice and darted into the maze. I was immediately confronted with a choice between left or right. I choose left, well aware that I might have to backtrack. I hate mazes. I'm no good at them, at all. Even relatively simple mazes stump me. I figured I had been in the maze for about a minute, and wondered what was happening with the guys, if they were okay. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my arm.
" Ow! What the-?" I asked out loud, glancing down at my left arm. There was a two-inch long bloody gash down the length of my arm. " Damn you, Pegasus." I muttered. A drop of blood fell on my silk wrap. I growled. Kaiba had bought that for me, and Yugi had picked it out. It angered me to no end that something that Pegasus had done had caused any amount of damage to it. I immediately took off again. I came to a dead end and turned around. After another minute or so, another gash appeared on me, this time on my right calf. " Damn you, Pegasus!" I repeated, louder this time. So this is what he meant by getting through the maze as fast as possible. I ran on, trying to ignore the throbbing pain. " This had better not scar." I muttered, eager to hear a human voice. I stopped and looked around myself, moaning. What would Yugi tell me to do? He would say something like follow your gut and use your head. Okay, what was my gut saying? I sighed and turned around, backtracking. " If I'm ever able to even look at a maze again, it'll be a miracle." I muttered. I came to a three way intersection, trying to remember if I had been here. I decided I hadn't. " Yugi, help me!" I moaned, even though I knew he couldn't possible hear me. Another cut appeared, on my left shoulder blade. I winced and followed the middle pathway, still inwardly crying out for Yugi's help.
*+*+*
For the millionth time in a row, I picked up the chain that held me to the wall and began inspecting it, link by link. I started with the link that was attached to my shackles and worked my way down, investigating every possibility for a weakness. Yami looked with me, sometimes snapping orders to turn the chain this way or that way. If he hadn't been in my head, I would have told him to go investigate his own chain. Unfortunately, Yami heard that thought.
Well, it's not like I like being in here either, you know. he told me haughtily. I sighed outwardly.
This is not the time to be arguing. The girls may need us. I told him. Yami decided this was true and returned to the chain. Pegasus had been prepared for us at every turn. The chains were strong, not a trace of weakness, not even a bit of rust. That annoyed Yami exceedingly, almost as much as Pegasus himself. A little to my left, Jou planted his feet firmly against the foot of the wall and began to pull on his chain. I looked up from my own method to watch him. His wrists, like Honda's, were bruised and bloody from where the shackles had been pulled against his flesh. Those two had been tugging and yanking on their chains, convinced that if they just kept pulling the chains would eventually break. I thought they might be right. The problem was, those chains weren't going to give for another century, and we didn't have that long to wait. I had known from the start that I lacked the physical prowess to do anything like that, so I put my brain to work instead. Now, what seemed like hours later, I was still right where I started. Chained to a wall. To my right, Kaiba moaned. I immediately turned my attention to him. Honda and Jou even stopped pulling on their chains.
" Kaiba?" I asked. The young man raised his eyes to me, looking utterly and totally confused. Then annoyed. Then confused again.
" What in the- What happened?" he asked me. I sighed again.
" Pegasus got us again." I said.
" And he's got us all chained to this damn wall." Jou told Kaiba. Honda growled and started pulling again. Kaiba sat up, gave his shackles and experimental tug, and then fell to examining his chain.
" I've been trying that for a while now, but these chains are as stubborn as those two." I told him, indicating over my shoulder to Jou and Honda. Kaiba immediately dropped the chain and bowed his head in thought. I followed suit. I looked around me. Our cell had been carefully chosen. The cement walls appeared new and sturdy, not a crack in sight. The floor was the same. The chains were bolted to the wall with big screws, which were all firmly drilled into the wall. The chains themselves were obviously strong. The shackles were hard and clamped tight around our wrists, effectively binding our hands together at the wrists and chaining us. I raised my own shackles to investigate them. We had been shackled at the wrists but not at the feet. The shackles appeared to have no weak points either. Except. I noticed my shackles were not as tight as the other guys'.
" Maybe." I muttered, immediately twisting my right hand maliciously, trying to squirm it out. I ignored the pain that resulted. Yami saw what I was up to and immediately began coaching me along.
That's right, a little to the left. It's giving! Don't get excited, just keep twisting. Hey, maybe your being so small has its good points after all! Yami exclaimed.
" Oh, shut up." I muttered out loud. " There!" I shouted, twisting my free wrist to work out the pain. There was a small trickle of blood, but I ignored it and began working at my other hand. This time, I had the aid of my free hand. The others had begun to notice I was up to something.
" Way to go, Yugi!" Jou shouted, clanking his chain triumphantly as I pulled my hand free.
" Shhh!" Kaiba hissed. " There's got to be guards around here. You want to call them all here?" he asked Jou, who clamped his mouth shut. Kaiba motioned to me. " Yugi, there's a hair pin in my right pocket. Get it out and see if you can pick the lock on my shackles." He whispered to me. " You two, keep pulling so no one thinks we've done anything." Jou and Honda nodded and started tugging again, trying hard to ignore Kaiba and I.
" If you promise to forget about this as soon as it's over, so do I." I said to Kaiba before plunging my hand into his pocket.
" Agreed." Kaiba said, almost sounding grateful.
" What are you doing carrying around a hair pin anyway?" I asked Kaiba as I fished around in his pocket. I tried really hard not to think about it, but Yami was absolutely laughing it up. I growled inwardly at him, but I don't think he was particularly threatened. He just ignored me.
" I always carry around a hair pin, just in case of emergencies like this. I would have gotten it out sooner, but I can't get into my pockets with these shackles on." Kaiba explained. I pulled out the hair pin in question and showed it to Kaiba in triumph.
" Ta-daa." I intoned. Yami finally managed to stop laughing in my head for a moment.
That was priceless. he told me. I'm never going to let either one of you live that down.
" Yami wants me to tell you that he's not going to let us forget that little moment any time soon." I relayed to Kaiba mournfully. Kaiba made a sour face, but didn't say anything. Instead, he handed me his shackled wrists.
" Push the pin in, yeah, like that. Turn it to the right. No, my right. yeah, like that. Now a little to the left." Kaiba instructed. I tried to do what he told me to, but it was harder than it looked.
" I take it you do this often?" I asked him. Kaiba shrugged, careful not to yank his wrists out of my grasp.
" It's a talent I find rather useful." He said nonchalantly.
" The things you learn when you're a teenage millionaire." I muttered.
" I guess." He agreed. " Now, push it a little farther in. Okay, now a half turn to the right." he instructed. I heard the lock on the shackles snap open and Kaiba removed them from his wrists.
" Good job, Yugi!" Jou cried quietly, still trying to look inconspicuous while pulling at his chains.
" You're the man!" Honda agreed, also quietly. I handed Kaiba the pin, and nodded my acknowledgement. Kaiba got down on his hands and knees, crawled over to Jou, and picked the lock on his shackles in what made the time it took me look like eternity. He moved on to Honda, and soon, both were free and rubbing their bloody and bruised wrists.
" When you two yank a chain, you really yank a chain." Kaiba said approvingly. Jou wiped a little dried blood off his arm and grinned.
" Well, you know how it is. If you're gonna do something, do it all the way." he said.
" I hope you can pick the lock on our cell door with your little toy, cause Yugi may be able to fit through those bars, but I doubt the rest of us can." Honda said, motioning to the gate on the bars that held us in the cell. I frowned at the bars.
" I don't think even I could fit through those bars. This cell was picked with my size in mind." I said. Kaiba walked up to the gate and experimentally reached through the bars, shoving his pin into the lock on the other side. He sighed.
" Has anyone got a mirror on them?" he asked.
" Um, no." Jou said.
" Just thought I'd ask. Cause that would have made this a lot easier." Kaiba said. " Make yourselves comfortable, this could take a while."
" I don't think we have a while." I told Kaiba.
" I don't think so either, but we'll just have to deal with it." Kaiba said matter-of-factly. He went about the business of blindly picking the lock. All the while, I felt more and more anxious, and Yami echoed the feeling.
My sister is in trouble. he thought suddenly.
What? I asked.
Isis is in trouble. She doesn't know it though. I think she still sleeps in Yuki's heart, but danger is drawing near to her. Yami clarified. It took me a moment to translate the name Isis into Himeko.
How do you know? I asked.
She's my twin. I know. Yami said simply.
" We're running out of time." I said out loud. Kaiba grunted, still concentrating on the lock.
" What do you mean?" Honda asked. The tension was clear on his face and in his voice.
" I mean just what I said. We need to hurry." I told him. A few minutes passed.
" Got it!" Kaiba cried suddenly, triumphantly swinging the gate open as quietly as possible. " Let's go." He demanded, leading the way out of the cell. Jou took the lead after that, because Kaiba, having been knocked out when we were brought here, had no memory of the guard station we had passed. Jou led us to the station, where we crouched by the door as Honda peered in.
" Three. five. six of them." Honda announced in a hushed whisper.
" We can take them if we use the element of surprise." Kaiba whispered. I gulped. Take them? I didn't think I could take any of those big brutes. I hate being small, I thought in exasperation.
Let me. I'm bigger. Yami suggested. I gladly let him assume control of our body, which grew considerably. Now I felt more confident.
" No theatrics, just get in there and get them down as fast as possible." Kaiba said. Jou and Honda nodded to show they agreed. Yami stayed silent. Jou started our little attack by lunging into the small square room and decking one of the men right on the nose. Honda and Kaiba were shortly behind him. The initial attack left four men down. Kaiba had pulled a double whammy, taking two down in his first lunge. Yami slipped into the room, on our hands and knees. He got behind a goon that was locked in combat with Honda, who was considerably smaller. Kaiba and Jou were both busy with another large guy. Yami stood up and tapped on the goon's shoulder.
" Excuse me." He said out loud. If he were in a separate body, I might have strangled him.
What are you doing?! I shrilled at him in our head.
Saving Honda. he answered. The goon in question turned around. Yami promptly pressed his palm to the man's forehead.
" Dark Oblivion!" he called. Instantly, with a billow in the air around us as the mind-crushing power flowed through our hand into the man's head, the man fell. It didn't have to pass through the air, only from our flesh to his, so it was very concentrated.
" Thanks, Yugi. Or, Yami. Whoever that is." Honda said, doing a double take at us as the goon fell to the ground. Yami pulled our lips into a smirk, then gave me back control of our body, which shrank accordingly. Kaiba and Jou approached us, Jou rubbing his fist tenderly.
" Those thugs have really hard skulls." Jou informed us. Kaiba smiled grimly, stepping past me to a computer console.
" I might be able to hack into that maniac's mainframe from here, and get a map of this place. Somehow." He told us. I didn't like the way he said "somehow." It sounded like he doubted he could do that.
" Can you?" I asked him.
" With all the luck in the world? Maybe." Kaiba said, seating himself in front of the monitor, his hands already flying over the keyboard. His fingers hardly touched the keys at all. " This isn't my system, and I'm not familiar with this program. But I think I might be able to at least tap into some sort of security system, which would have to have a basic floor plan of some kind." He told us. Honda and Jou stared at his back blankly.
" If you say so." Honda said.
" Cross your fingers. If we've got a fraction of Yuki's luck, these idiots might be logged into the security system." Kaiba said, his typing speeding up. Jou happily obliged and crossed his fingers. Kaiba typed for what seemed like hours. " Hah! No hacking required! They are logged in!" Kaiba announced, the joy in his voice perfectly clear. I sighed in relief. The negligence of these guys had saved us precious minutes. In minutes, Kaiba was printing out a floor plan, studying the pages as they came out of the printer, while Jou, Honda, and I stared at a series of surveillance screens, trying to locate the girls. There were about seventy or so screens, and each one needed to be studied carefully, so it took a while. It was Honda who first saw the girls. It was only a flash, but he claimed to have seen Anzu run through a screen toward the top of the lot of them. In the one directly left of that one, I saw Anzu, still in her bathing suit, appear. She appeared to be lost in a maze of pathways. I couldn't help but notice, even under the circumstances, how pretty she was.
" Anzu!" I cried out loud. She looked around, seemed to say something to herself, then took the center of three passages.
" What the hell. This man is really maniac! There's a huge maze inside this place!" Kaiba cried, waving a print-off frantically. I looked at him, then back at the screens toward the top, which all showed a series of pathways criss-crossing each other. I noticed Yuki and Mai, both on separate screens. Anzu appeared on another screen. She looked like she had been cut, quite a few times. Something clicked in my head.
" It's one of his games! He's got the girls inside that maze!" I cried out loud. Jou made a low noise that sounded really threatening, and Kaiba wheeled and punched a wall. His knuckles were bleeding when he turned back to us, but he didn't seem to notice. I turned my attention back to the screens. I noticed that at the same exact second, all three girls flinched and seemed to get cut another time. " They get cut every minute or so, somehow." I muttered.
" What a lunatic! I'm gonna kill him when I get a hold of him!" Honda growled.
" There's got to be a way to get them through this maze. Kaiba, you've got the maze on that paper, right?" I asked of Kaiba, who glanced at the paper in his hands.
" Yeah, and I know what you're thinking. Guiding them through the maze is a great idea, but how do we tell them which way to go?" he asked me.
" I was hoping maybe you'd have an idea." I grumbled.
I could try to make a soul connection with Himeko. Yami volunteered. I grinned widely and relayed his offer to the others.
" That would work for Himeko and Yuki, but what about the other girls?" Jou asked. I shook my head.
" The only thing I can think of would be to have Yuki or Himeko, or whoever's in control, yell to them, but they might get apprehended or punished for that." I said.
" Couldn't you have Yami try that soul connection thing with them?" Kaiba asked.
" He could do it, but it would take a lot of time and energy that we just don't have. Himeko is easier because his soul is already bonded to hers." I explained. Kaiba nodded like he understood, but I don't think he did. " I just remembered. Anzu hates mazes. She's no good at them." I said suddenly, frowning mournfully. Kaiba glanced up at me, consumed by the computer again.
" Maybe we can find some plans or something." He muttered, typing away like a madman. Yuki stumbled onto another screen. She was dragging her left leg dangerously. She paused, leaned against the wall, and inspected a long gash that ran the length of her left leg. Even on the surveillance screen, I could see her wince as she tried to bandage the worst of it with a strip she tore off of her silk wrap. Mai was also occupied, clutching her arm to her side in an attempt to close her own gaping wound and clot the blood. Anzu stumbled on, painfully blind to the trail of blood behind her. I winced.
" There has to be some way to help them." Jou murmured. I looked up at him, standing silently behind me. Kaiba was carefully directing his attention to the computer. What he didn't know couldn't hurt him. Honda watched the screens from a little ways off, sitting on the small round table that the goons had sat at. Jou suddenly started busying himself by tying up the goons and stuffing them into a closet. I closed my eyes. I could almost hear Anzu calling out to me to help her. I glanced at the maze on the screens, then at the print off of it. Anzu seemed to be. about in the middle. In no time, I located her exact position. She was at a four way intersection. Take the one on your left, Anzu, your left. No, she took the middle one! No wait, she changed her mind. She was going with the left! I would have jumped for joy if I wasn't busy working ahead, trying to decide where Anzu needed to go next. But an annoying little thought kept plaguing my mind. She loves Yami better than me, I thought sadly.
What? Yami asked me, having heard my thoughts.
I really need to learn how to think quietly. I muttered, mostly to myself, but Yami heard anyway.
I really don't think that's possible. The best solution is not to think at all. Yami told me. Now, what was that about Anzu? he pressed. Just as I could always get him to tell me anything, he could always get anything out of me.
Nothing. I thought, but Yami was already tapping into my memory. Hey! Cut that out! I thought frantically. Too late.
What is this about? Yami asked me, almost upset, or as close as Yami ever got to being upset.
She does, okay?! I shrilled, watching Anzu run through another screen.
No need to get upset, little guy. Yami soothed.
Don't call me little. I growled.
Sorry. Yami thought automatically. While we conversed, I planned and followed Anzu's progress through the maze. At the moment, she was backtracking. Listen, I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. I don't have any of those. feelings about her, all right? I don't. Yami assured me.
You may not, I thought suspiciously. But she feels that way about you. It's like I don't even exist! I wailed mentally. Yami waited for me to finish.
Would you feel better if I talked to her about it? he asked me.
No! I'd feel worse! I thought frantically.
Why? Yami asked, thoroughly confused.
Because, then I'd be totally humiliated that I didn't have the guts to tell her that stuff myself! I'd look like a total chicken! I yelled, still outwardly silent. My outburst left Yami only more confused.
You don't look like a chicken. he protested. I groaned.
It's an expression, Yami. I thought in exasperation.
Oh. Yami conceded. Just tell her. You'll feel better, even if she does reject you, and I don't think she will. he advised.
Easy for you to say. You're the brave one. I told him grumpily.
No, I'm not. You know how long it took me to face up to how I felt about. about. Yami thought angrily, his thoughts breaking as he thought about the girl he had loved.
Mariah? I offered. I felt a wave of sadness from Yami.
Yes. he agreed. It took me most of. that life to tell myself I. felt that way. That was just telling myself. I never even really told her. Yami thought, his thoughts frequently breaking. I saw his emotions so clearly right then. He felt so terrible about what he had to do that day so long ago, and he wanted so much to make it all go away. Yami sensed me looking into his deepest thoughts, but he didn't seem to care anymore. You see? These stupid feelings make you weak. I can't stand it. Yami said, his thoughts seething in anger.
You loved her, didn't you? More than anything else? I asked him. It seemed like finally, Yami was ready to talk.
Love? I suppose. Yami thought reluctantly. It was hard for him. I would have given anything to make sure she was safe and happy. Whether or not she felt the same way, I didn't care. It was all about making her happy. Yami thought.
I feel that way about Anzu. I thought, directing our gaze to Anzu on the screen. She had paused to take a break, breathing hard. Even exhausted and bloody, she was beautiful.
She looks so much like my Mariah. Yami thought absently. My attention was on him instantly. He recognized my suspicion. But she's not Mariah. She's still Anzu, and as long as you love her, little guy, she's yours. I sighed outwardly. Why did I doubt Yami, who had no reason to lie to me? Because, if I felt so strongly for Anzu, what was to stop Yami, whose heart had been broken from the loss of a girl that looked almost exactly like Anzu, from feeling that way too?
*+*+*
I gasped frantically, leaning against the wall. I conjured a picture of Yugi's face in my head for courage, swallowed the pain and blinked back the tears, and then ran on. Suddenly, the picture of Yugi became Yami, and then the hormones went rushing.
" Stop it!" I cried out loud. Yami and Yugi, why did they become so confused in my mind? Yugi, who was so sweet and gentle, caring and wonderful, and Yami, who was so strong, brave, handsome, and dangerous. Both had qualities that drew me in, captured me, and their images became confused in my mind. Pain hazed my thinking. Blood was flowing out of me like a red river. I was growing tired. I blinked furiously. I wouldn't be drawn into the fatigue. I pictured Yugi again. " Help me!" I cried out again. Why was it so hard to decide, a part of me was wondering. I ignored that soft, sentimental part who felt the end coming.
" You can make it, Anzu!" I heard Yugi call. I stopped running, ignoring the pain as another slash appeared across my shoulders. " Yugi?" I wondered out loud.
*+*+*
I was running like a madwoman. I couldn't believe this. Me, Mai, running through that lunatic Pegasus's sick maze? My legs were totally slashed.
" This had better not scar." I muttered. I had nice legs. I didn't want them all scarred up. Suddenly, I screeched to halt. I tried to continue, but I had run up against some sort of glass. I pressed my hands against it. There was nothing there, but it felt as though I was pushing against a solid wall. " I must be too close to Anzu." I muttered. I would have to wait till she moved. I kept my hand pressed against the wall, waiting for some give. I wondered where Jou was, and if he was okay. Another slash appeared on my left arm and I winced. " Hurry, Anzu." I muttered.
*+*+*
" Oof!" I cried out, slamming into something very hard, very solid, and very invisible. " Alright, that hurt." I muttered, another gash slicing across the width of my thigh. I groaned, stood up and pushed against the barrier. I guessed I had gotten too close to one of the other girls. I pushed again. " Hurry up!" I demanded, but the barrier didn't give. I considered turning back, but something told me not to. Himeko still slept deeply within me. I had every intention of giving her the ultimate gripe- out of all time when she woke up. I worried briefly over Seto, then tried to push him from my mind. Wherever he was, he could take care of himself. Or so I hoped.
*+*+*
" Anzu, keep moving!" Yugi's voice yelled at me. I started and ran a few more step and then stopped. There was nothing else the voice seemed to want to say. How could it be Yugi, I wondered, running on. I came to an intersection.
" Left, Anzu." Yami's voice now. I followed it, wondering all the while how I could be hearing either Yami or Yugi. There! The end of the maze! I broke into a full run. I could make it, I had to make it, or I'd never see Yugi. Yami. Yugi. ever again. My legs, suddenly unbelievably weak, fell out from under me. I fell stomach first onto the floor, my bare stomach scraping against the concrete. I cried out in pain as another slash ran down the length of my back on top of the pain from falling. I was so tired. It would be so easy just to give up right now.
*+*+*
" No, Anzu! Get up!" I cried at the screen, even though I knew she couldn't hear me. I felt Jou standing behind me, watching as well. Even Kaiba had turned away from to computer to watch. Anzu made a small movement, but remained on the floor. She looked so weak. " Please get up, Anzu." I begged.
" Look, the other girls! They've stopped!" Honda called.
" I bet Pegasus has some kind of magic keeping them from getting too close to one another. So they can't group up and work together." Kaiba said thoughtfully. I followed his gaze to Yuki, who had slumped into a sitting position. Yami jerked in me.
" Yuki looks like she's in trouble." Honda noted. Kaiba stood, but I only smiled at Honda.
" You know, Honda, I've noticed you've been acting very concerned with Yuki lately, and I've seen you staring at her when you think no one's looking. Is there something you want to share?" I asked. Honda blushed avidly.
" Um, no. Hey, shouldn't we be concentrating on the girls?" he asked. Jou laughed, but I noticed Kaiba giving Honda a dirty glare.
Hmm. It appears that we have two developing rivals. Yami noted. I laughed. My laughter was cut short when I caught sight of Anzu, still laying where she had fallen.
" Get up, please get up." I begged. She couldn't die, not like this! She just couldn't.
Just like Mariah. Yami thought sadly.
" No!" I cried, so upset I made the cry verbally. " Get up!" I yelled.
*+*+*
" Get up!" Yugi yelled at me. I raised my head to look for him through pain hazed eyes. Where was he? Yugi? Or was it Yami? Yami, Yugi, Yami, Yugi. They both began to swirl together into the same guy. " Anzu! Get up! You have to get up! The other girls need you to move!" Yugi yelled at me.
" I can't." I muttered, lowering my head back to the floor.
*+*+*
" I can't." Anzu's soft voice murmured to me. She was so weak.
Don't let her die! Yami cried in my head.
I won't. I promised. " Anzu, please! They'll die if you don't move! Get up now!"
Wait. How can we be hearing her? Yami thought suddenly. I ignored him.
*+*+*
" Get up now!" Yugi barked at me. I made a pathetic attempt to raise myself. " That's right. Good, Anzu. Keep going." Yugi encouraged. It felt like he was right behind me. I even looked to check, but he wasn't there. I managed to get to my feet and stumble a few painstaking steps.
" Yugi." I muttered, desperate to hear his voice again. There was no confusion. Just Yugi.
*+*+*
I heard my name from Anzu's lips. So soft and loving. I couldn't believe my ears.
How? Yami muttered, even as I felt the realization strike him. A soul connection. he murmured.
" I'm with you, Anzu. Just keep going." I whispered to her. I didn't notice the silence around me.
*+*+*
" Just keep going." Yugi bade me.
" Yes." I whispered back. I was so close. I was out! Out of the damned maze! Instantly, all the pain and cuts vanished. I was still exhausted, but all the blood and wounds were gone! I was out! " Thank you, Yugi." I murmured, slipping into blissful sleep.
*+*+*
" Yes! She did it! She did it!" Jou cried out in happiness, jumping up and down in joy. " And here comes Mai! Yuki's right behind her!" Jou yelled. Honda whooped and joined Jou in a victory dance.
" Thank you, Yugi." I heard Anzu whisper to me, then felt her slip away from me.
She's just asleep. You had a soul connection with her. Yami told me.
Did I? I didn't even notice. I responded.
You've grown powerful, my little friend. Soon you'll be as strong as me, if not stronger. Yami told me.
Nah, that'll never happen. I assured him. And don't call me little. I added good-naturedly.
" Hey, look! All the cuts disappear as soon as they get out of the maze!" Kaiba cried as Mai walked out and ran over to Anzu. Yuki was a few moments behind her.
" Oh, great." Honda groaned as Pegasus appeared on the screen with the girls. I wished I could hear what words were exchanged.
" Well, I have some bad news." Kaiba said, earning more groans. Yami even added his two cents mentally. " It seems like this maze crap was only the first of three tests. From what I've read, the next thing will be harder than this one, and the third will be even harder than that one." He explained. Before I could respond, a group of goons charged into the room.
" Hey, how did you get out of your cell?" one asked.
" Oh shit!" Jou cried. I could sympathize with the feeling.