Sakuru no Shakkan ... The Circle of the Shakkan
Kes: I'm going to do the disclaimer myself, since the guys are all off watching themselves on T.V. Me, I missed Yu-Gi-Oh today so I'm not too happy. Plus, I'm getting sick! Ack! So please make me happy and read/review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! However, Seto Kaiba is basically my personal servant and Yami hangs around for the use of my DVD player. He watches the episode where he and Tea go on a date over and over... and over...
Chapter Six
As I approached the stone guards, I began to whimper to myself. I pressed my hand on the one on the right, and my neck on the left. The doors rumbled open, and two solemn-looking guards stepped out. After performing the secret sign, one of the guards smiled and asked, "First time?"
"Y—yes, sir."
He grinned. "Have fun!" He leaned closer and whispered, "I meant that seriously, and call me Tristan. He's Kaiba." He pointed to the other guard, who was now smiling shyly at me out of the doorway. As I passed, I winked and his grin became even brighter.
The gathering did look like a secret cult. Men and women in white milled about in the large underground chamber, hardly covering half of the floor space. That wasn't surprising, due to the fact that you could have played the Super Bowl down there and still have room for a multiplex or two. Not to mention an Olympics sized pool. A smoky haze filled the cavern, but it smelled like a mix of Tommy Girl and Polo Sport, dashed with something very strong and unfamiliar. I took a deep breath and gagged. This stuff took a bit of getting used to. The men wore flowing robes that seemed to shine with a light of their own instead of just be plain old white. All the women wore catsuits like mine, except they all seemed different somehow, like the suit was a part of who they were. When they saw mine, they peered at me, then nodded sagely. I caught snippets of whispering, like, "...her mother's..." and "...destiny..." I raised an eyebrow at them and they turned away.
I was lead to a small group of other 'first-timers' like me. I barely had enough time to smile back at a boy and say hi back to a cluster of girls when the room was flooded by an intense white light.
"What is that?" I asked one of the girls. Her cat-like green eyes and blond hair made me think for a split second that I was looking into a mirror. She shrugged. "Ask one of them." She pointed to two boys. "Their parents go here, so they should know. Here, I'll go with you. I know them." They both had whitish hair and hazel eyes. My throat caught as I was painfully reminded of Ryou.
They swiveled on the spot, and stared at me, until the girl coughed.
"Dæmon, Casey— hello? What is that thing?"
One turned to her and said, "Of course you wouldn't know, munchkin— what'll you pay us to tell you?"
To answer, I stomped on his foot— hard.
"Owwtch! It's the Glow. No one knows who it is, but it runs the Shakkan. Good enough?" He added ruefully, rubbing his foot.
"Sorry, but I wasn't about to let you get away with heckling us like that."
He grinned apologetically. "Hey, you must be new, otherwise you would have just let it go. We were born to heckle, whatever that means. Anyway, I'm Casey, and he's Dæmon. See you around?"
"Yeah, I'm going to start coming here, and maybe I'll see you at school."
"Later."
They wandered off, and I turned my attention back to the girl.
She smiled sheepishly. "I can't believe I dragged you off to talk to them and I don't even know your name!"
The Glow had stopped glaring and was just sitting on a stool. People were strolling around and talking earnestly.
"Well, my name is Tea."
"And mine is Shizukesa, but you can call me Shizu. It means tranquillity, but that doesn't describe me at all!"
I laughed with her. I was just starting to say that my middle name, taken from my Japanese background, Senshi, meant warrior, and that it wasn't like me at all, but stopped. I was a warrior now; if what Shadi had said was true. My eyes widened. More prophecies and more fulfillment.
Shizu saw the peculiar look on my face and was opening her mouth when the Glow started talking.
"I guess it's naming mentors to apprentices. Ooh, I hope I get Pegasus!"
"What is this?" I muttered out of the corner of my mouth, "Some kind of Star Wars make-off?"
"No, but I guess you could see it that way. When I first started, I was afraid it was gonna be a cult. Turns out there are things going on in the universe that no one knows about. Sure, some of the science fiction writers are close, but this is real."
Meanwhile, Dæmon had gotten someone called Serenity, and all the guys were glaring in envy. I caught a glimpse of her and gasped. She looked almost exactly like my mom! My dad wasn't telling me something. Isis had gone to a movie with a friend.
Shizu noticed I was gaping and giggled. "Her curves are the envy of everyone, Tea. You're not the first."
"No! That's not what I was staring at! That's what my mom looks like. They could be twins."
She gave me an odd, sideways look, and then jumped when her name was called.
"Shizu, placed with Pegasus."
She gave a little shriek. I glanced at Pegasus but couldn't see why she was so ecstatic. He was okay, but his black eyes seemed to look into my soul as he passed. One eye was covered in a gold symbol. It was creepy. She grinned at me and then walked into one of the side rooms with him.
"Tea, placed with Yami."
I was suddenly aware of several girls glaring at me in mock rivalry, and then turned as someone put their hand on my shoulder.
Once I was caught in his calm stare, I couldn't get out. At first he looked shocked, but then he smiled and led me to the room closest to us. All the guys were catcalling. Yami's tan face was beginning to tinge pink, like light sunburn. With a start, I recognized him as the guy in the hologram.
"Well, I guess we should start from the beginning. Were you born with hreftas?"
I answered no, and that led to me telling him what had happened and how I got them. When I got to what Shadi had told me about Bakura and his secret love, I slammed my mouth shut, embarrassed.
Yami leaned closer. "Let me just guess— did he fall in love with you?"
I gasped. "How did you guess?"
He shrugged. "Well, I would understand the feeling. It's easy to do, and with you being so beautiful you aren't helping at all." As soon as the words were out of his mouth his eyes widened in horror. He clapped his hand over his mouth, his eyes closed. I grinned impishly.
"Oh ho! So now Mister Mentor is hitting on the apprentice! I don't think that's supposed to happen." Then, on sudden impulse, I reached into my backpack and pulled out the framed picture of the woman. "Do you know who this is? The picture just appeared on my bed table today—" I stopped short as his expression went from surprise to anger to grief in a matter of seconds. He put his hand over the woman's face. "We'll talk about her later, Tea."
Before I could answer, I looked at my watch and gasped. I had ten minutes to get home!
Yami guessed what had happened and said, "Use the side door." He pointed. "It will get you home faster."
I jauntily blew a kiss, and watched as Yami's face slowly began to hold that suspicion of pink again. I stepped out the door, and found I was right down the street from my house. I looked back; expecting to see a door, but somehow knowing it wouldn't be there. I was standing by a privet hedge.
I took off running. When I got home, I dodged in the back door, because my mom was pulling into the driveway.
My dad was leaning against the counter like he had just run a very great distance and arrived just ahead of me. His face was glowing scarlet.
"Did she see you?" he panted, clutching the stitch in his chest.
"No."
"Good—"
I heard the key turning in the lock and dashed upstairs. I changed into my pajamas at the speed of light and hopped into my bed just as my mom came up.
She looked at me with her 'evil eye'. "Tea, what have you been doing?"
I wanted to say, "Oh, the usual, mom, I went to a 'Society for the
Protection of Earth from Bakura's meeting. Nothing special. Who is Bakura? Only a space alien who is in love with me! Other then that, I had a perfectly normal day." But instead, I just remarked innocently, "Nothing, Mom. Me and Dad—"
"Dad and I."
"Dad and I played Duel Monsters all night."
She gave me another evil eye. I cringed, thinking she had seen me at the Shakkan. She ruffled my hair. "Okay, then. Good night."
She turned to walk out the door when I called out, "Mom! Where did you really go tonight?"
She stared at me intently, like she was trying to read my mind. I focused what power I could grab on shielding the information I had just learned. She looked shocked, as though she had felt my power. Then she regained her composure. "A movie with Isis."
"What movie?"
"The Clan."
I gave her the evil eye. The way she had said that, it sounded smug, like she was daring me to reveal something. I smoothed my features, and answered with just a hint of self-satisfaction in my tone. "Oh, so, was it good?"
She started. She had been expecting panic, probably. "Yes, and to think, the actress looked just like you."
With that she closed the door and walked down the hall, chuckling to herself. I lay in the dark with my eyes wide open. She had seen me there, somehow, but why did she bother to hint it? Was my mom not involved in the Shakkan at all, but instead a bootlicker for Bakura?
~*~
Kaiba: Hey, I was in this one!
Kestrel: *smiles* Well I figured you should be... and besides, I was running out of YuGiOh characters to put for the original characters.
Kaiba: *flexes* I like this. I'm a guard. I'm buff.
Yami: *stifles a snigger*
Kaiba: *mock outrage* Hey!
Kestrel: Sigh. Read and review, people! I know I've never asked for this before, but I'm not getting any!
Kaiba: *looks insulted*
Kestrel: *sighs again* Not that, darling. I'm not getting any reviews.
Kaiba: Oh.
Yami: *can't hold in his laughter anymore* Oh, geez- BWAHAHAHAHA!
Kaiba: HEY! C'mere, you! Lemme show you the meaning of pain!
Yami: Oh, I'm so afraid- ack! Hey, watch the hair! Aah!
Kestrel: *sighs for a third time* Like I said, read and review...