An Empty Shell

An new girl, Kali Zona, comes to Domino City, and there's something strange about her, something… broken. A broken spirit, a broken heart, and a broken link, in fact. Her story scares Yugi and Yami, and even rattles Bakura and Ryou. She forces the yamis and hikaris to reexamine their lives and ask themselves "Could I really survive if I was the only one?"

A/N: I had this idea after reading Rain of Tears (it's on my faves list – check it out! It's MAJOR angst, though!). And just to let you know, Kali means "Dark goddess and full of energy" in Sanskrit. (Thank goodness for baby name books, eh?) And I have clue whatsoever what Bakura's last name is so I'm making it up! And Yami-Bakura is now Ryou. I know most people switch them around, making Ryou the hikari and Bakura the yami, but I keep thinking Ryou as the yami, so I'm not going to be confusing myself anymore!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except Kali and Aseliah and the Silver Items and Bearers, unless of course, they already exist. In which case, I don't own them.

"speaking"

'thinking to themself'

*change of POV*

[Mental link]

CHAPTER 1:: New Girl

                "All right, class, back to your seats, please!" called Mrs. Freiman over the cheerful chatter of her 10th grade class. "I have a special announcement to make!"

                She looked around the room at the blissfully unaware students and added fiercely "And if you don't all sit down within ten seconds, I'm assigning five pages of geometry for tomorrow!"

                Joey Wheeler, Bakura and Ryou Hino and Yugi and Yami Moto quickly retrieved their Duel Monsters card decks and fled to their seats. Seto Kaiba, who hadn't even so much as looked up from his book since he'd entered the class, placed his book back down.

                "And if I see those blasted card decks out again in my class, I will confiscate them." She snapped. "That goes for everybody as of now."

                Seto snatched his card deck from his desk and dropped them in his bag. Joey discreetly slipped his deck into his jacket pocket and the golden box containing Yugi and Yami's decks disappeared into Yami's book bag. Bakura shoved his cards quickly into his binder, as did Ryou, though with some reluctance.

                "I don't even want them in my classroom," she continued. "Misters Kaiba, Wheeler, Moto and Hino, if you would kindly hand over your cards?"

                "Never!" Ryou snarled under his breath, but at a quick jab in the side from his 'brother', or hikari vessel Bakura, and a stern look from Yami, he placed his deck on Mrs. Freiman's desk sullenly, returned to his seat and proceeded to glare at the imperturbed teacher.

                "You can come retrieve them at the end of the day," Mrs. Freiman said calmly. "Now, as I was saying, I have a special announcement: we have a new student joining us!"

                "Oooo, I'm shaking with anticipation," Tristan Taylor muttered sarcastically.

                "Mister Taylor, if  you would kindly keep your commentary to yourself?" Mrs. Freiman ordered.

                The door opened just then, and the vice-principal walked in with a girl trailing behind him.

*Yami's POV*

                The minute she walked in the room, it was like the whole room was filled with negative power. It was stifling, it was powerful, it was…

                Cutting me off from my aibou! (A/N: TELL ME AIBOU MEANS 'PARTNER' IN THE BUSINESS-Y SENSE AND NOT THE HOMOSEXUAL SENSE!!) [Yugi!] I called over the mental link in panic.

                [What?] Yugi called back, confused. [Yami, what's going on? You sound like you're far away…] He too, sounded distant.

                [I don't know!] I called back, struggling to get past the barrier. I glanced briefly over at Yugi at the other end of the class, who looked as if he didn't feel the same power I was. Bakura, also looked fine, but Ryou (the cursed tomb-robber!), I could see from the corner of my eye, was definitely feeling the same forces I was. He looked pale and frightened, something unusual in the tomb-raider.

*Ryou's POV*

                I had never felt so close to crying before. Bakura and I had never been close, not like Yami and Yugi, and sure, I may have been a little overbearing (okay abusive), at times (all right, all the time), but we always had been a part of each other. And now, it felt as if we were being cut apart.

                I resisted the urge to cry out in blind hysteria to my hikari, but I could tell Yami was distressed, also. 'Weak, pathetic little pharaoh. Probably already crying to his hikari,' I reflected, ignoring my inward delirium.

                [Ryou?] came the nervous call of Bakura over the mental link. [What's going on?] He paused. [I caught some panic on the link,] he added as way of explanation.

*back to third-person POV*

                "This is Kali Zona," Mrs. Freiman announced to her inattentive class. "She's just transferred from Canada, so be nice. Kali, you can take a seat next to Ryou, right there."

                The girl, tall with light brown hair with purple streaks, had an interesting colour of eyes: lavender. She wore the uniform of Domino High, but she seemed out of place with it, as if she'd never worn a school uniform in her life. She was fiddling with a stray lock of hair with one hand and a small silver locket with the other. She gave Mrs. Freiman a small, sad smile before taking her place as directed.

                It wasn't as if Kali didn't notice Ryou trying hard not to show that he was shaking, oh no, she'd had plenty of experience in Canada of that reaction. Looking around at her classmates, she thought, 'Well, now I know who the spirits are in this classroom. It won't be long before their hikari counterparts start to feel my energy as well, and then everybody will know that I'm not normal.' Still clutching her silver locket tightly, she thought, 'Oh, Aseliah, I wish you were still here…'

                "Did you catch a good look at that new girl?" Joey demanded later. "Don't even try to deny it, Yami, I saw you ogling her. In Math and in English."

                Yami's mouth opened and closed in indignation several times, while Yugi snickered at the thought of his yami going gaga over a girl.

                "Oh, and you didn't sneak a few looks yourself?" Tristan asked Joey teasingly. "I seem to recall you stopping dead in your tracks in Gym when she walked past you to the girls' class."

                Even Ryou laughed at that one while Joey turned a vile shade of red.

                "She's quite smart," Bakura said quietly. "The French professor was just in shock at how well she spoke French."

                "That's because she was in a French Immersion school back in Canada," Téa spoke up. "I asked her."

                "French Immersion?" Tristan asked blankly.

                "Gosh, Tristan, even I know what that is!" Joey snorted. "It's a school where they teach most of their subjects in French, except for English. It's to help them 'immerse' themselves in the language."

                "Oh."

                "Is there a particular reason why you're talking about me?" came a soft voice from

behind Yami.

                "Wha-aah!" Yami yelped and whirled around to face Kali, who was watching the group with an almost amused expression on her face.

                "Am I a terribly interesting conversation subject?" She asked, with only a slight hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I…uh…I…uh…" Yami stammered.

"Ay aye ay." Joey groaned. Yugi was still trying hard not to laugh hysterically at the expression on his dark's face.

"What are you?" Ryou asked. Téa looked at him in shock.

"Ryou!" Bakura and Téa said disapprovingly.

Kali, however, waved off Ryou's slightly insulting remark. "Don't think I didn't get asked that in Canada. You're gold, aren't you?" She directed this question to both Ryou and Yami.

"Huh?" both boys asked blankly.

"Judging by your complete lack of knowledge as to what I'm talking about, I'm guessing that was a yes." Kali sighed. "You," she pointed to Ryou. "Your item."

"Item?" Ryou asked.

Kali groaned exasperatedly. "Your Millennium Item! Geez, Louise…"

"Oh," Ryou responded. "Bakura has it."

"You, I'm guessing, are Bakura." Kali directed her attention to Bakura, who was looking bewildered. "The Item."

Bakura looked at her suspiciously.

"I swear, I'm not going to do anything to it. I need to know which Item it is."

"The ring," all the group answered in unison.

"You can't have it," Bakura said immediately, closing a hand protectively around his ring.

Kali groaned. "I don't have time for this. Hopefully whoever has the Puzzle will be slightly more knowledgeable, since he's the one who was supposed to have locked all this idiotic power away." She turned to walk away, when Yami said from behind her, "That would be me."

Kali turned back around. "You?" she asked scornfully.

"Yes," Yami responded, stepping forward.

Kali scoffed derisively and walked away from the group, pulling something out of her bag as she went. It glinted mysteriously in the sunlight.

Yami watched as she sat down under the shade of a distant tree, still wondering what this girl was, and why she didn't believe him.

"Uh, Yami?" Yugi asked slowly. "Yami? Earth to Y-a-a-mi, come in."

"What?" Yami asked, turning away from the faraway musings of his mind back to reality.

"Can we go now?" Tristan asked in exasperation. "Can we leave this girl to her depression? She gives me the major willies."

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A/N: Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, what do you think? I won't know unless you review!