Bakura looked around, feeling a growing sense of worry. "Yami!" he screamed again. "Please answer me!"
Trembling, the boy stood up and cautiously made his way around the fallen luggage, calling for the tomb robber without much success.
After he had been searching through the darkened room for what seemed like an eternity, Bakura found his Yami's limp body crumpled in the shadows, a heavy trunk pinning him to the floor.
"Yami!" Bakura cried in horror, dropping to his knees and touching the thief's shoulder. Not receiving an answer, the boy shoved the trunk aside and gently took Yami Bakura's body into his arms in concern. "Oh Yami, this is my fault!" Bakura wailed. "I'm so sorry! . . ." He prayed desperately that his Yami wasn't seriously hurt. "Please wake up, Yami!" he begged.
"What's going on in here?" a gruff, thickly-accented voice suddenly demanded from the doorway.
Bakura hesitated. If he said that Yami Bakura had been hurt, this person would no doubt want to take him to the infirmary—but that wouldn't help the old thief any. But he couldn't say that his friend was an ancient spirit from Egypt—they'd think he was completely insane and then they might take *him* to the infirmary.
"I . . . I'm not sure," the boy said at last. "I . . . I was looking for a friend and suddenly all this luggage came falling down . . ."
The man began muttering to himself in another language and then turned and walked away.
"That was odd," Bakura commented, looking down at Yami Bakura again. "Oh Yami, can you hear me?!" he wailed.
Yami Bakura didn't stir, and Bakura held him close, his soft brown eyes shining worriedly. "This is my fault," the boy said again quietly. "Oh, what shall I do?!"
****
As Seto and Mokuba walked down the hall, a loud crash came from a room just to the left of them and both boys jumped.
"What was that?!" Mokuba cried.
"Probably nothing," Seto replied comfortingly, but he turned to look in the room anyway.
It looked as though a hurricane had blown through. The room seemed to be the location of the library, because most of what was strewn around were heavy bookcases and the books that had inhabited them.
"What a mess!" Mokuba cried, his eyes wide.
"Someone's been raising Cain in here," Seto muttered. No one was in sight, but someone had obviously been there sometime in the near past. The loud crash they had just heard was the world globe falling over.
"Kaiba? What's happening?"
Both boys turned to look as Tea ran up to them.
"See for yourself," Seto told her, gesturing toward the doorway.
Tea peeked in and then gasped. "Why would someone do this?!" she exclaimed, and then a new thought occurred to her. "And how could they?! Wouldn't these bookcases have been bolted down?!"
Seto grunted, knowing that the girl was right. "Either someone was determined to make a mess . . ."
This was said with a certain amount of sarcasm, and Mokuba couldn't help but giggle. Seto ruffled the younger boy's hair with a smile before turning serious again.
". . . or else they were looking for something," the older boy finished.
"But what would anyone want in there?!" Tea cried.
Seto had no idea and so he said nothing.
"I heard about all the other commotion that happened today, big brother," Mokuba said now. "It looks like another mystery!"
Seto held him close. "Maybe so, kid, but I'm not planning to get involved. I've had enough hair-raising experiences to last me a lifetime!"
Tea touched his arm gently. "You deserve a break," she agreed softly.
Seto sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't take a break from my work. The company won't run itself." He turned to go. "Come on, Mokuba. Let's get some dinner and forget about all this nonsense," he said, referring to the demolished room as "nonsense."
"Okay, big brother!" Mokuba said agreeably, happy for the chance to get away from a possible crime scene.
Now Seto turned back to Tea, his face expressionless as usual. "I would advise you not to stay here either," he told her, seeing how she was studying the library.
"I'm leaving," Tea replied firmly. She began walking with the Kaiba brothers. "I don't suppose you've seen Marik, have you?" she asked now.
Seto shook his head. "I haven't."
Tea sighed. "I was afraid of that."
****
The boy everyone had been looking for, meanwhile, had been having quite the adventures of his own.
It had all started when Marik had seen Ishizu and Rishid in the dining room and had gone to find them.
"Ishizu!" Marik called, seeing the older woman vanishing into the crowds. "Where are you going?"
Marik's sister didn't seem to hear as she walked around a corner with Rishid in tow. Marik was about to go after them when the power went out, making him lose his sense of direction. Confusion prevailed amongst all the passengers and someone clanged into the boy, sending him tripping over a chair. He cried out in pain as he fell to the floor.
To Marik's utter shock, he kept on falling when he hit the hard tiles. He found himself tumbling over and over down what appeared to be a slippery slide and he was getting immensely dizzy. He screamed as he slammed his shoulder hard against the side and then was spit out violently onto another rough floor.
Marik lay dazed for several long moments, trying to collect his bearings, and then he shakily stood up. "What in Heaven's name just happened?!" he cried, looking around. "I seem to be in the Captain's quarters!"
Slowly the Egyptian boy began wandering through the room, searching for the exit. "Why would they build a children's slide leading from the dining room to here?!" he muttered in disbelief. He felt dizzy after his wild ride and he stumbled over to a door at the other end of the room with quite a bit of effort. Marik clutched at the doorknob, willing the room to stop spinning. When the feelings of vertigo passed, he turned the knob and staggered into the hallway, glancing around for anyone familiar. "Ishizu? Rishid? Where the devil are you?!" he yelled, his voice echoing up and down the corridors.
As he walked past the many rooms, he found himself passing by the cargo hold. He slowed down as he came upon the guard, who was conversing on a telephone in another language. Quickly Marik darted around a corner to listen. The language the man was speaking in was Egyptian—so Marik, of course, understood every word of what was being said—and the boy didn't like what he was hearing.
"Yes, yes!" the guard was saying impatiently. "No, I haven't found it yet! . . . Yes, I know you want your revenge. Patience, my friend. PATIENCE!!"
That guard could use some patience himself, Marik thought wryly. But what in Heaven's name is he talking about?!
Suddenly the man paused, glancing around suspiciously. "I have to go," he muttered into the receiver. "Someone's spying on me."
I've been caught, Marik thought grimly. He turned and dashed away, but the guard ran after him in hot pursuit.
"Come back here!" the man yelled angrily, still speaking in Egyptian. "Come back, boy, or suffer the consequences!" He produced a deadly weapon and threw it viciously, narrowly missing Marik.
The boy ducked. What was he going to do? Could he possibly fool this person into thinking that he hadn't understood what was being said? Perhaps if he pretended to only understand English, the man would let him go.
"Why are you pursuing me?" Marik cried in English. "I have done nothing wrong!"
The guard cornered him and wrenched his arm around. "You were eavesdropping on me," he hissed, switching to English himself.
Marik shook his head, trying to look completely innocent and horrified. "Why, no!" he gasped. "I would never eavesdrop on someone's private conversations! Besides, I cannot speak any language other than English. It would be quite ridiculous for me to try listening in on a conversation in a language I have no knowledge of!"
The man's eyes narrowed. "You look Egyptian to me. Are you telling me you can't even speak the language of your people?!" This thought seemed to anger him more than the idea that Marik had been listening to his conversation.
Marik blinked. "I was born in Egypt, but my family moved to America when I was still very young. They always meant to school me in the Egyptian language, but that never happened," he bluffed.
The man didn't look convinced. He began shooting off rapid-fire questions at Marik in Egyptian, and the boy pretended to look absolutely bewildered and confused.
"I am sorry," he said after this had gone on for several minutes, "but I do not understand a single word of what you have said."
Apparently the bluff worked. The man backed down, his eyes narrowed. "Get out of here and stop wasting my time," he hissed, shoving Marik backwards.
Marik, however, didn't leave. Instead he continued to face the man, a steely look coming into his lavender eyes. "I will leave," he promised, "but first I wish you to tell me why you threw your weapon at me!"
The man crossed his arms. "I didn't throw anything at you," he denied.
"Then who did?" Marik asked evenly.
"I don't know!" the man growled. "Perhaps you imagined the entire thing! Now I have a job to do and you are keeping me from it."
Marik nodded and stepped aside, allowing the man to pass. He decided that the best thing for now would be to continue observing the man and see if he could find out for certain what he was up to. Also, he would privately tell someone in authority what he had heard.
But first he needed to find Ishizu and Rishid. They had to be around somewhere!
As the boy resumed his journey down the winding halls, the dizziness again overwhelmed him—but more intensely this time. "What is happening to me?!" he cried, just before he sank unconscious to the floor.
****
When Tea and the Kaiba brothers arrived back in the dining room, everything had more or less gone back to normal. Once again people were sitting around at the tables, laughing and eating as if nothing strange had happened a few moments before.
"I wonder where Yugi and the others are," Tea remarked worriedly. "We were all going to meet back here in an hour or two, but it doesn't look like any of them are here yet."
Seto grunted. "It's a large ship."
"I know, but in light of everything that's been going on, you never know what could've happened to them!" Tea cried.
"Here comes some of them now," Mokuba announced, pointing.
The two teens turned to look in the direction the younger boy had just indicated. Joey, Tristan, and Mai had just entered into the dining room, and they glanced around uncertainly.
"Hey!" Tea called, waving. "Over here!"
Soon the other teens had made their way over and they began to exchange stories.
"We haven't had any luck," Mai sighed.
"I haven't either," Tea said, "but you should see what someone did to the library!" Quickly she and Mokuba explained what they had seen while Seto stood to the side, his arms crossed over his chest.
Before long Yugi and his Yami joined the group, not having had any luck either.
"Where's Bakura?!" Tea exclaimed worriedly after another half hour had gone by without any sign of the sweet, innocent British boy.
"Oh no," Mai groaned. "Is he missing now too?!"
"It looks that way," Yugi said grimly.
****
Bakura, meanwhile, was still cradling his Yami's unconscious body in the cargo hold and becoming more nervous with every passing minute.
"Please wake up, Yami!" the boy pleaded again, knowing that he could never try carrying the tomb raider out of the cargo hold.
Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps nearby. Someone was here!
Trembling, the boy stood up and cautiously made his way around the fallen luggage, calling for the tomb robber without much success.
After he had been searching through the darkened room for what seemed like an eternity, Bakura found his Yami's limp body crumpled in the shadows, a heavy trunk pinning him to the floor.
"Yami!" Bakura cried in horror, dropping to his knees and touching the thief's shoulder. Not receiving an answer, the boy shoved the trunk aside and gently took Yami Bakura's body into his arms in concern. "Oh Yami, this is my fault!" Bakura wailed. "I'm so sorry! . . ." He prayed desperately that his Yami wasn't seriously hurt. "Please wake up, Yami!" he begged.
"What's going on in here?" a gruff, thickly-accented voice suddenly demanded from the doorway.
Bakura hesitated. If he said that Yami Bakura had been hurt, this person would no doubt want to take him to the infirmary—but that wouldn't help the old thief any. But he couldn't say that his friend was an ancient spirit from Egypt—they'd think he was completely insane and then they might take *him* to the infirmary.
"I . . . I'm not sure," the boy said at last. "I . . . I was looking for a friend and suddenly all this luggage came falling down . . ."
The man began muttering to himself in another language and then turned and walked away.
"That was odd," Bakura commented, looking down at Yami Bakura again. "Oh Yami, can you hear me?!" he wailed.
Yami Bakura didn't stir, and Bakura held him close, his soft brown eyes shining worriedly. "This is my fault," the boy said again quietly. "Oh, what shall I do?!"
****
As Seto and Mokuba walked down the hall, a loud crash came from a room just to the left of them and both boys jumped.
"What was that?!" Mokuba cried.
"Probably nothing," Seto replied comfortingly, but he turned to look in the room anyway.
It looked as though a hurricane had blown through. The room seemed to be the location of the library, because most of what was strewn around were heavy bookcases and the books that had inhabited them.
"What a mess!" Mokuba cried, his eyes wide.
"Someone's been raising Cain in here," Seto muttered. No one was in sight, but someone had obviously been there sometime in the near past. The loud crash they had just heard was the world globe falling over.
"Kaiba? What's happening?"
Both boys turned to look as Tea ran up to them.
"See for yourself," Seto told her, gesturing toward the doorway.
Tea peeked in and then gasped. "Why would someone do this?!" she exclaimed, and then a new thought occurred to her. "And how could they?! Wouldn't these bookcases have been bolted down?!"
Seto grunted, knowing that the girl was right. "Either someone was determined to make a mess . . ."
This was said with a certain amount of sarcasm, and Mokuba couldn't help but giggle. Seto ruffled the younger boy's hair with a smile before turning serious again.
". . . or else they were looking for something," the older boy finished.
"But what would anyone want in there?!" Tea cried.
Seto had no idea and so he said nothing.
"I heard about all the other commotion that happened today, big brother," Mokuba said now. "It looks like another mystery!"
Seto held him close. "Maybe so, kid, but I'm not planning to get involved. I've had enough hair-raising experiences to last me a lifetime!"
Tea touched his arm gently. "You deserve a break," she agreed softly.
Seto sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't take a break from my work. The company won't run itself." He turned to go. "Come on, Mokuba. Let's get some dinner and forget about all this nonsense," he said, referring to the demolished room as "nonsense."
"Okay, big brother!" Mokuba said agreeably, happy for the chance to get away from a possible crime scene.
Now Seto turned back to Tea, his face expressionless as usual. "I would advise you not to stay here either," he told her, seeing how she was studying the library.
"I'm leaving," Tea replied firmly. She began walking with the Kaiba brothers. "I don't suppose you've seen Marik, have you?" she asked now.
Seto shook his head. "I haven't."
Tea sighed. "I was afraid of that."
****
The boy everyone had been looking for, meanwhile, had been having quite the adventures of his own.
It had all started when Marik had seen Ishizu and Rishid in the dining room and had gone to find them.
"Ishizu!" Marik called, seeing the older woman vanishing into the crowds. "Where are you going?"
Marik's sister didn't seem to hear as she walked around a corner with Rishid in tow. Marik was about to go after them when the power went out, making him lose his sense of direction. Confusion prevailed amongst all the passengers and someone clanged into the boy, sending him tripping over a chair. He cried out in pain as he fell to the floor.
To Marik's utter shock, he kept on falling when he hit the hard tiles. He found himself tumbling over and over down what appeared to be a slippery slide and he was getting immensely dizzy. He screamed as he slammed his shoulder hard against the side and then was spit out violently onto another rough floor.
Marik lay dazed for several long moments, trying to collect his bearings, and then he shakily stood up. "What in Heaven's name just happened?!" he cried, looking around. "I seem to be in the Captain's quarters!"
Slowly the Egyptian boy began wandering through the room, searching for the exit. "Why would they build a children's slide leading from the dining room to here?!" he muttered in disbelief. He felt dizzy after his wild ride and he stumbled over to a door at the other end of the room with quite a bit of effort. Marik clutched at the doorknob, willing the room to stop spinning. When the feelings of vertigo passed, he turned the knob and staggered into the hallway, glancing around for anyone familiar. "Ishizu? Rishid? Where the devil are you?!" he yelled, his voice echoing up and down the corridors.
As he walked past the many rooms, he found himself passing by the cargo hold. He slowed down as he came upon the guard, who was conversing on a telephone in another language. Quickly Marik darted around a corner to listen. The language the man was speaking in was Egyptian—so Marik, of course, understood every word of what was being said—and the boy didn't like what he was hearing.
"Yes, yes!" the guard was saying impatiently. "No, I haven't found it yet! . . . Yes, I know you want your revenge. Patience, my friend. PATIENCE!!"
That guard could use some patience himself, Marik thought wryly. But what in Heaven's name is he talking about?!
Suddenly the man paused, glancing around suspiciously. "I have to go," he muttered into the receiver. "Someone's spying on me."
I've been caught, Marik thought grimly. He turned and dashed away, but the guard ran after him in hot pursuit.
"Come back here!" the man yelled angrily, still speaking in Egyptian. "Come back, boy, or suffer the consequences!" He produced a deadly weapon and threw it viciously, narrowly missing Marik.
The boy ducked. What was he going to do? Could he possibly fool this person into thinking that he hadn't understood what was being said? Perhaps if he pretended to only understand English, the man would let him go.
"Why are you pursuing me?" Marik cried in English. "I have done nothing wrong!"
The guard cornered him and wrenched his arm around. "You were eavesdropping on me," he hissed, switching to English himself.
Marik shook his head, trying to look completely innocent and horrified. "Why, no!" he gasped. "I would never eavesdrop on someone's private conversations! Besides, I cannot speak any language other than English. It would be quite ridiculous for me to try listening in on a conversation in a language I have no knowledge of!"
The man's eyes narrowed. "You look Egyptian to me. Are you telling me you can't even speak the language of your people?!" This thought seemed to anger him more than the idea that Marik had been listening to his conversation.
Marik blinked. "I was born in Egypt, but my family moved to America when I was still very young. They always meant to school me in the Egyptian language, but that never happened," he bluffed.
The man didn't look convinced. He began shooting off rapid-fire questions at Marik in Egyptian, and the boy pretended to look absolutely bewildered and confused.
"I am sorry," he said after this had gone on for several minutes, "but I do not understand a single word of what you have said."
Apparently the bluff worked. The man backed down, his eyes narrowed. "Get out of here and stop wasting my time," he hissed, shoving Marik backwards.
Marik, however, didn't leave. Instead he continued to face the man, a steely look coming into his lavender eyes. "I will leave," he promised, "but first I wish you to tell me why you threw your weapon at me!"
The man crossed his arms. "I didn't throw anything at you," he denied.
"Then who did?" Marik asked evenly.
"I don't know!" the man growled. "Perhaps you imagined the entire thing! Now I have a job to do and you are keeping me from it."
Marik nodded and stepped aside, allowing the man to pass. He decided that the best thing for now would be to continue observing the man and see if he could find out for certain what he was up to. Also, he would privately tell someone in authority what he had heard.
But first he needed to find Ishizu and Rishid. They had to be around somewhere!
As the boy resumed his journey down the winding halls, the dizziness again overwhelmed him—but more intensely this time. "What is happening to me?!" he cried, just before he sank unconscious to the floor.
****
When Tea and the Kaiba brothers arrived back in the dining room, everything had more or less gone back to normal. Once again people were sitting around at the tables, laughing and eating as if nothing strange had happened a few moments before.
"I wonder where Yugi and the others are," Tea remarked worriedly. "We were all going to meet back here in an hour or two, but it doesn't look like any of them are here yet."
Seto grunted. "It's a large ship."
"I know, but in light of everything that's been going on, you never know what could've happened to them!" Tea cried.
"Here comes some of them now," Mokuba announced, pointing.
The two teens turned to look in the direction the younger boy had just indicated. Joey, Tristan, and Mai had just entered into the dining room, and they glanced around uncertainly.
"Hey!" Tea called, waving. "Over here!"
Soon the other teens had made their way over and they began to exchange stories.
"We haven't had any luck," Mai sighed.
"I haven't either," Tea said, "but you should see what someone did to the library!" Quickly she and Mokuba explained what they had seen while Seto stood to the side, his arms crossed over his chest.
Before long Yugi and his Yami joined the group, not having had any luck either.
"Where's Bakura?!" Tea exclaimed worriedly after another half hour had gone by without any sign of the sweet, innocent British boy.
"Oh no," Mai groaned. "Is he missing now too?!"
"It looks that way," Yugi said grimly.
****
Bakura, meanwhile, was still cradling his Yami's unconscious body in the cargo hold and becoming more nervous with every passing minute.
"Please wake up, Yami!" the boy pleaded again, knowing that he could never try carrying the tomb raider out of the cargo hold.
Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps nearby. Someone was here!