*~*Disclaimer!!!*~* YES PRUNINGSHEARS I KNOW THAT LAST ONE WAS MUSHY!!!!! Sheesh, yeah I know, I know lol. But it HAD TO BE TOLD!!!! So I could get on to this one... this one's a LOT darker than the last, so there ya go lol. Anyway, you all know the drill; don't own anyone but my own charries... and Dawnie owns hers... yadda, yadda, yadda... My chapters are going to get longer now, because I found out I can only have 18 chapters, and here I am, typing up a storm, and I haven't even gotten to the climax of the story yet. AND ALREADY I HAVE 12 chapters and a prologue! So I better hurry up!!!!
*~*Present, Battle City Hospital*~*~*~*~*
The star-studded night had given leave to the break of dawn, with the sun's early rays painting ruby reds, glittering golds and bold oranges across the horizon. In the hospital in Battle City, a black-haired head began to stir from the unrelenting sleep that had claimed her only hours before. With uncertain blue eyes, she drew her attention to her longtime friend, his face peaceful as if in a deep sleep. For a moment, she smiled, and clasped his closest hand in hers. After a few moments, she frowned, and as realization came, her eyes widened in shock. Tears streaming down her face from her sorrowful eyes, she gave a cry out into the space around the room, a howling, piercing wail from deep within her heart. Hysteric, she fumbled to the door, stumbling and tripping as she feel right into Yugi's open arms.
Her cheeks stained with trails of salty water, she cried openly into Yugi's shoulder, repeating the same mantra over and over again. "Merrick will pay... Merrick will pay..."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
With Yugi's comforting guidance, he led Marita to the cafeteria, where she could cry and mourn in peace and away from Ian. As he did so, they both failed to notice the figure stealing into Ian's room; a figure with blonde hair that they never would have doubted would be there. Upon his arrival in the hospital chamber, the atmosphere changed drastically, from warm and inviting, to icy cold and barren. His dull, lifeless and light purple eyes glared down at the boy in the bed, shoving the IV's and heart monitors to the ground with a loud CRASH!. Grasping the wrist of Ian, he felt for a pulse on the bed-ridden boy, although he already knew what he was going to find. As he predicted, he felt nothing.
*Pathetic fool,* He brushed his golden blonde hair back, sneering. *You fought hard against my will, and for what? For an early grave!?* He threw the arm back to its owner, the newly dead corpse never moving an inch.
Glancing outwards towards the window, the thoughts of his next move began to fill Merrick's mind, his eyes narrowing, and mouth smiling faintly. *The plans are moving smoothly and swiftly, and soon the young one's grief will be too much for her to bear...*
He grinned, lost in reverie. *The girl's as beautiful as they come, wits are sharp as tacks, with so much untapped power... yes... She's a haunting beauty, and I may have use for her when I become Pharaoh...* Quickly turning from the window and glancing outward into the halls, Merrick murmured his last thoughts aloud, to any that could hear. "If I can't stop her from remembering her past, perhaps I can help reform her future..."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
As the elevator moved upwards towards the top floors of the hospital, Seto Kaiba adjusted his hold on his metallic briefcase for the millionth time. Noticing this, now growing annoyed, his brown-haired fiancée' groaned. "Seto, quit doing that, you're driving me NUTS!"
Seto scowled, gripping the parcel until his knuckles ran bloodless white. "I didn't know you paid attention to every little detail about what I do Dawn. In fact, you weren't even supposed to be here in the first place."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He sighed. "Nothing Dawn..."
A tiny DING! was heard in the following silence, signaling their arrival on third floor. Walking side by side, they scanned the numbered rooms one by one, looking back and forth in the narrow halls until they found the room they were looking for.
"Christopher, Ian." Dawn read, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she looked at the clipboard hanging from the wall. "Huh, this must be it." Boldly, she walked in like she owned the place, and for a moment, it looked like she had found the right door. However, the peace was spoiled by a scream in the same room, and dawn immediately rushed out, her face ghostly pale and wide eyed.
"DAWN!?!?" Seto cried, hugging her close to try and comfort her cries.
Scared stiff, the brunette stuttered, "That... that... that's n-n-n-not the right room!" She moved slightly away from Kaiba, getting her wits about her. "Oh god Seto, Ian's dead!"
"WHAT!?" His ocean blue eyes flashed in shock, and took it upon himself to peek into the room as Dawn had. Shocked, he pulled his head back out, and grabbed the elbow of an approaching nurse. "Excuse me, miss? Was there a woman in here with that... patient?" he pointed inside the hospital chamber that Ian once occupied.
The blonde haired nurse smiled warmly. "Yes, there was a woman in that room last night. The poor thing, she fell asleep moments before Mr. Christopher died." She grabbed Ian's medical records from the clipboard hanging on the wall before speaking again. "I'm glad she had that one boy there with her..."
"What? What boy?" asked Dawn, curious.
"Well, he had spiky, reddish hair, blonde bangs..."
"Did he have something around his neck?"
"Yes! He did! A pyramid-shaped thing! Never could forget about that; you just don't see many of those every day..."
"Yugi." growled Seto, gripping his briefcase tighter. Glaring at the nurse with deadened, dark blue eyes, he questioned, "How long have they been here? Where did they go?"
Flinching, the young medical practitioner shifted her feet on the floor, trying not to get the third degree. "I'm not sure where they made off to, but they've both been here all night! The young lady was in that room the whole time, staying by Mr. Christopher's side the entire time, up until his death. The boy who came with her stayed outside the room, waiting for her..." The nurse smiled serenely. "He must care a great deal about her to have done that..."
"Yes..." murmured Seto, smiling slightly. He paused, thinking for a moment; a distilled silence following as the wheels in his head began to turn. Finally, he looked straight at the nurse, and replied, "Thank you. That will be all."
Dismissed, the nurse moved on, with Dawn's "thank you" coming at short notice. Suspicious of her fiancée, Dawn's blue eyes narrowed, making them look darker and clouded. "Ok hotshot, what are you up to now?"
Seto still smiled, and turned to walk back the way he came. "You'll know soon enough Dawn."
Furious, the chestnut-haired woman stepped in front of him, trying to block his route to the elevator. "NUH UH, you ain't moving any farther until you tell me what's cooking up in that thick-as-a-brick head of yours."
Pushing his fiancée aside, the corporate executive replied, "You'll know soon enough Dawn. I think I just have the information I need to finally get Yugi's Egyptian God card."
Scowling, Dawn scrunched her face up in distain. "FINE. Keep e out of your plans, your LIFE Seto. I'm sick of dealing with cryptic answers, and half truths." Brushing her hair out of her eyes, she started walking the other way, rigid and ramrod straight. "You're on your own Seto, I don't want anything else to DO WITH YOU!"
Seto shook his head, amused. *That girl will never learn...* Sauntering to the elevator, he got in, pushed the button for down, and leaned against the rail; he winced slightly at his next thoughts. *At least she doesn't throw tables at my head anymore...*
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Marita opened her swollen, bloodshot eyes, barely noticing the piles of tissues on one of the cafeteria's round tables. *Oh god, I can't live like this... I've lost my roommate, my best friend...* Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of her dear Ian, his jokes, his laughter, his smile; they all filled her view as memories began to play back in front of her eyes. *I don't think I'll live again...*
As those thoughts left her mind, something stirred inside her soul, something... powerful, something she had now grown accustomed to since dancing the night away last night; the spirit in her mind was trying to call out to her.
~Marita, don't be thinking that way. Yes, Ian died, but it's not the... end... of the world.~ The voice stumbled on the words she spoke, and Marita could hear the quiver in the specter's voice. As her eyes closed again, the black haired duelist felt her reality slipping away, giving way the darkest corners of her own mind where the voice was speaking from. The same as last time, Marita found herself in a darkened room, with a street lamp above her head, shining luminescence downward into a complete circle.
The voice came from her right this time, slowly circling around the light. "Marita, You'll be ok."
"NO I WON'T!" she shrieked, running her hands through her hair. "I LOST MY BEST FRIEND!!!! I lost someone very close to me, don't you understand!?"
Sighing, the older vocals of the spirit addressed Marita again. "Yes, I know what it is like to lose someone. I don't remember much... but I know I was married once..."
"What?"
"I was young, and it was customary to marry young... I loved my husband so completely, so compassionately..." She trailed off, heaving a heavy sigh. "But he or I could not escape what was coming, and his life... was forfeit."
Marita rubbed the tears from her bright blue eyes, and then wiped her hands on her pants. Breathing deeply, she began to calm herself down, taking each breath one at a time. "Spirit, who ARE YOU? You're in my mind, and I've never felt your presence before. WHO ARE YOU?!"
A sigh accompanied the inquiry. "To know that would be a blessing, but it is one I don't have. To be honest Marita, I do not even know that myself..." The spirit's voice was coming from the left now, sadness and longing evident in her voice. There was a moment of silence that ensued before she continued. "I don't know who I am, and if I did, I would tell you. The only things I DO know is the strategies of Duel Monsters, and somehow or another, I am... connected... with young Yugi Motou..."
"WHAT?! You too?" Bright blue eyes widened at the mention of Yugi's name. "How is it we're both attracted to the same person?" She shook her head in frustration. "Is it because of YOU that I'm attracted to him?"
Walking closer to the light, the younger could now see a bit of the spirit's face, not well, but still there. A smile was creeping up the corners of her mouth. "Now Marita, you know that the truth is in your own heart. So tell me, what does it say to you?"
"I guess you're right." Marita grinned, feeling the warmth inside. "He means a great deal to me."
"It might surprise you to know, but... I don't think Yugi is all whom with which you see."
"Huh?"
"I mean, he's more than what he appears to be." The spirit sighed, taking a step back into the shadows. "I sense something inside of him... someone... Whoever it is, they call out to me when I am in their presence, and I can sense their emotions, their thoughts coming close..."
"Hmmmmm... Well, whatever it is Spirit, I'll find out, I promise." The black haired lady gave the darkness a thumbs up, smiling in spite of the tears she had been crying earlier.
"Thank you, Marita..." The voice trailed off as reality began to come back into Marita's view, the inky blackness giving way to the wide span of colors arrayed within her reality. She hadn't realized that her head had fallen to the table, or that Yugi was just sitting across from her, watching. Waiting.
*DANG, he's patient...* She thought, as she raised her eyes to him. *He must... really care.*
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
If anyone had been watching the young couple, they would not have noticed anything immediately wrong with either one. However, if they looked closer at the girl raising her eyes to her companion, they would have noticed that the eyes she was raising were not her own baby blues, but rather ones of indigo. If they had heard the two talk after noticing this, they would have found it strange to hear the girl say, "Enough of these tears. I've cried enough today."
And they would find it equally strange when a man, cloaked in black with a dueling disk approach the two, demanding the duel of one Yugi Motou, but the woman across from him accepting in a heartbeat instead.
*~*Present, Battle City Hospital*~*~*~*~*
The star-studded night had given leave to the break of dawn, with the sun's early rays painting ruby reds, glittering golds and bold oranges across the horizon. In the hospital in Battle City, a black-haired head began to stir from the unrelenting sleep that had claimed her only hours before. With uncertain blue eyes, she drew her attention to her longtime friend, his face peaceful as if in a deep sleep. For a moment, she smiled, and clasped his closest hand in hers. After a few moments, she frowned, and as realization came, her eyes widened in shock. Tears streaming down her face from her sorrowful eyes, she gave a cry out into the space around the room, a howling, piercing wail from deep within her heart. Hysteric, she fumbled to the door, stumbling and tripping as she feel right into Yugi's open arms.
Her cheeks stained with trails of salty water, she cried openly into Yugi's shoulder, repeating the same mantra over and over again. "Merrick will pay... Merrick will pay..."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
With Yugi's comforting guidance, he led Marita to the cafeteria, where she could cry and mourn in peace and away from Ian. As he did so, they both failed to notice the figure stealing into Ian's room; a figure with blonde hair that they never would have doubted would be there. Upon his arrival in the hospital chamber, the atmosphere changed drastically, from warm and inviting, to icy cold and barren. His dull, lifeless and light purple eyes glared down at the boy in the bed, shoving the IV's and heart monitors to the ground with a loud CRASH!. Grasping the wrist of Ian, he felt for a pulse on the bed-ridden boy, although he already knew what he was going to find. As he predicted, he felt nothing.
*Pathetic fool,* He brushed his golden blonde hair back, sneering. *You fought hard against my will, and for what? For an early grave!?* He threw the arm back to its owner, the newly dead corpse never moving an inch.
Glancing outwards towards the window, the thoughts of his next move began to fill Merrick's mind, his eyes narrowing, and mouth smiling faintly. *The plans are moving smoothly and swiftly, and soon the young one's grief will be too much for her to bear...*
He grinned, lost in reverie. *The girl's as beautiful as they come, wits are sharp as tacks, with so much untapped power... yes... She's a haunting beauty, and I may have use for her when I become Pharaoh...* Quickly turning from the window and glancing outward into the halls, Merrick murmured his last thoughts aloud, to any that could hear. "If I can't stop her from remembering her past, perhaps I can help reform her future..."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
As the elevator moved upwards towards the top floors of the hospital, Seto Kaiba adjusted his hold on his metallic briefcase for the millionth time. Noticing this, now growing annoyed, his brown-haired fiancée' groaned. "Seto, quit doing that, you're driving me NUTS!"
Seto scowled, gripping the parcel until his knuckles ran bloodless white. "I didn't know you paid attention to every little detail about what I do Dawn. In fact, you weren't even supposed to be here in the first place."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He sighed. "Nothing Dawn..."
A tiny DING! was heard in the following silence, signaling their arrival on third floor. Walking side by side, they scanned the numbered rooms one by one, looking back and forth in the narrow halls until they found the room they were looking for.
"Christopher, Ian." Dawn read, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she looked at the clipboard hanging from the wall. "Huh, this must be it." Boldly, she walked in like she owned the place, and for a moment, it looked like she had found the right door. However, the peace was spoiled by a scream in the same room, and dawn immediately rushed out, her face ghostly pale and wide eyed.
"DAWN!?!?" Seto cried, hugging her close to try and comfort her cries.
Scared stiff, the brunette stuttered, "That... that... that's n-n-n-not the right room!" She moved slightly away from Kaiba, getting her wits about her. "Oh god Seto, Ian's dead!"
"WHAT!?" His ocean blue eyes flashed in shock, and took it upon himself to peek into the room as Dawn had. Shocked, he pulled his head back out, and grabbed the elbow of an approaching nurse. "Excuse me, miss? Was there a woman in here with that... patient?" he pointed inside the hospital chamber that Ian once occupied.
The blonde haired nurse smiled warmly. "Yes, there was a woman in that room last night. The poor thing, she fell asleep moments before Mr. Christopher died." She grabbed Ian's medical records from the clipboard hanging on the wall before speaking again. "I'm glad she had that one boy there with her..."
"What? What boy?" asked Dawn, curious.
"Well, he had spiky, reddish hair, blonde bangs..."
"Did he have something around his neck?"
"Yes! He did! A pyramid-shaped thing! Never could forget about that; you just don't see many of those every day..."
"Yugi." growled Seto, gripping his briefcase tighter. Glaring at the nurse with deadened, dark blue eyes, he questioned, "How long have they been here? Where did they go?"
Flinching, the young medical practitioner shifted her feet on the floor, trying not to get the third degree. "I'm not sure where they made off to, but they've both been here all night! The young lady was in that room the whole time, staying by Mr. Christopher's side the entire time, up until his death. The boy who came with her stayed outside the room, waiting for her..." The nurse smiled serenely. "He must care a great deal about her to have done that..."
"Yes..." murmured Seto, smiling slightly. He paused, thinking for a moment; a distilled silence following as the wheels in his head began to turn. Finally, he looked straight at the nurse, and replied, "Thank you. That will be all."
Dismissed, the nurse moved on, with Dawn's "thank you" coming at short notice. Suspicious of her fiancée, Dawn's blue eyes narrowed, making them look darker and clouded. "Ok hotshot, what are you up to now?"
Seto still smiled, and turned to walk back the way he came. "You'll know soon enough Dawn."
Furious, the chestnut-haired woman stepped in front of him, trying to block his route to the elevator. "NUH UH, you ain't moving any farther until you tell me what's cooking up in that thick-as-a-brick head of yours."
Pushing his fiancée aside, the corporate executive replied, "You'll know soon enough Dawn. I think I just have the information I need to finally get Yugi's Egyptian God card."
Scowling, Dawn scrunched her face up in distain. "FINE. Keep e out of your plans, your LIFE Seto. I'm sick of dealing with cryptic answers, and half truths." Brushing her hair out of her eyes, she started walking the other way, rigid and ramrod straight. "You're on your own Seto, I don't want anything else to DO WITH YOU!"
Seto shook his head, amused. *That girl will never learn...* Sauntering to the elevator, he got in, pushed the button for down, and leaned against the rail; he winced slightly at his next thoughts. *At least she doesn't throw tables at my head anymore...*
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Marita opened her swollen, bloodshot eyes, barely noticing the piles of tissues on one of the cafeteria's round tables. *Oh god, I can't live like this... I've lost my roommate, my best friend...* Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of her dear Ian, his jokes, his laughter, his smile; they all filled her view as memories began to play back in front of her eyes. *I don't think I'll live again...*
As those thoughts left her mind, something stirred inside her soul, something... powerful, something she had now grown accustomed to since dancing the night away last night; the spirit in her mind was trying to call out to her.
~Marita, don't be thinking that way. Yes, Ian died, but it's not the... end... of the world.~ The voice stumbled on the words she spoke, and Marita could hear the quiver in the specter's voice. As her eyes closed again, the black haired duelist felt her reality slipping away, giving way the darkest corners of her own mind where the voice was speaking from. The same as last time, Marita found herself in a darkened room, with a street lamp above her head, shining luminescence downward into a complete circle.
The voice came from her right this time, slowly circling around the light. "Marita, You'll be ok."
"NO I WON'T!" she shrieked, running her hands through her hair. "I LOST MY BEST FRIEND!!!! I lost someone very close to me, don't you understand!?"
Sighing, the older vocals of the spirit addressed Marita again. "Yes, I know what it is like to lose someone. I don't remember much... but I know I was married once..."
"What?"
"I was young, and it was customary to marry young... I loved my husband so completely, so compassionately..." She trailed off, heaving a heavy sigh. "But he or I could not escape what was coming, and his life... was forfeit."
Marita rubbed the tears from her bright blue eyes, and then wiped her hands on her pants. Breathing deeply, she began to calm herself down, taking each breath one at a time. "Spirit, who ARE YOU? You're in my mind, and I've never felt your presence before. WHO ARE YOU?!"
A sigh accompanied the inquiry. "To know that would be a blessing, but it is one I don't have. To be honest Marita, I do not even know that myself..." The spirit's voice was coming from the left now, sadness and longing evident in her voice. There was a moment of silence that ensued before she continued. "I don't know who I am, and if I did, I would tell you. The only things I DO know is the strategies of Duel Monsters, and somehow or another, I am... connected... with young Yugi Motou..."
"WHAT?! You too?" Bright blue eyes widened at the mention of Yugi's name. "How is it we're both attracted to the same person?" She shook her head in frustration. "Is it because of YOU that I'm attracted to him?"
Walking closer to the light, the younger could now see a bit of the spirit's face, not well, but still there. A smile was creeping up the corners of her mouth. "Now Marita, you know that the truth is in your own heart. So tell me, what does it say to you?"
"I guess you're right." Marita grinned, feeling the warmth inside. "He means a great deal to me."
"It might surprise you to know, but... I don't think Yugi is all whom with which you see."
"Huh?"
"I mean, he's more than what he appears to be." The spirit sighed, taking a step back into the shadows. "I sense something inside of him... someone... Whoever it is, they call out to me when I am in their presence, and I can sense their emotions, their thoughts coming close..."
"Hmmmmm... Well, whatever it is Spirit, I'll find out, I promise." The black haired lady gave the darkness a thumbs up, smiling in spite of the tears she had been crying earlier.
"Thank you, Marita..." The voice trailed off as reality began to come back into Marita's view, the inky blackness giving way to the wide span of colors arrayed within her reality. She hadn't realized that her head had fallen to the table, or that Yugi was just sitting across from her, watching. Waiting.
*DANG, he's patient...* She thought, as she raised her eyes to him. *He must... really care.*
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
If anyone had been watching the young couple, they would not have noticed anything immediately wrong with either one. However, if they looked closer at the girl raising her eyes to her companion, they would have noticed that the eyes she was raising were not her own baby blues, but rather ones of indigo. If they had heard the two talk after noticing this, they would have found it strange to hear the girl say, "Enough of these tears. I've cried enough today."
And they would find it equally strange when a man, cloaked in black with a dueling disk approach the two, demanding the duel of one Yugi Motou, but the woman across from him accepting in a heartbeat instead.