Disclaimer and legal crapsies: Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters, names,
paraphanalia, monsters, and so on and so forth, are © Kazuki Takahashi.
This is a cross-over fic between the most holy high Yu-Gi-Oh! and the most
dementedly cool game, American McGee's Alice.
American McGee's Alice is © to EA Games ((*whisper* Challenge Eev- erything)) and the original Alice in Wonderland and below mentioned alternate title of the same story is © to the long dead yet still cool Lewis Carroll. I take no credit for creating any of the characters in this story which are related to these three items.
Only thing I take credit for is writing the story and for my own original character, Aira Marashima. Like I said before.... Aira Marashima is © to me, myself, and I. She's based on me, and she's cool and she's mine. So if anyone wants to take her and say that you made her up, I will NOT hesitate to send Bakura, Kaiba, and Yami after you!!!
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Chapter 5: Back to Skool and the Second Coming of the White Rabbit
Rutledge Mental Institution
Case #46986414
Patient Name: Yugi Mutou
Physician in Charge: Dr. S.K. Lee
Date: Friday, October Thirteenth, Two Thousand and Three
Today I feel it is important to note the day of the week, as surely such unfortunate things can only happen on Friday the thirteenth. I regret that it was today that Miss Marashima was scheduled to visit Yugi. The events which occurred were frightful for even me; a member of the medical profession. I can only imagine how they must have affected her.
Miss Marashima's visit began smoothly, pleasantly almost. The sun was bright in the room and caused her hair to sparkle in the light, invoking a reaction from the usually quite comatose Yugi. His eyes, which usually remain stationary in one spot at a time seemed to wander freely about her face.
She had brought more of his treasures with her; an old family photo album, one of his old navy colored coats, and another framed photo. These held no major response from him, yet when she drew a deck of Duel Monsters cards from one of the pockets of the coat, something snapped in him which I had never expected.
Her hand, which had been resting beside his, suddenly found its wrist clenched in a death grip as his entire body began to convulse violently. His eyes which were usually unfocused and soft shifted between their normal state and a strange variation in which his eyes were strong and narrow. His screams echoed off the walls of the Institution, causing some of the unrestrained patients to come to their doors in startled wonder.
Yugi struggled harder against his restraints than I had ever seen, and he thrashed so that his back rose off the bed as if in some kind of agonizing pain, or possibly trying to escape from some vicious beast chasing him. In a single sharp wrench, I heard bones crack and cartilage tear as he completely dislocated his right shoulder and shred many of the connecting muscles. His thrashing continued, And through it all, by Gods, the girl did not flinch from his side!
Oddly enough, she called for someone to help him before the words could even escape my mouth. "Shh! Shh! Yugi, it's alright, I'm here! Calm down! Someone help me!" she had actually used her own body to hold him down while our staff sedated him properly. Even more oddly, when she spoke to him, he did indeed to quiet himself. The entire incident had taken place within the space of two minutes at most.
Needless to say she was quite shaken. There was blood on her hands from where his wrists had been cut by the restraints, and his eyes had reverted to the same dull sheen they had been before her first visit. I am unsure whether she should come back or not, but she insisted.
I agreed under the condition that she not bring any more valuables of his with her. With this understanding, she will be back in another week. I wish to give Yugi some time to recover from the intensive surgery it will require to reconstruct his shoulder and the adjoining damaged tissues. That in consideration, I also believe she will need a bit of time to recover from the events of her visit this morning.
I feel a slight nagging in the back of my head telling me that my colleagues were right; that Mutou is indeed the incurable patient. I'm beginning to wonder if the demons he fights within himself are truly beginning to win victory over him, or if I just haven't given him enough aid to help him fight them off. . . Either way, I have not met a patient yet whom I could not cure; and I shall certainly not let Yugi's demons defeat him. . . Or Me.
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Warmth.
Light...beautiful light...
A light which I had not seen in what seemed like the endless ages I had spent bathed in darkness. I was alone in the darkness. Broken, bleeding, crushed by pain. And like a shimmer of hope, a light pierces my darkness. There's a girl. . .
A dress of pure white billows carelessly around her flawless form. Her long, sunshine gold hair flows down her back like a cape. I feel so warm. . . So calm. . . as if freed from the darkness. Her hand reaches out and touches my face, and the pain seems to vanish, replaced by an intoxicating contentment. "Yugi..." she says, her azure shaded eyes gazing into mine, "The Savior of all Wonderland. . ." her voice is so clear, so tranquil, it's almost like music. . .
"Your strength is boundless, even though you may feel weak. Reach for one you love, and the power running in your veins will be unstoppable, even to the Black Dragon Emperor. . ." her soft rose colored lips curl into a soft smile, which I know is meant only for me. "I am always with you. . . Heal your wounds. . .and realize your fate. Help me. . . and save Wonderland."
She took me in her arms, her skin silky and soft to the touch. Every stab of pain in my body vanished at her caress, and every wound I was crippled by seemed to heal on its own accord.
"Aibou. . ." it was a familiar voice echoing in the distance, calling me back to the hell that was the dark underworld of Yamino Wonderland. "No. . .I don't want to go back, not yet. . .Let me stay just a while longer here. I want to stay with you. . ." In truth, I had found the one thing I had lost for so long. A place where there was no pain, no fear, no darkness. A place of comfort where everything seemed to fall into place just as it should; but most importantly, a place where there was someone who seemed to know and love me.
"Aibou. . ." The voice grew louder. "I'm not coming back, not yet." I insisted. The girl's grip around me tightened a moment. Like a fool I realized that I had not returned her embrace yet found that I couldn't. Her eyes smiled at me as she shook her head softly. "Not yet Yugi. . .We will meet again. But there are many more hardships you must endure on the road ahead."
Her head turned as if to look at something over her shoulder, and then faced me again, her tranquil eyes now holding a hint of fear. "I must leave you now Yugi, but I'll be back. Please. . . Be careful on your journey." Her lips brushed a tender kiss across my cheek as she backed away, and faded into the light which seemed to die away along with her.
"AIBOU!" said the voice, firmly snapping me back to reality. "Oh good...You're still alive." Yami sounded incredibly relived. My head pounded like a hammer on a nail, and my eyes were bleary and slow to open. Yet all of my wounds had seemed to have healed. I could move my right half again.
On a rickety old bed stand beside me where I lay down sat a Moulin Rouge pink bottle in the shape of a heart with a tag on it that said 'Drink Me'. It appeared to be empty. "Eh? So, you're gonna wake up after all are ya?" said an aged, crooked voice. I shot up to look about, terrified that the creature that had been chasing me had captured me and healed my wounds only to enjoy inflicting more pain.
My head throbbed as I sat so sharply up, and I rubbed my forehead. Seeing that it was only a little old man which resembled a lawn gnome that had been nearly starved, I relaxed a little. Only a little. "Where is she?" I asked, still in a mental fog. "She?" asked the little old man, pulling at his white beard curiously. "Yeah, that girl...she was so beautiful..." The gnome laughed. "Hate to burst yer bubble sonny, but there hasn't been anything beautiful, much less any beautiful girls since this place died."
"But I saw her...she wore a white dress and had gold hair and..." I put my hand to my cheek where her lips had granted me the gift of a kiss, "stunning blue eyes..." I could tell that Yami recognized the description, as his eyes widened, an eyebrow raised, and he focused his attention on each word that now left my mouth. The old man now tugged at his beard with sudden shock as he whispered two words under his breath which were so quiet that I couldn't catch them.
"What did you say?" I asked, thoroughly curious. The stubby little red-britches gnome rounded on me, his ski-slope nose suddenly level with mine as he stood on the straw bed in front of me. "Tell me boy. What was her voice like?"
"Like music...or...angels singing..." his beady little eyes sharpened. "And was she...dark?" I blinked. "Oh no...She was bathed in light... and warmth. I want to meet her again, she was so lovely..." The little gnome hopped up and down, slapping his knee with a celebratory "HOT DAMN!" I could see the single bead of sweat as it rolled down Yami's temple.
"What's so wonderful, if I may ask?" He looked at me oddly, his emotions seeming to range from disbelief to sheer joy. "You, my lucky lucky boy were just visited by the goddess of light! She's the one who used to protect this land before that damned Dragon man showed up! He tried to turn her to the darkness, he did, and we all thought she was dead, but she's alive! Alive! And she hasn't been turned! There's hope for our souls and this land yet!" The words flowed out of his mouth like a river on a raging flood, yet I heard every single one and felt each hit me like a wave.
But who was she really?
"Does she have a name?" said Yami in a quiet tone. He had appeared beside me as a nearly transparent apparition. "Aye lad, that she does..." said the old fellow with a grin. "And her name is...?" I said, urging him onward. "Awai."
"Awai..." her name rolled out of my mouth, and tasted sweet. "Aye." Said the little man who had glided back over towards his black iron pot bellied stove. I blinked at him, before realizing that I had not yet asked the little old man his name.
"Um, excuse me...but who are you?" I inquired, my eyes following him as he did various tasks around the shabby hut. His steely colored eyes looked at me from under his bushy white eyebrows.
"Carl." He answered simply, before picking up a warped wooden bowl pipe and lighting it, rings of smoke climbing into the air. "He's the one who saved us," Said Yami quietly, seeming slightly insulted at the thought of having to be saved. As if having been waiting for the mention of him being the one to save my skin, Carl piped up indignantly. "And that's another thing, boy! What kind of fool are you to go out in this village unarmed?"
I looked down sheepishly. It wasn't my fault I was unarmed. How was I supposed to know that I'd land in the pits of hell and be expected to fend off demons? Speaking of...
"What was the thing that was chasing us?" I asked. Carl did a double take as he looked at me, amazed that I had no clue what the creature was that was trying to kill me. "You mean you don't know?" I shook my head. "That, boy, was what we so lovingly," his voice became sharp with sarcasm at that last word, " a Boojum."
A Boojum? I certainly could think of a more fitting name for that monstrosity, but Boojum would suffice for now. Carl walked over to an old chest of drawers and began rifling through the clanking contents. It sounded to me like they were filled with metallic objects. Looking over his shoulder I saw I was indeed right. Knives, daggers, cleavers, short swords all made their residence in this little drawer.
"You do need a weapon..." whispered Yami in my ear. I nodded. "Um, Carl?" "AH-HA! Found it." He spun about to face me, the blade of a long sharp knife with a black leather grip reflecting my face in the steel, the transparent face of Yami right beside my own. "The Vorpal Blade," he gave it a practice jab, the blade slicing the air like butter, "Your first toy."
Toy?
You call that thing a toy?
He handed me the Vorpal Blade handle first and I reluctantly took the grip into my hand. The black leather of the handle seemed to mold perfectly to fit the form of my hand. As I uncertainly held the weapon in my hand, I felt that feeling of becoming a spectator outside myself wash over me, as once more my short body became taller, stronger, and leaner in stature.
I flailed my transparent arms in irritation, "TELL ME WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO DO THAT, WILL YOU?!" Yami laughed, only it was his voice that came out of my mouth. "Sorry." He seemed so different from usual with that blade in his hands; tense, poised like a cobra ready to strike. He handled the knife like it was second nature to him, his practiced slashing and thrusting blade movements nearly too quick for the eye to follow.
Carl crossed his arms over his bare pot belly. "I was wondering when you'd show up." Yami chuckled darkly, the knife sailing out of his hand end over end and impaling a faded and tattered picture of what I could only guess was the Black Dragon Emperor. I couldn't make out a face through the water stains. "I was just waiting for the right time." He walked over to the gnome-like Carl, who was easily a mere third of Yami's height. He bent over and extended a hand, which Carl gripped firmly. "I wanted to thank you. You saved my ass and his."
"Well," said Carl, nodding modestly, "You can't exactly save this world if you're dead. I figured I'd better lend a hand." A smile tugged at the corner of Yami's lips. "Anything we can do to repay you?"
"Actually..."
"Late, Late, LATE!!! For heaven's sake you are quite cruel, to be ignoring up yonder Skool..." That voice! That irritating chant scolding me for my own tardiness! It could only be...
"AH, SHUT YER TRAP, YA STUPID FURBALL!" shouted Carl, throwing his pipe angrily at the closed window the White Rabbit was haunting. His eyes widening, Yami flew for the door, and I, the transparent aibou was dragged like a coin to a magnet along behind him. He yanked the Vorpal Blade out of the wall and flung the door open, only to see the White Rabbit bouncing off into the distance adding more verses to his chant about my delayed progress.
"He's goin' to Skool, that idiotic rodent..." said Carl, rubbing the bridge of his ski-jump nose. "The place is Boojum infested and filled with the Black Dragon Emperor's card soldiers ta boot. They'll skin him and roast him on a spit for dinner if they catch him."
"And that's a bad thing?" Yami said, his gaze transfixed on the crooked building and the shrinking form of the rabbit on the horizon. My thoughts mirrored Yami's precisely. The rabbit on a spit was a bad thing?
"Yes, that's a bad thing, you fool! That rabbit's the only one who knows the way to get to that damned Dragon Man." Yami and I heaved a heavy sigh in unison. "Then I guess it would be a bad thing." I said. "Yes, that would indeed be a bad thing...amusing to watch, mind you, but not something we need to have happen." agreed Yami.
"Hmph, at least you can repay my kindness and save that stupid rabbit's skin all in one trip," said Carl as he bent to retrieve his pipe from the creaking splintery floor. "But didn't he say that that place was infested with Boojums and Card Soldiers?" I said, whispering so that only Yami could hear me. "He did, so what of it?"
"Um...its infested with Boojums and Card Soldiers?"
"Yes, you said that."
"And we want to go there?"
"No."
Phew.
"But we have to save the White Rabbit so we're going to go anyway."
Damn.
Having just healed from my last encounter, I wasn't exactly jumping with excitement at the prospect of seeing another Boojum face to face. And I wasn't exactly sure that I wanted to meet these Card Soldiers either.
"Lead the way, old man." Said Yami. It appeared that I would be playing spectator for awhile. Whether or not this pleased me I couldn't decide; which was worse, watching yourself die from afar, or getting the full experience of feeling your body shut down up close and personal.
"Watch who you're callin' old, boy," said Carl as he slammed the battered door behind him. This action however, made no difference, for as soon as the door had closed; it fell off its hinges and landed with a crash back into the hovel. Yami cocked an eyebrow. "I've eh...been meaning to fix that," explained Carl with an odd chortle.
"I'm sure you have." I said, trying to refrain from laughing, even though I wasn't entirely sure if Carl could hear me in my transparent state. The gnome cleared his throat and pointed a spindly finger down the road. "Now, to get to Skool, just head down this road..."
My body suddenly became my own again as I exclaimed, "You mean you aren't coming with us?!" I could hear Yami grumbling from over my shoulder about what a hypocrite I was being for taking over without warning, but I ignored him. "What do you take me for, a fool? A man could get killed walking down these roads!" said Carl in his own weak self defense.
"So what about us?" I questioned critically. "I have faith you'll make it just fine." He said, pulling thoughtfully once more on his poofy white whiskers
Faith? I got the feeling that I was gonna need just a little more than just Carl's FAITH to get me down the road to Skool...
"And besides," he continued, "I'll be there waiting for you." At that, he turned heel and walked into an array of sparkles which materialized behind him. "And I thought the Cheshire Cat was the only one who knew how to make an exit..." mused Yami. "Oh be quiet..." I said with a hint of irritation.
I played with the puzzle around my neck for a moment as I watched the rickety Skool house sway on the horizon, like it was daring me to come and knock it over. What would we find there? That is, if we could even make it down the road? More villagers doomed to the horrors of torture like the ones on the pikes? My stomach gave a wrench as the image of their writhing bodies reaching for me entered my mind. I shook my head of the image, and squeezed the Vorpal Blade in my grip.
"You sure you know how to use that thing?" said Yami with what I was sure could only be an amused smirk. "I'll learn." I said with determination, shoving the shiny blade into my belt for safe keeping. We trudged down the path towards Skool, the silence wrapping around us like an envelope.
Apprehensive and wary of my surroundings, I could feel my hand shaking with tension as it squeezed the leather grip of my blade. My eyes swept the road in front of me, ready to strike if even a bulimic squirrel made its presence known. As we neared the halfway point of our so far uneventful journey to Skool, I observed a gangly tree with three ropes dangling from the branches. At the ends of these ropes were three putrid and crumbling corpses, each one about Carl's height. Nailed to the tree was a wooden sign with text written in loopy script.
"Traitors To The Emperor, Ye Have Been Warned."
"You're not nervous are you?" said Yami almost innocently. Yet the sound of his voice shattering the silence was enough to nearly make me jump from my skin and whip the Vorpal Blade from my belt. I nearly sliced through my belt in my haste to draw the weapon. He laughed.
"Dammit, Yami! Don't DO that!" I snapped, thoroughly startled. "Calm down, aibou. You wont be able to do anything to protect yourself if your all wound up like this..."
"And I suppose YOU have nerves of steel then?" I shot. "No, but I know when to be on my guard and when not to be. There's no danger here, so you can calm yourself."
"What would you call that then?" I said, pointing towards the corpses dangling from the ropes at their necks. Yami casually looked over at the tree almost as if he'd seen it before. "A weak try at a display of power from the Black Dragon Emperor."
"Hmph. I'd call that danger- -" I was cut suddenly short by the chillingly familiar howl of a Boojum. Where was it coming from? My eyes darted all around, yet even as the shrieking grew closer I couldn't locate from where it was originating. I could feel Yami's eyes cutting swiftly over the horizon.
Then we saw it. A Boojum, and a particularly grotesque one with fire- glow eyes in a swan dive directly above us. I hurled the knife upwards as sharply as I could, but missed; the Vorpal Blade clattered harmlessly to the gravel road before me. I was half expecting it when Yami took possession of my body. However, the half I was not expecting came when his hand flew to his coat pocket and back out again, flinging what appeared to be a single card at the swiftly approaching Boojum.
The card sliced the air and skewered the Boojum's skull right between its burning eyes. It stuck there for a moment before giving off a brilliant flash, and exploding with an ear cracking blast. Drops of blood and chunks of Boojum rained down on Yami, who made no attempt to move out of their way.
When I moved to get a better view of his face, his eyes were covered by the shadow of his electric bangs. Trickles of the crimson stuff was running down his face, and pieces of the vanquished apparition sat precariously on his shoulder, staining the blue of his coat into an odd shade of violet.
When he finally moved his gaze towards me I couldn't help but shrink back in fear. His eyes were steeled, colder than ice. The eyes of a practiced killer. "T-this isn't the first time you've done this...is it?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"No."
"How did you know the cards were there?" I asked, eying the pocket where the explosive cards had apparently been all along without my knowledge.
"I didn't know," Yami replied coolly.
"Then how did you- -?"
He cut me off before I could finish my question. "Call it an old habit." I blinked uncertainly. Yami was different from before. It was almost as if he himself were two different people. The boy who was my friend, mentor, and often times my protector; and the man who was the steel eyed slayer that stood before me now. He had been through something horrible.
I didn't remember what, but then, if it were so unspeakably horrendous that it could change Yami in such a dreadful way, did I really want to remember? "Lets go aibou," he said, his voice warming slightly from the hardened steel it had become as he bent to retrieve the Vorpal Blade from the road, "They always travel in pairs. Best we keep moving. Skool isn't far."
And so we continued. Silently Yami trudged, the body we shared taking long, decisive strides until we finally arrived at the massive doors of Skool. They were crooked, just like the rest of the building, and there were long dragging claw marks trailed in blood running up and down them.
Yami looked at me calmly, his eyes having returned to their normal serene stare. "Are you ready to go in, aibou?"
I gulped down the lump in my throat. "As ready as I ever will be, I suppose..." "Are you certain?" he said, his hand moving for the tarnished brass handles of the door. I shook my head. "As long as a person is here, nothing is certain."
He chuckled. "You're finally starting to understand this place, Yugi."
Yami dragged in a deep breath, a hand in his pocket as he leaned in on one of the doors and flung it wide open. He was greeted by a pair of Card Soldiers, each wielding a spear in the shape of their suit. They grabbed Yami and dragged him inside before he could so much as move his hand from his pocket.
"Oi! Mi'lady, is this tha one you was talking abouts?" said the three of hearts, edging his spear closer to Yami's throat. A slender figure draped in a black cloak glided down the spiral staircase that jutted out from the center of the Skool building. "Yes...that is indeed the Savior of Wonderland..." said a sickly sweet female voice which was edged in frost. The darkness of shadows licked around her feet like smoke. She drew closer.
Her voice was oddly familiar, yet I couldn't seem to place it. "Leave us," she snapped at the two guards which had been getting twitchy with their spears. "B-but Mi'lady! Shouldn't we's take 'im to th' Emperor?" asked the six of diamonds.
"I said LEAVE us...do not make me ask you again, or I shall send you to a place which you will not come back," said the mysterious cloaked woman, her voice flinging daggers at the disobedient cards. "B-But the Savior! He might esc.."
"You don't want to finish that sentence, fool. Do not forget, I still control the Shadow Magic of the Black Dragon Emperor...I don't think his highness would mind my eliminating a few disobedient minions...So, I suggest you leave!"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" they stammered, skittering off towards a hallway marked 'Sekund Grayd'. Yami's face had cracked into a smile.
"What the hell are you smiling at; she's going to kill us!" I stuttered, almost as horrified as the first time I faced a Boojum, and now I once more found myself fearing for my own life. "Don't be so sure." He whispered to me.
"It's good to see you again, Lindsi."
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Note From The Author:
Hiyooo everyone! Wow. My hands hurt X3 Eleven pages of fanfic goodness...life is sweet. Anyway. Next chapter I introduce Lindsi, a brand spankin new character based on...well, I'll tell you next chapter and do all the legal stuff at the same time. Easier that way huh? Ahem. Soooo. I finally seem to have a plot emerging! WOOT! This is cool, ne? Anyway. Hope you're enjoying the fic so far. The story set in darkness, Ironically has been written in complete darkness. Meaning, I can only seem to write it at night. Strange stuff....Anyway. Next chapter, Yugi and Yami get an edumacation at Skool in Chapter Six: Skool Dayz
Ja ne, Minna-san!
Lara ^_^V
American McGee's Alice is © to EA Games ((*whisper* Challenge Eev- erything)) and the original Alice in Wonderland and below mentioned alternate title of the same story is © to the long dead yet still cool Lewis Carroll. I take no credit for creating any of the characters in this story which are related to these three items.
Only thing I take credit for is writing the story and for my own original character, Aira Marashima. Like I said before.... Aira Marashima is © to me, myself, and I. She's based on me, and she's cool and she's mine. So if anyone wants to take her and say that you made her up, I will NOT hesitate to send Bakura, Kaiba, and Yami after you!!!
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Chapter 5: Back to Skool and the Second Coming of the White Rabbit
Rutledge Mental Institution
Case #46986414
Patient Name: Yugi Mutou
Physician in Charge: Dr. S.K. Lee
Date: Friday, October Thirteenth, Two Thousand and Three
Today I feel it is important to note the day of the week, as surely such unfortunate things can only happen on Friday the thirteenth. I regret that it was today that Miss Marashima was scheduled to visit Yugi. The events which occurred were frightful for even me; a member of the medical profession. I can only imagine how they must have affected her.
Miss Marashima's visit began smoothly, pleasantly almost. The sun was bright in the room and caused her hair to sparkle in the light, invoking a reaction from the usually quite comatose Yugi. His eyes, which usually remain stationary in one spot at a time seemed to wander freely about her face.
She had brought more of his treasures with her; an old family photo album, one of his old navy colored coats, and another framed photo. These held no major response from him, yet when she drew a deck of Duel Monsters cards from one of the pockets of the coat, something snapped in him which I had never expected.
Her hand, which had been resting beside his, suddenly found its wrist clenched in a death grip as his entire body began to convulse violently. His eyes which were usually unfocused and soft shifted between their normal state and a strange variation in which his eyes were strong and narrow. His screams echoed off the walls of the Institution, causing some of the unrestrained patients to come to their doors in startled wonder.
Yugi struggled harder against his restraints than I had ever seen, and he thrashed so that his back rose off the bed as if in some kind of agonizing pain, or possibly trying to escape from some vicious beast chasing him. In a single sharp wrench, I heard bones crack and cartilage tear as he completely dislocated his right shoulder and shred many of the connecting muscles. His thrashing continued, And through it all, by Gods, the girl did not flinch from his side!
Oddly enough, she called for someone to help him before the words could even escape my mouth. "Shh! Shh! Yugi, it's alright, I'm here! Calm down! Someone help me!" she had actually used her own body to hold him down while our staff sedated him properly. Even more oddly, when she spoke to him, he did indeed to quiet himself. The entire incident had taken place within the space of two minutes at most.
Needless to say she was quite shaken. There was blood on her hands from where his wrists had been cut by the restraints, and his eyes had reverted to the same dull sheen they had been before her first visit. I am unsure whether she should come back or not, but she insisted.
I agreed under the condition that she not bring any more valuables of his with her. With this understanding, she will be back in another week. I wish to give Yugi some time to recover from the intensive surgery it will require to reconstruct his shoulder and the adjoining damaged tissues. That in consideration, I also believe she will need a bit of time to recover from the events of her visit this morning.
I feel a slight nagging in the back of my head telling me that my colleagues were right; that Mutou is indeed the incurable patient. I'm beginning to wonder if the demons he fights within himself are truly beginning to win victory over him, or if I just haven't given him enough aid to help him fight them off. . . Either way, I have not met a patient yet whom I could not cure; and I shall certainly not let Yugi's demons defeat him. . . Or Me.
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Warmth.
Light...beautiful light...
A light which I had not seen in what seemed like the endless ages I had spent bathed in darkness. I was alone in the darkness. Broken, bleeding, crushed by pain. And like a shimmer of hope, a light pierces my darkness. There's a girl. . .
A dress of pure white billows carelessly around her flawless form. Her long, sunshine gold hair flows down her back like a cape. I feel so warm. . . So calm. . . as if freed from the darkness. Her hand reaches out and touches my face, and the pain seems to vanish, replaced by an intoxicating contentment. "Yugi..." she says, her azure shaded eyes gazing into mine, "The Savior of all Wonderland. . ." her voice is so clear, so tranquil, it's almost like music. . .
"Your strength is boundless, even though you may feel weak. Reach for one you love, and the power running in your veins will be unstoppable, even to the Black Dragon Emperor. . ." her soft rose colored lips curl into a soft smile, which I know is meant only for me. "I am always with you. . . Heal your wounds. . .and realize your fate. Help me. . . and save Wonderland."
She took me in her arms, her skin silky and soft to the touch. Every stab of pain in my body vanished at her caress, and every wound I was crippled by seemed to heal on its own accord.
"Aibou. . ." it was a familiar voice echoing in the distance, calling me back to the hell that was the dark underworld of Yamino Wonderland. "No. . .I don't want to go back, not yet. . .Let me stay just a while longer here. I want to stay with you. . ." In truth, I had found the one thing I had lost for so long. A place where there was no pain, no fear, no darkness. A place of comfort where everything seemed to fall into place just as it should; but most importantly, a place where there was someone who seemed to know and love me.
"Aibou. . ." The voice grew louder. "I'm not coming back, not yet." I insisted. The girl's grip around me tightened a moment. Like a fool I realized that I had not returned her embrace yet found that I couldn't. Her eyes smiled at me as she shook her head softly. "Not yet Yugi. . .We will meet again. But there are many more hardships you must endure on the road ahead."
Her head turned as if to look at something over her shoulder, and then faced me again, her tranquil eyes now holding a hint of fear. "I must leave you now Yugi, but I'll be back. Please. . . Be careful on your journey." Her lips brushed a tender kiss across my cheek as she backed away, and faded into the light which seemed to die away along with her.
"AIBOU!" said the voice, firmly snapping me back to reality. "Oh good...You're still alive." Yami sounded incredibly relived. My head pounded like a hammer on a nail, and my eyes were bleary and slow to open. Yet all of my wounds had seemed to have healed. I could move my right half again.
On a rickety old bed stand beside me where I lay down sat a Moulin Rouge pink bottle in the shape of a heart with a tag on it that said 'Drink Me'. It appeared to be empty. "Eh? So, you're gonna wake up after all are ya?" said an aged, crooked voice. I shot up to look about, terrified that the creature that had been chasing me had captured me and healed my wounds only to enjoy inflicting more pain.
My head throbbed as I sat so sharply up, and I rubbed my forehead. Seeing that it was only a little old man which resembled a lawn gnome that had been nearly starved, I relaxed a little. Only a little. "Where is she?" I asked, still in a mental fog. "She?" asked the little old man, pulling at his white beard curiously. "Yeah, that girl...she was so beautiful..." The gnome laughed. "Hate to burst yer bubble sonny, but there hasn't been anything beautiful, much less any beautiful girls since this place died."
"But I saw her...she wore a white dress and had gold hair and..." I put my hand to my cheek where her lips had granted me the gift of a kiss, "stunning blue eyes..." I could tell that Yami recognized the description, as his eyes widened, an eyebrow raised, and he focused his attention on each word that now left my mouth. The old man now tugged at his beard with sudden shock as he whispered two words under his breath which were so quiet that I couldn't catch them.
"What did you say?" I asked, thoroughly curious. The stubby little red-britches gnome rounded on me, his ski-slope nose suddenly level with mine as he stood on the straw bed in front of me. "Tell me boy. What was her voice like?"
"Like music...or...angels singing..." his beady little eyes sharpened. "And was she...dark?" I blinked. "Oh no...She was bathed in light... and warmth. I want to meet her again, she was so lovely..." The little gnome hopped up and down, slapping his knee with a celebratory "HOT DAMN!" I could see the single bead of sweat as it rolled down Yami's temple.
"What's so wonderful, if I may ask?" He looked at me oddly, his emotions seeming to range from disbelief to sheer joy. "You, my lucky lucky boy were just visited by the goddess of light! She's the one who used to protect this land before that damned Dragon man showed up! He tried to turn her to the darkness, he did, and we all thought she was dead, but she's alive! Alive! And she hasn't been turned! There's hope for our souls and this land yet!" The words flowed out of his mouth like a river on a raging flood, yet I heard every single one and felt each hit me like a wave.
But who was she really?
"Does she have a name?" said Yami in a quiet tone. He had appeared beside me as a nearly transparent apparition. "Aye lad, that she does..." said the old fellow with a grin. "And her name is...?" I said, urging him onward. "Awai."
"Awai..." her name rolled out of my mouth, and tasted sweet. "Aye." Said the little man who had glided back over towards his black iron pot bellied stove. I blinked at him, before realizing that I had not yet asked the little old man his name.
"Um, excuse me...but who are you?" I inquired, my eyes following him as he did various tasks around the shabby hut. His steely colored eyes looked at me from under his bushy white eyebrows.
"Carl." He answered simply, before picking up a warped wooden bowl pipe and lighting it, rings of smoke climbing into the air. "He's the one who saved us," Said Yami quietly, seeming slightly insulted at the thought of having to be saved. As if having been waiting for the mention of him being the one to save my skin, Carl piped up indignantly. "And that's another thing, boy! What kind of fool are you to go out in this village unarmed?"
I looked down sheepishly. It wasn't my fault I was unarmed. How was I supposed to know that I'd land in the pits of hell and be expected to fend off demons? Speaking of...
"What was the thing that was chasing us?" I asked. Carl did a double take as he looked at me, amazed that I had no clue what the creature was that was trying to kill me. "You mean you don't know?" I shook my head. "That, boy, was what we so lovingly," his voice became sharp with sarcasm at that last word, " a Boojum."
A Boojum? I certainly could think of a more fitting name for that monstrosity, but Boojum would suffice for now. Carl walked over to an old chest of drawers and began rifling through the clanking contents. It sounded to me like they were filled with metallic objects. Looking over his shoulder I saw I was indeed right. Knives, daggers, cleavers, short swords all made their residence in this little drawer.
"You do need a weapon..." whispered Yami in my ear. I nodded. "Um, Carl?" "AH-HA! Found it." He spun about to face me, the blade of a long sharp knife with a black leather grip reflecting my face in the steel, the transparent face of Yami right beside my own. "The Vorpal Blade," he gave it a practice jab, the blade slicing the air like butter, "Your first toy."
Toy?
You call that thing a toy?
He handed me the Vorpal Blade handle first and I reluctantly took the grip into my hand. The black leather of the handle seemed to mold perfectly to fit the form of my hand. As I uncertainly held the weapon in my hand, I felt that feeling of becoming a spectator outside myself wash over me, as once more my short body became taller, stronger, and leaner in stature.
I flailed my transparent arms in irritation, "TELL ME WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO DO THAT, WILL YOU?!" Yami laughed, only it was his voice that came out of my mouth. "Sorry." He seemed so different from usual with that blade in his hands; tense, poised like a cobra ready to strike. He handled the knife like it was second nature to him, his practiced slashing and thrusting blade movements nearly too quick for the eye to follow.
Carl crossed his arms over his bare pot belly. "I was wondering when you'd show up." Yami chuckled darkly, the knife sailing out of his hand end over end and impaling a faded and tattered picture of what I could only guess was the Black Dragon Emperor. I couldn't make out a face through the water stains. "I was just waiting for the right time." He walked over to the gnome-like Carl, who was easily a mere third of Yami's height. He bent over and extended a hand, which Carl gripped firmly. "I wanted to thank you. You saved my ass and his."
"Well," said Carl, nodding modestly, "You can't exactly save this world if you're dead. I figured I'd better lend a hand." A smile tugged at the corner of Yami's lips. "Anything we can do to repay you?"
"Actually..."
"Late, Late, LATE!!! For heaven's sake you are quite cruel, to be ignoring up yonder Skool..." That voice! That irritating chant scolding me for my own tardiness! It could only be...
"AH, SHUT YER TRAP, YA STUPID FURBALL!" shouted Carl, throwing his pipe angrily at the closed window the White Rabbit was haunting. His eyes widening, Yami flew for the door, and I, the transparent aibou was dragged like a coin to a magnet along behind him. He yanked the Vorpal Blade out of the wall and flung the door open, only to see the White Rabbit bouncing off into the distance adding more verses to his chant about my delayed progress.
"He's goin' to Skool, that idiotic rodent..." said Carl, rubbing the bridge of his ski-jump nose. "The place is Boojum infested and filled with the Black Dragon Emperor's card soldiers ta boot. They'll skin him and roast him on a spit for dinner if they catch him."
"And that's a bad thing?" Yami said, his gaze transfixed on the crooked building and the shrinking form of the rabbit on the horizon. My thoughts mirrored Yami's precisely. The rabbit on a spit was a bad thing?
"Yes, that's a bad thing, you fool! That rabbit's the only one who knows the way to get to that damned Dragon Man." Yami and I heaved a heavy sigh in unison. "Then I guess it would be a bad thing." I said. "Yes, that would indeed be a bad thing...amusing to watch, mind you, but not something we need to have happen." agreed Yami.
"Hmph, at least you can repay my kindness and save that stupid rabbit's skin all in one trip," said Carl as he bent to retrieve his pipe from the creaking splintery floor. "But didn't he say that that place was infested with Boojums and Card Soldiers?" I said, whispering so that only Yami could hear me. "He did, so what of it?"
"Um...its infested with Boojums and Card Soldiers?"
"Yes, you said that."
"And we want to go there?"
"No."
Phew.
"But we have to save the White Rabbit so we're going to go anyway."
Damn.
Having just healed from my last encounter, I wasn't exactly jumping with excitement at the prospect of seeing another Boojum face to face. And I wasn't exactly sure that I wanted to meet these Card Soldiers either.
"Lead the way, old man." Said Yami. It appeared that I would be playing spectator for awhile. Whether or not this pleased me I couldn't decide; which was worse, watching yourself die from afar, or getting the full experience of feeling your body shut down up close and personal.
"Watch who you're callin' old, boy," said Carl as he slammed the battered door behind him. This action however, made no difference, for as soon as the door had closed; it fell off its hinges and landed with a crash back into the hovel. Yami cocked an eyebrow. "I've eh...been meaning to fix that," explained Carl with an odd chortle.
"I'm sure you have." I said, trying to refrain from laughing, even though I wasn't entirely sure if Carl could hear me in my transparent state. The gnome cleared his throat and pointed a spindly finger down the road. "Now, to get to Skool, just head down this road..."
My body suddenly became my own again as I exclaimed, "You mean you aren't coming with us?!" I could hear Yami grumbling from over my shoulder about what a hypocrite I was being for taking over without warning, but I ignored him. "What do you take me for, a fool? A man could get killed walking down these roads!" said Carl in his own weak self defense.
"So what about us?" I questioned critically. "I have faith you'll make it just fine." He said, pulling thoughtfully once more on his poofy white whiskers
Faith? I got the feeling that I was gonna need just a little more than just Carl's FAITH to get me down the road to Skool...
"And besides," he continued, "I'll be there waiting for you." At that, he turned heel and walked into an array of sparkles which materialized behind him. "And I thought the Cheshire Cat was the only one who knew how to make an exit..." mused Yami. "Oh be quiet..." I said with a hint of irritation.
I played with the puzzle around my neck for a moment as I watched the rickety Skool house sway on the horizon, like it was daring me to come and knock it over. What would we find there? That is, if we could even make it down the road? More villagers doomed to the horrors of torture like the ones on the pikes? My stomach gave a wrench as the image of their writhing bodies reaching for me entered my mind. I shook my head of the image, and squeezed the Vorpal Blade in my grip.
"You sure you know how to use that thing?" said Yami with what I was sure could only be an amused smirk. "I'll learn." I said with determination, shoving the shiny blade into my belt for safe keeping. We trudged down the path towards Skool, the silence wrapping around us like an envelope.
Apprehensive and wary of my surroundings, I could feel my hand shaking with tension as it squeezed the leather grip of my blade. My eyes swept the road in front of me, ready to strike if even a bulimic squirrel made its presence known. As we neared the halfway point of our so far uneventful journey to Skool, I observed a gangly tree with three ropes dangling from the branches. At the ends of these ropes were three putrid and crumbling corpses, each one about Carl's height. Nailed to the tree was a wooden sign with text written in loopy script.
"Traitors To The Emperor, Ye Have Been Warned."
"You're not nervous are you?" said Yami almost innocently. Yet the sound of his voice shattering the silence was enough to nearly make me jump from my skin and whip the Vorpal Blade from my belt. I nearly sliced through my belt in my haste to draw the weapon. He laughed.
"Dammit, Yami! Don't DO that!" I snapped, thoroughly startled. "Calm down, aibou. You wont be able to do anything to protect yourself if your all wound up like this..."
"And I suppose YOU have nerves of steel then?" I shot. "No, but I know when to be on my guard and when not to be. There's no danger here, so you can calm yourself."
"What would you call that then?" I said, pointing towards the corpses dangling from the ropes at their necks. Yami casually looked over at the tree almost as if he'd seen it before. "A weak try at a display of power from the Black Dragon Emperor."
"Hmph. I'd call that danger- -" I was cut suddenly short by the chillingly familiar howl of a Boojum. Where was it coming from? My eyes darted all around, yet even as the shrieking grew closer I couldn't locate from where it was originating. I could feel Yami's eyes cutting swiftly over the horizon.
Then we saw it. A Boojum, and a particularly grotesque one with fire- glow eyes in a swan dive directly above us. I hurled the knife upwards as sharply as I could, but missed; the Vorpal Blade clattered harmlessly to the gravel road before me. I was half expecting it when Yami took possession of my body. However, the half I was not expecting came when his hand flew to his coat pocket and back out again, flinging what appeared to be a single card at the swiftly approaching Boojum.
The card sliced the air and skewered the Boojum's skull right between its burning eyes. It stuck there for a moment before giving off a brilliant flash, and exploding with an ear cracking blast. Drops of blood and chunks of Boojum rained down on Yami, who made no attempt to move out of their way.
When I moved to get a better view of his face, his eyes were covered by the shadow of his electric bangs. Trickles of the crimson stuff was running down his face, and pieces of the vanquished apparition sat precariously on his shoulder, staining the blue of his coat into an odd shade of violet.
When he finally moved his gaze towards me I couldn't help but shrink back in fear. His eyes were steeled, colder than ice. The eyes of a practiced killer. "T-this isn't the first time you've done this...is it?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"No."
"How did you know the cards were there?" I asked, eying the pocket where the explosive cards had apparently been all along without my knowledge.
"I didn't know," Yami replied coolly.
"Then how did you- -?"
He cut me off before I could finish my question. "Call it an old habit." I blinked uncertainly. Yami was different from before. It was almost as if he himself were two different people. The boy who was my friend, mentor, and often times my protector; and the man who was the steel eyed slayer that stood before me now. He had been through something horrible.
I didn't remember what, but then, if it were so unspeakably horrendous that it could change Yami in such a dreadful way, did I really want to remember? "Lets go aibou," he said, his voice warming slightly from the hardened steel it had become as he bent to retrieve the Vorpal Blade from the road, "They always travel in pairs. Best we keep moving. Skool isn't far."
And so we continued. Silently Yami trudged, the body we shared taking long, decisive strides until we finally arrived at the massive doors of Skool. They were crooked, just like the rest of the building, and there were long dragging claw marks trailed in blood running up and down them.
Yami looked at me calmly, his eyes having returned to their normal serene stare. "Are you ready to go in, aibou?"
I gulped down the lump in my throat. "As ready as I ever will be, I suppose..." "Are you certain?" he said, his hand moving for the tarnished brass handles of the door. I shook my head. "As long as a person is here, nothing is certain."
He chuckled. "You're finally starting to understand this place, Yugi."
Yami dragged in a deep breath, a hand in his pocket as he leaned in on one of the doors and flung it wide open. He was greeted by a pair of Card Soldiers, each wielding a spear in the shape of their suit. They grabbed Yami and dragged him inside before he could so much as move his hand from his pocket.
"Oi! Mi'lady, is this tha one you was talking abouts?" said the three of hearts, edging his spear closer to Yami's throat. A slender figure draped in a black cloak glided down the spiral staircase that jutted out from the center of the Skool building. "Yes...that is indeed the Savior of Wonderland..." said a sickly sweet female voice which was edged in frost. The darkness of shadows licked around her feet like smoke. She drew closer.
Her voice was oddly familiar, yet I couldn't seem to place it. "Leave us," she snapped at the two guards which had been getting twitchy with their spears. "B-but Mi'lady! Shouldn't we's take 'im to th' Emperor?" asked the six of diamonds.
"I said LEAVE us...do not make me ask you again, or I shall send you to a place which you will not come back," said the mysterious cloaked woman, her voice flinging daggers at the disobedient cards. "B-But the Savior! He might esc.."
"You don't want to finish that sentence, fool. Do not forget, I still control the Shadow Magic of the Black Dragon Emperor...I don't think his highness would mind my eliminating a few disobedient minions...So, I suggest you leave!"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" they stammered, skittering off towards a hallway marked 'Sekund Grayd'. Yami's face had cracked into a smile.
"What the hell are you smiling at; she's going to kill us!" I stuttered, almost as horrified as the first time I faced a Boojum, and now I once more found myself fearing for my own life. "Don't be so sure." He whispered to me.
"It's good to see you again, Lindsi."
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Note From The Author:
Hiyooo everyone! Wow. My hands hurt X3 Eleven pages of fanfic goodness...life is sweet. Anyway. Next chapter I introduce Lindsi, a brand spankin new character based on...well, I'll tell you next chapter and do all the legal stuff at the same time. Easier that way huh? Ahem. Soooo. I finally seem to have a plot emerging! WOOT! This is cool, ne? Anyway. Hope you're enjoying the fic so far. The story set in darkness, Ironically has been written in complete darkness. Meaning, I can only seem to write it at night. Strange stuff....Anyway. Next chapter, Yugi and Yami get an edumacation at Skool in Chapter Six: Skool Dayz
Ja ne, Minna-san!
Lara ^_^V