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!!!
Lindsi Marashima is © to her original creator, Rinshi Galondel. She kicks ass, and is cool and I swear to gods if anyone tries to steal her and claim her for their own I will send Marik after your sorry ass. And not the hikari, I'm talking the bad ass Yami Marik. You have been warned...Buahahaha.... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Chapter 7: Down The Rabbit Hole
Rutledge Mental Institution
Case #46986414
Patient Name: Yugi Mutou
Physician in Charge: Dr. S.K. Lee
Date: October Twentieth, Two Thousand and Three
There have been few improvements in Yugi's case over the past five days. His eyes remain fixed on the ceiling, and his outburst of screaming have become more frequent. However, instead of mere screams, he seems to call out to 'Awai', whoever that may be. His right arm and shoulder are healing nicely, although he still has many weeks to go in his casts.
Aira will be coming to visit tomorrow. Hopefully, a visit from her will spur some improvement in Yugi's disposition. He has refused to take food from the nursing staff for the past week; we've had to begin feeding him intravenously in order to keep him both fed and hydrated. Aira has requested to be allowed to bring in some fresh flowers and some of his favorite, more mildly flavored foods.
I agreed. I have a hunch that Yugi will most likely accept food from Aira. In small quantities, of course; after having not eaten solid food in a week, feeding a patient too much can cause food poisoning. And that is not another trouble I wish to put at Yugi's feet.
The mystery concerning his deck still remains just that; a mystery. No one knows how it ended up in his hand, only that whenever someone tries to disarm him of it, he bursts out screaming and thrashing again. So to avoid further injury to his already mangled right half, I've ordered that the deck remain either in his hand, or close to it to keep him from any struggle.
I eagerly await the day when Yugi can spend time in the Institution gardens with other patients. No one's skin should be that pale...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Room after room we searched, Yami and Lin seeming in competition with each other in discovering more 'creative' ways of eliminating their card and Boojum prey. I wanted to turn away from the gore that splattered and smeared across the already dingy walls of Skool, but something allured me to watch. Yami was not exaggerating when he'd said that Lindsi was a practiced assassin.
Her jagged edged blade sliced her enemies apart without so much as a sound as she carved them up like thanksgiving turkeys. What she didn't dismember, she made explode with well aimed spheres of crackling Shadow Magic. When finally we arrived at the last room of Skool that we hadn't nearly destroyed with the explosions of cards and Shadow Magic, Lin turned to Yami.
"Where's the hikari? Is he watching you play?" she said with a cold smirk.
"For now."
"Let me speak to him. I have a few words for him, and only him."
Yami hmphed as I felt myself sucked unwillingly back into possession of my body. I stared up at Lindsi uncertainly, the Vorpal Blade held precariously in one of my bloody hands. It was times like these that I wished Yami had his own body. "And don't let me catch you listening, pharaoh. I know you can still hear if you wish..." she said, brandishing her shark-tooth blade as if issuing a warning to my partner.
"So. You're the little hikari..." she chuckled coldly, "Quite the pint size, aren't you?" she said ruffling my hair, chunks of Boojum being shaken from the locks. I took a step backward; if there was one thing I hated getting comments on, it was my height, or lack thereof.
"So. I hear you've had a visit from a special someone recently?" Lindsi said as she crossed her pale, ghost-like arms over her bloodstained pinafore. "Who are you talking about?" I said, uncertain of what she'd meant. I'd had visits from several someone's since my arrival in Yamino Wonderland; each more strange than the one before it.
"Someone about my age..." that didn't help much, I didn't know how old she was. "My height..." she was about as tall as most of the Boojum I'd met. "And she has eyes the color of a midsummer's day sky..." THAT narrowed it down by quite a considerable margin.
"Awai?" I whispered in disbelief. "Ah good...then my sister managed to communicate with you..."
Her Sister?!
How could anyone as dark, sadistic, and well...mad as Lindsi be called sister to anyone as warm, caring, and light as Awai? This just did not add up. "She's been waiting for you to resurface from the dark for a while now. I was asked to find you, and give you this." In my hand, she placed a ring, whose golden sparkling sheen was gaudy in the darkened surroundings.
"What's this for?" she stared at me oddly. "You really don't remember, do you?" I shook my head. "Remember what?" "You really are hopeless....As thick as your Yami spirit." She sighed.
I stared at the ring, which felt warm in my hand. There was something here to be remembered, but it seemed to escape me every time I nearly pinned it down in my mind.
I wiped my hands on my coat to rid them of the blood. By now, the navy blue of my trenchcoat had become a splotched violet. Blood and blue don't mix well. "What should I do with it?" I asked uncertainly, not wanting to put it in either pocket, as both were home to dangerous weapons which were prone to speedy distribution to unfortunate attackers.
Lindsi looked oddly at me. "What else are you going to do with it? Put it on, baka!" I shrank back nervously from the assassin, obediently putting the ring on my finger. A familiar feeling of warmth washed over me, almost the same feeling as when Awai had visited me before. I felt like I was no longer alone in this world of blackness and despair. "Are you quite finished?" asked Yami impatiently, as he pulled his fingers from his ears.
"I dunno...."
"Keep that ring safe, or there'll be hell to pay. Believe me, I can send you to worse places than Yamino Wonderland..." said Lindsi, serving her ultimatum.
"Yeah. I think that about finishes our conversation up." I said, having been well threatened and ready to give control back over to my counterpart. I looked about the dank, blood smattered room in which we stood. The last stronghold of Skool.
I noticed a pair of doors in one corner of the room that were similar to the ones we'd passed through to enter the crooked building, smaller, but just as claw-marred and blood stained thanks to Yami and Lindsi's handiwork.
"Where does that lead?" I asked Lindsi, bringing the doors to her attention. "There? The holding room." She said casually, having obviously known the location of Carl and The White Rabbit's location the entire time. "You mean you KNEW it was there the whole time?"
Lindsi glared at me as if I were stupid. "Of COURSE I knew it was there, I'm in CHARGE here if you'll remember!" "And you still took the time of going from room to room, slaughtering card guards and Boojum because.?" I was sucked out of my body by the invisible vacuum of Yami's taking bodily control.
"Because its all a part of the game." Answered Yami in that cool voice of a killer.
Game?
Lin turned, her black skirts rustling as she strode over to the crookedy doors, pulling them open. Yami put his hands in the pockets of our coat, striding easily behind her. It was a comical, even if slightly disturbing sight that greeted us in the room beyond.
The White Rabbit, stripped of vest, gold watch, and hat, was tied to a spit and turning over a newborn, makeshift campfire, cursing his captors in rhyme.
"It's hot! It's Hot! It burns, it burns! When I get loose, its you I'll spurn!"
The heat must've been getting to him, as his rhymes were obviously losing their bouncing potency.
The eight of clubs and the nine of spades sat on either side of the spinning rodent, poking him with sticks and laughing stupidly.
"Oi, you think he's done yet?" asked the eight of clubs, giving the rabbit another poke. "Naww, we just tied 'im on there! He aint near ready for eatin'!" answered the nine of spades.
Lin's lips drew into a tight line of irritation. Her voice was soft, but shot sharp daggers of ice at her minions. "I thought I told you that the rabbit was NOT for eating. . ." Her spectral eyes swirled with an angry array of color.
The card guards shot up into standing attention, their knees shaking with fear. "W-we was just havin' a bit of fun, ma'am!" whimpered the nine of spades. "R-roight! We wasn't gonna eat 'im, honest we wasn't!"
"Fun time is over boys," she glanced coolly over her shoulder at Yami, who had been leaning back against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, lurking in wait in the shadows. "Care to help do the honors, pharaoh-boy?"
"Why not?" he said, a grin in the darkness. In one swift, unified movement, both serrated and Vorpal blades sliced the air, impaling the eight of clubs and the nine of spades squarely in their foreheads.
"About time you got here!" said Carl from a corner, where he was tied by his big toes to a rafter in the ceiling, dangling like a fish an a hook.
"Shut your mouth old man. If it weren't for me, you'd be in the rabbit's place right now," shot Lin. Carl glared at her, but his upside down stare was weak in comparison to the look she shot back. Yami strode over to the miniature fire and stomped it out of existence.
"Do we have to let him go?" I grumbled.
"If you want to get home, then I'd say yes." Yami replied with a sort of sad and irritated tone. He unwrapped the ropes and the rabbit plopped into the still hot ashes of the fire. He danced around in the coals before hopping to cool ground. The White Rabbit gathered his things, and looked at Lin suspiciously.
"Be wary Savior, the shadow is sly. If your not careful, she'll lead you to die. . ."
Lin charged forward, "Best you watch your tongue around me rodent, or you may just end up as a main dish on the Black Dragon Emperor's banquet menu!" she growled, seizing the rabbit by his collars and shaking him before dropping him roughly to the ground.
"Alright rabbit. We've saved your hide, now I believe its time for a bit of payback." Said Yami.
"You saved my life, I'm in your debt. I will help you, so do not fret."
"Enough with your roasted brained rhymes. You know the way to the Emperor's palace don't you?"
"Naturally."
I would like rhyme with that.
"Just follow me."
Much better.
Upon finishing his last rhyme, the rabbit, now fully dressed, dashed out the doors and down the hall.
"You going to be alright Carl?" asked Yami, giving the gnome-like potbelly fellow a final glance as he lowered him from the ceiling and helped him free his toes. "Hey, you got the Boojum and Card soldiers away from my Skool, and saved my toes...consider us even. Now git out of here before that blanged rabbit decides to leave you behind!"
Yami nodded his thanks before running after the rabbit, being followed by a slow walking Lin. The rabbit dodged around a corner, dashed up a flight of stairs, and led us to what appeared to be a giant library. An ancient looking stone pillar with what seemed to be the start of a flight of stairs awaited us at the far end of the library. There were only four steps leading up, and no way to reach the second floor.
"What do we do now?" I asked Yami, as we arrived at the roadblock. "We go up." He replied, stepping one foot and then the other onto the bottom step. The column rumbled, and the stairs began winding around it like a giant serpent until we reached the second floor.
"Gods you're slow." Said Lin, who was leaning against a massively tall bookcase. "How did you.?" Yami wondered, blinking confusedly. The feeling was mutual. "You obviously have forgotten the many various, and did I mention very handy, uses for Shadow Magic."
Yami's eyebrows flat-lined with annoyance. "I hadn't forgotten, I just thought it best to conserve it for when I actually needed it in place of just being lazy."
"Oh, a shot to my heart, you've hurt me." Mocked Lin, putting her hands over her heart and faking a swoon. I looked around the second level of the library. "Wonder what kind of books there are." I floated over to the nearest shelf, tilting my head onto one side so I could read the vertical spines.
'101 Ways to Roast Rabbit' ...handy. 'Shadow Magic for Dummies'.no comment.'I Want to be Your Canary--By Lord Avon'... What the hell is THIS doing in here? ...'Wonderland: the Tourist's Essential Guide'
"Yami, since when was this place a tourist destination?"
"COULD WE PLEASE FOCUS HERE?!"
".Sorry."
"Now. How are we going to get to the third level?" said Yami, surveying the second level of the library, which was devoid of stairs or elevator.
"Must I do EVERYTHING for you?" said Lin, standing up straight before ramming her bodyweight backward into the bookcase she'd been leaning on. The shelf groaned an objection before toppling backward and crashing against the floor above us. "Instant transportation to the next floor. Free of charge, for the first time...the next time will cost you, pharaoh boy." She smirked.
Yami hmphed before traversing the bookcase to the next floor. The white rabbit bounced in front of another enormous bookcase. He tugged on a large crimson bound book. The shelf gave a groan before grinding off to one side, revealing a polished door with a giant yellow star hanging above it. Yami paused uncertainly before the door, waiting for the rabbit to make a move. "Follow me, if you dare, surely you are braver than a simple hare...?"
At that, the rabbit flung the door open and dove through, a massive burst of wind shooting from a swirling vortex of crackling black and purple Shadow Magic contained within the doorframe. Books flew from the shelves at the force of the gust, yet Lin remained coolly placid leaning against her bookcase.
"Isn't she coming?" I cried over the roar of the vortex. But when Yami turned to look over his shoulder at Lin, all that remained of her was a rapidly closing Shadow spell that had swept her away from the vortex of Skool.
"I guess not!" replied Yami. He turned our eyes to look into the dizzying spectacle that was our way out of Skool. "Are you ready?" he called over the din. "Are you kidding!?" "Good, you're ready..." "No, hey, I didn't say...!"
Before I could even finish my objection, Yami flung our body into the abyssal vortex, and once more, I felt myself being sucked into the pits of darkness......
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!!!
Lindsi Marashima is © to her original creator, Rinshi Galondel. She kicks ass, and is cool and I swear to gods if anyone tries to steal her and claim her for their own I will send Marik after your sorry ass. And not the hikari, I'm talking the bad ass Yami Marik. You have been warned...Buahahaha.... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Chapter 7: Down The Rabbit Hole
Rutledge Mental Institution
Case #46986414
Patient Name: Yugi Mutou
Physician in Charge: Dr. S.K. Lee
Date: October Twentieth, Two Thousand and Three
There have been few improvements in Yugi's case over the past five days. His eyes remain fixed on the ceiling, and his outburst of screaming have become more frequent. However, instead of mere screams, he seems to call out to 'Awai', whoever that may be. His right arm and shoulder are healing nicely, although he still has many weeks to go in his casts.
Aira will be coming to visit tomorrow. Hopefully, a visit from her will spur some improvement in Yugi's disposition. He has refused to take food from the nursing staff for the past week; we've had to begin feeding him intravenously in order to keep him both fed and hydrated. Aira has requested to be allowed to bring in some fresh flowers and some of his favorite, more mildly flavored foods.
I agreed. I have a hunch that Yugi will most likely accept food from Aira. In small quantities, of course; after having not eaten solid food in a week, feeding a patient too much can cause food poisoning. And that is not another trouble I wish to put at Yugi's feet.
The mystery concerning his deck still remains just that; a mystery. No one knows how it ended up in his hand, only that whenever someone tries to disarm him of it, he bursts out screaming and thrashing again. So to avoid further injury to his already mangled right half, I've ordered that the deck remain either in his hand, or close to it to keep him from any struggle.
I eagerly await the day when Yugi can spend time in the Institution gardens with other patients. No one's skin should be that pale...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Room after room we searched, Yami and Lin seeming in competition with each other in discovering more 'creative' ways of eliminating their card and Boojum prey. I wanted to turn away from the gore that splattered and smeared across the already dingy walls of Skool, but something allured me to watch. Yami was not exaggerating when he'd said that Lindsi was a practiced assassin.
Her jagged edged blade sliced her enemies apart without so much as a sound as she carved them up like thanksgiving turkeys. What she didn't dismember, she made explode with well aimed spheres of crackling Shadow Magic. When finally we arrived at the last room of Skool that we hadn't nearly destroyed with the explosions of cards and Shadow Magic, Lin turned to Yami.
"Where's the hikari? Is he watching you play?" she said with a cold smirk.
"For now."
"Let me speak to him. I have a few words for him, and only him."
Yami hmphed as I felt myself sucked unwillingly back into possession of my body. I stared up at Lindsi uncertainly, the Vorpal Blade held precariously in one of my bloody hands. It was times like these that I wished Yami had his own body. "And don't let me catch you listening, pharaoh. I know you can still hear if you wish..." she said, brandishing her shark-tooth blade as if issuing a warning to my partner.
"So. You're the little hikari..." she chuckled coldly, "Quite the pint size, aren't you?" she said ruffling my hair, chunks of Boojum being shaken from the locks. I took a step backward; if there was one thing I hated getting comments on, it was my height, or lack thereof.
"So. I hear you've had a visit from a special someone recently?" Lindsi said as she crossed her pale, ghost-like arms over her bloodstained pinafore. "Who are you talking about?" I said, uncertain of what she'd meant. I'd had visits from several someone's since my arrival in Yamino Wonderland; each more strange than the one before it.
"Someone about my age..." that didn't help much, I didn't know how old she was. "My height..." she was about as tall as most of the Boojum I'd met. "And she has eyes the color of a midsummer's day sky..." THAT narrowed it down by quite a considerable margin.
"Awai?" I whispered in disbelief. "Ah good...then my sister managed to communicate with you..."
Her Sister?!
How could anyone as dark, sadistic, and well...mad as Lindsi be called sister to anyone as warm, caring, and light as Awai? This just did not add up. "She's been waiting for you to resurface from the dark for a while now. I was asked to find you, and give you this." In my hand, she placed a ring, whose golden sparkling sheen was gaudy in the darkened surroundings.
"What's this for?" she stared at me oddly. "You really don't remember, do you?" I shook my head. "Remember what?" "You really are hopeless....As thick as your Yami spirit." She sighed.
I stared at the ring, which felt warm in my hand. There was something here to be remembered, but it seemed to escape me every time I nearly pinned it down in my mind.
I wiped my hands on my coat to rid them of the blood. By now, the navy blue of my trenchcoat had become a splotched violet. Blood and blue don't mix well. "What should I do with it?" I asked uncertainly, not wanting to put it in either pocket, as both were home to dangerous weapons which were prone to speedy distribution to unfortunate attackers.
Lindsi looked oddly at me. "What else are you going to do with it? Put it on, baka!" I shrank back nervously from the assassin, obediently putting the ring on my finger. A familiar feeling of warmth washed over me, almost the same feeling as when Awai had visited me before. I felt like I was no longer alone in this world of blackness and despair. "Are you quite finished?" asked Yami impatiently, as he pulled his fingers from his ears.
"I dunno...."
"Keep that ring safe, or there'll be hell to pay. Believe me, I can send you to worse places than Yamino Wonderland..." said Lindsi, serving her ultimatum.
"Yeah. I think that about finishes our conversation up." I said, having been well threatened and ready to give control back over to my counterpart. I looked about the dank, blood smattered room in which we stood. The last stronghold of Skool.
I noticed a pair of doors in one corner of the room that were similar to the ones we'd passed through to enter the crooked building, smaller, but just as claw-marred and blood stained thanks to Yami and Lindsi's handiwork.
"Where does that lead?" I asked Lindsi, bringing the doors to her attention. "There? The holding room." She said casually, having obviously known the location of Carl and The White Rabbit's location the entire time. "You mean you KNEW it was there the whole time?"
Lindsi glared at me as if I were stupid. "Of COURSE I knew it was there, I'm in CHARGE here if you'll remember!" "And you still took the time of going from room to room, slaughtering card guards and Boojum because.?" I was sucked out of my body by the invisible vacuum of Yami's taking bodily control.
"Because its all a part of the game." Answered Yami in that cool voice of a killer.
Game?
Lin turned, her black skirts rustling as she strode over to the crookedy doors, pulling them open. Yami put his hands in the pockets of our coat, striding easily behind her. It was a comical, even if slightly disturbing sight that greeted us in the room beyond.
The White Rabbit, stripped of vest, gold watch, and hat, was tied to a spit and turning over a newborn, makeshift campfire, cursing his captors in rhyme.
"It's hot! It's Hot! It burns, it burns! When I get loose, its you I'll spurn!"
The heat must've been getting to him, as his rhymes were obviously losing their bouncing potency.
The eight of clubs and the nine of spades sat on either side of the spinning rodent, poking him with sticks and laughing stupidly.
"Oi, you think he's done yet?" asked the eight of clubs, giving the rabbit another poke. "Naww, we just tied 'im on there! He aint near ready for eatin'!" answered the nine of spades.
Lin's lips drew into a tight line of irritation. Her voice was soft, but shot sharp daggers of ice at her minions. "I thought I told you that the rabbit was NOT for eating. . ." Her spectral eyes swirled with an angry array of color.
The card guards shot up into standing attention, their knees shaking with fear. "W-we was just havin' a bit of fun, ma'am!" whimpered the nine of spades. "R-roight! We wasn't gonna eat 'im, honest we wasn't!"
"Fun time is over boys," she glanced coolly over her shoulder at Yami, who had been leaning back against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, lurking in wait in the shadows. "Care to help do the honors, pharaoh-boy?"
"Why not?" he said, a grin in the darkness. In one swift, unified movement, both serrated and Vorpal blades sliced the air, impaling the eight of clubs and the nine of spades squarely in their foreheads.
"About time you got here!" said Carl from a corner, where he was tied by his big toes to a rafter in the ceiling, dangling like a fish an a hook.
"Shut your mouth old man. If it weren't for me, you'd be in the rabbit's place right now," shot Lin. Carl glared at her, but his upside down stare was weak in comparison to the look she shot back. Yami strode over to the miniature fire and stomped it out of existence.
"Do we have to let him go?" I grumbled.
"If you want to get home, then I'd say yes." Yami replied with a sort of sad and irritated tone. He unwrapped the ropes and the rabbit plopped into the still hot ashes of the fire. He danced around in the coals before hopping to cool ground. The White Rabbit gathered his things, and looked at Lin suspiciously.
"Be wary Savior, the shadow is sly. If your not careful, she'll lead you to die. . ."
Lin charged forward, "Best you watch your tongue around me rodent, or you may just end up as a main dish on the Black Dragon Emperor's banquet menu!" she growled, seizing the rabbit by his collars and shaking him before dropping him roughly to the ground.
"Alright rabbit. We've saved your hide, now I believe its time for a bit of payback." Said Yami.
"You saved my life, I'm in your debt. I will help you, so do not fret."
"Enough with your roasted brained rhymes. You know the way to the Emperor's palace don't you?"
"Naturally."
I would like rhyme with that.
"Just follow me."
Much better.
Upon finishing his last rhyme, the rabbit, now fully dressed, dashed out the doors and down the hall.
"You going to be alright Carl?" asked Yami, giving the gnome-like potbelly fellow a final glance as he lowered him from the ceiling and helped him free his toes. "Hey, you got the Boojum and Card soldiers away from my Skool, and saved my toes...consider us even. Now git out of here before that blanged rabbit decides to leave you behind!"
Yami nodded his thanks before running after the rabbit, being followed by a slow walking Lin. The rabbit dodged around a corner, dashed up a flight of stairs, and led us to what appeared to be a giant library. An ancient looking stone pillar with what seemed to be the start of a flight of stairs awaited us at the far end of the library. There were only four steps leading up, and no way to reach the second floor.
"What do we do now?" I asked Yami, as we arrived at the roadblock. "We go up." He replied, stepping one foot and then the other onto the bottom step. The column rumbled, and the stairs began winding around it like a giant serpent until we reached the second floor.
"Gods you're slow." Said Lin, who was leaning against a massively tall bookcase. "How did you.?" Yami wondered, blinking confusedly. The feeling was mutual. "You obviously have forgotten the many various, and did I mention very handy, uses for Shadow Magic."
Yami's eyebrows flat-lined with annoyance. "I hadn't forgotten, I just thought it best to conserve it for when I actually needed it in place of just being lazy."
"Oh, a shot to my heart, you've hurt me." Mocked Lin, putting her hands over her heart and faking a swoon. I looked around the second level of the library. "Wonder what kind of books there are." I floated over to the nearest shelf, tilting my head onto one side so I could read the vertical spines.
'101 Ways to Roast Rabbit' ...handy. 'Shadow Magic for Dummies'.no comment.'I Want to be Your Canary--By Lord Avon'... What the hell is THIS doing in here? ...'Wonderland: the Tourist's Essential Guide'
"Yami, since when was this place a tourist destination?"
"COULD WE PLEASE FOCUS HERE?!"
".Sorry."
"Now. How are we going to get to the third level?" said Yami, surveying the second level of the library, which was devoid of stairs or elevator.
"Must I do EVERYTHING for you?" said Lin, standing up straight before ramming her bodyweight backward into the bookcase she'd been leaning on. The shelf groaned an objection before toppling backward and crashing against the floor above us. "Instant transportation to the next floor. Free of charge, for the first time...the next time will cost you, pharaoh boy." She smirked.
Yami hmphed before traversing the bookcase to the next floor. The white rabbit bounced in front of another enormous bookcase. He tugged on a large crimson bound book. The shelf gave a groan before grinding off to one side, revealing a polished door with a giant yellow star hanging above it. Yami paused uncertainly before the door, waiting for the rabbit to make a move. "Follow me, if you dare, surely you are braver than a simple hare...?"
At that, the rabbit flung the door open and dove through, a massive burst of wind shooting from a swirling vortex of crackling black and purple Shadow Magic contained within the doorframe. Books flew from the shelves at the force of the gust, yet Lin remained coolly placid leaning against her bookcase.
"Isn't she coming?" I cried over the roar of the vortex. But when Yami turned to look over his shoulder at Lin, all that remained of her was a rapidly closing Shadow spell that had swept her away from the vortex of Skool.
"I guess not!" replied Yami. He turned our eyes to look into the dizzying spectacle that was our way out of Skool. "Are you ready?" he called over the din. "Are you kidding!?" "Good, you're ready..." "No, hey, I didn't say...!"
Before I could even finish my objection, Yami flung our body into the abyssal vortex, and once more, I felt myself being sucked into the pits of darkness......