THE ENCOUNTER OF LOST SOULS
Chapter Nine: The Stuff that Dreams, and Nightmares, are Made of
"Come in," Emrys said aloud while leaning against the bed's headboard. She massaged her temples with mentholated ointment that Sugoroku provided to ease her headache.
The door opened and revealed the other Yugi carrying a neat pile composed of a nightshirt, sweatpants, and the gold chest that used to contain the Millennium Puzzle pieces. Seeing that she had her own pajamas on, he placed the pile of clothing on the study table and remarked, "I guess you won't need these from me."
She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. "I normally keep a duffel bag of stuff in the car for emergencies."
"If you're not too tired, may I ask you a question about this?" He lifted the Puzzle that hung from his neck, and then sat on the bed next to her with the gold chest.
She stammered, saying, "There's something that I need to tell you first –"
"I know that you did digging for a profession. I also know that you were a brilliant student. Then tonight, I found out that you know how to fight." After receiving an inquisitive look from her, he clarified, "Jii-chan and Professor Hopkins spoke over the phone…that's how I knew."
Her eyes momentarily lit up upon mention of Professor Hopkins' name. After the brief silence between them, she then asked, "Now that you know about my dirty little secret, are you upset with me?"
"No, I'm not," he replied with an accepting smile.
Reverting to the topic, she asked, "Well, Yugi…what do you know about your Puzzle?"
"I – It's somewhat hard to explain…."
Glancing at him, as she gave him her full attention, she said, "Try me...."
Knowing that it would be for the best, he switched with his spirit vessel.
After the switch, Yugi explained, "I got this Puzzle from Grandpa when I was eight. It took me almost eight years to complete it." Seeing her confused expression, and that she was about to interject, he lifted up his right hand. "Wait…there's more. I know we just recently met but we feel the need to tell you about this, especially with what happened earlier."
She attentively listened as he explained everything – from the time that he assembled the Puzzle and met the spirit residing within the Millennium Item, all the way through the significance of the God Cards and the Puzzle in retrieving the spirit's lost memory. Her eyes widened in awe upon hearing that two spirits inhabited his body – his very own, and that of the Pharaoh's.
Minutes later, he then switched back to the other Yugi.
Now that his spirit vessel just told her the entire truth, the other Yugi's stomach felt like it was in knots. Silent minutes later, he saw her slowly look up to him.
With watery eyes focused on him, she said, "When I met you at the game shop, I felt something. I couldn't point out what it was, but I knew that I felt something."
When he was about to interject, it was now her turn to put up her right hand to stop him. He relented.
"At the concert and at the mansion, I felt a different vibe. For one minute, you were one person; and the other minute, it was the person who I've been having a wonderful time with lately." She then gazed at him.
This time, he chose to remain silent.
She deeply breathed and tightly closed her eyes – trying to say the right words in between the agonizing throbs she received from her migraine. "So I have fallen in love with the spirit inside the Millennium Puzzle. You're the Pharaoh whose name had been erased in the archives of Egyptian history. I've known about you during my parents' excavations in Egypt, but I've never imagined –"
"Emrys, I know that all of this is pretty hard to take in, but I need to be honest about this. The last thing that I wanted to do is to hurt or disappoint you."
Resolve resonated in her voice, as she opened her eyes once more. "You did the right thing. There are many unexplainable things in life. In our case, it's this...."
Referring to their budding relationship, he quietly interjected, "If you want to end it before we go any deeper."
"No, Yugi…I don't want to end anything between us. That's the last thing that I want to happen...."
He bowed his head, closed his eyes, and sighed.
She touched his face, and lifted it so that she could gaze into his amethyst eyes once more. She knelt on the bed and leaned towards him – planting passionate and tender kisses on him: first on the forehead, second on the nose, and then on the lips.
Once their lips made contact, they embraced and kissed – each second slowly but surely peeling away the uncertainties and sadness that his confession brought to them.
It was around two in the morning. Thirty minutes had already passed after the other Yugi and Emrys bade goodnight to each other.
It did not take long for the Mutou household to fall asleep and slip into the land of dreams.
The Millennium Puzzle, which lay beside the dreaming Yugi, mysteriously glowed.
In Yugi's dream, he cautiously looked around at the darkness that enveloped him. The dankness and coldness of the realm, along with the eerie fog, sent chills down his spine. He was lightheaded. On the verge of swooning into unconsciousness, his chest heaved for much-needed air.
The revelation scared him, so he repeatedly convinced himself, "It can't be…this is just a dream...."
"It's not a dream, Aibou. We're inside the Shadow Realm." With his spirit vessel's silent permission, the other Yugi quickly took over.
A bright, blinding pentagram-shaped light then pierced through the heavy fog. The robed figure that the other Yugi personally dealt with last night emerged from the fog.
"Our score is not settled yet. One way or another, Mutou Yugi, your Puzzle and the God Cards will be ours...."
With burning amethyst eyes, the other Yugi retorted, "Never! I don't have to settle anything with you!"
"If you don't duel against me, then your precious spirit vessel will never return to the waking world...and that will be the end for both of you!"
In her dreams, Emrys stood by her parents' gravesite as the soft rain fell upon her.
She looked around, and wondered if everything that she was seeing now was all a dream. When she eventually noticed that she was wearing the pajamas she wore to bed, she dismissed the whole setup as a simply a weird dream caused by her migraine.
By this time, the soft rain intensified and poured its Heavenly anger – cutting out a good portion of visibility.
Lightning and thunder then followed.
As the rain poured harder, the field gradually darkened and the fog eerily crept over the land – contorting the serene environment that Emrys was used to whenever she visited her parents' gravesite. Darkness, dampness, and coldness enveloped her.
"You're in our realm now, crest-wielder," a female voice audibly echoed within the bone-chilling darkness.
Emrys quickly turned around to see the voice's owner. She saw the hooded female intruder she encountered last night.
The hooded woman stood in the middle of a pentagram-shaped light that formed on the damp grass – illuminating the darkness and the fog in a more evil fashion.
"What do you want from me?" Emrys demanded.
The robed woman responded in an eerie monotone, "Either you come with us, or the old man you tried so hard to protect from us will take your place."
"None of this is real," Emrys deadpanned.
The hooded figure remained stationary, as the fog swirled around them. "I promise you that everything you now see is real."
Emrys was now soaking wet, and the cold began to penetrate and cause her body to shiver. "Stop playing games by calling me something that I'm not!"
"No harm will befall to any of your friends, if you come with me." The hooded figure extended her right arm, and offered her open palm for Emrys to take.
"I'm not going anywhere with anybody – most especially with you!" Emrys said with clenched teeth, as she looked at the hooded woman with piercing eyes. "Go back to where you came from!"
"It won't be that easy, because one way or another, I'll leave with either you or the old man. The choice, crest-wielder, is solely up to you...."
End Chapter Nine
Author's Note
If you want to find out more about Emrys' parents, how they die, and how she takes it, read my short story There Will Come Soft Rain – a prequel set two years before the events narrated in The Encounter of Lost Souls.
Normal Disclaimer
Yu-Gi-Oh is the copyrighted property of Kazuki Takahashi. Alexa, Yoshiko, Koji, as well as this fan fiction, is the property of the author. This fan fiction is written for entertainment purposes only – thereby releasing the author from any liabilities.