THE DESCENT OF LOST SOULS
Chapter Nine: The Dawn of Sorrows
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To the Reader
This Chapter has references on or contains the following: the supernatural, spoilers from the show,
major angst and depression, insinuations of suicide, physical violence, and guns.
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Day Five of the Quest - Four in the morning
Location: Unknown caves, Isle of Crete
Purpose: To escape from the Master and his hooded followers
Pegasus' Point-of-View
Alexa casually looked down at our only means of escape.
Is she going crazy? Does she even have the smallest notion of what we were up against?
We looked back – hearing the approaching mob, and dodging bullets that fiercely whiz past us. Some of the bullets missed us by mere inches.
My heart furiously pounded. I frantically hollered in between breaths, "We need to jump!"
She then glowered at me. With one raised eyebrow, she snapped, "You think?"
"We have to jump – now!"
"Then you go first!" she yelled back, as she shoved me off the cliff.
She pushed me off the cliff! My heart pounded louder, as I came closer to the waters. If I ever live through this, I would definitely have a word with her.
If I live through this....
She jumped off the cliff, too. With our pursuers still shooting at us, she then yelled to me in mid-air, "Feet first!"
Understanding what she meant, I somersaulted to fall feet first. As I flipped over, the seemingly endless stream of bullets flew past us. We then crashed into the water – its bluish-green coldness and darkness enveloped us.
Since my feet did not touch the ground, I assumed that the waters are deeper than we expected. However, diving feet first had its advantages. First, the diver could start his ascend after crashing in the water. Secondly, the feet could push against the floor and thrust the entire body upward.
With the moonlight as our only source of light inside the dark waters, I swam towards Alexa.
As we painfully held our breaths, we saw bullets whiz underwater. Some of those bullets missed us by inches.
Once we thought that the hooded men left, we then emerged from the waters. As soon as we got our first breath of air, I felt as if my lungs were about to explode. We then swam towards the opposite end of the shore.
Upon reaching the shore, we lay our fatigued and waterlogged bodies on the ground.
Minutes later, I opened my eyes and glanced towards Alexa. "You're bleeding," I said to her in the middle of much-needed breaths.
"Bullet graze. It's not that deep. I didn't notice it until now," she calmly replied, as I helped her stand up. From the looks of it, she just pulled some muscles from her torso.
Reaching inside my chest pocket, I pulled out my white handkerchief, folded it, and tied it above her wound.
"Thanks," she murmured. After looking into my eyes and seeing my face, she then chuckled. "You look as if I'm on my deathbed. It's just a scratch."
I just stared at her, as I tried to figure out what pushed this astronomical change within her. What Shadi showed me the evening before was nothing compared to what just happened now.
Deeply breathing to minimize her pain, she then said, "Come on, let us go back to town. We still have about an hour's worth of hiking to do."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Day Five of the Quest - Five thirty in the morning
Location: Bed-and-Breakfast, Isle of Crete
Purpose: Short rest
After the hour-long hike, Pegasus and Emrys went inside their rooms at the quaint Cretan inn.
Emrys placed her leather backpack on the study table. She shook her head, as she remembered how she pushed Pegasus off the cliff and into the water.
She could not forget how she did not care whether she came out of that cave alive. Especially after her conversation with the Master, all she cared about was killing them to satiate the rage smoldering inside her. The greatest irony was that her recklessness was what saved her many times. She came up with plans to escape, and did not think twice while implementing them.
"You desperately wanted the old me back, don't you? I've got news for you, my friend: she had never left, and you won't live long enough to know it." Those fated words that played like a broken record were stabbing her in the heart.
As tired as her body was, she could not sleep. She kept thinking about causing her parents' and Yoshiko's deaths; her love for the other Yugi; how much she changed for the better; and how in spite of everything good happening in her life, she was slowly slipping back into the pit of despair that endangered everyone around her.
Almost facing death inside the caves did not faze her earlier. However, the prospect of reverting to her old ways sent chills to her spine.
Throughout the hour, she wept inside her dark room. She never felt as alone, or as abandoned, as she did right now.
Then in the middle of her desolation, her cell phone rang.
Kaiba's Point-of-View
"Hello," a choked-up voice said on the other line.
I told Emrys, "We got your postcard today. So how's Egypt?"
"You mean Crete."
Startled, I asked, "Crete? What are you doing at Crete?"
"One of my clues led me here."
Something was wrong here. There was long silence for a few minutes. It was then followed by an almost inaudible sound of sniffling coming from the other line. "Wait a minute. Have you been crying?"
In a soft tone that tried to pretend that she was not crying, she inquired, "What makes you ask that?"
I told her in an even tone, "Stop bullshitting with me, Emrys…."
"It's just a long, exhausting day," she murmured while sighing. She sounded so weary on all aspects.
I was right. She was, and was still, crying.
"What's wrong with you?" I nonchalantly asked.
There was silence on the other line, as I heard her attempts to stifle her sobs. She then blurted out in between tears, "God, Kaiba. Have you ever done anything so bad that it kills you every time you remember it?"
After a moment of pondering, I replied, "Yes, I have. I never cry over them like you do, though."
"Then what do you do?"
"Move on to the next conquest. It's a waste of time to cry over things."
I then recalled something in my past that I felt that she was now privy to know. "There was one thing that I did regret...."
"What was it?"
"I slapped Mokuba before...."
With shock and incredulousness imprinted in her voice, she asked, "You did what? Why?"
I explained to her, with lament still detectable in my tone, "I butted heads against Gozaburo and led the hostile takeover of Kaiba Corporation. I confronted the Big Five. I thought that Mokuba betrayed me. Out of anger, I slapped him and didn't give him a chance to explain. It was the first – and only time – that I physically hurt him. I didn't mean to...."
She quietly asked, "So what happened next?"
"After everything I did, he still gave up his shares for me. If it weren't for him, I would not be able to take over Kaiba Corporation. Since then, I promised never to betray or hurt him again."
I then noticed the dead silence on the other line. "Emrys? Are you still there?"
Quietly, she responded, "I am...."
Greatly relieved that she was still on the other line, but worried nonetheless, I said, "Now that you know about this – "
In a soft and reassuring voice, she interjected, "You're not the only one who has a checkered past. You're also not the only one who has a predisposition to hurt others."
With a feeling of appreciation coming over me, I then focused on her. "So what's bothering you?"
"I'm just tired, Kaiba. I'm just so tired," she murmured, and then sobbed on the other line.
It was slowly breaking my heart to hear her cry on the other line. How I wished that I were physically with her to provide solace. How I wish that I could ease her pain, or calm her down the way that only a significant other could do.
Alas, as much as we had feelings for each other, our relationship was strictly platonic. Knowing my limitations, I did what I thought any friend should do at a time like this: I stayed on the other line to be with her, and remained silent until she was ready to talk with me.
"I'm sorry," she said in the middle of tears, after minutes of silence.
With an even tone, I remarked, "You and I have the same problem. We couldn't sit well with who we truly are. It's just a matter of acceptance."
She then asked, "What if you couldn't accept who you truly are?"
"If you want to survive; then there is no room for ifs, ands, or buts. You have to live with your own skin." After another momentary pause, I then inquired, "Are you still there?"
"Yes, I am."
With a smirk on my face, I then told her, "Listen, I don't know why you're asking all these questions. I know that I'm very smart, but I'm not the source of profound philosophical wisdom, you know...."
"You're a sick piece of work..." she chuckled in the middle of her tears.
"It takes one to know one," I teased with my smirk reflected in my voice.
Changing the topic, she inquired, "So how's Mokuba? Is he there?"
"He's at the zoo with some schoolmates and Koji."
"The bodyguard?" she echoed back my words with amused incredulousness. "Won't the other children feel weird with a bodyguard around them where ever they go?"
"They're used to him already. Koji also has a way with children, even though he's one of my best bodyguards. The kids use him as a human tree."
For the first time during our telephone conversation, she giggled. Knowing her, she was probably picturing a noisy bunch of rug rats hanging on Koji's arms and back. There were times that I smirked, as I saw the little ones torment him while they fight for space.
"Well, just tell Mokuba that I said hi."
I kidded, "I don't know. He won't be very happy to find out that I called you without him being here."
With a slight hint of whining in her voice, she insisted, "Just tell him...."
"Oh, well. If you insist," I teasingly relented.
Feigning a complaint, she accused, "Now you're being the brat...."
With contrived casualness, I said, "Just as I said earlier, it takes one to know one."
"Wise-assed brat!" she teasingly snapped.
"Will you be okay now?" I asked. This time, the concern I had for her was evident in my voice.
"I will. Thanks for being there, just like always…."
"Anytime...."
She said softly before hanging up, "I miss both of you. Take care."
Hearing her voice made my heart warm – and ache – at the same time. As I put the phone back in its cradle, I wondered why she cried in the first place. For now, I guess I had to content myself knowing that I was there for her when she needed me the most.
Emrys' Point-of-View
It was now seven thirty in the morning, and still not a wink of sleep.
As much as the telephone call from Kaiba lifted up my spirits, my mind would not give me peace. Before, the confusion only existed whenever I dreamt about Yoshiko or my parents' death.
Even my waking moments would not give me rest from the torment. As the days passed by, the more unbearable it became. There was no escape for me. Never have I felt so tired and so trapped – suffocating me slowly but surely. I did not know how long I could hold on to it: whether it was my peace of mind, my sanity, or my life.
I stared at my cell phone, and then dialed the number of the very person who gave me the reason to see hope.
"Hi, Yugi!" I lightheartedly greeted, as I sat on my bed and rest my back against the headboard.
After telling him the good news of Pegasus' safety, as well as the retrieval of the Scrolls of Passage, a deeper voice warmly said, "So you have what you needed. That's great!"
My heart jumped for joy, and warm tears flowed from my cheeks. I was happy that he wanted to talk with me, even after our little spat over the telephone. "I'm ready to go on the last stretch of this trip."
"You mean Thera?"
"Yes," I softly replied.
"You won't change your mind, would you?"
"I need my peace of mind back," I stated with silent resolve imprinted in my words.
There was a long pause of silence on the other line. Each second of silence felt as if I was like a candle in its last flickers of flame.
My stomach then tied up in knots. As I waited for what he was going to say next, I was so afraid that he would not understand me. I cringed that our conversation might end on an ill note, just like it almost did last time.
After an audible sigh, I then heard him say, "I know that you have to do this, Emrys. You have my support."
"I - I do?" I said with marked surprise and disbelief.
"Yes, you do..." he reaffirmed his words. From the way his voice sounded, he was lightly smiling and his expressive eyes were slightly glistening from tears that he held back.
In the middle of tears, I appreciatively stated, "I'm so glad to hear this from you!"
With such tenderness in his voice, he said, "I'm sorry about what happened the last time we've talked. I got so upset because I didn't want you to get hurt."
"I know," I replied feeling so vulnerable, yet so free to share this moment with him. Yet, that pacified feeling of mine ended as I sensed worry coming from him.
Immediately thereafter, he inquired, "Emrys, is there something wrong?"
After a few seconds of silence, I said, " I found out something about my parents, Yoshiko, and their deaths."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
For some unknown reason, I felt that he knew what I was about to tell him. "I don't want to talk about it over the phone. I need to square things away at Thera first. There's plenty for us to talk about after my trip."
With reassurance in his tone, he said, "I'll always be here for you. Plus you have our friends here at Domino City who love and support you, too."
I stroked my hair and my nape to relieve some tension. "Maybe it's just the fatigue talking. I haven't slept well since I got back from England."
"You haven't slept well? Why?"
"Strange dreams. It's about Yoshiko. About me k-killing Yoshiko...."
After such a long pause on the other line, he then murmured, "You're a good person. No matter what happened in the past, it won't change the fact that you have a good heart."
"Whether my dreams were true or not, I don't feel very wholesome at the moment, Yugi...."
"You don't have to go to Thera, if you feel that you're not ready. Could you wait until I can accompany you?"
With vulnerability laced in my voice, I said, "I wish you're here with me, but I've been pushing this back for years. I can't wait any longer."
"Things such as what happened there take time to reconcile with. You have my support, no matter what you decide upon. I just want you to be careful."
"If I decide not to leave for Thera, I'll call you..."
"Okay...."
After saying our respective "I love you" and "goodbyes," I hung up my cell phone.
Minutes later, I stared at my leather backpack. It was now time to unlock the secrets of the Scrolls of Passage, as well as the two gold books.
With this dark pit now residing within me, I did not care what the consequences were for tapping into such arcane powers. If unlocking such secrets would damn my soul, but would save and restore the one I love, then so be it.
Let my soul, then, be forever damned.
End of Chapter Nine
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Authors' Side Note
The next chapter will cover the unlocking of the Scrolls of Passage, as well as The Portal of Osiris and The Dead Incantations. What forbidden secrets are hidden within it? What will be the consequence in tapping into such arcane knowledge? Will everyone involved be ready for whatever eventualities may arise?
What will the other Yugi do, if he finds out the dangers Emrys faces by tapping into such dark secrets? As to Emrys, what is really going on with her? What is bringing about this drastic and dismal change within her? Will she get over it?
Can Pegasus - the only one who is physically near her now - be able to pull her out of it?
Zatken
Normal Disclaimer
Yu-Gi-Oh, Dark Elf, Blue Eyes White Dragon, and the Seal of Orichalchos magic card are the copyrighted properties of Kazuki Takahashi.
Alexandra Emrys, Yoshiko, Koji, the Order of Orichalchos, the Scrolls of Passage, The Portal of Osiris, The Dead Incantations, duel monster card Rhea, duel monster card Cronus, ritual magic card The Birth of Poseidon, ritual monster card Poseidon Lord of the Seas, other original characters and locations, as well as this fanfic, are the properties of the author.
This fanfic is written for entertainment purposes only - thereby releasing the author from any liabilities.