*CHAPTER 4*
~Yami's POV~
I cast a final concerned gaze at the bed where my charge rested, surrounded by machines that beeped and whirred. His innocent face was peaceful in sleep, albeit far paler than usual. That serene expression had not left his face since his arrival at the hospital, and I sorely hated to break my vigil, afraid that in the short time I would be absent he might re-awaken frightened or confused.
"I will return soon, aibou," I whispered, soundlessly slipping out the door and into the hallway beyond.
It was late. The hospital's designated visiting hours had long since passed, and the long, white halls were dim and deserted. Though I knew it was foolish, I found myself wishing the shadowy corridors were filled with people bustling from room to room, or chattering amongst themselves; for then I would not have been left alone with only my thoughts as company.
I have failed Yuugi, was all I was able to think as I made my way down the quiet hallways. Failure! He suffers for my carelessness. He may die for my stupidity, as may his friends. Yuugi, Jounouchi, Ryou…even Kaiba does not deserve this!
A shrill scream issued from a room at the far end of the hall, shaking me out of my session of self-chastisement. I hurried toward the direction of the sound and had nearly reached the room when the door flew open and a woman dressed in a starchy white uniform backed out, trembling from head to foot. Her eyes were glazed in fear, and she failed to notice me as she turned on her heel and tore down the hall, whimpering.
I watched her whip around the corner and listened as her thudding footsteps receded into nothing. It was then that I heard a second sound from within the room: the sound of somebody cackling with delight. The laughter was very distinctive, and its owner happened to be the soul I had come to speak with. Warily, I edged open the door and stepped inside.
"So we meet again, pharaoh," gasped the tomb robber, tears of mirth falling from his usually cold, evil eyes. "These humans are true knaves. So easy to spook."
I glanced from his partially transparent form to that of the boy who so closely resembled him lying dead still in the bed behind him and felt a pang of sympathy for the poor woman. Sometimes, it is difficult for one to believe the tomb robber to be several millennia old, I thought. Such a childish prank, passing himself off as a ghost. However badly I wished to say it, I refrained from voicing my opinion aloud. Instead, I stated: "The imbalance between the shadow realm and this realm has grown more severe."
"Of course it has," replied the tomb robber, finally regaining his composure. "I don't know where you got all that nonsense about it 'correcting itself' as you said last night. It can't correct itself. I believed even you would know that much. How foolish of me."
I stiffened at the insult, but kept my face a mask of nonchalance and confidence. "If you are so knowledgeable about such matters, tomb robber, I'm sure that you are aware that the source of the imbalance is located somewhere within Domino City."
"Of course I did, pharaoh," he snorted. "As I told you before, I am not an idiot."
"We must find the source of the imbalance and correct it, and we must do so quickly. I fear that if we wait too long, this world will be destroyed."
"Finding the source should be simple with the powers of the Ring," the tomb robber smirked.
"We cannot use the powers of the Millennium Items," I answered.
The smirk immediately disappeared from his face. "What?" he hissed, eyes flashing.
"The powers of the Puzzle have been sealed away," I explained. "Nor can I contact Yuugi through our link. It stands to reason that the same has happened to you."
He narrowed his eyes. "You lie," he hissed. I was about to assure him that I was indeed telling the truth, but his expression went blank, as though he was focusing on a point far away. A moment passed as he attempted to tap into the link that he and Ryou shared and then his expression became alert and cold once again.
"Tell me, do I lie?" I inquired.
He glared at the floor before my feet and mumbled: "What you say is true. Damn it all…I can't even find my soul room."
"We must work together to find the source and correct it. You cannot do it alone, tomb robber, and nor can I."
He bared his teeth in a feral snarl and clenched his fists into tight balls in response. For one brief instant, it seemed as though he would attack me, but then he sighed and nodded in silent agreement.
"I'm glad to see we are agreed on this," I said as he continued to glare at the floor. "I will take my leave now. I must get back to Yuugi."
~Ryou's POV~
I had just woken up surrounded by five of the biggest, roughest-looking men I had ever seen with absolutely no idea how I had come to be in such a position. For a moment, I had thought that my Yami had managed to get me into this predicament, and I'd closed my eyes, expecting them to beat the snot out of me and steal anything of worth I had. But those huge, burly men weren't going to beat me up. Quite the opposite in fact.
"Are you all right, Elijah?" one of them had anxiously asked me. "You took a pretty nasty knock on the head there."
"I—who is Elijah?" I questioned.
They looked at each other, exchanging worried expressions. "You are," another finally informed me. "You haven't got amnesia, have you?"
"I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. My name is Ryou."
This response only seemed to worry them even farther. "No; your name is Elijah. Maybe you should lay down."
I sighed, and answered: "Fine. My name is Elijah. Could you please tell me what's going on?"
"We were unloading the cargo and a box hit you and knocked you out," explained the first man.
"Cargo? What—" I never got to finish my question because that was when a man nearby yelled: "Oy! Elijah! Ya got visitors!"
What in heavens is going on? I wondered as I picked my way through a group of beefy, mean-looking men in the direction of the voice. How in the world did I get to the beach? And who is this "Elijah" that I'm supposed to be? I emerged from the tangle of men to come face to face with Yuugi Mutou and Katsuya Jounouchi.
"R-Ryou?" Yuugi stammered, sounding every bit as surprised as I was.
"Yuugi! Jounouchi!" I cried. I had never been more relieved to see a familiar face in my life.
"What da…?" Jounouchi trailed. "What're ya doin' here, Ryou?"
"I haven't got the foggiest idea. I just woke up here. My Yami didn't do anything, did he?"
Yuugi shook his head and answered: "Jou and I don't know much about what's going on, but we'll tell you what we do know. First off—"
"Hey! Look over there!" Jounouchi interrupted, pointing wildly at the point where beach became dirt path.
Yuugi and I both looked in the direction that Jounouchi was pointing and Yuugi gasped in surprise. Walking along the path at a leisurely pace was a very tall boy with dark brown hair styled into an odd sort of Mohawk. "Is that—"
"Honda!" Jounouchi shouted, cutting Yuugi off. "Ya wanna explain everything ta Ryou while I get Honda, Yug?" Jounouchi tore off across the beach, throwing gritty sprays of sand in his wake, not waiting for an answer.
Yuugi gave me a brief account of all that had happened to him as Jounouchi ran off, from waking up at Master Colbert's plantation to discovering the absence of his Puzzle to his nerve-wracking run for escape. "So that's pretty much all that's happened so far," he finished. "We haven't figured out why or how we got here and the slaves at the plantation said that Elijah could help us…but that isn't going to work, since you're obviously not him. I guess we're kind of in the dark again for now."
I sighed. "I'd be willing to wager my Yami is responsible for this somehow. I should probably ask him to undo whatever he did so we can get back."
Yuugi's eyes widened. "You've still got your Ring?"
"Of course I—no…it—it's gone!" I cried, feeling at my chest for the familiar metal. I didn't know whether to rejoice or cry. After all, what I'd wanted more than anything in the world was to be free of my Yami and his abusive control, and here it was, my dream come true. And yet…it felt as though a part of me had gone with him. A vital, irreplaceable part of me was missing. I didn't have long to reflect on it because Jounouchi soon returned, with Honda in tow.
"Honda! Whatever da hell kinda joke you're tryin' to pull, knock it off right now!" Jounouchi growled as they came within comfortable hearing range. "It's really startin' to piss me off!"
"What's going on, Jou?" Yuugi inquired, turning his attention to the approaching blond.
Jounouchi gritted his teeth, and the expression of annoyance already etched on his face deepened even further. "He keeps tryin' to tell me his name's 'Joel'."
"Only
because it is," replied Honda. "My
Master warned me that you would mistake me for this 'Honda' person. He told me I was to come down to the beach
to collect the three of you and bring you back to his workshop."
"What are you talking about,
Honda?" Yuugi queried, giving him a bewildered look.
"He's been tryin' to pull dis shit with me da whole time," Jounouchi broke in.
Honda sighed. "I'm sorry, but my name is Joel. I don't know who this 'Honda' is, but I'm not him; I swear it. My Master sent me to bring you three to him. He said he knows your plight and he knows how to help you. If you would just come with me, he can explain everything to you."
"Honda…." Jounouchi warned, glaring.
"Wait, Jounouchi," I said, finally recovering enough from my shock to speak. "If I'm supposed to be Elijah, and you're supposed to be Gabe, and Yuugi is supposed to be Aiden…maybe he really isn't Honda. Maybe whatever happened only happened to us."
Jounouchi paused, processing everything I had said before his glare lost its ferocity and he stated: "All righty, Joel, if your master's so damn smart, let's see what he's gonna do to help us with our 'plight'."
Honda/Joel smiled and answered: "Follow me, please."
As he led us off across the sand in the direction of the dirt path, one of the burly men who had been busy at work on one of the boats shouted after us: "Oy! What the hell d'you think you're doing? You can't just steal our best mariner fer cryin' out loud!"
"Sorcerer's business!" Honda/Joel hollered back.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir! I didn't know you was the Sorcerer's apprentice," the man hastily apologized. "Please don't turn me into a jellyfish!" Honda/Joel just laughed and led us away from the beach and off down the path.
As we walked, the dirt under our feet was replaced with gravel before eventually widening out into a large, cobbled road. Booths with signs that announced "Annie's Great Pies" or "Fine Woven Rugs" or whatever else the station had to offer lined either side of the street. All of the booths were locked down, as it appeared to be early morning, and the streets were void of any shoppers. Honda/Joel silently lead us on through the deserted market without a backward glance to be sure if we were still behind him.
Jounouchi and Yuugi were whispering to each other, but I wasn't paying them much attention. My thoughts were on the Ring. Where could it have gone? I wondered. I was never able to get rid of it before—why is that any different now? What if one of those men back at the beach took it? They'll certainly have a nasty surprise when they meet Bakura. I shuddered at the thought. An army of what if's and maybe's marched through my mind, each more unsettling than the last. By the time Honda/Joel stopped us in front of a shabby-looking stone building, I was a wreck.
"Here we are; Master Sorcerer Dante's humble abode," announced Honda/Joel. "I would sincerely advise you to refrain from offending the Master." He pushed open a set of heavy-looking double doors made of some type of wood so dark it looked black. A haze of sweet, green smoke filtered out of the open door. I caught a whiff of it full in the face and gagged as my nose burned and my eyes watered. Honda/Joel hurried through the door and disappeared in the smokescreen beyond, announcing: "Master Dante, I've brought them."
"Thank you, Joel," a very young voice replied. "You may go about your usual studies." A tall shadow that must have been Honda/Joel bowed and silently retreated deeper into the curtain of smoke in response. "You three!" barked the voice. "Don't just stand out there; come inside so I can get a proper look at you!"
The three of us exchanged doubtful glances before stepping through the door and into the smoke-filled room. I coughed and choked on the thick smoke and beside me I could hear Yuugi and Jounouchi doing the same. Gradually, my coughing subsided and my eyes stopped watering enough for me to take a look around the room.
Everything was cluttered. Every available surface was crowded full of almost every type of substance imaginable. The mantel above the fireplace was crammed full of vials of powders in every color of the rainbow. On a table were piles and piles of various types of roots and grasses. Big, blockish candles were stacked high on a chair. Bones and skulls occupied a shelf in the corner of the room. A large desk, piled high with bottles and several items from around the room, took the majority of the space in the room. But the most remarkable feature of the room was the person seated behind the desk. He wore long, black robes to match his glossy, black hair. He surveyed all three of us with cool, confident blue-gray eyes and nodded ever so slightly.
"Holy shit, holy shit," mumbled Jounouchi. "It's Mokuba. Oh holy shit, shit, shit, shit…"
"Mokuba? What...?" I wondered.
"I suppose I should have expected this," "Mokuba" sighed. "I do resemble your friend 'Mokuba' from the past. No, my name is Dante, and I know of a way to return you to your time."
Yuugi brightened considerably at the statement. "Really? Can we go back now?"
Dante lowered his gaze to a clump of thick, tangled weeds at the edge of his desk before replying: "I am sorry, but the answer is no. The path home will be difficult and perilous."
"Heh. We can handle a little danger," answered Jounouchi.
"Can you?" Dante turned to look Jounouchi in the eye. "Can you stand against two centuries of lies and corruption and deceit? Two centuries of greed and jealousy? Two centuries of hate? Can you?"
Jounouchi opened his mouth as though to reply but said nothing, for once at a total loss for words. Dante allowed the silence to last just long enough to become uncomfortable before quietly saying: "Two hundred years ago, the world was finally in perfect peace. Mankind had reached new heights in culture, economy and most of all, technology. Do you know, at that time, robots were so well made; so lifelike people thought they were human. Anything could be done just by the push of a button, or the flip of a switch. Like magic." Dante smiled at the thought.
"The world, the whole world, was united under one, single ruler. The seven Millennium Items were finally locked away, guarded by the ruler, their powers never again to be used or abused. There was no hate; everybody was happy. It really was a magical time."
Dante fell silent, staring off into space as though reminiscing of a time two centuries past until Yuugi quietly prompted: "What happened? Something happened, didn't it, Mo—Dante?"
Dante sighed, as though reluctant to return to the present. His clear, gray-blue eyes clouded with sorrow. "Yes. It happened almost overnight. First came the discovery. It seems that a certain scientist, obsessed with the ancient game of Duel Monsters had discovered or created DNA of nearly every Duel Monster in existence. At the time, science had abandoned the prospect of cloning in favor of a new type of DNA experimentation: merging. This new method of experimentation, coupled with the newly discovered Duel Monster DNA was disastrous. Absolutely horrifying half-human, half-monster mutants were created.
"I suppose Murphy's Law decided to go into effect after that, because mere days after the discovery of the mutants, the one ruler and guardian of the Millennium Items was murdered by his own brother. The world plunged from heaven to hell overnight. Riots broke out; villages burned to ashes…people became desperate. In all the confusion, it was easy for the ruler's murderer to assume power. And so began a worldwide Dark Ages.
"Fanatics formed into cults, worshipping what they believed to be Duel Monster spirits and sacrificing the mutants to the beliefs. Four of the Millennium Items were stolen before the murderer was able to restore any kind of order. Rod was quickly recovered and one of the murderer's descendants recently laid hold of Tauk. Puzzle and Ring remain lost.
"Once order was restored, the murderer built an incredible fortress and protected it with the most technologically advanced security system the world has yet seen. There he lived the remainder of his life, paranoid, terrified of meeting the same fate as his brother. Upon his death, his son worked to fill his father's shoes.
"His son ordered all electrical appliances owned by the common people destroyed, to prevent a breach in the near-impenetrable defenses his father had placed on the fortress. The elimination of electricity for the commoners became an obsession with the new ruler. All found harboring so much as a light bulb were rounded up and publicly executed. In his reign of terror, all technology was effectively destroyed. With all possibility of revolt doomed, the new ruler lived the rest of his life comfortably within the walls of the fortress, as have all his descendants since then."
Dante trailed again, face sorrowful. "So…uh…with all due respect and everything…what does all dis have ta do with us?" Jounouchi queried.
"The newest ruler has put heavy restrictions on magic use. My magic has been so sapped by these new restrictions I am unable to perform even the simplest spells, let alone anything that involves the manipulation of time. The ruler must be dethroned before I am able to perform the magic," answered Dante.
"How can we do that?" I demanded. "How is it possible?"
A dark look flitted across Dante's eyes. "You must kill him."
~Anzu's POV~
Hill House: Attempted Murder?
Local police suspect foul play at Hill HouseDOMINO: After scrupulous investigation, local police have found reason to believe that the explosion that occurred at Hill House two nights ago was a planned murder attempt. It appears a homemade explosive device, found at the site, triggered the blast, which occurred some time between 2:00 and 3:00 am. Also found on the site was the handgun believed to have been used in the shooting of Duelist Kingdom champion Yuugi Mutou. Spare ammunition for the handgun was discovered in the glove department of a car belonging to Katsuya Jounouchi, friend of Mutou and also injured in the blast.
"We have solid evidence to lead us to believe that there has been foul play at work here," states Officer Ryuji Arai, of the Domino city police force. "Further investigative steps will be taken immediately to unravel this tragic mystery."
In tandem with this investigation, police have taken Mai Kujaku, Domino city resident into protective custody in response to reports of a violent break-in at her house early last evening. Kujaku claims to have received an invitation to Hill House, which invited her to a city-sanctioned dueling tournament at the time of the explosion. Police are as yet unsure whether the break-in and the invitation are connected….
I slammed the newspaper onto the table, too shocked to read any further. What in the world is going on here? I wondered to myself as I speed-dialed Honda's phone number. Who would want to kill Yuugi? Or Jounouchi? Or Mai or Ryou or Seto?
One ring…two rings…. Come on, pick up, I silently willed. Three rings…Argh! I've got to talk to somebody about this! I thought. Four rings…five…. Maybe he went to be with Shizuka again….
I was just about to hang up when a tired voice on the other line yawned: "Hello?"
"Honda?"
"Yeah. Anzu?"
"Yes, it's me."
"Why are you calling me at…" (There was a pause and I assumed he was checking his alarm clock.) "6:00 in the morning?"
"I guess you haven't seen the news yet, have you?"
Another yawn from Honda, then: "No. Why? What's up?"
"Honda, they think somebody tried to kill Yuugi and Jounouchi and Ryou and Seto. They think—"
"Well everyone knew that." He yawned again. "Did they catch the bastard?"
"Somebody's after Mai, too. The police just took her into protective custody."
"What?"
"I didn't tell you about this yesterday, but I saw Mai at the hospital. She said somebody had tried to get her to go out to Hill House when it would have exploded."
There was a pause on Honda's end of the line before he replied: "Really?"
"Yes. I—" There was a beeping noise and I groaned, annoyed. "Can you hold on for a second, Honda? There's someone on the other line."
"Yeah, sure."
I switched lines, thinking: That's strange. Who would be trying to call me now? "Hello?"
A deep, rough voice snarled back: "If you value your goddamn worthless life, you'd better stay the hell away from Mai Kujaku, you dumb bitch!"
"Huh? Who is this? Hello?"
"Stay away from Mai Kujaku!" Click.
"Hello? Hello? Hey! Who is this?"
The only answer I received was the cold buzzing of a dial tone.
Author's Notes: There you go! An extra-long chapter for your reading pleasure! Reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. Thanks to KarribuHater59 and Trupana for reviewing!