Chapter 8. God of the Dead and the Widowers


The little boy loved his parents. He loved his grandfather too, and wished that he could see him more often, since he was always out of the country, but not the way that he wound up doing so. It was raining. The water turned the road into black satin that gleamed as it was brushed with headlights. The other car came. The family looked in shock as the mini van swerved and bounced raciously toward them, on the wrong side of the road. The man stayed his course although his wife pleaded that they wouldn't get the message. A young man leaned out the passenger side window, yelling something incomprehensible as he shook his fist, beer from the bottle in his hand sprinkling the satin road and disturbing the sheer beauty of it's gleam. The woman screamed again and the man finally began to turn the wheel into the next lane. The wheels tried to turn and the car skidded sideways. The boy hadn't been wearing his seat belt. He smashed threw the side window and rolled unto the untrimmed median, his fall padded by grass, though he did skin his knee on landing, was bruised where he rolled, and the window tore cuts all over his body, he was fortunate. The cars met in a burst of fire and light. The ambulance came, they always do. His grandfather was contacted. He met them at the hospital, and convinced them to let him explain what happened.
You need to be grateful for what you have. You're alright. That's what's important. You're alright.
Where's my parents?
Sometimes... sometimes people we love have to go away. We don't expect it but sometimes they just go.
Will they come back?
No, they won't. Not in their bodies. They're broken. But we'll meet them again. They won't come to see us, but we'll come and see them again one day.

We can't tell. But we don't need to worry about them, they're alright now. They aren't hurting anymore.
Can I see them before then?
Well, you can see what they left behind. Remember they're broken, and what you will see they've left behind.
Like the time you left all your socks in Egypt?
Yes, like my socks. They entered the clean white room. The grandfather saw his daughter and the boy saw his mother. They both saw death.
Sir, you can't come in here, you can't bring him in here! Cried the nurse, trying to shoo off the boy before he saw what he already did. The boy buried his face into his grandfather, and the grandfather picked him up. He turned away, the boy sobbing in his arms. He thought of his daughter's wedding, where he stood and said proudly, lose a daughter, gain a son as he walked away with his grandson in his arms. He never thought of it that way, never losing his daughter the way he just did, never taking away her son. Lose a daughter, gain a son.
What are we going to do now, grandpa?
I don't know. I'll stop traveling. Maybe I'll open a game shop or something. The grandson buried his face in his grandfather's neck. The woman lay dead in the hospital bed with her husband near her, and seven years later, the girl lay on the floor of the club, pale and dead and looking strangely like the mother. Near her, the boy twitched, not looking much older or taller.
The mother's face- the girl's- the shine of the road- of the comb-
Screamed Téa, pulling him away from Neko's body.
Wha- ah! Cried Yugi, waking from the dream, seeing his mother's face superimposed onto Neko's for a moment. He turned his head away from Téa and dropped unto his hands and retched. Suddenly a voice broke the shock around Neko's body.
She- she broke the contract... I have lost her strength.. I need more.. and the body.. I'll need that too... Pegasus looked up. I'll need it all... He turned to Téa, You always annoyed me... you state the obvious too much.. you'll be first...
You're going to steal my soul?! She gasped.
What did I just say? He hissed, pulling his hair out of his face. Téa cried out and there was a blacklight-like flash, and her eyes went blank. A card flew out of Yugi's deck and Pegasus caught it.
Hmm.. Magician of Faith. No accounting for taste...
Yelled Tristan, What did you do to her, you- again with the inversion of colors and this time, because of his momentum, Tristan's body fell on it's face. Yugi was simply losing control of his cards. Another flew out of his deck and was caught by Pegasus.
Cyber Commander... next?
Hey! Leave em alone! They don't even duel!
You mean I should get a duelist? Well, as you suggested it... Joey turned on his toe but only made one step towards Yugi before his eyes went blank and he too, fell. A card flew out of his pocket. Joey's angry eyes shone out from the Flame Swordsman card.
You- should've seen this coming, Angelie! Cried Angelie, scolding herself for calling attention to her. Again the eye took a soul. Angelie's Marie the Fallen One flew out of her deck, only the image was a bit different. The Angel was female with poofy white hair and was knocking herself in the head, feeling like a royal idiot.
Called Bakura, Whichever of us is next, the other must promise to save the rest of us!'

Promise me, Yugi!
Anyone else? Asked Pegasus. Ah.. Bakura...
Oh, dear. And there went Puppetmaster. Baruka's empty vessel fell to the ground.
You may have destroyed the rest of us, but I will not be defeated so easily!
I picked your little friends off like flies, didn't I? Doesn't that infuriate you? With bitter tears in his eyes, Yugi called upon his last assistance, Yami.
Seeing as you've killed or stolen the souls of all the other competitors, I have no choice but to confront you directly!
That was my plan all along! That fool who gave Mau the three rings was working for me! I wanted her to gain entry to the finals before your memory and your conscience caught up with you. She posed the perfect opportunity for me to get the power that I needed! Laughed Pegasus. However, I cannot duel you now. I have other business.
Screamed Yugi. Croquet entered and picked though the soulless bodies until he came to Neko.
Shall I move this one to the decided place?
Of course.
...Um, sir, she's cold. Is she-
It changes nothing! Keep with the plan. Croquet picked up Neko and faced the rest.
Stand, duelists. The soulless vessels shuffled to their feet.
Follow me. Said Croquet, turning back down the door he came from.
I'll meet you in the basement. Bring the girl. Said Pegasus, collecting the ring and the chime. As he reached for the comb, it burst into light. Mau bent her head forward with a loud crack and leapt down from Croquet's arms.
None of you will do anything to Neko. If needed I shall slay each of you to protect what's left of her.
Violence is not the answer! Protested Yugi.
It depends on the question.
You talk awfully big... Muttered Pegasus, as Croquet came up behind her, For a hairpiece. The servant pulled out the comb, and as her hair fell into her face, turning back to pure black, she fell like a puppet with cut strings. Collecting her again, the two left with the spoils of war. One millennium item, two not-millennium items, one corpse, five souls, and five vessels. As the final vessel, Bakura, passed, Yugi fell to his knees.
I will save everyone, I promise, but... he shuddered, Yami looking on,

Neko covered her head with her arms less the bird claw out her eyes. But it simply landed by her, on a tombstone, and looked directly at her. That was her face, without a doubt, no one else's not even Mau's, but there was something else behind her eyes that made it specifically not Neko.
Said the bird with Neko's voice, and it flew off again.

The room was dark. The only light came from the candles. Sixteen pillar candles made a square, each in pairs of two at the corners and midpoints. In The northern corner, they where blood red, north-west midpoint had orange, west yellow, south-west green, south blue, south east purple, east hematite black and north east pearl white. Bending to each of the pillars to make a star, lines of alternating black and white tea lights gave the room weak and changing light which bouncing flickering on a painting framed by the red and yellow candles. The same painting which graced nearly every wall of this place. Across from it was a winged chair with a clothes horse next to it. On it was a pink dress with a blue bow at the collar. Pegasus and Croquet came slowly down the stairs.

Give her to me and leave this place. It is better you do not see this.
I think I could handle-
I don't. Give her to me. Croquet put the dead girl in his master's arms and climbed the stairs out of the darkness. Pegasus put her in he chair and knelt by her. After a moment, he touched one of her boots, and pulled it off of her foot. She was like a giant doll as he undressed her, taking her bloody crepe clothes and pulling the kris out of her head. He wiped off the blood and folded it back into the comb and wiped the last blood off of her corpse. He brushed out her long black hair and fixed it to curl slightly in the front. He then took his wife's old dress off of the frame and slid the giant cold doll into it and the little white boots with silver buttons. Neko was layed in the center of the candles, on her back with her arms at her sides. He poured two goblets of wine and set them aside for later consumption. The comb was set in front of the orange candle, the chime before the green, Pegasus himself knelt before the purple, the ring before the black. The cards where layed upon Neko, Marie the Fallen One upon her forehead, because Angelie thought with her head, and for similar reasons, Puppetmaster was put over her mouth, Magician of Faith was layed on her heart, Flame Swordsman on her belly, and Cyber Commander on her pelvis. Pegasus raised his hands and shuddered with the energy.
Cecilia! Hear me! Return! Return to she who killed you! Items, souls! Hear me! Draw back! Draw back who was taken! I am your new lord! Obey me! Wind swirled in this little room, and Pegasus had to laugh, laugh to keep from crying as rather than blowing out, the candles burned higher and the sound of souls and spirits screaming in protest as they worked this crime against nature.
And empty eyes opened.

Neko kept her eyes up, lest she lose sight of the bird. She ran and ran until she tripped over one of the tombstones and landed on her face. She turned it up slowly to see what the bird had sought.

Yami had stopped talking after he had finished screaming. Yugi didn't blame him. He couldn't talk either. He just sat on the ground were Neko was a minute ago, when she fell, and stared at the three drops of blood, the only other sign of life or death in this room. He couldn't look anywhere else. He couldn't look at the arena from which she fell, because he saw her again when the blast hit, falling, falling down to where he was now. He couldn't look at the sides where his friends stood and watched and gasped for Neko, he could not look behind him where he fainted and dreamed his parent's death. He was alone. Save Yami. Yami was always there, but now he was in a state little better than Yugi.
Oh, Yugi-boy.. Called his enemy softly. Yugi twisted his head to him, fury and pain in his large round eyes, which switched to pure horror when his head was turned. Neko was dead. He had touched her. He knew. As slow as he accepted it, he was less wont to accept anything else. But there she was, so to speak. It wasn't Neko, but her body as used to create it. It was lovely and a monstrosity all in one. Maximilian Pegasus stood tall in his red suit with his silver hair parted neatly across it, but he was no longer alone. Part of it, perhaps, was once part of Neko, but as much as it looked like Neko, it was not her. The creature in the pink dress with the blue bow on it had a face that was once Neko's, but no longer. It was even paler than her. The hair was different. And the eyes.. they where gray and empty. There was no soul in there.The skin was sallow and cold. That was a corpse. A walking corpse. And wasn't today weird enough... Yami finds his wife, one of Yugi's friends is killed and the rest have their souls stolen... and now a zombie. A zombie that was not Neko. And wasn't Cecilia, even if Pegasus thought it was. Even if Pegasus needed her enough that anyone could become her, with no sign. This girl was dead. This girl was no one. It that what he needed all of his friends for? Is this why he needed to steal their souls, and kill Neko... he killed Neko... He Killed Her.
Oh, my god... Shuddered Yugi. ...you killed Neko...
Yugi looked around, grabbed Censor Kid by the scruff of the neck, and clapped his hands to his ears.
You bastard!
Tut-tut, is such language necessary? It was tempting to scream a string of profanities until censor kid heard each forbidden word the language knew.
How could you put your wife above the lives of five other people?
That's love, Yugi boy. Yami can explain it to you.
That's obsession, Pegasus. Any drug addict can explain it to you.
Yugi-khon, have I introduced you to my wife?
You call that zombie a wife?! Spat Yugi. Pegasus took it's chin in his hand and made it face him.
Are you going to let him call you that? Face still blank, the flesh puppet broke off of his arm and walked down to Yugi. Chiffon shook and broke like waves as it walked down to stand by him and let him look into it's blank eyes.

The man behind the table had pitch black skin. He wore a long cloak with a hood over his face and a linen kilt, and the Neko-headed bird perched on his arm. Below the table was a beast that looked half crocodile and half hippopotamus. On the table was nothing but a feather and golden scales. As Neko began to stand, he took down his hood and let beaded braids fly in the still air. Neko screamed. This man had a jackal's head.
=^-,-^= Anubis says: Hi Neko!

You are completely alone, Yugi. all of your friends are gone and all that we have to show for it is a few empty vessels and my beautiful wife.
They'll never really leave me... as long as I love them, my friends will never really be gone!
How after-school special.
=^-,-^=He's just staying in character.

Hello, Ba-chan. No need to be frightened, I'm only a god of death.
Only, he says. Muttered Neko's Ka, flying over to her other part. She perched on Neko's arm like a falcon and gave Anubis a very bird-like look. Only the god of death.

This woman is no one but my own, Yugi, your friend is completely gone, all of your friends are gone!
Yami is still here. Yami will always stay with me...
Until someone else takes the Millennium puzzle.
That won't happen! After everyone else has been taken, Yami will stay! I'll die before I give up the puzzle!
Not much of a threat at this point, Yugi. I'm becoming surprisingly hardened considering what a lover-boy I am.
Oh, you noticed! And here I thought I was imagining that you were apparently psychotic!
Do I note a hint of sarcasm, Yugi-boy?
Blame it on Angelie.
But I just sealed her soul into a card! She's not here to blame it on!
SO? No much of this makes much sense!
Well it does if you are insane...
Well, good for you, what about the rest of us?
I thought I'd effectively killed the rest of you and that was the problem.

When I brought my love back to life, it took the power of the four souls to seal hers into her. Your friends are trapped until she dies of unnatural causes... He fell to his knees to admire his work.
And Ill never let that happen. She's mine, and I'll never let anyone hurt her. Not again. He laughed and propped his chin on his hands. I am so clever, aren't I? I made sure the one who did it last time can't get her, because she is her! He he...
They didn't get a chance to fight for themselves! You just attacked without warning!
Hmm, seems so. Your point?
I want to fight for them! I'll duel you! You can't take lives like this!
Then how should I take them? And you want to duel? Fine, but we'll do it my way... we'll play a new game... I designed this one too... it's called Let's Not Get Trapped in the Shadow Realm! He lightly tossed his hair away to clear a shot with his eye. Yugi leapt away before he got caught. He dashed behind the arena and called upon his last ally.
What, is this the Superman in a phone booth bit?
You'll pay for what you did to Mau, and to all of my friends.
You mean the midget patrol? Now, now, why do you want to make me pay?
Because you killed Neko and stole the souls of Joey, Tristan, Téa, Bakura and even Angelie! Angelie never even looked at you!
Yes, but she was annoying, I needed another soul, that of a young woman. It was quite fortunate she made top four, isn't it?
Not for Angelie. He stepped out from behind the platform. Or for you. A beam of light came out of the puzzle and hit Pegasus in the chest, and he flew back. He stood shakily and grinned far too widely, too thinly, with pupils far too small. He laughed madly.
Do you think... He laughed, I choose her vessel randomly? And could you think of a better vessel for my wife's spirit then the one who murdered her?

You flatter me. Said Anubis. Well, let's begin. May I have you heart, please?
Said Neko.
You heard me, now I need to weigh it. Where is your heart?
Well... I've always been told it's in the right place...
You mean it's still in your chest?
Of course it is, where else would it be? Anubis sighed deeply and muttered, I hate having to do this myself... Pulling down the front of her chemise with one finger. When it was as low as her breasts, he lay his palm flat on her chest and bent his fingers into her flesh. Neko's face contorted with pain and she screamed as if to fill the entire shadow realm.

What do you mean? Both Neko and Mau are many things, but murderesses aren't among them!
Oh, they are! She killed her! She stabbed her three times in the gut! You could ask your whore-- oh wait, I already killed her, didn't I?
No! You didn't put the knife into her skull... that was... that was.. Mau's knife... Mau killed her! Mau killed her to escape you! But-
If she killed her, that kinda ruins your she's not a murderess' bit, doesn't it?
Even if she did, vengeance is useless, it leaves you empty... empty as the eyes of this thing you claim is your wife! Yami took her head in his hand.
Now I ask you, Pegasus, do you see your wife in there? The puppet did not protest,but sat there blandly. Seeing her empty eyes, Pegasus flinched.
My love! Don't let him touch you! And the puppet grabbed Yami's neck in one hand and took his feet from the ground.
He choked, his leather-clad toes searching for the ground.
..sona a get, maranuko kinyaophet... He gasped, his feet becoming more desperate.
I'm sorry. Said a voice that sounded like all those who fell to create this talking at once. I don't speak Egyptian. His feet stopped. Yugi closed his eyes but the puppet just stared at his face. Suddenly the eyes where open again.
We are the same... widowers.. and our wives kill. No! Cecilia would never harm anything! That isn't her! That isn't real! The puppet dropped Yugi in a heap and he gasped for air, taking off his choker and massaging his throat.
You lost the cardless duel, Pegasus. She is gone. As Pegasus looked at what he knew was not his wife, it fell to the ground with four blue specters whirling around her as if they did not know where to go. They figured it out before what was again just Neko's corpse hit the ground and returned to the appropriate bodies. Shortly, cards (and items) in hand, the four stumbled up the staircase.
Someone feel like bringing me up to speed again?
Nice to know I'm not the only moron.
Just the constant one.
Oh, just shut up for once, Angel-face.
I did it! You guys are alright! Cried Yugi, tears in his eyes.
You saved us? Are you serious? You? Midget boy? Asked Angelie. Yugi turned slowly to Neko.
Most of you...

Neko was on her hands and knees panting with pain as Anubis weighed her heart against the feather. Her heart, heavy with Mau's sins, dropped like a rock.
That's odd. It's usually multiple murders who are this guilty. Oh, well, that's the system for you. This thing's going to have to eat her now. He said, indicating the hippodile and the ka.
What happens when that happens?
You become unable to reincarnate and have to wander the shadow realm an eternity alone. You look strange. Were you not excepting to meet up with ol' Anubis when the time came?
I didn't expect anything! I'm an atheist!
Let me get this strait- you're nose to cold wet nose with a god and you're an atheist?


Neko was still very much dead, and still pink. They had layed her on a table and Pegasus had disappeared. In the formal dress with her hands folded over her chest, with the solemn air, it felt very much like a funeral.
Yugi, we did everything we could, but we can't change the basic ways this world functions. People die. Some just die sooner then we expected. It is the definition of mortality, which certainly beats the alternative. Trust me, I know.
Lovely eulogy, Yami.
Yugi fell to one knee and then the other before her. He bowed his head and shudder, Neko... consider yourself avenged. Tears flowed freely.
I only knew you long enough to know two things... He said softly. One, you could help me learn more about myself the way Mau taught Yami about himself, and two, He shuddered with tears, That you where my friend...

Well, I'm sorry, Neko, but the scales don't lie. Anubis snapped his fingers and the eater of souls knocked over the table to get to the Ka. Neko grabbed it and ran past the tombstones in a panic, knowing that death literally was at her heels.
Anubis passed judgment, we cannot stop it, let me be eaten! Pleaded the Neko-headed falcon.
She cried, and as she turned her head to yell at her ka, she missed a stone and caught her toe on it, landing face-first in graveyard dust. She turned her head and saw the creature caught up with her, and like any self-respecting horror movie heroine, she screamed.

Why are you all crying? Asked Oni, creeping out of the shadows.
No, not you... not now.. leave us alone, just for once... Sobbed Yugi. Oni calmly joined him at Neko's side.
What seems to be the problem with this lovely vessel?
What is the problem? What is the problem? Well, she's DEAD! Oni cocked his head.
Is that all?
That enough. Sniffed Joey. Oni rolled his eyes and muttered, Angelie, you didn't even think of the obvious solution? He sighed at the stupidity of everyone around him and drew a card.
Reborn the Monster! He cried, a vial forming above the corpse. The ribbons coming from the top wrapped around her and she screamed. She was half-lifted from the table as if suspended by her breasts and fell back limply as a rag doll. Neko cleared her eyes, blinking again and again at this strange light. She sat up and moaned gently, putting her head in her hand, eyes wide.
Wasn't I dead a minute ago?