Puppet
A Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction
Disclaimer: The closest thing I own related to Yu-Gi-Oh! Is a plastic figurine of the Pharaoh himself, sitting on a lego bomb shelter inhabited by blocks made by Amy. That's about it though. If I did own them, I'd give half the cast brains. What I do own is my character Sasha, and Rick her twin who will appear later. Amy owns Skye if she shows up, but it's like my warped version of before Battle City.
Info: In the Neo Gemstone Guardians (my rather cursed attempt of an original novel), Sasha is the Guardian of Darkness. Since darkness is such a vast element, it's hard to narrow it down. In her 'true' form, she's a necromancer, white streaked hair, and a rotting skeletal left arm.
What the hell is a Necromancer? A Necromancer controls the dead. They can raise the dead and make them their zombies. And, in the case of any supernatural beings, when dead, they can take their powers, and use it for themselves. Also, this is going to have lots of character death and gore, so if you're weak at heart ... ehh .... happy trails?
* * *
Part 1
"What are you doing in my house?" I demanded, staring ahead in the desolate hallways of my estate, at the figure before me. It was late, after midnight. The sound of the house settling was the only thing that could be heard. I had been working late (no surprise) on a new program for the areas I was perfecting. The sound of a chair crashing alerted me, and I walked out of the computer lab to see what the hell that was. All I could see was the faint outline of a black trenchcoat. "Answer me!"
The person took a step forward, ignoring me. The temprature dropped, and I refused to let my body shiver. Who the hell was this freak show? I had to give them credit. No one's penetrated my home security system. "Seto Kaiba," she whispered, her tone chillingly cold. It reminded me of the tone I usually held for Yugi and his band of moronic friends. "Your soul ... of the Pharaoh's High Priest .. belongs to me."
My brows furrowed, and I folded my arms. Great. Some critically insane freakshow found their way into my house. I have some serious reprogramming to do in the morning. "Get out of my house."
Her eyes narrowed, I saw then the murderous intent within them. Even better .. she wasn't joking around. "I am not leaving until your soul is mine." Suddenly the cloth covering her left arm dropped, and my eyes widened seeing ... a skeletal arm, from her fingers up to her elbow was .. completely stripped of skin and muscle. The bone was frighteningly covered in black veins. One of my maids stood horrified behind her, following me to see what all the commotion was about. The woman turned and held out the skeletal arm, a black energy surrounding it. The maid was thrown against the wall at terminal velocity, killing her instantly. As she clenched her skeletal fist, I watched on in horror as the maid's spine, skull and cheekbones were ripped with a sickening 'SPLAK' and formed into a sword. "Let me reiterate ... I will not leave until you're dead." Suddenly she lunged at me.
I never saw her face, it was permanently covered in shadows as she slammed the skeletal sword into my chest. I cried out, loud enough to wake the dead, but no one heard. Twisting the 'blade' into me, the moonlight shone from the window, and with the last bit of strength I had, I strained to see her face ---
Cold sweat poured down Seto Kaiba's lithe frame. His entire body was consumed with a shiver that refused to leave. It was that same nightmare. For three weeks now he was tortured with the same vision of a strange female in black. With supernatural powers, a skeletal arm ... and his own death. But the one thing that continued to plague him was her identity. Each time it ended the same way. Moonlight sifting in through the large hallway windows, hitting her face just right, but before his eyes focused on her features, he woke up in a cold sweat.
"Who the hell is she?" he muttered to himself, getting off the bed. With shaky legs he walked to his bathroom and stared long and hard into the mirror. Bags were forming under his eyes, his eyes were empty, his skinny frame surprisingly wasn't attributed to anorexia, though the tabloids frequently suspected he had an eating disorder. Pressing his palms hard against the marble counter of his sink, Seto took a deep breath. "It's just a stupid nightmare," he told himself. "Nothing to get worked up about." Seto was silent for a moment before groaning. "Then why can't I get over it?"
His reflection didn't answer his question. All it did was stare back at him and reiterate how poorly he was taking care of himself. Mokuba constantly pleaded with him to go to bed early, to eat breakfast ... but Seto ignored him. Work ... there was always so much work to be done. The idiots at Kaiba Corporation couldn't handle anything on their own for a second. But his thin body screamed for rest, his head was ravaged with daily migranes, his eyes probably needed to be checked. But there was no time. No ... time ....
Seto took another deep breath and closed his eyes for a long while. Calming his heart, which was pounding thunderously in his chest, he exhaled slowly. He opened his eyes and let out a shout of horror. There, instead of his reflection in the mirror, was the same woman, skeletal arm raised, teeth gleaming, but her head bowed, facial features unknown. Scrambling back, Seto fell back against the wall, clawing against it, as if trying to break it down. A flash of lightning and a roll of thunder destroyed the image, and he was left staring back at his own frightened self.
"Pull yourself together," he ordered himself, and with some effort, pushed himself to his feet. Turning on the tap with the cold water knob, he waited until it was icy cold and splashed a copious amount on his face. "...I'm taking the next week off... n-no, the entire month... I can't ... can't go on like this." Taking a few deep and necessary breaths, Seto wiped his face with a towel and went back to bed. Pressing his face against the expensive linen pillow, he took one final deep breath before closing his eyes.
* * *
Three weeks later
Jounouchi blinked slowly as he and Yugi were sitting on a bench on the sidewalk, people-watching. "Uh, Yuge... do you see what I see?"
Yugi put down his fruit cup and glanced in the direction Jounouchi was pointing. Seto was walking in their direction, dressed in casual clothes except for the dark blue trenchcoat from Duellist Kingdom. "Gosh, he looks horrible," Yugi fretted. "He's probably working too much."
"Who cares? The guy didn't even try to save Gramps! Who cares what happens to him," Jounouchi shrugged, leaning back against the bench. "Probably should buy himself a personality."
Yugi frowned at his friend. "That's a horrible thing to say Jounouchi." He hopped off the bench and walked over to Seto. "Kaiba-san?"
Seto stopped and looked down at Yugi. "...Yugi?"
"Are you alright?" Yugi asked, looking concerned. "You look awful."
Jounouchi expected Seto to respond with a rather mean retort, but instead, got this: "I feel awful...been working too hard." Yugi, surprised at the response, but politely stayed silent, not pushing the matter. Seto ran a hand through his hair, which had grown out a little due to his lack of caring about his appearance.
"...Is something else bothering you?" Yugi asked, looking up at the taller boy. Insomnia was evident in his tired blue eyes, those same eyes that used to be so cold and full of confidence were a shell of their former perserverance.
"...Darkness," was all Seto muttered before walking past Yugi and futher down the sidewalk.
Yugi blinked slowly. "Darkness...?" Seto was already gone before Yugi could question him. 'Yami, what does that mean? Darkness?'
The spirit of the puzzle appeared transparently beside his host. 'From what I could sense, Aibou, something has been troubling his mind. A nightmare...' Yami put his thumb under his chin, his index finger resting on his chin, under his bottom lip. 'It must be very horrible...if it is affecting Kaiba like this.' He looked at Yugi. '...but we cannot intrude on his personal life.' Yugi nodded and sat back down with Jounouchi.
Alleyway
"I'll say this one more time, spirit, get out of my way," she hissed, eyes narrowing. Standing in front of her was the spirit of the Millennium Ring, Bakura. The left side of her otherwise flawless face was ravaged with thick and thin black veins, her hair had thick white streaks, contrasting her raven-black hair. Two face-framing bangs that started at the middle of her forehead and came down were also white, the only other colour on her except black.
"You don't scare me," Bakura sneered, standing his ground. The pointers of his ring were glowing and pointing at the female before him. While he was sure she did not carry any of the seven Millennium items, what intrigued him and made him stay was the overwhelming feeling of darkness that she embodied. "I want to see how strong you are." Smirking, he made conversation. "What do they call you?"
"...Kurayami," she replied, not relaxing her stance. "And I have had just about enough of your pathetic displays." She reached up with her right hand and unclasped a clip that held a wrap of cloth around her left arm.
"Quite an ego you have there," Bakura snickered, folding his arms. "Calling yourself the darkness?"
A slight smirk appeared on her lips. "But you have called yourself that on many occasions. And you have absolutely no idea what the darkness truly is ... you're a mere ... powerless pawn." Letting the cloth slide off, Bakura's eyes widened then narrowed when he saw her skeletal arm. Crackling black energy surrounded the skeletal fist she soon made.
"...That's what you are? A necromancer? And here I thought you were something different," Bakura smirked.
"Better than being an over-confident thief," Kurayami replied evenly. "If you were really so smart and powerful, could you have escaped being sealed in that trinket?" The darkness swirled around her, whispering, hissing, as if it had a mind and spirit of its own. It creeped over to Bakura then suddenly whirled around him, creating a tight bind. Letting out a grunt, Bakura tried to use the powers of the Ring to free himself but only succeeded in making the bind tighter.
"What kind of trickery is this?!" he demanded.
"No trickery...this is the darkness..." she replied, moving her arm and swayed Bakura a little. Suddenly she made a throwing motion with her skeletal arm, throwing Bakura into the brick wall at a vicious speed. Bakura grit his teeth and refused to make a sound, even if he heard bones snap sickeningly in his arm and leg. Usually such a cheap tactic wouldn't hurt him, but the darkness coursed through his host's body, making him virtually defenceless. He slowly felt his body lose strength, and this Kurayami wasn't even breaking a sweat. She raised him up high, and as she walked away, picking up the black cloth, dropped Bakura from the height of 5 stories to the cracked, uprooted concrete road. "...Pathetic."
As she walked out of the alley, her appearance suddenly changed, from the chilling rendition of darkness, to a normal looking teenage girl, dressed in black pants with a zipper that went all the way up both legs, a black tank top, a spiked wristband on her left wrist, thick black boots, and a silver chain with a black crystal was around her neck. The veins had vanished from her face, a mocha colour skintone, and her left arm was normal. Her hair was black, and her bangs were now blonde, her eyes no longer devoid of emotion, but a deep hazel brown. Walking down the sidewalk, she smirked slightly seeing Seto walk down the street, visibly shaken by the nightmare she tormented him with for the past six weeks.
(Perfect...) Putting on a perfectly convincing normal expression, hiding the intention deep within her eyes, she began walking the opposite direction of Seto, purposely elbowing him in the gut.
"Ugh!" Seto grunted, as she elbowed him particularily hard. "What did you--" His eyes widened for a moment when she turned around, for a brief second, saw the distorted, demon-like face of the woman that attacked him in his dreams. Letting out a shout of horror, he backed up quickly and hit his head rather hard on the metal pole behind him. Falling to a crumpled heap on the sidewalk, she put a hand to her mouth and knelt beside him.
"Are you all right?" she asked, the perfect tone of concern in her voice. He made a frightened sound and looked up at her. "I don't look that bad, do I?" Blinking, Seto realized he had just made a fool out of himself to a complete stranger. "Come on, let me help you up." Taking his hand, she pulled him up. "I'm Sasha."
Seto, now feeling completely ridiculous, refused to make eye contact. "...Seto Kaiba." Why he had to give his full name, he wasn't sure. Wait--everyone knew who he was. Why didn't she say anything? "Do you want something?"
She gave a little smile, one that on the surface looked innocent. "Nothing that concerns you." Putting her hands in her pockets, she continued on her way down the sidewalk. (This is working better than I expected. One little nightmare's completely shaken him. Pity... I wanted to extend it a bit longer. Hm...perhaps if I get closer to him ... ) Snickering, she remembered his competitive nature. (I'm almost disappointed. His spirit was as fierce as the dragons he loves so much. Now he's about as intimidating as a brittle leaf. Then again .. ) She frowned, (his spirit's been broken by two defeats.) and ran a hand through her hair. ( ... For this to be fun, he needs to have it back.)
Looking at a digital clock in a store window, she noticed it was October 25th. Six days and it would be Halloween. Looking at a skull ring on her right middle finger, she murmured, "I promise you much death, Yorick..." and chuckled.
=TBC=
Author's notes: So .. yay or nay? Reviews would be much appreciated. Also, pity for Seto is acceptable. XD;
Yami Bakura: (my replacement muse) Cheh. Just wait for later. *waves hand* He'll need the pity and sympathy then. =D
A Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction
Disclaimer: The closest thing I own related to Yu-Gi-Oh! Is a plastic figurine of the Pharaoh himself, sitting on a lego bomb shelter inhabited by blocks made by Amy. That's about it though. If I did own them, I'd give half the cast brains. What I do own is my character Sasha, and Rick her twin who will appear later. Amy owns Skye if she shows up, but it's like my warped version of before Battle City.
Info: In the Neo Gemstone Guardians (my rather cursed attempt of an original novel), Sasha is the Guardian of Darkness. Since darkness is such a vast element, it's hard to narrow it down. In her 'true' form, she's a necromancer, white streaked hair, and a rotting skeletal left arm.
What the hell is a Necromancer? A Necromancer controls the dead. They can raise the dead and make them their zombies. And, in the case of any supernatural beings, when dead, they can take their powers, and use it for themselves. Also, this is going to have lots of character death and gore, so if you're weak at heart ... ehh .... happy trails?
* * *
Part 1
"What are you doing in my house?" I demanded, staring ahead in the desolate hallways of my estate, at the figure before me. It was late, after midnight. The sound of the house settling was the only thing that could be heard. I had been working late (no surprise) on a new program for the areas I was perfecting. The sound of a chair crashing alerted me, and I walked out of the computer lab to see what the hell that was. All I could see was the faint outline of a black trenchcoat. "Answer me!"
The person took a step forward, ignoring me. The temprature dropped, and I refused to let my body shiver. Who the hell was this freak show? I had to give them credit. No one's penetrated my home security system. "Seto Kaiba," she whispered, her tone chillingly cold. It reminded me of the tone I usually held for Yugi and his band of moronic friends. "Your soul ... of the Pharaoh's High Priest .. belongs to me."
My brows furrowed, and I folded my arms. Great. Some critically insane freakshow found their way into my house. I have some serious reprogramming to do in the morning. "Get out of my house."
Her eyes narrowed, I saw then the murderous intent within them. Even better .. she wasn't joking around. "I am not leaving until your soul is mine." Suddenly the cloth covering her left arm dropped, and my eyes widened seeing ... a skeletal arm, from her fingers up to her elbow was .. completely stripped of skin and muscle. The bone was frighteningly covered in black veins. One of my maids stood horrified behind her, following me to see what all the commotion was about. The woman turned and held out the skeletal arm, a black energy surrounding it. The maid was thrown against the wall at terminal velocity, killing her instantly. As she clenched her skeletal fist, I watched on in horror as the maid's spine, skull and cheekbones were ripped with a sickening 'SPLAK' and formed into a sword. "Let me reiterate ... I will not leave until you're dead." Suddenly she lunged at me.
I never saw her face, it was permanently covered in shadows as she slammed the skeletal sword into my chest. I cried out, loud enough to wake the dead, but no one heard. Twisting the 'blade' into me, the moonlight shone from the window, and with the last bit of strength I had, I strained to see her face ---
Cold sweat poured down Seto Kaiba's lithe frame. His entire body was consumed with a shiver that refused to leave. It was that same nightmare. For three weeks now he was tortured with the same vision of a strange female in black. With supernatural powers, a skeletal arm ... and his own death. But the one thing that continued to plague him was her identity. Each time it ended the same way. Moonlight sifting in through the large hallway windows, hitting her face just right, but before his eyes focused on her features, he woke up in a cold sweat.
"Who the hell is she?" he muttered to himself, getting off the bed. With shaky legs he walked to his bathroom and stared long and hard into the mirror. Bags were forming under his eyes, his eyes were empty, his skinny frame surprisingly wasn't attributed to anorexia, though the tabloids frequently suspected he had an eating disorder. Pressing his palms hard against the marble counter of his sink, Seto took a deep breath. "It's just a stupid nightmare," he told himself. "Nothing to get worked up about." Seto was silent for a moment before groaning. "Then why can't I get over it?"
His reflection didn't answer his question. All it did was stare back at him and reiterate how poorly he was taking care of himself. Mokuba constantly pleaded with him to go to bed early, to eat breakfast ... but Seto ignored him. Work ... there was always so much work to be done. The idiots at Kaiba Corporation couldn't handle anything on their own for a second. But his thin body screamed for rest, his head was ravaged with daily migranes, his eyes probably needed to be checked. But there was no time. No ... time ....
Seto took another deep breath and closed his eyes for a long while. Calming his heart, which was pounding thunderously in his chest, he exhaled slowly. He opened his eyes and let out a shout of horror. There, instead of his reflection in the mirror, was the same woman, skeletal arm raised, teeth gleaming, but her head bowed, facial features unknown. Scrambling back, Seto fell back against the wall, clawing against it, as if trying to break it down. A flash of lightning and a roll of thunder destroyed the image, and he was left staring back at his own frightened self.
"Pull yourself together," he ordered himself, and with some effort, pushed himself to his feet. Turning on the tap with the cold water knob, he waited until it was icy cold and splashed a copious amount on his face. "...I'm taking the next week off... n-no, the entire month... I can't ... can't go on like this." Taking a few deep and necessary breaths, Seto wiped his face with a towel and went back to bed. Pressing his face against the expensive linen pillow, he took one final deep breath before closing his eyes.
* * *
Three weeks later
Jounouchi blinked slowly as he and Yugi were sitting on a bench on the sidewalk, people-watching. "Uh, Yuge... do you see what I see?"
Yugi put down his fruit cup and glanced in the direction Jounouchi was pointing. Seto was walking in their direction, dressed in casual clothes except for the dark blue trenchcoat from Duellist Kingdom. "Gosh, he looks horrible," Yugi fretted. "He's probably working too much."
"Who cares? The guy didn't even try to save Gramps! Who cares what happens to him," Jounouchi shrugged, leaning back against the bench. "Probably should buy himself a personality."
Yugi frowned at his friend. "That's a horrible thing to say Jounouchi." He hopped off the bench and walked over to Seto. "Kaiba-san?"
Seto stopped and looked down at Yugi. "...Yugi?"
"Are you alright?" Yugi asked, looking concerned. "You look awful."
Jounouchi expected Seto to respond with a rather mean retort, but instead, got this: "I feel awful...been working too hard." Yugi, surprised at the response, but politely stayed silent, not pushing the matter. Seto ran a hand through his hair, which had grown out a little due to his lack of caring about his appearance.
"...Is something else bothering you?" Yugi asked, looking up at the taller boy. Insomnia was evident in his tired blue eyes, those same eyes that used to be so cold and full of confidence were a shell of their former perserverance.
"...Darkness," was all Seto muttered before walking past Yugi and futher down the sidewalk.
Yugi blinked slowly. "Darkness...?" Seto was already gone before Yugi could question him. 'Yami, what does that mean? Darkness?'
The spirit of the puzzle appeared transparently beside his host. 'From what I could sense, Aibou, something has been troubling his mind. A nightmare...' Yami put his thumb under his chin, his index finger resting on his chin, under his bottom lip. 'It must be very horrible...if it is affecting Kaiba like this.' He looked at Yugi. '...but we cannot intrude on his personal life.' Yugi nodded and sat back down with Jounouchi.
Alleyway
"I'll say this one more time, spirit, get out of my way," she hissed, eyes narrowing. Standing in front of her was the spirit of the Millennium Ring, Bakura. The left side of her otherwise flawless face was ravaged with thick and thin black veins, her hair had thick white streaks, contrasting her raven-black hair. Two face-framing bangs that started at the middle of her forehead and came down were also white, the only other colour on her except black.
"You don't scare me," Bakura sneered, standing his ground. The pointers of his ring were glowing and pointing at the female before him. While he was sure she did not carry any of the seven Millennium items, what intrigued him and made him stay was the overwhelming feeling of darkness that she embodied. "I want to see how strong you are." Smirking, he made conversation. "What do they call you?"
"...Kurayami," she replied, not relaxing her stance. "And I have had just about enough of your pathetic displays." She reached up with her right hand and unclasped a clip that held a wrap of cloth around her left arm.
"Quite an ego you have there," Bakura snickered, folding his arms. "Calling yourself the darkness?"
A slight smirk appeared on her lips. "But you have called yourself that on many occasions. And you have absolutely no idea what the darkness truly is ... you're a mere ... powerless pawn." Letting the cloth slide off, Bakura's eyes widened then narrowed when he saw her skeletal arm. Crackling black energy surrounded the skeletal fist she soon made.
"...That's what you are? A necromancer? And here I thought you were something different," Bakura smirked.
"Better than being an over-confident thief," Kurayami replied evenly. "If you were really so smart and powerful, could you have escaped being sealed in that trinket?" The darkness swirled around her, whispering, hissing, as if it had a mind and spirit of its own. It creeped over to Bakura then suddenly whirled around him, creating a tight bind. Letting out a grunt, Bakura tried to use the powers of the Ring to free himself but only succeeded in making the bind tighter.
"What kind of trickery is this?!" he demanded.
"No trickery...this is the darkness..." she replied, moving her arm and swayed Bakura a little. Suddenly she made a throwing motion with her skeletal arm, throwing Bakura into the brick wall at a vicious speed. Bakura grit his teeth and refused to make a sound, even if he heard bones snap sickeningly in his arm and leg. Usually such a cheap tactic wouldn't hurt him, but the darkness coursed through his host's body, making him virtually defenceless. He slowly felt his body lose strength, and this Kurayami wasn't even breaking a sweat. She raised him up high, and as she walked away, picking up the black cloth, dropped Bakura from the height of 5 stories to the cracked, uprooted concrete road. "...Pathetic."
As she walked out of the alley, her appearance suddenly changed, from the chilling rendition of darkness, to a normal looking teenage girl, dressed in black pants with a zipper that went all the way up both legs, a black tank top, a spiked wristband on her left wrist, thick black boots, and a silver chain with a black crystal was around her neck. The veins had vanished from her face, a mocha colour skintone, and her left arm was normal. Her hair was black, and her bangs were now blonde, her eyes no longer devoid of emotion, but a deep hazel brown. Walking down the sidewalk, she smirked slightly seeing Seto walk down the street, visibly shaken by the nightmare she tormented him with for the past six weeks.
(Perfect...) Putting on a perfectly convincing normal expression, hiding the intention deep within her eyes, she began walking the opposite direction of Seto, purposely elbowing him in the gut.
"Ugh!" Seto grunted, as she elbowed him particularily hard. "What did you--" His eyes widened for a moment when she turned around, for a brief second, saw the distorted, demon-like face of the woman that attacked him in his dreams. Letting out a shout of horror, he backed up quickly and hit his head rather hard on the metal pole behind him. Falling to a crumpled heap on the sidewalk, she put a hand to her mouth and knelt beside him.
"Are you all right?" she asked, the perfect tone of concern in her voice. He made a frightened sound and looked up at her. "I don't look that bad, do I?" Blinking, Seto realized he had just made a fool out of himself to a complete stranger. "Come on, let me help you up." Taking his hand, she pulled him up. "I'm Sasha."
Seto, now feeling completely ridiculous, refused to make eye contact. "...Seto Kaiba." Why he had to give his full name, he wasn't sure. Wait--everyone knew who he was. Why didn't she say anything? "Do you want something?"
She gave a little smile, one that on the surface looked innocent. "Nothing that concerns you." Putting her hands in her pockets, she continued on her way down the sidewalk. (This is working better than I expected. One little nightmare's completely shaken him. Pity... I wanted to extend it a bit longer. Hm...perhaps if I get closer to him ... ) Snickering, she remembered his competitive nature. (I'm almost disappointed. His spirit was as fierce as the dragons he loves so much. Now he's about as intimidating as a brittle leaf. Then again .. ) She frowned, (his spirit's been broken by two defeats.) and ran a hand through her hair. ( ... For this to be fun, he needs to have it back.)
Looking at a digital clock in a store window, she noticed it was October 25th. Six days and it would be Halloween. Looking at a skull ring on her right middle finger, she murmured, "I promise you much death, Yorick..." and chuckled.
=TBC=
Author's notes: So .. yay or nay? Reviews would be much appreciated. Also, pity for Seto is acceptable. XD;
Yami Bakura: (my replacement muse) Cheh. Just wait for later. *waves hand* He'll need the pity and sympathy then. =D