Sakakku
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Notes: Marik was the one who created the Shadow-ball, as I call it, but it wasn't entirely of his own will. If you reread the last chapter, it was an involuntary reaction triggered by his anger.
I have re-uploaded all the earlier chapters, deleting unnecessary author's notes, fixing random mistakes, and changing the paragraph breaks to this uniform style. I seriously hope it works this time.
Wow, was it just me or did YuGiOh: The Movie totally support this story with the Summonings? Not to mention the Millennium Puzzle, which will come up in a few chapters. Awesome!
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Chapter 30
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"Where are we?" Serenity wondered aloud.
Yugi glanced from side to side, up and down.
"Someplace big, dark, gloomy, full of shadows, and we can't get out until we 'come to terms with ourself', whatever that means," he recited, shrugging. When she looked at him doubtfully, he broke into a grin.
"We'll just have to see what comes up and make the best of it," Yugi shrugged.
" 'See'," she repeated, smiling. "I can finally see again." She glanced around the darkness: "Although I must admit, this isn't what I usually dreamed about," she quoted ironically.
Suddenly the darkness rolled away. She and Yugi- they were still holding hands, she dimly realized- were hovering above a beach. A broad expanse of whitegold sand stretched out as far as they could see in either direction. The sea was glassy and green, and the sky glimmered brilliant blue above it. A seagull swooped by, followed by a hundred more birds wheeling amidst the warm air. Out in the distance, a dolphin broke the surface of the water, floating in a graceful arc before sliding seamlessly back into the sea. Two laughing children splashed in the surf, chasing each other in and out of the waves.
While Serenity stared, open-mouthed, Yugi started laughing. "Is this more what you dreamed about?" he asked teasingly.
"Now that you mention it…" she said slowly. "It's exactly what I dreamed about. This is so familiar… it's almost like a-"
As she said "memory", abruptly the focus of the vision zoomed in closer and the two smiling children came into sharp focus. Serenity gave an audible gasp, and Yugi's grip on her hand tightened.
"Got you, big brother!" Serenity cried ecstatically as she splashed a blonde boy with boyish, laughing features.
"Hey! Hey! I give, I give!" Joey protested as he mockingly held his hands up. When she hesitated, he scooped up water and threw it onto her face and took off running through the surf, laughing hysterically.
"Jo-oey!" Serenity hollered, chasing after him.
"I think I get it now," Yugi said suddenly, his face lighting up. "We're going to revisit things from our past that had an effect on who we are today. So- you know- we can come to terms with ourself."
"Oh," Serenity said uncertainly, smiling down on the scene. "I guess I understand."
As if on cue, the mist swirled again. A younger Serenity and Joey, still, walking together hand-in-hand. Yugi had to smile at the sight: both children wore backpacks and a serious expression.
"My first day of school ever," Serenity explained fondly. "That was when mom and dad were together, and Joey and I went to the same school. He brought me that first day, all by himself, and showed me the ropes."
Yugi grinned. "Cute-"
"Hey, midget," Joey leered down.
"Whoa!" the two cried in unison, taking an involuntary leap back into space. Joey's face was huge! And that horrible, curved smile- it was far from pretty.
Joey reached a giant hand out and flicked.
Yugi and Serenity ducked, but abruptly the scene pulled back. Joey was now normal sized, and they saw the person crouching in front of him.
"That hurt!" Yugi protested childishly.
Tristan let out a guffaw, standing behind Joey with his arms crossed.
"Step aside," Joey commanded, flicking Yugi in the forehead again.
"I'm not in your way!" Yugi protested, foolishly. Joey simply rolled his eyes and barreled forward, shoving Yugi out of the way with his shoulders. Yugi stumbled, nearly fell, but caught himself against the wall just in time. He rubbed his arm absently while he watched Joey and Tristan saunter away, his purple eyes full of sadness and pity.
Serenity flinched. Yugi swallowed hard. "Serenity, that was a long time ago-"
"Ooh, what's this?" Joey asked gleefully, snatching up a piece of the puzzle. Yugi let out a cry.
"My Millennium Puzzle! Joey, that's the last piece I need, I'm almost done, please give it back-"
"What's it made of?" Joey asked casually, inspecting it. "Is this gold?"
Yugi started to answer, but Joey snorted. "Of course not," he declared, tossing it up in the air and catching it again. "It's a cheap copy. It's worthless." With that, he flicked it lightly into the water as Yugi cried out in anguish.
"No! My Puzzle!"
"Joey?" Serenity asked dully.
"He didn't mean it," Yugi said quickly.
"No, Yugi," she said, releasing his hand and swiping at his eyes. "I've had people tell me how great my big brother was for a long time. Now that I've seen the truth, I don't want to hear excuses."
The mist rolled aside again, and everything grew cold.
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Ezra tumbled haphazardly from the black fog, nearly tripping over Anuba. The jackal whined in greeting and reared up to lick her face.
"Hey, girl," she said, brushing her hair from her eyes and looking around. Mai and Joey were staring at the cloud, looking frightened.
"Ezra," Mai spoke. "Do you know what's going on?"
"Probably not more than you do," she said grimly, and something hit her back, nearly knocking her over again. "Hey!"
"Sorry," Geoff apologized, looking windswept. "It's horrible in there."
"Are you guys okay?" Joey asked, coming up. He shot a look at Geoff: "Who are you? You're not a Hunter, are you?"
"No…" Geoff said slowly. "I'm Malik's friend."
"Hmm," Joey grunted, unimpressed.
"Is there anything we can do?" Mai asked, coming forward.
"Nothing," Geoff guessed.
"When did Anuba get out?" Ezra asked absently, bending over to scratch the jackal's ears.
Joey glanced over. "She was already here when we- Mai and I- got out."
"I wonder if the jackal had to come to terms with herself," Mai mused, staring at Anuba. Ezra smiled.
"Maybe she already knew."
"Unlike everyone else in there," Joey cut in, upset, gesturing at the seething mass.
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All Yugi could hear were faint voices in the background. Everything was black, but black as he'd never known it. It was darker than the darkest room, the darkest night, the darkest bottom-of-the-ocean, the darkest nightmare. He spun in a circle frantically, momentarily forgetting everything- the light, his identity, Serenity, his name-
"This was what it was like when I was blind," Serenity's voice cut through the darkness flatly.
Yugi gazed around in horror, completely losing sight of his bearings. He could be upside-down, he could have drifted miles away, he could be floating straight into the jaws of death-
'Get a grip,' he mentally scolded himself.
The voices were growing louder, but he dismissed them. The important thing was to talk to Serenity. She was having an awfully rough time of it.
"You're not blind anymore," he reminded her. "You're not lost anymore. You were never lost, because you had us."
"You?"
"Us. Your friends." Yugi started to move forward, his arms waving, trying to find her. "Your brother."
"My brother isn't the person I thought he was," Serenity said quietly.
"Don't you remember-"
"All my memories were from years and years ago. I didn't really know him, only what people told me."
"People told you good things, though," Yugi said desperately. He was trying to find her by the sound of her voice, but this mist was playing tricks with the acoustics.
"They didn't want me to feel bad," Serenity said quietly.
"No! They told you these things because they were true!" he lunged forward, encountered nothing. "Serenity, your brother is a human being. He struggled to find his way. He lost it for a while- but now he's all the better for it! You can't hold people's past mistakes against them!"
"He was hurting you," she said, her voice full of pain. "How did you ever forgive him?"
"I'll get your cards, Yugi!" Joey cried valiantly, diving off the ship into the ice-cold water…
"I'll get the Puzzle," Joey said quietly, bowing his head, his eyes full of shame and regret…
He emerged from his last desperate dive, sopping wet, but clutching the tiny gold piece…
"I want to help you," Joey said, staring at the clouds, a breeze ruffling his golden hair. "You're my best buddy, Yugi."…
"It's true!" He clenched his fists. "You and I'll whoop this Malik creep together!"…
"Yugi!" Heedlessly, Joey rushed into the burning warehouse, Tristan on his heels. He recklessly ducked a burning timber and continued his search for his best friend…
The light was on again. Yugi looked to his left, saw Serenity standing right beside him. He had a feeling she'd been beside him this whole time.
"Because he's made up for his past sins a thousand times over," Yugi said quietly. "You don't know what he went through at Duelist Kingdom…"
She was staring at these new scenes of Joey wide-eyed, her hazel orbs filling with tears. The warehouse still burned merrily under them. Vision-Joey reached an unconscious Yugi and grabbed him, using all his strength to support him.
"Besides." Yugi touched her hand again. "Sometimes the pain we have to go through makes us stronger people."
"Like my eyes," she said quietly, reaching up to touch her face gently.
"Like your eyes," he clarified.
"Listen, dino-brain," Joey said, eyes blazing as he faced down Rex Raptor. "I'm dueling for my little sister- so there's no way I'm going to lose!"
"I duel for my sister Serenity!" Joey clarified to a stunned Bandit Keith.
"Serenity!" Joey gasped, staring at the photograph Tristan had just thrown him. He then proceeded to attack Pumpkin King with his Red-Eyes…
"…and I'm dueling for my sister!" Joey vehemently declared to a surprised Mai Valentine.
"Your brother loves you. A lot," Yugi said unnecessarily.
Joey held Serenity's hand as she was wheeled away to the operating room…
Serenity's brow furrowed. "I never saw that," she said, peering closely. "I had the bandages on at the time."
"The shadows are playing tricks on us," Yugi murmured humorlessly.
"What happened to Joey?" she asked in horror. "His face is all beat up!" Not only that, she noticed, but his clothes were torn and dirty.
"He never told you?" Yugi wondered aloud. "He was on his way to see you in the hospital when a bunch of Rare Hunters stopped him and used marked cards to defeat him in a duel. Then they tossed him around, took his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and left him there."
"He never told me why he was late," she said, reeling back. "I never knew…"
"Joey gave me courage," Serenity said quietly to a small boy sitting on the end of her hospital bed.
"Listen," Yugi said suddenly. "Joey might have given you courage. But you haven't forgotten about what's in you, right?"
"I don't know what you mean," Serenity said hesitantly.
She pulled her bandages off, the Rare Hunter lying unconscious behind her.
Stifling an inappropriate snort of laughter at the unconscious Hunter and resisting his urge to ask what happened, Yugi gestured. "See?"
"I wasn't alone there," Serenity whispered. "You were all with me."
"That's exactly what I'm trying to say." He bit his lip. "You're never alone, Serenity. But you are strong."
She got her first glimpse of the sunshine…
She climbed onto the roof, legs shaking slightly…
She stepped onto the great head of the Red Eyes Black Dragon…
Serenity turned to stare at Yugi, her eyes filled with something like wonder, but before she could say anything she slowly disappeared.
"She's okay," Yugi sighed in satisfaction, turning back to the mist. It was rolling faster now, showing him glimpses of his past. Mostly long talks with Grandpa, playing in the park with Joey, working on homework with Téa…
"So you want me to come to terms with myself," he questioned. The mist rolled happily.
"Let's see…" he thought. His own grinning face flashed into view, slapping hands with Yami. "Well, I'm Yugi Moto," he said, shrugging. "What else do you want to know?"
The mist appeared satisfied, for in the next second he was gone.
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"It wasn't your fault," Ryou tried to tell them. Bakura and Malik weren't listening. The both of them sat cross-legged, head buried in their hands, ignoring the scenes of blood and hate playing below them. Ryou had to admit, he'd like to be ignoring them as well.
"Neither of you were in your right minds!" he protested. "You have to put it behind you!"
Nothing.
"You can't put it behind you by ignoring it," Ryou reasoned. "You have to put it behind you by coming to terms with it!"
Coming to terms with it… Those were the exact words that had echoed when they'd first arrived in this dismal place.
Ryou winced as Vision-Bakura hurtled an already-bloody knife at someone's head. 'You will not be sick,' he ordered himself. 'You will not be sick. Bakura has enough on his plate already.'
"Come on!" he pleaded. "I'm not leaving without you two! So snap out of it!"
Nothing.
"Goodness," he moaned, tugging on his hair. "Why are you acting like you're two years old?"
"Mummup," Bakura muttered.
Words! Success! "What was that?" Ryou asked eagerly.
"Shut. Up."
Maybe not.
"Do you feel bad about what you've done?" Ryou asked rhetorically. That was the one thing he'd been able to discern. And it was more than a good start. It was very encouraging.
He got muttering. It was enough.
"Well," he said, smiling pleasantly. "How do you expect to make up for it… if you sit here moping all day??"
It wasn't quite the intimidating holler he'd envisioned. But Malik and Bakura both snapped their heads up, perhaps because it was so out-of-character.
"We all make mistakes," he continued, pacing back and forth above the rolling clouds of mist and blood. "Some worse than others, I'll admit. But if you refuse to acknowledge your mistakes, you're making them worse. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. If you won't fix anything, how do you expect it to get any better?"
Malik and Bakura were staring at him sullenly.
"We all make mistakes," he repeated desperately.
"You don't," Bakura said suddenly.
Ryou frowned. "What?"
"You don't."
"I don't make mistakes?" He put his hands on his hips, frowning in disapproval. "Well, that's a silly thing to say! Of course I make mistakes!"
Bakura stared at him disagreeably, and he had a sinking feeling he knew what was coming next. "Name one," Bakura challenged.
"Name one- for goodness sake's-" Ryou spluttered. Then something cold touched his heart: "I wasn't strong enough," he said quietly. "If I were stronger, maybe… I could have stopped you at first."
"That's ridiculous!" Bakura snarled, rising quickly to his feet. Suddenly feeling foolish for being the only one sitting, Malik scrambled up as well.
"You can't blame yourself," Bakura said tightly, folding his arms defiantly. "Besides, you did fight! Remember- when I was at that feast-"
"I wasn't strong enough," Ryou said miserably, hanging his head.
"Ryou- stop that right now!" Bakura commanded, striding over. "You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over!"
"Like the God Cards, that is?" he asked slyly, raising his head to reveal a mischievous spark.
Bakura stopped in his tracks, spluttering. Then he fell silent, thinking. After a while, a grin crept onto his face.
"Maybe," he acknowledged.
"But I, on the other hand," Malik said, stepping forward, "Was a pure assho-"
"You're just trying to be disagreeable," Ryou cried indignantly, folding his arms. Malik grinned.
"Yes. Yes I am," he confessed. "I wasn't even upset back there… I know I screwed up bad. But I'm okay with who I am. I'd even be okay being evil, except the pay's just not that great anymore," he said casually, stretching his arms. "Anyway… I was just kinda going with the flow. Moping alongside Bakura seemed a cool idea at the time."
Both Bakura and Ryou narrowed their eyes at him. He laughed easily and cocked a thumb. "Let's blow this joint, eh?"
And one by one, they disappeared so abruptly there was a slight 'pop'. First Ryou, then Bakura, then a laughing Malik.
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Notes: As we move closer to "Atakku," I'd re-recommend that people read "Umi". I've begun outlining "Atakku" and Mako definitely makes an appearance, along with comrades (yes, including Grandpa) that will be explained in "Umi".
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Important Note: School is going to be an absolute nightmare. To give myself time to adjust, and to give myself time to outline the next few chapters, I've put two stories on hold: Umi and Sakakku. This is temporary and will only last a month. I should update regularly again starting October 1.