Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. Nor do I own the characters in this
story.
Author's Notes:
Still staying strong to my original plan which was one chapter a week. I should probably do more, since I have the free time and all, but since I got the fourth dot.Hack game, my free time has gotten a lot smaller then it use to be. Oh well.
This chapter wasn't in the original outline, but I realized it would be better to introduce a certain character earlier then I had originally intended.
Anyway, on with the story.
------------------------------------
Chapter 15: Card Tricks
Tiffany had never flown out of the country, so she was a little unprepared for the size of the plane. "Look at this, Yami. The trays are actually big enough to play cards on. Wow. The backs of the seats each have little TVs."
Our seat was right next to the aisle. There was a young boy sitting next to us sleeping quietly against the window.
Since we were sharing the same body, we couldn't exactly play cards against each other. Instead, Tiffany watched a movie while I amused myself by making a "Mexican Jumping Bean" dance for a little toddler a few rows in front of us.
When the movie had ended, Tiffany got out a deck of normal playing cards and began to play solitaire while the movies reset themselves.
I watched her for a little while. It had been a long time since I had played the game, and I realized that I had forgotten the rules.
"So that goes there," Tiffany mumbled to herself, "then I flip this, place that there, and I win!"
"You're very good," said the boy next to her with a strange accent. He had woken up and observed Tiffany's game. "You don't seem to miss much."
"Card games are my specialty," she said proudly. "How about you?"
The boy smiled mysteriously. "Oh, I know a few games, but I doubt you've heard of any of them."
"Oh come on," Tiffany urged. "I'm sure there's something you know that we can play."
The boy thought for a moment. Then he reached over and picked up Tiffany's deck. "Games have been used to test the worth of a person in some cultures. I'll show you a couple of puzzles that I have learned from such ideas."
His manner of speech was very puzzling, and I couldn't place his accent, but I didn't sense anything dangerous about him, so I saw no harm in letting Tiffany pass the time with him.
"This first one deals with the number of symbols on a card," he explained as he shuffled. "By symbols, I mean hearts, spades, and such. The number on the card is irrelevant. You just need to count the symbols on that card. Got it?"
"I think so," Tiffany replied. "Do we race each other to count the cards?"
"Not exactly," he said evenly. "I will play cards face up at intervals. If you don't guess right or you take too long, the card is mine. Otherwise, the card is yours. Whoever has the most after 11 cards wins."
"Alright, let's go," Tiffany said eagerly.
The boy flipped over the first card, the 8 of hearts.
"Eight," Tiffany said instantly.
"No," the boy replied. He played his next card, the 9 of diamonds.
"Nine?" Tiffany said questioningly.
"No," the boy said again. He flipped the third card, a 3 of hearts.
"There's two extra hearts," I said silently. "One below each 3."
"Three," Tiffany said before she could process what she had heard me say.
"No," the boy said evenly. "Not doing so well, are you?" He flipped the next card, a 6 of clubs.
"Add two to the number," I said quickly.
"Two," Tiffany blurted out.
The boy gave her a strange look. "Not even close." He flipped the next card over, a 4 of spades.
Since she had already missed four, and one of them was kind of my fault, I just gave her the answer. "Six," I said.
"Six," Tiffany said, making the score 1-4
"Very good," the boy grinned, sliding the card to Tiffany. "You're catching on." He flipped over the next card, a 5 of spades.
"Seven," Tiffany answered on her own.
The boy flipped the next card, a 9 of hearts.
"Eleven," Tiffany said.
He flipped over the ace of clubs.
"Three."
He flipped the 10 of hearts.
"Twelve."
The score was 5-4, and with one more correct guess, Tiffany would win if she could guess one more.
He flipped over the king of diamonds.
"Four," she said, quickly adding up the red diamonds.
"No," the boy replied. I took a quick look at the king and saw several little diamonds in his robe.
The boy flipped over the last card, the queen of spades, and I raced to count up the little spades on her robe.
"Twenty five," I told Tiffany.
"Twenty five," she said quickly as his hand came down on the card to end the game. He picked up the card and counted.
"Close enough," he said with a grin. "How are you on luck? If I asked you to draw the Jack of diamonds from this deck, could you do it?"
"You put that card behind you as soon as the first game was over," Tiffany replied.
"I was right," he said with a smile. "You don't miss much."
It was a couple hours later that Tiffany was sleeping peacefully in the seat of the plane. I was drifting in and out of her dreams and my own, when something jolted me awake.
Magic from the Shadow Realm had been used, and it was very close. I tried to reach into Tiffany's mind and open her eyes, but something was blocking me.
Then I felt another presence in her mind. A third soul was inside her, and it was searching for something.
I waited as it made its way towards the door to the Millennium Puzzle. Slowly, the door swung open, and I saw the figure's head lean in, searching through the darkness of my soul room.
Now the serious Yami, pharaoh of the past, would have probably handled the situation very differently, but for me, the opportunity was too good to pass up. I leaped out of the shadows yelling. "Booga booga booga!"
The figure leapt back with a start and tripped over his feet. He was the young by that had been sitting next to Tiffany.
"Did you get lost?" I asked him, trying to be serious. "This isn't your body, you know."
The boy quickly composed himself. "I am here to determine the reason behind the strange power I sense from you."
His hand was clutching something tied around his neck. I took a closer look and discovered the Millennium Key.
That was enough to vaporize my humor. "Maximus sent you here, didn't he? That's why you have a Millennium Item."
The boy looked confused. "What do you mean? My family has been guarding the tomb of the pharaoh for generations. This is one of the treasures we have protected."
"Sure you have," I replied coldly. "And you just happen to be on the same flight as us, just happen to be sitting next to Tiffany, and just happen to look and act so much like the Shadi from the TV show."
"I will not listen to these insults any longer," the boy said angrily. "I don't know how you know my name or why you think I know this Maximus, but it is obvious that you do not deserve to possess the treasure of the pharaoh."
I snapped my fingers, and the Dark Magician appeared at my side. He pointed his staff at Shadi threateningly.
The boy gasped. "You...how is it that you command the Dark Magician? He only obeys the pharaoh."
"Think about it," I replied with irritation. As far as I could tell, this boy really thought he was the TV show Shadi. I didn't like the implications of that fact.
He bowed his head low. "Forgive me for my intrusion, Pharaoh. I will withdraw from the body of this girl at once."
He turned to go, but suddenly he paused. "Forgive me for asking, my Pharaoh, but why is it that you possess the body of this young girl?"
I don't know why I said it, but my reply was thus. "You already know the answer to that question, Shadi."
I failed to see his reaction, but he left. I looked into Tiffany's mind to see if she had noticed anything. She was still asleep, dreaming of far away places.
------------------------------------
Well, that was fun. Just a little insert chapter to introduce Shadi. I hope you will forgive me for the detour.
Up next, Tiffany arrives at Rome and prepares for the tournament. She gets a new card, though she won't be able to use it for a while. The host of the tournament will be revealed (I'm sure you can guess that one, too), and Yami sees a familiar face.
Please R&R!
Author's Notes:
Still staying strong to my original plan which was one chapter a week. I should probably do more, since I have the free time and all, but since I got the fourth dot.Hack game, my free time has gotten a lot smaller then it use to be. Oh well.
This chapter wasn't in the original outline, but I realized it would be better to introduce a certain character earlier then I had originally intended.
Anyway, on with the story.
------------------------------------
Chapter 15: Card Tricks
Tiffany had never flown out of the country, so she was a little unprepared for the size of the plane. "Look at this, Yami. The trays are actually big enough to play cards on. Wow. The backs of the seats each have little TVs."
Our seat was right next to the aisle. There was a young boy sitting next to us sleeping quietly against the window.
Since we were sharing the same body, we couldn't exactly play cards against each other. Instead, Tiffany watched a movie while I amused myself by making a "Mexican Jumping Bean" dance for a little toddler a few rows in front of us.
When the movie had ended, Tiffany got out a deck of normal playing cards and began to play solitaire while the movies reset themselves.
I watched her for a little while. It had been a long time since I had played the game, and I realized that I had forgotten the rules.
"So that goes there," Tiffany mumbled to herself, "then I flip this, place that there, and I win!"
"You're very good," said the boy next to her with a strange accent. He had woken up and observed Tiffany's game. "You don't seem to miss much."
"Card games are my specialty," she said proudly. "How about you?"
The boy smiled mysteriously. "Oh, I know a few games, but I doubt you've heard of any of them."
"Oh come on," Tiffany urged. "I'm sure there's something you know that we can play."
The boy thought for a moment. Then he reached over and picked up Tiffany's deck. "Games have been used to test the worth of a person in some cultures. I'll show you a couple of puzzles that I have learned from such ideas."
His manner of speech was very puzzling, and I couldn't place his accent, but I didn't sense anything dangerous about him, so I saw no harm in letting Tiffany pass the time with him.
"This first one deals with the number of symbols on a card," he explained as he shuffled. "By symbols, I mean hearts, spades, and such. The number on the card is irrelevant. You just need to count the symbols on that card. Got it?"
"I think so," Tiffany replied. "Do we race each other to count the cards?"
"Not exactly," he said evenly. "I will play cards face up at intervals. If you don't guess right or you take too long, the card is mine. Otherwise, the card is yours. Whoever has the most after 11 cards wins."
"Alright, let's go," Tiffany said eagerly.
The boy flipped over the first card, the 8 of hearts.
"Eight," Tiffany said instantly.
"No," the boy replied. He played his next card, the 9 of diamonds.
"Nine?" Tiffany said questioningly.
"No," the boy said again. He flipped the third card, a 3 of hearts.
"There's two extra hearts," I said silently. "One below each 3."
"Three," Tiffany said before she could process what she had heard me say.
"No," the boy said evenly. "Not doing so well, are you?" He flipped the next card, a 6 of clubs.
"Add two to the number," I said quickly.
"Two," Tiffany blurted out.
The boy gave her a strange look. "Not even close." He flipped the next card over, a 4 of spades.
Since she had already missed four, and one of them was kind of my fault, I just gave her the answer. "Six," I said.
"Six," Tiffany said, making the score 1-4
"Very good," the boy grinned, sliding the card to Tiffany. "You're catching on." He flipped over the next card, a 5 of spades.
"Seven," Tiffany answered on her own.
The boy flipped the next card, a 9 of hearts.
"Eleven," Tiffany said.
He flipped over the ace of clubs.
"Three."
He flipped the 10 of hearts.
"Twelve."
The score was 5-4, and with one more correct guess, Tiffany would win if she could guess one more.
He flipped over the king of diamonds.
"Four," she said, quickly adding up the red diamonds.
"No," the boy replied. I took a quick look at the king and saw several little diamonds in his robe.
The boy flipped over the last card, the queen of spades, and I raced to count up the little spades on her robe.
"Twenty five," I told Tiffany.
"Twenty five," she said quickly as his hand came down on the card to end the game. He picked up the card and counted.
"Close enough," he said with a grin. "How are you on luck? If I asked you to draw the Jack of diamonds from this deck, could you do it?"
"You put that card behind you as soon as the first game was over," Tiffany replied.
"I was right," he said with a smile. "You don't miss much."
It was a couple hours later that Tiffany was sleeping peacefully in the seat of the plane. I was drifting in and out of her dreams and my own, when something jolted me awake.
Magic from the Shadow Realm had been used, and it was very close. I tried to reach into Tiffany's mind and open her eyes, but something was blocking me.
Then I felt another presence in her mind. A third soul was inside her, and it was searching for something.
I waited as it made its way towards the door to the Millennium Puzzle. Slowly, the door swung open, and I saw the figure's head lean in, searching through the darkness of my soul room.
Now the serious Yami, pharaoh of the past, would have probably handled the situation very differently, but for me, the opportunity was too good to pass up. I leaped out of the shadows yelling. "Booga booga booga!"
The figure leapt back with a start and tripped over his feet. He was the young by that had been sitting next to Tiffany.
"Did you get lost?" I asked him, trying to be serious. "This isn't your body, you know."
The boy quickly composed himself. "I am here to determine the reason behind the strange power I sense from you."
His hand was clutching something tied around his neck. I took a closer look and discovered the Millennium Key.
That was enough to vaporize my humor. "Maximus sent you here, didn't he? That's why you have a Millennium Item."
The boy looked confused. "What do you mean? My family has been guarding the tomb of the pharaoh for generations. This is one of the treasures we have protected."
"Sure you have," I replied coldly. "And you just happen to be on the same flight as us, just happen to be sitting next to Tiffany, and just happen to look and act so much like the Shadi from the TV show."
"I will not listen to these insults any longer," the boy said angrily. "I don't know how you know my name or why you think I know this Maximus, but it is obvious that you do not deserve to possess the treasure of the pharaoh."
I snapped my fingers, and the Dark Magician appeared at my side. He pointed his staff at Shadi threateningly.
The boy gasped. "You...how is it that you command the Dark Magician? He only obeys the pharaoh."
"Think about it," I replied with irritation. As far as I could tell, this boy really thought he was the TV show Shadi. I didn't like the implications of that fact.
He bowed his head low. "Forgive me for my intrusion, Pharaoh. I will withdraw from the body of this girl at once."
He turned to go, but suddenly he paused. "Forgive me for asking, my Pharaoh, but why is it that you possess the body of this young girl?"
I don't know why I said it, but my reply was thus. "You already know the answer to that question, Shadi."
I failed to see his reaction, but he left. I looked into Tiffany's mind to see if she had noticed anything. She was still asleep, dreaming of far away places.
------------------------------------
Well, that was fun. Just a little insert chapter to introduce Shadi. I hope you will forgive me for the detour.
Up next, Tiffany arrives at Rome and prepares for the tournament. She gets a new card, though she won't be able to use it for a while. The host of the tournament will be revealed (I'm sure you can guess that one, too), and Yami sees a familiar face.
Please R&R!