I don't own Yugioh.
Chapter 41
The next morning, both Yami and Yugi were awake. Yami had asked Isis about his name the previous night, and found out that 'Ryushin' was his name before he ended up sealed in the puzzle. The name he had when he lived on Gaia then was transferred to Earth. Finding out that he was born on Gaia was a bit of a shock to him, but he soon got over it, realizing that that was where he got his dark powers from. After that, it all made sense.
"Well, let's get back down to business," Seto sat down, "We have a solution, but two problems."
"Problems?" Yugi frowned, then winced and placed a hand to his injured shoulder.
"Easy, aibou," Yami steadied the boy.
"I'm okay," Yugi smiled, hiding the pain. "Gomen, Seto. Continue."
Seto nodded, "The way I see it, there are two major problems. The first is that we don't know where the location is to open a portal to Gaia. The second problem is that Yugi has to cast a spell to get there…but we don't know the spell."
"Well, the latter is simple," Sugoroku stated, "I know the spell to open the portal to Gaia.
"Hontou ni?" Anzu blinked.
Sugoroku nodded.
"Wait a minute," Yami protested, "What is this going to do to Yugi?"
"At the most, drain some of his energy," Sugoroku shrugged, "For a Holy Spellcaster like Yugi, this spell is really simple."
"I'll be fine," Yugi insisted.
"Okay, so that problem is down," Honda nodded, "But where do we open the portal?"
They were quiet.
"Isis-sama, do you know?" Honda looked up.
Isis shook her head, "No…I have no idea."
"Ne, jiji…do you know?" Jou looked at Sugoroku.
Sugoroku shook his head, "This time, I have no knowledge of the opening point."
"Damn," Jou swore, "So close yet so far."
"Yugi knows," Malik suddenly spoke up in a strange tone of voice, "Don't you, Yugi?"
Yugi frowned, "Eh?"
"What do you mean?" Honda looked at Malik.
Malik blinked, and frowned, "Did I say something just now? Why's everyone looking at me?"
"But you said just now…," Yugi frowned.
"Malik has ESP," Isis interrupted.
"ESP? What's that?" Jou blinked.
"Extra Sensory Perception. It means that he can see things or communicate in ways that normal people can't," Isis reiterated, "It's using the sixth sense. It can be used for premonitions, telekinesis, and telepathy."
"I have no idea what the hell that means…," Jou sweatdropped.
"In other words," Yami crossed his arms, "He taps into his own source of energy to get results that we do with Shadow or Holy power."
Isis nodded, "Right."
Malik was frowning, clearly not understanding what was going on.
"Though, he himself doesn't know about it, and seems to forget whenever he has a premonition," Isis sighed.
"Okay," Seto interrupted, "Let's talk about that later. Right now, we were given a clue. Yugi knows the location. That's our clue."
They looked at Yugi.
"I don't know," Yugi bowed his head, "Gomen nasai."
"Maybe we should break for lunch," Ryou suggested, standing up, "He certainly won't remember if we pressure him to think of it right now."
"Good point," Seto nodded, "Alright…lunch sounds great." He grinned, "You buying?"
Ryou paled, "Wh…what?! You're kidding…!!"
"A joke, a joke," Seto chuckled.
Some of the others laughed, others sweatdropped.
"Yosha…! Let's have lunch…!!" Jou cheered.
Seto and Ryou turned to each other and pointed, then said at the same time, "You're paying."
Yami blinked and looked over, "Aibou…aren't you hungry?"
They were eating in the room after calling room service, and if they were done eating, they were either playing games, chatting, or sleeping.
Yugi was sitting at the table in the room, stirring his soup absently.
"Aibou?" Yami frowned, "Are you feeling alright?"
Yugi angrily slammed the spoon on the table, startling Jou, Yami, Anzu, and Honda…the only ones left who were still eating.
"I can't remember…," Yugi whispered, "I don't know!"
"Hey…come on, Yug," Jou blinked, "Eat, then think."
"Jou is right, Yugi," Honda spoke up, "Take a break from thinking. It'll come to you."
"What if it doesn't?" Yugi whispered, his eyes still hidden from them by his bowed head.
"Then we wait," Yami shrugged, "It's not like it's urgent that we get to Gaia."
"Why are we going, anyway?" Anzu asked.
"Because there's supposed to be a dark force threatening it," Honda responded, "And besides, Isis-sama and Sugoroku-san both think that there is something wrong there."
"That's why we have to get there quickly," Yugi shook his head, "But I…"
Anzu placed a hand over Yugi's trembling fist that still held the spoon, "Yugi…I know you'll find the answer. Just relax. We're still behind you all the way. Nothing will change that."
"That's right, man," Jou grinned, "Win or lose, we're buddies, and noth'n can get in our way!"
Yami nodded, "You should listen to them more, Yugi."
Yugi sniffled, then wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He buried his head in his arms that were resting on the table. "Sumanai…"
"It's alright," Honda smiled.
"Un," Jou agreed.
Yugi wiped his eyes and looked up, "Iie…I was apologizing for being weak…I'll try harder now." There was a look of pure determination in his eyes covered only by a veil of tears.
Yami blinked. It still surprises me. He's changed so much since we started this trip. He still cries, but who can blame him? But with every difficulty that we encounter, he doesn't give up. Come to think of it…everyone is like that. We've been through so much since we first met one another and started off with this crazy adventure. I guess even the most experienced master still needs to learn.
"He's been sitting on the bed for over an hour…," Isis looked to where Yugi was sitting, his legs crossed Indian style and his right hand resting on his left with the thumbs touching and his eyes closed.
"Still meditating?" Anzu looked up from her book.
Yami nodded, "He's trying to figure out Malik's clue."
"Sorry," Malik rubbed his head, "I didn't mean to cause trouble…"
"On the contrary," Ryou shook his head, "This may be the break we need."
"What about the spell, Sugoroku-san?" Isis turned to the old man.
"I'll teach it to him when we know where to go," Sugoroku responded.
***Vision***
The creature attacked the man. The man tripped and fell, then looked up at the demon that was chasing him, then down at the small bundle.
"I'm done for. Please…survive," the man whispered to the bundle, then got up and slipped, dropping the baby wrapped in the bundle into a small hole halfway down the cliff that took the bundle instantly to a forest.
"Good luck…Tenko…"
***End Vision***
Yugi's eyes snapped open, and he realized he was breathing hard. He wiped his forehead of the sweat that was rolling down his face.
"Yugi?"
Yugi looked up and saw Yami looking at him in concern.
Yami sat down on the bed and put an arm around Yugi, "Are you alright, aibou?"
"Hai…," Yugi took a deep breath, then spoke again, "Yami…I know where the portal point is."
That got the attention of everyone else in the room, even though it was spoken so quietly.
"How…?" Seto blinked.
Yugi smiled sadly, "I can't believe I didn't think of it before. When my dad…was attacked by that creature and I fell into the forest of wolves…there was a portal in between there that led to the forest. And the portal was one to Earth from Gaia."
"Yatta!" Jou cheered, "We just go to that forest now!"
The others nodded and were smiling at one another.
Yugi continued to keep his gaze on the ground.
"Daijoubu?" Yami whispered.
"I wonder…if he's alive," Yugi's voice cracked, "…tousan…"
The room got quiet all of a sudden.
"We'll find him, Yugi," Malik spoke up, "Definitely! He's gotta be alive!"
"My son is no pushover," Sugoroku said proudly, "I believe he's out there…somewhere."
"That's right!" Ryou nodded.
Yugi wiped his eyes, "Right…I'll find him!"
Malik suddenly looked thoughtful, "Ne…Isis-neesan…what happened to our dad?"
Isis blinked, "I don't rightly know, Malik-chan. I think he's still in Gaia…"
"So then…," Seto came up, "You're not only going to Gaia to try to gain back what was lost, but to also find your father." It was a statement…not a question.
Isis bent her head down, "As a personal gain…hai. Demo, I really want to see the people and monsters that worked under the shadows to be happy again."
"I, too have some questions that can only be answered in Gaia," Ryou suddenly spoke up from where he sat on the couch, "For instance…I have no idea what happened to my real mother. Yugi told me about the woman in his dreams called Maya, who is supposedly my mother, and Isis-san also mentioned her. I want to find out myself. Because if I am her son, then I also had the powers to summon monsters."
"And you want to know why you can't?" Anzu asked.
Ryou nodded, "Hai."
"I bet you could," Yugi suddenly spoke up, "If you tried."
Isis nodded, "I agree. You haven't given it a try yet, have you?"
Ryou blushed a bit, "Well…in actuality…I have no real strong cards. And, I'm not nearly as strong as Yugi…"
"That's not it!" Yugi stood up.
"Yugi…?" Jou blinked.
"Ryou-san, I'm not strong," Yugi smiled, "I'm much weaker then most people, and picked on a lot by bullies."
"I'm not talking about physical strength," Ryou shook his head, "I'm talking about another kind of strength…"
"But then it's that strength…that allows me to summon," Yugi continued, "Don't you see, Ryou-san? Strength of the Heart…the Heart of the Cards…the monsters gain strength according to whoever summoned them. Your will can make a monster stronger…or bring it down."
Ryou blinked.
Yugi sat back down, "And besides…I didn't even know I had the strength in myself to do what I've been doing. If it weren't for my friends, I'd have never pulled it off."
"Yugi…"
"I'm not as naïve as people think I am," Yugi looked at the ground, "I know I've accomplished a lot…I just wasn't ready to admit it to myself because others were always getting hurt or something. But now, I'm ready to admit it. And, I want to go to Gaia. To see what happened…to see where I lived for a year or less……and, to find my family, if possible."
Sugoroku put a hand on Yugi's non-injured shoulder, "You have grown up a lot, Yugi. I am proud of you."
"We all are," Anzu smiled.
Yugi wiped his eyes quickly, "Arigatou, minna-san."
"But you're not the only one who wants to find who they are," Yami crossed his arms, "I, too, want to go to Gaia for a look at where I was really born as well. I have my own business there. As noble as some of our intentions seem to be…saving the worlds is just something that's a bonus with our own personal gain."
"That can't be true…," Jou shook his head.
"I think it is true," Honda bit his lip, "After all…just about everyone wants something out of the trip to Gaia. And there's no doubt that the planet is in danger. But we seem to put our own priorities first."
"They should be first," Seto crossed his arms, "After all, if it weren't for our personal gains to all of this, we probably wouldn't be going at all."
"I would!" Yugi exclaimed, "I was born there! Even if the main reason for me going is that I want to find my parents, I still feel that I owe them something! Whether it's the Earth or Gaia, I can't just let them be taken over, or turned into soulless husks of people and ruled by chaos! Even if my parents were safe on Earth and I knew that they were alive, I'd still go!"
"Of course," Sugoroku nodded, "We fight for an end result in which everyone will be happy, hopefully."
"That's absurd," Yami grunted, "You know as well as I do that we all fight for our own reasons…"
"In our hearts," Ryou interrupted, "I agree with both sides of the argument."
"You can't do that…!" Jou groaned.
"Listen," Ryou closed his eyes, then opened them, "We all want to save Gaia. And at the same time, we want to find something about ourselves that we don't know. That's why we fight. Don't you get it? We do fight for ourselves…for our own hearts; our own reasons."
"Makes sense," Isis nodded, then smiled, "Spoken like the true son of Maya-san."
Ryou blushed, causing some of them to chuckle.
They went quiet. For some, going to Gaia was an adventure. For others, curiosity. For some others, it was a little of both and friendship. But for a few of them, it was to find out who they really are or what exactly they have to do with the parallel world.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Japanese – English
Hontou ni – Really?
-san – (attached to the end of a person's name; usually when referring to someone who is older then the speaker; or an adult; or someone who is to be respected)