Things Unseen; Sequel of Millennium Ritual
Disclaimer: ........... Cool Aid
Chapter 8: One By One
Yugi sighed heavily as he walked down the streets with a ducked head, his hands in his pockets. The velvet drawstring bag swung at his belt with every step he took as people walking by bumped into his shoulder. But he didn't care, all he wanted to do was go home.
'Maybe it was a bad idea to come here,' Yugi thought, walking into an alleyway. 'Egypt just gives bad memories. And now Yami is staying in his soul room, refusing to come out. What's wrong with me? Why is this happening? Is it because of the pieces of the Orb?' Yugi stopped and stared down at the drawstring bag angrily, as if the bag was mocking him.
"Argh! I can't take this anymore!!" Yugi screamed, raising his head in the air in frustration. No one listened, but few people turned their heads at him, interested in what he was trying to say. Then after a moment they walked away, Yugi breathing hard.
"It is not wise to raise your voice in such crowded places, Yugi. Especially in Egypt," a voice said to him. Yugi stood still, remembering that voice. With a big smile, he turned around to face Ishizu Ishtar.
"Ishizu! I haven't seen you in a long time! How are you?" Yugi asked, already forgetting what he was thinking about. Ishizu smiled a small smile.
"I am well, Yugi. Is the same with you and Yami?" Ishizu replied as they walked toward a nearby stall.
"Well, I'm alright. But I'm not sure about Yami. He's been staying in his soul room for awhile, and I'm wondering what's wrong." Said Yugi sadly, sighing a little. She nodded in response, busying herself in buying dates.
Paying two Egyptian pounds to the merchant, Ishizu turned toward Yugi and said, "I believe that he worries over the past. But as for myself, I worry about the future."
"Why is that?" Yugi asked, eyebrows raised.
"This tournament, the Osiris Tournament, it makes me wonder. . . Many things has happened this last year, and it was a surprise to me that an event of this magnitude would appear so, suddenly." Ishizu paused, looking at the drawstring bag at his hip. "Just like it makes me wonder why you still keep the pieces of the Millennium Orb."
Yugi looked at her with a stunned face. "How. . . How do you know?"
"Call it a sixth sense," Ishizu said, "but Yugi, I truly am frightened. I do not want the events of the year before to repeat itself. Do you not realize that we had never caught the person responsible for the events? We caught his minions, but no one else. For all we know, he may be lurking among us at this very moment."
Yugi was silent for a moment, realizing that what she said was indeed true. "So what you're saying is. . ."
"That the person responsible for the year before may be in this tournament," Ishizu finished, a worried look spreading across her face, "Which is why I want you to leave." Yugi's eyes widened.
"Leave? Why? If there is anything going on, I want to be there to help!" Yugi exclaimed. She shook her head at him.
"No, I will not tolerate that. Yugi, I do not wish to have more people hurt. I can't bear to see someone die again. You understand, don't you?" Ishizu asked, a pleading look in her blue eyes. Yugi turned away, knowing what she meant.
"The tournament. . . It isn't the only reason why I'm here," Yugi said slowly, digging in his pocket and taking out the handkerchief, "In Japan, days before, when me and the gang went to go to visit Aura's grave. . . It, it was dug up." Ishizu gasped in surprise and shock. "I know, but that's not all. Whoever done it torn her coffin apart and crushed the white roses. Her father was there and was the one who reported it, but the strange thing was that I found this at her grave as well." As he spoke the words, he held out the handkerchief toward Ishizu as she took it delicately in her hands. She stared at the insignia on the corner of the cloth.
"This symbol, I know where it comes from," Ishizu said, wide eyed.
"From who? Who does it belong to?!" Yugi asked desperately.
"This, this symbol is the crest of--" she started. Suddenly a yell was heard behind them as Yugi and Ishizu both turned their heads toward the commotion.
A man in a Hawaiian shirt was yelling angrily at two black haired boys, chasing them down the market path. The Egyptians moved out of their way, accustomed to events such as these. The two boys, who appeared to be twins, were laughing hard, one grasping a money pouch and the other holding a camera. Yugi and Ishizu, who happened to be in an alleyway, stepped out and saw the two boys turning and running towards them.
The boy laughed out loud and saw Yugi with wide eyes. Before anyone could say "Holy mother of Egypt!" they crashed into Yugi and Ishizu with a thud. The crowd was used to this and quickly went back to their business, the tourist running into another alleyway.
The boys shook their heads with a groan. They sat up, and one of them said, "Oh nice going Chike, that dang tourist caught us!"
"Hmm, well whada know, he was a smart tourist. Don't see that a lot," answered Chike thoughtfully, looking through the camera with an eye closed. "Aw man! This camera sucks! Chuma! Why'd the heck you get this piece of crap?!"
"Hey, don't blame it on me! You were the one who stole it! At least I was more resourceful," Chuma smirked, tossing the money pouch in the air.
"Umm, excuse me, but, if you won't mind would you GET OFF OF ME?!" Yugi yelled out, making Chuma jump in the air and look down.
"Oh, I'm sitting on a person. I was wondering why the landing was so soft," Chuma stated, standing up and helping Yugi up also. Chike did the same with Ishizu, helping her up to her feet.
"Heh, our bad. Sorry that we sat on you," Chike apologized.
"And crashed into you," Chuma followed.
"And ruined your hair," Chike said, patting Yugi's tri-colored hair.
"We were just trying to get away from that dude," Chuma said.
Yugi stared at the pouch in his hand. "Err, didn't that belong to the man?"
Chike looked at the money pouch and camera and exclaimed, "Son of a gun, you're right! This really did belong to that guy! I had absolutely NO idea, we should return it to him! My word, unbelievable. . . Eh, who am I kidding? Yeah, we stole it." Chuma nodded and shrugged at the wide mouth Yugi.
"And why would you do that?" Ishizu asked with disdain.
Chuma made a quiet sob and replied, "W-we had to do it. . . You see, our family is starving, and we have no money. . ."
"No jobs," Chike wailed.
"NOTHING! So what is Egyptians like us suppose to do? Stay in the alleyways and rot? No! We stood up for our family and therefore. . . Eh, we stole it because we wanted to." Admitted Chuma sarcastically.
"These people are too smart for us Chuma," Chike said with Chuma nodding.
"Too smart," Chuma said, wiping an imaginary tear.
"And for this incredulous act we deserve to be hanged!" Chike announced, making flicking movements toward his neck.
"HANGED HE SAYS!" repeated Chuma, falling on Yugi and sobbing passionately on his shoulder. Yugi stood there awkwardly, not knowing how to respond.
That was when Chike fell on his knees and grasped Ishizu's legs, sobbing as well. "Forgive us!! Forgive us for what we have done!" Ishizu looked at Yugi disbelievingly, still holding onto the handkerchief. Then the boys separated themselves from Yugi and Ishizu and hugged each other, crying and wailing their hearts out, yelling about sins and stealing and death.
"Oh the horror!" Chike wailed, walking away from them with his brother.
"What will Mother think of us?!" cried out Chuma, sobbing.
"WE DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!" they said aloud, sobbing and walking away. Yugi and Ishizu stood there, dumbfounded. Yugi had his share of strange of events, but this was by far the strangest. Yugi shook his head at them, hands on hips. But then he felt something strange, as if something was. . .
Missing.
Yugi looked down and saw that the velvet drawstring bag wasn't there.
"STOP! THIEVES!" Yugi cried out, running towards them. Ishizu, confused as she was, followed him. Chuma looked behind himself to see them running towards them. He looked down at their new found spoils.
"Uh, Chike, I think they found out," Chuma said with a hint of annoyance.
With an exasperated sigh, Chike looked behind and said, "Oh camel dung. . . Run."
Nodding, they both ran as fast as the wind, Yugi and Ishizu following them from afar.
A walked out of an iron door and stepped into the alleyway. Turning around, she said aloud, "See ya soon Hassan!" Then, after a few moments, a tall man with sleek silver hair and cerulean eyes stepped out of the door also, waving his hands and making hand movements to her similar to sign language. She laughed at what he did.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll look out for my left side! Make sure Badru and Zuka don't take any weapons and electronics!" she exclaimed as the man nodded in response. With a final wave, he closed the door, going back to his soap operas. A chuckled to herself and shook her head, placing her niqab back on her head. She yawned aloud and looked toward the sky, seeing that it was close to sunset.
"Ah, well I guess I better head toward the hotel. I wonder if I have enough Egyptian pounds to make it," A wondered, looking at her money pouch. "Well, I would if Adio didn't steal it. I swear, that happy giant gets more and more like the twins each day." Shaking her head, she walked toward the opening of the alley.
As she walked out into the street, she saw a vendor a few feet away, selling steamed sweet potatoes. Licking her lips, A quickly ran toward the vendor, buying a sweet potato. The man smiled as he handed the vegetable to her. A grinned and thanked the man, walking toward a nearby bench and nibbling on her potato.
'Eh, I can be a little late, can't I? Besides, I don't think Sadiki will mind,' A thought, popping a piece into her mouth. 'Hmm. . . Delicious.' She sighed happily and laid her head back, staring into the pastel colored sky. After a few minutes she ate the last of her potato, tossing the garbage to a nearby trash can.
Suddenly a limo pulled in front of her as she sat up straight and stared at the car wearily. A door opened at the front, and the chauffer popped out, wearing a crash helmet and goggles. She grinned as A stared at her with weary surprise.
"Hey, A! 'Sup?" the girl said, running to the other side and leaning on the car. A rubbed her eyes before looking at her once more, realizing who she was.
"Oh, hi Raziya, didn't expect you there. You looking for your cousins?" A asked as Raziya sat down beside her. She took off her crash helmet and shook her head, revealing short black hair and big brown eyes.
"Nah, I'm sure Chike and Chuma dun want me when their workin. Just thought I could drive by and say hi, ya know?" Raziya replied, sighing a little.
"So how's your new job?" A asked, taking off her veil and looking at the fifteen year old.
"Eh, not bad. Mr. Enari is easy, all I have to do is drive around anyway," Raziya said, scratching her head.
"And your night job?"
"Dang, it gets harder by the day. The museums are gettin' more and more cautious, makes it hard for thieves like me to go through. But no biggy, I can get it." She said, shaking her hand towards her.
"You know you can always call Zuka for help on that. He's pretty good at technology. Same with Badru and Adio, but they tend to use a more, physical way. As for Chike and Chuma. . . Well, don't make me go there." A suggested, tilting her head a bit. Raziya then eyed her with a sly look, making one of A's eyebrows raise.
"And whada bout Sadiki?" she said, a smirk growing on her face.
"Puh, maybe. He's just the leader after all. Why do you want to know?" she asked.
"You know what I mean. . ." Raziya replied, her face like a fox.
"Don't you have any museums to raid?" she asked, her face showing no emotion.
"What kind of a comeback is that?" Raziya criticized.
"You kids get real annoying. Go on now, go torture someone else for a change," A said, pushing her off the bench. She fell with a thud and stared at A with annoyance.
"Hey, that was--" Raziya started, until she started seeing a dust cloud a few blocks away. "What's that?" A stood up, squinting at the sand in the air. When she saw what it was, she gave out a huge groan, muttering under her breath.
Chike and Chuma were running as fast as their legs can carry them, swinging their arms back and forth. Yugi and Ishizu were behind them, only a foot away from the persistent twins. Chike looked up and saw the limo and his cousin by it.
"Raziya! Start the car! START THE CAR!" he cried out as he just jumped out of Yugi's outstretched hand. Raziya shrugged and put on her helmet, running to the other side of the limo and stepping in. The limo's engine started as the car shivered in the start. Ishizu slowed to a stop, heaving in and out. Yugi continued on however, closer and closer to Chuma. He reached out his hand, so close to the drawstring bag.
A glowered at the twins, yelling out, "What did you do this time?!" At this rate, Chike and Chuma were in earshot, and so was Yugi. Just as he was about to grab it, he looked up and saw her. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the sparkling green eyes and the gold and black hair.
Aura?
Yugi slowed to a stop, dazed. He didn't know what to say, all he could think was, 'Aura? Alive? Aura? Here?'
Chike and Chuma continued running and soon were in A's clutches.
"My god! Even when I'm here you still cause trouble! What did you do now, you idiots?!" she yelled out, glaring daggers at them. They looked at each other as they were caught by her hands, holding their collars tight.
"Maybe being caught by the little dude won't be so bad after all," stated Chike.
"Would be better than facing this monster," agreed Chuma. Together they slapped her hands away and were walking toward the dazed Yugi. A smacked her face with her hands in dismay, holding onto her niqab.
Suddenly Chike and Chuma ran back, grabbing onto A's arms and tossing her into the limo beside them. She cried out complaints as Chike went in after her and Chuma yelled out, "Drive Rayiza! Drive like you never drove before!!" Then he went in and slammed the door behind him. The second after he went in Raziya started the limo and drove off, almost running into Yugi and Ishizu. Yugi jumped out of the way as Ishizu quickly ran to the side, the limo flying past them.
Raziya stuck her head out the side of the limo and cried out, "Sorry for the inconvenience we'll come back to steal again thank you!" Then the limo disappeared, turning to another street.
That was when Ishizu ran over to Yugi, who was in a crouched position, breathing hard. "Yugi, what's wrong?" she asked. He was silent, heaving in and out.
Yugi turned his head toward her and said, "They stole it. They stole the Orb! And. . . And Aura's alive!"
Up in the air, the Fates looked down upon Yugi and Ishizu with disdain. Then in a blink of an eye, they vanished into thin air.
To Be Continued. . .
Okay, so to clear up a few things. One, I bolded A's name so you guys won't get mixed up. Two, niqab is a veil that reveals only the eyes, the thing that A wore in this chapter. Three, Raziya will be an important character later on. Four, a few things mentioned before will happen in the next chapter. Oh, and sorry for not updating. I'll try and do it on a regular basis, but with school coming up, I dunno. Review please, tell me what you think.