Hikaru: We're back with the third part of this!
Witty: (Is hyper) Yup!
Yugi: Who let them have sugar?
Yami: Mmmmmmmppppphhh!!!! (Translation: UNTIE ME NOW!)
Hikaru: Forget it, Pharaoh. (Gives Witty the F.F.P.O.D.) Here. Please make him stop.
Witty: (Evil smile) Okay! (Thwaps Yami)
Yami: XX
Hikaru: We don't own YGO (Sobs) but anything original is ours! Ours, you hear us?! Mwah hahaha!!! (Calms down) On with the fic!
Chapter 3: Dangerous Secrets And A Narrow Escape
"Oh," Witty said and tucked her hands into her pockets. Her hand cupped the top of her deck and touched the Witty Phantom card. "Alistair just came and wanted to kill you for your magic. He said something between his rants on how dangerous it was to play around with magic when they are so close to victory over the pharaoh." She paused. "Is the pharaoh anyone you know"
Hikaru tensed slightly at the mention of the Pharaoh, though she didn't let it show. Instead she just shook her head, then reached up and brushed a few stray strands of her light blue hair away from her sapphire and golden eyes. "No, I don't know who he's talking about. I don't think he does either. Don't pay any attention to him, he says stuff like that all the time. Quite frankly, I don't think he's all there upstairs, if you know what I mean," she replied, twirling her finger around the side of her head in the universal gesture of insanity and offering a slight shrug.
Witty stared at the other girl for a moment, as if trying to see through to her very soul itself, and Hikaru cursed silently to herself. It seemed she was going to have to have a word with Alastair later. But she'd have to do it without letting him find out about Witty, because if he did, he'd open his big mouth and blab it to her father, and then things would be even more screwed up. That, and she didn't want her friend to be hurt, she had meant what she'd said when she had given the Witty Phantom card to the other girl, about it being a symbol of their friendship. Hikaru didn't want to lose that. Plus if Witty were to find out that the man she was out to take revenge on was Hikaru's father, all chaos really would break loose.
"I'll take your word for it, Hikaru. I really hope you're not hiding something from me," Witty said, her tone taking on a serious note.
Hikaru shook her head again. "I'm not, I promise," she said, really starting to hate the awkward position she had been backed into. She sighed and sat down on her bed, glancing over at the other girl, who had once again perched herself upon the window ledge that she seemed to have suddenly become quite fond of for some unknown reason or another.
Witty watched the girl for a long moment. She squeezed her deck in her pocket and imagined asking a question to her master. A scene played out in her mind:
"Master, what did you tell me about trust?"
The Witty Phantom, alive and tall dressed in his purple suit held the rim of his hat and winked at his apprentice. "If they know your heart, they're a friend."
Witty smiled at Hikaru. "Thank you, Hikaru," she said. "For hiding me, and..." She glanced down at her pocket. "And for my card."
Hikaru smiled back at her. "Of course. What are friends for?"
Witty nodded. A thought came to her just then. What if Dartz was that pharaoh Alistair was talking about? Maybe Hikaru could help her. But then again, with Alistair, the lights are on, but nobody's home. On the other hand... Witty shook her head and adjusted her hat upon her head. Just trust her! She told herself. Why would she lie to you?!
Witty glanced back to Hikaru's door. Maybe one of the other guards knew something about Dartz...
"Hikaru? Do you think anyone around here knows anything about my master's killer? My path has led me here and my master always taught me to follow my heart." She reached under her vest and touched the hilt of her dagger. "It can't be coincidence." She paused. "Do you think that perhaps...if there really is a pharaoh somewhere, do you think he could be the Dartz I'm looking for"
Hikaru shrugged, not really sure what to say. She was really starting to hate the position she was in now. But how could she tell her friend that her father was the man she was looking for? Her eyes turned sad for just a brief second, but then it vanished just as quickly as it had come, and she leaned back, staring up at the ceiling.
"I don't know, Witty. I guess we'll find out if he's the one when we get to Domino, if this so-called Pharaoh even exists"
She couldn't tell Witty that her father was the one she was after. However heartless he might have been towards those three idiots, she knew his true nature. He just couldn't have killed someone. But Witty's story had tugged at something in her heart, and she knew the other girl wasn't lying to her about her master being killed. She sighed again, letting her eyes close for a moment, then she turned and glanced over at Witty, who was still watching her. She saw the pain of loss in the other's eyes, and her heart went out to Witty. And, she had to admit, she'd be doing the exact same thing if anything were to happen to Shaadi or Dartz. She felt herself suddenly being torn in two different directions, and she just shook her head, trying to shove the thoughts out of her mind for the time being.
I wish I could tell you the truth, Witty, I really do. But I think it's best for now, at least, that you don't know, Hikaru thought to herself regretfully, idly wondering how she always managed to get herself into messes like this. I'm truly sorry, my friend. Please, forgive me. Hikaru sighed again and turned her gaze up to the ceiling once more, the light from the flickering torches that lit the room casting eerie shadows across the faces of the two girls. Neither of them took any notice of it at all. Both were too caught up in their own thoughts to take any notice of it.
When Hikaru glanced over at Witty again, she noticed that the other girl had dozed off. She stood up, grabbed a blanket from her bed and draped it over her friend, knowing all-too-well from experience just how cold it could get some nights sleeping by that particular window. She was about to go lay back down herself when she heard the sound of someone knocking gently on her door. She sighed, glancing over at Witty for a moment, then slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind her before whoever was there could see the other girl. She looked up and saw her father's third henchman standing there.
"What is it, Varon?" she asked.
"Hikaru, your father wishes to see you," Varon replied.
She nodded and started back towards the temple, glancing back over her shoulder to make sure Varon had left. She hid the slight blush that crept onto her face behind the veil of her sky-colored hair and continued through the corridors. She reached the temple a few minutes later, and saw her father standing there, waiting for her. She approached him, wondering what he wanted to see her about.
"Yes, father?" she asked.
"I have one more thing to give you that you will need on your mission, little one," he said.
Hikaru nodded, looking at him cuiously, her head tilted slightly to one side. Dartz turned and walked over to the alter behind him, picking up one of the three Egyptian God Cards. He moved back over to her and handed her the card. She took it and glanced down at it, noticing that he had given her the Winged Dragon of Ra. She slipped it into her deck and looked up at Dartz.
"You must not lose that card, or let the Pharaoh know that you have it," he said.
Hikaru nodded again. "You have my word that I won't, father"
Dartz smiled slightly and hugged his daughter, kissing her softly on the forehead. "I know you won't. Now, go get some rest, little one," he said, using his old nickname for her.
She smiled a little and stepped back. Then she turned and left the temple, wandering through the corridors towards her room, lost in thought. An odd thought of possibly using Witty to get the Pharaoh popped into her head for just a brief moment, and she shook her head, pushing it aside. No, I can't do that to her! She's my friend, for Ra's sake!
Hikaru was snapped out of her reverie, though, by the sound of hushed voices speaking in the semi-darkness just up ahead, though she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Her two-tone eyes went very wide with shock when she saw Raphael and Alastair, and she ducked back into a hallway, peering around the corner and trying desperately not to be noticed as she evesdropped on them.
What's going on? Why would those two be meeting in secret like this? Just then she noticed that Alastair held something in his hand, though for a second she couldn't tell what it was.
"It is done, as you asked," Alastair said in almost a whisper, handing what looked suspiciously like a Duel Monsters card to Raphael, who nodded and placed it in his back pocket for safe-keeping.
Is that one of the other two Egyptian God Cards?! Hikaru gasped softly, and then realized her mistake when the two looked in her direction, both glaring at her. She took a step back, fear shining in her sapphire and gold eyes, then turned and ran. She heard angry voices behind her and ran faster, almost blindly, back towards her room.
"The brat saw us! She's getting away! Grab her!" Alastair shouted as Hikaru bolted, and Raphael took off after her.
He finally caught up to her and grabbed her roughly, his arm going around her waist. She started to scream, but he clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle the girl's desperate cries for help. She struggled, twisting and thrashing wildly in the other's grip, but it was no use. She couldn't break free, he was much stronger than she was physically.
Fear shimmered in her eyes as she realized that he was taking her back to where he had left Alastair, and that she was outnumbered. That was when she decided to use drastic measures and kicked him as hard as she could in the groin. He yelped in pain, letting go of his hold on her and fell to the ground. She ran from him again, summoning an energy ball in to her hand as she did so and hurled it behind her, shielding her escape.
Finally she reached her room, and ducked inside, slamming the door shut quickly behind her and locking it. Then she fell to her knees, exhausted and scared. The noise from the door being shut so harshly had woken up Witty, though, and the girl sat up, looking around, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Huh? Wha...what's going on?" Witty muttered, then glanced over at Hikaru. "Hikaru, are you all right? What's wrong?" she asked, moving to her friend's side and looking at her worriedly.
Hikaru tensed when she heard footsteps and angry voices approaching her room. She looked at the door fearfully, knowing the lock wouldn't hold out for very long. She stood up a bit shakily, grabbed the duffel bag that was still on her bed and looked over at Witty.
"Come on, we have to leave now!" she said, her voice almost a whisper.
"What....why?" Witty asked, looking at her curiously now.
"Just please....trust me. We can't stay here right now," she said by way of an explanation.
With that she grabbed her friend's arm and they slipped out the window just as the door started to cave in under Raphael's attempts to break it down. The two girls ran for the chamber where the motorcycles and other vehicles were kept, and it was only then that Hikaru let go of her hold on Witty's arm. Hikaru hurried over to her personal motorcycle, using her magic to hotwire it and another one while she secured her bag to the back of the seat and got on. She put her helmet on and tossed a spare one to Witty.
"Here, take this! I hotwired one of the other motorcycles! Take that one and follow me, we're leaving for Domino tonight!"
Witty nodded, placing the helmet on her head and got onto the other motorcycle. The two then rode off into the darkness towards Domino City. Hikaru's heart was still beating wildly, and thoughts raced rampant through her mind like an adrenaline rush.
What was that all about? Why did they meet in secret just to exchange a Duel Monsters card, unless Alastair managed to steal either Slifer the Sky Dragon or Obelisk the Tormentor. I have the Winged Dragon of Ra. That must be it! Otherwise they wouldn't have tried to chase after me like they did. Normally they wouldn't risk something like that, because they know father won't allow anyone to hurt me. She closed her eyes for just a brief second before opening them again and glancing towards the sky.
Change of Heart, Dark Magician Girl, please, grant me the strength to do this, my spirit creatures. Father, I hope you and mother will be all right. There's something more than even we realize going on here.
She sighed, pushing the thoughts away from her mind for the time being as she finally started to calm down. She tightened her grip slightly on the motorcycle and glanced behind her to see if Witty was still there. Sure enough, the other girl was behind her, and was starting to move up beside her. She noticed the questioning look she got from Witty out of the corner of her eyes, but didn't say anything about it. All of this was starting to give her a really bad migraine, but she ignored it as they headed towards the city of Domino.
To Be Continued.....Sorry if this part is a bit short, but it's the last part I have right now, until my friend sends her next part. Hopefully I'll have the next part up soon, though. Next chapter the girls reach Domino, but what will happen? Hikaru has never once seen the outside world, so a lot of things could happen. I think I'll just keep you all guessing for a while, though. Mwah hahaha!! Well, ja ne, minna-san!
Hikaru Shinatoru, Daughter of Shaadi and Dartz