Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Author's Notes:This was originally supposed to be the last chapter, but after numerous revises and alterations, it came out too long to be posted as a single chapter. Therefore, I divided it in two parts, the last one being the epilogue. You'll find credits there, as well as, probably, the longest author notes I've ever written.
The Legend of the Three Souls
Chapter XXVIII – No rest for the soul
by Alena S. Anigor
The sun peeked through one of the large, puffy clouds on the sky that was slowly rolling towards the desert, its shadow casting and shimmering over the sand and over the Ruins of the Doomed. A light breeze wafted by, carrying tiny specks across the numerous dunes, the warmth spilling slowly over the scenery. The only thing that was ruining the perfect morning in the desert was a group of people, standing in front of the said ruins and staring blankly at the man with a turban on his head, waiting in anticipation for him to say something.
Shadi took a deep breath, suddenly faced by numerous questions and demands, panicky glances and flabbergasted gapes. He looked at Joey and Tristan who were gawking at him, completely confused and puzzled and still covered with a thin layer of sand. Serenity was clinging onto her brother's arm, looking around carefully as if waiting for another cloaked ogre to appear in front of them and strangle them to death. Mai was in the middle of shaking the remains of dust off her hair when Tea, Ishizu and Marik approached her and her eyes widened when she saw the brown-haired girl, quickly pulling her into a tight hug with a squeal.
Tea winced slightly, resisting the urge to push her away; she could still feel the possessive, skeletal fingers around her neck and Mai's hug only brought back the unpleasant memory. Ishizu stopped and glanced at her brother in worry, noticing his bloodstained shirt and the dagger in his hands, glistening slightly on the sun and currently covered with half dried blood. She put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, smiling softly at him and then looked around the desert apprehensively. Marik raised his eyebrows at Shadi's weary expression and then craned his neck a bit to see whose leg was sticking out of the sand behind him. He frowned, making Ishizu glance in the direction he was looking at.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, clasping a hand over her lips, drawing attention from Tea and Mai who let go of her as soon as the brown-haired girl gasped and dashed forward, ignoring Shadi's yelp of protest when she almost rammed into him.
"Bakura!" She exclaimed worriedly, storming past the Prophet to plop down onto the sand and next to the white-haired thief who was still lying peacefully on the ground, his eyes closed and his lips parted slightly. Tears sprung out of her eyes when she looked at the equally motionless Yuugi, lying right next to him, Kaiba lying a few feet away from them, seemingly asleep.
She turned around to look at Shadi whose eyes were glassy for a moment until he snapped out of his stupor when she threw a look full of despair and anguish at him.
"Shadi...what..." She croaked, looking back at them, clasping a hand over her mouth, using other one to shake the reincarnation of the Third Soul gently. "Bakura..." she whispered and shook him harder. "Bakura! Yuugi!"
Mai closed her eyes and then opened them a moment later to reveal a somewhat stunned flicker in them, staring at the unmoving body of her friend. When she looked at Shadi questioningly, expecting him to say that everything was all right and saw the crushed look on his face, she lowered her head, staring at the sand numbly, her body beginning to tremble slightly. Serenity grabbed Joey by the arm harder who was watching the scene with wide eyes, Tristan and Marik gazing at the girl and the three young men solemnly. Ishizu was the first to recover, taking a hesitant step forward and glancing at Shadi inquiringly.
"In the legend," she started, her voice shaking a bit and she had to take a deep breath to steady herself. "In the legend...the three of them...they died after-"
"No!" Tea screamed, standing up to cast a broken look at the young woman. "No, please...no." She turned around, falling back onto the sand limply again, Ishizu swallowing hard and lowering her head to stare at the sand grimly, biting her lower lip.
"They are...Oh, no..." Serenity murmured, still clutching the material of Joey's dusty shirt. They all reverted their gazes from a sobbing Tea, kneeling stiffly in front of them and shaking with uncontrollable sobs. Mai took a deep breath, her eyes filling with tears slowly and she sniffled once, trying to wipe the moist away, but tears were falling freely down her cheeks when she hugged herself tightly, golden locks pooling around and over her shoulders. She took a step forward, glancing at Yuugi and then knelt down next to Tea slowly.
"Shadi," Tristan spoke and the tanned man turned his head to look at one of the guides dejectedly, his face suddenly appearing so old and weary. "How come we're...and they're not...I, I don't understand..." He ventured, glancing at Tea who was now hugged and rocked by Mai, both of them crying and kneeling on the sand. Shadi shook his head, unable to think or speak, his mind completely void of any coherent thoughts. He had hoped the Gods had let them live, but his hopes shattered, seeing them lying so serenely on the sand as if they were just taking a long nap after a hard night.
Serenity let go of Joey who was staring numbly at Yuugi, feeling a strange pang around his heart, his fists shaking slightly. He liked the spiky-haired boy. He even wished he could see Bakura and Kaiba stand up, even though the thief had hurt Rashid and Kaiba was just plainly annoying him. Marik blinked, feeling the blade of his dagger heating up slowly under the sun and then glanced at Ishizu who knelt down next to Serenity, both of them trying to console the crying girls.
"The Gods...they brought you back to life again," Shadi found himself speaking suddenly, the words simply leaving his mouth automatically, his voice unusually cool and hollow. He lowered his head to stare at his own feet, an indescribable mixture of emotions surging through him. He couldn't even define the majority of emotions inside of him; everything swirled – from anger, anguish and despair to hurt, disappointment and grief. He wished he could simply sink into the sand and disappear. He felt like he had betrayed them.
Ishizu wiped away a single tear from her face, taking a deep breath to stay more or less composed. Her hand was resting on Tea's shoulder, shaking and quivering ever so slightly when the girl took another heartbreaking sob. She looked down to glance at Bakura's face, white tresses spilled around his shoulder, bangs resting on his forehead. Her gaze traveled to look at Yuugi, noticing the boy's serene expression.
What was she supposed to say to Solomon? She knew he was everything he had and without the young man...She looked at Kaiba and gazed at his scratched hands, fingers grasping sand lightly and then almost stopped breathing when she saw one of his fingers jerk slightly. She straightened up immediately, looking at Tea, Mai and Serenity to see if they had noticed the same thing, but they were still busy crying and hiding their faces behind their hands to see anything.
She looked at a devastated looking Shadi and at the boys, talking quietly among themselves, wearing the same, sad and miserable expressions. When she looked at Kaiba again, her heart skipped a beat when she saw his fingers moving again, now sinking into the sand and grabbing for something.
Her breath got stuck in her throat and she already considered the thought to rub her eyes, afraid she wasn't, perhaps, imagining things but when Kaiba's head lolled slightly to the left, brows furrowing and creating creases between the bridge of his nose, she got up abruptly with a gasp.
"He's moving! He's...he's moving!"
Serenity raised her head quickly and looked at her in surprise. Joey and Tristan turned briskly at her exclamation, Shadi's eyes widening with hope, Marik tilting his head a bit to see over Shadi's turban. The Prophet stepped forward quickly, looking at the three figures on the ground.
"W-what?" Tea and Mai asked in unison, their voices shaking; eyes puffy and red from crying.
"Who?" Joey and Tristan leaned forward as well to see for themselves. Ishizu pointed at Kaiba, staring at his face in astonishment.
"He...K-Kaiba...he-he moved a mome-"
The group gathered around her gasped suddenly, cutting her off when Kaiba let out a groan, lifting his arm slowly to rest his hand over his forehead. Silence seemed to stretch on, becoming almost touchable until Tea let out a yelp, feeling Bakura's hand on her knees, grasping for something.
"Bakura!" She exclaimed, leaning down in an instant to tower over him worriedly, watching him squirm and open a pair of bleary eyes. "You're alive! You're alive!"
The thief howled in pain when she hugged him tightly without a second thought, crying into his shoulder out of happiness this time.
"Hey, that means that Yuugi is alive as well!" Joey exclaimed, moving around to stand behind Mai and Serenity who were still watching the scene in sheer wonder. He bent down to shake the spiky-haired boy gently, waiting for something to happen. When no response came, he leaned down slightly to poke him on the nose, leaving Mai and Serenity to gape at him.
"Joey! You don't do that to people!" Serenity scowled, reprimanding him for his lack of tact. The reincarnation of the First Soul let out a moan, involuntarily raising his hand to swat away the nuisance away from his face, probably mistaking Joey's finger for an annoying fly. Joey beamed happily when the young man opened his eyes to see the blue sky first, then to see a mess of blond and brown and feel somebody pulling him up in a bone-crushing hug.
"Yuugi!" He blinked and looked down to see Tea hugging him firmly, crying and sobbing into his shirt helplessly. When he looked up, he saw Ishizu, with equally tear stricken face and Shadi, observing him with a smile, something akin to relief and gratitude evident in his eyes.
He blushed slightly when Tea raised her head and kissed him on the cheek soundly, trying to wipe away the tears from her face. He turned his attention to the young man beside him who gave him a somewhat dark look when the girl kissed him.
He remembered there was someone else with them and glanced to the right, seeing Kaiba sitting on the sand, massaging his temples to get rid of the headache.
The CEO growled, feeling like he had just woken up after a hard night with a headache the size of one of his skyscrapers. He could still feel the pumping sensation in his head and in his veins from the surge of anger right before the light intensified and...then everything else was a blur. He looked up when a shadow stepped in front of him, spotting the auburn-haired girl who smiled at him softly, offering him a hand. He stared at her outstretched palm and then accepted it, letting her lift him up slowly. Sand rolled down his trench coat, creating a rustling sound when he stood up and touched his forehead with a sore expression.
"Are you all right?" Serenity asked quietly, eyeing the CEO worriedly. He just nodded absentmindedly and then glanced at the group of people to his left blankly. He caught Shadi's gaze and the man nodded at him, his expression calm and cool again, but his eyes were glistening with joy. Kaiba nodded back somewhat awkwardly and then looked around the desert, noticing numerous dunes and mounds of sand. He turned to look at Shadi again and took a cautious step forward, the amount of noise and excitement amidst the group quieting down when he approached them.
"What happened?" He asked him and managed to make everyone around him ask the same thing again, all of them redirecting curious looks at the Prophet. Shadi blinked and sweatdropped when they all gathered around him again, reminding him of children on the street market that would assemble around the local entertainers and stare hungrily at the basket full of snakes and exotic animals.
"Well..." He started, noticing the same anticipation and hunger in their eyes and then smiled helplessly, not being able to decline the looks they were giving him. "You see, the Gods have-"
"Aw, damn it!" Mai Valentine cried out and cut him off. They turned around to look at the blond journalist, gaping in wonder at the terrified look on her face, her hands gripping the collar of her shirt.
"What?" Yuugi and Tea asked simultaneously, others giving her odd looks. Mai raised her head and then sniffled, staring at them with wide, teary eyes.
"I lost my camera!"
÷
"Don't worry, we'll buy you a new one," Tea said reassuringly, patting Mai on the shoulder as they were making their way down the hospital halls. The blond girl scoffed, frowning and glaring at the hospital personnel, walking with crossed arms and her head lowered.
"But that was my favorite one! My lucky one! The one I recorded the busts with! The one-"
"Mai," Tea said in a firm, low voice, stopping her tirade and making her take inhale sharply. "We'll get you a new one."
Mai only huffed and turned left around the corner, following after Yuugi and Kaiba, Bakura walking beside Tea, with Ishizu, Marik, Joey, Serenity and Tristan tagging behind. They wanted Shadi to come with them, but the Prophet only smiled enigmatically after he explained them what happened to Amukh and his minions, and said how he had other things to do. The taxis arrived just then, making them all turn around to step inside but when Yuugi wanted to ask him about something and turned around, he was already gone, the street too crowded for him to see where he had gone.
They decided to go to the hospital where Solomon, Rashid and Mokuba were placed in after the incident with Marik and Bakura, and the cloaked minions of Amukh.
They stopped in front of the open doors, the small window open wide, dark curtains billowing slightly on the hot breeze. Yuugi, Mai and Tea raised their eyebrows at the scene; Joey and Tristan gaped quizzically while Ishizu, Marik, Bakura and Serenity exchanged awkward glances. Kaiba's brow twitched slightly when he saw Mokuba, perched over Solomon's bed, staring thoughtfully at an old chessboard. Solomon was also concentrated on the game, but Rashid, who was the quiet spectator, noticed them and his eyes lit up when he spotted his boss standing at the doorway.
"Ishizu!" He exclaimed and moved from his spot by the window, interrupting Mokuba and Solomon from their moment of silent glaring at a black rook and a white knight. Marik and Bakura stepped back quickly, Marik feeling sick all of a sudden. Mokuba's eyes lit up as well when he saw his brother, looking at him oddly and not wasting another moment, abandoned the chessboard and ran to Kaiba quickly who bent down slightly to hug him gently.
"Seto!" He cried out happily, grasping the material of his shirt tightly. Kaiba smiled just a little bit, resisting the urge to ruffle his hair.
"How are you feeling?" He asked him when Mokuba took his hand and pulled him inside. Yuugi, Tea and Mai were already beside Solomon who had difficulties following what they were saying because they all started talking at the same time. His eyes bulged out slightly when he managed to catch Yuugi saying 'And then Amukh wanted to take the busts and kill us all...' and then listen to Tea ('And then we all died and then the Gods brought us back to life...!') and in the end hear Mai say 'And then I lost my precious camera because of that stupid Priest!'
He swallowed when they all leaned over him as if demanding from him to listen to everything they had to say, their voices raising steadily with every word. He looked at Ishizu who was giggling behind them with pleading eyes and the dark-haired woman approached them, interrupting them subtly.
"I believe we can discuss this when the time is right," she said and Yuugi blinked, together with Tea who was in the middle of describing the Jackals, her arms raised high in the air. Mai simply shrugged and sat down on the chair, absentmindedly reaching for the collar of her shirt where her camera used to be. Solomon thanked Ishizu silently and she nodded in reply, casting a look in Marik's direction who was still hesitant about entering the room. When Rashid's face softened and he beckoned him inside with a motion of his hand, he took a step forward, guilt written all over his face, his head lowered. Ishizu watched in awe how the man's eyes started filling with tears, Marik whispering something to him quietly. She almost started crying herself when the older man grabbed him by the shoulders with his uninjured hand and hugged him firmly.
Bakura was feeling slightly out of place, so he settled for leaning on the wall and glaring awkwardly outside with his arms crossed. He tried avoiding Rashid's gaze; after all, he was the one who stabbed the older man in the shoulder. Rashid either decided to forgive him as well or he ignored him, too occupied by Marik's apologies to notice the uncomfortable look on his face.
"Mr. Mutou was teaching me how to play chess," Ishizu heard Mokuba say and glanced at the younger boy who had a few bandages tied around his arm. Joey and Tristan approached her and she sighed heavily, feeling tired and exhausted all of a sudden. She sat down on the chair next to Mai who yawned widely, forgetting to cover her mouth.
"I think we all need some sleep," Serenity said quietly, noticing the dark circles under Ishizu's eyes. Joey agreed by nodding twice while Tristan couldn't help but yawn as well after seeing Mai opening her mouth for the second time.
"I can't believe that really happened...Yuugi, Kaiba and Bakura saving us all by...by merging with the Gods. Sounds like something out of a fairytale..." Ishizu murmured thoughtfully, staring at the white floor of the hospital room.
"Yeah, and I can't believe we were dead," Tristan muttered and made Joey look at him warningly.
"Don't even try to remind me."
"For how long are they keeping you here?" Yuugi asked his grandpa when he finally managed to convince him and Tea that he believed everything they said. Solomon shrugged and looked out the window.
"Probably for another day or two," he replied and then smiled when Mokuba came back and sat on his bed, moving a piece across the board. With a triumphant smile, he crossed his arms.
"Checkmate." He announced and left Solomon to gawk at him in wonder, Seto Kaiba watching him in silent amusement from the corner of his eye.
"You're a fast learner, my boy," Solomon piped and Mokuba beamed.
"I know. It runs in the family."
"Hey, do they have more spare beds around here?" Joey exclaimed, desperately wanting something to drop onto, close his eyes and sleep. Everyone turned and glanced around, spotting four vacant beds in the room and without thinking, dashed to claim their spots.
Solomon, Mokuba and Rashid stared in sheer astonishment at the group of people pushing and squeezing on the beds and at the amount of noise they were creating. After a while, growls, moans and rustling of the sheets quieted down, Tea and Mai sleeping on the bed closest to the window, Joey and Yuugi stretched on the bed next to them, Ishizu and Serenity lying on the one that was situated next to Solomon's while Tristan and Bakura glared at each other, lying on the bed closest to the doors.
Mokuba gladly offered his bed to his brother while Rashid let Marik use his.
A few sighs echoed across the room when Mokuba went to close the doors and tuned out the voices coming from the halls outside, creating a blissful silence in the room.
"Black or white?" Solomon whispered to him when he tiptoed his way to his bed and glanced at the chessboard, brows furrowed in consideration. Rashid leaned on the windowsill, observing Ishizu and her brother with a warm smile. Just when Mokuba was about to voice his opinion to the old archeologist, the doors of the room flied open with a bang and everyone jerked with a start, opening their eyes to glare at the one responsible for waking them up.
Solomon, Mokuba and Rashid deadpanned and sighed heavily, seeing the man barging into the room like that for the nth time in the last couple of days.
Others blinked in confusion at inspector Muhadda who had his mouth full, chewing on something only Serenity managed to recognize. When he frowned suspiciously at them, they all gulped and exchanged nervous glances, feeling like they all committed a horrible crime and he was there to make sure they arrived on time for their execution. When he finally swallowed, he regarded them all with a look that could've even put Kaiba's best glare to shame.
"Just where have you been all this time?"
