Darkness Within
Note: This chapter contains a flashback, written in italics. Here we go again… please review! Nothing else to say…
Chapter Two: Meet the Pharaoh
"Hey, Yuge, I'm starved. Let's stop here and eat!"
"Joey, you ate just an hour ago."
"Has it been dat long? We better hurry, Yuge!"
It was him, alright. After following the two boys for ten minutes, she knew that this was the pharaoh's vessel and his little friend. But how to get on the inside… That was another matter.
She gently slipped her sword into its place and followed them into the Mexican restaurant with a sigh.
Fiacha was already sick and tired of listening to the blonde's rambling and she had "known" him for about ten minutes. Something about him was just so… annoyingly innocent. She read gold in nearly every inch of his aura; he was likely incapable of anything that required sacrifice. So like her brother had been before… No, it was best not to dwell on such things.
"And den I really kicked his butt! You remember dat, Yuge?"
The little boy nodded and Fiacha slipped into a booth behind theirs with practiced stealth. They wouldn't see her unless she wanted them to.
"Hey, what are you staring at?" The blonde asked her suddenly.
She stared at him in shocked horror, mouth gaping. "I… well I… you… he… but…" she forced herself to be silent. He was just a silly boy with good eyesight… nothing more.
"It was my good looks, wasn't it?" He nudged his friend with a smile. "I told ya I was too good looking for my own good!"
Rolling her eyes in disgust, she smiled slyly. "Actually, I was wondering if you had any extra napkins…?"
"Sure you were," the blonde said, smiling wider and handing her a napkin.
She blinked at it for a moment and then returned to her seat. How had he seen her? She was one with the shadows… she had not wished to be seen. How had he… could he…?
"May I take your order?"
Jumping about a foot in the air, Fiacha turned her violet eyes on the waiter and grinned as his face went blank and he walked away as if she had never even been there. So she wasn't losing it… Then why…?
"I'll take a large taco, three burritos and a large pop… oh, and some nachos, and…"
Fiacha stared at her own menu as he ordered everything on it, including seven different desserts and five drinks. Who could stay so skinny and eat so much?
Not liking the fact that she could not read this boy, she turned her eyes on the little pharaoh instead. Oh, yes, he looked indeed much like the pharaoh, but he lacked something in the eyes. That soul was clearly not in him at the moment.
The waiter who had come by before was busy running into a tree and she laughed coldly. He would be feeling that in the morning, she knew. Closing her eyes, she withdrew the shadows from his mind and let him see the world as it really was again.
"Ma'am, you'll need to move now," said a deep voice.
"Why?"
"Because Mr. Kaiba is here and this is the only table without a paying customer."
Tired of her mind games, Fiacha grinned slyly at the man. "Then Mr. Kaiba can feel free to share this booth with me. I am, however, not moving."
The man rolled his eyes and muttered into a walkie-talkie of some sort. "You get away with your behavior towards Mr. Kaiba today," he said at last. "But he isn't in this good a mood very often."
She just smiled at him and directed her attention back to the boy in the booth beside hers. Squinting, she caught his aura, which appeared to be layered in two. The first was pure light and the other was nearly all darkness. But in that portion a tiny light showed faintly through the gloom. What a sad sight to see.
"Joey, I think you're going to eat all the food in this entire place if you don't stop it," he said to the blonde one, who responded by eating another burrito.
Should she be friends with the both of them? Should she be closer than that to one of them? How could she get close enough to the pharaoh that she could destroy him?
"Why are you still staring?" The blonde asked, sending chewed up food in her direction.
"Have you not noticed how disgusting that is?" She retorted, trying to put shadows into his mind, just to prove that she could.
Try as she might, his thoughts could not be clouded. What kind of person was this who was not affected by her shadows?
"It isn' gross," he said. "It's food!"
Blinking at him, she invited herself to sit down at their table. "How on earth do you eat that much?" she asked, feigning curiosity.
"I jus' do," he mumbled, moving on to the nachos.
She stared and then realized that her head was resting on her hand like that of a romantic girl who was daydreaming. Shakily, she stole a nacho and ate it, trying to distract herself.
"Hey, give dat back! Get your own food!"
"Oh, shut up. I was getting hungry, watching you eat every ounce of food in this town."
"I wouldn't get between Joey and his food if I were you," the little one said kindly, making her sick.
"I can get between whatever I want to get between," she said in a deadly whisper, feeling deep hatred stir in her heart.
"Okay, sorry. It
was just a bit of advice."
"I don't need your advice," she spat, standing up abruptly. Realizing that she could not risk antagonizing herself, she slowly sat back down, running a finger over her sword for comfort.
"What's dat?"
"What's what?"
"Dat thing you're touchin'."
He could see her sword? No one could see her sword… no one except…but her brother was in Egypt, and this boy was certainly not him.
"It's nothing. Really."
"I'm Yugi," the pharaoh's vessel offered politely and suddenly.
Taken slightly aback, Fiacha forced a smile. "Fiacha."
The blonde nodded, swallowed, and stuck out his hand. "Joey Wheeluh," he proclaimed.
She nodded and silently marked that name within her mind. This Joey Wheeler may very well be trouble.
"Are you new here?" Yugi asked her.
"Yes. I flew in today from Egypt."
The boy blinked at her. "No offense, but you're awfully pale to have lived in Egypt."
This is your precious pharaoh's fault. "My life there is no more; I'd rather not talk about it," she muttered, staring at the table. This boy was different than she expected the pharaoh's vessel to be. Did he not give home to the most arrogant man to ever walk the earth? Why on earth was he so untouched by such a presence?
"Ok, Yuge," Joey said, patting his stomach. "Now we can go to da game shop."
"Game shop?" Fiacha asked, thinking of the shadow games of the pharaoh. Now they were getting somewhere.
"Yeah. We sell mostly Duel Monsters stuff. Have you ever played?"
Duel Monsters? That sounded familiar. Wasn't that what the man in Egypt had been talking about when he had given her that strange card?
"You don't look to be from around here, young one. What brings you to my shop?"
"I am here for my answers, sir. My name is Fiacha, and I used to live underground! Isn't that strange?"
"Yes… you had best take this, little raven."
"Hey, that's what my name means! How did you know that?"
"I know these things, young one. Take this Duel Monsters card; it is linked to your destiny."
He handed her a thin piece of hard paper with a very beautiful drawing on it.
"Warrior of Darkness? What's that?"
"It is the name of this card, little raven, that is all that you need know. Keep it well."
"Fiacha?"
"Yes?"
"Are you going to come with us?"
"Oh… if it isn't too much trouble…"
"Nah… Yuge here loves to show people around da shop."
And that was how Fiacha found herself forced into a game shop and taught the game of duel monsters, all too close to the shadow games of so many years ago.
End note: There's chapter two! I hope you liked it. Review ASAP, kay? Catch ya later at chapter 3!
