The garden was abundant with life. She gazed around, enjoying the smells. She sat in a gazebo circled by large willow trees. She took a deep breath of ocean air and smiled at the man across from her.
"This place is beautiful." Ishizu said.
"I try to keep it that way." Sanders explained. Ishizu smiled. They had been talking outside since the arrival of the group from Ireland. At first Ishizu was concerned about Yugi and Kaiba bringing an Irish girl with them, but when the dark haired lass explained that her boyfriend was the Gem Keeper of the Celts, Ishizu was happy to welcome her.
Thinking of the Shadow Gems, she remembered the book in the bag at her feet. "I just remembered what I wanted to show you." Ishizu told Sanders as she leaned forwards and took the book out. "It belong to one of the Gem Keepers before it was taken." She explained as she handed it to the Greek.
Sanders took it and ran his hand over the leather cover and the obsidians set into it. "It's gorgeous." He told her, flipping it over to examine it back cover. Soon, he cam across the lock. "Where's the key?"
"It's with the Gem Keeper, seeing as the Shadow Gem was set into the key." Ishizu told him. "But we believe that any of the Shadow Gems might be able to open it."
"Any of them?" Sanders questioned. "We should then find Medea." He stood, pulling Ishizu to her feet.
With a nod the woman followed him through the garden and back into the house in hopes of finding Medea.
She walked down the hall, one side made up of mostly wide windows. As she made her way to the second floor study she gazed out at the ocean and garden below. It was truly a beautiful place. Down the hall she could hear the small Canadian boy she had met merely an hour ago talking loudly with Yugi. In the garden below she could see the owner of the house, a man named Sanders, and the woman Ishizu talking in the gazebo surrounded by willow trees. She wasn't sure where Ishizu's brother Marik had gone, or where Sander's stepdaughter Medea had disappeared to.
Her hand enclosed around the study doorknob and turned, pushing the door open. The study was a large room, three of the four walls covered with bookshelves reaching the roof. The fourth held a window seat looking out at the sea with smaller bookshelves on either side. In the center of the room was a large oak desk covered in papers. The only other thing visible on it's surface was the computer poking up in one corner. The rest of the study was made up of several chairs scattered about the room, a brown leather couch strangely sitting in the middle of nowhere, and piles of papers and books. The only other thing she noticed was Kaiba standing before the window seat, gazing off into the ocean beyond.
As soon as the door was open Kaiba turned to her. His face had been a bit unguarded when he was looking out the window, but now it was like stone once more.
"I didn't know you were in here." Bree admitted, her hand still on the doorknob.
"I'm leaving anyways." He told her, making his way across the room as he did.
Bree blinked. "Why? Just because I'm here now?"
"Yes." Kaiba said coldly. Bree scowled as he left the room. She stuck her tongue out at his back and walked over to the window seat and sat down. She glanced back at the doorway to see Yugi walk up, stop to watch what Bree assumed to be Kaiba walking out, then look in the room and smile at her.
"Getting along?" He asked as he came and sat in a lumpy chair near the window seat.
"Why is he always so grouchy?" Bree asked. "Just when I think he's ok with me, he goes cold."
"It isn't you." Yugi assure her. "It's just how he is. He doesn't like sitting around and having to wait."
"Wait?" She echoed.
Yugi nodded. "We're still waiting for our friends Joey and Ryou. They're suppose to be here in the morning. And then we'll have to wait for Sanders and Ishizu to figure out where this kidnapper is hiding."
"Which will take forever." Bree whined. She sighed and looked out the window. "At least the island's nice, so it might not be so bad waiting."
Yugi nodded and got up. He began to walk around the study, reading the titles of the books that were on his level. Bree tried not to giggle at how short he was compared to the bookshelves and gazed out the window again. Ishizu and Sanders were gone now. As she watched Kaiba emerged from the house and headed to a gate at the far side of the garden. He lifted the latch and opened it, heading down a pathway.
Something glittered on his chest as he turned to close the gate and Bree realized it was the Duel Monsters Card necklace he wore. From the first time she had seen him she wondered why he wore it.
"Hey, Yugi." Bree uttered, turning to him.
Yugi looked up from a book he was holding open in his hands. "Yeah?"
"What's the deal with that necklace of Kaiba's?" She asked.
"I'm not sure." Yugi admitted with a shrug, then continued to skim over the first few pages of the book.
Bree nodded. She glanced back at the empty garden and remembered something she wanted to ask the boy. Getting up, she strolled over to a chair closer to where Yugi was standing and kneeled on it, resting her elbows on the back of the chair.
"You never did get to tell me what Kaiba's so worried about." Bree told him.
"I'm not sure he'd want you to know." Yugi said, his gaze still fixed on the page before him.
"Oh come on, you can tell me." Bree assured him. "I won't even tell him you told me."
Yugi sighed and closed the book, pushing it back into its place on the shelf. "I don't know..."
"Please?" Bree asked.
"Well..." Yugi uttered, slowly continuing his cycle around the study. "I guess it would be better if you knew..."
"So, just tell me." She urged him.
"Kaiba's worried because his little brother was a Gem Keeper and was taken." Yugi told her. "And his brother is the only family he has left. Kaiba's very protective of Mokuba, and he hates it that he can't get him back right now."
Bree nodded slowly, her head rested on her crossed arms. It's understandable. I wish I could've saved Neil, too.
"You ok?" Yugi asked. Bree looked at him, realizing she must have had a rather vacant look on her face. She smiled at him.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." She said cheerfully. "But, I need some air." She got up and left the study, making her way down the stairs and out into the garden. Quickly she went over to the gate and opened it, closing it behind her.
The path on the other side of the fence led through a grove of olive trees. Then it curved down to the cove where it created a fork. One path would take a traveler down to the beach, the other snaked it's way through rocks and slowly moved up a cliff to a point that looked out at the sea. She could see a figure standing on the point and took the path winding through the rocks.
After fifteen minutes of climbing she came to the grassy hill that Kaiba was standing on. Quietly she came up beside him and noted the distant look in his eyes. For a moment or two she stayed silent, until she found the need to break it.
"It's beautiful out here." She whispered. Kaiba didn't turn to her, only nodded.
"It reminds me of where I use to live." He explained.
"Use to?"
"Before my parents died, we lived just outside of Tokyo. You could always see the ocean."
"Same here. I lived by the sea out in the country, before my father got a job in the city and we had to move. Even in the city you could see the ocean if you sat on the roof of our house, or smell it." Bree chuckled to herself, remembering days at the beach with her parents.
They stood in silence again. Then Bree turned to him, pointing to the card necklace.
"What exactly is that?" She asked.
Kaiba looked down at it, then took it up in his hand. "It's a locket." He explained, pressing an oval button to open it. Inside was the picture of a little boy with wild black hair, smiling brightly as he sat playing chess with an unseen competitor.
Bree smiled as she took the necklace in her own hands, the string still around Kaiba's neck. "Is this your brother?" She glanced up at him. He nodded. "He looks so happy. I can tell why you want to get him back."
"Get him back?" Kaiba repeated, his voice suddenly icy. He pulled the locket from her fingers. "Who told you?"
"No one." Bree said defensively, mentally cursing at herself for not remembering he didn't know she knew about Mokuba.
"So, you just knew by looking at the picture?" Kaiba asked.
"Someone told me, ok?" Bree said. "Who cares if I know or not? I don't see why you're making this a big deal."
"It's my business and not yours." Kaiba hissed. "Why I'm here doesn't concern you." He turned and headed back to the path.
"Oh, get over yourself!" She yelled at him. "It does concern me because the same guy who took your brother took someone I care about as well. We could be trying to help each other get them both back, but no. You have to be a soloist!"
He didn't turn back or make some offensive gesture. Instead he continued walking down the pathway until he was out of sight.
He quietly walked down the beach, following the footprints laid for him. The tracts in the sand led him to a cavern in the cliff wall, only visible when the tide was out. He could see her sitting on a stone in the shadows, cross-legged and eyes closed. As he entered the cave the corners of her mouth turned up in a small grin.
"I knew you were following." Medea said, her eyes slowly opening to gaze at Marik. "But I still don't know why."
"I was curious, that's all." He told her, taking a seat on a rock across from her. Slowly his purple eyes scanned the area. "Why did you come here?"
"This is my sanctuary." She explained, taking in the cavern with a graceful sweep of her arm. "I come here to be alone, Sanders knows nothing about it. In fact, I'm the only one who knows about it." Her eyes met his. "Until now, that is."
"Sorry to ruin your secret." Marik muttered.
"It can't be a ruined secret if I led you here." Medea assured him.
Marik nodded, his eyes landing on the brooch. "Are you its Keeper?" He asked, pointing to the turquoise around her neck. She ran a thumb over it in the way of a response.
"For the time being, I am." She said.
"What is that suppose to mean?"
She smiled. "All things must come to an end. And I know my Keeping of this Gem will end soon."
"You mean, the Mayan Gem Keeper will take it from you?" Marik questioned.
"I didn't say that." Medea uttered. "I didn't say that at all."
Marik sigh, a bit frustrated. "Does your Gem give you the power to foresee things?"
Medea shook her black and blonde head. "No. I can't see what will happen, but I know none-the-less of what's to come. But, I only know what it wants me to know."
"The turquoise?"
"No..." Was the small reply. "Not the Gem. The Gem would tell me of everything going on, if it was allowed. But it tells the Gem, and the Gem tells me."
"What?" Marik inquired. "The 'ghost'?"
"No, yet again." She told him. Slowly her eyes moved from the brooch to meet Marik's once more. "The Chaos."
Marik blinked. "The Chaos?"
Medea nodded again. "The said collective power of the dark ones."
"How do you know what it is when the rest of us don't?"
"I don't know what it is exactly, but I have an idea from what it has told me. It likes to give me hints to toy with my mind."
I know how that feels. Marik thought, remembering the darker half of him that once did something along those lines. He shivered a bit. Medea smiled.
"I guess I'm not the only one who's plagued by memories of someone gone." She noted.
Marik fell silent. Medea closed her eyes and appeared lost in thought. The longer she stayed like this, the more the Gem around her neck seemed to shimmer in the shadows. Just as Marik was about to ask the girl what she was doing her eyes snapped open.
"She's made an appearance." She uttered, more to herself than to Marik. "And she might make another soon..."
"What?" Marik questioned. "Who?"
Medea got to her feet and pulled Marik to his. "We have to get back to the house now." Was all she told him as she pulled him out of the cave and back up the beach.
He had thought nothing of Bree quickly leaving the study. Instead he continued his search among the books for something he could read when he was bored. After finding one entitled Robin Hood he sat down and began to read. He was a bit surprised to find it written in Japanese, but he was more so happy that it was.
After a minute or two of reading the first chapter a shiver ran down his spin. The hairs raised on his arms as his head shot up.
Yugi? Yami questioned, appearing like a silhouette in Yugi's mind.
Did you feel that? The boy asked. Yami nodded.
The floorboards at the door creaked. Both Yugi and spirit quickly looked just to see someone walk past, shoulder length blonde hair trailing behind them.
It's probably just Medea. Yugi said hopefully. He folded the corner of the page he was on and set the book on the floor, getting up as he did so.
As Yugi approached the door he noted that it was much cooler in the hall, cold in fact, compared to the study, even though the hall had more sunlight shining in through the wide windows. He glanced to where Medea had vanished to and saw no one.
That's just a little creepy. Yugi uttered to Yami. As the spirit nodded a door opened at the other end of the hall. Chayton's head appeared in the open door.
"Hey, Yugi." The child called to him. "Was that you?"
Yugi turned to him. "Was that me what?"
"Talking." Chayton explained as he closed his door behind him.
"No." The older boy said. "At least, I don't think so."
"Really? I could've sworn I heard someone mumbling out here." Chayton sighed. "Then again, it did sound more like a girl. But hey, you never know."
Yugi nodded. A door at the other end of the hall creaked. Both boys turned to see the door leading to the third story staircase slowly open, then the sounds of slow footsteps came from the steps. Chayton whimpered.
"You don't think it's the ghost, do you?" He asked in a low whisper.
"Can't be." Yugi assured him. "I'm sure it's just Medea trying to scare us."
"I don't know..." Chayton mumbled.
"Come on, let's go see what she wants." Yugi said as he began to walk over to the door. Chayton gulped and clung to Yugi's arm as they went. Yugi smiled down at him, trying to fight his own fear and hope the boy didn't hear his heart beating louder.
Do you feel that? Yami questioned as they neared the door.
Yugi gave him a mental nod. It keeps getting colder...
Not that. Yami said with a frown. Try harder.
Yugi frowned as well, mentally and physically. He let his mind stray a bit, using the technique Yami had taught him. He was feeling for odd auras. As he searched his eyes widened.
Shadow Magic... He whispered to his spirit friend. A trickle of the dark energy led from the main floor stairs, down the hall, and up the stairs they were headed for.
This is no ordinary ghost. Yami uttered, eyeing the doorway warily. It is bound to this house by Shadow Magic, much in the same fashion that my spirit is bound to the Puzzle.
By the time the boys entered the doorway the mysterious footsteps had stopped. The slowly walked up the stairs, all senses alert for anything odd.
"Why is it so dark up here?" Chayton asked.
At the top of the steps they peered around. The drapes on the windows were drawn and the lights were out.
"This is way too creepy." Chayton whimpered, his eyes darting around.
Yugi nodded, then noticed sunlight dancing through an open door at the far end of the hall. He frowned. It was Medea's room.
"Come on." He muttered, then led the smaller boy down the corridor to the ajar door, the temperature falling all the while.
As they walked into the bedroom both of them began to shiver immediately. The room was I freezing /I . In here the windows were opened, shining in light and allowing the salty air to dance about the place. Everything was either black, dark metal, or cover in a black scarf. But what really scared Chayton was the girl sitting at Medea's vanity table.
Her back was turned to them as she sat before the mirror, blocking their few of their reflections. The air around her shimmered with pale specks of light. Her skin was pale like Medea's. She wore a plain white sundress with lacey frills on the hems. Her hair was the color of Medea's, except she didn't have the other girl's black streaks and her hair was set in many curls resembling that of a doll's. Strangely her hair and skirt swayed back and forth was if there was a breeze, but there wasn't one at all. Though she scared Chayton and Yugi, Yami felt a bit calm in her presence, almost content and peaceful.
It seemed she didn't notice them for she continued humming a soft tune. Unlike Yugi and Chayton, her breath was not visible on the cold air. Slowly she pulled a black veil from one of the picture frames sitting on the vanity table. She stopped humming and sighed, picking the picture up as she stood.
She turned to them, revealing her face. She looked exactly like Medea, though her face was fresh and not covered in makeup. She gazed at the boys with desperate faded green eyes. Slowly she raised the frame out before her, the picture facing the boys. It was of Medea as a child, clinging to the hands of two people who's faces were covered by the girl's thumbs.
"It's not safe here." She warned, a hint of anxiety in her distant voice. "You should leave before you fall into his trap. Please, you must go, before it's too late. You are being misled. Go, while you still can. She doesn't see that she's being used. You must help her. Don't let her meet my fate." As she said the last part the picture frame glass cracked in her hands and fell to the ground. The girl faded from sight. Both boys stood motionless as the room became warmer, their eyes locked on the picture now on the floor.
"Nina..." A voice behind the whispered sadly. The two children spun to find Marik and Medea behind them, Marik wide-eyed at what had happened, Medea's eyes watery, her fingers clasping the Gem around her throat.
"Nina?" Yugi asked, stepping aside as Marik moved towards the photo.
"My late step-aunt." Medea explained. "This is the first time her spirit manifested in full."
Marik crouched down beside the picture and held it up. "Not only is she telling us things are not alright, she's showing us."
"I don't get it." Chayton murmured. Medea pushed past him to grasp the picture.
"Oh..." She whispered, her fingers already holding onto her Gem tightening.
Yugi and Chayton looked at the picture. The glass had holes in it were the faces of the two people with little Medea. But, not only was the glass broken there, the photo itself had holes burned into it, destroying the identities of Medea's companions.
"What do you think might happen if we stay here?" Chayton asked, his voice just above a whisper. "And how can someone meet Nina's fate as well?"
"I don't know." Marik admitted. "Medea, you told me she died of an illness."
"She did..." Medea uttered. "Or, that's what I was told as a child."
"But then, why would she be scared of someone also dying of it?" Yugi wondered aloud. "And who could be the one to get the illness?" The others thought as Medea gazed at the picture. Without warning she dropped it and turned, leaving the room.
"Medea!" Marik shouted, and rushed after the girl. Yugi and Chayton blinked at the fleeting two, at the picture, then at each other.
"Wait for us!" They cried in unison, and raced after Marik and Medea.