Another chapter/episode/part thingy for you and now the 'innocents' have been taken, the others have to go and get them back! Which is what this chapter/episode/part is mainly about. Anyway, on to replies:
Yugi and Mai – Don't worry about the review not being long, at least it's here! And Pugi, I ddn't realise that they left the brain in after mummification… You'll find out soon about the person who's in control of all of this and although you and Luff would like to think each chapter had a different focus, that goes out of the window once everyone returns! And yep, Marik's mum is a bitch and so am I for doing this to everyone #evil laughter#
Disclaimer: No Yu-Gi-Oh! for me as usual and for this chapter/episode/part thingy, I also don't own "I will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, "When we get married" (song from Brownies) and "Kairi III" by Yoko Shimomura (see note at bottom for more details on this). But I do own the story/idea/thingy.
Warning: Mostly swearing today, there's not going to be any sex anyway. Also I warn you this may sound slightly 'Lord of the Rings'. You'll see when you've read the first page or so.
Note: "Blah" is speaking, #blah# is thinking and songs /blah/ is emphasis and ((blah)) is mental link between Yugi and Yami. xxxxxx and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx are dividers in a chapter.
As I said above, today is the great rescue of the 'innocents', and is relatively long. However, I've kept it all together as I think it makes more sense. There will be some funny bits too, just to keep you going! Well, hopefully they'll be funny anyway...
Let's get going then!
Chapter six: During the Mission
The group turned their attention to Odion who stood so that they all could see him, Seto sitting down on the log with Duke, although right at the other end while Yami sat up.
"You cannot spend too long here, no doubt the police are hunting you and even if they aren't, your families will be. So you'll have to decide where you're going and then set off." Odion stated and then fell silent to allow them to ask questions.
"What about Téa? Shouldn't we try and tell her what's happened or something?" Duke said, wondering what had happened to her.
"Unfortunately her parents know what has happened and are now going to get her married. I tried to get to her but there were too many people nearby. They will not put her into therapy I think but you won't be able to speak to her." He replied, causing the others to frown in annoyance.
"Then what about our path? How will we know where to go?" No one said anything for a moment before Bakura sat up properly.
"Ryou gave me this, to look for the others with…" He took out the Ring and showed the others. "Only I don't know how to use it. All he could say was something about 'twelve and twenty one' before he was gone."
Suddenly they heard a rustling in the trees and they froze; what if it was the police? But they were astounded when the person turned out to a 5'7'' turban wearing man. He stepped into the circle, and they noticed at once a key hanging around his neck, radiating with an invisible power. It was a Millennium Item.
"/You're/ Shadi?" Malik gasped as the others continued to stare at the loop earrings and the sand coloured robe he wore, covered by a white cloak.
"Yes, my name is Shadi. I have come to speak with you as this is important." He started, sitting down on a small stump between the two logs. They noticed his accent was as heavy as Odion's as he stared with his deep blue eyes, set off by his brown skin. "I know what has happened, not because of the police but because of the Millennium Items. I also know that you, Bakura now have the Ring and Malik has the Rod. For reasons currently unclear to even me, the Puzzle is still with Yugi but I feel that he will need it, for himself if not for the others."
"Do you know where we can find them?"
"Do not worry, the Ring will show you that." He looked up at the moon and studied it for a moment. "It will not be long now but until then I have to tell you that this is destiny."
"How can this be destiny? To have our loved ones taken away from us!" Bakura yelled, putting his face in his hands.
"In order for you to continue loving each other and not stop. The Millennium Items have been directly passed down from one generation to the next ever since they were created a long time ago. It has been my job as a keeper to make sure they have been passed down to the correct people and my family have done this ever since they were made. In the past, they were important to the fates of many people, they held unbelievable power. But now, the power of the Items is fading and their need to be passed down will soon no longer exist. That is why, in a way, you have managed to come together because of your love. You will not be able to have any children and so when you die, the Items will be returned to be watched over until the time for them arises again." He stopped, allowing the others to take in what had been said.
"So you're saying this would have happened?"
"Not exactly, I am merely pointing out that you will be together, no matter what happens. I have told you this just so that you know what Yugi, Ryou and Marik already knew."
"Which is what?"
"That they would be the last ones to carry the Items. They did not know why at the time, although when they got together with you, it must have clicked. But now you must go and find them." He stood up and turned to Odion. "They will need your help for just a little longer Odion so I will go and visit your mother to reassure her that you and Ishizu have not been kidnapped." He smiled and turned to walk away. "Seto Kaiba, you would do well to remember what happened between you and Joey."
"How could I forget?" He asked, the pain of not answering Joey was still plaguing him, especially as he now realised he was wrong about his feelings.
"It's not your memory I'm worried about…" He murmured and continued to walk away, eventually disappearing into the trees and night.
"I don't understand what he said…" Bakura said, looking once again at the Ring. "The Ring will show us? And it won't be long?"
"That is his way unfortunately, to talk in riddles; but he speaks the truth." They watched in amazement as the Ring started to glow, rising on its side until it was at face level with Bakura before one of the pointers lifted up to the left of him. It remained like this for a few seconds before falling back to Bakura's chest. "As you can see." Yami's watch beeped and he looked at it absently, before looking at it again in shock.
"Wait, that's what he meant! Twelve and twenty one!" The others looked at him strangely as he started waving his watch around. "It's twenty one hundred hours!"
"You mean Ryou was talking about time? At midday and nine of every evening it will show us the way?" Duke said, trying to clarify what they were saying.
"Yes!" Yami said excitedly. "At least our direction is sorted out now." He said much more calmly.
"Now you just need to set off." Odion said happily.
"But what about food? Or clothes? Or any of the other hundreds of things we need?"
"You will have to do without them. Food won't last more than a week at any rate. I am sorry this is all so sudden but we did not know about it until tonight. Although you think you know nothing, that is wrong. I know for a fact that Yami has a basic understanding of how to survive." They all turned to him in expectation and he shrugged his shoulders.
"Only what Yugi and his grandpa told me, he used to do a lot of travelling as an archaeologist."
"You will survive, I know it." Ishizu said reassuringly but still the group didn't want to move. They knew that when they did, safety would disappear and they would be left alone to face the wilderness and its dangers.
Eventually Yami stood up and the others seemed to leap up after him, not wanting to be seen as cowards. After final 'goodbyes' and 'thank yous', they finally set off in the direction the Ring had shown them in silence, each wondering what the worst thing they could possibly face is.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Yami asked sceptically as the five of them hid behind a bush, staring at an empty clearing.
"Of course it will! I've seen it done in films anyway." Malik said, hoping to reassure them. Which of course, he didn't.
"You do realise that things in real life very rarely agree with things in films, don't you? Such as this…" Seto pointed out but Malik ignored him.
"It's ok, all we have to do is wait for some innocent animal to come wandering along, get attracted to the food and put its foot in the rope. Then we pull on the other end and it gets slung up." Malik explained, not really understanding why everyone was so worried.
"Yeah, then we'll have to cut it down and one of us will have to break its neck or something gross like that." Duke muttered, making the others blanch.
"Well we'll worry about that part when we get to it. Now be quiet!"
So they waited. And waited. And they did some more waiting. Until, finally, a rabbit appeared in the clearing, little nose twitching as it smelt for danger. Not noticing the five humans (who were by this point getting cramp) hidden poorly behind a bush, it hopped forward, sniffing at the ground until it came to a pile of conveniently placed leaves and grass. So it started to eat, not noticing the loop just a centimetre to its left as it finished off the vegetation. Then it hopped away, glad for the easy dinner. There was silence in the clearing for a second until a loud garble of sounds erupted, causing the rabbit to start running until it thought it was safe.
The garble of sounds had come from Malik who was now cursing loudly, running after the rabbit in his madness. Seto turned to Duke with an evil glint in his eye and indicated the rope in their hands. Nodding their heads in unison, they pulled on the rope as hard as they could, getting hold of Malik's feet and lifting him up into the air.
"Bastards! Let me down right now!" He yelled, trying to get out of his little predicament.
"Well I would have to say Malik that that was a complete and utter failure. Let us remember to never try that one again ok guys." Bakura said, trying to stop himself from laughing at his best friend but giving up after several failed attempts.
"Promise us we will never have to endure one of your silly ideas again." Duke said, pulling slightly on the rope, causing Malik to swing from side to side.
"Ok, ok, I promise! Just let me down." Seto and Duke did as he said and he landed on the ground with a crunch. "I meant gently!"
"Sorry, you should have told us." Seto said innocently, holding his hand out to the now bruised Malik.
"Well it looks like we'll be eating berries again for dinner." Yami said and the others sighed. They hated berries.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Seto was having a nice dream about running about in a field, dressed in flowers and a white robe, wondering why he was running and why he had flowers in his hair. He didn't even want to start on the robe. Nevertheless he was having a nice dream, full of pretty colours and light. Suddenly though he started to slide downwards, the world was turning upside down-
"ARGH!" Seto screamed as he opened his eyes and realised he was hanging upside down from the tree branch he was supposed to be sleeping on, his legs the only things keeping him up. And they were losing their grip, very slowly.
"What? What's going on?" Duke asked, being the lightest sleeper he had woken up as soon as he heard the crack of the branch as it came under this new strain.
"Someone help me…" Seto's voice was coming out in gasps as he felt the blood rush to his head. "I'm going to fall off."
"What's the matter with that? You're not that far from the ground." Bakura mumbled, squinting at the loud voices that hurt his head.
"I'm upside down."
"Oh. Wait a minute, I'll come and help you."
"I don't think I have a minute." Seto muttered, feeling himself slip even further. Bakura sat up and carefully jumped off his branch, landing on the ground before looking up at Seto.
"You've got yourself into a bit of a pickle, haven't you?" He said in great amusement, moving so he was standing under Seto while the others watched. "Let go and I'll catch you."
"Are you sure I won't just crush you?"
"I don't think you should really be worrying about that." He replied, just as gravity gave one final tug and uncurled Seto's legs from the tree, causing him to fall. "It's ok, I've got you, I've got you, I-" His voice was cut off as Seto crashed down on top of him.
"You missed." Malik finished for him as Bakura lay winded on the soil, Seto lying on his front across him.
"Yeah, I noticed…" He wheezed, closing his eyes.
"Sorry about that." Seto said hesitantly as he sat up, rubbing his chest to make sure he was ok.
"That's…quite all right. Can you help me up please?" He took the hand held out to him and sat up, resting for a moment before standing up. "Thank you."
"No problem." Yami looked up at the sky and noticed it was getting light; the birds were starting to come out while the stars went away.
"Maybe we should set out, seeing as we're all awake now." He suggested, climbing down carefully from the tree, unlike Malik who made a leap of faith and landed sprawled on the ground. "Very graceful Malik."
"Yeah, I know. You coming down anytime soon Duke?" They noticed him looking down in fear and sighed.
"I thought we told you at least twice last night /not/ to go up too high or you wouldn't be able to get back down." Yami said, preparing himself to wait for another ten minutes as Duke tried to get himself out of the tree.
"Of course I can get down, I'm not too high!" He snapped as he flounced to the ground. Was that even possible? The others didn't dare to question it.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Look, a town." Duke said as the group reached the end of a set of trees and emerged on top of a hill, looking down at a middle-sized town set in the valley below.
"We should keep to the edge of it, to avoid the people there." Yami suggested, looking nervously around them.
"Oh come on Yami, I know we skipped the last town but I can't stand it anymore! I haven't had a proper wash for nearly three months, my clothes feel like they're going to fall apart and I'm going to collapse! Please guys, I really need this…" Duke pleaded, sinking down to the ground. "I feel really horrible…"
"Maybe Duke's right. I don't feel that great myself and we could probably go faster if we didn't feel like crap." Seto pointed out.
"And look like it…" They heard Duke mutter as he put his head in between his legs.
"Hey, are you ok?" Bakura asked, kneeling down beside him and placing his hand on his forehead. "You're not that hot."
"No, I just feel really tired. I want to go to sleep…"
"Hey, stay awake for a little longer ok while we see what we can do." Bakura stood up again and looked at the town. "Well I have an idea. If one of us goes down and buys some clothes and stuff, the others can find the swimming pool."
"Bakura, now is /not/ the time to go swimming!" Malik said in exasperation.
"We're not going swimming, we're using the showers and Jacuzzi. We can have showers, change into the new clothes, go to a laundrette and wash the old ones and then go on." Bakura explained and the others nodded in agreement.
"We just need to decide who goes and buys the stuff now." Seto said and Duke looked up, hearing this.
"Well I think it should be Malik."
"What? Why me?"
"Because you smell the least out of you lot." Duke stated, smiling slightly.
"It's not like you don't smell either!" Bakura snapped.
"I know but I can't smell myself."
"Lucky for you then, we have to deal with your stench all the time!"
"I smell?" Yami suddenly said, sniffing at his clothes.
"Yami, not a good idea…" They watched in amusement as his face gradually collapsed and he recoiled away, causing them all to laugh.
"Yeah, Malik should go." He agreed, once his nose had recovered enough.
"Ok, I'll go. Now we just need some money."
"What for?" Duke asked.
"You don't think we're going to get them for free, do you? Come on, pockets out everyone."
Everyone luckily had put their wallets in their jackets and so they took them out, searching for any cash. Plastic was out of the question as their accounts were no doubt frozen and even if they weren't it meant they could be traced. Which after going for so long, they didn't want to risk.
"Well I've got a twenty." Malik said, pulling it out and placing it on the ground in front of them where they were now sat down.
"Twelve dollars fifty."
"Ten."
"Fifteen." They looked at the pile of money on the floor. "Fifty seven dollars fifty. That's not going to be enough. What you got Seto?" Bakura said, turning to him.
"Hundred." He said quietly, blushing as he placed two fiftys on top of the other notes.
"Are you sure?" Bakura asked, eyes widening at the two bills. He had never even seen a fifty before. He touched it gingerly, afraid it might disappear if he was too violent with it. "Wow, I've never seen one before."
"Is that enough?" Yami said, looking down at the notes.
"Of course it is! And anyway, I am the king of bargain shopping so we'll have change too!" Malik said cheerfully, taking the money and placing it in his pocket.
"That's nothing to be proud of…" Duke said and Malik rolled his eyes.
"Well we can't splash out here so don't expect the latest fashions from Paris ok? Seto, I believe this might be your first taste of what us commoners wear. Just a warning it's not an especially pretty sight." He stood up and started to make his way down the hill.
"Come on, we'd better go look for a swimming pool." Yami said and the others followed him, after checking they looked at least presentable. Malik hadn't bothered of course; he didn't care what others thought of him.
xxxxxx
#Hmm, I won't need just clothes. I'll need shampoo, towels, swimming trunks…# Malik started to make a mental shopping list as he walked into the town and followed the crowds, who he assumed were making in the direction of the shopping district.
He ignored the strange looks he was getting, he didn't particularly care what they thought of him but he could understand. After all, his hair was pointing in even more directions than usual, he had grown a beard (well, some pathetic bum fluff at any rate) and his clothes were wrinkled, although they weren't covered in mud, unlike the others. Plus he was looking a bit on the thin side. Although they were now able to catch food and know what was safe and what wasn't, they still hadn't got much to eat, so he was thinner than usual. And he was quite slim anyway. The muscle he had developed hadn't especially helped his figure and now he was a mixture of strong legs and bony hips. Never good. And although Duke said he smelt the least, that didn't mean he had no smell at all. He could see some people wrinkle their noses slightly and he merely hoped they thought he just had sweating problems. Which he could live with, seeing as he was never going to see this place again after today.
The increase in chatter and people indicated to him that he was now in the shopping area and true to his thoughts, brightly coloured windows full of offers tried to get his attention. But he knew what he was doing, he was a shopper on a mission and he had a budget he had to stick to or they were all in trouble.
#Let's see…twenty dollars each, that leaves fifty for swimming, laundrette and other essential items. Hmm, not enough. Maybe fifteen for everyone. Then I have seventy-five for everything else.# He considered his options. #Right, I'll get the essentials first, they matter more than clothes do.# He looked around and his eyes lit up when he saw a nice but cheap place. He had never had much money, not because he was poor but because his parents never gave him any so he knew where the cheap things were so that he could save up for more important things. Like videos or music. He entered the shop and started his shopping quest, hoping everything would be here.
Twenty minutes later and Malik had nearly everything and a few extras too. He had added up as he had gone along and reckoned he still had one twenty left overall, which was plenty. The only problem was that he now had at least two big bags and he hadn't even done the clothes yet. And he was struggling to find the last thing, razors.
#Ah ha, there they are! Now I can go and pay for all of this.# He watched in amusement at the looks people were giving him, obviously they had never gone more than a day without a wash. Malik had gone the longest out of the group, he hadn't properly washed once since they left but he remained the least pungent by the fact he didn't wear the rugby shirt he had most of the time, he always thought it was too hot. Therefore it wasn't covered in mud and was merely a bit wrinkled.
"That will be forty dollars and sixty seven cents please." The assistant said to him and he frowned. He had severely miscalculated by at least five dollars but never mind, at least he had everything.
"Thanks." He said, taking his change and the bags before leaving the shop. Now he could finally get the clothes. Hmm, this was going to be funny. But he probably shouldn't get them anything too awful; he'd be killed if he did.
Shirts, trousers, underwear, socks, t-shirts… The clothes seemed endless, he couldn't tell how much he had but he knew he had done Yami, Bakura and himself. Just Duke and Seto left, the two most difficult.
#Hmm, Seto would probably want something smartish so I should really get him a shirt… Colours…green would work quite well, something dark though, to go with his coat…# Malik prided himself on his fashion sense and being able to pick out the right clothes for people. He found a suitable shirt and then set off to find trousers. #I wish this were done…#
xxxxxx
"At last, a wash!" Bakura said happily as they entered the changing rooms of the swimming pools. He got a lot of strange looks in response and he coughed nervously. "So, yeah…"
"Hey Malik, what did you get for us?" Yami asked, trying to peer into the bag he was carrying.
"Don't look yet; I want it to be a surprise." Malik said, a smile on his face.
"I'm worried now…"
"Don't be, they're going to be great! I know you'll like them." He had put all the stuff they would need into a bag each, which they were now carrying.
"You've got this all organised, haven't you?" Seto said but Malik merely grinned and he shook his head. "Well I don't know about you guys but I'm getting changed."
They went into their separate cubicles and everything was going fine (Note from Chen: You're not getting a description, perverts!) until they heard a Yami-sounding shriek. The others finished as quickly as they could and waited outside for Yami to emerge. He soon did so, a look of utmost disgust on his face as he held a plastic bag as far away from him as possible.
"What happened?"
"I discovered what happens to underwear if you wear it continuously for six months, that's what." He said, shuddering as he remembered the sight.
"That bad eh? What did you do to them then, grow a nest full of moths or something?" Bakura asked, causing the others to laugh while Yami frowned.
"Erm…" Bakura took the bag from him and looked inside, raising an eyebrow.
"Well I think you've well and truly killed them Yami. I don't believe that once used to be your underwear, how did you get that many holes in them?" Malik peeked into the bag too and giggled, although Seto and Duke refused.
"They look like a big bit of holey cheese!" Malik said, causing Duke and Seto to pale. "Oh well, I got some new ones so you can throw them away."
"I was going to anyway. There's no way I'm wearing them again." They set off to the lockers and put their stuff away before heading to the swimming pools.
They headed for an empty Jacuzzi and sank down in the water with relief, all sighing as one. They quickly realised this and laughed, the first time they had done so for a long time.
"Well this was a good idea Duke."
"Hmm…" He mumbled, closing his eyes and sinking down into the water.
"Hey, what about me? I actually came up with this!" Bakura pointed out, scowling.
"Oh yeah, good idea Bakura." Yami said nervously, adding it subtly in. Or trying to at any rate.
"Quite…" There was silence for a while until Bakura sat up looked around. "Hey, where did Duke go to?"
"Don't know, I didn't notice him leave at any rate. Maybe he went somewhere…" Malik said vaguely, waving his arm around.
"Well duh." Seto said but he suddenly jumped as he felt something brushing his leg. "What was that?"
"What do you mean?"
"I felt something brushing my leg. It-" He yelled when he saw limbs appear in the water, waving around desperately.
"Duke?" Yami asked cautiously, not that he would have been able to hear him. Duke's head appeared and he gasped, getting as much oxygen into his lungs as possible. "Hey, you ok?" He took Duke's arm and pulled him up, helping him to sit on the rim of the pool. He coughed a few times and then sat there in silence, breathing in deeply.
"What were you doing down there?" Malik said, looking at him curiously.
"I wasn't down there on purpose, if that's what you mean. I think I fell asleep…" He explained once his heartbeat had returned to its normal rate.
"Well that wasn't a good idea was it? Whatever possessed you to do something silly like that?" Malik replied cheerfully, earning a death glare from Duke.
"Perhaps the fact I'm still really tired…" He muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"We should be able to go to sleep easily tonight, now that we're finally going to get clean. But for now, relax and pretend you're in the Caribbean with a glass of champagne." Bakura said, smiling gently as the image came into his head. Him and Ryou together on a beach alone…
"Not champagne you idiot! That's what posh knobs like!" Malik said, hitting him on the arm.
"Champagne's quite nice actually…" Seto argued.
"Exactly." Seto frowned at him, not sure if he was saying what he thought he was saying. "You mean a nice cold beer." Malik continued, looking once more at Bakura.
"Well whatever. Your choice of drink…" Bakura said, annoyed that his daydream had been disturbed.
"You're thinking about Ryou, aren't you?" Malik asked quietly and Bakura nodded his head, sighing heavily as he wondered once again where his little angel was or even if he could still remember him. "We'll find him, don't worry. We'll find them all and then we're going to get out of this place and start new lives." By now the others were listening and they nodded their heads in agreement.
"Yeah, I want to start my own company…" Seto thought aloud, blushing when he realised this. The others smiled though and he smiled back. "Not security, I've been there, done that. This time it's going to be visual technology." He continued, images of him sitting in an office, people working for him appearing in his mind.
"Hey, that sounds really cool. I want to design my own game and then get it published. I've already had some ideas for it…" Duke added, taking the initiative and continuing around the circle. "What about you Yami?"
"I don't know… I want…to have my own shop. It wouldn't be a chain store, something small that could keep me going. And maybe Yugi will be there too."
"I'm going to earn enough to have a kitchen full of things I'll never use, like bread makers and smoothie makers and just about every other maker…" Malik announced, causing the others to laugh. "Marik could use them instead…" He added vaguely.
"One day, I'll be in a house and everything will be there, including money. I'll be driving and Ryou and I will go wherever we want, whenever we want. I want to spend the rest of my life with him." They sat in silence, allowing fantasies to form for a while before Malik opened his eyes and looked around.
"We'll all do it, we're all going to achieve our dreams. Promise?" He put his hand out, palm downwards and the others put their hands on top of his, saying 'promise' as one. "But until then, let's enjoy ourselves! Who wants to go on the water slide?" He pointed to the plastic tube curling around the top of the building and they all jumped up as one, racing each other to the queue.
xxxxxx
"That feels better, all clean and non-smelly." Duke said as they emerged from the showers, hair soaking wet and wrinkled skin.
"Yeah, but we're now deaf thanks to Malik's…what do you call that? Singing?" Seto asked sarcastically, reminding everyone of how embarrassed they were when Malik burst into song in the showers, scaring the other people away.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with my voice!" He replied, indignant that someone could insult him like that.
"Yeah, it just sounds like a cat's drowning, that's all."
"Don't you mean Duke drowning?" Bakura interrupted, causing them to laugh again. "Hey, we finally get to see the clothes you got for us Malik."
"Oh I can't wait! You're all going to love them, I just know it!" He said, clapping his hands in excitement.
"Yes, quite…" Yami said, voicing the group's opinion of his behaviour. "Well as long as you didn't get me a skirt, I'm sure it will be fine."
"Oops, I didn't know you hated skirts…" Malik said jokingly and Yami scowled at him.
"Ha ha. Anyway, I'm getting changed now, it's freezing out here." He said as they arrived at the lockers, opening his and taking out his clothes, as did the others. "See you in a minute." The others nodded and once more they made their way to the cubicles.
xxxxxx
"No, you're supposed to have the shirt undone!" Malik said critically as they stood outside the cubicles being examined by Malik. At the moment he was looking at Bakura, or rather, he had grabbed Bakura by his shirt.
"Hey, watch it!" He said weakly as he stood there being groomed.
"There, that's better." He continued looking at them until he got to Seto. "And that top button's supposed to be undone!" He went to grab Seto but he got there first and quickly undid the button, pulling the collar apart slightly.
"Yes sir!" He said sarcastically but Malik ignored him, stepping back to admire his handiwork with the clothes he had bought.
While he was wearing a purple sleeveless top and tan combats, Yami was wearing a black top and black trousers, held up by a dark blue belt, another one resting on his left side, draping down towards his right knee. Duke was dressed similarly but had on a red sleeveless jacket, complementing his bandana that he wore all the time. Bakura was more casual with a blue and white striped t-shirt and a sky blue shirt with a pair of jeans underneath. Seto was the smart one, wearing a dark aqua shirt and similar coloured trousers, perfectly set off by his long blue coat. Yep, they were looking good.
"So then, do you like them?" He asked. They all said yes and seemed happy enough until Duke raised a question.
"Who did you spend the most on?"
"Hmm…I'm not sure. It might have been Seto or Bakura."
"Typical. And who was the cheapest?"
"Me actually." This certainly shut Duke up and he smirked. "Now, let's go find somewhere for these." He said, indicating the bags they had in their hands. "And while they're being washed, I can show you what else I got."
"You bought more stuff? Whatever for? And how did you manage to get so much change still?" Seto demanded as they walked out.
"Because I know where the cheap stuff is. And I bought more stuff because I thought you would appreciate having a shave and eating something that didn't come straight from a tree or a rabbit's insides."
"Ah, good point."
xxxxxx
"Well I think Seto should go first, he looks like he needs it the most."
"Hey, I am not hairy!"
"You look like you're growing a dead rabbit. Now just go and do something about it please." Seto went off muttering with saucepan of water and shaving foam to remove the 'dead rabbit' as Bakura had affectionately called it while he sat with a pair of scissors in his hand. "So then, who wants their hair cut first?"
"Do we have to? My hair is very temperamental, cut it wrong and it looks awful." Yami said, fingering his now drooping spikes with what could only be described as affection and love.
"It will grow back, don't worry." But he saw that he was not going to tempt them so he shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, I'm going to do mine." He said and with that, he started to carefully trim all of his spikes, making sure he kept their basic shape.
"Fuck!"
"What was that about?" Duke asked, looking over in the direction Seto had gone in.
"I think he's just nicked himself and from the sounds of things, quite badly." Bakura said absent minded, continuing with his hair. "I'm not surprised though, he's going to have to work hard to get that lot off."
"Oy, I heard that!" Seto shrieked, standing up so they could see him and the blood trickling down his chin.
"God, you make a big fuss about a little scratch…" Bakura said, rolling his eyes and receiving a glare from Seto.
"You try it then."
"I'd rather not; I might get fleas if I get too near to that thing."
"Right, that's it!" Seto roared, dropping the razor and starting to chase Bakura around the clearing while the others looked on, rolling their eyes.
"Well I may as well go, seeing as Seto's occupied." Malik said, standing up.
"You mean you actually have something to shave off?" Duke teased, indicating the fluff on Malik's chin. It was something they all did.
"Ha ha, yes I do. Anyway-" He stopped suddenly and watched in silence as Seto finally caught up with Bakura, tackling him to the ground and trying to touch him with his beard.
"No, not the fleas, anything but the fleas!" Bakura screeched and Seto started to tickle him. "Don't…tickle me! It…hurts!" He gasped, continuing to laugh.
"Serves you right…" Seto muttered as he sat up and looked over to where Malik was. "Hey, it's my turn!"
"You took too long." Malik said, poking his tongue out before continuing.
"Don't worry Seto, it's not like Malik has anything to get rid of anyway…"
"Watch your mouth or I'll use this on you!" Malik retorted, brandishing the razor at them.
"Ooh!" They all said as one, causing Malik to huff loudly as he turned back to shaving.
"When we get married, we'll have sausages for tea, sausages for tea, sausages for tea. When we get married, we'll have sausages for tea, sausages for tea!" Malik started to sing, causing everyone to yell in pain as they clapped their hands over their ears.
"NO!"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I hate to say it Yami but you're well and truly stuck." Duke commented as the group stood around Yami who was currently struggling to remove his hair from a low hanging branch.
"No, I can't be! I'm not going to be stuck in this tree forever." He said in determination, trying to pull forward as far as he could, until the branch could take no more and forced him back again, nearly colliding into Duke and Bakura.
"Well you wouldn't have got stuck if you would just let me cut your hair instead of insisting on leaving it! You knew something like this would happen eventually." Bakura tisked as he stepped closer to the branch.
"Don't even think about it! There must be another way!" He cried out in desperation and Bakura sighed, standing directly behind him.
"No there isn't so get over it!" He snapped and found the pair of scissors in the bag that Seto had been carrying. "If it helps, I'll keep it to a minimum…"
"Goodbye my hair…" Yami continued to mourn for his hair as Bakura carefully cut him away from the branch. "This is so humiliating." He muttered.
"I told you to get your hair cut." Bakura pointed out, although he was trying to leave hair loss to a minimum, as he had promised.
Ten minutes later and Yami was finally free from the evil tree and he stood there, carefully feeling his hair to check to see how much he had lost. Then he looked at the branch and saw his hair curled around it.
"I thought you said it was going to be the smallest amount! There's enough to stuff a sofa with there!" He screeched, waving his arms around in the air.
"Yami you're exaggerating… If it makes you feel any better, I'll do it properly later on and make it look like it's supposed to."
"Why, what does it look like?"
"Well it's flat on top and half of your bangs are now missing." Malik butted in casually. "And then of course there's the bald patch…"
"The what?" He demanded, eye now twitching.
"The bald patch."
"Bakura!" He yelled, turning to him in anger.
"You do realise he's joking, don't you? You should know that by now…" Bakura said and Yami turned to Malik, eyes glowing in anger.
"Um, let's get going…" Malik said nervously, starting to walk and then sped off as Yami ran after him. "I'm sorry!"
"Children…" Seto muttered, causing Bakura to look at him strangely.
"If my memory is correct, you yourself acted just like this not /that/ long ago."
"Humph…" Bakura smiled to himself as they continued walking, hearing the shouts of Malik and Yami in the woods ahead of them.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The mountain rose up from their sight and high into the sky, the top almost impossible to see. The group had stopped for now, not sure which way to go so they were going to wait until the Ring showed them, which wasn't long now. They worked out they could either go around, underneath or over it. None of them really wanted to go over it; the weather was still cold, even though it was May. They had been gone for nearly a year now and it was starting to take its toll on them, they were constantly exhausted and their weight loss was reaching alarming rates, Yami's trousers were struggling to stay up, even with two belts. So now they were using the time to sleep, or trying to at any rate.
"What if it tells us to go over?" Malik whispered to Bakura, careful not to wake the others, especially Yami.
"I think we might have to go another way anyway. Yami won't survive going over the mountain, he looks like he's going to collapse in a minute." He seemed to have suffered the most, mainly because he was a lot smaller and lighter than them anyway, before he was skinny, now he was verging on anorexic. "I don't think most of us can survive going over it."
"I'm sure going around it would lead to the same place anyway." Malik said in reassurance, he knew Bakura was worried because they could both tell they were near them now, thanks to the Millennium Items.
They heard Yami's watch beeping and Bakura stood up, walking closer to the mountain. He watched as the Millennium Ring appeared and glowed blue, one of the pointers moving and staying in its position for a second before dropping down and disappearing. Malik and Bakura looked in that direction in despair…
"Over the mountain?"
"We'll wake Seto and Duke up and see what they say…" Bakura said, going over to them to do so. "Shush, I don't want to wake Yami for the moment." He whispered and they nodded their heads in understanding, walking over to where Malik was beckoning them.
"What did the Ring say?" Duke asked, worried by the looks on Bakura and Malik's face.
"Over."
"What? I don't think we'll make it, even if we tried." Seto commented, looking to the other options. "We could always quickly look that way and see if it looks safe." He suggested, pointing to the cave entrance.
"Ok." Soon they were nearing the entrance and as Bakura continued forward, he felt a pain in his chest and it grew, and grew and grew…
"RYOU!" He screamed, sinking down his knees as he felt himself being ripped apart from the agony. He could see something in front of his eyes, a room…there were people around him, in white, lab coats? He looked down and saw shoes but they weren't his, they were Ryou's. He screamed again, the pain returning to him.
"Bakura, what's wrong?" Seto demanded as he knelt down next to him, frowning when he saw that Bakura was starting to glow blue, just like the Ring did. He touched his shoulder but recoiled when he felt a burning sensation. "Bakura, answer me!"
"It…h-hurts…" He stuttered, wrapping his arms around himself, the glow now turning into flames and they appeared to be eating him away.
"Bakura?" They turned around and saw Yami standing up, looking a little dizzy as he walked towards them. "What…?"
"He just started screaming and now he's like that." Duke explained and Yami frowned, seeing the colour.
"The Ring… Why don't you try and see if you can do something with the Rod?" He said to Malik and he took it out, wondering what to do when he heard Bakura cry out in pain again.
"Ok…" Suddenly the Rod started to turn purple and Malik could feel something, it was in his mind. "Shush Ryou; it's going to be ok."
"Marik? Where are you?" Duke yelled, looking around until he saw Malik's eyes glowing purple. "Are you in Malik?"
"Ryou, you're not supposed to be here…" He continued, kneeling down and placing his hand on Bakura's forehead.
"Marik, where are we?" Bakura's voice had changed too; it was lighter, just like Ryou's. "Why are we here?"
"I don't know but we have to go back now…" They looked up at the others staring at them in amazement, seeing Bakura's eyes had changed too.
"Ryou? Marik?" Yami said gently, bending down to their level.
"Yami? Where are Bakura and Malik?" Marik asked quietly, continuing to take in the surroundings.
"You're Bakura and Malik…you're in their bodies at least." He explained and Marik's eyes widened in shock.
"Oh no, come on Ryou, we have to go."
"Marik, I don't want to go back…" Ryou whispered, grabbing Marik's hand.
"I know but we can't do this to them, it's unfair." He said, hugging Ryou tightly. "It's going to be ok."
"They'll come soon, won't they?" He asked, smiling at Marik.
"Of course they will. Let's go now." Ryou nodded his head and suddenly they were gone, Malik and Bakura returned to their bodies. They remained still for a while, shaking from what they had seen.
"Malik, Bakura? Are you two ok?" Seto said, sitting down in front of them next to Yami and Duke followed suit.
"I saw…" Bakura muttered, shuddering slightly. "It was horrible, they were doing…"
"Who? What were they doing?"
"Men, in lab coats…they had things in their hands. They were doing things to Ryou…" He mumbled, looking like he was going to cry so Malik continued to hold him. "And he wasn't there, I couldn't feel him."
"That's because he was here, with us. So was Marik. You just started glowing and then they were suddenly here." Yami explained and they looked at him in puzzlement.
"You're sure?" Yami nodded his head and they smiled in relief. "I was worried they had destroyed him or something…"
"He was scared though." Yami said quietly and he stood up. "What did the Ring say?"
"Um…well it told us to go over the mountain."
"Then what are we waiting for? They're still alive, there's no point in wasting any more time." The others glanced at each other with worry; they shouldn't have to put Yami through that.
"We were going to go through here instead." Duke said and Yami frowned.
"Why? If the Ring told us to go this way then why do something different? Come on, let's go." He started to walk away and the others stood up slowly.
The group walked to the path at the bottom of the mountain and stood for a moment, looking up and wondering how long it was going to take them to get to the other side. Yami started the journey and they kept close behind him, unsure of how long he would last.
"Yami, are you sure about this?" Malik whispered, walking beside him.
"Yes."
xxxxxx
"Malik, I hate to say it but I really need to stop. We've been going for hours now and I just don't feel well." Duke said as they continued to trudge in the snow. Yami was way out in front with Malik behind him, walking with Duke while Bakura and Seto were behind them. Malik turned to look at Duke and noticed he seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open, always a bad thing in a cold place.
"Duke, stay awake! We'll stop as soon as we can." He replied, grabbing his hand to reassure him and he smiled weakly, nodding his head.
"Ok."
Luckily it wasn't long before Malik saw a cave and he quickly herded Duke into it, glad the floor was dry at least. Then he ran back to the entrance and waited for Bakura and Seto to arrive, waving when they did so.
"Hey you two! We're in here!"
"What about Yami?" Seto asked, once they were nearer.
"I'm just going to get him. Sheesh, he's going to need a leash if he carries on like this." He rolled his eyes before setting off after Yami, who he eventually found stumbling along the path, head down and focused on his feet. "Yami, we're stopping for a while."
"No, can't stop." He said, shaking his head slightly, causing him to sway.
"Yami, you're not going to make it if you don't stop for a bit!"
"If I stop I won't get back up. Can't make…you wait…for me." He said, feet continuing forward in determination.
"Yami, we don't mind! We're all tired; we'll all have to wait for each other. Please come back."
"No, must…carry on."
"Then me and someone else will go with you. I'm not going to leave you on your own. Don't go too far, I'm going to find the others." He stared at Yami, trying to make sure he had heard this and he nodded his head slowly.
Malik sprinted back to where Duke, Bakura and Seto were and they looked up when they heard him, frowning when they saw that Yami wasn't with him.
"He won't stop; he said if he stopped he wouldn't be able to get back up again. I'm going with him, it's not safe for him to be on his own."
"Then I'll go with you. That way, if something happens, one of us can stay with him and the other can come back here." Seto said, standing up.
"Are you sure?"
"I don't feel too tired and anyway, we can't leave it too long." Malik nodded his head and looked at Bakura and Duke.
"You two ok here? We'll come back here, we just have to knock Yami out or throw him down to the bottom or something like that." He said, grinning at the thought.
"We'll be fine. Just go and find him." Bakura said and Malik and Seto left the cave, moving quickly to find Yami.
They were surprised when they saw he was still walking, albeit it was now more of a crawl and they hurried to either side of him for support.
"You didn't have to do this…" He said, looking up at them.
"We weren't just going to leave you on your own, we stay together."
"What about Bakura and Duke?"
"They're together, they'll be ok. We're going to go back and get them later on. Let's worry about getting to the other side for now."
xxxxxx
"Look at that, it's some strange thing I've never seen before." Malik said and Seto and Yami looked to where he was pointing.
"Malik, they're called trees. There's nothing strange about them." Seto said, shaking his head.
"Well I don't know about you but it's been a long time since I last saw any trees. It means we're getting near to the end, they can't grow too far up because of the snow." They walked in silence, allowing Malik's words to sink in. They were near the end…
"At last…" Yami said before promptly collapsing onto the snow in a deep sleep.
"Oh no, I was hoping he would last just a little bit longer." Malik said as they bent down to him. "You take him to the bottom and I'll go back to Duke and Bakura."
"Malik…"
"I won't be able to carry him, I'm not strong enough and anyway, you look shattered. Get him down there and find somewhere warm for him. I don't know what but I'm sure you can think of something." Malik said quickly, helping Seto to put Yami on his back, arms hung loosely around his neck.
"Don't be too long okay Malik?"
"I'll be as quick as I can." They said goodbye before going off in their separate directions, wondering when they were going to next see each other.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"So we're going to get them tomorrow?"
"Hopefully, yes. I've worked out a way of getting in but I don't think we should all go, it's safer if there's just one or two."
"Who's it going to be?"
"I don't know, that's what we're going to have to ask the others."
Bakura and Seto were sat on a log, the evening light pouring through the branches of the nearby trees, dust dancing in the air as the others were gone to find something to eat. Three months had passed since the incident on the mountain and they had used that time to recover. They could have gone to the others straight away but as Duke had pointed out, they weren't going to be much use if they weren't back to normal health. So they had stopped on the other side of a clump of trees from where the others were being kept and had spent the time finding out how to get in, where they would be, what security there was. Well, it had been mainly Bakura but Yami had given him some help from the knowledge he had had in the past of it.
Now it was the night before they were going to try and get them out and Yami, Duke and Malik had gone to buy some food, to help their nerves. They had waited nearly fifteen months for this moment and now it was just a day away. Most of tomorrow would be spent disposing of all of the stuff they didn't need and making themselves look better, figuring the others wouldn't be so worried if they looked like they had done when they were separated.
"It's going to be weird seeing them again…" Yami said, once they had come back and they were sitting down, eating.
"Weird, but good." Malik added and the others nodded in agreement.
"Hey, what are we going to do once we've got them?" Duke suddenly asked.
"We're going to fulfil those promises we made, remember?" Malik pointed out.
"But we need to find somewhere to do that."
"Maybe the Ring will show us where to go or something. We'll worry about that bit once we're over the border." Bakura said and thought for a moment. "Hey, where is the border anyway? And what does it look like?" He turned to Yami and he frowned as he tried to remember.
"I'm not sure where it is but it covers quite a big area. There's a fence and spotlights…people with guns patrolling the edge. If they catch you, there's no mercy. A one way gate, entrance but no exit." Yami explained, closing his eyes and saying what he saw.
"Sounds like it's going to be hard. But we'll do it, we have to."
"Of course we will, but first let's just worry about the people in that building through those trees."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(Note from Chen: If this bit seems really bad, it's because it's more of a visual than a written thing. So if descriptions or movement is abrupt, that's why.)
There was darkness, a solitary light shining on a figure wearing a blue coat, facing away so you couldn't see his face. But gradually he changed, the brown hair disappearing and becoming black, the figure shrinking slightly and becoming red before changing again, now he had white hair and was light blue. Moving closer the male's hair was now greyer and bigger, the clothes darker and the eyes pale blue but soon the spikes were becoming more refined and pitch black, as were his clothes and the eyes becoming a fiery crimson.
Yami reached forward and a Russian doll could be seen but he recoiled when the lid of the first one was lifted off, disappearing in the gloom. One, two three, four, five… Then something could be seen at the bottom, different to the others. Yami peered closer and gasped when he saw Yugi, hands clasped in front of him and his eyes closed.
"Yugi?" His eyes opened and they saw him, widening in what appeared to be fear.
((I'm sorry Yami, I couldn't protect them… I've been bad…)) Yami was surprised when he heard the voice in his head but then Russian dolls couldn't talk of course.
"No you haven't, I know you tried your best." He replied, trying to reach forward to touch him but he stopped when he heard his next words.
((But it wasn't good enough and now I have to be punished…))
"Yugi, what do you mean?" He demanded, not understanding why this had happened.
((Goodbye Yami…))
Suddenly Yugi was life sized but he didn't remain like this for long as there was a sickening crunch and his eyes closed, as though only too aware of what was happening, although Yami didn't have a clue. It was only when he saw that Yugi was getting taller… No, he was sliced in half, just like a Russian doll, the organs struggling to stay together as they bulged downwards. His stomach and liver overflowed, falling to the ground with a squelch next to Yami's feet.
He screamed, closing his eyes as Yugi's 'lid' disappeared into the night.
xxxxxx
Malik stood in the darkness, staring at the box in front of him, painted bright yellow with red, green and blue stars scattered across the surface. There was music in the air, a piano playing with the plinking sound of a xylophone mingled amongst the notes. It didn't seem to come from anywhere in particular but even though it sounded gentle, Malik felt worried. Something was going to happen, and it had to do with the box.
"Malik…" He turned around in surprise when he heard his name, it sounded like Marik. But it had been far away, like an echo.
"Marik?" The music seemed to be getting louder and was that his imagination? The handle on the side of the box seemed to be turning by an invisible force, slowly at first but getting faster, as was the music.
The lid burst open and something sprung out, Malik flinging his arms over his face. When nothing happened though he hesitantly removed them, only to stumble backwards when he saw what was inside.
A head was painted black and white; a star over one eye while the other had a falling tear, although both were closed. The grin was lopsided, maniacal on one side and barely there on the other, it wasn't a real mouth though, that had been painted on too. It wore a purple hat, bordered near the large brim with red diamonds, but even this wasn't enough to cover the large pointed ears. The ruff around its neck was red, the edges thin and pointy with yellow balls on each one, as wide as the shoulders, if they had been there.
Malik recognised it from somewhere, although the memory was faint. He had been at someone's house, sitting on the floor as Ryou and Seto were doing something, he had been showing them…
He stopped thinking when he heard a creaking noise and started to back away as the head leaned towards him but somehow he had backed against something, even though nothing was there and still it got closer to him, forcing him to the ground. Soon he was lying there, looking away from it, hoping desperately it wouldn't get any closer. He breathed a sigh of relief when it stopped, although it was practically touching him but this turned into a gasp when the eyes suddenly opened, showing just white.
BOOM!
Malik jumped when he heard the clap of thunder and when it had died down, he saw that the head had changed slightly. Not just slightly though, now the paint was gone and so was the clothes, replaced by light coloured hair and golden chokers…
"MARIK!" He screamed, pushing the head away and jumping up, only to see something purple in front of the box. His body… He screamed again, sinking into madness…
xxxxxx
"Ring around a rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down."
"Ring around a rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down."
"Ring around a rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down."
Bakura listened to the voice as it continued singing and suddenly the thought occurred to him that it sounded a lot like Ryou, although a younger version…
"Ryou?" He said cautiously, frowning when a small light appeared, illuminating a box on the floor in front of him. He sat down and took it in his hands, surprised when the lid opened and the singing grew louder.
It looked like a box a girl might have had when they were younger, one with a dancer in it that turned around slowly while music tinkled out of it. Except there was no dancer in this box, instead there was a darkened figure, with their head flopping forward. And although the box was small, somehow Bakura could see the person perfectly, like they had been magnified. They were attached to a pole, hands above their head and long, pale hair covering their face…
"Ryou?" He said again, could it be him? The singing stopped and the person seemed to move slightly.
"Do you know what people think that song is about Kura?" Kura…he was only ever called that when Ryou was frightened. He didn't want Ryou to be frightened…
"No…" He whispered, not sure where this was going.
"They think it's about the Plague…" He paused but Bakura didn't know whether Ryou wanted him to say something so he remained silent. "Do you know anything about the Black Plague?"
"No, not really. Didn't it happen in Britain?" The figure's head lifted up and Bakura knew it was definitely Ryou, although he could only see a pair of eyes glowing in the gloom.
"You should have seen it… The pain, suffering, festering, decaying bodies. Covered in sores and bleeding everywhere…" Ryou seemed to be gloating and somehow Bakura was able to see images of dirty streets, filled with bodies. The mist gradually falling and covering them as two shrouded people walked along with a cart, picking them up and throwing them on top of others, thuds resounding throughout the night air.
"Ryou, stop it! You're scaring me…" He suddenly called out, closing his eyes so he didn't have to see the glow coming from his face, it was like he was being hypnotised.
"What's wrong Kura, don't you like me anymore?" He opened his eyes and frowned, what sort of question was that? Ryou's voice had changed, now it sounded curious and slightly frightened too.
"Of course I do! Why do you say that-" His voice was cut off abruptly when the light finally captured Ryou's body, showing him in full size. He was naked apart from a small cloth tied around his waist and his skin was covered in red marks and large, pus oozing sores. No longer pale and pure, as Bakura had once loved it.
"Kury…help me…" He moaned, head lifting up. Bakura screamed, seeing the red tracks running down his face from his eyes, tears of blood…
xxxxxx
Duke looked on with unease at the bed in front of him, covered in simple white sheets and underneath, a dark shadow. He was reminded of childhood fears, of monsters under the bed…
Nevertheless he stepped forward to try and get a better look when he saw a figure rising through the bed. Not wanting to question the logistics of how a solid object could travel through another solid object, he watched warily until it had finished moving.
"Who are you?" He asked, unable to see anything, thanks to the large black cloak covering everything, including its face.
It seemed to notice him for the first time and looked in his direction for a moment, unmoving until it lifted its hands up to remove the hood and a face was revealed, one half covered by a white mask, the other raw and dry, like it had been burnt. Duke continued to look at the person and saw the spiked brown hair… No one had hair like that, he had nearly laughed the first time he had seen it.
"Tristan?" The figure looked up and Duke recognised the brown eyes, it /was/ him. He smiled sadly at him and then closed his eyes.
It happened so suddenly that it took Duke a few moments to realise that Tristan wasn't there anymore. Instead he was all over the bed, on the ground and on Duke too. Blood splashed on the sheets, staining them a dark red and organs scattered around. He lowered his arms from his face and saw a grey, squiggly paste on his hands.
Duke screamed, unable to cope with the fact he had his best friend's brains all over his hands…
xxxxxx
The lid of the large chest lifted slowly and Seto watched in horror as a headless body climbed out of the box, wearing jeans, a white t-shirt and green jacket. It knelt down on the ground and looked up. Well, Seto thought so anyway, it was a bit hard to tell without a head.
"Joey?" He stepped forward cautiously, noticing at the same time that it was holding something in its hands. "What's in your hands?"
"I gave my heart to you Seto and you ripped it into pieces!" His voice came from the body yet it couldn't do because he had no head. But at the moment, Seto was more worried about Joey's words.
"I'm sorry Joey; I should have said something…" He whispered, hanging his head in shame. The others still didn't know what had happened between them, that when they saw each other again, Seto wouldn't be surprised if Joey tried to kill him. He was dragged out of his thoughts though when Joey asked him a question.
"Do you still want it?" What? Was he being forgiven? He doubted it…
"Joey…?"
"Then you can have it." He saw Joey's hands drop down by his sides while something appeared in his. He looked down at his left side and shuddered at the organ in his hand, reflex causing him to drop it and back away. "Is it not good enough for you?" Joey screeched, standing up and allowing Seto to see the sinew and muscle, almost making him throw up. "I've never been good enough for you, have I?" He hissed, staggering forward.
"No Joey, you don't understand…" Seto pleaded, backing away from the nightmare in front of him. He stopped though, feeling something in his chest. He looked down and saw a dagger, the metal of the blade barely visible, it was buried in that deep.
"I hate you…"
Seto screamed as he felt the pain but he stopped quickly, choking on the blood flooding his mouth. His sight blurred but the last thing he saw was Joey pulling out the dagger and holding it up to the space where his head was, as though he was licking it off…
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"That was the scariest dream I've ever had…" Malik muttered as he brushed his fingers through his hair. It was early in the morning and they had all just woken up from their various nightmares, badly shaken by what had happened.
"Did we all have the same dream then?" Bakura asked, looking around. "In my one, Ryou was tied to a pole and…he was bleeding. Everywhere…" He mumbled, the image of Ryou crying blood returning to him with full force.
"I was by a bed and Tristan…exploded everywhere."
"Marik was a Jack in the box…"
"A Russian doll…he got opened up…"
Everyone's words seemed jumbled together as flashes came to them, their minds unable to cope with the whole nightmare at once. Seto however remained silent, it's not that the dream didn't upset him, but the fact he didn't want the others to find out the truth. He had gone after Joey and hadn't lived a normal life for the last fifteen months for a reason but he didn't think the others would understand. How could they? Their relationships had been perfect; there had never been a question of love with them. Even Duke, who wasn't with Tristan seemed to love him, even if it was only in a brotherly way.
"What about you Seto? Did you have a dream?" Yami suddenly asked and the others turned to him while he put his face in his hands, so they couldn't see the guilt in his eyes.
"Yeah, Joey didn't have a head…" He said distractedly, hoping that would be enough for them. He didn't see the looks they gave each other, all wondering what was going on. They decided however to drop it for the moment, they had to get moving.
"Hey, you three go and wash or whatever and me and Seto will wait for you." Malik suggested and nodding their heads in thanks, they got what they needed before setting off.
They sat in silence for a while, listening as the birds started to sing and the sun cast watery patches of light on the ground, lighting up the fallen leaves and grass. Malik stared at Seto, he had a vague idea of what his dream might have been about but he needed to make sure…
"Did Joey find out the truth then?" Malik said casually, smiling grimly when Seto raised his head in surprise.
"What?"
"Did he find out that you never loved him, that he was just an object to possess?" Malik clarified, keeping his voice neutral, although he crossed his arms.
"He's /not/! I love him!" Seto yelled, standing up and beginning to pace. "I just realised too late for him to know the truth…" He added, slumping down in defeat on a log. "He told me, right before he was taken away and I didn't know what to say. He had never been romantic before; I didn't think he felt like that! I didn't think I loved him but when I was in the room, alone, I wondered why I hadn't realised it before." He said, hoping that Malik might understand, although he never could…
"Or was it because you didn't have him with you? Did you think you loved him because you needed someone beside you?" Malik continued to push him, forcing him to realise what he had done.
"NO! I just…" He broke down and started crying, hands shaking as he tried to wipe the tears away. "All I know is I love him. And I went with you and the others to prove that to Joey. I didn't have to go, if I had questioned it, but I did, because I just…knew." He shrugged his shoulders and glanced at Malik. "I know you don't believe me, when the others find out, they won't believe me either but that isn't important. Only Joey is and if he doesn't believe me too then…"
"Then?"
"I'll understand. He was so willing to be taken away, he just said 'if it happens, it happens' to me. And then he told me that…he loved me." He shook his head and sighed. "He doesn't now of course. He stabbed me you know, in the dream. He showed me his heart and then the dagger was in me, he said he hated me."
"Do you think he feels like that then?" Malik asked, causing Seto to look up and frown at him. So far, he had made little judgment on the situation, which he could only be thankful for.
"Yes, I think he hates me."
"Why are you here then?"
"Because I need him to know the truth. As I said, he doesn't have to believe it, he just has to hear it and that would be good enough for me." They fell into silence, not really thinking about much, just listening to the birds flying nearby.
"So you're willing to let him slip through your fingers then?"
"No, I'm letting go of him, realising that I can't control him against his will. There's a difference." He stood up and went over to where the bag was. "We should start getting rid of some of this stuff."
"When are you going to tell the others?"
"Whenever they're ready to listen to the truth." Seto paused and opened the bag thoughtfully. "Not that they ever will be… As far as they're concerned, if you don't love someone from the beginning, you're a complete and utter monster."
"That's not true you know. I know that Ryou didn't love Bakura for ages and Marik never loved me until after the sleepover at Christmas. But we loved them right from the beginning, just waiting until they were ready." Malik explained, walking over to where Seto and the bag were and taking out the razors.
"I think we might still need them…"
"Yes, but not the old ones. I tell you, Duke is going to need a huge house if he insists on keeping everything he gets." He started testing the blades against his finger, careful not to cut himself as Seto digested what he had just said.
"What about Yami?"
"Ah, they were 'love at first sight' people. Well, 'love at first confession of feelings' at any rate. Doesn't really have the same ring to it though." Seto smiled at this but soon it was gone and replaced by a frown.
"Marik never loved you…?"
"For the first three months we were together. Then it was his birthday and…well…he told me." Malik said coyly, not really wanting to have to tell what had happened.
"Was that before or after the chocolate sauce?" Seto asked, causing Malik to blush and look away.
"After." He muttered then looked at him. "How did you know about that?"
"Joey told me, although that's all he knew. I don't think he really got it, what /actually/ happened." Seto said, smiling slyly at Malik.
"Yeah, well that's probably a good thing. If you know about it then everyone else must as well… Was it that obvious?"
"No, Marik told Yugi, Ryou and Joey and Joey kindly passed it onto me. I don't know about the others although apparently Yugi was talking to Yami about cookie dough ice cream once." The last bit was a joke of course and Malik quickly realised that, laughing and pushing Seto playfully.
"Very funny Mr Kaiba!" He grinned, only for this to turn into a grimace when he heard Yami behind him.
"What's funny?" The three of them came back and sat down on the nearby log, looking with curiosity from one to the other.
"I was just telling Malik about the thing with you, Yugi and some cookie dough ice cream." Seto quickly said, causing Malik to start sniggering, closing his eyes to stop himself from crying.
"Now why didn't /I/ hear about this? Yami, you old devil!" Bakura said, elbowing Yami in the side.
"What! There was /never/ any incident involving us and cookie dough ice cream!"
"Well that's not what I heard…" Seto commented and Yami noticed the grin on his face and scowled at him.
"Seto, that's not funny!"
"Aw, come on Yami, it's just a joke! At least it's better than what happened between Marik, Malik, and the chocolate sauce, a die and lots of strawberries." Seto pointed out, causing Malik to hide his face in his hands while the others grinned.
"Yugi told me about that but I didn't think it was true! Well, well Malik Wood, we have been busy bunnies haven't we?"
"Bunnies was probably not the right word to use there Yami." Bakura pointed out, causing him to grimace at what he had said.
"Hang on a minute, how come everyone knows about this and I don't? First of all cookie dough ice cream-" Duke said, pouting at them.
"Which wasn't true." Yami quickly intervened before things could get out of hand again.
"And now Malik and…well lots of other things!"
"It seems everyone knows about it now. I might have to have a little talk with Marik at some point…" Malik said jokingly, causing the others to laugh.
"Hey, what are you doing with those razors? You're not going to throw them away are you?" Duke suddenly asked, picking them up and holding them to his chest like they were an endangered species.
"Duke, they're blunt! Don't tell me you want to keep them?" Malik said in exasperation and Duke grinned sheepishly, noticing the others looking at him with similar faces.
"All right, all right, we'll throw them away! But don't blame me when it turns out we need them!" He said in fake hysterics.
"Duke, the only thing they could cut at the moment is cheese and I don't think we'll be doing that anytime soon. Unless it turns out that someone hasn't been washing properly…"
"Ew, that's gross!" Duke squealed and then coughed when he suddenly realised he sounded like a girl.
"Come on Seto, let's go and get washed. We don't have a lot of time left…" Seto nodded his head and he and Malik stood up and were soon gone from the clearing.
"Do you think he told Malik what was wrong?" Yami said to no one in particular.
"Maybe, we'll ask him later on if we have the chance to." Bakura replied, continuing with the task that Seto and Malik had started.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A building rose in front of them, twisted metal and stone, nestled in the bottom of a shallow valley, protected by the hills rising on all sides of it. Windows blacked out so not only could you not see in, they couldn't see out either. In fact, no lights were on at all and the silence could be felt, not even the wind was blowing or birds were singing. They knew this was where the forsaken were taken to. There were no searchlights or fences to prevent them from leaving but after spending a few weeks there most of them lost the will to live, let alone to escape. And of course they still had security, the nightmares that gripped them as they tried to sleep, hoping that they would be taken away soon. After fifteen months though, that wasn't so important. Just surviving would be a miracle now.
The group watched the building, waiting for the right time. Well, they were waiting for Bakura to say it was the right time at any rate. He narrowed his eyes at the place that held his angel and promised that no matter what the risks or the costs, he would get them all out of there and away from his hell hole they were in. So he waited for the right moment, when he knew they would all be together in the darkness, hoping for the umpteenth time that /this/ would be the night they were rescued…
Well hopefully that was a bit of light relief for you, except for the end of course, and the dream, and Yami collapsing and… Ok, so maybe it wasn't that much light relief. It was also very long...but the next one is short, it's only got two scenes in it. So onto notes for today:
1. I didn't mean for any of the characters to look stupid, it just made me laugh to think of Malik chasing after this little, innocent rabbit and Seto growing a beard…hehe.
2. Seto didn't get given his outfit from Battle City like the others because I think it looks stupid and /he's/ stupid in battle City. I hate him… #Growls#
3. If you went to Brownies like Luff and me, you'll know the Sausage song. I'm not sure it's actually called that but it's really funny because you have to scream as loudly as you can. I did it once on Brownie camp and we got complaints from the locals for being too noisy…oops.
4. Yep, not only is the whole Shadi thing /way/ too 'Lord of the Rings', the mountain scene is too. But it was a good excuse to get the others in there, even if it was only Ryou and Marik.
5. Lots of screaming in the dream, the way it works is that everything happens at the same time, so they scream at the same time. But you can't do that in writing so…yeah.
6. The bit with Marik has some music and it's from my Kingdom Hearts (PS2 game, very good!) soundtrack. The song is called "Kairi III" and it's quite nice, although it won't make any sense if you've never played the game or heard the song.
Anyway, lots of notes to bore you and now I'll get going to check up on the next chapter/episode/part thingy, which needs a final grammar check and author's notes. Until then, please review!
S. Chensu (Chen) xxx.