Title: Lullaby

By: Morgan Johnson

Disclaimer: I do now own, duh!

A/N: So, second chapter uploaded today for this story. (Miracle) Hope you like it…

Chapter Eight: The Secret Passageway: Secrets of The Past

Anzu began to bang on the door desperate to get out. If Malik came home and he couldn't find her he would think that she ran away or worse he would look for her and find her down here. 'Bakura' she tried mentally but no response came. She was all alone and didn't know where exactly she was. She began to look around and noticed that she was in some sort of underground bedroom. There were hundreds of portraits all around, many were based on humans.

She looked at them for what seemed like hours, taking in every detail they possessed. Whoever had painted them had had a true talent for capturing details. It was as though they were right there in the room with her. She grew tired of the paintings as she knew she would never be captured in such a manner and tried to look for a way out of the room. She noticed a desk at a far corner and prodded it for a key or some sort of tool to open the door.

She screamed 'open' at it but it did no such thing. She tried its drawers but they were bare except for one solitary picture. She looked at it in awe as it was a picture of a baby Malik. She could clearly see the soft eyes he had and wondered where they had gone to. Now his eyes were cold and calculative and she knew that they must've seen pain as he had confessed to being an orphan.

She clearly saw how the face of the woman holding him was blurred and realized that the portraits must've belonged to him once. The cobwebs indicated that he had not been in the room for quite sometime and she wondered why he would've collected the portraits.

They were all of people similar to him in one way or another and it seemed to her that he had tried to find his family. A few tears came to her eyes a she thought of family, she wondered how everything would've turned out if her mother had not died giving labor or her father had not married Valentine.

But she knew it to be useless to dwell in the past, it never solved anything. "Is that so, my dear?" Anzu turned to where the voice came from yet saw no one there. "Who said that?" she asked quiet frightened. "You need not fear me, I mean you no harm"

Anzu finally saw who was speaking, a portrait. A lady with long blonde hair and lavender eyes stared back at her affectionately. "Come and we shall talk, yes?" Anzu nodded not wanting to be rude though she had a sneaky suspicion that she had lost her mind after being locked in.

"Now, my dear, will you please tell me as to why you are here?" "I got locked in" "Yes that I know what I want to know is why you came down the passageway" Anzu hesitated for a minute but then answered: "I felt as though I should" "Yes that is the answer I was looking for. First off I think introductions are in order. I am Lady Cecilia of the House of Ashford and you are?" The lady waited calmly for Anzu to reply, she knew that it must've been very shocking for her to see a portrait speak.

"My name is Anzu" "What a lovely name you have my dear, you remind me so much of my daughter Sophia" 'Sophia' thought Anzu frantically. "Is there something wrong my dear?" "No nothing's wrong, my lady" she added as to be respectful. Even if she was speaking to a portrait, it was still one of a high ranking person. 'Well if you say so. Anyway I would like to know all you can tell me about yourself as it has been so long since I have had any company." And Anzu began her life storytelling pausing only when Lady Cecilia made a gesture or a gesture.

"Well my dear that is quite a life you have leaded. I think it that it is only fair that I repay your story with mine. I was once married to the Duke of Ashford and had a daughter who I named Sophia. She was a very lovely girl who loved every kind of person. She fell in love with a human and married against my husband's wished. Sadly that forced her to move into the human world and I sadly only heard of her death years after. She was killed by a despicable demon that was after her powers."

"Powers?" interrupted Anzu. "Well yes my dear you see my family is full of witches and wizards. Sophia, though one, never wanted to use hers so she sealed them into a golden locket" "Like this one?" motioned Anzu towards her locket.

"Yes one very similar to that one, well anyway she died and I was dreadfully upset. I divorced my husband as it he was at fault for banishing her. Later a demon visited me asking about my daughter. I refused to speak of her to him and he trapped me in here." "Can't you escape?"

"If I were to do that now, I would die. You see I no longer have my powers and sadly to say would whither away without them" At Anzu's sad stricken face she added: "But do not worry my dear, I'm pleased now that you can come and visit me. That is if you agree" "I would but I don't think I can leave, the door won't open" "Oh that was me, don't worry it'll open from now on" Anzu stood to see the door open and Bakura tumble in. 'Well, well, what do we have here? Bakura, my daughter's old friend, nice to see you."

Misery: So like it? Tell me but remember no flames. So hope now that things are getting rolling it'll have more frequent updates. Oh replies to reviews will be at my live journal account, address in my profile…later