Scales of Destiny

Authors' Note: If I'm not up to at least10 reviews I will not update! This is ridiculous people!

Everybody, give Toxic a big round of applause! Miraculously, I recovered from my writer's block to write two sentences of the last chapter…but I will redeem myself by writing most of this chapter!

Story Summary: The Millennium Scales have been passed from Shadi to another worthy of holding them. But as soon as she receives the mysterious Scales, she starts having bizarre dreams about things that happened thousands of years ago. Each dream ends with the same soothing voice and calming face. Can she meet this mysterious stranger in Domino City?

Chapter Summary: Tristan learns how miserable he is at the art of asking a girl on a date, an old friend returns to Domino City, and Atem finally lays his eyes on the Scales.

Chapter Five

Eyes

Shizuku tossed and turned in her sleep, the odd dreams of an ancient Egyptian past flickering through her mind like a projector. The face was there again, but now she recognized it as the Pharaoh Atem, the other spirit that inhabited Yugi Motou's body.

The young girl awoke suddenly by the shrill tone of her alarm. "Six-thirty already?" she groaned as she made her way to the bathroom to wash her face. Large purplish bags sat underneath her eyes. A quick application of the only makeup she used, cover-up, and the dark violet bags were no longer visible. As she brushed through her long dark hair, the teen thought about the previous morning, when the tidal wave of emotion flooded her senses, and how she had reacted to Atem when he took control of Yugi's body. Then there was that voice that had advised her to tell Yugi that she possessed the Millennium Scales. The voice that wanted her to deny it was her own, she knew that. But where had the other voice come from? She dismissed her thoughts for later as she pulled her black locks out of her face and secured them with a black elastic.

Shizuku grudgingly put on her school uniform, detesting it even more since she had to put it on a second time. She turned to her head board and her emerald eyes met with the curious Egyptian eye of the Millennium Scales. She shrugged off the feeling of recognition that came every time she looked at the Scales, and with careful hands, Shizuku placed them into her backpack.

After brushing her teeth and eating a breakfast that consisted of a banana and a slice of semi-burnt toast, Shizuku waited impatiently for Tèa to be ready as well. The brunette girl bounded down the stairs, obviously a morning person.

"Sorry I took so long," Tèa replied as she slung her backpack over her shoulders as Shizuku carefully did the same with her own backpack.

The American teen yawned loudly in response. She opened the door to find Yugi making his way towards them. The three of them walked almost silently to school, aside from when Shizuku could have sworn she saw Atem glancing at her instead of Yugi, when she gasped loudly.

"What's wrong?" Tèa asked as she turned towards Shizuku.

"I…saw a…spider. Those things freak me out," she covered quickly as she quickened her pace towards the school.

"Is something wrong with Shizuku?" Yugi asked, obviously confused. Tèa shrugged silently, a clueless look in her eyes as well.

:-:

23…12…36, Shizuku thought as she turned the combination lock on her locker. She was careful when removing her extra books, making sure no one saw the unusual artifact in her backpack.

"So…Shizuku," Tristan said casually as Shizuku closed her locker door.

"AAAHH!" Shizuku screamed in surprise as her hand clamped over her rapidly beating heart. "Don't do that!" she gasped.

"Sorry," the brown haired male said sheepishly. "Would you mind if I asked you something?"

The American girl raised an eyebrow. "Depends. What is it?"

"Well," Tristan smiled, "if you're not doing anything Saturday night, maybe you and I could…hang out."

Shizuku seemed to ponder this for a moment, before abruptly saying, "Tristan...one, I just moved here. I've only been here for four days; I'd like to explore the town a little more. And two, not to offend you or anything, but I'm not all that interested in you."

"Maybe next week?" Tristan called to her as she headed towards her first hour class.

"Nope," she yelled back.

:-:

"Come on. I really like you, please," Tristan begged a few hours later as Shizuku was gathering her things to head to Yugi's.

"Tristan, I take that you've never been rejected before. But, as I've said the past thousand times, I'm not going to go out with a guy I'm not interested in to please him. I don't do pity dates," she said exasperatedly. Tristan started walking towards her, still pleading for a date, and Shizuku was walking backwards, lecturing him, when she bumped into something.

"Watch where you're going," came an icy voice and Shizuku looked behind her to find herself face to face with equally icy blue eyes. Immediately, she felt a rush of hate at Seto Kaiba, and imagined him clothed in Egyptian garb. She wanted to reach out and tear his face off, but that was the kind of thing that'd draw a lot of attention in a crowded high school hallway.

"I'll make sure I don't step on your sacred ground again," she said as she rolled her eyes.

"You're new around here, so I'll give you one warning. Nobody and I mean nobody around here mocks me."

"Duly noted," Shizuku growled as she headed towards the exit, Tristan following.

:-:

"Joey, you seriously need to talk to Tristan and tell him to lay off of Shizuku. I saw him stalking her in the halls today," Serenity said.

"I'll try, sis, but he won't listen." Joey agreed, shoulders slumped, hands in his pockets.

A purple convertible pulled up slowly behind him. In the car was a tall slender woman in a more than revealing top and mini skirt.

Serenity looked behind her as a huge smile spread across her face "Joey! Joey! Look its Mai! She's back!" Serenity squealed.

Joey raised his hand "Hey Mai," Joey said with a monotone.

They continued walking and Serenity was amazed that Joey didn't jump on Mai. She was all he could talk about for months, ever since she left Domino City.

Joey suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and spun around. "Mai!"

"Yeah it's me you big knuckle head. Were you just going to walk off and ignore me?"

Joey ran up to the car and jumped on the front, sprawling himself on the car, hugging the windshield.

"Are you happy to see me or my car, Wheeler?"

Joey got off the front of the car and Mai got out of the front seat. Joey almost tackled her, and then after regaining their balance Joey threatened to suffocate Mai from squeezing her so hard.

"It's so nice to see you again Mai. I missed you." Joey said.

Serenity held back laughter in the background. Joey missing Mai was a huge understatement.

"I missed you too, but you'll miss me a lot more if you don't let me breathe!" Mai forced out.

Joey loosened his grip "Sorry, but it's just really nice to see you again."

"I felt that." Mai ushered everyone into her car and they drove off to Joey's place. The whole drive Mai ignored Joey staring like a puppy dog at her.

They walked into the living room and sat down. "So what's new around here?" Mai asked.

Serenity crossed her legs and told Mai about how things were going and about Shizuku moving to Domino with Tea.

"Another girl Tristan is fawning over, huh?" Mai said afterwards "At least that's one less for you Serenity. I might have to meet Shizuku, she sounds interesting."

"Yeah, she is." Serenity commented.

Both women turned to Joey who was staring stupidly at Mai, like always.

"Enjoying the show?" Mai said, crossing her arms.

"Oh, heh," Joey rubbed the back of his head, smiling "Sorry 'bout that."

Mai looked at the clock hanging above Serenity "Well, I need to go. Thing to do. See ya around." Mai smiled, waving goodbye.

"Here Mai I'll walk you out," Joey offered. He got up from the couch and opened the door for her, following her out. "I guess I'll be seeing you around, then." Joey offered his hand out to shake.

"Yeah," Mai paused, looking at his hand "Come here, you dolt." She took his hand and pulled him closer before hugging him.

Joey gave Mai a gentle squeeze and pulled back a little before kissing her.

Surprised by Joey's sudden action, Mai melted only being supported by Joey's arm.

"Bye, Mai." Joey was grinning like a fool.

"Bye, Joey." Mai walked back to her car, still in shock.

:-:

Shizuku glanced back casually at the ever pursuing Tristan and gave him a weak smile when he looked at her. She crossed her arms under her breasts as she thought of some way to shake him off. It dawned on her.

"I need to go to Yugi's, he promised he'd show me a cool Duel Monsters combo," Shizuku half-lied as she attempted to deter Tristan.

Tristan looked crestfallen, obviously assuming that Shizuku would rather spend time with the King of Games than with him, and that was partly true. "Oh, okay. I'll see you at school tomorrow," he said as he put on a false smile and walked towards his own home.

When Shizuku reached the Game Shop, she gathered her courage before walking up to the door. Was she crazy? Why on earth did she feel compelled to tell Atem she possessed the Scales? While she was deliberating on whether to turn back, her hand reached out and opened the shop door, as if something inside her wished it to do so.

"Hello, Shizuku," Solomon Motou greeted eagerly as he wiped the counter. The American teen noticed that in the glass cabinet underneath the counter was a wooden box with a golden lock.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Motou," Shizuku smiled, her attention turning towards the wooden box. "Would you mind if I asked what was in that box?" she asked as she pointed to the box beneath the glass.

"Yugi's God cards, he's kept them locked up tight since Battle City."

"Yugi made quick business of getting himself up the duelist hierarchy, huh? Beating Kaiba, Weevil, and even Pegasus himself. Have you ever wondered how he always manages to get himself out of a tight spot?" she asked, probing for any knowledge Mr. Motou knew about the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.

Solomon smiled widely, "The Heart of the Cards. I taught him to believe in his deck, but he seemed to know he needed to do that already."

"Well, I'm just going to go talk to Yugi, maybe he can help me with my Algebra homework. You never know how far behind you are until you go to another school."

Mr. Motou nodded as he continued scrubbing the counter, the smile never leaving his cherubic face.

As Shizuku walked through the hallway, she distinctly heard voices coming from Yugi's room. The door was open a crack, and the exchange student peeked in through. Inside, almost translucent, was Atem, the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. The odd wave of hope and love flashed through her, and Shizuku fought to control the urge to burst into the room. Straightening, Shizuku knocked softly on the door.

"Who is it?" Yugi asked from behind the door.

"It's me, Shizuku. Can I come in?"

Once Yugi gave her the okay to enter, Shizuku found him lying on his bed, his Biology worksheet out and his math book opened. "Just doing my homework," he smiled, attempting to scribble an answer.

"Yes, I find that all the answers to my Biology homework can be found within the realm of Algebra," Shizuku grinned as she pointed out his mistake. He blushed before stuttering, "Yeah, well I just finished my Algebra…"

"I need to talk to you about something, you just have to promise to not freak out," the ebony-haired girl interrupted.

Yugi regarded her suspiciously, before hesitantly nodding.

"The thing is, I actually need to talk to Atem."

"How did you know about him?" the short teen asked as his eyes widened.

"I don't know! I just knew, I guess. Listen, I've been having some weird memories lately. Things that there's no way I could have done. I need to talk to Atem," Shizuku said nervously as she unzipped her bag. "I have to show him something."

Yugi shrugged before he let himself fall into the Puzzle and let the Pharaoh animate his body.

Shizuku noticed the change immediately. Yugi became taller, and his eyes narrowed to those of one who had seen too much darkness in his time.

She was now facing Atem, the Egyptian Pharaoh that had saved the world almost five thousand years ago.

"Tell me what this does and why I have it," Shizuku stuttered as she pulled the Millennium Scales from her dark green camouflage backpack.

Yami had to concentrate incredibly hard to stay upright. He blinked twice, trying to be completely sure of what he was seeing. "Where did you get those?"

"That weird store in the mall. I wanna know what they do and why I, of all people, found them."

"You only receive a Millennium Item if you are deemed worthy. The Millennium Scales once belonged to an ancient queen, who passed judgment on evildoers that no longer belonged in the realm of the living," Yami said as his eyes traveled to the Feather of Ma'at that sat on one end of the Scales. He suddenly caught a vision of a pregnant Zuka, lying dead in a hallway with blood spatter on the Scales. He shook the vision away, trying desperately not to concentrate on it while he talked to Shizuku.

"A queen? Now I have the powers of some mummified royal woman?" Shizuku exclaimed rather rudely.

"Yes, just some mummified royal woman," Yami laughed dryly, though he felt no humor in the situation.

Yami sullenly walked over to the bed and sat down, staring out the window. Memories of him and Zuka wouldn't stop playing in his head, no matter how much he screamed inside for them to. His thoughts finally flashed onto Zuka's still body and he tried to focus his energy on the raven haired girl looking quizzically at him through deep green eyes.

"Did I say something?" she asked at his saddened demeanor.

"Oh, of course not," Yami said sarcastically.

"So…" Shizuku responded, "What was this queen's name anyway?" she wasn't sure why she asked, it was like something deep inside her was forcing her to ask.

"Her name was Zuka Tomuu."

"Z-Zuka! You mean the old owner of the Scales is…was…your wife!" Shizuku almost fell backwards at the news.

"Yes…yes, she was," Yami sighed.

"I know this is a stupid question, but, why are you so disappointed? What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything," he said quickly. "I just thought…I mean, I assumed…" Yami suddenly shrank as Yugi took control again, looking just as confused as Shizuku was.

"Umm, what was that?" Shizuku asked.

"I guess he's shy around you, or at least on the subject you asked about," Yugi laughed, the idea that an ancient Egyptian pharaoh being shy at all amusing him.

"What subject?" she asked, clueless.

"He thought that since you had the Scales, you were Zuka's reincarnation, but since you have no memory of him at all, he's not so sure now. It's a sensitive subject for him," Yugi explained.

"Well, actually, I've been having these dreams lately. About Egypt…and the Pharaoh…" Shizuku muttered, her eyes drifting off to focus on the Scales.