DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters are the creations of Kazuki Takahashi.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Text in bold is being spoken with emphasis.
Chapter 7: The First to Fall
By Shadow's Mirror
"There! All done!" Yugi put the last full stop on the page and leaned back in his chair to survey his handiwork with a proud grin.
Yami stirred. He had been lying on his stomach on Yugi's bed, contentedly indulging in one of his favourite pastimes. Yugi-watching. It never ceased to amaze him how animated his light was, even while simply sitting in a chair writing. He'd had to keep from chuckling several times at the boy's facial expressions. His light was good at a lot of things, but keeping his thoughts and emotions from showing on his face was definitely not one of them!
Yugi's mood had become more cheerful as he wrote up the bibliography for his history assignment. The Spirit of the Books had been absolutely right. Between them, the library books contained every detail that Yugi had needed a source for. Now that he had finished writing, he was wriggling with what his darker half judged to be anticipation, considering the emotions coming through their mind link.
"You are in a good mood." Yami's soft comment caused Yugi to turn around and grin at him.
"Uh huh! I can't wait to see the look on Mr Tyson's face when I hand this bibliography in! Especially since I can also produce the books listed on it!" If Yugi's smile had been any brighter, it would have lit up the room. "He'll have to admit that I didn't make up any of it!" He wiggled happily in his chair.
Yami chuckled. "Good." He shifted position, raising himself up off the bed so he was leaning on his elbows. His eyes gleamed as he looked at his light. "Do you have any more homework to do?"
"Nope! That was the last of it!" Yugi almost cheered in his joy.
"Oh good. In that case…" Yami smirked, his predatory gaze locked on his light. Yugi froze as he finally noticed the look in his darker half's eyes.
"Uh… Yami… You have that look on your face again. What are you thinking about?"
Yami's smirk grew. "Well, it's still early. Since you have finished your homework, why don't we… play for a little while." As he spoke, he slowly moved off the bed and stalked across the room to where his little light was sitting. Yugi blinked up at him in confusion. Yami smiled down at him.
"Yami… why are you asking like that? We duel every night if I finish my homework early enough. Why would tonight be any different? I'll get my deck!" Yugi grinned at his silly Yami and jumped up. He blinked as Yami suddenly stepped into his path. "Um… Yami?"
"Actually Yugi…" Yami leaned down slightly, his gleaming eyes locked with his light's. "I had… another game in mind." His voice was soft and smooth, like velvet. Colour flooded into Yugi's cheeks.
"A…another game?" the boy squeaked. He swallowed and tried again. "W…what game?"
Yami was still smirking. He leaned a little closer, so his face was only a few inches from Yugi's. His gaze never wavered and his expression never changed as he suddenly moved his head around to whisper directly in his innocent little light's ear. "My greatest desire right now is to play… Scrabble."
"Oh ye… Huh?" Yugi came out of his yami-induced daze with a jolt as he realised what his darker half had just said. "Scrabble?" He glared as his chuckling yami straightened up again, the taller boy's eyes still gleaming… in amusement. "Oh no! Absolutely not! There is no way I'm playing that with you! Not again!"
Yami looked hurt. "But Yugi. I like Scrabble. Why will you not play with me?"
Yugi was still glaring at his yami. "Because you cheat." Yami opened his mouth but Yugi shook his head and wouldn't let him get a word in. "Don't deny it! The last time we played, you used all those funny words."
"But I told you, Yugi. They were Egyptian." Yami tried to look innocent. He couldn't quite manage it.
"Somehow Yami, I doubt if 'hzztrsgw' is Egyptian for 'my pretty one'. Even the Egyptian language uses vowels!" Yugi sighed as his anger began to fade. He never could remain angry at his yami for very long. "No, Yami. Pouting isn't going to change my mind."
Yami sighed and gave in. "Very well, Yugi. I will accept your decision. Shall we duel then?" Yugi nodded happily and went to get his deck. Yami watched him with a slight smirk on his face, his eyes gleaming again. 'Someday, Yugi, I will get you to play Scrabble with me again.' On the other side of the room, Yugi suddenly giggled.
"Yami… did you mean to send that through our link?"
Yugi had just managed to summon the Magician of Black Chaos onto the field and was about to destroy Yami's Flame Champion when his grandfather called out that there was a phone-call for him. By the time he'd returned, Yami had managed to come up with four strategies to turn the match back in his favour. One look at the expression on his light's face made him forget about dueling though.
"Yugi? What is it? Is something wrong?" He jumped to his feet, immediately alert. Yugi smiled weakly and waved him back down again.
"No, nothing's wrong. At least… not exactly." When Yami tensed, Yugi shook his head quickly. "No, Yami, I didn't mean it like that. Oh… Let me start again." He sat down on the floor opposite Yami.
"That was Téa. She called to see if we had heard about the new Egyptian exhibit opening at the museum tomorrow."
"A new exhibit?" Yami eyed his light eagerly for a moment before reason and caution intervened. "Strange… Malik didn't say anything about it. Surely Isis would have told him…" Yami trailed off as he remembered the last time they'd gone to a new Egyptian exhibit as a group. Isis had found it rather difficult to explain to the museum director how a rubber chicken had come to be handcuffed to one of the priceless Ancient Egyptian statues. Especially since it was in a locked glass case with all sorts of security alarms and not a single one of them had gone off. "Then again, perhaps not."
Yugi chuckled softly. "I don't know. But from what Téa told me, it sounds really interesting."
Yami smiled and nodded. "Then we will go and see it." He frowned slightly when his light merely nodded. Yugi was acting very unlike his usual cheerful self. He'd also been gone for some time. Surely he and Téa had spoken about more than just a new exhibit? "Was there something else, Yugi?"
Yugi sighed and bowed his head, staring down at the ground for a moment. He looked up again, his eyes filled with worry and confusion. "Well… yes."
In the Royal Magical Library of the Shadow Realm, the Spirit of the Books was in the middle of a conversation with one of his assistants. They were still debating whether a book on Enchanted Cookery belonged in the Household Spells section or the Recipe section, when the urgent ringing of a bell echoed through the room. The librarian immediately headed for the door and was soon hurrying down the passageway that joined the library to his small house. He was halfway down the corridor when the sound of the bell suddenly stopped.
The librarian paused in surprise, then shrugged and continued down the hall. Fire Sorcerer had probably just figured that his summons had been heard and so had decided to stop ringing his bell. But there was something about the sudden silence that caused a shiver of unease to run up the Spirit of the Books' back. He found himself running the rest of the way to the boy's room. When he pushed open the door, he was not surprised by what he saw.
Fire Sorcerer was lying on the floor, unconscious. His cheeks were flushed with the fever that had suddenly overtaken him, the bright colour all the more obvious against the boy's overly-pale skin.
The Spirit of the Books gathered the fragile form into his arms, the ease at which he lifted the boy drawing a sigh from deep within him. The slight weight was just another sign of how ill the little sorcerer was. He carried him to the bed and shifted his hold, freeing one hand to pull back the covers.
As he gently laid the feverish child down on the bed, the Spirit of the Books sighed again. Earlier that night, he had told Master Yami about the change to the Shadow Magic and it's effects on the creatures of the Shadow Realm. He had said that Fire Sorcerer was among those who felt the effects more keenly than most. All of that had been true. However…
He had not told Master Yami everything.
"The first to sense the change. The first to feel its effects. The first to fall to its hunger." The Spirit of the Books leaned over the child and stroked the damp hair off the small face with one gentle talon.
"I had best notify the others. It has begun."