Welcome once again! I must state this is going to be one of the last times I update so soon unless more reviewing starts happening, people. Perhaps I'll start one of those things where I'll wait for ten reviews before I'll post the next chapter. (grins wickedly) Thou hast been forwarned. I'm actually being serious here. Start reviewing people. All you have to do is write something as simple as "I like it!" or "Yay!" or "I want popcorn!"...well...maybe not the last one, but you get the idea.
I've just finished chappie sixteen! Booya! What now? There will probably be 3 or 4 more chappies in this fic after that. Then on to the sequel! Yes, I've decided it will be a two-parter. It just makes more sense for what I'm planning.
Freak in the Shadows: I'm happy you're enjoying the story. I'm not sure what scene you were talking about in your last review...um...I hope you figured out whatever it was. If not, write about it again in your next review and I'll clear up any confusions you might have. Love ya!
Dragonlady222: "Don't kill the children"? Hmm...I can't answer what happens to anyone. You'll acutally find out in this chappie. Thanks for the review!
Satra: Yay! Thou hast returnest!...um...sorry, I felt like being my strange self! (grins) How are you liking the plot twists? I hope they measure up to your standards. (hugs)
Anei Aikouka: Thank you. I'm glad you consider the plot to have sensible and unexpected twists. It's what I love to hear from readers! Of course any author would want to hear they're making a story with plot twists, but that's not worth much if it isn't believable. Things need to be backed up, so I'm put at ease to hear it's all making sense. Please review again! Thank you!
Sleep, sleep , darling
The child in the meadow
Is lying in the grasses;
Wide, blue eyes cast upward
As white, fluffy cloud passes.
Crow caws in the old tree
That stands tall in the distance;
Breeze gusting through blonde locks
Meeting no resistance.
The child's lips are parted,
Light, pink, and pale;
No warm breath passing through them,
Cold, dead, and stale.
Chapter 10: Innocents
Ryou moaned, rolling over in his spot on the floor. His leg wacked into something.
"Umph! Wha?" a voice yawned in the darkness.
"Honda?" Ryou asked, unsure.
"Yep. You guessed it," Honda said groggily. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing…I just have a feeling."
"What kind of feeling?" Honda asked in slight interest.
"I think…Bakura's attacked someone."
"Dear? Kids?" Mr. Tye asked upon entering the kitchen.
The food still sat in pans on the stove. The table was set, silverware and plates untouched.
"What's going on?" he muttered to himself.
Then he noticed a lump on one of the chairs. Closing in, he saw it was Jance curled up asleep.
"Jancey!" He picked up the child.
"Nnnn…" the boy grumbled.
"Hey, where's you mom, brother, and sister?" Mr. Tye asked gently.
"Hi daddy…"
"Hi," Mr. Tye smiled warmly.
"Is et time to eat?" the boy yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Where's your mom, brother, and sister?" Mr. Tye asked patiently.
"Dey were…Mommy went to gwet dem for dinnwer," Jance stated looking hopefully at the stove.
"Let's go and get them then so we can eat," Mr. Tye said trying to sound enthusiastic.
"Yea!" the child cheered as his father set him down.
They headed through the t.v. room into the front living room.
"Hey everybody! We're ready for dinner!" Mr. Tye yelled up the stairs.
"Hey! Heeeeey!" Jance called, jumping up and down on the bottom step.
"Let's go find them, sport," Mr. Tye took his son's small hand and strode up the stairs.
"Honey? Yasha? Anaya?" he called, getting agitated. All the lights were off.
"Mabwe dey went to bed," Jance pranced beside his father.
Mr. Tye approached the bedroom that Jance and Anaya shared. The door was shut. He knocked firmly. There was no answer. Mr. Tye gripped the doorknob and creaked the door open all the way. He stared in mute horror at the gruesome scene before them as Jance shrieked.
"What?" Honda asked, sitting up slightly. "How can you tell?"
"I looked through his mind link for a moment. There was blood. Lots of blood," Ryou shuddered.
Honda didn't answer.
"I could feel his emotions. He was…enjoying himself. He was relishing in someone else's pain," Ryou whispered.
Honda didn't know what to say.
"I think they're dead…" Ryou choked, close to tears. "What should I do?"
"Nothing. Ryou," Honda stated firmly, grasping his friend's shoulders. "Ryou, listen to me. There's nothing we can do. It's not your fault, okay?"
The hikari nodded somberly, whimpering and burying his face in his hands.
"Ugh," Yami stretched as the sunlight poured in the window.
He glanced over and was not the least bit surprised to find Yugi gone. His hikari had always been a morning person. Shaking his head, he glanced at the floor where a lump of blankets—and possibly Jou—lay.
"No…nah….don' wanna…leave them alone! It's between you an' me…Leave them Alone!" Jou shrieked voice clear even though he was buried in blankets.
"Jou! Jou wake up!" Yami said, springing to the floor, shaking the struggling form.
"NO!" Jou sat up suddenly, still covered in a midnight blue blanket. "Where am I? Wha…?" he blinked as Yami pulled the blanket off. "Yami man! Oh man, I forgot…what is it?"
"You were dreaming," Yami said simply.
Jou blinked. "Huh?"
"You were having a nightmare," Yami said bluntly.
"Oh…sorry," Jou said, scratching his head.
"Do you remember what it was about? I seemed quite horrible."
Jou shook his head, sandy hair swaying. "Nah. Just a dream. So, how 'bout breakfast?"
Yami chuckled as he walked toward the door. "You have a one-track mind, Jou."
"Makes life simple, man," Jou gave Yami thumbs-up as the ancient monarch left.
Alone, the grin vanished from the blond's face. In his dream Bakura had taken them to the Shadow Realm like he'd done in Duelist Kingdom; only this time he won. He came forward to banish them when the yami's face began to change until he became…
"Jou, are you coming? Ryou and Yugi made waffles," Yami stated, poking his head back in the room.
"Wooo yeah, man!" Jou scrambled to his feet, following Yami out the door.
"Well, we got through the night alive," Anzu sighed, drinking some tea at the kitchen table.
"I'm going to try and wake Marik again," Ryou said softly, pushing his chair back and sauntering from the room.
"How's Ryou holding up?" Yami asked no one in particular.
"He peeked through Bakura's mind link last night," Honda said uneasily.
"And?"
"He thinks Bakura killed someone."
Everyone stared at Honda.
"What?" Yugi whispered, shattered.
"Oh my," Mr. Mutou said softly, aghast.
Yami covered his face with his hand. 'This is all my fault. If I hadn't…'
(Yami, don't go laying all the blame on yourself. We all played a part in this) Yugi said sternly through their link.
"But I alone cast the spell," Yami replied out loud.
"I'm going out now."
Everyone turned to the boy in the door.
"Now Ryou…" Jou began.
"He's hurting people; people who are completely innocent in all this. I can't allow it to continue," Ryou stated firmly, eyes blazing.
"I see you are determined. You're absolutely right to feel so passionately, but Ryou…" Yami began to say imploringly.
Ryou, in reply, stalked across the room and threw the newspaper onto the table.
"This is them." A pale, trembling finger pointed to a picture on the front page. It was a family of five; two adults and their young children.
"The oldest child was seven. Seven!" Ryou hissed.
"All of them?" Anzu whispered hoarsely.
"The father's gone mad. He's at the hospital; couldn't bear the sight of their mangledbodies. The youngest boy is with the grandparents." The white-haired boy's voice was cracking.
Yami stared in silence at the photograph. There was a giddy smile on the youngest boy's face. He sat upon his mother's lap, his older siblings standing in front of their father. The perfect family.
Bakura's words came back to him, haunting his mind:
"It's not worth it. Your past isn't worth any of this."
The ancient monarch's vision blurred, anger boiling up inside. The smiling faces on the page before him flowed together, mixing in a puddle of colors.
"DAMN IT!" he screamed, banging his hands down on the paper, shadow magic crackling in the air.
"We need to stop this," Mr. Mutou said quietly. "I have connections with some people at the museum. Let's head over there today. I'll get us passes to view the ancient Egyptian artifacts not on display. We'll figure this out."
"That sounds good, gramps," Jou replied, placing a quivering hand on Yami's shoulder. The others nodded in agreement.
"Yugi," Mr. Mutou continued, stacking the syrup-covered dishes next to the sink.
"Yes, Grandpa?"
"Get some coats out of the storage closet. It's supposed to storm today," Mr. Mutou filled the sink with soapy water.
"All right, I'll…Ooof!" Yugi said running into Marik in the doorway.
"Morning to you too," Marik smirked down at him.
"There you are," Honda looked up from the newspaper.
"Ready to go, Ry?" Marik turned to the hikari.
"Wait, where're you going?" Jou questioned, narrowing his brown eyes.
"Looking for Kura, got a problem with that?" Marik replied snidely.
"Marik, we need your help looking for a counter-spell. Mr. Mutou can get us into the museum," Yami stated pleadingly.
"Well that sounds just lovely," Marik replied sarcastically. "And how are we going to stop Kura? Do you want more people to end up like them?" he asked pointing at the paper on the table.
"NO!" Yami said sharply. "….No…Marik," he continued softer. "We need to figure this out. I can't do it without your assistance. I need you to help me search the museum. Mr. Mutou and I's knowledge of ancient hieroglyphs pale in comparison to yours. Please," Yami bowed his head.
"Go with them, Marik," Ryou spoke.
"But…" Marik stuttered.
"I'll drive Ryou around on my motorbike. We'll search for Bakura," Honda offered.
"Jou and I will search for him too!" Anzu smiled.
"Yeah…what?" Jou cried. "And what do we do it we do find him?"
"Calm down," Anzu huffed.
"We'll definitely need those coats then. Yugi," Mr. Mutou motioned.
"I'm on it!" Yugi smiled, bounding out of the room.
"Yeesh," Marik shook his head. "He's way too hyper in the morning."
"Actually, he's calmer than usual right now," Yaim smiled, adjusting the chain of the puzzle around his neck.
"Ugh…How do I get talked into these things? I'm wandering around the streets of Domino at eight a.m. on a Saturday morning looking for a psychopath who has magical powers and thinks he's in ancient Egypt…" Jou grumbled as he and Anzu walked down the road.
"That's not necessarily true. It's very possible that he's figured out he's in a different time," Anzu replied glancing into shop windows as they passed by.
"…and I'm wearing a bright green jacket that looks fifty years old…" Jou continued, choosing to ignore Anzu's comments.
"Oh stop it. It's not that bad. You're just lucky Mr. Mutou had some extra jackets for you guys," Anzu sighed, pulling her own pink jacket tighter around her form.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jou muttered glancing at the dark clouds looming overhead.
"Let's just hope everyone else is having more luck than we are," Anzu stated.
"I consider not finding him to be a very lucky thing," Jou argued. "Gives me the chills…makes me feel like he's hunting us, instead of the other way around," Jou laughed nervously.
Off in the cover of an alleyway stood a lone figure, intently watching the duo's every move. As they continued on, they remained unaware of the shadow following them at a distance.
"I don't think he's around here!" Ryou shouted over the roar of the motorcycle.
"Where should we go, then?" Honda yelled back, turning his head slightly so the white-haired boy could hear him.
"Hold on a second!" Ryou replied, focusing on his mind link with Bakura.
Honda stared at the sidewalks and passer-byers. 'Come on, Ryou. You've gotta give me something to work with here!'
Coughing slightly from the chilled air, Honda flipped down his visor. The plastic tinted, it was almost too dark since barely any sunlight was seeping through the clouds.
"He's in an alleyway. It looks like back roads. It might be near the docks!" Ryou yelled hoarsely.
"It's a start! Hold on tight!" Honda yelled back, increasing their speed immensely. He felt Ryou's arms dig against his sides.
"Thank you, Honda!"
Not knowing how to respond, the brunette stated: "Put your visor down for a while. A person could freeze to death going this fast at these temps!"
Ryou quickly complied. He leaned the left side of his helmet against Honda's back, watching everything zoom by.
"We'll find you soon," he whispered softly. "Marik, please hurry."
All right, that chappie was more about the characters plotting up what to do with the situation. Not incredibly interesting but needed to be done.Next chappie gets violent. Hehe! Yes, my sister was right to say it gets gruesome. Next chappie is one of the reasons I've rated this fic "M". (laughs insanely) I'm sure it'll get reviews outta you all. (smirks evilly)
Uh...how'd you like it, Dragonlady222? (waits nervously for reply) Please don't hate me too much. Hey, look at the bright side: I spared Jance! (crickets) Umm...review please...don't hate me too much, dear...
I'm sticking by what I said earlier about not updating until there are quite a few more reviews. I know you people are reading it! I've got the stats and everything! Perhaps you don't know what to say in a review? I'm not picky. I'll take basically anything except outright insults. If you didn't like something go ahead and inform me; just be polite about it, is all.
Tell me about what relationships you like between the characters. Tell me if there's a particular character you don't like how I'm portraying. Ask questions about what'll happen next (even though I won't tell you). Tell me I can't write poems, although that is a bit cruel. Break it to me gently, please. Beg me not to kill certain characters (not that it will deter me) Tell me my profile page sucks. I don't care! Just write something, peoples!
All right, I think that's enough pestering on my part. Please review! (and remember the warning of gruesomeness in the next chappie!)
Namarie!