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Chapter Seven: To Pursue a Vision…
Sunlight leaked in through the windows of the beautiful room and hit the thin blue curtains of the bed that were tied back by ropes of the same color.
Pegasus sat in a chair beside the bed, leaning into one hand as he stared at his unconscious wife with his remaining eye in an unemotional daze. The woman appeared to be sleeping, she had been for the past two days; she had not stirred or squirmed at all during this slumber. It was as if she wasn't even there.
And somehow, Pegasus knew she wasn't.
At times, he wasn't sure how long things had been this way; it felt like a second and an eternity in the same instant. Time had frozen along with his heart, and it would not thaw for all the world.
Occasionally Pegasus would blink back into consciousness, but only long enough to hear what the doctors had to say or think about the room he was in. The chamber had always been used to care for the past Queens whenever they fell extremely ill, but more often, it was for when she was to give birth.
Only recently had Cyndia presented their having children. It had hurt every time he thought about it, but the pain was a dull throb in the man's chest now.
Maids had brought in food for the Queen's husband, but he barely—if ever—touched it.
Pegasus watched Cyndia, never moving from his seat and never looking away from her. To escape the reality that was playing past hit, his thoughts replayed every moment he had ever spent with his wife, from their first dance to their last visit to the lake. When he came to the point where the Harpy Keeper attacked, his mind went back again to avoid it.
Aside from that, Pegasus did nothing else.
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Meanwhile, the castle library was a mess. Stacks of books littered the desks and floor, making it impossible for anyone to maneuver through the room.
Nearly anyone.
Rebecca finished reading her current book, slammed it shut and added it to another pile before rushing back to the shelves.
Truthfully, the girl should have been in the healing house due to her tussle with the harpy, but she hadn't rested a bit after awakening to find the queen in her strange coma. Instead, she dove into every piece of material in the library in search of a cure or an answer to Cyndia's condition.
The blonde girl rubbed her tired, strained eyes, but proceeded to climb up the ladder to the shelf barely cleared of its books—unlike those below which were completely empty.
Rebecca took the next book from the shelf, but her bandaged wrist ached and throbbed and the book fell from her hand. She grabbed after it, but it was already out of her reach. Luckily, another person standing at the base of the ladder caught the book.
Climbing back down, Rebecca looked up into Ryou's brown eyes before slowly taking the book from him. "Thanks."
She headed back to the desks to read her chosen piece of material followed closely by Ryou. The white-haired youth stood at Rebecca's side until she was done and put it with the others, then following her back to the bookcase again.
"You need to rest, Rebecca," Ryou said as he watch the girl climb back up the ladder.
"I'm fine!" She shot back in reply as she grabbed five books in her determination. However, like before, her injured wrist caused her to drop them. Growling with frustration she scrambled down to retrieve them.
"You can't keep doing this without rest," the boy went on, grabbing Rebecca's hand to get her to listen. "You're going to collapse if you don't—"
"Shut up!" The girl shouted, tearing her arm free as she spun around to face him as she threw her gathered books to the floor again. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do! You don't know what it's like! Having to stand there and watch as everything you've ever cared about is ripped away from you! You don't know what it feels like to be there and not able to do anything to help! You don't know…what it…"
The girl trailed off as she caught the look of pain and sadness that shadowed Ryou's face. He didn't speak, but his eyes told of an endless agony stabbed deep into his heart.
Tears filled Rebecca's green eyes and she crouched down, sobbing into her knees. Ryou knelt down and put his arms around the girl.
"I'm…I'm sorry!" She cried. "I didn't…! I shouldn't have…! Oh, Ryou!" Rebecca returned the embrace and sobbed into the older boy's shirt.
For a long while, Ryou held the young scholar until her tears and sobs quieted, and when he looked again he was relieved to find Rebecca had fallen asleep. Carrying her to one of the sofas, he laid her down and removed his jacket, draping it over her in place of a blanket.
His eyes scanned the towers of books built up from the floor and desks; Rebecca had worked through more than three quarters of the library in less than two days and Ryou couldn't help smiling in admiration of the girl. Walking back to the bookcase the girl had been working through when he arrived, the white-haired youth picked up the books Rebecca had dropped and proceeded to read them.
He knew what it was like. As well as everyone else, if not better, Ryou knew what sort of loss felt like. To be hidden and watch through a small crack as his family, his entire village was slaughtered. One would have to ask why.
For having white hair, and for using a strange form of magic. These attributes frightened people, and that fear gradually changed to hate, which in the end turned into violence.
At that time, there had been nothing for him to do to protect those he loved. He had toiled away in his father's laboratory in search of vengeance, and in the end caused more needless pan.
But this time, he would find the real answer for his mentor, for Rebecca and most of all for Queen Cyndia.
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Night fell, though Pegasus barely acknowledged it. His mind was now weighed down with exhaustion and when sleep appeared on the rim of his vision, he put up no struggle.
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He turned and saw the gold sands of the desert begin to glow. The grains of light rose up and took the form of a great dragon; from the same sands emerged a bird of gold light which shot off towards the West.
From seemingly beneath his nonexistent feet rose a second dragon the color of garnet. It watched after the bird and took flight, seeing the gold dragon from the desert following close behind him.
Next, he saw a pure white dragon look up and follow the bird and other two dragons.
At last the bird came to halt and landed on the shoulder of a black dragon that stood atop mountains covered in snow gazing toward the approaching three dragons.
The four stood in a circle, staring at one another with great familiarity and love. They then directed their gazes towards the setting sun; he could see a place where the desert met the ocean, and when the sun faded, the sand and water turned black. Writhing like sick beasts, the sand and water rose and merged into a great darkness.
And in that darkness, he saw two pairs of eyes staring back at him with contempt and utter loathing.
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Pegasus snapped awake and gripped the arms of his chair as though afraid of falling from a great height.
As he leaned forward, panting heavily, the man felt his bandaged eye burn and he carefully touched the linen bandages to calm the pain. Pegasus looked back with his remaining eye and felt another pain in his chest which he could not calm.
As it had the night of the attack, the painful truth of Cyndia's condition struck Pegasus like an arrow. And he could nothing but sit and watch her unnatural slumber.
'No,' a voice that reminded him of his father broke through his thoughts.
It wasn't that he couldn't do anything, it was that he hadn't. He had not moved of his own accord.
He vaguely recalled Ryou coming in and mentioning that Rebecca had been working in the library since she had woken up after the attack; he said she was searching diligently through every shelf and book for a cure of some sort. By this point, Pegasus was sure Ryou was assisting her if he hadn't taken over completely. Those two children worked while he sat and did nothing.
After two days of barely moving, Pegasus stood up and walked to the window. It was late into the night; the sky was a deep, almost black shade of blue with no moonlight.
As he stared through the glass, the man saw something shining in the distance, moving towards the West as it left a faint trail of gold. Squinting, he could barely make out the movement of wings.
With a start, he pushed the glass doors open and ran out onto the balcony. Looking harder, Pegasus was shocked to find it was a bird of gold light, or more specifically, the bird from his dream.
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"Rebecca!"
The small girl clung to sleep as she wrapped the jacket draped over her tighter around herself.
"Rebecca!" The one calling her took her by the shoulder and shook her carefully. "Wake up! I found something!"
After a few more of Ryou's urgings Rebecca opened her eyes and sat up tiredly. "Whu—what? What is it?"
Ryou held out the worn and tattered book, careful to keep the loose pages in place as he opened it to his marked space. "Here!" He pointed. "I found something in here that talks about people falling asleep and not stirring, just like Her Majesty!"
Rebecca rubbed her eyes a bit before pulling on her half-moon glasses to read. "Where did you find this?"
"Buried far in the back," the white-haired youth replied. "It has to be one of the oldest pieces of material in the whole kingdom. It holds writings from the time of Atlantis!"
The young advisor blinked and looked back up. "What did you say?"
"The dates read centuries before the kingdom was even constructed," Ryou said. "And Atlantis is mentioned thoroughly, mainly during the Dragon Century."
Rebecca sighed, removing her glasses once again to rub between her eyes. "Ryou, Atlantis and the Dragon Century are myths. Neither artifacts nor archival evidence have ever been found from those times or places."
Ryou met the girl's gaze with a pleading look and she again replaced her spectacles to read the pages. After a short while, she looked back up. "It does seem identical to Her Majesty's condition…" she admitted.
"Maybe if we brought it to Master Pegasus' attention he might come up with something," the white-haired youth said as he took the book back and sighed tiredly. "I'm at my wits end, as well as the library's."
Rebecca sighed gently; she too was finished in her search. "Alright. Let's to talk to him."
Picking themselves up, they carefully made their way around the stacks and piles of books to the door. However, upon exiting the library they were met by another obstacle. Three boys around Ryou's age were gathered just outside the door; the youth man immediately recognized them as pupils of the other mages, as well as some of his regular tormentors.
"So this is where you've been hiding, eh, Bakura?" The one in the middle sneered.
Clutching the book tightly, Ryou attempted to move past them, but the two boys on the outside pushed him back. "Please, let us pass," he said levelly. "We have something urgent to deliver to Master Pegasus."
"How urgent?" One boy asked, shoving him back again. "More urgent than protecting her Majesty?"
Ryou's eyes saddened, but he did not respond.
Rebecca, however, did. "Back off! It's not like it's his fault!"
The boys turned their eyes on her, no less harsh and accusing than when they were on Ryou. "And what about you? Weren't you at the Queen's side at the time of the attack?"
Before the girl could even attempt an answer, another boy interjected. "You can't expect her to have been any good. Really, her failure in her duties comes as no surprise when you know where she comes from."
Rebecca's blonde hair bristled. "That…has nothing…to do with this…!" She said through grit teeth.
"Wrong!" The third boy smacked her hard in the shoulder. "It has everything to do with this! It proves that some black-using freak and a little slave girl have no place here!"
"If you can't protect the Queen, then any talents or gifts you have are useless! You're useless!" One boy grabbed the collar of Ryou's shirt and slammed him back against the wall. "What's the deal, Bakura! Why didn't you use your black powers to fight! What? Scared of what you'll do?"
"Knock it off!" Rebecca pulled at the boy's arm, but was backhanded by one of the others and thrown against the door; the impact her back felt when she hit the door handle made her cry out and fall to the ground.
Ryou's eyes flashed dangerously, but he quickly clamped them shut to push the rising power down again. The horrific visions of blood flowing like a river and washing over him flashed through his mind, making tears come to his eyes. But his thoughts were interrupted when the hand holding the collar of his shirt was released in time with a sound similar to a clap of thunder repeating three times.
Opening his eyes, the white-haired youth saw silver hair shining in the torchlight, right beside the three boys. Each boy bore one red cheek and took a wary step back under the hard glare belonging to the husband of the Queen.
"I have silver hair, though not born with it, I have had it for more than half my life," Pegasus said venomously. "I was born into a merchant family, yet I am the spouse to of the noblest woman in the country. I have yet to hear you pass judgment on me." The boys stood in frightened under the attention of the man's one visible eye and remained silent. "By the authority I hold, I hereby sentence you to three months without lessons in magic."
At this, the boys snapped back. "But master Pegasus—"
"Ryou is my pupil," the man said darkly. "And Rebecca is the right hand advisor to the Queen Cyndia. For such disrespect and violence towards them, you should be happy that I don't disband your privileges permanently!"
With that final warning, Pegasus sent them scurrying off down the hall back to their chambers and he turned his attention to Rebecca as Ryou knelt beside her. Pegasus joined the two youths on the ground and cast a healing spell to mend the girl's most recent injury and dull the pain of her old ones.
Rebecca quickly recovered and rose up. "I'm sorry…I should have shown more authority…and…" She paused when she felt Pegasus' hands on her shoulders and met his gaze with some shame.
"There is nothing to apologize for," the man smiled gently as he brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "It's alright."
The girl's eyes widened at his words, then brimmed with tears and she leaned her head down on his shoulder as she cried.
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Later, Rebecca lay asleep on Ryou's bed while the white-haired youth sat at the small table in the room showing the book to his mentor.
After a long while of silence during his reading, the silver-haired man finally looked up. "Ryou, you are aware that this has to be one of the oldest books in the entire castle, if not the continent, I trust?"
The boy nodded. "I am…"
"Then you must also know that the chances of anyone knowing anything aside from just the legends of Atlantis and the Dragon Century are quite slim, yes?" Another nod from Pegasus' student. "And yet you believe that if we follow the same course of the one who wrote this book, we may find an answer to Cyndia's condition?"
Lowering his head, Ryou nodded one last time.
"This has to be one of the craziest, least thought out suggestion I've ever heard you voice, Ryou Bakura." Pegasus closed the book and smiled. "I like it!"
The youth's head snapped back up as his teacher rose from his seat and headed for the door. "Get some rest, we'll leave tomorrow afternoon."
Ryou found he could only nod dumbly after the man as he left. He would have climbed into bed as he was ordered, but realized he had surrendered it to Rebecca and instead chose to sleep on the window seat.
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Sunlight again broke through the windows of the Queen's labor room for the third time since Cyndia's falling ill.
This time, however, Pegasus was dressed in a red turtleneck with black pants, a black vest held closed with three small gold chains and he carried a long black coat draped over his arm; his silver hair was tied back, but he let the bangs on his left side hand down to cover the bandages. He carefully took his beloved's frail hand into his own and held it to his cheek.
"I don't want to leave you, Cyndia, but I can't sit by watching you sleep like this without doing something," he whispered. "If there is anything out there that can save you, I'll find it. I promise." Kissing his wife and soul mate, Pegasus laid her hand back down and with great reluctance left the room.
Making it down to the courtyard, the man was not incredibly surprised to find his pupil running circles around the courtyard in his futile attempt to escape the fuming girl who was hot on his heels.
"I will not stand for this, Ryou!" Rebecca shouted hotly.
"Then sit down!" The white-haired youth pushed Pegasus' retainer, Croquet between himself and the girl; the man immediately paled and began sweating nervously. "We'll all feel much safer about it!"
"Ryou!"
He continued running and Rebecca followed, much to Croquet's extreme relief. When the Queen's advisor was angry there was no telling what she would do or who was safe, so he was grateful that Rebecca was focusing all her wrath on his master's student.
And as amusing as Pegasus found this, he couldn't have Ryou getting injured or possibly killed before they even began their journey. "Ryou! Over here, this way!"
Turning towards his mentor's voice, Ryou fled to the safety of Pegasus' back, again putting something between himself and the wrathful girl. Rebecca followed and quickly redirected her attention from the boy to his teacher.
"Master Pegasus! Ryou has just informed me that I will not be attending this expedition!" She glared. "Why?"
"Because, Rebecca. I need you to remain here and look after things while we're gone," he explained authoritatively as he pulled on his jacket. "As the Queen's advisor, it is up to keep the kingdom from falling apart until she recovers."
Rebecca cast her green eyes to the ground. "But…but what if…"
"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head off about a thing!" Pegasus smiled. "I've ordered Croquet to follow your exact orders and protect you. Right?" This last part was directed to his retainer as he came up.
"Yes, sir," he nodded.
Pegasus knelt down and put his hands on Rebecca's shoulders, making her look up. "Rebecca, there is no one else I would rather have here to look after Cyndia. Will you do this for me?"
The girl nodded slowly. "I will…"
Smiling, Pegasus placed a kiss on Rebecca's cheek. She immediately broke out into a furious blush and jumped back.
"Don't think you can get away with that!" She exclaimed, looking off to the side to hide her pink face. "And don't think I won't punish you, but you have to go, so it'll have to wait." Her eyes made their way back to Pegasus' face. "…So come back. Okay?"
The man nodded. "We will."
Rebecca looked past him to his pupil. "You, too, Ryou."
Ryou blinked, somewhat surprised, but smiled warm and gently. "I promise, Rebecca."
With that, the two mounted the horses brought from the stables and rode out at top speed. "We'll come back, with a cure!" Pegasus called back over his shoulder. "I promise!"
Rebecca waved after them and slowly lowered her hand to her side after they had disappeared from view. "I hope they find the cure…"
"Have faith in them," Croquet said, stepping up beside the girl. "Lord Pegasus' word has never failed us, so I know he will."
She returned her eyes to the road Pegasus and Ryou had taken, then looked back at Croquet with a smile. "He said 'exact orders,' correct?"
"He did," the man nodded.
"What if I told you to jump from a tower or wall?" Rebecca inquired playfully.
"Lord Pegasus said I should, only if it is part of some brilliant plan you have concocted," Croquet replied with all seriousness.
Rebecca couldn't help laughing.
The two horses climbed the hill and when they came to a fork in the road, Pegasus turned right.
"West, Master?" Ryou inquired.
Pegasus nodded. "I've never gone that way, before. Also…" he said and a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Just say a little bird told me."
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As I said, short, but necessary if I want to get the story rolling.
Next, Chapter 8 Seto an Mokuba set out, and when we reach Chapter 9 you get a change and a surprise.