The water was cool, thick and getting more clouded and sickly grey with globby streams of metallic scented liquid.
Yugi managed to pull himself up and, shakily, stood up. Wisps of wind brushed his face like invisible hands, feeling each crevice of his features with their long fingers.
Rain dripped from the endless skies. Was it actually rain? Yugi couldn't tell. He drew in a long, sharp breath and walked forwards. He looked down at the blurry reflections, his face covered by the ripples from dripped water.
Out in the distance, a hazy, dark figure laid lifelessly in the water. The thick metallic globs seemed to come from it, and the scent emitting from whoever the figure was immensely rancid. Yugi, after some hesitation, approached. The figure had hair similar to his, though more messy, and cold, empty eyes that didn't move, only twitched. He recognised the figure, the weak statute and tired, cold eyes but couldn't remember the name of whoever they were.
Almost out of instinct, he reached down to touch them. His hand went through, yet he felt how cold they were. Ice.
Yugi fell back. It had taken him a moment to realise that this figure probably wasn't alive. He shuffled back and slipped, back laying on the floor near the person. He shut his eyes, feeling a bizarre pressure on his shoulder.
That's when he woke up, again.
"Yugi.! Wake up!"
Yugi groaned and allowed his brain to process what had happened. He looked up to the person who was gently shaking him, Miho and Anzu both looking at him with concerned expressions.
From behind them, Atemu sighed, "You passed out all o' a sudden. You okay?"
Yugi remained silent. He took a moment to look around him. Yami was laying with his head on Atemu's lap, Honda and Mana were seemingly driving the horses and Anzu and Miho had shuffled back a little bit to give Yugi some space.
He nodded," I.. I'm fine.."
"Ate'!" Mana yelled from in front, Honda hopping through the hole leading to the drivers spot to pick up some bags, "We're almos' there! Get rea'y ta leave!"
Atemu requested that Miho carry the smallest bag, Anzu and Honda handle the heaviest stuff and Yugi to stick close to Mana. Cautiously, he stood up and held his brother in his arms, getting assisted by Honda to place him gently on his back.
" C'mon Yug'!" Mana held her hand out, Yugi taking it with care not to topple over from the shakiness of his legs.
"'eres a Lot for keepin' horses in ti's City." Mana let go of one of the reins to point over to a small wooden stable, "Be sure not ta fall!"
Yugi gave a small nod and looked around. The buildings were clean and beautiful, made with different bricks and metals. The people had extravagantly fancy clothing and didn't pay mind to the group of travellers disrupting their path with a large carriage.
The complete opposite of the village they had gone to before.
"It's.. A lot more different from the other place.." Yugi muttered, Mana letting out a hearty laugh.
"Of course it is! The only reason that village is like t'at is 'cause of the exploitation from 'ere. They made a lot'ta banks 'ere, stole money from the o' er smaller places and became big."
"You know a lot." Yugi smiled.
"I read lots in my spare time. You get ta kno' ti's kinda thing eventually."
She tugged on the reins and waited for the horses to slow, steering them into the stable and hopping out.
"You lot ge' out. Im'a go pay."
She waved causally and ran over to a small booth in the corner, where a man sat patiently.
The rest of the group left the carriage, Miho helping Yugi down from the driver's spot as it was a bit high for him to step down.
"You should drink more milk." She giggled, Yugi felt his face heat up in embarrassment.
Mana returned with a deep-toned haired boy, who scanned the carriage with his eyes and grinned.
"I'll take good care of em."
"Thank you, good sir." Mana gave a small, polite bow. The boy gave a small nod and took the reins of the horses and walked them (and the carriage) away.
"We should find accommodation first..." Atemu mumbled, "Then I'll need to get the.."
He trailed off, nipping his thumb with his teeth until Mana pushed him to stop.
The group left the stable-esque area and looked around the city in the bright sunlight. The buildings were tall and grand, windows to shops contained posh clothes and foods (the foods made Yugi hungry, so he decided that looking at them might not be the best idea).
"Atemu." Anzu sped up her stride and stood next to her friend, "You shouldn't get so stressed, what's there to be stressed about?"
"I'm not." He grumbled, looking behind him to Mana, who was chatting casually to Miho and Honda while holding her hood carefully over her eyes.
From his back, Yami let out a quiet complaint. His eyes, only slightly opened, looked around the new area.
"Put me down.. Ate.."
"No."
Yugi could tell that Yami wanted to resist, but the light twitching in his legs and arms told him that the boy didn't have the strength to do so.
Mana stopped talking and speedily made her was next to Atemu; a tint of cheekiness in the tone of her voice as she suggested,
"'eres a nice lookin' cafe there. Let's sit for a bi', I'm sure Yami'd like that too."
Yami gave a nod of approval, disappointment rushing over his face as Atemu refused, saying that finding accommodation was more important.
Yugi pondered for a moment. He, too, wanted to sit at the cafe. It seemed cosy, and he hadn't really been in one, so he was interested.
"Um.." Yugi decided to speak up, "I'd like to as well.. And I don't think the accommodation is going anywhere.."
Atemu glared down at Yugi with his usual sharp eyes. Yugi looked into them deeply, he could never tell what emotion those eyes were trying to convey. They looked angry, curious and happy all at once - which Yugi thought to not be possible.
"Fine." Atemu groaned, gently taking Yami off of his back and holding his hand, "I need to work through some stuff anyway.."
"Great! Miho! Honda!" Mana called to the two behind her, "He sai' we can!"
The two both cheered and ran closer to the group, where Mana led the way ( she did this while holding Atemu's unwilling arms, so he didn't try to run away).
The cafe was small and cute. It had umbrellas outside for the sun, and stickers on the clear glass windows featuring new drinks and snacks.
A small animal rested on the window sill, sleeping peacefully with its long, grey tail wagging happily to the sound of the equally peaceful wind.
"Sit outside though, just in case someone indoors recognises you." Atemu gave a glance to Mana, before finding a seat outside under a small, grey umbrella.
"M'kay~!" Mana sat closely next to him, adjusting her hood again contently so it just showed her cheeky grin.
Miho, Honda, Anzu, Yami and Yugi all dragged chairs out and sat around the same table as the other two, excited chatter happening between the girls of the group.
"We're not staying long." Atemu groaned, pulling a small piece of paper out of the holder that we're in the center of the table.
A lady in a puffy dress walked up to the table, asking to take their orders. Yugi looked into the lady's eyes for a passing moment, the eyes seemed tired but also seemed like she was trying hard to appear cheerful. She held a small notepad in her hands and prepared to write down stuff as it was said.
"Miho wants a milkshake!" Miho chimed, Honda ordering the same purely so they could have matching drinks.
"I'll just have a Cola." Yami smiled calmly, giving a glance to Yugi, "What about you?"
"Uh.." He felt his face heat up, "The same? I'm not sure.. Uh.."
"I want a coffee." Anzu laughed awkwardly, peeking over at Atemu, who was writing intently in his notebook.
"I don't need anything." He sighed, Mana choosing to also order a milkshake. The lady nodded and walked away inside, apologizing to someone who was walking through the same door.
"What'cha writin'?" Mana cautiously moved her head closer to Atemu to peek inside his notebook, missing her chance to see as he snapped the book shut.
He glared at her in the eyes, "Nothing."
"Ye seem real stressed, just relax!" She giggled happily, shuffling her chair back to its original position.
"Anyway." Atemu started, "I need to discuss group roles with you guys."
The group looked at him curiously, listening as he explained.
"We all need some role to play. I decided on who should do what, but it'll take work. Got it?"
In synchronisation, everyone nodded - apart from Mana, who was busy staring at the animal by the window.
"Anzu, Honda. You guys'll be our brutes. You're the strongest out of all of us, apart from Mana." He pointed to the two, "We have very precious cargo, if we lose it we'll be done and all of us will be executed. You need to protect."
"Right!" Honda gave a small salute, Anzu only nodding in acceptance.
"Miho. I'll be teaching you first-aid. The reasons should be obvious."
She didn't nod nor react, just gave a small, happy grin.
"Yugi.. Just let me know if you can feel your eyes getting worse. You don't need to do anything else."
Yugi felt his hand instinctively brush over his eyes the slight pulsating bothering him.
"Yami? Don't push yourself okay? I don't need you to do anything at the moment.. I don't want you getting hurt.."
"Ate. I'm not weak." Yami growled, "I'm not inferior, or weak or in danger. Yet I don't get a role anyway? That's just cruel.."
"I'm sorry."
Atemu opened up his notebook and started writing again. The lady came by with a tray of drinks, placing them all in front of the group and leaving. They drank in silence for a long while, Yugi mainly amused by the almost sweeter taste of the cola compared to in Domino. He decided that the sugar was probably different in this area.
The silence was broken by a loud, high-pitched squeal. Everyone in the group turned to look where it came from, Atemu. His face flushed, someone had perched their head on top of his and was laughing loudly.
"Oh my god Valon was right! You do hate being touched on the neck! I did not know your voice could even do that!"
"Who..?" Anzu looked up at the woman, who was dying of laughter. Despite having a loud laugh, she snorted gracefully and with elegance. Her light-toned, wavy hair bounced on her shoulders as she smacked Atemu on the back.
"Mai." Atemu sighed, "What are you doing here?"
"Could ask ya the same. Wow! You actually have friends now? That's crazy, you're notorious for being lonely yet look at your new gang!"
"Shut it." He groaned in response, turning his body around to face her with a scowl.
"Meet Kujaku Mai," He gestured to the woman, "She's an assassin for the queen."
"Nice to meet you." Mana grinned, waving to her.
"You're pretty!" Miho's eyes sparkled as she examined the lady, who thanked her politely.
"Oh, you flatter me!" She chuckled. Her sly-looking eyes scanned the group, looking at Yugi the longest. Soon, she walked up to the boy and placed her hand on his cheek. Yugi felt his face heat up brightly as she looked directly into his eyes.
"So pure. They're like glass.." She smiled, "If a guard finds these eyes he'll be taken away, you know that right?"
"I'm aware." Atemu stood up and found a space next to Mai, where they both looked down into Yugi's eyes for a small, awkward moment.
"Anyway! You guys here for somethin? Or are you just passin' by?"
"We need accommodation." Mana explained, "We're heading to Automaton, but a certain member of our group needs to rest."
"Oh. I can help with that. Free of charge."
"Why would you do that?" Atemu's face was filled with suspicion, Mai's sly eyes upturning into a slight smile.
She purred, "I need some information on a certain person, We'll trade. Luxury accommodation for that information. How's it? Do you accept?"
" I don't. You're one of the most unreliable people I know. Just ask Valon to get that information."
Mai let out a long sigh. She pondered over something for a moment before saying, "Let's play a game then. If you win, you get the estate. If I win you and your groupies leave this city."
Atemu glared at the woman before agreeing. They made a pact to not cheat during the game, and everyone was ordered to go to a specific building's basement in 10 minutes from then.
By that point, everyone had finished their drinks. Eyeing each other cautiously for a moment, Atemu was first to stand up and start walking to where they needed to go, the rest tailing shortly after Mana paid for the drinks. Yugi cowered next to Yami, nervous over the game and worried that something might happen.
Something bad.
Despite this, he followed along, keeping his head down and snubbing all of the sights around him. Yugi had that feeling that something was wrong, and due to that he didn't feel like looking around at the tall and wonderful architecture.
The walk was long, the passing by people looking down on the travellers with a scowl and the occasional salesmen would run up and offer some bag-carrying service or a plethora of useless plastic toys for babies.
Atemu stood tall in front of the door, grabbing the doorknob and slamming the door open confidently. He led everyone downstairs to the basement and told them to be careful and aware of their surroundings.
Yugi looked down. The floor was reflective, their reflections stretching long and distorted with each tile that passed.
"Welcome to the Estate." A young lady with soft-looking hair tied up into two buns smiled, "May I get you a drink?"
Atemu shook his head, everyone else simply letting him answer. Miho let out a loud yawn, breaking the awkward silence as they followed Mai to a large counter at the end of the very empty room.
She slammed a deck of cards down on the counter and spread them out casually yet smoothly.
"4000 Life Points, 5 cards in hand, first to 0 Life Points lost."
"Perfect."
Atemu pulled out his bag and took another deck out. Mai gathered her cards and started shuffling. Both parties took 5 cards out from the decks and inspected them closely.
The card game carried on for hours (or what felt like hours, to Yugi). The back and forth between destroying, attacking and setting cards started an endless chain of events where it didn't seem like any of the two players would actually win.
It hadn't ended until Atemu declared with an excitement that Yugi had never seen on him befroe;
"Dark magic attack!! My dark magician obliterates your harpy ladies!!"
"And that's game, I guess." Mai chortled, she reached out and squeezed Atemu's cheeks, "That's where your happy face was gone!".
"How's you tell t'at he wasn't happy?" Mana's eyes glowed, Mai shrugging.
"When playing a game you feel the emotions of your opponent. Isn't that right, lil 'temu?"
Atemu' s face had turned a bright tone at this point. He looked to the ground and nodded.
"Well!" Mai twirled her hair around her finger, "Would you like to follow me to your temporary accommodation?"
There wasn't much point in saying no, so everyone in the small group trailed the tall lady away from the basement and outside the door.
Walking down the streets after leaving such a ridiculously fancy building had somewhat embarrassed Yugi, after all, he had noticed that his appearance matched the aesthetic matched the rest of the place.
Yugi had also noticed a lot of eyes particularly on the new person in the group, Kujaku Mai. Based on the occasional whispering and waving in her direction, it was safe to say that the woman was quite popular in the area. Soon, however, the place they were walking to was near. Yugi's eyes almost sparkled at the sight of it.
A large, white building with tall windows and a huge door. Ominous statues of a lady stood tall amongst the pure white building.
"There's rooms without windows, for that individual." Mai pointed in Mana's direction, "I'm sure wearing a hood ain't too comfy."
Atemu glared at the lady, fear almost showing through on his face, "Whatever could you mean by that?"
"It's obvious." Mai laughed heartily, "Don't worry, hiding a world-renowned criminal sounds fun. I won't tell. "
Yugi quietly asked, "How did you.."
"She has this scar on her calf. I recognise it. Might wanna pull your socks up, missy."
Mana's face seemed to heat up, looking down and tugging up her long socks.
Yugi never realised the scar on her leg, but it was most definitely there. It climbed lengthways up her left leg, surrounded by markings that looked like they came from a fire of sorts, with burns and scratches.
"Anyway!! Come on in! I never really go here so I don't know what state this place is in."
"Fine by me." Atemu pursed his lips, cautious as he took Yami's hand and entered the building.
The room they entered into was large, Yugi noticed, with tall white beams and beautiful carvings close to the ceilings depicting mysterious knights and elves. Mai unlocked the door and entered once more, flipping her hair out of the way with grace as she gave a polite bow to her guests.
"Welcome to the Assassins Estate." Her eyes remained just as sly-looking, yet her smile were bright and cheeky. Atemu gave a small bow back and took his shoes off, unstrapping the buckle at the side of his shoes that Yugi never realised before.
Everyone else did the same, looking around the huge rooms with awe. The gorgeous sofas lined up neatly, surrounding a seemingly hand-carved table with a series of teacups on top.
"There are 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, utility room, kitchen.. Anything you guys need."
Mai sat down on one of the sofas and grinned. Yami let go of Atemu's hand and followed the rest of the group as they explored.
"Want me to leave you to it? I'll be back tomorrow for a little talk with you, sweetie." Mai brushed her hand under Atemu's chin and winked, leaving casually without waiting for an answer.
Yugi turned away and ran to go look at the bedrooms. They were big and all featured two beds in each room, apart from two of them which only had one bed. They all had bedside tables, small lamps and a set of drawers, but apart from the aforementioned things there wasn't much else there. One of the bedrooms ( one of the ones with only one bed) had no windows. Yugi looked blankly at the empty, dark walls and nodded, Mai wasn't lying when she mentioned the safe-room with the lack of windows.
"I guess I'll 'ave ta 'ave this room then." Mana chuckled, suddenly standing behind Yugi. He didn't know how long she'd been standing there and jumped when she spoke, causing her to laugh impudently.
"Did I scare ya? " She pet Yugi on the head gently and waltzed into the room and inspected it, flopping down onto the bed and rolling onto her back happily, "They ain't the most comfortable, but they'll do!"
After everyone settled in and everyone had decided which room to stay in, everyone gathered in the living room, where Atemu was busy writing in his notebook to even notice the group of people who were sitting next to him.
"Mana." He finally spoke, looking up to the hooded girl with blank eyes, "You can take that off now, you know."
"Oh, I forgot! Be righ' back!"
She walked down to her room and closed the door, the door closing being the cue for a long, extended sigh coming from Atemu's mouth.
"You guys should rest up for now, go relax. Mai isn't too trustworthy so I don't think we'll get to stay long. "
Everyone in the group gave a nod and split up, most rushing to their chosen bedrooms to lay on the beds, like they hadn't done in the past while.
Yugi opted to stay seated by the couch and play with his thumbs, as he didn't have much to do in the first place.
"Yugi!" Yami skipped through the door after what felt like half an hour, "You can't see colour, right?"
"I guess not.." Yugi felt himself flush, looking down. Atemu stood up from his spot next to Yugi to make food in the kitchen.
"Le'me teach you!"
Yami sat cross-legged on the sofa facing Yugi. He took out an A4 sheet and pointed to a blob of dark grey toning. At first Yugi didn't know what was going on/ But, as time progressed, he partook in the activity purely out of interest.
"What colour do you think this is?" His eyes were serious. Yugi thought for a moment. Out of instinct, he named the first colour he could think of.
"Green!"
Atemu, standing behind him, scoffed. "Green? That's obviously red!"
"You're both wrong." Yami laughed, "It's blue. Maybe Ate' should join us for learning colours too, Yugi!"
Atemu's face flushed deeply, "N.. No! I was.. Joking.. Yeah, joking!"
"Uh-huh. Sure." Yami snorted, moving to another blob, "This is what green looks like, Yugi."
"What's the difference?" Yugi stared blankly at the colour, trying to make out what separated the blue from the green.
"Ones lighter, ones darker." Atemu shrugged, slumping down on the chair nearby. Yugi got the feeling that Atemu would sulk about getting the colours wrong for a lot longer than necessary.
"How about these two?" Yami pointed. One was the green blob and the other was a darker grey blob.
"Ones darker.. Uhm…" Yugi thought deeply, "Red?"
"Yes! You're correct!" The boy holding the paper gave Yugi a high five. He felt happy, the uneasiness of before had faded away, leaving a warm sensation in his chest. They continued for twenty more minutes before Mana skipped out of one of the bathrooms, not wearing her hood and grinning.
"Took you long, eh?" Atemu noticed and gave her a playful bop on the head. She whimpered.
"I sorta, maybe, fell asleep!"
When Yugi could see the rest of her face, that outgoing laugh seemed to have more behind it, especially when noticing her eyes' very dull and teary nature.
She had long, dark hair that was puffy and free-flowing. There wasn't a strand out of place, and the thick hair bunches that danced about her shoulders seemed like ribbons. She let out a long yawn, small, sleepy tears beading up by her eyes cutely.
"What happened to sleep being for the weak?"
"Shud'dup."
Yugi closed his eyes. They ached violently, each pulsing of pain. A terrible feeling of dread rushed over him, fists instinctively clenching tight until someone gently shook him.
Opening his eyes greeted him with the cautious eyes of Atemu, who muttered something about 'it getting worse'. Soon the room had been a crowd of people, the figures of the group he called friends soon blurred into a black haze.
Something was going to happen.
Wasn't it?
It was cold and damp. Blurry figures lay on the floor like corpses. Yugi gulped down his anxiety - these sorts of experiences have been happening every time he had fallen asleep or passed out.
An eerie humming echoed in his ears. A slow-paced melody, accompanied by footsteps that had no owner. He shivered. The world was ice cold.
"You shouldn't be here, fated one."
The humming stopped, instead changing for an echoing, soft voice that brushed along his ears with the wind. There were waves. He could hear them crash slowly underneath him.
"Where is this?" Yugi asked, shakily. The voice didn't respond, instead continuing the humming. He carefully picked himself up and began stumbling around. The thickening fog covered his knees, soon grasping his hands and torso like hands dragging him down.
Someone lay next to his feet. Chains strapped to their pale grey wrists, the figure were skinny and covered in a deep-toned liquid.
"Yami.."
It had been the first time he could recall a name in that state. The thin hair of the boy spread across the floor, its usual shape faded and distorted with the tilted flooring.
"What happened..?! Where eve-"
Before Yugi could retaliate he felt a strong grip drag him further into the fog, away from his friend's husk of a body. He screamed, flailing his arms and trying to get away from the grip this figure had on him.
"No..! No..!" The oxygen felt like it was draining out of his body. He quietly choked a broken;
"Don't die…"
Before fading into the fog of white and grey.
I apologise for the lack of updates! Life hasn't been the easiest for me recently, so I needed time to heal up a little bit before continuing.I have a clear direction I want this story to take now, and am looking forward to finishing it off!Thanks for reading.See you next chapter-Yuki (aka Luka)