Twistedshipping (Pegasus x Shadi)

In the heat of Egypt, it is often difficult to determine what is real, and what is merely a mirage. Pegasus J. Crawford had known of the phenomenon of heat creating illusions since he was in middle school. What he had never expected was that the loss of a loved one could also contribute to hallucinations, especially when combined with heat and dehydration. Why, he must have startled himself almost twenty times now, thinking that he saw Cyndia in the streets and alleys of this small town called Kul Elna.

It was because of this that Pegasus was never really sure if that strange Egyptian boy was real or not. He looked solid enough: tan skin draped in long, shapeless white robes, golden earrings glinting at his ears, passive orange eyes staring out from under the folds of a twisted turban, and golden ankh on a necklace.

As the years dragged on, and his Millennium Eye started to grow sore with ghost pains of the eye he had lost to obtain it, he could still hear those echoed words across time.

"This is not the place to recover from the loss of a loved one. Leave before it is too late."

"None can leave this place, without being tried by the Millennium Items."

"You will be able to see across space. Perhaps even the one you have lost."

That soft, unaffected smile on his face as he watched the man in front of him burn up from the inside out – that, along with the words, still haunted his dreams.

Just a few more days. A few more days, and he would have Cyndia, almost for real again. Maybe that would take away the nightmares. Maybe that would end the flashes of those orange eyes across his remaining eyelid every time he tried to rest. Real or not, the boy haunted him like a ghost.

He had been asking for trouble, when he had followed the mirage-like boy into the temple. But then, as he did now, he just had to know.

Dream or not? Mirage or not? Ghost or not?

Had he ever been real?

A/N: Shadi only showed up in memories, so I'm thankfully not having a nervous breakdown. :) Next is Turbulenceshipping (Kaiba x Yami no Yugi x Ryo). I hate the threesomes. They're hard to write.