Chapter 20: The Game

By the time they got to the staff room, Joey's insides had turned themselves into a copy of Yuugi's puzzle, one that would take twice as long to solve.

"You look kind of green," Serenity said, which was really very helpful. Green was exactly how he wanted to look before facing a beautiful woman.

He smashed his bangs against his forehead; they sprang back up.

"Let's just knock," he said.

Ryou stepped forward to do so, and a moment later, the door slid open. From inside, at least seven heads peered curiously at the newcomers, eight including the guy who'd opened the door.

"Welcome to our—" He stopped his bow short. "Hey, you're finalists."

"We were only expecting spectators," called out a guy at the pool table, grunting as he struck a ball into the corner pocket. "What brings you here, lads? Need something?"

Serenity leaned forward from between Joey and Ryou, waving a hand. "They brought me."

A murmur of understanding passed through the room, and the guy at the door stepped away.

"Everyone inside, might as well. We'll get you figured out."

They stepped into the room, door closing behind their small group. It was surprisingly lavish inside. Joey had fully expected Kaiba to be one of those businessmen who made a big show for the public and really skimped on his employees, but the pool table, mini kitchen, card tables, and leather lounge chairs all told a different story.

And one of said lounge chairs was occupied by the angel-eyed owner of the KvS handkerchief. She sat facing the room, but her eyes were on her laptop.

He gulped.

A different girl in a maid's uniform started giving Serenity a verbal tour: snacks and water in the fridge, clothes in the corner closet, door at the back of the room that led to the bunks, which were divided into male and female sections.

"Guess it's bedtime, then," Serenity said, a slight frown on her face.

"Why rush?" Joey's voice squeaked, and he had to clear his throat. "Can we hang out here for a few minutes?"

The guy who'd opened the door originally had resumed the game of pool, but he smiled at the request.

"Sure," he said. "Want to play?"

Joey hesitated, and Ryou stepped forward at the perfect moment.

"I'll have a go." He smiled at Serenity. "How about you?"

"I'm so good at pool." She grinned, miming a downward shot. "I can jump the cue ball and everything."

"Teach me some of those tricks, lass," said the second employee. "Before this kid shows me up again."

Joey tried to give Ryou a thumbs-up as he moved off, but the albino wasn't even paying attention, like playing pool had been his only objective and he hadn't been helping Joey at all. Natural wingman. Much better than Tristan, who would have announced to the entire room exactly what Joey had come for.

After clearing his throat again, Joey moved to the lounge chairs. The closer he got, the more his legs wanted to turn the other way, but he forced himself to walk right up to her, stopping a few feet away.

"Hey." He tried for a laugh; it came out strangled. "Remember me?"

She ignored him, eyes fixed completely on her screen while she typed.

His heart sank.

Then another girl leaned sideways in her chair and smiled at him from around her novel. "You'll have to catch her attention, sir. She's deaf."

Joey blinked.

Then he blinked again.

And the lightbulb finally clicked on.

"Ohhh. YES!" He laughed, happy this time. She'd never been ignoring him, never thought what he said was stupid (well, hopefully). She just couldn't hear it.

"I can sign for you if you need," the book-girl offered. "But she actually reads lips really well."

Sign language. Joey vaguely remembered learning to sign the English alphabet way back in kindergarten, his last year in America. He'd also learned the months of the year in Spanish, and he remembered exactly zero of both languages. But she'd spoken to him in the hallway just fine, understood when he'd given her his shirt size. The other girl said she could read lips, which was one of those skills Joey had assumed was made up for spies in the movies. Maybe she was a real-life spy. Maybe she was a real-life superhero.

Either way, he was just glad she probably didn't hate him.

"I got this, thanks," he said, and the other girl nodded before returning to her book.

He took another step forward, with confidence this time, and waved his hand above the maid's computer.

She looked up immediately. Then it was her turn to blink.

"Hey," he said again, grinning. He pointed at himself, tried to speak clearly. "Remember me?"

"Joey!" She smiled; it was breathtaking.

In one quick movement, she closed her laptop and jumped up, hugging it to her chest. Joey barely managed to step back before cracking heads with her. He hadn't realized she was so tall—almost his own height. Of course, most of that came from her shiny black heels. Joey hadn't really paid attention, but he didn't think any of the other employees were wearing heels; she really wasn't a normal maid.

"Congratulations on winning your duel," she said. "It was the best match of the semi-finals."

The best? His mouth suddenly lost all its moisture.

"I ain't even got a god card," he croaked, blushing like an idiot.

"So?"

He didn't really have a response for that, and before he could come up with one, his stupid mouth blurted, "I didn't know you were deaf."

If Joey ever owned a gun, he'd shoot himself in the foot. It was inevitable.

He started to apologize, but she spoke first.

"Hard of hearing." She lifted a shoulder like it was no big deal. "As long as you face me and speak normally, neither of us will notice. For the most part."

Anzu would have called her refined. Or poised. Joey had never asked what poised meant, but Anzu used it to describe her favorite actress, and it definitely fit here.

He stuck his hand in his pocket for her handkerchief. It was still damp, and his pocket was, too, but he'd come too far to turn back, so he held it out. And waited. As she took it, her fingers brushed his. Her skin was soft and smooth, and her nail polish shimmered like she'd trapped stars in the gloss.

Then her eyes widened. "Did you wash it?"

He'd definitely done it all wrong. Stupid Tristan with his stupid "expert" advice.

Joey sputtered for words—

Until her smile bloomed again. "That's so thoughtful. You didn't have to."

"Use, wash, return." He grinned. "I know how these things work."

"It couldn't have been convenient in our current setting. Thank you." She tucked the handkerchief into the pocket of her slacks.

It wasn't going terrible. And it was now or never.

He waited until her eyes returned to his, then said, "Can I get your name?"

"Krisalyn." No hesitation. "You can call me Kris, if you'd like."

It was beautiful. Just like her.

"I'm Joey." He coughed. "I mean, you already knew that. How'd you know?"

She just smiled mysteriously.

Poised.

Someone poked him from behind, and he jumped like a cat. Serenity grinned up at him.

"I thought you'd want a turn at pool," she said. She waved at Krisalyn, who gave a polite bow. Joey took the opening to introduce the two girls, and before he'd finished, Ryou had made his way over and needed an introduction, too.

Most of the people in the lounge started looking their way, and the more attention focused on Kris, the more she hugged her laptop and shrank back. Joey only realized it an instant before she looked ready to bolt, and since he'd been the one to draw all the attention, he fixed it the first way that popped into his head.

"Alright, people!" He held his deck up and pointed at one of the card tables. "Who wants a crack at the one and only Joey Wheeler?!"

Several moments of just crickets passed, but then the guy who'd opened the door stepped forward, wiping his palms on his uniform before hesitantly raising his hand.

"I've been working on my deck," the guy said, "and I almost tried to enter the tournament, but then . . . anyway, I have this combo, and you—"

"Say no more!" Joey unsnapped his Duel Disk and handed it to Serenity for safekeeping. "Anybody got a duelin' mat?"

Somebody pulled one out of a closet and set it up at a table with two chairs. While his opponent took position, Joey searched the faces for Krisalyn, finally spotting her near the door to the sleeping area. He dashed over to her, touched her shoulder to draw her gaze.

"Don't go." He scrambled for an excuse to get her to stay. Three people wasn't a duel, and it would be selfish to ask her to just watch when she couldn't play, especially if she didn't like being in a crowd of people.

"I'm only storing my laptop." Her mint eyes softened. "I wouldn't miss an opportunity to see you duel live."

At that, his heart played a piano scale up his spine, sending shivers ringing all the way to his shoes.

"Why me?" he asked.

But she just did the mysterious-smile thing again and ducked through the doorway.

Joey floated back to the card table and planted himself in the empty seat. He slapped his deck down on the bottom-right square of the mat and announced he'd take the opening turn.

Ryou gave a cheeky grin, commenting on the nostalgia of dueling without holograms.

"It's like trying to live without indoor plumbing after you've had it," he said. "The outhouse will never be appealing again."

Laughter rippled through the staff members around him. Someone complimented him on withstanding the attack from Kaiba's god card, and before Joey knew it, another dueling mat was being spread out on the table next to him.

"Watch out for his ghost cards," Joey warned the unsuspecting challenger. "Even without the holograms, they're freaky as get out."

The girl's eyes widened, but she looked impressed instead of worried. She'd learn soon enough. Joey shivered at the thought.

He'd just completed his first turn when he saw Krisalyn sneak back into the room. She edged her way along the wall until she found a place to stand with a clear view of his table and both players. Joey forced his attention back to the match, but he couldn't help his giddy smile.

Not long after the two matches were underway, someone challenged Serenity as well.

"Oh, no," she said shyly, her cheeks pink. "I don't duel."

"Don't take after the family business?" someone asked.

"I just—I've never learned." She shook her head. "Just a little. From watching."

"You wanna learn, sis?" Joey asked seriously.

Serenity bit her lip. Slowly, she smiled. Then she nodded.

"The outhouses look a little less intimidating than the holograms," she said, earning a laugh from the room.

"All I got's my deck," Joey said. "You wanna take a turn after me, and I'll guide you through it?"

"Oh, please, lad," the pool player called out, smiling. "This is KaibaCorp. Someone get some extra cards in here and let the lady choose a starter deck."

Not five minutes later, Serenity was on the floor surrounded by a gaggle of employees and what looked like a hundred cards. Everyone pointed her to personal favorites of theirs, and every once in a while, Joey looked over his shoulder from his own game to give helpful tips that usually left his sister's eyes spinning. But she was laughing, and Joey was, too.

"This is it," Joey said as he turned back once.

"What is?" Ryou paused in his draw phase.

Joey marked a deduction on the paper where he was tracking his lifepoints. He grinned across the space between tables. "This is the game."

And even though Joey couldn't express exactly what he was feeling, Ryou got it anyway. He smiled.

"This is the game," he agreed.

The ship was quiet. Anzu had never enjoyed the quiet; she surrounded herself with people if she could and music if she couldn't. She even fell asleep to music because the quiet made her jittery—it let her mind run away without her.

And right now, it wouldn't stop running to Marik.

She sat with her knees pulled up in the chair, arms folded across them and head resting so she could watch Odion. He breathed heavily, the only real sound in the room, and she wished he would wake up so they could talk. She could tell him what had happened when she'd visited Marik, what he'd done to Yori, how he'd become a completely different person. Odion was the only one who would understand why she wanted to help.

He was the only one who wouldn't freak out if she said she missed the real Marik.

Anzu sighed and rubbed her tired eyes.

When she opened them again, she was in her auditorium. She shot to her feet, spun in a full circle, looking.

But Marik wasn't there.

"Marik?" she called. She tried not to think about what would happen if it wasn't him, if she wound up trapped in her mind with the thing that had taken over his body. The maroon seats stretched back forever, dimly lit and empty. The orchestra pit was dark.

The stage was lit by a single spotlight.

She rushed up the stairs, brushed past the parted velvet curtains. At the edge of the spotlight, she stretched out her hand, watched the floating particles touch her palm. Nothing changed.

"I don't understand," she whispered.

She looked up at the spotlight, squinted against the brightness. And for a moment, she saw a distant circle of sun, saw the yellow stone of Marik's memory.

"So many years obsessing over that light," said a voice behind her. "If I'd let it go, maybe . . ."

Anzu whirled around to find Marik standing in the shadow of the house curtain. He flickered at the edges like a bad hologram, and his skin was translucent, but he was there. Without thinking, Anzu reached for him.

He backed away, eyes wide. "You would have hugged me?"

"I've been worried," she said. "Are you okay? What's been—"

"Don't," he snarled. "You have no idea what I am."

She raised her hands, though she didn't retreat. "What happened?"

He muttered something to himself. After another glance at the spotlight still burning the stage, he turned away.

But Anzu recognized the look in his eyes.

Her older brother, Taro, tried so hard to never cry. But before he did, he always had the same look.

"Talk to me, Marik," Anzu said gently.

He shook his head. Kept his back to her.

She took a hesitant step closer, then another, until she could reach out to touch his back. He flinched away. So she grasped his hand instead, held on when he tried to pull free.

"You don't have to talk," she coaxed. "Show me."

"That's worse." His voice was barely a whisper.

Even though she hated the quiet, she forced herself to stay silent and wait.

And finally, he gripped her hand. His fingers trembled.

"It was me."

She frowned. "What was?"

". . . My father."

She opened her mouth, then stopped cold. She saw again his father's slumped body, the streaked blood on the wall.

"Odion made a deal." He took a shuddering breath. "Made me forget. But the monster was always me."

Before she could stop herself, Anzu took a step back.

Marik released her hand. He wouldn't meet her eyes.

"When Odion wakes up"—his voice cracked—"tell him to take Ishizu and go. As far away as he can. Tell him it's an order."

Anzu swallowed. "Marik—"

But he was gone.

When Yuugi had willingly stood in the path of a god's attack, he'd expected the pain, which he'd definitely felt. He'd even expected he might fall unconscious, which he definitely had.

But he hadn't expected to wake up in a place he didn't recognize.

For a moment, he might have thought it was Yami's soul room; it had the same yellowed stone and twisting staircases. But the staircases in Yami's room twisted in on themselves to create a maze; these staircases led resolutely forward and up to form a pyramid, each step clear. And where Yami's soul room was full of shadows, this room was full of light. It seeped between each stone, filled the air with golden haze, and illuminated every corner. There wasn't a shadow to be found.

And the glow was brightest at the very center, where an indiscernible figure sat on a throne of light.

Yuugi blinked.

"Hello?" he said, because he wasn't sure what else to say.

The light faded enough for him to make out a man in the glow, a man decked out in gold and white who smiled as he leaned forward. "Hello, Yuugi Mutou."

"Ra?" It was really the only explanation.

Ra dipped his head in acknowledgment.

"Cool." Yuugi couldn't think of anything better to say, but the flood of light was comforting, as was Ra's smile. And how often did anyone get to meet a god?

Ra chuckled. He settled into his throne once more, studying Yuugi.

After the silence had stretched for a while, Yuugi said, "Why am I here?"

And Ra's response drained all his comfort in an instant: "Because you're dead."

Note: Next update will be Thursday, January 16th.