Disclaimer –"Yu-Gi-Oh!" and all related characters, events, and concepts belong to Takahashi Kazuki and any other related owners/distributors/producers. The world of Reirinsei and all related characters and concepts belong to Lunnaei. Dragon's just havin' fun. We get no monetary benefit from this. Our benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.
"Otherworld I: The Door
by Lunnaei and DragonDancer5150
Chapter 3 – Standing on the Edge
I'm so tired but I can't sleep
Standin' on the edge of something much too deep
It's funny how we feel so much, but we cannot say a word
We are screaming inside, oh, but we can't be heard
Once there was a darkness, a deep and endless night
You gave me everything you had – oh, you gave me light
And I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories
"I Will Remember You" – Sarah McLachlan
At school the next day, the spirit rode in the background as Yugi found his desk in his classroom, nearly a half-hour early, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. He jumped a little along with Yugi as a sudden voice startled them from behind. "S'up, Yug?"
"Oh, good morning, Jonouchi-kun."
Jonouchi regarded him in some concern. "What's goin' on? Ya look pretty tired. Did'ja sleep?"
"There was a lot going on last night," Yugi murmured. The spirit smiled, knowing that his aibou's sleep had been fitful at best. Yugi was probably more excited than he was about what the day may hold for them.
"What do you mean, 'a lot'? Oh! 'A lot'! I get it." The spirit did not know if Yugi understood what Jonouchi thought he meant – he certainly did not. He chuckled as Jonouchi's next words made his aibou's heart skip a beat. Jonouchi leaned in close, whispering, "Uh, speakin'a that, could ya gimme back that video I lent ya? I finally got my VCR fixed, so . . . "
"Huh? Video?"
Jonouchi leaned in closer, dropping his voice even further. "You know, the one with the – "
"Oh! Th-that video!"
The spirit nearly laughed aloud from the solitude of his soul room, sensing the sudden, hot flush in Yugi's face. He knew which tape it was Jonouchi wanted, harboring his own suspicions as to its contents. Yugi had had it since before the spirit was fully self-aware and had actually started to watch it on three separate occasions, only to shut it off within moments each time, without the spirit knowing what he had seen – nor would he definitively answer the spirit's questions after the ruckus that had broken out when it was discovered. Well, the spirit mused, "boys will be boys," I suppose, or so it's been said. He could not help the pang in his heart as he caught himself wondering what he himself had been like at Yugi's age. He thought he could hardly have been any older than his partner when whatever had happened had taken place to result in his death and subsequent imprisonment.
"Uh, w-well, Grandpa found that and he – "
The spirit felt Yugi's heart stop beating completely for a second as a hand slapped him on the back, accompanied by Anzu's cheery voice. "Morning!"
"Yerk!" Yugi and Jonouchi gasped in unison.
Noting the furious blushes on both of her friends' faces, she snickered at them. "And just what were you talking about, hm?"
Yugi's heart continued to be uncooperative – now it was racing. "G-good morning, Anzu."
"W-we weren't sayin' nothin'!" Jonouchi put in.
They were quite glad for Honda's "Yo!" as he joined the growing crowd around Yugi's desk, distracting from the question. Then, everyone turned as Bakura quietly slid up among them. From the look in his eyes, something clearly was amiss.
"Bakura-kun," Yugi murmured in concern, "what's wrong?"
"That damned Ring-spirit-guy ain't been messin' with ya again, has he?" Jonouchi growled.
Bakura waved him off. "Oh, no, no – nothing like that! Er, well . . . " His soft brown eyes fell away from theirs for a moment before he confided, "I . . . I had a strange dream last night, Yugi-kun. A dark-skinned man came to me. He had a cream-colored robe and turban, and thick black lining, kohl, around his eyes. From the kohl, I think he might have been Egyptian. Anyway, he told me that I had something that I didn't know I had and that I should be sure to bring it with me today to the museum."
Had the spirit possessed a body, he would have been holding his breath as Yugi asked slowly, "He . . . he wasn't carrying anything, was he?"
Bakura looked in confusion back and forth among Yugi, Jonouchi, and Anzu, not comfortable with the looks he was getting. "Come to think of it, yes, he was. He had an enormous gold key hung from a rope around his neck, and in his hand was a solid gold scale with . . . an eye design . . . over the fulcrum . . . " His voice trailed off as he realized what he was describing. "I remember him now. It was the same man who was depicted in that painting we saw in the banquet hall at Pegasus's castle on Duelist Kingdom Island. Those were the Millennium Key and Scales he was holding, weren't they?"
"It's . . . him," Anzu breathed with a slight tremor in her voice.
"Gotta be!" Jonouchi growled. "What I wouldn't give ta get my hands on – !"
"'Shadi,' or something. Wasn't that it?" Honda put in.
Everyone quieted when Yugi stood from his desk, meeting Bakura's eyes with an intense gaze. "Bakura-kun, are you sure? Is that exactly what he looked like?" Mutely, Bakura nodded. "Did you find what he was talking about?"
Bakura hesitated a long moment, fear haunting his large, soft chocolate eyes. "I-I . . . yes, I found something. This was in my bedroom, hidden in a corner of my wardrobe." From his pocket, he pulled a nearly-golfball-sized object that made everyone react almost violently.
Yugi was the first to find his voice with any coherency. "The Millennium Eye!" He had to fight to keep his voice down so as not to draw too much the attention of their classmates just beginning to filter into the room.
"Erk!" Jonouchi nearly slapped the hateful thing from Bakura's hand. "How the hell did you – ?"
Bakura was equally distressed as he admitted, "I-I don't know. Honestly! My first thought was that it was the replica from Pegasus's soup bingo game. Yugi, do you remember giving me yours?" Yugi did not specifically, as the spirit had been in control at the time, but he gave a nod when he sensed the spirit's affirmation. "But it's far too heavy and there's no seam. It doesn't . . . pop open like the replica did. I-I don't even know whatever happened to that," Bakura added sheepishly.
"What . . . do you suppose it could mean?" Anzu queried in a small voice.
Honda was frowning. "You're all talking about that guy that came around about a year-and-a-half ago, aren't you?"
"The one that played us all for a bunch'a suckers an' nearly got half'v us killed?" Jonouchi growled. "Yeah, that's the guy."
Bakura frowned in deep horror as he told them, his voice barely above a whisper. "I . . . I'm afraid it's something that the dark spirit from my – from the Ring must have stolen before we left the island. Y-you know that I've had a lot of blackouts over time." He fell silent as a shudder took him.
The spirit could feel the ache of his aibou's heart for their friend as Yugi gently took the Eye from Bakura's palm.
"It's all right, Bakura-kun," Yugi murmured. "Whatever that person did is not your fault. Please, try not to think about it. I'll take this and, as with the Millennium Ring, it will be my responsibility now."
Bakura only gave a small nod of his head, his eyes still deeply haunted at the question of what atrocities had been wrought by his hands.
Honda released a breath. "So, Yugi, how many Items that make now?"
Yugi had brought two bags to school: his backpack with his schoolbooks and the knapsack with the Items. He sat back down and pulled the latter into his lap from the floor, opening it to deposit the Eye. "Five. I have the Puzzle, of course, plus the Rod, Necklace, and your Ring."
Bakura shook his head adamantly, thick, snowy locks bouncing. "No! Not 'mine,' not anymore. I don't want it!"
"Say, Yugi," Anzu put in, "did you bring the God cards, too?"
"Yup!" He pulled the Puzzle's box from the knapsack, setting it on his desk.
For a long moment, the group only stared. It was Honda who finally opened the box, handling the precious items with decidedly less reverence than Yugi's grandfather had the night before. "The 'God' cards, huh? What can these do for the Other Yugi that they haven't done already?"
"Well, I hardly know myself," Yugi confided. "Neither does Other Me, really."
Jonouchi rolled his eyes. "C'mon! That's why we're goin' to the museum, right?"
"Yeah – and what's over there that's so important? They got an exhibit on trading cards now?"
"How should I know?" Jonouchi groused.
Bakura smiled at the argument between the two, but the spirit's attention as well as Yugi's was on Anzu, noting a deep and secret sadness that haunted her eyes. "Yugi," she ventured at length, "if . . . if the Other Yugi gets all of his lost memories as Pharaoh back . . . he wouldn't forget about all of us, would he?"
"Anzu . . . " Yugi murmured.
Within the Puzzle, the spirit growled. No! No matter his own misgivings, he would not suffer such a concern to bother his friends. Yugi sensed the spirit's desire and gave Anzu a wink before mentally stepping back.
Power surged quietly through the Puzzle, and the spirit met the girl's eyes in more complete confidence than he actually felt. "Chh," he scoffed, "of course I wouldn't forget you!" He gave her a grin, even as he noted with soft regret the hint of a blush that came to her cheeks as she realized which soul had spoken. Neither he nor Yugi were blind. They understood full well Anzu's feelings.
Jonouchi threw a chummy arm over Honda's shoulders, exclaiming, "You said it! Of course not! We're friends forever!"
"Th-that's right," Anzu managed, forcing a grin.
"All righty, then!" Jonouchi crowed, caught up in the moment. "Let's head for the museum!"
In exasperation, Honda threw off Jonouchi's arm. "You moron! It's not even first period yet!"
That snapped Anzu from her funk as well, as she rolled her eyes at him. "Cool it, Jonouchi. We'll go after school."
Chuckling silently to himself, the spirit withdrew once more as the first warning bell rang. Ancient gods . . .
When the inevitable time came, he was dearly going to miss these people.
Author's Notes: Please be sure to check my bio page for any updates, etc. Thanks!