Yes, after months, Siren is back with a vengeance! Thanks again to FluffysMate17, my lovely beta reader.
Disclaimer: No, for god's sakes, I DON'T OWN IT. ...Or do I? -gets a shake of the head from lawyers- -sighs- One day. ONE DAY. I swear...
Tanner opened her eyes to darkness. Disoriented and unsteady, she attempted to push herself into a sitting position. The pressure of her heavy backpack on her spinal cord eased slightly. She sat quietly for a few minutes, waiting for her eyes to adjust. Her gaze eventually sharpened, and she was able to spot the dull gleaming of a doorknob directly in front of her. She started to rise, but the sudden movement caused her head to swim unpleasantly. The ground beneath her was soft and uneven, which didn't help her balance issues. She sat back down heavily, and the floor beneath her gave an audible "Oof!"
'Wait… what?' Tanner shifted uneasily, squinting down at the familiar, pink-and-white ground underneath her…
"Tanner! Get off me!" The muffled yelp was accompanied by a sudden lurch as the pink-and-white thing attempted to shove Tanner to the side. Tanner's back collided with the wall as she tried unsuccessfully to roll off her companion. Groaning in annoyance, she rolled the other way. Thankfully, no wall stopped her progress this time, and she landed in an undignified heap on the floor.
There was a short pause as both girls lay still for a moment, panting. Eventually, Elaine struggled to a sitting position and Tanner did the same. Elaine graced Tanner with a weak, rueful smile.
"I suppose this means that we weren't actually dreaming before, then?" She asked softly. Tanner nodded solemnly, the memories of the gloomy dungeon from earlier still able to make her shiver. "Where are we now?" Elaine murmured, mostly to herself. She distractedly ran a hand through her tousled curls, still managing to look adorable in the midst of a crisis.
"Hell if I know," Tanner muttered grumpily. "But I think we may be in some sort of closet. Try the doorknob." Elaine reached up obediently and wiggled the golden knob. Locked, of course. How completely and utterly unexpected.
"It's locked, Tan," Elaine sighed despondently. Tanner grunted to show that she'd heard before falling silent again, her face scrunched up with thought. Elaine wisely kept quiet, moving only to adjust the strap of her tennis bag so that it didn't cut into her shoulder quite as much.
A sudden thud above her caused Elaine to jump and let out a startled squeak. The sound was accompanied by a string of swearwords from Tanner, who had leaped up unexpectedly and banged her head against the low ceiling. Before Elaine could ask if she was okay, the older girl began to ram herself into the door as hard as she could.
"Don't just sit there! Help me!" Tanner snapped. Elaine did as she was told unquestioningly, pushing herself to her feet and lending her weight to the battle against the door.
With a sudden click, the door swung open and the unprepared occupants tumbled out of the closet. The books that Elaine had been carrying what seemed like ages ago scattered in front of them, and Tanner's flashlight rolled several feet across the room. Elaine's tennis bag swung after the fallen girls and hit Tanner painfully in the back of the leg.
"Ow!" Tanner hissed, rubbing her shin furiously.
"Sorry..." Elaine murmured, withering slightly under her friend's glare. Gritting her teeth, Tanner shoved herself up… and came face-to-chest with a tall, irritated-looking teenager.
"Who the hell are you and what the hell were you doing in my closet?" The brown haired teen growled, his icy blue eyes glowering down at them.
"We're leprechaun fairies and we were snooping around in your unmentionables," Tanner shot back.
Elaine rose quietly, trying not to draw attention to herself. She had the strangest feeling that she had seen this boy somewhere before, but she couldn't figure out where. This faint, but insistent part of her memory finally caused her to blurt out, "What's your name?"
Both Tanner and the blue-eyed teen broke off from their heated argument and stared at her. The smaller girl shrank under their glares, but didn't look away. Finally, the boy sneered, "Have you been living under a rock for the past couple of years or something? I'm Seto Kaiba."
Tanner flinched back in surprise before studying the boy's face intently. "It is you," she whispered at last. "But how is that possible?"
"Seto Kaiba?" Elaine echoed, looking blank for a moment. "Hang on… isn't he one of the characters in that show you like so much? Yu-Gi-Oh?"
"Yeah," Tanner breathed, looking like she was still in shock. "But does that mean… that guy from before… did he send us to the Yu-Gi-Oh world?"
Apparently annoyed at being ignored, Kaiba said coldly, "I don't know what you two are going on about, but I'm calling security."
"No need!" Elaine soothed hastily, bending down to scoop up her battered books. "Come on, Tanner!" She added, thrusting the flashlight at her inert friend and dragging her out of the room.
Once in the deserted hallway, Tanner relaxed a bit. "The Yu-Gi-Oh world…" She murmured, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "I knew it was real!"
"Don't get too attached, Tan," Elaine cautioned. "We aren't staying. We have to find a way home."
"I know, I know," the other girl waved away the warning. "But I can enjoy it while it lasts, right?" Elaine shrugged uncomfortably, but Tanner didn't seem to expect a response. The two girls walked along in silence for a few minutes.
Tanner froze abruptly in mid-step. "Wait a second," she said slowly. "I just had a fight with Seto Kaiba, the teenage billionaire and CEO of KaibaCorp. I am so dead."
"Is he really that bad?" Elaine asked worriedly. Unlike Tanner, she had never been particularly interested in Yu-Gi-Oh. She put up with it for Tanner's sake, but had only seen a few episodes.
"He's only been Yugi's archrival throughout the entire series!" Tanner retorted.
"And Yugi's the main character, right?" Elaine asked timidly. Her best friend let out an agonized cry and stomped away, with Elaine tagging along behind her. "So, what are we going to do?" The smaller girl panted after a while of trying to keep up with her long-legged companion.
"First, we are going to get the hell out of this damn building!" Tanner snapped. "Then, we are going to find Yugi and hope he can help us find a way home!"
Elaine brightened hopefully. "You think he can do that?"
Tanner made the mistake of glancing back at her friend, and was immediately ensnared by Elaine's big, blue puppy eyes. An unwilling grin broke out on her face and she gently hooked her arm with Elaine's.
"If anyone can do it, Yugi can," she promised. "He is the main character, after all!" An answering smile bloomed on Elaine's cherubic face and Tanner felt her spirits lift a little. "Let's roll!" She proclaimed, speeding up her pace and pulling Elaine along with her. The younger girl laughed breathlessly and obliged her impatient friend as the ever-aggravating tennis bag resumed its gentle bumps against the back of her thigh.
Well, this is Siren, signing off! Sayounara, and don't forget to push that pretty purple button for me! Seeyuh!