Yay chapter five! I just want to thank MukashiNoHikari and Devi for reviewing like each chapter! Thank you so much, your reviews always mean so much to me! :D
Enjoy and review for an update! :)
Finding that the phantom had locked him inside the room Yugi didn't have any options of somehow getting out. He didn't know how long he would be left here but he had started eating the food that the phantom had left for him due to that his stomach had started growling every five minutes and he rather not starve. The phantom had brought him sliced croissants layered with melted cheese, lemon basil, small tomato slices, and tooth picked with a black olives. They were very good and was disappointed when he found that he'd quickly eaten them all within five minutes. Yugi now sat on the floor near the coffee table, looking over all the books that were sprayed out every where around the coffee table and floor.
He began to notice a certain trend with them. They seemed to all be about some kind of great tragedy, a bloody war, or something involving many deaths. Each book was incredibly thick and Yugi would be amazed if the phantom had read all of them, there had to be at least forty books. Yugi also noticed something else, in some of the books, in red ink there would be certain passages circled. For example in one of the books a part about a sword fight between two men had been circled, some of it even underlined. Yugi wasn't sure what it meant, if it even meant anything. He had looked through possibly fifteen of the books and each one had something circled or underlined in the red ink.
Yugi picked up one of the books he hadn't looked at yet, it was a black hard back with the title written in silvery letters. The name was, Couleur des coeurs. If only he knew French he'd know what it said. Yugi opened the book and flipped from page to page, skimming it quickly for anything possibly interesting to read. Though he quickly realized that this book was written completely in French. Yugi sighed slightly, before closing the book something caught his eye. He looked at the middle of a page and noticed the word amour. Still he wished he knew what at least that meant. If he could he'd have to remember to ask the phantom about it.
Yugi then closed the book since he couldn't even read it. He then sighed again while gazing to the wooden floor. Thinking about that story he'd been told made him feel so sorry for the phantom, Yugi had no idea he had such a horrible neglected life. No wonder his emotions were all out of sorts. Yugi really hoped that he would be able to help him, though something about the story didn't make any sense. He'd said that his step father had owned this place, yet he recalled Seth saying a very rich man had owned this place then sold it to him. So that meant either the phantom or Seth had lied to him. Since the phantom didn't seem to be one to lie he had to believe the phantom more, Yugi would never be able to trust anything Seth said again after what happened or what was happening between him and Yami.
Still he had not heard all of the story, so there could be more possibly explaining about the mansion. Yugi knew he'd have to get the phantom to tell him about it, he knew he also had to somehow get the phantom to remove his mask. Yugi wanted to see his face instead of thinking that there wasn't anything there. He'd been close to seeing it before but that had got him pushed into the mirror, Yugi didn't even really know why he had done that. He just had a sudden urge to want to see his face. Yugi also wanted to find out his name, he must have one. The only thing that would be hard was getting him to tell him. The phantom seemed to enjoy keeping many secrets from him. Even though he had been told some of his life Yugi felt like there was still so much more to him that he had yet to discover.
He was still weary of why he cared so much but right now the phantom was the only one he could talk to even though it was incredibly hard. They could work on it and maybe he could get him more accustomed to how to treat people. Yugi wasn't sure how good he would be at it since he couldn't even confront Yami, thinking about him Yugi wondered if Yami was trying to find him, or if he even cared. Yugi doubted it, he was probably with Seth again while Yugi was practically being held captive. Yugi brought his knees up to his face and wrapped his arms around them to place his head to the side of his knee. What had he even done to make Yami not love him anymore?
Another question was had Yami even loved him from the start? Did he just see Yugi and know that he would be the perfect naïve, gullible, victim of his game? Has this whole time he been with Seth? Did he just be with Yugi so that he'd have someone while Seth was in Egypt where Yami said he lived most of the time. Yami obviously has known Seth for longer than they had known each other so the likelihood that they had been together was pretty high. So Yami just kept it a secret from him for a year while Yugi was growing to love him he'd actually been misled into thinking he was in an actual relationship.
Yugi unconsciously began to cry, not realizing the tears that began slipping down his cheeks. He just wanted to go home, he was so sick of being in the mansion already. He remembered just yesterday he'd been so looking forward to being here and now he wished he had never came. He wished none of this had ever happened. He didn't even know how long he would be in here, his phantom had said that he'd wanted him to live in the pain that could mean days before he was free. He should have just gone when he was told to, but then where would he go? He couldn't be with Yami or Seth and those were the only other people in the mansion. Yugi could see now that him and the phantom had something in common. They were both alone. They both had no one.
Yugi couldn't believe that the masked man had spent his whole life in this room. Yugi was probably the only other person to ever see this room, Yugi could never live in here for so long. He would most likely go crazy. There weren't even any windows so he could never see it when it was sunny or snowing. When was the last time he had ever even gotten fresh air? Yugi frowned to himself, he needed to find a way to remove that curse from the phantom. There had to be a way.
Now realizing that he was crying, Yugi wiped his eyes off with the back of his hand before standing up. He hesitantly went back to the bed to sit on it. He then looked to the nightstand where the candle sat and flickered softly. Yugi noticed that there was another book sitting in the slightly open drawer. Curiously Yugi pulled it open to pick up the book and place on his lap. He opened it and saw something sitting there, what seemed like just a piece of paper folded up. Yugi picked up the paper to unfold it and had not expected to see what he did. This paper was a map, a layout of the whole mansion. Every room, hallway, and bathroom was marked here. Where he currently was marked with a large X.
As he stared at it he noticed more of the red ink at work. This time there were certain places on the map circled, one of which was the ballroom and another was the second foyer. There were many arrows pointing in all different directions and many scribbles of French written all around the arrows, making it almost look like one giant mess. He didn't know what any of this meant but he did know that the red skulls near the circled areas were sure to not be a good thing. While Yugi was trying to decipher it he didn't hear the door open and shut to the room.
"Such a curious boy aren't you, Yugi?"
Yugi brought his head up, he then quickly closed the book and placed it exactly where it had been before closing the drawer shut like he'd never looked.
The masked man came to sit down on the edge of the bed to gaze at the young boy. "Go ahead, ask me about it." he pressed.
Yugi wasn't sure if it was a trick or not but he asked anyways. "What was a map of the mansion doing in that book?"
"You could say… it's an arrangement. I call it the arrangement to flames." he confessed all too openly.
"Why do you call it that and what is it?" Yugi asked. Hoping he wasn't going too far with his questions.
He laughed humorlessly for a sort moment. "In due time you will know my love."
Yugi was quite for a moment as he looked down to his lap. "How long are you going to keep me here?"
"I am not keeping you here. The door is unlocked, you can leave if you want to."
Yugi instantly gazed up. He was finally free to leave? He got up off the bed hesitantly, the phantom watching him intently as he did so. Yugi walked to the door but stopped when at the edge of the bed to face the phantom. "Can I ask you something?"
He stared for a moment before nodding.
For the first time being with the phantom Yugi smiled very tenderly. "Will you go with me to the masquerade ball on Saturday?"
The phantom seemed to be taken by surprise by Yugi's question. Never the less he did take Yugi's hand gently in his then lean down to place the cold lips of the mask to the back of Yugi's hand as if to kiss it. When he looked up his eyes were soft for once. "I will attend with my love." he said as he let go of Yugi's hand.
Yugi smiled at him a little longer before walking to the door, opening it to his fortune and shutting it behind him. Finally feeling free of that imprisonment. Yugi then looked forward to be faced with a long brick hallway. Yugi quickly began running down it to escape, he tried his best to avoid the dirt on the concrete ground and the shadows that the candles held to the walls made. He didn't understand why the phantom just let him go and he wasn't sure why he had asked him to go with him to the ball but there was a reason for it, he just didn't know it yet.
After running for a much long time he began getting tired but luckily he could see the end of the hallway. He sped up a little faster before after a minute reaching the broken mirror he had fallen into. Yugi walked over the glass shards that still sat on the ground then exited the room of mirrors. He knew that by tomorrow the mirror would be fixed like nothing had happened, then he would have no way to get back to the phantom if he wanted to. Still the phantom was always watching him, if Yugi wanted to see him again he would know.
With nowhere else to go Yugi went to his room. Greatly dreading it because Yami was most likely there, though he had no idea what time of the night it was. By how tired he felt it had to be past ten. Walking down the hallway he had walked and ran down a few times he was glad to be able to see the world outside and not feel like a tomb. After a short moment he stood in front of the door to his room which was already shut. He glanced down to the bottom of the door to see that the light was off. Yugi very slowly reached for the door handle and twisted it. The first thing he noticed was the lump underneath the sheets of the bed.
Relief washed over him seeing that Yami was asleep so that he wouldn't have to speak with him about where he had been. Yugi walked into the room then very quietly closed the door behind him. Since he was much too lazy right now to change into pajama's Yugi just removed his shoes and socks then tip toed to the other side of the bed. He silently slipped underneath the covers and scooted as far away from Yami as possible while doing the same thing he had done the night before. Taking his pillow with him to snuggle closely to him. Wishing that it were someone else.