Well, Kabuki and I are really glad this fic is going over so well! I'm taking over responses this time, because poor Kabuki's studying for English finals. *yuck!* This next part starts to get more into The Shining, so reader beware. Heehee…
sakuya – Trust me, this weekend has only just begun. By the time Kabs and I are done with them, you'll really feel sorry for the gang. ;-)
SetoKaiba419 – Well, we're glad we could make you laugh. We'll try to go easier on poor Kaiba and Duke, don't worry. We promise to do our best to deliver them back to you as unharmed as physically possible. *heh* Though I might have to hold Kabuki back a little…
Vyctori – Yeah, Yugi probably isn't too pleased with Joey at the moment, but he's a forgiving guy, right? If it wasn't for Joey's impromptu response he could be without the puzzle. About the Humour/Horror category, well, Kabs and I think it'll be an amusing roller coaster ride if you're willing to stick with it. :-)
And with preliminaries out of the way, enjoy the show. Oh, and do leave a response if you don't mind. *grin* They keep us inspired.
--Sylvia
Part 2:
The trudge up the dirt path was long and irritatingly enough uphill. None of the duelists were in bad shape, but eventually everyone was griping under their breath. Even Ms. Sweeney who had accompanied them the entire way had a few choice four-letter words in her vocabulary which she liberally began using the longer they hiked toward the hotel. It was indeed a hotel for as they neared it, they noticed a large white sign indicating the once famous Overlook Hotel.
"I've never heard of that place before." Joey stopped for a moment to catch his breath as he studied the whitewash sign before them. The letters were in fine script and even though the sign itself looked newly painted, for the white was almost blinding in the midday sun, the posts which flanked it and to which it was attached showed the evident signs of decay.
Duke Devlin sauntered over to the sign and the squinted past it trying to discern what the hotel looked like, but the path turned sharply to the right further down the path so that the giant trees which seemed endless around this dirt road blocked any view of the hotel. "I wonder what it overlooks." Tristan walked up next to him, leaning up against the sign.
"Hopefully we'll find out soon. Why would anybody want to even come to this hotel anyway?"
"This hotel was well known for its jet-set guests and exclusive clientele. It was very popular for its secluded location and supposedly it's wonderful in the winter time for skiing and the like." Ms. Sweeney flattened her suit as she motioned for the group to stop for a moment. Kaiba gently placed Mokuba on the ground, having placed him on his shoulders when the boy began to fall behind. The bushy-haired boy kicked a rock in the road, sending it scurrying along the dirt path and into the foliage.
"This stinks! This really is nothing like Disney World, big brother! I hate detention." Seto gave his younger brother an understanding look and ruffled his hair. Yugi smiled as he sat down on a large boulder decoratively placed near the sign. He pulled the collar of his jacket around his throat as it had begun to get colder the longer they hiked. He almost wondered if they were perhaps on the side of a mountain with the steep incline they'd been forced to climb.
"Not just detention, young Mokuba, Weekend Detention." Ms. Sweeney gave him a deliciously disturbing smile and looked up the path toward their unseen destination. "It's not much farther, just beyond that bend actually. The path was constructed specifically so that the sight of the hotel itself would come as a pleasing surprise."
"It'll be pleasing to have a spot to sit that's not covered in dirt!" Joey kicked the left signpost in irritation as Tea gave him a displeasing look.
"I happen to like this forest, Joey! The trees are beautiful, and really, we all live in a big city. We should learn to enjoy nature, it'd be good for us!" Tea stared lovingly at the giant pines that towered over them.
"We should tear this place down, big brother! It'd look so much nicer as an arcade. Besides, then we could just drive all the way up here. Or at least use the helicopter." Mokuba stared at the trees in disgust. Seto just shook his head. After having to carry his younger brother and relinquishing his electronics, he was tired and rather humbled. His white trench coat was scuffed from Mokuba's dirty tennis shoes; in fact the entire group looked rather worse for the long trek they'd made up the hillside. Ms. Sweeney stood again, forcing everyone on their feet as the group unwillingly continued their quest.
They followed the path up and when they turned at the bend in the road, the sight which greeted them made everyone stop in amazement. The hotel itself was massive, roughly in the shape of a Grecian Parthenon with six great pillars in the front and a large balcony on the upper level surrounded in glass. As they moved closer they began to notice topiaries, shrubs that were trimmed to look like animals guarding the pathway: lions, dogs, a rabbit, and even a big cuddly bear. The bushes, however, looked terribly overgrown and some of the animals took a while to identify. The path itself was shorter once they turned the bend, and already the hotel loomed over them. The sun was setting in the distance, and although the hotel was painted a dingy white, the orange setting sun made it look bright red in the twilight.
Devlin came to a halt in the path and stared, then made an excited sound and found some burst of energy to race down the rest of the way down the path and disappear in the distance at the base of the hotel. Yugi looked at Joey in confusion, and then everyone turned to look at what Devlin had seen. In the distance, a long black limousine was parked covered in a thin layer of dirt from the trip up the path, the license plate read: TOONWLD.
"Wonderful," Seto mumbled as he stared disgustedly at the license plate. "Only one person has the distaste to purchase something like that." Mokuba looked at the letters, feeling a terrible pit of dread form in his belly. He clutched his big brother's hand tight and Seto gave it a small squeeze.
"But why would Pegasus be here?" Yugi shook his head, he had no idea what the owner of Industrial Illusions could possibly want with this place, especially after losing his own tournament. Wasn't Pegasus intent on stealing all of the Millennium Items? Yugi clutched his own puzzle to his chest.
"Well, I gotta say, Pegasus sure has bad taste in hotels. I mean, I know ya said he was into the hotel business, Tea, but really. No one's gonna want ta walk up that path to get here!" Tristan smacked him in the back of the head. "What'd I say?" Tristan shook his head.
"Do you really think that school bus could have driven up here?" Tristan scoffed. Ms. Sweeney rolled her eyes, obviously unimpressed with this bunch of students.
"Come, the sooner I get all of you to the hotel, the sooner I can leave!"
"Easy for you to say," Joey mumbled. "You don't have to stay at the hotel of a freak like Pegasus!"
Even though everyone dreaded the prospect of coming face to face with Maximillion Pegasus again, the sun was setting fairly quickly and the forest seemed to close in on all sides. The hedge animals seemed to loom over them as their shadows lengthened and melted with the shadows of the forests. The wind came up and made them all shiver. Tea clutched her bare arms as a chill raced up her spine, "Come on, then. Let's get this over with." Reluctantly the group moved onward.
When they reached the base of the hotel, it was obvious why Devlin had run ahead. He stood alongside Pegasus, flipping through a sketchbook and letting out amused squeals of excitement as the older man smiled indulgently. Mokuba held his brother's hand all the tighter as he saw the left side of Pegasus' face was still covered in a thin sheet of silver hair. He wondered if the Millennium eye could still be in the crazed man's possession. Pegasus looked up when they approached, and burst out laughing, pointing at them in sheer unabashed amusement.
"You all look absolutely terrible! What happened to you? Did Godzilla attack? It's a damn good thing I got out of Japan when I had the chance!" The silver-haired man clutched his sides as he doubled over in laughter. Behind him, the familiar sight of Croquet appeared as the older man exited from the front door of the hotel. He stared at the group of disheveled duelists distrustingly as he came up behind his employer, crossing his arms across his chest. Duke Devlin closed the sketchbook carefully and handed it back to Pegasus.
"This is amazing; you've done some really detailed sketches of the place. This is going to look wonderful!" Pegasus smiled and patted Duke on the head before turning back to the rest of the duelists. He looked from Yugi to Seto to Mokuba and then to Ms. Sweeney with a confused expression. He cocked his head to the side.
"What in the world *are* you doing here anyway?" Ms. Sweeney gave him a short-tempered look and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear before moving forward.
"Remember, Mr. Pegasus? The detention?" Pegasus looked at Yugi and the group, and then burst into laughter again.
"Them? Oh, this is priceless! What sweet revenge!" He looked at Yugi and grinned, "I'll have you cleaning toilets all weekend, Yugi-boy!" Yugi grimaced.
"You mean to tell me that you had no idea we were coming?" Yugi asked, disbelieving the clever Creator of Duel Monsters. Pegasus shook his head, his expression hardening.
"Why would I have? I have more important things to do than to see which students are coming to serve detention at my hotel." Seto moved forward, clutching his younger brother protectively at his side.
"So you really did buy this dump?"
"Why yes! You have no idea what wonderful history is buried here! We discover something new every time we come, don't we Croquet?" The stern bodyguard made no move at a response, but Pegasus didn't seem to notice. Kaiba sighed, irritated.
"Well then, if you know it so well, could you at least invite us inside?" Pegasus looked at the group as though he was for the first time assessing their situation; his eye glanced over each one of them for but a moment, and then settled on Mokuba. His expression was distanced for a moment, and then he shook his head slightly, glancing at the older brother beside the young boy. Then he smiled and nodded.
"But of course. Come on in." He turn to the side, putting an arm out to the luminous building behind him, and Joey had the distinct feeling he was about to enter a fun house. "After you, my honored guests."
Upon entering the Overlook Hotel, the entire group was amazed at how beautiful the main lobby was. The floors were wooden, the walls were paneled, and beautiful gold chandeliers hung from the ceiling. It had been wired for electricity but the glow was dim and old. The floor was dingy from too little wax, and cobwebs covered the ceiling, the faint image of a mural hiding beneath.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Pegasus strode in behind the group and flopped down on one of the chairs he had recently brought in. "I couldn't believe nobody was using it, it's absolutely gorgeous. It was just sitting here, and I bought it at such a low price at an auction, no less. All it needs is a bit of cleaning."
Seto smirked as he stared at the large lobby. Most of the furniture had been brought in by Pegasus, but many of the furnishings were still undoubtedly old and disheveled. Red velvet curtains, once gleaming with the shine of high class and friendly parties now hung moldering and moth-eaten. Tables were missing legs, and an ancient ledger still rested on the reception desk, its now-yellowed pages coated in a thick layer of dust. "Why was so much furniture left behind? The ledger too, isn't that rather odd?"
Pegasus shrugged his shoulders, tucking his sketch book under his arm. He noticed a sketching pencil tucked neatly behind his right ear, his fingers smudged with charcoal. "I really don't know, there isn't much history on the place that I've been able to uncover. Only that a lot of trendy people stayed here, and then after World War I, people simply stopped coming." Pegasus shrugged again, motioning for Croquet to come forward. "Well, I suppose we should get down to business, eh Ms. Sweeney?" He nodded at the woman. "Croquet, if you don't mind, could you get a fire going and see if you can't start some nice hot tea for our guests?" Croquet nodded and set about his tasks. "Please, have a seat, everyone. I don't understand why you all had to walk the entire way." He eyed the woman strangely and shook his head. "But no matter, the important thing is that you're here. Now, the tasks are fairly menial but still ones that require your attention. I suppose I need to assign specific chores for everyone, don't I Ms. Sweeney?"
"Indeed you do, Mr. Pegasus. I'll take notes and when we come back for the students, we will ensure that they have accomplished their tasks." She briskly pulled out a small pad of paper and clicked a pen to the ready.
"Ahh, do we have to hear it now? I'm tired!" Joey raked a hand through his hair and yawned. Pegasus smiled at him, but continued nonetheless.
"The hedge animals are the first things the visitors see, and as you can tell are in desperate need of trimming. The bears look more like spiders and the lions look like… bears! Its absolutely intolerable for a hotel of mine to be so disorderly. Therefore, since Joey has volunteered to help out, we'll give him the job. You'll find the hedgeclippers in the garage, which can't be accessed from inside the hotel. It's just a couple of yards from the main entrance, don't worry, Joey, even a genius of your caliber can't miss it." Joey rolled his eyes, but was too tired to argue.
"Fine, I'll trim the hedges." Joey leaned back in the chair, rubbing his hands over his face vigorously to ward off sleep.
"You won't seem so enthusiastic, Joey Wheeler, when you see that giant hedge maze in the backyard," Pegasus laughed in his throat.
"Aw, man! That's not fair!"
"Well of course it's not fair, Joey, it's detention!" Croquet appeared from the kitchen with a mug of hot wine in one hand and a tray of several mugs of hot tea in the other. He managed to lower the tray gracefully without spilling a drop, hand Pegasus the wine first, and pass out the tea very efficiently. Mokuba took his mug hesitantly, but it was so warm and he was so tired that he drank it anyway. He found the hot mint was excellent in warding off the chill of the coming winter outside. Croquet then set about building a fire for the haggard guests.
"Thank you, Croquet. You make a mean hot wine!" Pegasus raised his mug in appreciation before continuing. "Anyway, who's next?" He looked about the room, scrutinizing the options. "Ah yes, Tea. Let's see, what can I have you do?" He place his slim fingers on his chin as he thought for a moment. "I know, there's a large pile of dishes that haven't been cleaned in years…"
"Oh my god, you can't possibly mean that!" Tea sat up straight, her eyes wide as she gave Pegasus her best pathetic look she could muster. The idea of scrubbing decade old dishes with food that had to have been gnawed on by rats and insects that was probably nothing but ash and dust by now. She couldn't imagine doing such a thing, no matter how much school she'd missed.
"Pegasus, you can't have her do such a thing!" Yugi glared at Pegasus through the mist from the heat of his mug. "That's simply terrible." Pegasus sighed.
"Yes, of course, Yugi-boy. You do have a point." He sipped his wine thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose you and Tea, and perhaps even Tristan over there can be in charge of the guestrooms themselves. You can strip the bed linens if there are any, dust, scrub up in the bathrooms."
"Mr. Pegasus, I need more distinct chores," Ms. Sweeney ceased her writing momentarily. "If I am to judge them on the chores they've completed, they must be clearer. I can't judge them on the dust and the linen and such, it simply isn't plausible." Pegasus glared at her outwardly this time, his eye slanting in distaste.
"Well, I apologize, Ms. Sweeney, but I've simply no choice. I don't have exact chores for your students, this isn't a military camp. I just need a few things cleaned and trimmed, that's all. Besides your school approached me on the subject, not the other way around…" Ms. Sweeney look a bit surprised at this information, but didn't elaborate on her thoughts.
"I just need a couple of the rooms cleaned, not all of them, just a few of them. How about just a few of the suites, a catalogue of what's good in the kitchens, a bit of trimming on the hedges, you know things of that sort. I'm not about to ask them to clean the whole damn building, I'm not a slave driver." Pegasus smiled, and for the first time, Mokuba was able to see him as something besides his kidnapper and mortal enemy. The boy looked over to his big brother, who looked decidedly disturbed as he stood on the other side of the room. Seto refused to sit down, and instead stared fixedly toward the giant stairway that circled up the center of the building, which lead to the second floor and what seemed to be the elevator.
"Does this elevator still work?" Seto called from the darker stairway. Pegasus sat straight and squinted into the darkness, attempting to spot whatever it was Seto was so intent upon. "I didn't even know there was an elevator. Well, if you can get that working, I'd most certainly be in your debt." Kaiba turned and smiled at the man.
"Oh, is that a fact?" a slight frown crossed Pegasus' features as Kaiba continued. "Well, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take much to fix it. You say there are tools in the garage? Does that include electrical tools as well?"
"Well, I would guess so, I don't know. I'm not exactly an expert on electrical things." Pegasus waved away the topic. "If you can get it to work, fine. Otherwise I'm going to get a professional electrician to work on it." The silver-haired man took another sip of his wine, it seemed to calm his nerves, but Seto had to wonder why he would be nervous here.
"What if I handle the electricity? I'll do that for my chore."
"They can't choose their own chores!" Ms. Sweeney protested from her stool, but Pegasus only smiled at her protests.
"Fine, you can do the electricity. The generator's in the basement, according to the blueprints."
"Have you been down there? What shape is it in?" Kaiba moved toward the fireplace to warm his hands. Pegasus looked a bit distant, a shadow falling across his features before he answered.
"I don't go down there." He took a longer draught from his mug as Kaiba noticed Croquet visibly stiffen at his employer's odd behavior. Something was definitely odd about this hotel. Mokuba, meanwhile, had found it difficult to sit still for so long, and had wandered over to the window to watch outside as the last bits of sunlight disappeared over the horizon. Clouds were coming in quickly from the north, and the boy could feel the anger of the wind as it broke through the cracks and crevices of the windowpane. He felt a comforting hand lay upon his shoulder, and he reached up, expecting his big brother to be standing right behind him. But when he lay his hand down, nothing was there though the weight still remained. He darted from the window quickly, baking a beeline for his big brother as Pegasus' voice came to him across the room.
::Don't stray in the darkness, young Mokuba. You may not like what you find there.:: Mokuba looked up, expecting to see Pegasus' eyes upon him, but he was speaking to Yugi and the rest of them, deep in conversation. He raised his eye once, and met Mokuba's frightened gaze with a brief smile before turning back to the group. ::You can hear me, can't you? How odd… I had a feeling you'd be able to, but I wasn't sure.:: Mokuba shut his eyes and clutched his brother's arm. Kaiba patted his brother on the head as he stared into the fire, lost in thought. The fact that Pegasus was afraid of the basement made him all the more curious to explore it.