Chapter 6

She didn't know how long she'd been stood there for, staring at the message written in shells, when the tide began to lap at her feet. Shaking her head, she slowly made her way up the beach half wondering how it had become so dark without her even noticing. She didn't have long to dwell on this, however, as she spotted a large beach house on the shoreline ahead of her. Some instinct made her head towards it and before she even knew what she was doing she found herself inside.

The room she was in was like some kind of entertainment hall, with a large sweeping staircase at one end. The hall was vaguely decorated and, for the first few minutes, completely empty. Then other people started to arrive, congregating in little groups all across the hall. She didn't recognise a single one of them and somewhere in the pit of her stomach she couldn't help but wonder where the hell her friends were.

'You're here at last,' an excited redheaded girl grabbed hold of her arm, 'I've been waiting for you.'

'Where am I?' She found herself studying the girl for some clue as to who she was, but there was nothing familiar about her.

'Oh don't worry about that,' the girl giggled, 'all this is for someone else.'

'Then why am I here?'

'Because I have a little present for you,' the girl grinned, 'a birthday present, from the Master.'

'But it's not my birthday yet.'

'He knows that, but he really couldn't wait any longer, he needs you to have it now. Come on, I'll show it to you.'

Without waiting for a response, the redheaded girl pulled her towards a table at the far end of the room. On the table was a beautiful axe with a butterfly shaped head.

'No. I don't want that,' she tried to pull herself away from the redhead, but the other girl's grip was strong.

'But the Master needs you to have it.'

'But I don't want it. I don't want to be anywhere near it.'

'The Master said you might be afraid of it, but don't worry, it can't hurt you now,' the redhead's voice was soft and reassuring. 'But you have to understand, the game will begin soon and the Master needs you to have it, so you can't refuse.'

'Game?'

'When the Master comes, he will explain.'

'I don't understand,' she shook her head, 'who is your Master and why does he want me to have that?' She pointed towards the axe.

'Because you're the only one who can't play for them, so he needs you to play for him.'

'Play what? What's going on?'

'The Master will explain everything when he arrives.'

'No, I want you to explain.'

'I can't; the Master won't allow it. But he'll be here soon and then he'll explain everything.'

'Hey, new guys,' a boy with jet black hair appeared out of nowhere next to them, 'they're about to come back, so are you leaving or sticking around to watch?'

'We're watching,' the redhead smiled sweetly at him, 'the Master has requested it.'

'Then you need your cards. No one can stay without their cards, understand. This is their world and those are the rules.'

'Cards?' She flicked a confused look between the redhead and the boy with jet black hair. 'What cards? What's going on here?'

'You promised us your outsider would understand,' the boy glared at the redhead, 'she won't be permitted to stay if she doesn't understand.'

'I'll make sure she understands, you just get back to your mark,' the redhead used her hands to shoo him away.

'He doesn't like me, does he?' She felt her lip tremble slightly as the boy walked away.

'Nobody likes invaders,' the redhead rolled her eyes, 'but they don't have a choice. The Master wants us both to see what happens here.'

'Why?'

'I can't fulfil my intended purpose, so he's hoping I'll see something here which will... create a new purpose for me,' the redhead smirked as she tilted her head to one side. 'As for you, he's hoping watching this will let you see why you can't play for them. And when you understand why you can't play for them, you'll be ready.'

'Ready for what?'

'To meet the Master.'

'But... what if I don't understand?' She shook her head. 'What if I watch whatever it is that's about to happen and I still don't understand?'

'The Master has prepared me for that possibility, don't you worry.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'It means whatever it needs to mean,' the redhead shrugged, 'that's just the way things are in a dream.'

'A dream?' She felt confused. 'But this isn't a dream, this is the real world.'

'The Master said you would say that,' the redhead smirked, 'don't worry, you'll understand everything soon enough, I promise. That's the whole reason we're here, remember? So you can understand.'

He stared at the flashing green face of his alarm clock, but the numbers didn't make any sense to him; until he turned over and view them in the mirror that is. The second he saw them reflected their meaning was as clear as a bell. He knew there was something wrong with that, but he didn't let it bother him. Instead he sat up and examined the inside of the clean, sterile room he was in. It was white, bland and ordinary. Too ordinary, making the bed he was sat on feel extremely out of place.

The bed itself had these metal guard-like railings either side and attached to these railings at the top and the bottom were leather straps. He knew he didn't like them just by looking at them, but it was more than that. They made him feel incredibly uncomfortable; like a bad memory floating just below the surface of his consciousness. It was enough to force him up out of bed, across the bland room and out into the even blander looking corridor outside.

The corridor was just as white as the room he'd left. It was long and echoey and lit by a series of tacky strip lights; some of which buzzed and flickered in a manner which made him feel sick. He spent a few moments looking up and down the corridor, before deciding to head along the path on his right. He didn't make it very far when the corridor ahead of him fell into shadows. Somewhat automatically he came to a stop and turned around to find the path behind him was also in darkness. The only light left in the whole corridor came from the strip light above him, which flickered in a strangely taunting manner.

He was trapped. Trapped by shadowy darkness all around him. He could feel himself start to panic; he didn't want to be here anymore. He didn't like this place. He didn't know what this place was or why he was here, he just knew he didn't want to be here anymore. He wanted to be anywhere but here. He had to be anywhere but here.

Without warning he found himself at the top of a sweeping staircase, looking down across a large, dimly lit ballroom. He could feel something in his hands and looking down he saw an orangey colour playing card with an empty grey box depicted on it. He didn't know why, but the fact the card had at one time been torn in two really upset him. The sound of excited voices reached his ears, bringing his attention back to the room below. After spotting a huddled group of people near the staircase, he decided to head towards them and ask them why his card was torn. But even before he reached them, he could see the cards they were all holding; the beautifully decorated cards, with pictures on them that they were proudly showing off to each other.

He couldn't understand it. Why was he the one with the ugly damaged card? Why couldn't his be like theirs? He wanted his to be like theirs. He wanted it more than anything. A boy suddenly appeared beside him, saying something he couldn't understand. But it didn't matter. All he could see was another happy person, with another perfect little card. Anger coursed through him, as he snatched the card from the boy's hands and tore it in two.

Instantly the boy's eyes bulged and a trickle of blood ran down from his mouth. He was then forced to watch in horror, as the boy fell lifelessly to the ground.

'No,' he shook his head in disbelief, 'no, I didn't mean it.' He knelt down beside the boy and slowly turned him onto his back. 'I'm sorry, I…'

His heart stopped. He recognised the cold blue eyes staring up at him. A lump formed in his throat.

'No, Seto!'

Her son's terrified cries had sent her running into his room. The second he spotted her, his already wide eyes widened further.

'Where am I? Where's Seto?'

'Tristan it's…'

'How do you know my name?' He cut her off.

'Tristan I... I'm your mother,' there was more than a note of hurt in her voice.

'No,' he shook his head, 'no, you're lying; you have to be. Where am I? What did you do with Seto?'

'I didn't do anything with him,' she took a step towards him, 'you wanted to come here.'

'No,' he leapt out of bed, 'I would never want to come here. Why are you lying to me? Where am I? Where's Seto?'

'Tristan,' slowly she made her way towards him, desperate for him to recognise her again, 'it's okay. I'm your mother; I'm not going to hurt you.'

'Then why did you take me away from Seto?'

'I didn't, you wanted to come here.'

'Stop lying!'

'But I'm not…' she stopped, clearly that wasn't going to get through to him. 'Do you want me to call Seto for you?'

He nodded.

'Alright, I'll be back in a minute.'

Sighing heavily, she left to find the cordless phone. Picking it up, she dialled in the now familiar number. She then mentally counted the number of rings it took him to pick up.

'Do you have any idea how late it is?' A voice eventually grunted down the phone to her.

'And hello to you too Seto,' she smirked to herself as she made her way back to Tristan's room.

'Oh it's you,' his voice softened, 'what do you want?'

'I need you to tell Tristan…'

As soon as she spotted the open window in the now empty room, the phone fell from her hands.

'Hello?' Distantly she heard Kaiba's voice calling down the line to her. 'Mrs Taylor? What's going on? Hello?'

With her whole body trembling she reached down and scooped up the phone.

'He's gone,' the words trembled out of her, 'he's gone!'