So this story has over a 1000 views. Wow. I mean, this story's been around since 2020, but still. So now we are on to chapter 8. Please let me know what you guys think!
Crush
Chapter 8: To the Place Where No One Goes
The Domino City Museum, in Teà's opinion, was one of the quietest places in the city. If not for the simple fact that not many people went to it. But it was one of her favourite places to go to, whenever she wanted to get away from everything. The fragrance-free museum smell (it kind of smelt like cleaner, but not really), the freshly vacuumed carpet, and the vast open space all contributed to the relaxing environment.
History was not her best subject, but Teà wasn't the type to shy away from any learning opportunities.
Teà had jitters in her stomach, and couldn't keep the silly smile off her face, as she remembered the night before, when Yami nonchalantly invited her to attend an exhibition. The theme was Ancient Egyptian pharaohs, a topic that she herself didn't have much knowledge or interest in. But she figured that she should go give her support to Yami. He told her that before he came back to Domino, he had discovered many of these artifacts back in Egypt, and as a results, he was given a chance to showcase them. It took months for the Domino City Museum to prepare for it, so it was not small feat.
When Yami texted her about it, she could tell that he was excited; it was almost as if he had been looking for these artifacts his whole life. She understood that kind of enthusiasm. So, in a slightly uncharacteristic move, Teà texted her dance classmates that she couldn't make it to practice today. It wasn't often that she played hooky, but she knew that this exhibition was important.
The fact that she just played hooky to spend time with a guy she liked did not escape Teà.
Dressed in a lavender tank top and a white mini-skirt, which she paired off with her worn out brown, knee-high boots, it was obvious she put effort into her appearance.
After entering the museum and paying the entrance fee, Teà was left free to look around. There were more people here than she anticipated, and so that meant that there were tours planned. This all meant that it wasn't so easy to pin out Yami. Which was ok – Teà could use this time to look around and see what was on display.
Whenever she came to the museum, she always started clockwise. Turning to the left, Teà walked over to the first glass case she saw. Her azure eyes were full of intrigue, trying to decode what was on display. From what she could tell, it was a beautiful, golden necklace. At the centerpiece was an eye, which captured Teà's interest.
Pursing her lips, she looked to the description for information. The Millenium Necklace. One of seven items which all supposedly held a mystic power that no one could ever conceive of. Continuing to glaze over the description, Teà read that the Necklace was rumoured to have the power to foresee the future.
She briefly pondered what it would have been like to use this necklace; it sounded daunting to her, to be honest, to have that much power in her hands.
Teà shook her head, sobering her thoughts. She could stand here and look at the necklace all day, or she could simply move on to the next item on display.
So for the next ten minutes, Teà carefully went from case to case, but in no particular order, and in the corner of her eye, she saw what it appeared to be stone tablets – huge stone tablets – hung up on the wall. Teà briefly wondered how anyone would have been able to put them up for display. They looked to be a hundred tons each, and no doubt that if she was a curator, she would have left the task up to someone else.
Teà could honestly say that the tablets took her breath away.
She knew she had an expression on her face equal to awe and wonder, as she stood not even five feet away from the first tablet. She wanted to memorize every inch of what was carved onto them, but she was particularly drawn toward two carved, slender figures, in what looked like ancient Egyptian garb.
Teà couldn't make heads or tail of the symbols on the tablet, but she was fascinated with the clothed figures. One of them looked like he was a priest, judging by the headwear, and he held his left arm out. It seemed as if he was taking an aggressive stance, and in his right arm, he was holding an object of some sort. Most likely one of the Millenium Items that she read about earlier.
Over top of him, was some kind of creature, and after studying it for a few minutes, Teà deduced that it was a dragon. Her eyes widened in curiosity, wondering what the significance of the dragon was in this carving.
She didn't have time to think about it though, as her eyes wandered over to the other figure in the carving.
If the first figure was a priest, Teà had an inkling that the other person was someone much, much more important. Perhaps he was the pharaoh? But she couldn't really say; all she knew was that this man had some kind of resemblance to Yugi and Yami. The bristly hairstyle in this carving was enough for her to come to that conclusion.
It was definitely strange, to say the least.
But then again, this carving may not have been historically accurate. Perhaps they were simply interpretations of the people they were supposed to show. Well, it wasn't exactly in Teà's place to assume. She wasn't an historian.
"I've never seen anyone this enthralled with a rock before." An amused, masculine voice alerted Teà, drawing her out from her thoughts. She gasped in shock: she didn't anticipate anyone to come up to her.
Judging from his voice, Teà knew that it wasn't Yami who approached her.
"I apologize for scaring you, Miss," he said, though the amusement never left.
Teà turned to face the source, and her eyes raked over the stranger who approached her. She had to admit that he was handsome, with his bronze skin, shoulder-length, light hair, and lavender eyes. She thought that he would have been around the same age as she was, as he was dressed in dark jeans and a simple purple t-shirt. She tried hard not to stare at him (tried being the operative word), but it was impossible.
But if she had to make a guess, Teà thought that he was one of the people in charge of this exhibition.
"It's ok," Teà replied, giving him an easy-going smile. "I'm Teà," she continued, noting that the man before her wasn't going to say anything. She held out a hand, which the man easily accepted.
"I'm Marik Ishtar. It's nice to meet you, Teà."
"You too. So are you part of the exhibition? Sorry, are you in charge of this exhibition, is what I meant to say." Teà was not expecting to be this tongue-tied. 'Are you part of the exhibition?' that was enough to make Teà cringe.
"No, that would be my sister, Ishizu," Marik shrugged. "I'm sure she's here around here somewhere."
"I see," Teà said simply, not sure of what else to say. "Are you here for emotional support then?"
Marik grinned. "You could say that. What about you? I have a feeling that you're not one of those middle school students," Marik's eyes flickered toward a group of students at the other side of the room. A few of them were pushing each other around, pretty openly at that. Teà was surprised that none of the staff weren't making their way over to reinforce the rules.
"So you're saying I'm old?" Teà's smile grew wider, raising an eyebrow in the process. This guy was hilarious.
"I'm saying that you're not as bored as everyone else here." And he was also smooth.
"I'm supposed to meet someone here," Teà admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "But I guess he isn't here yet."
"Well, it wouldn't be right of me to leave you without any good company."
"Don't you have to go give your sister support or something?"
"This isn't my first exhibition. She's got guys for that."
Teà, at this point, looked back at the tablet. "Are they the same guys who had to put these up on the wall?"
Marik smirked, following Teà's eyes. "No, she's got a separate team for that." Noting that Teà's attention went back towards the tablet, he then asked, "Do you happen to know the story behind this tablet?"
"No, I don't." Teà cleared her throat. "I'm not an expert in Egyptian history."
"Well, I can tell you that this tablet is showing the final duel between the Pharaoh Atem and his high priest."
Teà felt her heart skip a beat. So the second person was the Pharaoh. But before she could ponder on that clarification, Teà was curious about something Marik said. "Final duel? You mean with those creatures above them?"
"You are correct. Supposedly, the noblemen of Egyptian society participated in duels using dark magic. They summoned all sorts of monsters. Some of them were stronger than others."
"So what is that monster?" Teà pointed toward the dragon, above the high priest's figure.
"The Blue Eyes White Dragon," Marik replied. "And that one is the Dark Magician," and it was his turn to point, towards the figure that was above the Pharaoh. After looking at it closely, Teà could see that he looked like a wizard, with the pointed hat, and what seemed to be a staff in his right hand.
"I take it that they didn't duel for fun?"
"No. It was all about gaining and maintaining power. The high priest here? He wanted to claim the throne, using any means necessary to get it," Marik said, pointing towards the first man. "And this man over here? Pharaoh Atem? He was his cousin."
Teà was pretty sure that her eyes popped out of her head, as she whipped around to look at Marik. "They were cousins?"
"First cousins, to be exact," Marik said nonchalantly. "The throne mattered more than anything else." That answered Teà's next question, revolving around family. "It's said that the Pharaoh was not a king, but a tyrant." He could tell that Teà looked unnerved at that, so he felt the need to continue. "You must understand that rulers in this time period are not saints, like many historians paint them to be."
Teà didn't know how to respond to that remark. "So I take it there was a lot of bloodshed, then?" The thought, not going to lie, made Teà feel a little queasy. But even she knew that some important events in history didn't happen without some violence involved.
"Most likely." Marik didn't seem the type to sugar-coat things for other people. "It was a dark period in Egyptian history. Relatively unknown, until now at least. We're lucky that all these artifacts are intact."
"You're quite the expert on this," Teà pointed out.
"I would think so. I'm getting my doctorate in this field," Marik chuckled, looking into Teà's eyes. "Is that shocking to you?"
She blushed in embarrassment, as if it was just now that she realized how condescending she must have sounded. "Sorry. It's just that you look so young."
"It wouldn't be the first time I've been called out on it, so it's fine." Marik paused, before letting out a single snicker. "Considering I've done the same to you, let's call it even."
"Fair enough. So why do you think this tablet was made?"
Marik seemed to be pleased that she was showing interest. "To pass down the story, I suppose." He paused momentarily, folding his arms together. "People like story-telling at least."
"Does it say on here who won the duel?"
"Unfortunately, the lower glyphs here are cut off," Marik clicked his tongue, showing Teà where on the tablet what glyphs he meant. "So you could say we're never meant to know." Marik laughed, seeing the subtle look of disappointment on Teà's face. "You're disappointed."
"I was kind of hoping to find out who won. But I guess destiny has a sick sense of humour."
"Do you believe in destiny?" Marik leaned forward, his eyes portraying curiosity.
But before Teà could respond, she was interrupted. "Teà, you made it." Once again, she was alerted to another presence, but this time it was from someone who she was waiting to see. Teà nearly blushed after hearing Yami say her name, but she was glad that she didn't. She turned around to see Yami, who – for the first time – was dressed formally. His wardrobe was completely black; blazer, dress shirt, and pants. That being said, she thought that he pulled this look off insanely well.
If she was trying not to blush before, it took everything in her power to look unaffected by Yami's appearance.
"Hey, how's it going?"
"I'm better, now that you're here." Teà's smile grew wider, if that was even possible. Strands of her hair fell in front of her face, and so she found the perfect excuse to do something with her hands; she hooked them with her fingers, and quickly tucked them behind her ears.
Yami noticed that Teà wasn't alone, and she could see that his pleasant demeanor instantly changed when he looked in Marik's direction. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She had never seen him make that kind of look before.
"Marik."
Marik also seemed to share the same barely concealed hint of politeness, as he merely nodded in acknowledgement. "Yami."
Marik turned to face Teà, and he clapped her on the shoulder several times. "I suppose I should head out. Have to lead another tour."
"But I thought—"
"It's nice making your acquaintance, Teà," Marik stated, before making his way to the entrance of the museum, leaving Teà and Yami all alone.
At first, she didn't know what to say; after witnessing Yami's change in conduct, Teà wasn't sure if there was anything she could say to dispel the new tension that was present.
But at the same time, she felt compelled to explain herself. "Marik was just telling me about the tablet here."
Yami nodded. "And what did he say?"
"He just gave me the backstory regarding this tablet. You know, with dueling, and dark magic."
"Did he tell you about them?" Yami's mauve eyes flickered towards the figures on the tablet, crossing his arms at the same time.
"Not much. Only that they were cousins, supposedly," Teà added, biting down on her lower lip. "And that the Pharaoh was apparently a tyrant." She could have sworn that she saw a flash of anger appear in Yami's eyes, but it vanished.
"I see."
Ok, now it felt like Teà had to say something. "Is…Is something wrong, Yami?"
"No, not at all. Marik and I… well, we have different opinions on these matters," Yami replied, and it looked like he was uncomfortable talking about it. Which was completely fair – whatever relationship Marik and Yami had, it was none of Teà's business.
"I don't mean to take it out on you, Teà."
"It's fine," Teà said immediately. "I just haven't seen you look so stiff before."
Yami managed to crack a smile at that. "Is that so?"
It was her turn to giggle. "It was kind of uncomfortable, to be honest. I thought…well, never mind." Yami looked like he was waiting for her to continue, but since it was apparent she wasn't going to say anything, he then cleared his throat.
"I want you to know that I never intended to make you feel uncomfortable, Teà." The sincerity in his eyes as he said that made Teà feel skittish. At first, Teà didn't know what to even say to that; she wanted to believe that there was some kind of hidden meaning behind his words. Even if there wasn't, she really, really appreciated that he didn't want to treat her horribly.
"I appreciate that." More than he could ever know. "So, how are you enjoying the exhibition?"
"It's going good. More people showed up than I anticipated."
"Maybe there's a crowd who's hankering for Egyptian history," Teà joked, and she could tell that Yami was gradually becoming more relaxed. "I mean, look at all these artifacts. You said that your team found these, right?"
"That's correct. It was pure happenstance," Yami responded, as if he wanted to appear modest.
"Well, whatever the case, I should still congratulate you. This is pretty impressive."
"Thank you, Teà." Yami shrugged his shoulders, as he turned around to take another look around the room. It was as if he found the other section of the room more fascinating to look at.
"Is this your first exhibition?"
"No, this is my second, actually." Yami turned back to face Teà, giving her a small smile. "It's been a while since I've had to talk to this many people."
"You're afraid of public speaking?"
"I wouldn't say that. I'm more of an introvert, so to speak." Teà figured that out the first time she had seen him, but she wasn't going to admit that.
"That makes sense. I take it you'll be here for the rest of the day?"
"I will be. The exhibition is taking place all week." Yami paused. "Well, should we go take another look around? If you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer them."
"Sure."
Teà didn't object when she felt his hand slightly touch her lower back, as if to guide her amongst the growing crowd.
She. Was. Screwed.