“Man,
these Darknesses or entities or whatever they are, are pretty
creepy,” Jounouchi said, lisping a little. It felt like his
jaw was broken and all his teeth had been rearranged in the most
painful way possible. “Though I wouldn’t hesitate
for a second to team up with yours, Yuugi. He’s powerful,
that’s for sure.”
Yuugi simply
nodded, unable to say anything in return. Even the power of the Pharaoh
was probably not enough to stop the process and save the world this
time. As Mahaado had said, too many disruptions…
“Must
we say Pharaoh to you now?” Jounouchi said.
Yuugi showed
him a genuine smile. “Pharaoh,
Prince…I’m just Yuugi, and I would never demand of
my friends to call me anything else.”
“This
world is coming to an end, and you’re talking about
friends?” Honda snorted, but his voice lacked any malice.
“Yes,”
Yuugi said and beamed up at him. He cupped the Puzzle with both hands.
“Thanks to you, I was able to finish this.”
“You’re
welcome,” Jounouchi said lamely. Silence fell - only the
sounds of Ushio rummaging through the garbage and exclaiming
“Money! Money!” every now and then were heard in
the background.
“So…what
are we going to do now? Eat a burger before it’s too
late?”
“Onii-chan,
it must be way past midnight,” Shizuka said, a hint of
amusement to her voice.
Honda checked
his watch. “Half past midnight, it’s okay. I think
there must be a fast food joint or two open at this time of
hour.”
“Don’t
bother, guys,” Yuugi said as he looked out the window,
pointing at the horizon. A faint yellowish light was visible, consuming
everything in its path.
“I
guess that’s our end of the line,” Jounouchi said
and Shizuka pressed herself closer to him.
“Hey,
Yuugi?”
“Yes,
Jounouchi-kun?”
“Thanks,
man.”
“Thank
you too, Jounouchi-kun, Honda-kun, Shizuka-chan…”
A soft smile tugged at Yuugi’s lips. He felt
complete and, despite the situation at hand, at ease. There was another
personality in his mind, he knew it, he could feel it. Mou
hitori no boku. I’m sorry I never got to know you.
There wasn’t any answer, but the presence he felt was
sufficient.
“Onii-chan?”
“It’s
almost here,” Jounouchi said. “I’m sorry,
folks. I really shouldn’t have…”
“It’s
all right,” Yuugi interrupted him. He didn’t want
the last thoughts of any one of them be filled with guilt and grief. It
was, in a way, fitting that their death would be caused by that strange
light, eradicating this world from existence.
Light and Darkness, and light always wins. Life was a game
they had played, and in Yuugi’s mind, they hadn’t
lost. Light always wins. He stared at the oncoming
light with open eyes - it wasn’t blinding, it
was…comforting. Soft yellow, like the sun, the rising sun in
Egypt. As if he could feel a warmer temperature, sand between his toes,
a soft breeze caressing his hair.
Shizuka simply
held on to her brother, unable to see the light coming. Honda held her
hand as Jounouchi held her other hand, and together they held
Yuugi’s hands. An unbreakable circle of
friends…but too late in this universe. Mana and Mahaado
looked at each other, watching the ending of the world from a distance,
their magic enabling them to stay outside of time, unharmed by the
event. Without another word Mahaado turned around, leaving through the
time portal. After one more look, Mana left with him, as the world
behind them ceased to exist.
End
of this timeline
Timeline
III, known universe: Domino City, Japan
The food was
simple, but nourishing - at this moment, he couldn’t have
cared less for the finer taste of the dishes he was used to. There was
even a napkin packed in the box, which he used for wiping off his
fingers before he finished off the rest of the milk. His only regret
was that there was obviously not any more food in the shed; he felt
like he could eat a whole army’s worth.
How long had
it been since he had anything to eat before this? His earliest memory
went back to breakfast at the Palace, and since then he simply drew a
blank. Closing the box and screwing the typical cap on the goblet once
again, he decided that he had to be thankful for the bite of food he
had found instead of complaining. It was dark, cold and raining, and he
had shelter, his clothes only torn at the hem and he’d had
something to eat. Fortunately, his shenti wasn’t soaked, but
slightly damp; he’d been inside before it started to really
pour. His cloak could serve as a blanket, the fabric thick and
comfortable enough to provide him warmth. There wasn’t
anything resembling a bed here, but that was obviously too much to ask
for from this simple shed.
He looked
around to see if he could improvise something to sleep on, but there
was nothing that could serve as a makeshift bed, and he gave up on the
idea. He was too tired and his feet hurt; the chair would have to
suffice. He’d fallen asleep on his throne before, a chair
wasn’t that different. In the morning, he would go out and
find someone who could help him, as well as paying for eating the food;
he didn’t have any money on him, but one of his earrings or
regular rings would do. A Pharaoh would always respect his citizens and
pay for what he took, even if it was simple bread and milk.
There was
someone fumbling at the door, the handle rattling. He turned his head
around, surprised. Who could come here at this time of hour? Another
lost person? How was he supposed to communicate, would they speak the
same language as he? Straightening himself despite his sore feet - he
really, really wanted to sit again - he waited for the visitors to
enter. The door was pushed open, a gust of cold wind blowing inside,
followed by a slew of raindrops.
“What
a shitty weather, fuck,” the tallest of the two spoke out
loud, following by a loud burp.
“You
said it, Soyjo,” the smaller one said, huddling in his
leather coat, his words mumbled by the ratty shawl wrapped around his
head. He had stuffed his hands deep in his pockets, shivering again. No
wonder he was cold - the man wore even rattier jeans, cut open
everywhere, tucked in muddy, badly tied boots.
“It’s a good thing we saw you going in here,” the one called Soyjo said. “A very good thing.
You wanted to
take shelter for the rain too, huh?”
He nodded,
figuring from the intonation of the man’s voice that he asked
a question, and his guess was, ten to one, that he was commenting about
the bad weather.
“Hey,
cat got your tongue?” The small one closed the door behind
him, shutting the rain and the wind out.
“He’s
not very talkative, Haruku,” Soyjo said, grinning.
“Not that he want him to be. He’s not from
here…you aren’t from here, are you?”
“I
do not understand you,” he answered.
“Whoa,
whoa! It talks! Jesus fuck man, is that a language or a disease you
got?”
Soyjo laughed,
sounding like a mule. He took his hands out of his pockets, almost
similarly dressed as Haruku; cut and torn jeans, combined with a
sweaty, sticky shirt and leather jacket, steel-toed boots on his feet.
“Who
fucking cares, man, look at what he’s wearing! I told you
that it was gold! And you fucking telling me that I didn’t
see right! Fuck you, I’m taking that pendant of
his!”
“Hey!”
Haruku yelled at his partner in crime. “Shut the fuck up,
man! Equal share!”
“I do not understand you,” he repeated, keeping his voice neutral. The tones in their voices were picking up, and he didn’t like it one bit - he had to remain calm and collected. He had to have faith in the Gods and in their infinite ways…he wasn’t sure if he was able to summon them in this world, but he could always try, and he had his Sennen Item…these two weren’t friendly, and the feeling that he was in danger increased by the second.
For some
reason, Yuugi had thought of something more spectactular than running
down the streets close to midnight as a rescue mission. Mana and
Mahaado were both magicians, and he had imagined them flying or at
least using some kind of magical transport; instead, they were running
the hardest to wherever Mahaado had located the Pharaoh. Even taking a
car would be faster and more efficient than running, and his lungs
burned in his body, chest heaving from the exertion. Yami
wasn’t doing much better, completely unused to intense
physical activity like this. Anzu was running with, how else, the grace
of a dancer; her steps were long and elegant, as if she
wasn’t hurrying or running at all.
“How…far…is…it?”
Yami panted, stumbling every now and then and latching onto
Yuugi’s jacket to keep him from falling to the ground.
“I…
Idontknow,” Yuugi blurted out in response, keeping his eyes
focused on the two running in front of him. “I
hope…itsnotmuchfurther!”
As if he
overheard them, Mahaado suddenly addressed Mana, not skipping a beat.
“Apprentice,
we better send our
kaa in first, they are faster!”
“Yes,
Master,” Mana agreed and twirled her wand, a soft blue and a
pale pink light glowing from its tip. They both halted in the middle of
the street - fortunately, at this time of hour there were hardly any
cars. Yuugi used the brief respite to catch his breath; wheezing, he
took in large gulps of air, hands on his knees. Yami was next to him,
mimicking his posture, panting as well.
Yuugi almost
forgot to breathe when he saw what the magicians were doing. Mahaado,
enveloped in a dark purplish glow, and Mana, bathing in the blue and
pink colors, were summoning their kaa - Yuugi
couldn’t even ask what it was, but he understood the moment
he saw the bright light. He could see it despite the brightness, two
forms taking shape, all in a matter of seconds; when the light died
out, two familiar monsters were on the field…so to speak. He
smiled in recognition. It was like Kaiba’s holographic
technology had come alive, rendering the images more lifelike than ever
could be possible. Gaping, Anzu noticed the same, and she took a step
closer to Yuugi, bewildered in what she had just seen.
“Black
Magician Girl, Black Magician,” Yami and Yuugi said at the
same time. As the monsters had their back turned to them, they
couldn’t see their faces, though Yuugi caught a brief glimpse
of the Black Magician Girl’s face as she turned to look at
Mana who had summoned there.
Even though
there were no orders given, the two kaa suddenly
moved forward, flying through the air, but not yet out of sight. Yami
was about to say something when Mahaado and Mana started running again,
following their kaa. Yuugi was glad for the brief
pause, ignoring his burning lungs as he sped up, trying to keep up the
other’s pace. Anzu and Yami were close to him, and together
they didn’t lose the two magicians one moment out of their
sight. Despite the intensive running, Yuugi recognized their
surroundings. If he wasn’t mistaken, they were heading for
Domino City Park - this street was notorious for being blocked by
double-parked cars from all the visitors during summer. The fence was
visible in the light of the street lanterns; could the Pharaoh really
be in the municipal park?
Every kid knew
the history of the city park. It was constructed in honor of the
Emperor, in an attempt to imitate the design of the empiric gardens.
While it used to be open only for the nobility in the earlier ages,
nowadays it was a meeting point for almost everyone, from junior to
senior. Every season had its charm, especially in the park: in the
summer there were lots of dance festivals and street theatre, in the
fall guided walks and barbecues. Lots of schoolkids were to be found at
the large lawns, or close to the fountain where they threw in a few yen
to make their wish. Some parts were gardens only, divided by theme: a
Japanese garden of course, a French garden, an English garden.
They finally
came to a halt in front of the large main gate, wide open.
“This
is Domino City Park,” Yuugi said after he found his breath
again, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice. The park was never
closed; the local police made their rounds to chase away hobos or
people who looked suspicious. The dimension of the park was far too
big, though - it could very well be that there were still people
hiding, or that a Pharaoh was lost in one of the gardens. Anzu caught
up at him, looking just as confused as Yami.
Mahaado and
Mana were standing in front of the gate, both sporting a pensive frown.
“What
is it?” Yami asked, wanting to know what was going on.
“I…I
lost it,” Mahaado said.
“Lost
what? Where the Pharaoh is?”
“He
must be in here somewhere,” Mahaado made a wide movement with
his arm, sending his kaa into the park, the Black
Magician determinedly flying, his characteristic staff in his right
hand. Mana seemed to hesitate, but sent her kaa as
well, the young Black Magician Girl reflecting her hesitation and
searching out her Master, following his trail.
“He
must be in here somewhere,” Mahaado repeated, impatience in
his voice.
“Master,
try to concentrate,” Mana gently admonished.
“You’re too tired. If you can’t
concentrate well…”
“Found
him!” Mahaado barked, eyes widened in anxiety. “We
have to hurry!”
Trapped.
No way out.
He stood with his back against the wall, literally. There was no room
to move in this small shed, occupied with tools and maintenance
materials and equipment. He couldn’t reach for one of the
hoes or shovels - if he made a movement, the other two would attack
him. He knew enough to sense trouble, especially when it was so close
to him, and these two oozed danger.
“This
is going to be fucking great, Soyjo, look all that gold!”
“We’re
going to have some great fun with you,” Haruku grinned,
stepping forward. Greed was visible in his eyes; never had he seen so
much gold before. All this jewelry was worth millions, and he
wouldn’t have to have any more worries for the rest of his
life. He was rich!
That pendant
alone would bring up such a hefty sum that he could buy his own
deserted island. With all that money, he could bring some chicks and
party till he dropped…and the gold on this stranger would
provide him with whatever he wanted.
“You’re
a walking treasure chest,” Soyjo said, digging into one of
his pockets and whipping out a switchblade. Clicking it open, he held
it up, blade clearly visible. “We’re going to pry
it off your dead body…we’re going to have so much
fun…!”
He cackled
madly and took another step forward, cornering the other. This was so
easy, like stealing candy from a baby! The other had nothing to defend
himself with, was dressed strangely and obviously didn’t have
any pockets to pull out a knife of his own. So easy, yes, so
easy…and with all that money that gold would fetch, he could
buy himself everything - houses, weapons, bitches…everything.
“Please
do not do this,” he said, keeping his voice calm, though it
took him considerably much effort. He was exhausted, the adrenaline
rushing through his body not enough to fend off the two thieves, both
equipped with knives, the other pulling out his weapon out of his
jacket pocket. They were after his gold of course, and he
didn’t have the slighest illusion they would keep him alive
in their attempt to get it off of him. “I can give
you…”
“We
don’t understand your gibberish, not that it matters
much.” Haruku showed him a devilish grin. “If you
think that someone’s about to save you, forget it.
You’re in a maintenance shack in a city park…tough
luck, stupidhead.”
“Get
his stuff first, then we can have some fun with him,” Soyjo
said. “I saw some rope here…”
“Later,”
Haruku licked his lips and moved forward, his knife firmly in hand,
blade flickering in the yellowish light.
The air was
split by a primal scream, and a thousand knives appeared out of
nowhere, imipaling the thieves the next second. Each and every one of
the blades penetrated their bodies with a sickening sound of tearing
clothes and flesh, boring into bones. Spitting out blood, death
instantaneous, the two of them fell wordlessly to the floor of the
shed, hands dropping their weapons. The Black Magician looked
contemptuously at the lifeless bodies, crossing his arms in front of
his chest. Mahaado hurried forward, barging through the open door,
followed by Mana - both reached their Pharaoh at the same time.
“Pharaoh!
Pharaoh…”
“Mahaado!
Mana…” He opened his arms and the girl jumped into
them, throwing him against the wall with the sheer force of the impact,
hugging him close for a brief moment before she pulled away, looking at
him in ecstasy.
“We
finally, finally found you! For real!”
“Pharaoh…praise
the Gods we found you!”
Mahaado sunk
to the floor, kneeling for him. “We have been searching all
over for you…forgive your servants…”
Yami and Yuugi
stumbled into the shed, both widening their eyes simultaneously in
surprise. In front of them, looking rather disheveled but the
similarity was uncanny, stood another one…another Yuugi. His
skin was dark and his hair was a little wilder, but the shape was
unmistakable.
“Stand
up,” he said, obviously addressing Mahaado, who remained
kneeling, unmoving. The Pharaoh leaned forward and tapped on his
shoulder. “Stand up, my Priest. You have found me. Everything
is all right.”
“I
failed you…”
“No,
you did not,” the Pharaoh said, straightening himself and
looking over at Mana, returning her smile. He looked back at Mahaado
who still lowered his head.
“Stand
up and look at me, Priest Mahaado.”
“Yes,
Great Pharaoh,” he whispered and he got up from the floor,
forcing himself to look at his Pharaoh, only noticing how disheveled he
looked. “What happened! Pharaoh, we’ll take you
home immediately!”
“Yes,
home,” he said and Mana latched onto his arm, exclaiming
“Home!” cheerfully. He trusted his Priest to tell
him how it had been possible for all of them to end up here, but
happiness about their reunion dominated the moment, and he
didn’t want to distrupt that right now.
Yuugi looked
at Yami, smiling like a lunatic; he was so happy for the others to have
found their friend. Yami nodded in appreciation, not insensitive to the
happy emotions. He stared at the other, his third
self as it seems, wondering if he really looked like this
before…no memories were springing to his mind, nothing of
all of this seemed familiar to him - except for the Sennen Puzzle,
dangling from the Pharaoh’s neck.
“Pharaoh,”
Yuugi said, and bowed. Yami scowled a little, remaining upright. He
refused to bow to himself, not even when Yuugi elbowed him.
“Great
Pharaoh, they are your incarnations of this time,” Mahaado
explained to him, switching back to their native language.
“This timeline is perfect - everything has gone as the Great
Timeline has dictated it. The only thing off in this timeline was
caused by your appearance, but now that we have found you, everything
will be restored.”
“I
do not know what you are talking about,” the Pharaoh replied
dryly. “I have been here since…a day, waking up in
some kind of alley, wondering what was going on. I would appreciate it
if we could…leave here?”
“But
of course!” Mahaado said, noticing by now that the lower part
of the Pharaoh’s shenti was spattered with blood. He scowled
at the thieves, mimicking the contemptuous look of his kaa
that was still manifested and held itself up in the air, ready to
attack or to defend according to his master’s wishes.
“We
go home,” Mana chirped, and pulled at the Pharaoh’s
arm. He took a step forward to follow her, all but collapsing the next
moment.
“Pharaoh!”
“It
is all right,” he said, getting back up on his feet again,
limping.
“Pharaoh?
Your feet…”
“It
is all right,” he repeated stubbornly, sending his golden
earrings flying as he shook his head. Mahaado grabbed the small chair
he’d sat on previously, and forced him to sit down again.
Mana knelt at his feet, taking the thin, soiled and torn slippers from
his right foot first.
“Oh!
You’ve walked a great distance, didn’t
you?” she said worriedly.
“No,
not that much,” he answered, heaving a sigh.
“His
footwear isn’t adjusted to these streets,” Mahaado
added, switching back to Japanese again.
“Can
we help?” Yuugi asked, moving forward. Anzu had been
strangely silent, watching the scene in front of her. Mana applied her
knowledge of healing, casting a spell to heal the blisters and the
abrasions on the soles of his feet. He wriggled a little.
“That
feels cold!”
Mana laughed
softly, not minding that casting the spell took almost the rest of her
energy left. Her kaa had already dissolved, unable
as she’d been to keep it up. She didn’t mind as
Mahaado’s kaa was still present; his heka
was much stronger than hers.
“It’s
all right,” she spoke up to answer Yuugi’s
question, also changing back to Japanese. “He
wasn’t really dressed for the occasion, and his feet got hurt
from walking around on the street. We’re…not used
to what you call that ‘asphalt’ of yours.”
Yuugi nodded,
noticing how Mahaado was standing behind the Pharaoh, supporting him,
and how gentle Mana was with her spell, carefully taking care of his
feet, using her heka
to render his slippers spotless clean and whole again. The Pharaoh
himself had gone strangely quiet, head lolled to the side, his hands
resting in his lap as he was waiting for Mana to finish. When Mahaado
picked him up as if he didn’t weigh a thing, Yuugi realized
the other had fallen asleep.
“We
better return to the apartment now,” Mahaado said, keeping
his voice low. Yuugi couldn’t help but stare at the sleeping
Pharaoh in his arms, in every way similar to Yami except for his tan.
“You
look wonderful, mou hitori no boku,” he said, then blushed
furiously.
Mana was the
first to break the slightly awkward silence, and her cheerful laugh
cleared the sudden tension. Yuugi, Yami and Anzu were all red in the
face; Anzu didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh. She was
extremely grateful when Mana came to walk next to her, keeping her head
adverted at first. The magician patted her hand, and Anzu understood
her as the other showed her a compassionate look.
“Master
cares for our Pharaoh a lot, as we all do,” she said
brightly, stressing the words ‘a lot’. She looked
years younger however; the joy of finding their Pharaoh had taken away
a lot of her worries. Anzu nodded, not really happy with the situation
but she understood enough of it to know that she would have to be
content with ‘only’ being friends. As they walked
silently, Mana and Mahaado exchanging some words in their native
language every now and then, Anzu accepted just as silently that being
friends with both Yuugis was important enough to her to fight for their
friendship, and not allow it to be ruined with unreasonable
expectations or ruined chances. A smile found its way to her lips and
she kept in pace with Mana, the girl’s cheerfulness
contageous.
The lights
were still on their apartment; no one had even thought of switching off
the lights in their haste. Even the heating was still on; Anzu heaved a
relieved sigh. It had stopped raining, but it was still chilly outside
and she felt chilled to the bone. Yami shivered as well, since
he’d run outside with nothing but his school jacket on. Yuugi
took off his shoes, looking around for the house slippers. Mahaado had
walked a few steps forward and turned around in the middle of the
hallway, still carrying the Pharaoh.
He heaved a
soft sigh before he spoke.
“My
Pharaoh needs food, a bath and some rest,” he said. Mana
nodded at his announcement, disappearing into the kitchen. Anzu trailed
behind her, offering the girl her help with the preparations. Yuugi
certainly hadn’t missed the ‘my’ Mahaado
has used in reference to the Pharaoh; he had said it earlier, in the
shed when they rescued him from the thieves.
“We
should not dally that much longer,” the magician continued.
“How
much time is there left?” Yami asked, moving towards Yuugi.
“The
other timelines have been…restored as it was fitting for
them,” Mahaado said.
“My…our
Pharaoh here is the Pharaoh who was supposed…” He
stared at Yami and Yuugi, shaking his head. “I can not
divulge much more, I already told too much. As soon as we leave, I will
cast one more spell, to make you forget what has happened. Your
knowledge of all this could alter this timeline, and it was perfect how
we found it….”
He remained
silent. Finally he said: “We have some time left. The rest of
this evening.”
Yuugi all but
clinged to Yami.
“This
evening only?”
“We have both depleted our heka, when we called forth our kaa,” Mahaado said. “We have a little left for our…jump back, but a lot of necessary energy will come from our Pharaoh here.”
“I
didn’t know we had only this evening,” Yuugi said,
looking distressed. The magician lowered his head.
“I
know what you are going through, Prince. It is however, important that
we do not disturb the timeline anymore than we are already doing by
simply staying here. The sooner we leave, the better…but I
doubt that is the answer you were wanting to hear.”
“Not
really, no,” Yuugi mumbled.
Yami searched
out his hand. “Then let this evening be for everyone of
us,” he spoke. “The way we want to spend it, with
the ones we love and care for.”
Chapter 12 | Chapter 14