Chapter 11: - Forcing Their Hand
Shadi preceded the taller girl through the Soul-room door, allowing her a chance to speak with her small companion. "I want you to stay here." She told her, releasing the girl from her hold, "Where it's safe."
"Oneesan?" Yugi asked the taller girl, only to be rewarded with a small, tight smile.
"Yes, Imoto-chan, it's an honour to finally meet you." Oneesan nodded, trying to project more calm than she currently felt. She had wanted for so long to meet the one who had freed her face to face, but for it to come about because of some arse breaking into her little sister's mind wasn't fair. "I wish it could be under better circumstances, but I will be back to talk to you once I've evicted that man from our minds."
"Can I help?" Yugi asked, then flinched and wished she'd stayed quiet at the sharp look Oneesan gave her, ruby red eyes seeming to examine her from head to toe.
"Sorry." Oneesan apologised as she saw the brief flicker of fear behind the amethyst eyes staring back at her, "But no. You can best help by staying here. The maze of my mind is full of danger. I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to you because you tried to help me. If I know you're safe, I can focus on dealing with him."
"Alright." Yugi nodded her understanding but couldn't help feeling like she had to rely on others while once again they went into danger on her behalf as Oneesan slipped out of the brightly lit room.
The ancient spirit let out a heavy sigh as she paused between Imoto-chan's room and the one where she could already feel Shadi rummaging around. She had told the man that she would wait for him in the true room of her soul, but the truth was... she had absolutely no idea where it was. She hadn't been awake long enough to have found it in the ever shifting mess that was the maze of her mind, or possibly the inside of the Millennium Puzzle. She hadn't worked that out either.
As she stepped into the huge maze that made up the room she normally slept in she let her magic spread out, trying to sense exactly where the man she'd Challenged was. When she finally got a ping on him she darted after him, heading up the stairs. She'd never explored this room, she'd never been keen on the idea. Every time she'd been awake something had screamed at her to stay out and she'd listened to it, more than content to be her sister's bodyguard and little else.
To be fair,she had better things, like the safety of her little sister, to worry about. That the room changed every time she entered the room was interesting, but not as important as what was going on in the real world. She knew Imoto-chan didn't mean to get into as much trouble as she did, but quite frankly Oneesan was exhausted.
Within days of each other she had Challenged Kaiba, the shop keeper and Chono-sensei, all of which had been a drain on her resources. The game with Kaiba in particular had been both exasperating and intense. She'd known Kaiba the moment she'd laid eyes on him, yet she had no memory of his face or name.
Getting her mind back on the game, she narrowly dodged under one of the hundreds of traps that made up the maze and up the next flight of stairs, she wondered about her opponent. What did the man want? He must have entered Imoto-chan's mind for a reason, but Oneesan couldn't work out what it was.
He had known what the Puzzle was, that much was obvious, and he had seemed surprised that a girl had been holding the item. Why would that matter? Had it been held by a man before it had been shattered? She doubted it. She remembered no other wielder and had been sealed away for so long that she had to have been the last to use it before Imoto-chan.
Reaching the top of the stairs just in time to see the man open a door and step through, Oneesan went to shoot forward, only to be stopped in her tracks by something that belonged to her from a past age...
"Don't worry." The boy who was untying her wrists reassured her, "Father's on his way. There's no way Anubis is going to get away with this."
"Brother..." Oneesan hesitated. Her brother, who was just a year older than her, was in line for the throne since the deaths of their older siblings. If he was killed, their line would end and everything their brothers had given their lives for would be worthless. Anubis had to have known that when he'd had the children of the Pharaoh grabbed right from under their guardian's noses.
"I know, I know, be careful right?" The Prince asked as her wrists came free from their bindings and she could move them in front of her. Moving between her and entrance to the tent they were being held in, the boy - who looked shockingly similar to her to the point where they had been mistaken for each other before - grimaced.
"I was more wondering what your plan was now." Oneesan whispered as she followed him. "You do have one, right?"
"Of course I do." Her brother nodded, "We steal a couple of horses and ride like Ammit himself is on our heels."
"That's insane."
"You have a better plan?" Her brother's sharp, amethyst eyes turned on her, causing her to flinch slightly.
"No. No. You're right." Oneesan shook her head, "We need to get out of here before the..."
"Guards come back?" Both children jumped and looked at the entrance in the same moment, her brother letting out a soft groan as he realised who was in the doorway.
"Anubis!" Her brother pulled Oneesan behind him and glowered at the man who had arranged for the children to be seized from their bedrooms by men he had placed inside the palace. "You were exiled from Egypt! You have no right to be..."
The man who had the audacity to name himself after a God swept across the tent and seized her brother by the throat, lifting the thirteen year old off of the ground and choking the boy.
"Listen, little boy. This isn't your Egypt anymore." Anubis smirked as Oneesan's brother made a hoarse sound that was between a gasp and a squeak as he tried to suck air past Anubis's grip, his hands on the man's, trying to pull the huge meaty digits attached to them away from his throat, "I can do whatever the hell I..."
Oneesan launched herself at the huge, blonde exile, attempting to tackle him and managing to at least knock him off balance enough that he released his grip on the Crown Prince and staggered a couple of steps. As her brother collapsed, coughing and wheezing, desperately sucking in the life giving substance that Anubis had denied him, the Princess moved between him and the exiled sorcerer. She refused to let him lay another hand on her brother. She might have been the younger sibling, but they were the only children left. She would not lose her only living brother!
"You!" Anubis snarled at her, seizing the rough sack that was the only coverings she was currently allowed and shaking her, glowing purple as his rage caused his magical aura to flare. Oneesan didn't back down. She was a daughter of the living Horus, not some scared little street rat. He would not intimidate her. She wouldn't allow it. "I should have thrown you to the men!"
The Princess wasn't stupid, she knew what he meant, but she still didn't back down. "I won't let you touch him again."
"You? Think you can stop me?" Anubis barked, his amusement obvious, "You're just a little girl who's in over her head. What do you think you can...argh!" Anubis let out an infuriated and agonised bellow as the Prince, who had recovered while his sister had distracted the sorcerer, drove the man's own dagger into Anubis's arm.
Blood spilling everywhere, Anubis recoiled releasing Oneesan as he did so, his false Millennium Item glowing as he glared at the damage to his limb. Before Oneesan could react, Anubis had, out of pure rage, launched a ball of black fire straight in her direction. Then everything was heat and movement and pain and noise.
When everything stopped, Oneesan pushed herself to her hands and knees, pain coursing through every last millimetre of her being. There was still noise going on outside the tent, but Oneesan didn't hear it as her gaze rested on the boy lying just a meter away.
"Brother!" She scrambled to his side, the pain cast aside for the time being as she shook him, "Please, wake up!"
He didn't move. There was no groan, no stirring, no response. There wasn't even any movement of his chest.
"No!" She practically screeched as she put her ear to his chest, listening for the non-existent heartbeat of the boy who had taken brunt of the magical assault for her, his skin blackened and burned in places where the sack covering had burnt away, his form limp, his eyes closed forever.
Her brother. Her mentor. Her closest friend was gone...
Pulling him into her arms and sobbing she barely heard the sound of people entering but she did respond when Mahado shook her shoulder gently. "My Prince?"
Oneesan's head shot up though the tears still fell. Mahado was here, that meant her father had to be close too.
Then another thought hit her. Anubis and his men had false Millennium Items and their sacrificial ritual for summoning the incredibly powerful Ka beasts that Anubis referred to as Gods was still in progress. It had to be stopped.
There was no way the men would have followed her but they thought she was her brother. They would follow her into battle if she played that role for a little while right? And then she could admit the truth once this was all over.
One little lie wouldn't hurt...
Oneesan didn't mean to shake herself free of the memory that the man had freed during his hunt, but the pain of the loss of her brother caused her mind to recoil from the source of it. It was a good thing anyway as she snapped out of it just in time to see the man step fully through the door he'd opened, dazed from what he too had seen, and fall through the floor.
Oneesan reacted instantly, darting forward and managing to get a grip on the man's wrist before his own grip on the edge of the hole he'd fallen into had failed him.
"You weren't..."
"We can talk about it in a minute," The spirit groaned as she tried to pull him up, "But..."
She didn't need to continue. The man's other hand shot up and grasped the edge, his efforts allowing Oneesan a little more leverage. She helped the man out of the pit and then watched him silently, wondering what he was going to say.
"I take it I have lost?" The man asked.
"No." Oneesan allowed. He had fallen for the same traps she had and he hadn't cheated. She couldn't penalise him but at the same time he hadn't found the true room of her soul, so he couldn't fulfil his promise either. "This is a tie, nothing more, nothing less."
The man nodded his allowance of that, still considering her carefully. "Yes," He said finally, turning away, heading for the exit, "You're right. Farewell."
"Wait..."
Before she could ask him anything, he had vanished in a bright light. Shooting down the stairs towards the exit that led to Imoto-chan's mind and body, she hoped that she could catch him before he left in the real world. That hope was denied to her as she reached the door to Imoto-chan's mind and body only to find it wouldn't open now that the Key's powers had withdrawn from her sister's mind.
In the real world, Yugi was concerned for the welfare of the man before her. He was on his knees, his head in his hands but he didn't seem to be freaking out. Was it possible that he hadn't been put through a Penalty game?
"Are you alright?" She asked as she offered him a hand up.
"I... I am fine." The man replied slowly, considering her in a completely different, semi-deferent manner, "I believe this is yours." He pulled the Millennium Puzzle out of his robes and handed them to Yugi who practically glomped the golden item.
"My Puzzle!" She grinned as she slipped the rope over her head and the item fell into its customary place, "Thank you!"
"Don't thank me." The Egyptian replied, "I owe you a debt as it is."
"Me?" Yugi asked, confused, "I don't think it's me you're talking about. I think it's Oneesan."
"Oneesan?" He asked, wanting to know if that was what the girl was calling the other part of her soul.
"The other girl. The one who challenged you. She's Oneesan." Yugi informed him.
"Then who, may I ask, are you?"
"Mutou Yugi." Yugi replied instantly before wishing she hadn't, half afraid that he would use it against her. "Who are you?"
"Yugi." The man nodded, testing the name and finding it appropriate for one who held the future of the Shadow Games and the world in her hands "There is something you must do, Yugi."
"What?" The girl asked, confusion obvious on her features.
"You must discover how to work with the one you call Oneesan." He informed her, "And you must solve the riddle of the true power of the Millennium Puzzle, the Puzzle that was hidden for three thousand years."
"Three..." Yugi was shocked. She'd known Oneesan had been a prisoner for a long time, but three thousand years? She couldn't imagine going through what Oneesan had for that long.
"That is the destiny of the one who solves the Puzzle, their duty." The man continued, wanting to impress the importance of her role on the girl stood before him. "My name is Shadi." There was a pause as he realised something, then humour came into his tone for a moment, "This is the first time I've ever told anyone."
"Nice to meet you." Yugi bowed politely to him but he'd walked past by the time she'd straightened.
"There is one other I must place on trial." Shadi's tone was full of warning now, "One more man who defiled the territory of the Gods, the Valley of the Kings." Somehow Yugi just knew that he'd be back once he'd finished with his task, but she didn't get to question him as he turned the corner and by the time she'd turned it herself, he was gone.
She swiftly exited the museum and ran home, wanting to get away from the museum as fast as possible. She couldn't escape what had happened there either. It was on the news that the curator of the museum had been killed. After her experiences with Shadi and the way he'd threatened her so easily, she couldn't help but think he had been the killer.
And he had all but promised he was coming back to Challenge her again.
What had he meant? That it was her duty to solve the riddle of the Puzzle's true power. It made no sense to her. She didn't understand what he had said.
The only part she had understood was the fact that if the Puzzle had been hidden for three thousand years, Oneesan had been sealed away for just as long. She remembered what Jou had told her, that Oneesan said she'd had nothing but darkness, pain and fear before she'd freed her... if anything, it made Yugi more determined not to allow Shadi to take the Puzzle from her.
She didn't sleep easy that night, nor the following one after Professor Yoshimori was found dead and people started talking about 'The Pharaoh's Curse' so when school started again on Monday she wasn't really with it. However school was a necessity and not a choice so off she went, herded there by Jou and Anzu. The latter shot off to get something from the school library leaving Jou and Yugi to walk to class.
When Anzu came back she seemed a little off, but none of them got to talk to her until PE came around and even then she seemed to be avoiding Yugi, who once again changed for the lesson but didn't take part. She wouldn't get away with using the Doctor's note as an excuse for much longer though, she could tell that from the fact that the teacher was insisting that she help carry the equipment.
She was sore again by the time the teacher sent her into the equipment storage to get a few things out, her ribs playing up and her wrists grouching. The top Oneesan had bought her (and that she'd had to change out of in the ladies toilets) had been acting like a support for her ribs and had helped keep the pain down so she was really beginning to wish she still had it on as she headed for the back, where racking held what looked like hundreds of balls of various descriptions, from football to rugby, to cricket and rounders, along with a couple of crates of tennis balls. All were in various states of wear and tear and some even looked like they had deflated years ago and never been chucked away.
All this Yugi took a note of as she headed down to where the spare rounder's bats were only to wheel around at high speed, frightened out of her wits at the fact the racking had collapsed behind her, missing her by millimetres.
As she rejoined her friends at lunch time, one of whom was conspicuous from her absence, though Yugi figured that it was quite possible for Anzu to be busy with some of her class rep duties, she explained about what had happened. The boys had already heard about it after all. Both sides of the class had spent the rest of their sessions picking up the balls that had bounced everywhere. They hadn't known, however, how close their friend had been to going splat.
The weird thing had been that there was no way that the racking should have fallen like it had. It had been stable for longer than they'd been in the school. It was weird for the thing to just decide to fall. Still coincidences happened and at least Yugi hadn't been hurt.
As they headed up the stairs, however, Jou got an inkling something was wrong. Unfortunately that feeling came as someone on the steps above threw a ball at Yugi hard enough to knock her down a flight of stairs.
"Honda!" Jou snapped as he darted to Yugi's side.
Honda nodded and darted up, catching Jou's drift. The racking could have been a case of bad luck but this had obviously been deliberately aimed at hurting the small girl. He shot up the flight of stairs as Jou helped their friend sit up. Honda could hear the pain in Yugi's tone as she tried to say that she was fine but whoever it was that had thrown the ball had vanished without a trace.
Jou, of course, insisted that they walk Yugi to the Nurse's office. It made sense since Yugi was still recovering from various injuries, all of which could have been aggravated by the fall, but they were late for class and earned themselves extra homework for their concern for their friend. Homework they were still grouching about when school ended and they headed down to the Nurse's office with Yugi's homework assignments, wondering if the girl was still there.
As they reached the door things were a little too quiet inside. Jou could see figures through the clouded glass, but not make out distinct details.
"Hey," He said as he opened the door, "Is Yugi still...?"
Jou trailed off as the infirmary door slid open to reveal Anzu pinning down Yugi, straddling the smaller girl's stomach with her hands wrapped tightly around Yugi's throat, cutting off Yugi's airways if the desperate thrashing and tiny, scratchy sounds escaping the smaller girl were anything to go by.
Jou's hands balled into fists as he realised Yugi's hands were wrapped around Anzu's wrists, desperately tugging at them, trying to free herself and draw breath, but Anzu was a lot stronger and heavier than she. Yugi didn't stand a chance.
"What are you doing!?" Jou demanded, darting into the room and causing Anzu to back off, leaving Yugi to roll onto her side, coughing and spluttering, her face screwed up in pain as her body tried to draw in more breath than her healing ribs would allow.
"Show me your true power. I do this so I can finish things with you." Anzu demanded of Yugi, who opened her eyes and gave Anzu a confused, pained, hurt look, unaware of what Anzu could mean and why Anzu would want to strangle her.
"The hell…?" Jou demanded as Anzu darted out of the room, pushing past Honda who tried to grab her on her way past but missed by millimetres, "You okay, Yugi?" He asked as her breathing finally evened out.
"Somehow." Yugi nodded, her words laced with the pain that wracked her body, "Jou… Anzu sounded…"
"Wrong, I know." Jou nodded, having noticed that himself. It wasn't just a slight change either, like when Oneesan took control of Yugi's body, "You don't think…"
"What the hell is going on?" Honda demanded, "Why was Anzu trying to…"
"I don't think that was Anzu." Yugi spoke carefully, trying to think about what had happened.
"What do you…?" Honda trailed off, his eyes widening, "You mean like you and Oneesan are different people?"
"Maybe…" Yugi bit her lower lip, thinking about how Anzu had demanded that she bring the spirit out and when Yugi hadn't known how, Anzu had tried to strangle her, probably assuming that Oneesan would wake up if she was in danger.
But it had been Anzu, or at least it had looked like Anzu and Yugi had been unwilling to set her Other Self on her friend, even though it could have cost her her life.
"How the hell did Anzu get possessed?" Jou demanded, confused and a little frightened, though he was making sure that the latter wasn't obvious for Yugi's sake.
"I don't know…" Yugi shook her head, trying to remember why Anzu's voice had sounded so familiar. Then it hit her, who Anzu had sounded like, the Egyptian man, Shadi, who had wanted to erase her mind and had caused the first real meeting between herself and Oneesan since she'd solved the Puzzle, had sounded much the same.
Everything that had happened today, the falling gym equipment that had been securely in place just moments before, the ball that come from nowhere and had knocked her down the stairs, even Anzu's actions made sense if he was trying to draw Oneesan out.
But how was he controlling Anzu? And why was he using her friends against her?
She didn't care about her own safety, but if he was going after them because he wanted to get to her… It wasn't fair.
"Honda, stay here with Yugi. It's obvious that whatever's possessing Anzu wants Yuge dead. I'll go looking for it."
"Jou..." Yugi hesitated. She was pretty certain it wasn't her death Shadi was seeking, but the only thing she could think of if that was the case was that he was trying to lure Oneesan out for some reason and she couldn't work out why.
"I'll be okay Yuge, I promise." Jou grinned at her, ruffling her head before shooting off to find their friend.
"You. Sit." Honda glowered at Yugi, pointing at a bed as he did so and wondering where the hell the nurse had gotten too. Yugi followed instructions, sitting on the bed, glad now for the top Oneesan had bought her. The piece of leather armour had stopped the downwards tumble from injuring her seriously.
Her hand went to her sore throat as she thought about what was happening and if she could do anything about it. Shadi wanted Oneesan in control but Yugi didn't know how to call her out from the Puzzle. The only way so far had been injury or shock. It was probably why Shadi kept trying to push her close to death. He was pushing for a pissed off Oneesan.
Something worried Yugi more than the thought that Shadi would go too far and kill her, though. The thought that he'd decide that trying to attacking her wasn't enough to cause the change and that he'd go after her friends. She needed to end this now, before he got his hands on Jou or Honda, or worse, her grandfather.
Waiting until Honda wasn't looking, Yugi slipped out of the infirmary, hunting for her friend. It wasn't difficult, Anzu wasn't hiding from her after all and the moment Yugi gave chase Anzu fled, heading up the stairs and towards the roof.
Yugi followed, having trouble keeping up with her much taller friend and panting heavily by the time she reached the top of the stairwell. Catching her breath as she stepped out into the bright sunlight, she froze up in horror as she saw Anzu stood on a wooden plank that was supported using rope and overhung the school's courtyard, which was several stories below.
"Anzu!" Yugi darted forwards, only for Shadi to step in her way.
"I've been pushing you to summon the other you, the one you call Oneesan, but it seems you won't appear for me." Shadi seemed disappointed about that, "So I can meet the older sister again, I will try something else." Yugi got the feeling he wasn't talking to her, but to the spirit who was currently asleep in her Puzzle.
"Leave Anzu alone!" Yugi demanded, determined to stand up for her friend.
"Listen, Yugi." Shadi ignored her, "That girl is my puppet. At my orders she will do anything."
Yugi didn't doubt his words. He had been the one who had controlled Anzu over the course of the day and forced the girl to try to murder her but even now she couldn't force Oneesan out of her slumber and into her body. She didn't know how. She couldn't communicate with the spirit of the Puzzle, she couldn't even fake emotions well enough to wake her other self up.
She needed Oneesan, but she couldn't get to her.
"Well, Yugi?" Shadi asked, "Be angry, be hateful, be full of despair. At the edge of your emotions, like a relay runner waiting for the baton, your other self waits."
Despair was coursing through the girl. There was nothing she could do, no way to fight someone with magic without knowing how to control the powers of her Puzzle. She was helpless up here and there was nothing, nothing she could do to help her friend whose only crime had been to hang around with the local bully magnet.
The Puzzle started glowing as the power inside reacted to her emotions, causing Shadi to put the final nail in.
"If I ordered that girl to die, she would kill herself."
As Anzu took a half step forward, as if about to jump, magic flared from the one to complete the Millennium Puzzle as the girl gave into hopelessness and despair. Shadi watched as an illusion settled itself over the girl's form, making her look taller, changing her hair and eye colours and darkening the world around her.
Oneesan had finally arrived.
"SHADI!" She bellowed the moment she was fully in control.
"So we meet again, Other Yugi." The Egyptian smirked at her, "Or should I call you Oneesan, as your other self does?"
"I am Oneesan." The spirit of the Puzzle retorted, "Guardian of the one who completed the Puzzle and all her friends. For the crimes you've committed against them, for having the audacity to push Imoto-chan close to death and use my friend in your games, you will pay."
"I will test you, Oneesan, no matter what the cost." Shadi snorted at the openly angry girl before him, "And if you lose, you will lose your friend."
Oneesan's hands balled into fists as she beheld her brainwashed friend on the plank.
"Before we continue, let me say one thing about the Millennium Puzzle." Shadi spoke confidently, "You may have thought it coincidence that you completed the Puzzle, but that is wrong. The Millennium Puzzle chose you."
Oneesan scowled. She'd never doubted that the Puzzle had chosen her little sister. After all the work and hopes and dreams and fears Imoto-chan had poured into the project, of course there was no one else suitable to hold the golden item.
"It's been waiting three thousand years, just as my family have." Shadi continued but Oneesan cut him off.
"Don't say it like it makes us friends. I don't want to hear that nonsense. Not after what you have pulled." She snarled at the robed man. "Explain the rules and let's play already."
"Don't be afraid, Oneesan."
"Afraid?" Oneesan asked, confused.
"Somewhere in your heart you fear the powers you have. The powers even you don't know about yet."
He was wrong. It wasn't that which was hidden she feared... it was the facts in front of her. A simple mistake with her Imoto-chan could send her back into the darkness for the gods only knew how long. She doubted she would be allowed to keep her memories of her freedom if her prison had anything to do with it.
"As proof, look there..." Shadi pointed to the clay statues that were holding the ropes that held up the board Anzu was stood on. One shattered and the rope slipped away.
"Anzu!" Oneesan yelped but held her ground. She hadn't known the game was in motion already, it was a cheap shot by their opponent, still there had to be a way of evening the playing field.
"Those clay dolls are shabti, they serve those who walk beyond." Shadi explained, "In this game they represent your heart. If you show weakness, they will shatter and your friend will fall to her death."
Oneesan growled, pissed off now. How dare he? How dare he use her friends like this?
"Yugi! Let the game begin!"