Yu-Gi-Oh! Love Selflessly (Version 2 - SEMI FINAL)

Chapter 17

Hey, y'all! I don't usually cut in to give an Author's Note like this, as I believe it kind of messes with the flow of the story, but you may have noticed that I have been VERY inactive for a long while. I sincerely apologize, but my life got absolutely insane outside of writing. Anyways, have no fear, for Astin is back with the rest of this first book in my Yu-Gi-Oh! series! To make it up to y'all, I'll be posting FOUR entire chapters today and then one every Sunday from here on to the end of the book. Please enjoy and stay on the lookout for more updates on new stories!

Emiko furrowed her brows and looked down at Pegasus, wiping her tears away. Bakura said softly beside her, "It's going to be okay, Emiko." She nodded. She thought, "What am I supposed to do now? Seto and Mokuba have both been captured. Their souls are now in Pegasus' grasp. He'll be after me, next. I'm sure of it." She sighed, trying to stay strong. She thought, "What can I do? I'm a finalist, so I suppose that if I can beat Pegasus, then I can get them back. But, what if I can't? Then what?" Croquet returned and said, interrupting her thoughts, "I certainly hope you enjoyed tonight's duel. Your host would like to invite you all to enjoy an extravagant feast this evening. Allow me to guide you all to the dining hall for the evening." The group followed Croquet through the halls, admiring the elegant decor on the way.

Upon entering the dining hall, they were very impressed. The room was gigantic. All along the walls were huge windows which allowed the setting sunlight to leak in and bathe the room in a rich, orange glow. On the walls were various paintings and portraits. In the center of the room was a long table with eight chairs set neatly along the sides. The table was set with all the dishes and utensils, as well as many expensive kinds of cheese and glasses of water. As the guests filed into their seats, small plates of salad were brought out. Emiko sat between Yugi and Bakura, still on edge. Joey and Tristan excitedly started eating without hesitation, but Emiko just picked up her fork and poked at her salad. Téa laughed, joking about Tristan and Joey's enthusiasm. Emiko just sighed. Bakura noticed her.

"Emiko," he said gently, "Emiko, you need to eat something." She said, setting her fork on the plate, "I'm...I'm just not really hungry right now." He said, "I know how you feel, but you need your strength for tomorrow." Emiko sighed again, grabbing her locket. He exhaled softly. She thought, "I'm not sure how anyone's supposed to beat Pegasus with that Millennium Eye. Is it even possible?" Croquet entered the room and cleared his throat, standing at the end of the table. He said, "On behalf of Mr. Maximillion Pegasus, I'd like to congratulate the five finalists and welcome you all to this final phase of the Duelist Kingdom competition. I trust that you all have your playoff entry cards." Emiko asked, "Entry cards?" Croquet explained, holding up two cards, "Yes. In your invitations to Duelist Kingdom, you received these two cards: Glory of the King's hand, which will grant the winner the three-million-dollar cash prize, and Glory of the King Opposite Hand, which allows the winner to challenge Pegasus for the championship. Those without these cards will be disqualified." Yugi said, holding his cards and looking at them, "That's what they're for."

"To make tomorrow's tournament interesting," Croquet said, "your host has added a special ingredient to your soup." As the bowls of soup were set in front of the guests, the five finalists noticed a golden eyeball suspended in the liquid. Joey snapped, "Hey! This is worse than having a fly in my soup!" Croquet said, ignoring Joey, "Open up the eye and look inside it, if you will. Each of the finalists has been randomly assigned a letter." Emiko, cleaning it off with her napkin, opened the golden eye, pulling out the letter "E". She looked around as her fellow duelists also looked at theirs. A large digital screen slowly descended from the ceiling and Croquet said, "Now, the island's computer will randomly pair up the letters to determine tomorrow's match-ups." Téa said nervously, "Gee, I wonder who's going to have to face who?" A tournament bracket appeared on the screen along with each of their letters. Croquet said, "It's decided. Tomorrow's duels will be as follows: in round one, we have 'C' versus 'E'. Then we have 'A' versus 'B', followed by 'D' versus the winner of the first duel."