Clear Skies

Chapter 7: The King and the Monster

            Joey fell to his knees and gathered his sister in his arms. He called her name again, again, and again. The ships in the harbor blasted their horns like death knells. "Answer me, Serenity!"

Yugi cradled Joey's duel disk. Serenity had been wearing it, and the display indicated a loss. For her to lose and end up like this – breathing but unmoving as though she was comatose – there could only be one person at fault.

The pharaoh's apparition watched a pair of seagulls soar into the clouds. "I'm sure the officials will wipe his loss since Joey wasn't the one dueling. He'll be able to stay in the tournament."

"I don't think that's what we should be concerned about," Yugi muttered. "We were too late to stop that girl again. Serenity... poor Joey..."

"Isn't there something strange about this, Yugi? Why would Serenity steal Joey's duel disk? She has her own. What advantage would there be to having her brother's instead?"

"Um, I guess..." Yugi observed the display, which was darkened by the sunlight. "Joey has the higher power ranking."

"Which would only be useful if one were trying to challenge someone else," the pharaoh said. "Someone who stole the soul of the man she loved."

Yugi's expression shifted from concern to understanding. He glanced to his mournful best friend. Yugi whispered to the spirit: "I don't think now is the best time for this."

"It's important we understand what happened here."

"We can wait until the tournament begins in a couple weeks," Yugi said. "We'll see that girl for sure once it starts. For now, we need to..."

Yugi stood beside his friend and placed his hand on his back. Joey looked up to him, and his expression was more determination than sadness.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Mai paced back and forth. Rahlin leaned on her cane in front of the closed apartment door and flipped her umbrella. Rainwater dripped from her soaked clothes. Mai wore a silk gown, and her hair was dry. She said, "Do you have any idea how worried I was? All of us? We drove around the entire city looking for you!"

"My apologies," Rahlin said.

"That doesn't cut it," Mai growled. "You can't just run away from things you don't want to do. That's not how life works!"

"Of course." Rahlin gestured towards her cane and said, "I mean, running literally isn't something I'm capable of."

Mai froze. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Rahlin broke into a laugh and pointed at Mai's face. "You were freaking out!"

"Shut up, smartass," Mai snapped. Rahlin couldn't stop laughing. "You seem to be in higher spirits."

Heat flushed Rahlin's face, and her mouth snapped shut. She stared at the floor and handed the umbrella to Mai. "Uh, if you could close it, that'd be great. I don't have the appropriate amount of hands available."

Mai pulled the umbrella shut and leaned it against the wall beside the door. She said, "Go pick out some of my pajamas, Rahlin. Must be cold with how wet you are."

Rahlin mumbled her thanks and went into Mai's room. Through the cracked door, she witnessed Mai pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, groaning, and dropping herself back onto the couch. The wine in her glass on the table shivered when she hit the cushions.