Rock Bottom: Season One

Apology

At dinner, all of the finalists—Mai, Ryou, Joey, and Yugi—and their friends—Marik and Anzu—were present. Dinner could have been a more cheerful event, but as it was, some members of their group were still reeling from seeing Seto lose his soul to Pegasus. Marik's conversation with Seth had been brief, since speaking with the tomb-keeper was quite taxing on his limited resources. As the spirit had wished, Marik had told no one about their discussion or their plan.

At dinner, the matches were determined for tomorrow's duels: first, Yugi vs. Mai, then, Joey vs. Ryou.

Mai was looking forward to an honest, fair duel with Yugi, and she knew that she'd have to prepare her best deck yet if she was to beat him, especially since he'd seen her duel before. She spent a few hours after dinner laying out the cards of her deck and swapping some out with those in her side deck as she paired and tripled them in every strategic combination possible. Only once she was satisfied with her deck did she go to sleep, getting as much rest as she could so that she could be ready for her duel in the morning.

Yugi had faith in his grandfather's deck and went straight to bed, trying to sleep despite his concern for the souls at stake in tomorrow's duels. When he slept, he dreamed of his grandfather and the others whose souls had been stolen. Everyone called to him, begging to be saved. How could he save everyone, though, when he couldn't even trust the spirit who lived in the Millennium Puzzle? He was prepared to do anything to win against Seto, so he'd have to keep him in check and duel on his own.

Joey slept too, but more restlessly. He couldn't get over what had happened in front of the castle that day, how Seto had been willing to do anything to save his little brother, even risk his own life and his friendships. Any of them might have been terminated as a result of his actions. Joey himself was feeling awfully guilty for the things he'd said. He just hoped that he got a chance to apologize for the misunderstanding, that Seto wouldn't forever remember that as their last interaction as his soul wasted away in god-knows-where.

Marik snuck into Ryou's room that night to join him in bed, for three reasons. First, Marik didn't like sleeping alone. He never had. Second, Seth had instructed him to stay with Ryou at all times in order to keep the Spirit of the Ring in check. Third, he loved Ryou and simply didn't want to be away from him. He held Ryou as he slept, pleased to see him at peace when so many of his waking hours were fraught with fear.

Anzu slept as peacefully as she could. She was most concerned for the children. How could someone be so cruel as to kidnap and imprison young children, then steal their souls and use them as bargaining chips in a card-game? What did he even plan on doing with them?

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"Let the duel begin!" Croquette exclaimed as Mai and Yugi faced off across the Duel Arena. Yugi struggled during the first few turns. Anzu, Ryou, Joey, and Marik cheered him on, trying to encourage him, but he was still struggling.

"I forgot something back in our room," Marik said suddenly. He gave Ryou's hand a squeeze before releasing it. "I'll be right back."

"Okay. Try to be back by the end of the duel." Ryou was nervous for his duel; he couldn't help it. The only duels he'd ever seen Joey fight were against Seto and Yugi, and those hadn't been excellently executed, but if Joey had qualified for the semi-finals, then he must have gotten much better.

"I will," Marik promised with a smile, then turned and left, going back to his room to fetch the Millennium Rod. He'd left it behind on purpose, but it was perfectly safe in its hiding place. Once out of sight, he jogged the rest of the way. He knelt and pulled the Rod out from under the bed and felt its power run through him as he gripped its shaft. "Off to find Seto."