YuGiOh: Souls of Shadow

Chapter 7.3

                Suddenly, a new voice came from behind him. As if out of nowhere, a young man in a sweater and shaggy white hair appeared. He reminded me of a duelist I had seen, but somehow didn't resemble him in the least. No, it couldn't be him. That was a child. This kid... this kid was something evil.

I hid again and strained to made sense of his words, which was difficult since he talked so low. My eyes widened as I picked up on him challenging Pegasus to another shadow game, this time offering to exchange their Millennium Items as a prize. Pegasus accepted.

I looked in expecting to find the thick shadow encasing them, but instead two beams of light were admitted from the eyes of the golden objects. Further unlike the last, the battle only endured for a few moments, at least from my point of view. I watched as Pegasus's light flicked and faded out like a candle, meaning that he had lost for the second time that day. His body was thrown against the wall by the force of the strange sorcery, the same that had been used on me, I assumed.

The kid approached him, kneeling down in front of him to claim what he had rightfully won. But the eye wasn't like a piece of jewelry—it was literally a part of him. Though I had little to no compassion for the man, I could still feel my heart pound in my chest. It stopped cold when Pegasus caught sight of me, just before the kid reached for him. I closed my eyes as he took the Millennium Item, cringing when the scream of agony broke through the air. When I looked up, Pegasus was clutching his face, blood streaming from between his fingers and running down his hand.

The kid held the eye up in the sunlight, laughing victoriously. But he didn't leave. Instead, he pulled out a knife.

"Wait... what are you...?" Pegasus groaned weakly.

"Well, I can't erase your memory again. You'll just remember like you did last time. No, this time I'll make sure you don't expose my secret."

I watched as he walked towards Pegasus, glaring, knife in hand. The image of them faded away from my focus as I felt something stirring in my mind. My thoughts began racing faster than time itself.

This is it. I can slip away without a single trace of my presence here. I can end his life with simple silence, all while keeping my word to him. This is when he dies. It isn't murder this time, though. It's justice. This is his payment for everything he's done, what he's taken. He's manipulated, forced others into misery, destroyed innocent lives... all to protect someone he couldn't live without.

A sharp volt went through my chest, causing my blood to heat. He is no different than me. Even after everything he'd done, I couldn't defy the weight of the realization. We were both only fighting to keep our shards of light, to clear what obstructed it and enclosed our souls in shadow. And... if I let him die here and now... his death will be my own.

I looked to the approaching assailant, then to Pegasus, my will was blazing like fire from something deep inside me that had broken through to the surface. And at that very moment when the knife came towards his chest, I lunged.

I caught the blade firmly in my hand, standing between him and the attacker. My sudden appearance had startled him, momentarily giving me the advantage of greater awareness. I attempted to use this to knee him, but he swiftly dodged back and countered with a powerful sidekick that sent me flying back off my feet. I realized that even though he was somewhat smaller than me, he was incredibly strong.

I landed on the table, my shoulder blade cracking on the corner. I inhaled a sharp breath between my teeth, regathering my strength as he attempted another attack at Pegasus.

I leapt up and practically tackled him, to little avail besides grabbing his wrist in the process. For a moment, it was a battle of sheer muscle. I decided to end it by sweeping his knee out, resulting him refusing to loosen his grip and pulling me down with him. I used my momentum to dig my elbow into his chest as I landed, still fighting for possession of the weapon.

Instead of succeeding, I was thrown onto my back as he flipped himself on top. He took the moment I was still in shock from the sudden change of position to bring the blade down onto my arm. I pulled the knife out against his force, slicing my wound open longer. Refusing to acknowledge the burning pain, I grabbed the handle and twisted it, knocking him off of me with a backhand. I seized my chance to get back on my feet. He had also regained his footing.

For a moment, we only stood there, our eyes locked in glares. He finally spoke. "Fine then. I've gotten what I came here for. I don't have time to deal with the extermination of his worthless life anyway." Then, as quickly as he appeared, he vanished.