Past Repeating - Book 1

Scars of Defeat

Star Chips: Yugi: 6/Joey: 4/Sarah: 5

Everyone was exhausted.

Two duels in one night took a lot of energy, not to mention that they were taxing duels on the mind as well as the body. The psychological warfare between the Pharaoh and Bakura, and then between the Pharaoh and Panik, was intense. I was glad beyond words that we managed to make it out of both situations.

Panik had lost his mind to the Shadow Realm, and was probably wandering around in its endless existence, thinking about how he even ended up in a place like that. Soon, he would lose his mind until it was cleansed, and then maybe, he would be released and could start over. This seemed unlikely, as most Shadow Realm victims wandered aimlessly in the shadows for eternity.

I was more worried about the sudden disappearance of Bakura. In his Shadow Game, we managed to trap him in the Card Graveyard. He had either been wiped from existence by the Reaper of Cards, the Graveyard's Keeper, or he was also wandering aimlessly around the place. I wanted to believe that we had seen the last of him, but of course, nothing could be that easy. I had a sneaky suspicion that he might be clever enough to escape, so my heart wasn't at all settled.

After such a long night, the others were more than willing to turn in. Mai had a small tent that she said could probably squeeze in another person. Téa said that she was willing to sleep outside to let me use the tent - even though there were lots of gross bugs around - but I insisted that I had slept outside before and was totally okay with it. She gratefully accepted the second spot in the tent.

As soon as their heads hit the floor, Tristan, Joey, and Ryou fell asleep in the soft grass. The night wasn't too cold, and the ground wasn't wet. It felt like a summer's night where we were all camping outside, which must have been why the boys fell asleep so easily among pinecones.

I was used to sleeping in uncomfortable positions. Back in the palace, when the Pharaoh would retire to his chambers for the night, I would sleep in a dark corner a little ways from his room. This way, I was close to him if something were to ever happen, and I could sneak up easily onto suspicious individuals who approached the Pharaoh's quarters. There were no doors, only drapes of linen and beads separating rooms from the corridors. It helped that I was a light sleeper, and would wake with a start whenever I heard anything.

With that in mind, and thinking that the grass was at least softer than the mudbrick floor, I leaned back against a tree and closed my eyes, ready to get some rest.

However, I heard a small voice calling my name. I opened my eyes to see Yugi hovering over me.

"Sorry... I thought you would still be awake..."

"It's alright, I wasn't asleep yet. Is something wrong?"

"Well... I was hoping... that we could talk..."

My mind raced as I sat next to Yugi on the other side of the large tree, away from the others. I had a hunch about what he wished to discuss, and anticipated how it would start and end.

"Is everything alright, Yugi?"

The other sighed a little apprehensively, his amethyst eyes looking at me carefully.

"I was thinking... there are currently three Millennium Items on the island that we know of," he started. "Wouldn't their presence cause some sort of... tension?"

"Mmm... you're thinking in terms of a power struggle..."

"Yeah... I mean, if there was an evil spirit that wanted his hands on the Puzzle, what if there's someone else who also wants the other Items?"