The Eye of Loss

Chapter 6

When Seto Kaiba had stripped away Gozaburo's power and had dismantled the century-old military company, he did more than spit on its memory by reassembling the pieces into a gaming industry. There are scars all over the world from the conversion. None of these scars are tainted with the same burnt ruins that the military KaibaCorp left behind, but they are still scars all the same.

Take the New Era subdivision on the outskirts of Domino. Empty and half built, this community had been the sign of a new age of militarism. With the genius Seto Kaiba ready to take the throne beside his stepfather, the company was preparing the homes for the ever-increasing KaibaCorp workforce.

That is until Seto Kaiba revealed his true goals for the company. In one swift takeover, waves of employees were cut from KaibaCorp's ranks and dreams of expanded militarism and growing communities ground to a halt. After all, why build new houses when the old employees no longer had the jobs to pay for them?

With this story in mind, an amethyst-eyed boy with star-shaped hair walks briskly at the front of his friends. An abandoned suburb that no one wants to touch because it still carries the name Kaiba. What better place to hide one of the abducted than in the graveyard of the city's baron?

Yugi blinks. He knows that he does not think in medieval references, so he glances inward. An amused flicker that vanishes behind a veil is all the teen gets in answer. Yugi sighs and turns his attention back outwards.

A black bird takes off from its hiding place in one of the obligatory foreign ornamental trees. Its dark, feathered body stands out against the light grey underbelly of the sky.

"And all we're missing are the ghosts." Joey grumbles. Due to the silence that had gripped the group on their way here, the blonde sounds louder than he should.

"Do you want ghosts? 'Cause we could just ask the next creeper that comes along to bring a few." Tristan's bite fails to conceal the nervous twinge in his voice nor does it hide the way that he glances at the reflective windows.

Yugi looks back to his friends. Most of them, except for Ryo who calmly surveys each building, keep shooting wary, expectant glances at every dark movement, like that will be the person to come running out of one of the houses. Even though Yugi remains unconcerned by the ghost town amidst his worry for Tea, sympathy still twinges up for his friends. This place is unnatural, a stillborn community that was left to rot.

With these thoughts in mind, guilt surfaces at the necessity that he is about to suggest.

"We should split up." The words are Yugi's own, but the idea only partially his. His Other Self had pointed out that it would take too long for all of them to search each house together.

Joey looks to Yugi with a twitch. "Split up?" Dread hangs in the air. "Wouldn't that make it easier for us to be picked off?"

"Joey, this isn't a horror movie." Tristan's deadpan earns him the attention of Joey Wheeler.

"I know this ain't a movie, but it's going like one. We even have the gloomy overcast and the creepy magic," Joey does not glance at the Puzzle. "All we need now is to run off into a zillion directions and then we're followin' the script."

"We wouldn't be travelling alone." Yugi responds. "We'd be in pairs, and because they have phones, Miho could either go with you or maybe Tristan, and Ryo with the other. That way, we really wouldn't be alone, and we could always call for help if we find Tea." It goes unsaid that if Yugi found Tea, he would not need to call for help.

They all nod once the reasoning sinks in; although, Miho's nod moves slowly, and she glances longingly at Ryo. Still, she says nothing.

"I'll go with Joey," Ryo says quietly.