Game Kings and Ice Queens (Yu-Gi-Oh Season 0)

25 Between paper and dust

Yami checks himself in the mirror, feeling self conscious for once. Ren asked him to meet up with her in the university library. She never asked him to hang out with her, just his other half. Not that she could come up to Yugi and ask him; "Hey, is it okay for me to hang out with Yami for a bit?" So she had to wait for him to appear.

The poor boy is still pretty clueless when it comes to Yami's presence. For that Yami is thankful as he's not sure what Yugi's reaction would be. The chances of Yami ever seeing daylight again after being revealed to his host are not in his favor he supposes.

He'd hate to think of losing the freedom he gained when Yugi solved the puzzle, even though it's only a partial freedom as he has to share this body, but it could be worse he believes; he could be stuck in the puzzle for another few millenia.

Finally satisfied, he leaves the room and quietly takes the stairs, not wanting to alert Yugi's grandpa-.....

"Yugi? Is that you?" grandpa asks as he rummages around under counter in the shop, making the ancient spirit freeze.

"Yes grandpa. I'm going out!" Yami calls in a high pitched voice before darting for the door before the man can look up and see him.

Grandpa gets up, his back cracking. "So, Yugi's voice is finally breaking huh?" he mumbles to himself as he watched the door swing shut.

Yami sighs in relief of having gotten away before jogging along towards his destination.

"Ren!" he calls out as soon as he spots her waiting for him in front of the large building. She turns to face his direction with a smile on her face, her eyes widening as he takes the staircase two at a time before coming to a stop before her, hardly out of breath.

He holds an eager smile on his face. It is so unlike how he used to be, Ren recalls. Perhaps Yugi rubbed off on him?

"Hi." he breathes, making her chuckle.

"Good to see you made it. There is something I want to show you, something I thought you would find interesting." Ren explains, making him quirk a curious brow.

She motions with her head to follow her as she makes for the large doors leading into the library. Yami does so silently, wondering what it could be.

He follows her through the crowded area's until people are far in between and he swears the light grows dimmer the further they go. To his surprise she swipes a pass at a door that unlocks at the motion. Pulling it open they find a staircase leading down, which Ren takes without hesitation. Yami notices the air getting cooler and dryer the lower they go.

"This place has its own climate control, to make sure the older documents don't decade." Ren explains as they reach the bottom where a great dark room greets them. "Now where is that light?"

A click sounds, alerting Yami before the florescent lights flicker on, nearly blinding him. Before him lie rows and rows of isles, filled to the brim with books and other things.

Ren pulls a paper from her pocket before checking the markings at each isle. "Come on, this way." she urges.

Finally reaching the designated isle, she turns to Yami, "My mom told me to go here, saying she came across something concerning your puzzle. When she met Yugi at the hospital, she thought it looked familiar before remembering a few days ago where she saw it before. There is supposed to be something in this section here. Perhaps it is something that could tell us more about you and finally fill in those gaps in your memory." Ren explains proudly.

Yami is silent for a moment, drinking in the information Ren poured on him. "That... would be amazing." Yami breathes before smiling. "Thank you Ren."

Ren grins. "I promised didn't I? Besides, don't thank me yet. We have to find it first." she motions to the stacks of documents and books.

Yami's eyes widen, thinking they'll have their work cut out for them, but his expression grows determined. "Then we better get to it." he states before starting to scour though the pieces nearest to him.

Ren takes a spot next to Yami, bumping her hip into him, making him look down at her questioningly. She holds out a pair of white cotton gloves which he takes, before pulling another pair from her bag and pulling them on.

"Have to show respect those who took the effort to write down history, my mom would say." making him nod and pull on the gloves. Exchanging a meaningful smile, they turn to quietly shift through each and every thing they come across.

"Yami." Ren calls out, an hour into their search. His eyes shoot up from his own stack of papers as Ren slides a fragile piece of papyrus toward him.

Yami's eyes widen in recognition at the picture of a triangle enclosing the eye of horus. He runs his fingers across the picture carefully, his eyes running across the text below that is written in.... what exactly?

"It's cuneiform." Ren states, seeing the look on his face. "It originates from Mesopotamia which had ties with Egypt trough trade. The language is no longer used though. And I'm guessing it's not the original text, but a copy as cuneiform was mostly written on tablets, not on papyrus. Look, I found more." Ren tells him, sliding over a few more documents.

"Shadi's Ankh." Yami states in recognition as he spots another familiar picture, but the others....

"Yami, you know what this means?" Ren asks in wonder, making Yami turn to her in anticipation as she gazes over the different pictures and texts. "There are more artifacts then just your puzzle and Shadi's Ankh. Each having their own properties I'm guessing."

Yami is at a loss for words, his hand coming up to rest on the puzzle hanging from his neck.

"Can you read this?" he finally asks, motioning to the large number of stripes that supposedly have meaning.

Ren shakes her head sadly. "I can't. I don't think my mom can either. She's specialized in Greek, not this."

Ren looks to Yami who looks sorely disappointed. She gently lays her hand on his arm, "I'm sorry it didn't turn out to be what you hoped for."

Yami sighs, wrapping an arm gently around Ren's shoulders before resting his cheek on the top of her head. "It's okay. It's something at least; a first clue. There is sure to be more answers out there. I just have to be patient." he states, trying to look at it from the bright side.

Ren can tell he's still upset, but tries to hide it. She feels so bad for him. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find the answers you're looking for." she assures him, somehow feeling certain about that.

She turns in his grasp, taking hold of the puzzle and holding it up between them, "We don't know much yet, but what we do know is that you Yami, are an Ancient Egyptian spirit with some bad ass power... and that you have a good heart." she finishes, poking his chest.

Yami's eyes soften, losing some of their sharpness. "How can you be so sure? Perhaps I'm really an evil being?" he jokes, but there is a hint of worry in his voice, as if he's afraid that is the hidden truth.

Ren catches on to this and to Yami's surprise, she wraps her arms around him in a hug, which he is quick to return.

"Nah, you're not evil. No bad guy could give such a nice hug." she mumbles in his chest, making him chuckle.

"Thank you Ren."

I am sooooooo sorry I took so long on updating. Honestly there have been other things on my mind like studying, fixing up our house, new job and working from home which cuts my concentration dramatically. But before all that happened, I sadly had a miscarriage. It was a hard blow and certain things still trigger an amount of sadness in me, but I hope for the best in the future.

Now things finally settled down a bit and I was so happy when the urge to write returned to me. I don't know how long it will last, but what I do know is that I will finish this story. It is my favorite one to write at the moment so that helps I suppose.

Please be patient with me and your patience will be rewarded. That is a promise.

This part has not been checked for spelling and type-o's, so excuse me is you came across some word diarrhoea.