Chương 21: Losing the Light
She didn't run as fast. She never seemed to get anywhere in the endless fog.
"Silhouette."
She heard it again. It was close. She saw him above her, like before. "Atem. I'm still trapped."
"No, you aren't. I can't connect with you all the time, so we must make our connection count. Yugi and I rescued you from the Shadow Realm, but that place has you caught in illusions and nightmares. I can only connect through these hallucinations for a short while."
"I'm actually free?" It didn't feel like it.
"Yes. Close your eyes. Do you still see the Shadow Realm?"
Silhouette closed her eyes. "No, I just have my eyes closed."
"Good. Are you hungry?"
"No." She was too scared.
"Then you should try drinking. Do you feel that in your hands? Don't open your eyes. Try and believe in the truth, that you are safe."
Silhouette felt something in her hands. It felt like something she knew. A cup. A straw. She took a drink. Ooh! "That's sweet."
"Yes, it is. You wouldn't be able to taste that if you were really there. Keep your eyes closed and focus on it. Afterward, lie yourself on the ground. You will be safely lying in bed."
Lying in bed. "Is Hi there?"
"Your light is safe, and so are you."
She drank more of the drink, feeling a stronger presence next to her. She kept her eyes closed as she continued to drink. She didn't want to go to sleep there, but she had a sweet drink. She could taste a sweet drink.
It must be true. I am safe. I am warm in my bed. I am drinking in bed. She started to feel more around her. A nice warm bed beneath her. "I feel a bed beneath me."
"That's a good start for getting good rest. You will not remain there forever in your hallucination. It will end, Silhouette."
Right. It wasn't forever.
"There is no reason to run or walk anymore. Your body and mind must be tired. Just relax. Accept the feeling of the bed. I have to go now, but keep the cup near you. Drink it. Know that you are safe."
She was safe. She took another drink as she sat down on the ground, wanting to feel more of a warm bed.
"She is still trapped in the hallucination, but she knows the truth now." Atem watched her drink the soda. There was no time to try a familiar drink to her around there, but the sweetness of the soda they had seemed to be enough to make her feel stable.
She was drinking fine, slouching on the bed.
"Are you choosing beside her for tonight? You are the one who can reach her," Masika pointed out. "I will take the sleeping bag."
"For now." He should. In case of an emergency. Right now, she was okay. Trying to stay grounded in the truth. She had kept her eyes closed and just focused on her drink. But first? "Let me know if anything happens. I want to see Yuugi and Anzu."
"Of course." She stayed near the bed as Atem left the room.
Yuugi wasn't far. "How is she?"
"She can feel the presence of the bed. She can also drink. She is keeping her eyes closed, to block out the hallucination around her," Atem said.
"Yeah. I'm sorry that happened, Atem," Yuugi told him. "We just want them where they belong. Why's it have to be so hard to grant?" He looked toward his room. "Anzu is so confused. She's crying over losing Hikaru, crying that Hikaru is okay, and crying that she feels that way while Silhouette got pulled into this."
"Yes." He understood that. "It wasn't great they were pulled away early, but I'd rather Silhouette be over there with Hikaru."
"Yeah. They like being together. I don't like them being apart like this," Yuugi agreed.
"Thank you," Atem had to say.
"For what?" Yuugi asked.
///Atem: This is new to me. Don't ever take what that Yugi said about you to heart. You aren't selish at all. If I didn't think it would end reality, I would have said something.///
///Yuugi: Oh. Well. You are new to this. I don't know your exact feelings with her exactly, but me getting in the way of any exploration would be a bad idea. He just didn't get that. Thanks for saying that though. Um? Also? Did Masika mention it yet? You know, the secret that he spilled over about Silhouette?///
///Atem: Not yet. Knowing her, there will be something involved in it. Right now, she is too concerned for Silhouette. I am even on the bed tonight. You?///
///Yuugi: Oh. I'm on the couch tonight.///
Hmm. ///Atem: Sorry.///
///Yuugi: No big deal. I know Anzu will get over it, but she's not happy about the secret, plus she's extra hurt over Hikaru's disappearance. I'm giving her some space right now. I don't think she really wants me on the couch yet. She'd be sleeping all alone after such a rough day. We are having a long talk soon. Probably. If not, then I guess I get the couch. I really hope not. I'd rather she just yell at me for awhile.///
They both heard something downstairs. Anzu left the room and went downstairs? They followed her to see her open the front door.
Mokuba was right there. "Hi, Anzu."
"Hey. She's upstairs," Anzu said. "So is her daughter, Silhouette."
"Okay." Mokuba went toward the guys. "Excuse me, guys."
///Yuugi: I guess this is affecting her. She must have called Mokuba.///
///Atem: Mokuba was part of Heba.///
He went back upstairs to see Mokuba and Masika. Already, he knew how Masika would handle him. ///Atem: Enjoy the couch. I will be bothered worse./// "Good to see you."
"Sure." Mokuba was standoffish as he kept hugging Masika. "I'm really sorry. You didn't deserve this." He looked back toward Atem. "You had no right to withhold that from her. Silhouette is hers too. Yuugi too? I can't believe you guys."
"Our other selves requested it," Atem said to him.
"Sure, and they almost ended this reality because they were upset." Mokuba pointed it out pretty quick. Masika wasn't giving him any words like 'calm down' either. She just remained near Silhouette, making sure she finished her drink. "Hiding that is something my brother would have done, and I still would have been mad about that. It isn't like you to hide such dark secrets from your friends. Jounouchi was pretty surprised too."
///Atem: Nevermind, Yuugi. You are getting pulled into this as well.///
///Yuugi: What do you mean?///
There was a much louder knock on the door. Anzu hadn't gone up the stairs. Atem could guess why.
"I don't believe you guys did that." Yep. Jounouchi's voice. "Yuugi, I see you, don't you dare head up those stairs! Why didn't you tell anybody about Silhouette?"
"There are some untrustworthy gods, and we don't know the exact ones we can trust," Yuugi answered back downstairs. "We wanted to minimize it."
"Sure, minimize it. Keep it from those that don't need to know, but from the mothers? You didn't tell them-"
"It's better not to keep saying it out loud, please don't say it out loud."
"You could have whispered it in their ear. Played a game of words with them. You guys knew several ways to share it without being loud," Jounouchi judged him. "That was not you."
"We listened to-"
"Yeah, yeah, almost gods that almost ended reality too? Good call, Yuugi, good call."
Atem sighed but came deeper into the room. "How is she?"
"She is drinking well, Pharaoh," Masika answered him.
Oh. Great. "No one wanted to worry you."
"Of course not. What blessed kindness." Extra thick.
"That was super lame," Mokuba scolded him again. "I can't be mad about the clothes though. You dressed her like you. You dressed Masika up today like you too? How come?"
This could help or hurt the situation. Atem couldn't guarantee which way it would go. "There is a certain way the royal family dressed. Masika is Pharaoh's queen, and Silhouette is Pharoah's daughter."
"Oh." It apparently helped. Mokuba's eyes softened. "I guess this new role has you kind of twisted up. Yuugi was already a father, but Hikaru was just a baby last time. He's probably pretty twisted up too. Especially with it being gone." He got off the bed. "I guess I understand that, but you still need friends to help with decisions, and you really should have told Masika, Atem. She's her daughter too. The lying is bad, but not getting the dangers that grabbing her from another dimension could pose? That was way worse."
"I didn't know of the danger. She was supposed to have escorts. That time, she was just zapped without any escort," Atem explained.
"Yeah, well. I think Masika is letting you off easy. It's mainly because you are the only one that can reach Silhouette," he said to him. "On that note, I should probably go. I know it's getting late and everyone probably needs rest. Just call if you need anything though, Masika?" Masika nodded. "Okay. Bye, Atem."
Fantastic. "You chose to have your other brat come over and scold me as if I was the brat?" he asked her.
But? He knew he messed up. She didn't really respond to that at all. Her whole concern was on Silhouette. "I don't know what to do with this child," she said. "She calls me Momma Masika, and it comforts her, so I let her. I've watched several brats in the past, I can take care of her fine. Yet, this is what I did. She is actually my daughter. She is a nice child. Yet, she is still a stranger. She is in a room filled with strangers, even when she leaves the nightmare of the Shadow Realm. I feel for her."
Oh. "Sorry," he apologized. "You just wanted to talk this out to someone." Someone she considered family.
"Even her 'Uncle Joey' would be better here. She knew him. She has no one, and lost her light."
"It's true, that we do not know her. We can still treat her and help her," Atem insisted.
"I suppose that is easier for you." She finally smiled. "You and all of Anzu's friends always wanted to help so much. I am trying myself, but it feels so . . . distant. It is but a small matter. Watch a child. Nothing new. Yet, we are only nannies right now. She needs family for this part. I feel ill equipped for that."
Ill-equipped. "This isn't winning a game or taking a lead. This is not a specialty of mine either. Neither of us feel triumphant in this course."
"It feels like we were thrown into it, doesn't it?"
"Into the deep end. Yes. Finding them was a challenge. Having to care for them. Was a completely different challenge," he admitted. "She is not Pharaoh of Egypt, but she is Queen of Syrup."
He managed to make Masika laugh slightly. "That she is. Even now, she might still have some kind of syrup hiding on her. Inconspicuously." She doubled checked around her arms, and then on the hem of the skirt. "Yes, only a Queen could manage to do that."
Atem couldn't help a smirk. She managed to have syrup on the inside hem of the bottom of her skirt. "How?"
Masika shook her head, watching her sleep. "At least she seems peaceful." She moved away from the bed and went toward the sleeping bag. "Don't hesitate if she starts to cry out. In my experience, the longer children cry, the harder it is to get them to settle down."
He nodded and took the bed. If she felt like she was in danger, he would be right there.
He watched Anzu head past their room. Hopefully, she and Yuugi both talked it out more with Jounouchi. Once he understood the details, he would probably ease up.
Anzu went past the room again. Okay?
Anzu went past it again. She was pacing the floor.
"It was difficult," Masika said from her corner. "It will be easier to sleep if you accept him back."
Masika was trying to work it out with Anzu. Hopefully, she managed something.
///Anzu: Accept him back? Did you talk to Atem? We are either going to end up with Bakura for eternity, or go to hell! Because Silhouette is demon. Zorc even got his claws into your daughter, Masika, how can you just-? Grr!///
///Masika: They are hiding secrets from more than us. How else should they handle such a deadly secret? Now that Silhouette has been in Zorc's grasp, there probably isn't as much use hiding it.///
///Anzu: It involved my afterlife though, and yours!///
///Masika: No, it doesn't. It involves the mothers of Silhouette. That is not our afterlife.///
///Anzu: Which is another reason why I am super pissed!///
///Masika: Oh. Yes, Yuugi and Atem will join with their other selves. We will either-///
///Anzu: I married this Yuugi! That whatever form of me, married the other, but they are going to combine into one! So, what happens to us? Do they go with that other me? Or does the other me go with Bakura?///
///Masika: That is the real source of your anger./// "One of us will go with them, while another will stay behind."
"Hm?" Atem looked at her.
"That is why Anzu is so angry. We are separate spirits. The ones who raised Silhouette and-
"Don't tell him!" Anzu scolded her from the door. ///Anzu: Leave it alone. Stop it. It's not even my future anyway. We never even really married! The other one married him for years, and she raised Hikaru. With him. And he'll get those memories. He'll love her. I don't even have a spot in his world, do I?///
"Anzu." No. "You are going into a very deep-"
///Anzu: She was married to him. She'll want to marry him again. I'm not her. She also had Hikaru. She had him. She raised him.///
///Masika: Anzu, they want you to have Hikaru back.///
///Anzu: For what? For me to just get attached, just to have the obvious future happen? No!///
Oh, Anzu. Masika got up from the sleeping bag. "Anzu, please talk this out?"
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Anzu, what are you-?"
"It's over, Yuugi!"
"What?! Anzu, wait, what are you-?"
Masika rushed down the stairs. ///Masika: Anzu, please, stop this, this is not the time for this!///
///Anzu: Only one will get with Yuugi, I won't do this to myself! I can still have a different future, and then it won't hurt as much when it's over.///
///Masika: Anzu, this is not like you! You are living, why are you even thinking about this ridiculousness? Please come back. Anzu?///
///Anzu: I'm sorry. I can't. I'm sorry. I know, you have Silhouette to think about right now. Just put me out of your mind.///
///Masika: If you keep going, you will be a loser, and end with Bakura.///
///Anzu: You're right.///
///Masika: I don't like the way you said that!///
///Anzu: It'll be easier to accept.///
///Masika: Have you gone mad? Go to a hotel then! Do not do anything you will regret. Things work out in strange ways. Please, do not hurt him like that. Anzu?///
///Anzu: I'll go to a hotel. I promise. I'm sorry.///
"Masika!" Yuugi was practically shaking her. "Do you know where Anzu went? I can't believe she's mad enough to leave me."
"Dude. Things are really sticky right now," Jounouchi said. "I'm sure she wasn't the happiest to hear it all, but that was pretty intense."
Masika didn't know what to say to him yet. "Let go please."
"You talked to her though, you can talk to her," Yuugi insisted. "When will she come back?"
///Masika: Anzu. He is hurting.///
///Anzu: Hurt him now and he gets paradise later.///
///Masika: Anzu. You are my light. I do not want to let you go, but my own child is trapped in her own form of hell.///
///Anzu: Masika. I have to go. Isis is in the middle of the street.///
Even catching that much was hard to hear now. She headed back in, but Yuugi blocked her. "I cannot give you answers yet. I need to return to the room."
"When is she coming back?" he asked.
"I'm sorry." She moved past him toward the stairs. She went up the stairs and back to the room with Silhouette.
"I heard," Atem said to her. "I don't want to leave far from her."
"I can't follow, unless I leave Silhouette." Masika sank to her sleeping bag. "She is not coming back."
"What do you mean?" Atem left the side of the bed briefly as Yuugi and Jounouchi showed up at the door.
"Masika? Please?" Yuugi begged her. "Please tell me?"
Masika rolled her body out on the sleeping bag. "My light is gone."
"When . . . when's she . . .?" Yuugi still tried to press.
"Yuugi?" Jounouchi placed his hand on his shoulder. "If it'd be a short time, Masika wouldn't act like that. Anzu didn't take the lying well."
"I cannot lose Anzu! Please, Masika? Where did she go?"
"Yuugi," Atem called out to him. "I doubt Anzu went far on such short notice. Just try some hotels."
"She saw Isis," Masika managed to say. "Isis has her."
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực