Light Amongst Shadows Part 13

“Yup.” Yugi nodded, following the spirit of the Millennium Ring quickly and quietly into the building. Bakura was vaguely impressed as the little sister proved to be much better at sneaking than the elder. The pair of them quickly and quietly made their way through what seemed like an ordinary building. The upper two levels were empty, it was not until they started down the stairs to the ground floor that they heard voices.

Yugi pressed herself against the wall at Bakura’s gesture and the spirit of the Ring glanced around the corner carefully. There was a group of mooks hovering around another set of stairs just down the hallway from the stairs they had descended while a strange red glow emanated from the doorway and more voices could be heard chanting downstairs.

Bakura gestured for Yugi to head back upstairs and was relieved when the girl followed direction without questioning her.

Once Yugi was out of sight she smiled to herself slightly and then called on the powers that Diabound leant her in order to walk invisible amongst the thugs. Without the Pharaoh dragging her down and with one of her many available ‘cheats’ active, it was child’s play to slip downstairs.

If this had been any other break in, if she had been trying to steal something, she would not have used Diabound’s powers. They were something to be used in emergencies only, not when she was doing something she enjoyed. However here and now she wanted this over with as quickly as possible.

Down in the basement there was a group of hooded mooks surrounding a glowing red circle, inside of which were markings like the one on the young man’s face along with several symbols. Bakura was not sure what they all meant but she could read enough of them that she could tell that this seal was supposed to collect loose souls.

There was something missing to this set up though. Her memories of the past were blurry, but she distinctly remembered the day the Pharaoh’s men had destroyed her village and how the Millennium Items had been forged. There was no mold, no molten gold, no sign that they actually planned on forging the items here.

This was not their main base.

A girl’s scream from up above caused her to curse in her head and shoot for the stairs, having to press herself against the wall to avoid being run into by the pair of hooded mooks that shot up the stairs.

“Let me go!” The girl’s voice yelled, “Let me go!”

Bakura shot up the stairs after the two mooks to find Yugi had been stripped of the Puzzle and was being restrained by one mook as a second bound her wrists behind her back.

“How did she get in?” One of the goons demanded, “I thought she was supposed to be dead.”

Bakura let out a small growl that went unheard as Yugi tried to wrench free of her captor’s grip only to earn a slap that dazed her for a few moments.

“So what? We finish the job?” The mook holding Yugi drawing a knife from a hidden holster up his sleeve and holding it to the girl’s throat as he asked. Yugi froze, terror seeping into her features as the blade pressed against her neck, drawing a trickle of blood but not cutting too deeply.

“No.” One of the mooks that had come from the basement shook their head. “Take her to the boss. He said that if we came across any item holders, he wanted to deal with them directly.”

“Whatever.” The mook pulled the blade away, causing Yugi to let out a shaky, relieved breath, “Let me take a couple more, in case the other one shows up, and I’ll take her to the forging seal.”

“Take anyone you want from up here.” The downstairs mook shrugged, “I need everyone I’ve got to maintain that. With seven soul seals, we’re spread too thin as it is.”

Bakura frowned at that. The Egyptians had used only one seal to both make the items and seal the souls of her village into their cursed Millennium Items, they had not needed another seven on top. They were changing the ritual and Bakura had a horrible feeling that it was because of the sheer difference in numbers when it came to souls involved.

She could not stop the ritual without finding the root of the problem and she had thought this house was the source. Now however, she could at least follow the thugs who had captured the Pharaoh’s runt to their main base.

As she saw Yugi’s eyes flicker around and the girl subtly gesture ‘follow’ with her bound hands, she realised that that had been the girl’s plan all along.