SneakPeek: Ennead: For Those We Love: Chapter 4

THIS CHAPTER IS WITH THE BETA READER, I FINISHED THE CHAPTER LAST NIGHT, HENCE WHY THERE WAS NO UPDATE YESTERDAY.  

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“Yuge?” Jou asked, worried, as Oneesan stalked into the room, pieces of cardboard in one hand, dueling glove in the other, golden box poking out of her jacket pocket. He didn’t think he had ever seen the spirit of the Puzzle stay this angry after a Challenge. There were times that had come close, but Oneesan’s rage normally burned out pretty quickly, taking the magic with it. At the moment, however, he could just glimpse the darkness still swirling around her frame and from the looks on the faces of the others, they could too, “You alright?”

“Yes, but he won’t be.” Oneesan snapped, slumping onto the mat and shoving the duelling glove at him. “Here. That insect won’t be needing it anymore.”

“Insect?” Jou examined the glove, noting that there was already a star chip inserted in it as Anzu quietly asked, “You don’t mean Haga?”

“Someone’s going to notice if you’ve driven Haga nuts.” Honda hissed at Oneesan, glancing around and glad that almost everyone had gone back to sleep even as he wished Bakura’s Challenge had not opened his eyes to the magic loose in the world around him. Seeing the Shadows cling to ‘Yugi’s’ frame was creepy, “Can you fix him?”

“He cheated.” Oneesan shrugged, causing the Anzu and Honda to wince, while Bakura let out a resigned sigh. They knew the dangers of cheating during a Challenge. Haga wouldn’t be getting up any time soon. “Besides,” Yugi’s other self continued, “He deserved everything he got.”

“What did he do?” Anzu asked, frowning.

Oneesan’s response was to reveal the pieces of cardboard. Jou swore loudly enough to wake some of the other duelists as he realised what they were.

“He ripped up Exodia?!” Anzu yelped.

“Now you see why I’m quite so ticked?” The ancient ex-Pharaoh asked as she put the pieces away in the box her spares.

Ennead: My original plan for Imori...

“Hey Mutou-kun?” Yugi blinked and wheeled around to look at the speaker to find that Imori had followed her. She watched him warily, taking note of Oneesan’s sudden intense focus. Her older sister seemed to have taken a dislike to the boy for some reason and that was enough to have her on edge, “Look I wanted to apologise for today.”

Yugi let out a sigh. She had been unnecessarily harsh when she had turned him down but Ojiisan had been insistent that she never play a game of Dragon Cards. “I should apologise too.” She replied, smiling at his despite her unease. “I didn’t mean to snap earlier. It was uncalled for.”

“No, no,” Imori shook his head, looking embarrassed, “You were busy and your Ojiisan did say that no one should play it. I just thought it might have been, you know, superstition or something.” He pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket, “I meant to give you this earlier.”

Yugi blinked at him, able to feel Oneesan’s surprise also, and took the box. Inside was an anklet, a beautifully designed one. It had vines and lotus blossoms engraved into the thick, brass, hinged squares that made it up. Some kind of lacquer giving hints of colour to the flora. Yugi was shocked as she looked to Imori, “Not that I’m not grateful, but why?”

“For  returning my game yesterday.” Imori explained, looking sheepish, “I had a little pocket money left over after I bought that Monster Fighter game so I thought...”

“Thank you.” No one except her grandfather had ever bought her jewellery before, so Yugi wasn’t quite sure how to react. She hadn’t been doing anything special. It had just been the right thing to do. She hadn’t expected someone to reward her for it. “You didn’t have to...”

“I wanted to.” Imori smiled at her. “May I?” He asked, gesturing to the anklet.

Yugi nodded. It would be rude not to try it on after all and she could take it straight back off again. It wasn’t like wearing it for a few minutes would break the school dress code any more than wearing the Puzzle did.

Imori removed the anklet from the box and Yugi sat on a nearby desk. She felt her older sister bristle when he rolled up her right trouser leg and was then too busy smoothing Anesan’s emotions to see how he did up the clasp.

“Thank you.” Yugi smiled at him as he backed off, examining it from a distance. She had to admit it looked good on her. She couldn’t wear it for too long though, she had swimming later and she didn’t want to ruin it. When she reached for the clasp however, she found that she couldn’t get it undone.

“Umm, Imori, how do I undo it?” She asked, confused when the little lever that should have unlocked the clasp refused to move.

“Huh?” The boy looked just as baffled as he tried to undo it. After about a minute he pulled back, a worried expression on his face, “Uh oh.”

“Uh oh?” Yugi worried, ‘uh oh’ was never good.

“It’s stuck.” Imori’s expression moved towards embarrassment as he gave her a sheepish smile, “I can’t get it loose.”

“It’s alright.” Yugi mentally winced against the irritation that spiked over the link from Anesan even as she tried to reassure the boy. “I’ll work out how to get it off when I get home. It’ll be okay in the water right?”

“Should be.” Imori looked relieved that she wasn’t too mad at him, “Sorry Mutou-kun.”

“It’s an accident.” Yugi shrugged, “Don’t worry about it.” The bell rang for the end of the lunch break and Yugi hastily rolled down her trouser leg and grabbed her bag, “See you later.”

“See you.” Imori nodded and darted off.

Yugi let out an amused huff and headed for her own form room, intending to tell the others about the gift. Anzu looked a little worried, while Honda had expected Jou to start teasing her about potential boyfriend, only for the blonde to turn sulky.

None of them could undo the catch either, boding badly for getting the anklet off without breaking it later on day.

Anzu badgered her for information the entire way to the changing rooms. The other girl liked Imori about as much as the spirit of the Puzzle did and she worried for her friend. Yugi didn’t get much attention from guys and Anzu had heard rumours about Imori and his temper. She just didn’t want Yugi to get hurt.

Anzu’s fussing both amused and frustrated Yugi. She had no interest in dating in general right now. She couldn’t just date anyone. Whoever she went out with would have to cope with the fact she was possessed and it wouldn’t be fair to drag Anesan out on a date.

Even if she had been interested in dating, she wouldn’t date Imori. She got a weird vibe from him. Like there was something lurking below the surface. She wanted to think that it was just paranoia, she had been through quite a lot recently after all. However considering Anesan had taken an instant dislike to him too, she was going to listen to her instincts on that front.

She half wondered if he was possessed too but she didn’t really want to ask. There was no real easy way to bring it up after all and she didn’t really want to regain her reputation as a weirdo when she was finally making friends with her other classmates.

She got changed with Anzu, blushing slightly as she changed into the swimming costume she had had to buy from the school. Not having to buy her own was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because she would have been really embarrassed to show up in her old swimming costume  but a curse because it meant she could now fit in the girl’s uniform. 

She had been informed that she could finish the term in the boy’s getup, but when the next term started, she would have to wear the girl’s uniform. She was dreading it. The jacket was a horrible colour and the skirt was so short she could wear it as a belt. She was tempted to take after Anzu, who wore shorts underneath it to prevent boys getting a flash of her underwear.

It was good though. It meant she’d grown some over the course of the term. Though she was still the smallest in her year, she at least had filled out a bit and, as Anzu had insisted, she did look much more feminine with longer hair now it no longer looked like a starfish.

She practically leapt from the changing room to the pool, not wanting to stand around with this little on and amusing Anzu no end as she splashed into the pool.

“Mutou!” The teacher scolded, “No cannonballs!”

The lesson progressed smoothly after that. As they assessed the swimming skills of the class as a whole, Yugi was pleased to find that for once she was placed in the upper most group. She’d always enjoyed swimming, it was the only sport she was even vaguely good at, mostly because her grandfather had insisted on swimming lessons from a young age. To find she was actually better than some of her more athletic classmates made her grin.

As the lesson came to a close, Yugi stayed in the pool to do a few more lengths. She had no intention of getting out until most of her classmates had left the area. She was normally one of the last back to the changing rooms anyway. Sometimes she even took so long that there was no one around to see her. In hindsight it probably hadn’t helped the gender misconception.

A loud ruckus from the girls’ changing rooms caused the female teacher to dart in to see what was going on and caught the attention of the group of teenagers hanging around the edge of the pool. Yugi headed for the side herself, concerned that something serious had happened.

Halfway there, Yugi felt something ‘shift,’ like the world had suddenly moved sideways, and she didn’t have time to do more than let out a startled yelp before it felt like her right ankle had a concrete block attached to it and she sank like a stone.

She hit the bottom of the pool, the water closing up over her head. With the surface more than a meter above her, Yugi didn’t waste time trying to reach for it. Instead she reached her for ankle, trying to work out what had happened and how to free herself from the weight still pinning her to the floor.

The anklet she had been given pressed into her foot painfully as she tried to lift it, only to find that it was the present itself that was weighing her down.

Surprise and fear seeped in as she fiddled with the clasp, trying to undo the anklet and free herself. Had Imori known what his gift would do? He had to have done, surely, or whoever he had gotten it from but she didn’t know what she’d done to him to deserve this.

The catch remained as jammed as it had earlier.

Yugi had to cover her nose and mouth with one hand as her body started screaming for air, resorting to tugging on the anklet with her other hand, trying to pull it off. It didn’t help, she wasn’t strong enough to break the suddenly far too heavy hinges between brass squares.

Desperation sank in as she realised she was stuck, trapped far below the surface and it was likely that no one had seen her go under. She tugged and tugged, panic making her heart race and only aiding in making the need for air that much more pronounced.

Then there was a pair of splashes from above her and suddenly there were two others in the pool with her. Yugi’s eyes widened as she recognised the blonde mop and the brunette spike as her friends, relief causing her to settle down slightly.

The pair tried to pull her to the surface, only for the weight at her ankle to keep her down. When the pulling didn’t work, Yugi gestured to her ankle. Honda swam down to it. When she managed to get across that it was the anklet causing the problem, she felt him fiddling with the clasp for a moment before he winced and shot for the surface.

Yugi’s mind was swimming, her lungs constricting painfully as Jou swam down to see what he could do. It was only the hand covering her lower face that prevented the reflexive breath that her body was trying to take.

Suddenly the pressure at her ankle was gone as Jou managed to break the catch by yanking on it. A dull thud sounded as the jewellery hit the pool’s floor, but Jou was already dragging her up. Yugi didn’t have the strength to swim herself, but it didn’t matter as Honda rejoined them and within seconds the trio had broken the surface.

Yugi gasped for breath the moment she was clear of the water, coughing and spluttering as she took in the air she’d so desperately desired. Jou shifted her in his arms so she was on her back and he was supporting her with his body. One arm wrapped around her chest tightly enough that she wouldn’t slip loose and sink again, but not tight enough to prevent her regaining her breath while the other helped him strike out for the side.

The two boys got her to the side, where the teacher, who looked pale, helped them pull her out. “What happened?” The teacher demanded, confusion and concern obvious as she took control of the situation.

“C...Cramp.” Yugi gasped out, the world around her still spinning. She felt sick and trying to think wasn’t helping.

The teacher looked at the two boys who nodded in agreement, glad Yugi had managed to come out with an excuse as neither of them had managed to think of a sane version of ‘Yugi’s jewellery was cursed.’

Once the teacher was satisfied that Yugi could walk on her own, she entrusted her to her friends’ safety and insisted that they take her down to the nurse’s office to get checked over before they went home. She wasn’t convinced about Yugi’s story that she had caught her foot on something while swimming along the bottom to shore. However she had reports to file and a pool to get checked, just in case, so she left them too it.

The moment the teacher was gone, Jou let out a savage snarl. “I’m going to kill Imori.”

“What else did he do?” Anzu asked, hovering in the door to the pool as Yugi got herself changed in the girls’ changing room.

“What do you mean ‘else’?” Jou demanded only to shove past Anzu when Yugi let out a despairing moan. “Yuge?”

“My Puzzle!” Panic was etched on her features as she pulled apart the contents of her backpack and tossed her clothes everywhere. “It’s gone!”

Sneakpeak: Ennead: For Those We Love Chapter 2

They weren’t the only ones who were early, there were plenty of Duellists waiting for the boat alongside them. Yugi recognised some of them. Near the front of the queue she could see Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki bickering about something. Further back was Kaijiki Ryota, the ocean based Duellist who only really seemed to be interested in big tournaments where there were large amounts of prize money at stake.

The only other female Duellist there spotted her and left her place in the queue to come and talk to her. Jou, who had been babbling in his nervousness about getting caught out and sent away, went silent as the tall, well built and beautiful blonde young woman joined them.

“Mutou Yugi?” Kujaku asked, looking Yugi over.

“T...that’s right.” Yugi nodded, bowing quickly to the woman who had inspired her, currently short, professional Duelling career.

“My name’s Kujaku Mai.” Mai returned the bow briefly, blanking Jou as he tried to introduce himself, “I was hoping you would be here.”

“Oh?” Yugi asked, unable to help but be surprised as she hadn’t thought Kujaku would even know who she was.

“When someone beats the World Champion, I make it my business to find out more about them.” Mai chuckled at her, “Especially when it’s a girl. Of course we’re still in the minority, as you can see.” Mai gestured around to the crowd, “But I’ve noticed there are more girls interested thanks to you. I’m almost jealous.”

“You are?” Yugi asked, confused.

“I’ve been trying to get other women interested in the game for years.” Mai nodded, “We’re smarter than guys after all.”

“Hey!” One of the male Duellists nearby who weren’t entranced by Mai’s appearance protested.

“I...”

“I look forward to seeing you in the finals, Yugi.” Mai cut off what Yugi was going to say as the queue started moving, shooting towards the front of the line where a couple of guys moved to let her back into the place she had abandoned much more willingly than they would have done for anyone else.

Yugi started moving with the line, shaking her head in amusement when she realised Jou hadn’t moved from where he’d been stood when Mai had left.

“Hey Jou, Earth to Jou.” She chuckled, waving a hand in his face, “Line’s moving. Come on.”

“Wha?” Jou did a double take and looked around, before sheepishly following her.

Sneakpeek: Ennead: For Those We Love Chapter 3

“Well...” Yugi sighed as she zipped up her backpack and looked around her room for any last items she might have missed, “I think that’s everything.”

Her voice echoed around the room and no audible reply answered her, but reassurance bounced down the link and she felt ghostly hands on her shoulders, steadying her and easing the nervousness coursing through her.

“Anesan...” Yugi breathed, wishing that they could talk. She knew her older sister could hear her and she could hear the spirit of the Puzzle’s words whenever she wasn’t in control of the body but they still couldn’t exchange words between them. Emotions and gestures, yes, but no words and with less than twelve hours until they reached Duelist Kingdom they needed to come up with some way of beating Pegasus.

There was still time to come up with a plan, but there wouldn’t be for much longer and Yugi was worried. She couldn’t and wouldn’t retract her offer to Jou. He needed to go and needed the money, but she couldn’t help but worry that if they failed, if they couldn’t beat Pegasus, he would continue his rampage against those she cared about.

It didn’t help that they just didn’t know enough to be able to plan properly. Pegasus knew how to use the Millennium Eye’s full powers and had already proved that he could use it’s abilities to read their mind turns in advance. He would know their plans the moment they did, making the upcoming Duel unwinnable. Unless, of course, they could find a way to block his mind reading.

She felt the ghostly hands leave her shoulders and her elder sister’s emotions retreat from her mind, guilt following her back into the Puzzle. Yugi winced, wishing she had been more careful about what she had been thinking. The spirit of the Puzzle felt horrible about letting her pride cost them the Duel against Pegasus in the first place.

“I’m sorry.” Yugi apologised aloud as she snatched up her bag, hoping that the spirit of the Puzzle could hear her, “I didn’t mean to... I know you didn’t mean to... We’ll do this. I know we will.” Silence echoed in her heart, causing her to let out a sigh as she joined Jou in the living room just in time to hear a car horn outside.

“You ready, Yuge?” Jou asked, already heading for the back door where the taxi was be waiting for them.

“As I’ll ever be.” Yugi nodded, following him out the door, turning off the lights and locking up as she did so. “Have you got everything ? Deck? Wallet? Keys?” She asked as she slipped into the taxi to the docks.

“Everything bar the kitchen sink.” Jou confirmed, “And I would have packed that too if it would have fitted in the bag.”

An Ennead Christmas Poem

Twas the night before Christmas, and through all Domino
There was a great battle of Shadows and snow,
Bakura on one side, and Yugi on the other,
They chased through the streets, pelting each other.

With Jou, Honda and Anzu joining the fun,
They fought and they played till the battle was won.
Then back to the shop they travelled together,
To escape from the worsening weather.

When all were inside and the snacks all given out,
From downstairs there came a great shout.
Down to the shop, Yugi shot like a dart,
Hoping against hope that there were no dark arts.

Down on the ground floor, Ojiisan was pale,
As morons bagged up things that were not for sale.
The Pharaoh took over and drove them away,
But they swore to come back yet another day.

Unwilling to let them ruin the holiday season,
Oneesan gave chase despite rhyme or reason.
She cornered the group while hunting her prey,
Insistent that for their crimes they would pay.

The gang turned on her, each much bigger by far,
One picking up a huge metal bar!
The Pharaoh didn’t flinch, she knew what to do,
And warned the gang that from now they were through.

They laughed and they laughed, doubting she was a threat,
Until she called forth the Shadows and challenged the set.
It took little time to beat them, they were just that thick,
And none of them had expected that trick.

Switching back with her light side, the Pharaoh retreated
Ready to relax now her task was completed.
They headed for home, through the dark and the snow,
Though now with the weather their journey was slow.

Her friends met her halfway home, having been worried,
And out of the storm they hurried and scurried.
Once back at the shop, the festivities did start,
Easing the worry in the Mutous’ hearts.

Gifts were exchanged and snacks were demolished,
The worry from earlier was completely abolished!
And by the time her friends left, Yugi was quite ready,
For tomorrow’s holiday. She wished it was here already!

Once friends were all gone and mess tidied away,
Yugi went to bed to await Christmas Day.
So completely exhausted from the earlier fight,

That before too long she was out like a light.

She wasn’t awake when there were sounds from the roof,
With a thud and a jingle, she missed foot and hoof.
Oneesan however woke in a flash,
And headed to find out what would make such a big crash.

In the living room near the tree, she found a strange man,
He obviously had some evil plan.

Dressed all in red with a white beard and a sack.
She watched as quite quickly he started to unpack.

Confusion flowed through her as he left behind toys,
And vanished away with a great deal of joy.
And as she headed back to check on her light,
She heard him call "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sneak Peek - Ennead: For Those We Love: Chapter 2

Bakura paused as she stepped through the classroom door and looked over at her group of friends, who were gathered around a travel video player, chatting to the screen.

“Good morning?” She questioned, curious as Yugi looked up and nodded to her, then slumped back into her seat, while the others all gave her smiles that looked rather false. “What did my other self do now?” She asked as she moved over to the group.

“It wasn’t her fault.” She jumped a mile as the video player answered her, causing her to move around to see the screen. Yugi’s grandfather was on it, waving merrily at her, “Good morning, Bakura-chan.”

“G...Good morning, Mutou-san?” It was more a question and she glanced around at the others, noting Yugi had seemed to sink further into her chair. “Is he really...?”

“Yeah.” Jou nodded, his tone angry and his movement sharp. “Some prick with a Millennium Item challenged Yuge, cheated all the way through and sealed Ojiisan’s soul into the tape when she lost.”

Bakura could feel her other self shift at the back of her mind at Jou’s words and mentally grimaced. She was well aware of how close her other self had come to total victory just a couple of months ago. It was only the fact the she had sacrificed herself to halt the final blow that had saved her friends.

It had only been a miracle that had saved her life and the life of her Other Self, but they had been dead, at least temporarily, and while she was willing to do it again if she needed to, the spirit of the Ring had made it clear that she had no intention of dying again. Not for a long time at least.

This meant that, for the time being, Yugi’s Puzzle was firmly off the radar. Any other Items however were still fair game and Bakura couldn’t really bring herself to object considering that most other item holders seemed to be obnoxious prats.

“Can you get him out?” She asked, remembering how Yugi no Oneesan, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle had seemed to have no difficulty in helping her free those trapped in the game pieces from her Monster World set.

“No.” Yugi shook her head, seeming calm, though Bakura could see it was just a mask. She couldn’t help but wonder if the others could see the dejection hidden underneath. “Anesan tried. We just ended up with a headache for our troubles.”

‘Of course they did.’ Bakura flinched as the voice of her other self echoed in her head, still not used to being able to hear the thoughts of the spirit of the Ring and mostly wishing she still couldn’t, ‘The Penalty was set against them. They will have to fulfil the ‘out’ clause before they will be able to free him.’

“Could we do it?” Bakura asked the voice, startling them both. “Could we free Yugi’s Grandfather?”

‘I don’t know,’ The voice replied after a moment of thought, sounding amused for some reason, ‘And quite frankly I don’t care to try. The Pharaoh got herself into this mess and she can get herself...’

The Other Bakura paused, retuning into the conversation at the table in time to see Jou rolling his text book into a cone shape, pointing it at the Puzzle and yelling, “Hey Oneesan! If you can hear me in there, cheer up!” at the top of his lungs.

“Jonouchi!” Anzu shoved him away as Yugi tried to get some hearing back. “Seriously! I don’t think that’ll help.”

It had a little though, Bakura could see, as Yugi smiled for a moment, some of the despondency lifting a little in the face of her friend’s lunacy. 

Preview - Ennead: Season Zero: Chapter 27

“Nice shooting!” Jou high fived Honda, grinning as he did so.

Bakura ignored the characters in favour of watching the other player. This wasn’t Yugi, her soul was in the Birdtail figure on the table. So who was this? Yugi had called this new spirit ‘Anesan.’ That thought brought something Yugi had said to her to the forefront of her mind.

“Yugi no Oneesan, I presume?” Bakura asked irritably, having been so focused on victory, she had forgotten about the other spirit.

“Bakura-san.” Oneesan nodded, irritation obvious, “I wanted information, not my friends stuffed into lead figurines.”

“It’s just Bakura.” The other Millennium spirit corrected, “And I don’t know, they look better like that.” Bakura smirked at her, “And now you’re the only one in that body. You should be grateful.”

“I’d rather share this vessel with its rightful owner for a thousand years than steal it away from her for even a moment.” Oneesan scowled, “I was happy to sit back and let Imoto-chan play, even when I realised there was more going on here than just a game. But you attacked our friends and sealed her soul into her figurine so now you have to deal with me.”

“She was sealed at her own request, I will remind you.” Bakura tutted at her opposite number, “Do you think you can handle the pressure of having the lives of your ‘sister’ and your friends in your hands where she couldn’t?”

“I don’t lose so their lives are in no danger.” Oneesan informed Bakura, who smirked slightly, enjoying the game even more with someone facing her who wasn’t even slightly cowed by the powers at work.

“Then let the game continue.” Bakura crowed, the Shadows in full swing now, bringing the board and figurines on it to life properly. Oneesan felt her little sister balk to start with, as the Shadows first moved, and braced Imoto-chan’s mind, glad she was able to do that despite the separation.

Yugi looked up at Oneesan and smiled gratefully, not saying a word about the issue to her friends in order to help them keep calm. 

“It’s a new round of combat.” Bakura informed them, “And though he just lost his hand, Zorc looks almost uninjured. Plus things are looking worse for the Adventurers.” As she said that the hand shifted and split, taking the form of two monsters.

“Any piece of my flesh cut from my body transforms into monsters under my control!” Zorc informed them, sounding smug. “Minions. Deal with them, I grow bored.”

He turned to leave and Yugi stepped forward, wanting this over as soon as possible. “Are you running away?” She demanded, “Stand and fight us!”

“I have a special place set up for our final battle.” Zorc informed her, “Make your way to my castle while the fires of hate still burn within you, if you can.” With that he took off, flying ahead to the castle.

“Jerk! Creep! Power Gamer!” Jou roared insults after him, “Just wait! We’ll get to the castle no matter what it takes!”

“We’re playing right into Bakura’s script.” Yugi mentally grimaced, “We really are stuck in her game world.”

‘You’re right.’ Yugi jumped a mile and wheeled around to look up at her elder sister, shocked when she heard Oneesan’s voice echoing in her mind, ‘Bakura made Zorc appear when your guard was down, then she was able to seal your souls into figurines. Everything’s gone according to her plan. She’s a Game Master to watch out for.’

“I think she’s cheating.” Yugi informed her elder sister, needing to warn her. “Whenever she rolls she gets a critical.”

‘I know.’ Oneesan replied, delighted that she could finally talk to her little sister outside of the soul rooms despite the situation. ‘And I can stop her.’

Sneak Peek of a Distant Future: Ennead: Battle of the Gods

When the Millennium Necklace had revealed to her that the Pharaoh had been female she had found it incredibly difficult to believe. Every story she had been told, every legend passed down through her family’s history had spoken of the nameless Pharaoh who had given his life to save the world, surrendering everything he had and any chance of making the journey through the afterlife to do so, and who would be reborn when the Shadows once again launched an assault against the world.

Nothing had ever been said of he being a she.

And yet here she was, in all her glory, the nameless Pharaoh, the Queen of Games, here in the museum, looking for answers.

And Isizu was torn as to what to do. She’d seen the future, she’d seen herself telling the Pharaoh and her consort everything they needed to know, that was what she had to do to in order to have even the slightest chance of saving her brother. 

That possibility was remote though, she’d seen the future after all. She knew how everything was going to unfold. The Pharaoh would be told everything she needed to know in order to force her onto the necessary path and then she would compete in Battle City, believing she was on the route to getting her memories back, never knowing that she was on the path to her own destruction.

If Isizu was truly loyal to her Queen, as she should have been, she would have warned her about the danger, told her about the mental and physical torture that was to come, how Marik, Isizu’s patricidal brother, would cause both the spirit of the nameless Pharaoh and the vessel, Mutou Yugi, agony so great that they would wish for death long before it came, but she couldn’t, not while there was a chance that she would get one last chance to save her brother, even if...

She knew the future. By the time he moved onto the Pharaoh, Marik would be guilty of sororicide too.

She was supposed to have faith in the nameless Pharaoh, faith that he would be able to defeat evil and restore balance to the world, but he had turned out to be a she and now Isizu wondered how many of the tales that had been passed down through her family for the last five millennia were actually true.

Was it really possible that this tiny girl was the Pharaoh of the legends? The one who had protected Egypt from so many dangers? The one who had battled Anubis and won? The only one who could control all three Egyptian God monsters at the same time?

If the Pharaoh had looked more like her consort, Isizu would have been happier. A tall, powerful looking male Pharaoh would have been much more reassuring than the short, tiny framed girl that now stood before the tablet, absorbing every detail of it...

Even without the visions she’d had from five thousand years ago, when the Pharaoh had stood before the tablet, she’d sensed the magic that had been loosed and recognised the girl in front of her as the same woman from her visions.

“Oneesan?” The Pharaoh’s consort asked, surprising Isizu, as she’d ‘seen’ the blonde kissing the Pharaoh, and causing her to wonder if it hadn’t been the nameless Pharaoh she’d seen him kissing, but the young vessel, “Are you alright?”

Sneak Peek: Ennead: Season Zero: Chapter 24

Yugi was still trying to work out how to phrase her letter when she got home from school. She had been attempting to think about it all day, but returning the stolen games hadn’t helped her steadily increasing fame amongst the student population. Instead she was more popular than she had been this morning.

“Oooh, post!” Jou grinned, pouncing on a letter addressed to him and tossing Yugi a couple of envelopes. Yugi was about to open her post when Jou let out a delighted whoop and spun her around the shop until she was dizzy.

“Jonouchi, I would appreciate it if you didn’t make Yugi sick.” Ojiisan scolded, his tone only half serious as Jou swiftly let go and Yugi stumbled slightly before leaning on one of the glass cases.

“Sorry, but you remember that application I put in for ‘Get the Million?’ You know, that game show that’s really popular right now?” He asked, a huge smile on his face.

“How could we forget?” Ojiisan asked, “You coloured it in with every colouring pencil we own and a few I didn’t think we did.”

“Well I’m on. They’re letting me play!” Jou crowed, “I’m recording at the end of the week!”

“That’s great.” Yugi smiled at him, still dizzy but pleased for her friend and able to sense Oneesan’s pleasure at Jou’s good luck too.

As Jou started babbling about everything he was going to do with the money when he got it, Yugi started restocking the shelves. The store looked like it had been busy over the course of the day. Monster Fighter hadn’t been the only thing to fly off the shelves by the looks of it.

In fact it continued to be busy right up until about five minutes before closing when one of the other teens in their year, one Yugi had returned a game to earlier in the day, entered the shop looking nervous.

“Imori-kun? Right?” Yugi asked, curious about the package in his hands.

“Ye...yeah.” Imori nodded, “You’re Mutou-kun?”

“That’s right.” Yugi encouraged, “What’ve you got there?”

“I wanted to...” He put the package on the counter, letting them all look at it. It looked like a jar and a box, tied with string and with a piece of paper with kanji attached, “Well you know games, right?” Yugi nodded, “I was hoping you could tell me what this is and maybe we could have a gam...”

“No.” Ojiisan’s firm and unyielding denial confused Yugi, who turned to her grandfather to find that he was glowering at the package.

“Ojiisan?” Jou asked, confused.

“I’ve heard about this.” Ojiisan explained, “This is an ancient game called Dragon Cards and you must not break this seal!”

“Why?” Yugi asked, confused considering that he didn’t discourage Oneesan’s game and they were certainly dangerous.

“Because they were created by a Taoist master as a test for his students. Their final test. They use the energies of the heaven and nature. The cards are currently in balance, the dark energies of the cards are balanced by the light energies of the seal.”

Yugi blinked, wondering if her relationship with Oneesan was something similar.

“If this seal gets broken, it will create a warped power and disaster would fall upon you and anyone around you.” Ojiisan warned, “In fact I’ve heard rumour that these Dragon Cards once ruined countries. You must never, ever break this seal.”

Ennead: Season Zero Chapter 23 Sneak Peak

Yugi didn’t need much coaxing to come and settle at her Grandfather’s side as he settled on the sofa, happy to leave Jou to cook something that was resembling food more and more with every meal. She cuddled into him, relaxing as he hugged her. She had been tense for days after Death-T, still partly convinced that everything that had happened was her fault. Even now, a week and a half later she sought out their company, silently enjoying what had nearly been ripped away from her, but didn’t join in their games and laughter. Tonight was no different.

It was almost, Sugoroku mused as he watched the frustration crossing Jonouchi’s features when Yugi didn’t join him in playing for yet another night in a row, instead watching as he completed yet another chapter of some video game, as if she didn’t think she deserved to have fun.

It hurt to see her like this. Watching her regress into the quiet, shy little mouse she had been pre-Puzzle was painful. He missed the bouncy, happy, energetic girl she had become over the last few months. 

It was partly his fault she had withdrawn so far. When they had gotten to the hospital, he had still been in emergency surgery and the Doctor had told Yugi the truth of his condition. A condition that had been brought on by Kaiba’s ‘Penalty Game.’ He had emerged from the surgery whole and healthy, feeling much better, in fact, than he had for a while but the damage had been done.

Yugi had barely left his side since. He didn’t think he could blame her. He had been just as terrified about losing her as she had about losing him. He had been so afraid that she would not make it. That Kaiba’s malicious games would rob him of the last remaining member of his family. He did not think he could have survived it if he had had to return to the Game Shop, knowing that Yugi was never going to come home.

To know she was safe, that she had made it through the trials she had taken on purely to ensure his safety, eased most of the remaining stress on his heart and made breathing easier. Now if he could just mend her heart, his own would be just fine.

He had tried to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault. That he didn’t blame her for Kaiba’s actions. He had even offered to help her merge his deck and hers into something new, just for her. However she had turned him down, just handing the deck back and shaking her head. A first sign, maybe, of the state she had spiralled into.

He couldn’t help but wonder what the Pharaoh thought. Whether the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle was as frustrated as Yugi’s other friends or whether she felt guilty about what Kaiba had done too. It wasn’t like he could ask his other granddaughter. Not without something happening to Yugi to make her come out.

He was sure that given the right impetus Yugi would be okay but he couldn’t help but worry. He wasn’t quite sure what to do to fix the problem. Normally he would have offered her a game or two from the store to help lift her mood, but he did not think it would help. Not when he didn’t have anything new to encourage her curiosity.

Not till tomorrow at least. He was pretty sure that the new game that was due to arrive in store would at least get her playing again. She wouldn’t be able to help herself. She never had been able to resist the latest releases. From there he was sure her friends could draw her out of her shell once more. Despite their frustration he could see that they only wanted to help her.

Yugi retired to her room early again, leaving a ticked off Jou and a worried Sugoroku behind.

“If she were a guy I’d’ve smacked her by now.” Jou huffed, irritated as he watched her go. “It wasn’t her fault Kaiba was a psycho and the sooner she works that out the better.”

“I have a plan.” The elderly gamer reassured him, smiling slightly at the confirmation of his suspicions. “Just give it a little longer.”

“I hope it works.” Jou replied, shutting down the games console as he did so. “Can I help?”

“Actually you’re kind of vital.” Sugoroku chuckled lightly, “Got something new coming in tomorrow. I’ll be giving you and Yugi freebies.”

“But Yuge’s not playing...” Jou paused, curiosity kicking in, “Wait, how new?”

“Brand new release. Out for sale tomorrow.” He informed the teen, amused by the way the thought of a new game had derailed the blonde.

“That could work.” Jou nodded thoughtfully.

“We’ll just have to wait and see.”