NaNo2014: Shadows of Friendship: Part 4

The baby dragon was not daft enough to try and disturb Twilight when she was working on the bright treasure that looked edible and delicious to him but had an awful taste that had put him off eating it for life. Instead he found his spare cards and started making adaptions to his deck in case Twilight wanted to duel while they were waiting for the Princess to write back.

Twilight lost track of the time as she worked on the trinket. Her dam-sire had told her a long time ago, back before she had even gotten her cutie mark and started studying under the Princess, that the one who passed the test and completed the ‘Millennium Puzzle’ got one wish and that wish was guaranteed to come true. She was beginning to wonder though, if it was called such because it was going to take a thousand years to complete.

The first pieces went in easily. She knew almost instinctively now which pieces went in which order right up until she was about a third of the way done. Then the difficulty started. She could not insert the pieces by hoof, the puzzle was far too complex and fiddly for that. Instead she had to use her magic to put it together as well as hold it in place. The complex creation was a 3d puzzle, which meant that it would make a statue or something once completed but if she pushed on one piece just a little too hard it would completely collapse and she would have to start from scratch.

More than once she had ruined hours and hours of careful work in such a way and she was extra careful as she started the difficult task of assembling the other two thirds, not that she knew which piece went where or what the end product was supposed to look like.

Spike was surprised when he looked up from his cards to find that not only had it started growing dark, but the puzzle was really beginning to come together in front of the unicorn he looked up to. It looked like an upside down version of one the pyramids that he had seen in a book about Saddle Arabia, which had once been Equigypt. The hoop on the base was new though and looked sturdy, as if you could loop rope or something similar through it and wear the completed thing as a rather large and probably heavy pendant.

“I’ve done it!” Twilight crowed as she slipped the last bar one piece into place, leaving one last space for a piece to go. She knew which one it was, a piece that was, oddly enough, shaped like the main star of her cutie mark and had an eye symbol on it. Twilight had researched it and it was known as the ‘wadjet eye’ or the ‘Eye of Anubis’ who had supposedly been a God in the days of Equigypt. “Just one more piece and…” She froze when she went to use her magic to lift the last piece of the puzzle out of the box and found that it was empty. “Spike!” The baby dragon scrambled to his feet at the panic in her voice, “Spike!”

“What?” He asked as he scrambled to her side, “What’s the matter Twilight?”

“There’s a piece missing.” Twilight panicked, trying to maintain the magic holding the puzzle in place despite the surge of emotions coursing through her.

“Huh?” Spike blinked at her, confused.

“A piece. Of the puzzle. It’s gone! The last piece!” Twilight whinnied frantically, “Please tell me you haven’t eaten it!”

“No way!” Spike protested, even as he lit the lamps with his fire breath and started searching for it, knowing what Twilight’s next question would be. “Tried that once, remember? It was gross. I haven’t seen it lying around either.”

“It might have fallen out when we moved around for a while.” The filly paled beneath her fur at that idea. It was not like she could just buy another puzzle and complete that instead. This one was ancient and one of a kind. Not only that if she could not complete it, she would never pass her dam-sire’s test and that was something she just could not live with.

 “I thought the box hadn’t left the house since Princess Celestia borrowed it? And you had all the pieces then?” The purple dragonet questioned his pseudo-mother as he turned the place upside down to look for the missing gold. Before too long Twilight had put the golden treasure down carefully on the desk and joined him in the hunt which decimated the normally orderly library and left it looking like a surprisingly careful hurricane had hit. One that did not damage anything but did leave absolutely everything strewn across the floors of the multi-storey building.

Despite their best attempts though, the piece was nowhere to be found. Twilight let out a frustrated and despairing whinny as she started getting ready to go look for it outside next, only to pull up short when Spike burped up a burst of green fire and a letter emerged from it, coiled in a red band just like the one she had had Spike send that afternoon, but sealed with the gold wax and insignia of her tutor, Princess Celestia.

“Guess she had a lot to do.” Spike frowned slightly as he opened it, “You want me to read it now?”

“It’s from the Princess, it could be important.” Twilight hesitated by the door, wanting to go and look but knowing that anything from the Princess was more important than her petty concerns even if they involved the puzzle she had poured her heart and soul into for the last eight years.

“My dearest Twilight,” Spike read out as Twilight shut the door and turned to look at him properly, shoulders sinking, “It is of great importance that you join me in the palace this evening.”

“Really?” Twilight blinked, “Tonight?”

“I will be sending a pegasus chariot to pick you up not long after I send this letter to you.” Spike continued, nodding, “Please be ready for a short three day trip before he arrives.”

“Now?” Twilight winced, thinking about the missing puzzle piece and realising that she was not going to have time to search for it outside of her home. “She’s sending me somewhere now?”

“Guess she’s taking your warning seriously.” Spike shrugged, “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“Yes but…” Twilight had a sinking feeling. Unless Celestia was going to come with her, she had a horrible feeling that she was going to be sent away for her own protection. It was frustrating. She could help. She knew she could but it did not look like she was going to be given the chance.

“What do you want me to pack?” Spike asked, “And what about the missing piece?”

Twilight did not know. She wanted a little more time to go out and hunt, but perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. She could ask the Princess if she had seen the puzzle piece and try to convince her mentor that she could help. “Maybe we’ll find it when we’re packing.” Twilight sounded more hopeful than she felt, “Get together the books I was reading earlier, my recent school notes, the…”

Spike nodded, starting to grab everything on Twilight’s ever expanding list. Not that anything was easy to find in the mess they had created when searching. Still by the time the chariot arrived their bags were packed and Twilight had carefully returned the rest of the puzzle to the box it had come in and before Spike could take the last of the bags out, she shoved that in too.

It was a short trip to the palace from Twilight’s library. The unicorn had been assigned her home by the Princess so she was not surprised by that fact, nor that it was the same distance in the opposite direction from the library to her school. It was a boon in most respects as it meant that if she was called to see her tutor or to attend extra classes, as she so often was, she could make it there in a short amount of time.

Today however, she was not entirely happy that the trip was so fast. She had not entirely worked out what she was going to say to the Princess when the chariot arrived in the courtyard of the palace and the pegasus pulling it, a white coated, blue maned stallion with a silver shied as a cutie mark, whose name, if she remembered the introduction properly, was Mirrored Shield, helped her down from the chariot.

“Don’t worry about unpacking, Miss Sparkle.” The Mirrored Shield told her with a smile, “I’ll move your things to the bigger chariot, but Princess Celestia was insistent that you go and see her in the great hall immediately.”

And if that was not enough to set the butterflies in her stomach off again, nothing was as Twilight headed into the building that was imposing enough during the day time, but was worse right now by the light of the torches and the moon which seemed to be watching them ominously from above. Its shadow laid heavy on the ground, the castle’s many spires making the form on the ground look like some kind of beast stretching its arms into the skies as if preparing to strike.

“Get a grip Twilight.” The young unicorn told herself, shaking her head and taking a deep breath, before levitating Spike onto her back and cantering in through the main entrance. “You’re being ridiculous.”

Spike, thankfully, did not say anything, probably assuming she was working herself into a nervous frenzy as she often did when her tutor called her before her. It was ridiculous after the many years of being Celestia’s student, but Twilight was no fool. She was fully aware that the Princess could decide that teaching her was too much effort at a moment’s notice. The Princess, who some considered a Goddess, ruled over all of Equestria alone after all. Teaching her young student took time away from that important duty and she never wanted the alicorn to decide that she was not worth the hassle.

She just hoped that bringing up what could possibly be an overreaction to an Old Mare’s Tale was not the final straw for her and she was not about to be sent home for good.

The guards knew her and Spike rather well and they were allowed through the corridors without much fuss. The only real issue came when she was scurrying through the hallways, heading for the main hall where the Princess heard petitions and held grand parties, when she collided with a unicorn gentlecolt who emerged from one of the side rooms and Spike went tumbling from her back. He only didn’t hit the floor because of the fast reaction time of the unicorn she had collided with, who used his magic to catch Spike in an aura of red.

“S…sorry.” Twilight stammered to the gentlecolt. He an odd looking stallion whose rather gaudy red suit covered up most of his coat, including his cutie mark and whose silvery lavender mane hid one eye from sight, though she was almost certain she caught a glimpse of gold beneath the tresses.  

“No problem Twily-girl.” The stallion shrugged it off even as he set down Spike, “I should have been looking where I was going.”

Crystal Compass Book 1: Part 7: July Camp NaNo 2014

The librarian was awoken by the sound of her mobile phone going off. It took her a few moments to recognise where she was and what the funny noise was. By the time she finally recognised that the sound was coming from the device jacked into the wall, it had stopped ringing.

She pushed herself away from the desk, letting out a soft groan as she did so.  It had not been the first time she had fallen asleep sprawled over her desk and if she was honest with herself, it probably would not be the last. That did not make it anymore uncomfortable though when it happened.

The tea, of course, was cold. However it helped swill away the odd taste in her mouth and come around enough to recognise what point she had been at in her work before she had finally drifted off. Sorting it any further would have to wait though. Not many people had her number and looking at the time she knew exactly who it was who had called her.

She scrambled for her phone, embarrassment settling in as she redialled the number, “Hi Miranda.” She babbled at her boss as she shot up the stairs to get into fresh clothes and quickly wash, “I’m sorry, I overslept, I can be in in ten minutes.”

“Don’t. Head down to the park instead.” Miranda’s tone was clipped and worried, “You remember Mikey?”

“The American kid who got lost?” Twilight asked, confused, pausing in her attempt to shuck one pair of trousers in order to don another, “Yeah.”

“He’s wandered off again. Vanished some point yesterday evening.” Miranda told her, “We’ve got search parties looking but they need more help. The forest is huge after all and you seem to be the only one who can traverse it without getting lost.”

“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.” Twi grimaced slightly as she replied, not quite ready to tell her boss that the reason that she could get around the forest so easily was because she was on good terms with the faeries and dryads who lived there, “I need to get changed and then I’ll shoot down on my bike.”

“Thanks Aella.” Miranda dropped the call. Twilight cursed and got ready at record speed before unchaining her bike and shooting down to the park in the centre of the village.

There was a large crowd there, including a lot of police officers. Twilight was not surprised as she pulled up. People went missing in the woods all the time. They always turned up a few hours to a couple of days later, but this was an international incident. This was not just the usual case of someone wandering off and not coming back.

For one the forest did not actually stretch far enough to reach the fancy holiday camp that Mikey’s parents were staying at. He would have had to wander seven or eight minutes down the road to end up there. Not only that but no one had seen the child leave the camp and there had been people in the gateways for most of the night. There had not been a soul on the roads according to the guards and they would have noticed an eight year old wandering off alone.

Mikey’s parents were not any help. The mother was inconsolable and the father was loud and rude as he bellowed at everyone and anyone within range. However Twilight’s arrival did not go unnoticed. When she pulled off her helmet he glared at her and stormed over. The student librarian, seeing the oncoming storm, quickly chained up her bike and was just putting her helmet away under the seat when he reached her and loomed over her, glaring.

“This is your fault, isn’t it?” He demanded of her, grabbing her collar as he snarled in her face, “You encouraged him! Told him tales of things living in the woods! Told him to run away!”

“I,” Twilight drew herself to her full height and ripped herself free of his grip, glowering back, “Didn’t tell him any such thing! He found my library when you let him wander off yesterday and was reading a book to the children when you picked him up. I never once mentioned things living in the woods. It’s not my fault, sir,” she spat the last word, “If you can’t keep an eye on your own son.”

“How dare you...” The guy tried to swing for her but Twilight had been expecting it and honestly did not blame him for it as she ducked and twirled away. The huge, bulky, rather rotund American was under a lot of stress and while he should not threaten her, she did not blame him for taking it out on the first person to snap back at him. Not when his son was missing.

Besides it was probably better that he went for her rather than one of the other villagers. He was no fast enough to hit her, not when she regularly dodged faebeasts and hedgehounds and bogeymonsters. He was laughably slow compared to them. He could swing for her all he liked and it would not matter. She would not attack back unlike some of the less patient residents of the village.

When I thought rewriting Reshef of Destruction so it makes more sense was a good idea...

They had agreed to meet at Clock Tower Fountain an hour before they had to be at the train station to be on the Kaiba Corp sponsored train that was picking up Duellists for his Tournament at Kaiba Corp Japan, three hours from here, the Duel Express, since Domino was the last stop it was going to make before it reached the theme park and they didn’t want to miss it, but no one was surprised when Yugi was running a little late.

They didn’t start worrying until the clock ticked on past the quarter of an hour mark and still there was no sign of the King of Games.

“Where is he?” Joey growled, concerned and irritated at the same time, as he glowered in the direction Yugi would have to come from the shop, “I know he had to open up the shop but…”

Tea flipped open her mobile phone. She’d already tried the shop twice, and no one had answered, but she rang again, hoping that either Mr Muto would have a lull in the customers long enough to answer, or Yugi would grab it on his way out of the door.

Tristan, who was sat at the edge of the fountain, watched as Tea paced up and down, listing to the phone ring continuously. She glowered at it as the mobile cut off again, with a ‘no reply’ message, shrugging at the two teenage boys who were watching her intently.

“That’s it.” Joey growled, heading for the side road that led to the shop, “I’m gunna  go get him.”

“He might already be on his way.” Tea offered hopefully, following quickly, wishing she’d put saner shoes on. The heels she was wearing weren’t suitable for running in. She’d kind of hoped she wouldn’t need to.

“Maybe.” Tristan caught up with them easily, “But it’s better to be safe then sorry.” They turned the corner that led to the alley behind the shop, only for Joey to swear, start sprinting down the alley and dart in the back entrance to the flat above the shop. “Damn…” Tristan growled, noting the broken window. “There must have been a break in.”

Tea dashed in, running up the stairs, heading straight for Yugi’s room, which looked like it had been ripped apart, where Joey was reassuring a rather distressed looking King of Games.

“Yugi?” Tea asked, stepping over the wreaked Duel Disk and around the school books that had been knocked off the desk. “What happened?”

“Someone broke in last night, took the Puzzle.” Yugi whispered, rubbing his neck and wincing. When Yugi moved his hand, they could see the bruising where the robber had tried to choke him. “Couldn’t stop them.”

“Shit…” Tristan swore, having reached the room as Tea had asked. “They take anything else?”

Yugi shook his head but the pursing of his lips told them something else was wrong.

“What?” Joey asked, warily.

“The God Cards…” Yugi croaked and started coughing. He pointed towards the desk.

Joey moved over to look, confusion taking over from anger as he picked up Slipher. “Is this real…”

“Stone.” Yugi croaked, nodding.

“How?” Tea gasped, moving over to have a look.

“Dunno.” The King of Games wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of more then one word answers, understandably. “Probably linked.”

“But they couldn’t use the Puzzle unless…” Tea turned to look at Yugi, “You didn’t lose to him, did you?”

“Didn’t challenge, just attacked.” Yugi shook his head. The gang didn’t need to be reminded that the Puzzle went up for grabs if Yugi died. “Grandpa scared him off.”

“Where is Mr Muto?” Tristan asked.

“Down in the shop, we were late opening and the queue built up.” Yugi coughed again, trying to get his deck together. Joey gave him a hand as Tea headed downstairs to talk to Solomon and Tristan hovered in the doorway.

“So what do we do?” Joey asked finally, once Yugi had a forty card deck built and in a deck box, slipping the stone gods into a second, both of which he attached to his belt, only then examining the extent of the damage to the Duel Disk.

Ennead: Past Troubles: Part 2

“You have about as much clue as I do.” Bakura grumbled. “And that is disturbing.” Honda let out a low, rumbling growl, frustration obvious. “You have no leads at all?”

“Nothing now.” Honda grumbled, “The last time we saw her, she was heading for yours to play games. So we assumed...”

“While I appreciate that someone remembers I’m the bad guy, I’m not actually at fault this time.” Bakura snorted, “I would be gloating a lot more if I was.”

“If you hear anything, anything at all...” Honda threatened.

“I’ll let you know.” Bakura promised, crossing her fingers behind her back.

Honda didn’t look like he believed her. She wasn’t surprised but she didn’t really care. She had much bigger things to worry about. Her Ring wasn’t working properly and no one had seen the Pharaoh’s brat since yesterday afternoon.

Despite her reassurance to Honda, she couldn’t be sure if Yugi was alive or not. Without some way of tracking the brat, she had no easy way to find out either. If the blasted Pharaoh had gotten herself killed she was going to get very, very drunk. She was pretty sure that Jonouchi and Honda would join her, possibly Mutou-san too.

If Yugi wasn’t dead however and had just gotten herself into some mess that had distracted her all night, she soon would be. Bakura would quite happily end her for worrying her Landlord and failing to check in with anyone.

Well. School could wait. Her Landlord had high enough grades that skipping a day of class wouldn’t do much damage and it shouldn’t take her long to find her target. She had been a Queen amongst thieves, she had found treasures and riches beyond a normal thief’s wildest dreams, broken into supposedly untouchable tombs, and discovered secret stores and hidden libraries long before she had ever gotten her hands on the Ring.

She didn’t need the Millennium Ring to find her treasure. It was just one of the many ‘cheats’ in her possession that made her life easier.

She would just have to do it the old fashioned way. Through research, footwork and hard graft. It would take her longer but with the Puzzle at the end of the trail it would be worth it.

Ennead: Past Troubles: Part 1

The Pharaoh’s brat was an obnoxious, rude, selfish person and Bakura was looking forward to laying into her. When you made plans to play a game with someone and they went out of their way to set up the board and prepare for a evening of gaming, including providing food, it was rude to not turn up and it was even ruder to not answer your phone when someone rang it ten or eleven times.

Not that Bakura had been worried, but her Landlord had been freaking out when Yugi hadn’t shown up for their pre-planned gaming session and then had been unreachable and she hated when her Landlord was unhappy. It made her life difficult.

As such she was looking forward to catching the brat before school and biting her head off. She would deserve it.

Of course she wasn’t quite prepared for Honda to stalk over to her, grab her by the collar and shove her against the lockers, fist raised as if ready to strike.

“What did you do to Yugi?”

“Okay.” Bakura twisted out of his grip and glowered at him, “For me to have done anything to Yugi she would actually have had to have shown up, so do you mind explaining what the hell you mean?”

“Wait, Yugi didn’t go to yours last night?” Honda suddenly looked a lot more worried.

“If I had beaten the Pharaoh, do you think I’d still be here?” Bakura pointed out.

Honda grimaced, having to concede she had a point. “Yugi didn’t make it home last night.”

“And no one thought to ring me?” Bakura growled at him, “I do have a phone. And you know where I live.”

“Jonouchi was out all night looking for her and didn’t think to let anyone else know until Anzu showed up at the shop and found Ojiisan panicking like mad.”

Bakura snatched up her Ring, holding it level as she growled, “Find Mutou Yugi.” The item glowed for a few seconds, the triangles surrounding it wavering for a moment before the glow died and the shapes fell limp without giving a clear direction. “Find the Millennium Puzzle.” Same reaction, “Find the Pharaoh’s host.” Once again nothing, “Find that bloody brat who keeps getting in my way and won’t let me take her item.” Nothing again.

“I thought you could find anyone with that thing.” Honda scowled.

“I can.” Bakura admitted, “Unless they’re...” She paused for a second, took a deep breath and then, “Find Mutou Yugi’s corpse.” She was almost relieved when she got the same reaction as trying to find a living Yugi. “Well she ain’t dead.”

“So where is she?” Honda demanded.

“You have about as much clue as I do.” Bakura grumbled. “And that is disturbing.”

Sixteen's Story: Part 2

I have no idea how long I was out for. There’s no way of keeping track of the time here. All I know is that when I came around the other Yugi was sicker than before and my chest hurt.

I tried reaching down the link for my other self, recognising the pain of having my other self torn from my heart and praying I was wrong. Unfortunately I wasn’t. I couldn’t feel the comforting, protective embrace of my darker self. Which meant he wouldn’t be able to reach me either. Or use the link to locate me.

Still he’ll find a way to come and get me. He’s Yami. He doesn’t lose and this was just a game of Hide and Seek, albeit one with huge stakes. Yami had won games with greater prizes than just my safety before. I have faith in my other self. He won’t abandon me.

I have to wonder if the Pharaoh’s got some way of keeping tabs on what we’re doing, because it wasn’t long after I woke up that he somehow came through the door. Not the door frame. The door.

Glowering at him had no effect. In fact all it did was amuse him. The Pharaoh moved further into the room, looking between the pair of us and chuckling. Not a mirthful sound, more one of vicious amusement. He introduced me to the mage Yugi, and vice versa. Apparently I’m not Yugi anymore. I’m ‘Sixteen.’ At least according to the Pharaoh.

When he started draining something from the other Yugi, a pained whimper escaping Fifteen as light drained from him to the Pharaoh, I couldn’t stand aside. I tried to pull him away from the other Yugi, only for contact with the Pharaoh to turn the spell on me.

There was a sharp pain as part of my soul tore away and the light I’d only ever willingly shared with one other person was pulled into the Pharaoh. He shoved me away as I was reeling from the spell’s actions and took a little more from Fifteen, finally stopping when the other Yugi almost passed out.

Then he made a snide comment about me ‘waiting my turn’ and stalked out of the room. Once again going through the door quite literally.

It took a while for both of us to pull ourselves together. I recovered long before Fifteen, as he recommended I call him, if only to prevent confusion. It took Fifteen much longer to recover than me, partly because the Pharaoh had taken so much more from him and partly, he explained, because while my soul was already recovering his had stopped healing a while back. The Pharaoh had been taking too much from him for too long and it wouldn’t be much longer before he was gone completely.  

I tried to reassure him. If he just hung on a little longer, his Yami would be here and then we’d both get away. After all there was no way a real Yami would ever abandon his light.

Fifteen’s response was a bitter chuckle. I had been lucky when I had been taken. My Yami was alive. Fifteen’s Yami had gotten into a battle of magicks with the Pharaoh and been destroyed while trying to prevent the kidnapping.

There wasn’t much I could say to that. If anything I envied his fortitude for hanging on this long without the hope of his Yami coming to rescue him. When I asked him what had kept him going, Fifteen just smiled at me sadly and said I’d understand later.

Instead of letting me dwell on it, he offered to tell me stories about himself and the previous Yugis who had dwelt in the cell. It was, he explained, part of a promise he had made to Fourteen. That if he didn’t make it out, he would pass their stories on to the next Yugi to come along. It was a way of making sure none of them were forgotten. Almost all of them had secretly hoped that their Yami was still looking and they had wanted to be able to give their other selves some closure. Even if they couldn’t return themselves.

I promised Fifteen the same. It was the least I could do.