Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Children of Shadow ❯ Postponement ( Chapter 15 )

Me: Heyyyyy! What's shakin' bacon? ^^

Isis: *sweatdrop*

Marik: Guess who's high…

Me: Yup! On leftover Crunch and 3 Musketeers bars! ^^ Plus the fact that it's approximately 4:39 am on Sunday morning and I'll probably sleep through half of church, thereby earning a beration by my father and/or mother-

Marik: WE DON'T CARE! Get on with the fic!

Me: As soon as Kaiba does the disclaimer I will! *smiles sweetly*

Kaiba: Ugh. She doesn't own YGO. Happy?

Me: To an extent, yes. *cough* Sorry if this chapter ends up a little crappy due to my lack of sleep, but it's now approximately 4:42 in the morning and I am in, quote on quote, "The Writing Mood". And I'm on a sugar buzz! ^^ So, my apologies in advance for any crappiness.

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Cassie wasn't sure what she was doing. Her head was spinning as she met the gaze of everyone in the room. She could feel herself trembling. Her hands clutched the bedsheets beneath her. Suddenly a warm hand covered her own.

Cassie looked over at Ryou. He was staring at her, anxiousness written all over his face. Cassie bit her tongue. Then she felt tears well up in her eyes. She instinctively jerked her hand away, clenching a fist. The look in Ryou's eyes was like he had been slapped. Cassie turned away immediately, rubbing hurridly at her watery eyes.

Ryou swallowed hard. "Cassie…" His voice was gentle. Cassie buried her face in her hands.

"Don't talk to me." Her voice was muffled.

"Cassie… I need to know." Ryou was quiet, but Cassie felt the finality of his words. Still she couldn't look at him.

"I don't-" She stopped, not sure what she was about to say.

"You were about to say something," Otogi interjected.

"Yeah," Honda agreed. "You sounded mad."

"I was!" Cassie growled, tensing involuntarily. Her nails dug into the skin of her forehead.

"You sound mad now." Bakura. Cassie could just imagine the condescending look on his face.

"And you sound like you're looking for a fist in your mouth," she said, her voice still muffled, but sharp.

"Cassie, please." Ryou's voice now had a definite note of firmness in it. "You're my cousin… I need to know what's going on here." His voice almost cracked.

Why were her eyes leaking? "I can't tell you." Why couldn't she look him in the face? Cassie knew she couldn't tell him. He said he cared about her, how could she tell him what she had done? It was her fault, all of it. Not Jep's. Hers.

Footsteps came hesitantly closer. "Cassie, I don't know what's happening either, but I really think you should-"

Cassie recognized Yugi's voice. "This isn't any of your business, Yugi." Her voice came out harsher than she intended, but she didn't care.

"Cassie…"

Oh hell. Not her.

"Cassie, I- I know you don't like me, but I don't know anything about any of this, and…" Cassie pictured Chrissy in her mind's eye, watery eyes and biting her lip. "It's just… well, I think you know more than I do, and- and-" There was an awkward silence. "I need you."

Oh hell. Cassie ground her teeth furiously. What was she supposed to do? She was enough of an emotional train wreck as it was. Cassie uncovered her eyes slightly, enough to glare up at Jep. The spirit flinched guiltily and glanced at the floor, silent. His face was solemn.

In a sudden movement, Cassie stood, whirling around and redirecting her glare towards everyone in the room. Her back was facing Jep. The room was dead silent. Cassie's head was pounding. She stood, swaying ever-so-slightly in her spot, deliberately not looking at Ryou. Here was her chance. To let everyone know what had really happened, why she acted this way, why she had come to Domino in the first place. The whole truth.

Would she do it?

Could she do it?

If she couldn't even look her cousin in the face…

There was a fluttering of feathers behind her. Cassie heard Jep speak softly, slowly.

"Cassie, you- you don't have to tell them. I mean-"

Cassie turned her head, glaring over her shoulder at Jep. The spirit was fiddling uncomfortably with his fingers. "I know- how sensitive you are on the subject… you don't have to-"

"So now you're the one who knows what I do and don't have to do?" Cassie demanded, still glaring. Jep cringed visibly as his wings drooped. "All right, then, if you're so fricking smart, tell me what I have to do." She scowled.

Jep swallowed hard. "Your duty."

Cassie ground her teeth. Could he be less specific?! She wasn't remotely in the mood for any crap. "And that is-?"

"To use the powers that Isis gave you to defend Egypt from Bastet's descendant."

Cassie laughed out loud. It was a short, harsh laugh. "Use them? I don't even want them. No way in hell I'm going to use them. No way. Forget it."

Jep's eyes widened, like he couldn't believe her. "But Cassie, you-"

"I said forget it!" Cassie snapped. Her fists were clenched. "I'm not doing it!"

"Cassie, I really think he-"

"And you shut up!" Cassie yelled, directing her glare at Chrissy, who had just spoken, not caring that the other girl blinked and a tear rolled down her face. "You don't even know what's going on here!"

Mai took over, placing a hand on Chrissy's shoulder. "Cassie, this involves her too. In case you hadn't noticed, she has that same necklace as you do, and apparently, the same powers, whatever they are. So you need to stop acting like such a little bitch and spit out whatever's bothering you." She gave Cassie a glare to rival Kaiba's. Cassie didn't care. She glared right back.

"Screw you, Mai, this doesn't involve you either, and believe me, it doesn't involve that little drama queen," she spat, nodding towards Chrissy. "None of you have ANY idea what's going on here- what's going on with me- and I might have told you if you hadn't gotten on my damn case!" Cassie took a deep, unsteady breath. "If you knew what was really happening here-"

"That's the point!"

Ryou stood suddenly in front of Cassie, so close that they were almost touching. "We can't know unless you tell us." His voice was as soft as ever. "You can't carry it around inside of you, Cassie… it'll only be worse for you. I don't know what's going on with you, but I need to."

Cassie only stared silently. Ryou continued. "We can't understand- none of us- unless you let us know. Why won't you use your powers, whatever they are? Why are you angry?" There was a pause. "What's happened to you, Cassie?"

Silence. Cassie kept staring. Ryou gazed back at her. He made no move to reach out, just… waited. Seconds passed. Then Cassie spoke. Her voice was quiet, bitter, almost defeated.

"All right." She shifted silently, her muscles relaxing. "I'll tell you."

Ryou sat down without another word. Cassie remained standing, aware of the tension in the room. She glanced behind her. Jep looked like he wanted to say something, but hesitated, then hung his head, staring solemnly at the floor. Cassie looked back at the others. She locked gazes with Mai. The two girls stared at each other briefly, before Mai gave a small nod. The apology was there.

Cassie's gaze drifted down to Chrissy. Chrissy was still sitting up in her bed, eyes drying. Those bright green eyes. So hypnotizing. So irritating.

Cassie looked directly into those eyes and began.

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Me: *ducks for cover* I know! I know! I'm the evilest person in the world! I just wanted to get the chapter up by this weekend and I didn't have the next part planned out yet! And I've already made you all wait for almost a month already! I'M SORRYYYYY!

Isis: *sweatdrop* I'm almost sorry for her…

Marik and Kaiba: Almost.

Marik: I'm going to watch the Simpsons.

Kaiba: Skittles for me! *runs into the kitchen at breakneck speed*

Isis: God… you guys are mean…

Me: *sniffle*

Isis: *sigh* Well, since I'm pitying you at the moment, and two certain idiots ran off… review people.

Me: PLEEEEASE! REVIEWWWWWW!