Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Dreams Come True ❯ Chapter Twenty Three: Upon the Subject of the Ring. ( Chapter 23 )

Chapter Twenty Three: Upon the subject of the ring.

It was originally a legendary jewel; hidden supposedly in the deepest ocean trench. An Ancient Egyptian king demanded this magic jewel-rumored to give its user supreme power to use magic-for his soon-to-be bride, a wedding present.

It took a while (It was a pretty deep trench, hey, can't blame `em.), but eventually the stone was retrieved and presented hurriedly to the Pharaoh.

Why wasn't it ever stolen?

Simple.

The stone cast a heavy and deadly curse upon all those who touched it. The first man to hold it in his hands mysteriously drowned himself in the ocean that very night, the caravan bringing it back to Egypt was destroyed completely by a surprisingly violent sandstorm, leaving only one survivor, who handed off the jewel to the next person in line and fell down immediately, struck dead by heart failure. He was a very young man, with no signs of disease before.

When the brilliant blue gem arrived at the palace, the Pharaoh presented it to his queen, who took to wearing it on a ring. Soon after, however, she became ill with a deadly virus, and died.

Filled with grief, the Pharaoh ordered the ring to be tossed into the treasury, where it remained for the five next generations, until it was stolen one warm summer night. It was passed through many hands, leaving a wake of death behind it-then it finally reached the hands of an influential sorceress in the next generation of the Pharaoh's court. This sorceress saw the danger in the ring, and the jewel it so brilliantly held, and she bewitched it, giving up her soul, and rendering it useless except for one thing…

The vengeful soul of the sorceress still lives in the ring, and whenever someone puts the ring on their finger, it empowers them to take complete control of another's soul. However, after each use, a bit of the wearer's soul is engulfed into the ring forever, eventually claiming the person entirely.

Pegasus bought the ring at an auction several years ago, and-finding no use in it for himself-gave it to Mina, who promptly put it on and discovered its dangers.

The ring's first victim after a millennia or so was a girl named Susannah Buehler, she was a senior in high school when Mina was a freshman. Mina had been talking to her, when she absentmindedly slipped on her new ring and brushed hands accidentally with Susannah. Suddenly, she was sucked into the girl's mind, and a strange feeling overtook her, as if there was some other voice governing her thoughts…

The girl's soul fought back, and the force in Mina powered her so much she couldn't stop herself until Susannah's soul was nearly shattered. And then Mina was suddenly back out in the real world, afraid, terrified, lost.

And partly gone.

~*~*~*~*~*

She never put it on again, but the power it offered was intoxicating, and she liked the reassurance it gave her. And later that day, as she sat with her back to a tree, staring at the moon, she mulled several things over, among them the day's events and how she would go about using the ring. The dark thoughts that flittered about in her mind bothered her, and she pushed them aside, mulling over her last encounter with Seto.

She was just getting to the bit where he had talked to her, when it smacked her full in the face.

"Look, Mina. Didn't you hear? Your dad has people following your every move. If you're seen with me, you might get in serious shit. No, I'm not letting you come. End of story, no more discussion."

"Oh God!!" She said, jumping up suddenly. "He knows, oh God, he knows!! He knows who my dad is, damn, damn, damn!!!" She very nervously began to pace around, heart racing. This was not good. So that was why he had been mad! Because she had been lying to him!

Oh, and he knew!!

"Serenity, I need to call Serenity," She murmured to herself and ran back to where the rest where sleeping, pouncing on Joey and shaking him awake.

He sat up with a start, looking around wildly.

"Wha? Huh? AHHH!!! Oh, it's you Mina. God, don't do that!"

"Joey, Joey, I need to borrow your phone, now, it's an emergency, please?" He gave her an exasperated look and unzipped the bottom part of his sleeping back, getting up, finding his coat, and rummaging around in the pockets.

"Why? It's eleven thirty at night, Mina-no one with sense is awake.." As if to prove his point, he gave a wide yawn, and handed her his phone. "Just put it back in the pocket when you're done…" And without waiting for an answer to his question, he flopped back onto his sleeping back and covered his head with the pillow. Mina would have giggled-but she was in a hurry. She quickly dialed Serenity's private phone line and walked back to where she had been before; looking at the moon.

"Hello?" A groggy voice answered the persistent ringing.

"Serenity?! I need help. Now."

"Mina…Are you nuts? It's eleven thirty at night… no one with sense is awake…"

Mina could just imagine her friend staring at her digital clock in disbelief. She smiled despite the urgency of the situation, forcing herself to breathe evenly.

"I know, I know, but this is important!"

"What in the world could be important enough to keep you-who conks out every night at exactly nine-up until midnight??"

"Oh, oh, Serenity, he KNOWS."

"Who? Knows what?"

"Seto knows daddy is my daddy!!!"

"Silly, of course he knew you had a dad. How are you here if you hadn't had one at some point?"

"Nononononononono!!!! He knows my dad is, well, you know who!! I think he's mad that I lied to him!!"

"Oh, Mina…That's...not good…"

"I know," wailed the little blonde on her end of the line. On hers, Serenity sat up, rubbing her temples.

"Look, you just have to catch up with him and tell him you're sorry! It's not that big of a deal. He would have figured it out in the end anyways, he's not an idiot!"

Mina wondered briefly if it was anywhere near that easy.

"I don't think he's that happy-go-lucky-oh-sure-you-lied-to-me-but-I'm-okay-with-that kind of guy!"

"He'll live, trust me. It's the ultimate test of a relationship-if he trusts you, he'll forgive you. Can I go back to bed now?"

"……..Yeah…I guess…" The tone of our heroine was melancholy and downtrodden, and her friend smiled slightly in her dark room.

"Look, don't worry, it'll be fine. Give my brother his phone back, and go to bed, so you won't be a walking zombie. And look in the front left pocket of your knapsack, I put some chocolate in there for you!"

"You're…so great. Dunno what I'd do without you."

"Hey, that's what best friends are for, right?"

"Yeah…G'night, Serenity."

"G'night, Mina. Kiss Joey for me!"

Mina heard the line click, and she sighed at the phone in her hand, turned it off, and returned it to its spot in the jacket pocket, somehow managing to not awaken anyone in the process; considering she knocked over several noisy rocks and stepped on quite a few insistently loud sticks.

As she climbed into her sleeping bag by Tea's, she reassured her thumping heart.

It'll all be okay. He'll understand.

But…she still remembered ever so vividly the last time she had told herself that.