Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Half Full or Half Empty? ❯ Bamboozled ( Chapter 16 )

Hey I've sorted out things with my boyfriend and we're alright now!! ^_^ so glad about that! Here's your next chapter so please enjoy!!! Again I appreciate the reviews ^_^ you guys rock!

Bamboozled
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Shika's POV…

Three more days flew by and before we knew it we were handing in our `Camp Akiko Uniforms' back to reception. I couldn't wait to go home and see how Harry was doing; I admit that I was kind of missing the little fella. I also couldn't wait to see my Mom, too. I knew she would miss me, as she usually did whenever I went away. We hate being apart; I'm so glad that it wasn't over a year that I was separated from my mother when Rai and me went to live in Turkey. Anzu, Taree and myself were packing up our things before getting on the bullet train back to the main Japanese island Honshu where Domino City - home, was.

"Heya Shika, you know I was thinking about having a sleepover at my place after we got back from school camp. Spring break is only just around the corner you know…" Taree said.

"Oh yeah? Who's coming?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact that she was more than likely coming onto me.

"Well so far it's me, Anzu, Miho, we invited Anzu's friend Mai Valentine to come along too and Shizuka agreed that she'd join us."

"What about Jou or Malik or Honda?"

Anzu said, "Well, it's kinda just a girl's night, if you know what I mean."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Define `girl's night'."

"Oh you know… videos, pizza, truth or dare, makeovers… the works!" Anzu said, sighing.

My brain swam with excuses and, needless to say, the best I could come up with was, "Sorry doesn't sound like my thing."

A few seconds later Anzu and Taree began to whine. "Come on Shika! It wouldn't be the same without you there! You have to come!" Taree moaned.

"We'd be disappointed if you didn't come!"

Define `come'. I thought. "I'll see what I'm doing at the time okay. Get back to me when you've arranged everything." I said, gently telling them that I desperately didn't want to go.

"Please make sure you can come, it will be so much fun!" Taree squealed.

"Yeah well," I said, hoisting my bag over my shoulder. "We'd better get going or we'll miss the train home."

It was eight o'clock in the morning when we boarded the train, and we arrived back in Domino at about one thirty-ish. Mom was at the train station waiting to pick up Ryou and I. It was Friday, so I was thankful that I could have a sleep-in in the morning, and also that I could go and speak to Isis at the museum about my findings on Saturday. Perhaps she could foresee further into my past this time, too.

"How was Harry over the week, Mom?" I asked as I sat in the front seat of her car. Ryou was in the back.

"Oh he was fine… Rai came in and looked after him for most of the week though, since I was busy and all…" my mom chuckled.

I frowned. "Busy doing what?"

"Going on dates…" she giggled again.

"What? You went on a date? With who?!" I shrieked, squeezing all the gossip out of her which she had contained inside.

"You'll probably be disgusted when I tell you but… the hospital rang me about your blood tests that they took while you were in a coma and Dr. Roes happened to be the one who called."

My eyes widened. "MOM!! You're not dating my doctor are you?!" I freaked.

"Shika, honey it's really not that bad. He's a nice man and he's been very good to us. He- oh… oh my…" Afet said, blinking a couple of times, looking in her rear-vision mirror.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"I just… must not have put in my contacts this morning…" she said, still looking in the rear vision.

I frowned and turned around in my seat, only to find Bakura sitting next to Ryou in the back of the car. I knew I couldn't keep Bakura a secret forever, so I might as well tell Mom about him now.

"Ah… it's okay, Mom. You aren't seeing double. Remember how Malik has a `yami'?" I asked.

"Yes… Marik, wasn't it?"

"Yeah well, Ryou's got one of those, too. His name is Bakura."

"Really? Ryou is the owner of another Millennium Item? Extraordinary!" my mom said. "What is your item, Ryou?"

"I own the Millennium Ring. I can introduce you to Bakura when we get home if you like." He suggested.

"Wonderful! It's so incredible… now my daughter has been out with two boys who have Millennium Items! You deserve to have your own, my dear." My Mom laughed.

"You never know what might happen, Mom."

When we arrived home, I went to my room and threw my dirty clothes out of my bag that I took to camp, into the wash. Then I went and saw Harry; geeze, he had grown! My mom must have been feeding him those super-vitamins which she tries to feed me - which I never eat, mind you. Bakura had obviously introduced himself as he was sitting at the table with Ryou talking to Afet. I shamelessly eavesdropped on their conversation:

"So Bakura, which part of Egypt do you originate from?" my mom asked as she began to prepare some cups of coffee for us.

"I was born in 3082 B.C under the seventeenth moon to Nephthys (1) and Khnum (2) in Al-Iskandariyah (modern-day Alexandria). The Nile Delta was my home for the first ten years of my life until my family was found out by the Egyptian Empire and we got imprisoned in the palace dungeons at Memphis. I managed to escape until I got caught seven years later. That is when I was executed."

"So you robbed tombs and market stalls to earn your living?" Afet asked, evidently interested.

"When you lived in poverty and had no family at the age of ten it was the only way to stay alive. Marik was the same - he grew up in southern Egypt in a city called Aswan and got sent to Memphis as a slave. I managed to escape him out of his position as being a slave in the palace one night and from then on we were partners in crime."

"Very interesting! Have you kept any of those treasures of which you stole?"

"No. I was privileged enough to be given an afterlife by Osiris, let alone carry my goods with me on the journey."

"You must have stolen some beautiful treasures."

"I did. Some of which were from Pharaoh Yami's tomb."

"Well I hope you aren't still in the habit of stealing. It's still against the law you know! You can get into some serious trouble these days. Not to mention telling the police who you really are; they wouldn't believe you for a second!" Afet laughed.

"I know. I do not practice my ways anymore. I have changed."

My mother smiled at him and served him, Ryou and myself our coffees as we sat drinking at the table.

The rest of the afternoon was relatively quiet. We spent it lounging about in Ryou's room upstairs listening to Bakura's ancient stories and eating Turkish delights which my mother whipped up in the kitchen.

Bakura slept with me that night, in his spirit form. I think Ryou was jealous that he couldn't change shape as he pleased like his yami. However, when I woke up the next Saturday morning I became vaguely aware of an arm wrapped around my hip, gingerly stroking my skin. For a moment, I thought I had heard Ryou moaning in his sleep or felt his breath on the back of my neck. I closed my eyes when I felt the hand on my hip move to my hair and push it back. I smiled as I felt a gentle kiss being planted on the side of my neck. Over my shoulder poked the head of my pastel-haired Ryou. He must have slyly come down during the night, unable to sleep.

"And just what are you doing in my bed, Ryou?" I asked, rolling over in between in two lovers to face Ryou. Bakura slowly stirred and draped one of his legs over my hip, still half asleep.

"It was cold without you." He replied in his feather-soft English accent, stroking my cheek and kissing my lips.

I kissed him back and smiled. "What is the time?"

"Ten thirty." came a gruff voice from behind me.

I shot up straight in my bed - launched into panic-mode. "The museum closes at twelve today!" I scrambled out of bed and threw open my drapes. On the up side, at least it was a fine day.

"Come on! Up! Up! Both of you! Get up! Unless you want to leave me hobbling around town on my own!" I shrieked.

Bakura was out of bed like lightening hearing what I had just said. Ryou groggily moved himself away from the bed and dragged himself down the hall behind me so we could take our showers. We washed each other down and dried ourselves before getting dressed and heading out the door. I took a satchel with me to put my precious findings in to show Isis when we got to the museum.

The last thing I felt like doing that morning was boarding another train to town. But catching the subway was the only way around unless you had a car. Walking around Domino seemed like mission impossible unless you were an Olympic power-walker. The city was huge, but not quite to the extent of Tokyo or Osaka.

We ran up the steps to the main foyer of the museum and came to reception. A middle aged man which looked like a teacher was shuffling some papers and moving around behind the counter.

"Excuse me, do you know which department Miss. Isis Ishtar will be in at the moment?" I asked calmly.

"Why Isis is rather busy today, my girl. She returned from Egypt yesterday after an interesting archaeological dig. She's in the museum morgue helping our scientists dissect a new found mummy which was found in Egypt last week. I'm afraid the morgue is a restricted area, kids." He replied.

"Oh but I really need to see her! It's urgent and the museum is only open until twelve on weekends!" I whined.

"What is so urgent that you need to see her today for?"

"Well, if you really wanna know," I said, digging out the gold cuffs out of my satchel. "I wanna ask her if she recognizes these."

The man behind the desk examined my relics with close eyes and rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger in thought. "Very well then. Follow me kids and don't go wandering."

We did as the man said and followed him, even though Bakura was tempted to wander off on his own paths. We followed the man down a few flights of stairs to a hall which looked much like that of a hospital. The morgue was below the museum underground. We went through two double doors which had the words `AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY' written on it in large red lettering. The place was cold and I found myself getting goosebumps. There was also a strange smell in the air.

Suddenly the man stopped outside a side door. "Wait here. Isis will be with you in a minute." He disappeared inside the room. He left the door slightly open, and Ryou, Bakura and I heard him speaking Egyptian. Isis was returning his conversation in the same language. She soon emerged from the room with the same mature smile upon her lips as she usually had. Her hair was tied up and she had a mask around her neck and rubber gloves.

"Hello Lotus. How are you? I sensed your presence as you entered the museum foyer."

"Yeah I'm good, Isis. I need to show you something. Do you have time at all? I could come back another day."

"No, no. You've come this far to see me, I wouldn't bail on you now. Let's go up to my room and have a little chat about what you found at camp." She discarded her mask and rubber gloves in a nearby biohazard bin and led us to her apartment above the museum. We took the elevator.

"Please, do take a seat. Let me see the things that you found, Shika."

I took a seat next to Isis on the same white couch as I had previously done, and scrounged around in my satchel, bringing out the artifacts which I had found with Bakura's help.

"Very interesting… the wrist cuffs of Sekhmet the Mighty One. You have a tattoo of Sekhmet on your tailbone, am I correct?" she asked me as she analyzed the relics.

"Yes. Can you tell me what all this means? Am I destined to do something or be someone?" I asked.

"I will analyze these later for you, Shika. Right now I'm going to try and see further into your past…"

*************Isis' Vision*************

Lotus Shika ran hard through the red land (3) trying to get as far away from the Nile as she could. The desert was her only refuge from them. They would never find her on a cold, black night such as tonight. However she was terrified of what the Pharaoh Yami would do to her, since she didn't return to him as asked. He would eventually find out that she was a fugitive. She kept running through the desert until the soldiers were out of sight. She came home to her dwelling beneath the shifting desert sands. Her mother and father waiting silently.

"Lotus where have you been?" her mother instantly got to her feet and put a hand on her trembling child's shoulder. "You mustn't stay in the city after dark, child."

"I was at work. I have been chosen as the King's dancer, mother. However he did not wish of my service. He asked me to go to the Nile and return with a basket of lotus flowers, and I would get a reward of some sort. I was nearly done until they came… they nearly caught me, mother! I could have been slaughtered this night!" the girl whimpered.

"It is okay Lotus. I promise you we will return home some day. Things will be back to normal soon." Lotus' father emerged from his corner holding a bowl of water for her to drink from.

"Get some sleep, my daughter. Your brother will be home in the morning to see you off to work. You must never return to the palace, Lotus. Do you understand?"

"But I will be asked to go back to the palace, mother! I cannot go back to work if I am forbidden to go to the palace! We will get found out and we will be killed!" Lotus cried.

Pharaoh Yami's POV…
My militia returned unsuccessful. There was no sign of the girl anywhere. They searched every bank of the River Nile and every desert which ran off of it. She disappeared. I didn't expect to see her again, although I wish I could. She had an air of mystery about her. Perhaps she was running from the law. I would never know. I sat on my throne, starting to get lethargic.

The night was running on and I had another mindless day ahead of me. I hoped something exciting would happen to spark my mood. And something did happen. A bright light shone and before my eyes stood an Egyptian Goddess. She was Sekhmet, the Mighty One. A Sun Goddess with the head of a lioness, protector of Ra and Osiris. I knew this had something to do with the girl. Lotus Shika was marked with Sekhmet's symbol, as I had noticed earlier.

"Pharaoh Yami, I am here to speak to you about the girl." She purred low in her throat like the lioness that she was.

"Please, do tell me more, Mighty One." I replied.

The Goddess' amber eyes burned into mine with a fierce aura. "I am the protector of Ra and Osiris, and have also chosen to watch over a mortal. Lotus Shika, to be precise. She is an intruder to Egypt, Pharaoh Yami. She migrated here with her family illegally from Asia Minor (4). She lives in the desert, intimidated from the Memphis City Army. Fearful of them for her family and herself."

"What is she in Memphis for, goddess Sekhmet? How may I help her if I must?" I asked, wanting to know more.

"I will tell her tonight to come to the palace here in the morning. Give your army the day free so she has nobody to fear by. I will give her these to prove to her that she is my chosen one."

The goddess pointed to two gold cuffs around each of her wrists, engraved with two crouching lionesses on each one at the side of a blood red sun symbol.

"What time will I expect her in the palace then, Mighty One?" I asked.

"She will arrive at dawn. I want you to give her a certificate of which states that she can live in Egypt safely. You have no idea how much of a rough life she leads."

"I will Goddess Sekhmet. Thank you for your time." I said.

She turned and walked away from me, turning translucent and finally disappeared from my view.

Beneath the Desert Sands…

"Lotus Shika." The goddess spoke.

Lotus whirled around, surprised at who had called her full blood name. "Wh-who are y-you?"

"I am known as the goddess Sekhmet. I am here to save you from your poverty, Lotus."

The girl suddenly realized that the tattoo on her back was the goddess of whom she worshiped; and she was standing right before her eyes. She instantly knelt down on one knee before the lion-headed woman.

"Get to your feet, Lotus. I am your protector, your saviour. Tomorrow at dawn you will travel to the palace alone and rendezvous with the King himself. Do not fear, Lotus, the army will not get to you. You and your family will be safe from harm of the Memphis City Army once you meet with the Pharaoh."

"But, I, I can't go back there!" she cried.

"If you want to survive you must obey my orders." The goddess growled. "I will give you these as proof that I spoke to you. The Pharaoh knows that I have given you these wrist-cuffs already. So take them, and best of luck."

***********End of Isis' Vision***********

Isis came back to reality fairly quickly. She smiled somewhat. I stared at her questioningly. "What I saw was good, Shika." She said.

"Tell me, what did you see?"

Isis explained what she saw to me. It all sounded so very interesting, and what made it so great, is that it actually made sense. I had migrated illegally from Turkey, which is logical and Sekhmet was my protector… which explains why I have the tattoo of her on my tailbone. But that still doesn't explain why I found her wrist-cuffs on school camp.

"I will analyze these relics further for you, Lotus. For now, I would like you to go home and study this." She handed me a book which was titled Stories from the Book of the Dead.

"Wow… Isis where is this book from?" I asked, entranced.

"That book is very special to the Ishtar family. My grandfather gave it for Malik and I to read when we were children back in Egypt. I trust you with this book, Shika. My necklace tells me you will look after it while you are in possession of it."

"I will, Isis. Of course I will. When would you like it back?"

"You may borrow it for as long as you like, just don't take it to school with you. Although I do expect it back when you are done."

"Thank you Isis. I will take good care of it. Come on Ryou, Bakura. Let's get going. Isis has got to get back to work."

"I will call you once I have thoroughly examined these artifacts that you found, Shika. Goodbye now."

"Thanks for your time, Isis."

That night I studied up on the book which Isis had given me until I could hardly keep my eyes open. Bakura had given up on staying awake a few hours ago and was now shamelessly snoring into his pillow on Ryou's bed. Ryou still sat next to me, but with sleepy eyes. He suppressed a few yawns and rubbed his eyes.

"Is it okay if I get some shut-eye now? I'm very tired, Shika." Ryou asked.

"Of course. I was just about to get down to bed myself. Goodnight Ryou. I love you."

Monday morning…

"Ewwww!!! Look how hairy my leg is!!" I cried, staring down at my leg which had been in plaster for the previous six weeks.

"How does it feel having your cast taken off, Shika?" Ryou asked me.

"GREAT!" I cried, ecstatic. "But right now, I'm gonna go and shave this utterly disgusting leg of mine." I cried, limping slightly toward the bathroom.

Yesterday I had had my cast removed. Although my leg felt rather frail putting weight on it, Dr. Roes (now officially my mom's new boyfriend) said that walking on it would help get its strength back.

It was awkward walking on both my feet again without my addictive support provided by my crutches. It was like I had to have them. I held onto Ryou's arm all the way to school to hold me upright. We were about fifteen minutes late for school, as I had to rest practically every five minutes on the way. My teacher merely accepted my excuse for once in a lifetime. I guessed she was having a downer of a day.

At lunchtime, Taree, Anzu, Shizuka and Miho came up to me. They all had linked arms and had dense smiles plastered on their faces. Miho's pale blue locks curled around under her arms and down her sides. She was a pretty little thing, and popular too. Honda and her had history. I switched my eyes to Anzu who had a dangerous glint in her ocean deep eyes.

"What's up?" I asked halfheartedly.

"Well, we've decided when we're having our sleepover!" Taree exclaimed.

"Oh yeah…" I said, trying my hardest not to groan in my sentence.

"We've decided to have it on Wednesday night, to celebrate spring break!" Miho squealed.

"Does school break up on Wednesday?" I asked.

"It sure does!" Anzu said.

"So what do you say, Shika? Do you want to come? It will be such great fun!" Shizuka pleaded. They hadn't brainwashed her too, surely?!

I sighed internally. I definitely was not gonna win in this situation. "Fine, I'll come."

All three girls grinned and jiggled about with excitement. Who knew what kind of plans that had in store for Wednesday night? I leant against my elbow at my table in the cafeteria staring up at them blatantly. Ryou put a hand on my leg under the table.

"Alright then! It's settled! Shika, come to this address at seven o'clock Wednesday night. All you need to bring is on the invitation. Hope to see you there!" Taree said, handing me a sheet of pink paper. I unfolded it. This is what it read:

Dear: Shika
You are invited to attend Taree Jomei's sleepover on 14 April at 890 Hollow Ark Place. Arrive by 7:00pm for dinner, which will consist of pizza, fries, chocolate, coke and all your favourite fast food goodies! You are welcome to bring any videos or DVDs of any genre to this sleepover, for we will be watching many!
What you need to bring: Sleeping bag, change of clothes, ALL your makeup and hair styling products, videos or food (optional) and yourself!
Hope to see you there! And remember, no boys allowed! This is strictly a girl's night only!
With love, Taree Jomei.

"Oh boy…" I grumbled.

"It's only one night, Shika. You'll survive." Ryou said, now rubbing my leg gently.

"I guess…"

"Remember, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. If they start acting dodgy then just leave." Ryou reasoned.

"If they lay a hand on you, all hell will break loose." Bakura growled from inside the Ring. It was strange sometimes how I could hear him from in there.

"Well, I've said I'll go, so I can't back out now."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(1) = Nephthys: `Lady of the House', Egyptian Goddess in human form. A woman wearing on her head the hieroglyphic symbol of her name. Wife of Seth. She had no children but conceived Anubis from a Union with Osiris.

(2) = Khnum: `Lord of the cool waters' Egyptian God with the head of a ram. He created himself and is closely related to the annual flooding of the Nile.

(3) = Red Land: Desert sand, unfertile soil in the Nile Delta. Fertile soil is called the `black land'.

(4) = Asia Minor: In ancient times, modern day Turkey was called Asia Minor back then.

Author's note: Okay okay, I know I know! I'm sorry to disappoint you, Lady_Washu and BlackFury, but I promise Anzu and Taree will have their day in the next chapter. Sorry about that.

Next chapter: Shika has a dream sequence which uncovers more of her past, so she goes back to talk to Isis. The sleepover takes place, what could occur? Also, Isis has an interesting result about Sekhmet's wrist cuffs which Shika found.