Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Juliet Kaiba ❯ Imaginary ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: midnight_angel
Named after the Evanescence song (^.^), this chapter is based on an experiment I did in a previous fanfic, Kaiba nee Pegasus. Um...the rooms represent the inner psyche and what used to be. Yugi and co make a cameo in this chap too - I know it's taken a while, but it would honestly have been confusing otherwise!

Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Psychological / Mystery | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.07.2006 | Updated On: 12.07.2006 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.5K | Visits: 219 | Status: Work In Progress

Part 5 - Imaginary
“Check it out…this apartment's huge!”
Trey, Harley, Marnie and Juliet had finally arrived at the apartment designated to them by Kaiba. It was a large, bungalow style building that stood out away from the other houses in the street. It had a large garden with colourful flowers arranged in neat rows and hedges arranged around it so nobody could peer in from the outside. After unlocking the gates, which were painted black and shaped like Blue Eyes White Dragons, Trey ran up the front path to the front door of the apartment. Marnie and Juliet followed him at a distance and Harley stayed to lock up the van.
“Anyone would think he'd never seen an apartment before,” said Marnie to Juliet as they wandered up the pathway.
Juliet didn't reply or even act as if she'd heard. She was thoughtfully gazing at everything around her. Marnie grinned broadly.
“Hey, are you all right?” she asked, elbowing Juliet.
Juliet jumped a foot in the air as if she'd been caught in a trance and turned towards Marnie.
“Wh-what?” she asked, prompting Marnie to sigh patiently.
“Are you all right?” she asked, “you were daydreaming.”
Juliet went pink and looked embarrassed.
“Sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking about Duke, that's all.”
Marnie grinned knowingly and stopped as they arrived at the front door of the apartment.
“I don't blame you,” she said. “From what you've been telling me, you're really lucky to have his number.”
Juliet chewed her lip and gazed towards the van, where Harley was about to put the keys in his pocket. She looked down at her shoes, and then back at Marnie.
“That's the problem,” she said, “it felt right, but somehow, it didn't and I think I know the reason.”
Marnie was listening curiously and Juliet carried on.
“When we performed in Osaka Harley told me he loved me,” she explained, “he was drunk at the time and I passed it off as a joke, but now I'm beginning to wonder if I was wrong to do so. You saw how he reacted when I told you all why I was late…”
Juliet and Marnie were speaking in faint whispers so Trey, who was standing in front of them, wouldn't hear what they were talking about. He fumbled with the front door keys and unlocked the door to the apartment.
“Open Sesame!” he said, as he pushed it open with a `creak' and rushed inside. Marnie and Juliet rolled their eyes and followed him inside, gasping as they did.
It was like walking into a fantasy. The apartment had everything anyone could wish for. The front room alone had a giant flat screen TV, leather sofa, wooden flooring and about five different games consoles all arranged on a shelf. Posters of Blue Eyes White Dragons were framed on the walls, giving the room an extra nostalgic feel. For some reason that she didn't understand, Juliet felt drawn to them and wandered over to admire the posters. Trey on the other hand, whooped loudly and hurried off to see the other rooms, claiming that the biggest bedroom he found was his. Marnie walked over to Juliet, who seemed to be caught in her own little world.
“I don't think you have anything to worry about, Juliet,” she said, “Harley says weird things when he's drunk, do you remember when he said that Trey's new hairstyle made him look like an orang-utan's toilet brush?”
Marnie chuckled at the memory but Juliet wasn't laughing.
“But Marnie,” she said, “he did. Harley's more honest when he's drunk than when he's sober.”
Marnie rolled her eyes.
“Juliet,” she said, “I'm only going to say this once. I've known Harley for, well, ever…and I know that if you wait for him to ask you out then you'll always be waiting. This guy Duke has acknowledged to you how he feels - can't you give him that much credit?”
Juliet smiled lopsidedly.
“All that and more,” she said.
Their conversation was interrupted by the reappearance of Trey. His face was pale against his hair and he resembled a struck match. Marnie, ignoring the shocked expression across his face, turned to him and grinned.
“Oh, there you are Trey,” she said, “How many bedrooms is there?”
“Three,” was the reply, and Trey looked at Juliet, “you might want to come and look at this…”
Wondering what was going on, Juliet followed Trey down the corridor of the apartment until they reached three doors that were all labelled with signs.
“I think we're all going to be fighting over this room,” said Trey, pointing to the first door. Juliet noticed that the sign on it was dark blue and read `Seto'.
“The guy who owned the company was called Seto, so he must have built this room for himself,” said Trey, opening the door.
The room inside seemed faintly familiar and homely - as though she should recognise its contents. The walls were all painted a dark shade of blue and the drapes were made of midnight blue silk. A fridge sat in the corner along with another wide screen television. Various games lined the room; a chess set lay on the bedside table with what looked like more game consoles underneath it. Numerous bookcases were scattered round with thick encyclopaedias on them. Juliet felt a twinge in her skull that she always got when her mind tried to connect things that her memory had lost.
“If you think that's good, why don't you check out door number two?” came Trey's voice, reminding her of his presence. He pointed to the second door along, which was labelled `Mokuba' on a green sign.
Juliet reached out and opened the door. The room she entered was completely the opposite of the previous one. It was painted in a bright shade of sunshine yellow, and had a giant train set running above their heads. The drapes were of a patchwork motif and cupboards in there were packed to bursting with board games, video games and games consoles. It should have looked like the room of an extremely spoiled child, but for some reason, Juliet felt she knew better.
“This is the room you must see,” said Trey, leading her to the third door, which had a violet sign fixed to it. `Juliet' was engraved on it with silver lettering.
With a shaking hand, Juliet reached out for the handle and opened the door. She had no idea why she felt so nervous; it was as if a part of her didn't want to go inside. The door opened and Juliet gasped when she saw the room. It was decorated in a pale purple colour, and a Queen sized bed lay in the corner snowed under by dolls. Juliet walked further into the room, intrigued by it. I know this…but how…
A wardrobe and dressing table lay next to the bed, and Juliet noticed a poster pinned up on the wall, depicting a rock band called `The Chasers'. Near the poster was a hi-fi and microphone that seemed almost brand new. Judging by the state of it, it had never been used. Next to the bed was a small table with a few objects on it. One was a photograph in a silver frame, which Juliet stooped to pick up. The photograph showed two boys and a girl happily smiling out at the camera. They all had dark hair and bright blue eyes and she guessed that they were brothers and sister. The oldest boy in the picture looked about 8 years old, so the other children could not have been very old. The girl in the picture had lifted the youngest boy up into her arms and they were both grinning happily. She recognised the youngest boy in the picture as the boy who had spoke to her in town, claiming to be her brother. She put the photograph back down on the table and looked at the second object. It appeared to be some sort of doll, though it seemed to have had better days. Her hair was tangled and matted and one of her arms was missing. Juliet picked up the doll, and her skull began to ache. Juliet felt a tear streaking down her face, and she touched her hand to her face in confusion.
o0o
Since Juliet was small, she had always admired the way singers hit the high notes without any real effort, like angels in disguise. She never failed to watch “Top of the Pops” and every other music based programme on television, including “Songs of Praise”, which Seto frequently laughed at her about. Juliet always sang the songs straight from the TV, which often got on their father's nerves. Her Mother supported this dream to the max, and although her parents couldn't afford singing lessons for Juliet, they did give her the next best thing… Singer girl Barbie (Juliet gave her this name). She was basically a Barbie with a microphone and hi-fi.
Juliet was only young when her Mother died, and it hit the entire family, but especially her father. He had to cope with three children, one of which was female. Juliet's father became irrational and short tempered.
She was 3 years old, and had wanted to play with Singer girl Barbie. The trouble was, her mother always put her on one of the top shelves and being quite short at the time, Juliet couldn't reach her. Juliet went over to her Dad, and asked him to get the doll down for her. Her father lost his temper, and yelled at Juliet. She was only young, so she ran to her room in floods of tears. Juliet remembered wishing that something awful would happen to him.
o0o
“Hi, welcome to the Dark Crown Game shop, the number one store for all your gaming needs…”
“Man, I still can't believe that Duke owns this place!”
Yugi Mutou and his group of friends, Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor and Téa Gardner were walking into the Dark Clown Game Shop. They had made plans the day before to meet up with their other friend Duke Devlin at his game store. Yugi glanced around the various shelves, which were stocked with every single new game that he could think of, including Dungeon Dice.
“Yep, it still shocks me sometimes,” he said, “lucky really that we made friends with him!”
Everyone laughed and nodded their agreement, just as Duke's sales assistant appeared from the store elevator, pushing his glasses further up his nose as he approached.
“Ah, welcome,” he said, “Master Devlin will be with you shortly, he is occupied at present with some extremely important business.”
He led them towards the elevator, saying no more on the subject. Joey grinned broadly.
“Ha! I'll bet he's on the phone to Pegasus, sussing out how much he wants to pay for Dungeon Dice,” he said.
“Yeah,” said Tristan, “or ordering supplies of some super cool new game!”
The elevator doors opened and the sales assistant walked down a corridor to Duke's apartment area. He opened a door and motioned them inside.
“Master Devlin's expecting you, make yourself at home,” he said.
Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Téa walked through the door and into Duke's apartment area. The familiar sound of Duke's voice met their ears as soon as they entered. The four of them sat down on the couch and waited. Duke was on the phone in the next room and by the sounds of things he was making arrangements.
“So is next Friday cool?” he asked, “Uh huh, uh huh…”
There was a pause, broken by Duke laughing.
“Okay, can't wait to see you there…buh bye,” he said and hung up. The kitchen door opened and Duke strode in, looking extremely pleased with himself.
“Important business call?” asked Yugi, as he all but collapsed onto the couch.
“No,” he breathed, “date with a pretty lady…”
Téa rolled her eyes at this statement, but Joey and Tristan looked genuinely interested. After all, it meant that Duke might have actually been showing an interest in someone other than Serenity. This kind of news was important.
“Really?” asked Tristan, “anyone we know?”
Duke blinked open an eye and regarded the other four lazily.
“I don't think so,” he eventually said, moving into a sitting position, “she's new to Domino, I only met her this morning. From what I understand she travels around with her band a lot.”
At the mention of a band, Téa suddenly became interested.
“She's in a band?” she asked, “How cool is that? Who's sponsoring them?”
Duke glanced at her, seemingly scared. Téa never usually showed an interest in his prospective dates, so it was highly unusual.
“I didn't think to ask,” he admitted, “why the sudden interest?”
Téa blushed, as she became the centre of attention.
“It's just…just that…” she stammered, “Oh to hell with it… we never have bands in Domino! Games always get centre stage here and we never have normal things like music concerts or charity bashes or…”
She was starting to talk extremely fast, so Duke raised his hands to quieten her.
“All right, all right, I get the point Téa,” he said, “I'll be sure to raise those points when I see Juliet on our date. Now…are we going to the movies or what?”
o0o
“Hey, Juliet, open the door, I've brought you some OJ!” Marnie knocked on the door three times but received no reply. It was 10:35am, the morning after the band had moved into the apartment and Juliet hadn't showed for breakfast. Marnie had gone to Juliet's room with the last remaining scraps from the breakfast table (the cupboards had been stacked full of food when they got there) but Juliet wouldn't open the door. Juliet had slept in the room with her name on, as everyone had decided that it was only fitting.
Marnie eased the plate of toast she was carrying into a different place under her arm and knocked louder on the door.
“Juliet, open up, Mr Kaiba's PA called…his publicist's coming at 12:00…” she shouted through the door. Still no reply. Marnie rolled her eyes and put her hand to the door handle.
“I'm coming in,” she shouted, pushing open the door.
The room inside was completely bathed in light, and Juliet was sitting on the bed covers thoughtfully gazing at a small doll that must have been there when she arrived. Juliet was still in a vest top and pyjama bottoms that she wore for bed, so Marnie knew there was something on her mind. She laid the toast and OJ on a dressing table there was nearby.
“Did you hear what I said?” she asked merrily, “Mr Kaiba's PA called when we were having breakfast…apparently the company publicist is coming at midday to discuss the plans for the concert with us.”
But Juliet didn't appear to be listening.
“Who do you suppose she was?” she asked.
Marnie gazed at Juliet and sighed. She had never seen her so thoughtful before, and in a way it scared her. Juliet was a creature who worked by instinct, not thought. Her mind was a place of shadow, with significant areas blanked out. Her instinct on the other hand had never failed her.
“I'm not sure,” said Marnie, “it kinda looks like one of those Pop star Barbie's they brought out years ago…”
Juliet looked up at Marnie and raised her eyebrows.
“Not the doll, the girl whose room this was,” she said, “she must have been really special to the guy who built this apartment.”
Marnie nodded.
“Not to mention lucky,” she said, “look at how beautiful this room is…it's weird though…I don't remember Mr Kaiba saying he had a sister.”
Juliet's eyes were glazed over by sadness and she glanced at the doll in her hands. It smiled up at her, regardless.
“You don't suppose…something awful happened to her, do you?” she asked hesitantly. Marnie sat down on the bed beside her.
“Of course not,” she said, “anyway, the less talk of horrible things like that the better, we've got a concert to plan.”
Juliet gave her a lop-sided smile.
“Not to mention a date,” she said, “I called Duke earlier and fixed a date for Friday. I think you were right about Harley.”
Marnie grinned broadly.
“This is great!” she said, “did you organise where you were going?”
Juliet shook her head, her moment of sadness temporarily forgotten.
“No, Duke said he'd pick me up and take me somewhere,” she said, “it'll be great to be able to relax and go on a date for once.”
Marnie rose from the bed and headed for the door.
“I guess it will,” she said, chuckling, “now don't forget, the publicist's coming at 12:00.”
With that, she walked back out of the door, leaving Juliet to reach for the toast and chew it thoughtfully.
o0o
The morning after she arrived at the orphanage, Juliet went looking for Seto and Mokuba, and she happened to pass some swings. It wasn't until she really looked at them that she noticed Mokuba sitting dejectedly on one. Juliet smiled for the first time all morning and walked over. Mokuba looked sad. He was staring at his shoes, and not swinging. `'Hi Mokie,'' said Juliet, `'how's it going?''
Mokuba turned at the sound of her voice.
`'Oh, hi Juliet,'' he said. She sat on a swing next to him.
`'Are you okay?'' she asked. Mokuba sighed.
`'I'm scared, Juliet,'' he said. Juliet nodded.
`'I know,'' she said, `'I'm scared too.''
Mokuba was about to say something else when they heard someone calling them.
`'Hey, you two!'' the voice was shouting.
Juliet turned towards it. Seto was walking over to the swings.
`'I was just looking for you,'' he said, `'are you okay?''
Juliet shook her head.
`'No,'' she said, `'we're afraid.''
Seto stopped in his tracks. He had an understanding look across his face. `'Don't worry,'' he said, `'I'll always be there for you, I promise.''
He sat down on the swing on the other side of Mokuba.
`'But what if they split us up?'' asked Juliet. Seto shook his head.
`'That will never happen,'' he said.
Mokuba wasn't sad anymore.
`'You won't let them separate us?'' he asked. Seto shook his head again, this time more determinedly.
`'Never,'' he replied, `'no one will ever keep us apart.''