Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Kokoro no Maho: Magic of the Heart ❯ Chapter 3: The Millennium Heart ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Same as before, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, blah, blah, blah . . .

Chapter 3 ~ The Millennium Heart

'This isn't so bad,' Sonomi thought as the final bell rung, signaling the end of the school day. I managed to fit in. She sighed, carefully weaving her way through the crowd. `It's not the same as home, but it's still manageable. I wonder, though. Mutou-san's necklace looks a lot like the one that pharaoh in my dream wears. I wonder if that's coincidence.'

"So, you're new girl," a voice behind her says. She whirls around, not recognizing the voice. It was Ryou, but different. There was something not right about his aura, as though it was the same person in body, but not spirit. _Ryou_ walked closer, as though he was inspecting her. Looking down, she saw that he wore another necklace with a pendant that resembled a dream catcher, but instead of a web inside the ring, it was a pyramid with an eye that was identical to Yuugi's pendant. "I thought I recognized you. You're that pathetic servant girl the Pharaoh and that High Priest of his fell in love with. I thought I recognized the style. Mahoryu . . . magic dragon . . . interesting that your deck would reflect your past life."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by all this? And what's wrong with you, Bakura-san?" Sonomi asks, baffled.

"You mean you don't remember? All the better, I suppose," he replies.

"Get away from her, tomb raider!"

"Well, if it isn't the Pharaoh himself. Don't you recognize her?" `Pharaoh? But isn't that Mutou-san? But, like Bakura-san, there's something different . . . I can't place it . . . but it's like he's familiar . . .'

"Mutou-san?"

/ Yami, are you sure you don't remember her? /

// Quite sure. But I can't help but feel like I should . . . //

"Quit fooling around. If you're here to duel me, then get that pathetic deck of yours out and duel me. Otherwise, leave."

"I'm surprised you wouldn't remember her, but then again, you were sealed in that Puzzle before she died," Bakura continues, running a finger down Sonomi's cheek. `Puzzle? Wait a minute . . . this is familiar . . .' A sudden surge of flashbacks flooded Sonomi's brain.

~Begin Flashback~

"My lord, here is the High Court Sorcerer's daughter." The guard roughly pushed the shackled girl onto the floor, forcing her to bow before the pharaoh.

"P-please! I didn't know about my father's dealings! I had no idea!" She looked straight into the pharaoh's eyes, tears of desperation surrounding her own. Ignoring her plea, the pharaoh stands up, and - to Sonomi's surprise - she could see him.

"Since it has been decided that the High Court Sorcerer and all members of his immediate family are to be labeled as disgraced for the rest of their lives, I hereby sentence you to work as a servant in this palace until the day you die! You shall begin your sentence as a scullery maid. Escort her to the kitchen!"

~End Flashback~

"W-what happened?" Sonomi asks, opening her eyes. She looks around to see that she was in the infirmary; Anzu, Honda, Jounouchi, and Yuugi were there.

"You collapsed," Yuugi replies. Sonomi sits up, looking at closely at Yuugi. He closely resembled the pharaoh in her vision. Before she could say anything, a golden glow suddenly surrounded her, and a new presence takes over Sonomi's body. Her body suddenly grabbed Yuugi by the neck. `My hands . . . they just moved on their own!'

"Yami-sama, you abandoned me! You forced me to work for that no good priest! Today, I shall have my revenge!" In an instant, the eye on Yuugi's pendant glowed and once again, a different Yuugi took over.

"Who are you? What do you want?" he asks, struggling to breath.

"After all this time, you don't remember me? Damn Osiris! I'm the High Court Sorcerer's daughter! The very girl you sentenced to work in your palace . . . and then fell in love with . . . and then abandoned because of some unwritten rule of society!" Yami's eyes widen, recognition finally sinking in.

"Y-you can't be!"

"I sure as hell am! This girl has no idea I've been a part of her since birth! For, you see, the day they sealed you within that Puzzle, I cast a spell. I would be reincarnated to exact my revenge upon you when the puzzle finds its rightful owner!" The glow suddenly solidified in front of her chest. A golden heart, no bigger than a fist, with a mismatched pair of wings was formed. One was an angel's wing, but the other was that of the devil's. The eye that decorated all Millennium Items appeared in the center. "And there's more. In order to survive until then, I created an eighth Millennium Item. I call it the Millennium Heart." `My dreams . . . they were real!'

Just then, the door slammed open; Bakura and Marik came running in. The pointers around the ring around Bakura's neck pointed directly at the heart in Sonomi's hands. "The Ring; it's pointing to that heart in her hands!" Bakura shouts, gaze following the Ring's pointers.

"If it isn't the Tomb Raider and the Tomb Guardians themselves . . . perfect timing . . . you've just come to witness the Pharaoh's trip to the Shadow Realm! And for your previous insult, Bakura, you shall go with him!"

"Wait! If what you say is true, than why don't you try to work it out?" Anzu asks, desperate to prevent Yami from being sent to the Shadow Realm.

"You're really naive, Anzu. He left me alone . . . ordered me to cook for that priest of his. I believe he's also returned . . . as Kaiba Seto. You have no idea what I went through at that bastard's hands. He hated Yami-sama, but never showed his true colors until the end. He abused me to keep me quiet; he never cared for me. He knew the situation; he used that to his advantage, always saying that it was either Yami-sama or me who got hurt, that the decision was mine to make. I was a fool thinking that if I let him have his way with me, that Yami-sama would be safe. Of course, to the rest of the kingdom, it would appear that he loved me. He constantly called me to his quarters at night, often not letting me leave until morning. Of course, he never hit me anywhere that was not covered. It'd be too easy to let up the act." A stray tear trickled down her face. "So I secretly stole into Seto's treasury and stole enough gold to create this pendant. Making it was no problem; with my sorcery it was simple enough."

"When we tested you for powers in the palace, you tested negative!" Yami interrupts, remembering the whole story.

"Yes, but you see, it was because I made it so. I had a way with hiding my powers; even my father was fooled. No one knew my secret even after I died. After they sealed your soul into that Puzzle, Seto had nothing to hold over me. But he thought he'd broken my will; he was wrong. I killed him that very night and then cast a spell that would hide this item and my soul within until the time was right. And the time is now." The heart suddenly glowed again, and Sonomi appeared. She instantly put herself between Yami and the spirit. The other three yami in the room were flabbergasted. Sonomi had been taken over by the spirit of a Millennium Item for no longer than an hour and she already figured out how to get herself out of the Item's soul room.

"Wait! Stop! Please . . . Don't send him to the Shadow Realm, wherever that is! Give him a second chance!"

"There are no second chances for people like him. He sent me to hell the day he ordered me to work for that bastard of a priest! The only thing that kept me alive was revenge!"

"But is this what you truly want? In your heart of hearts, spirit, is this what you want? I know this isn't it . . . I can tell . . . you can't hide it from me . . . your soul room tells me the truth . . . " In an instant the spirit broke down in tears and went back inside the Heart in a flash of gold. Sonomi sank to the ground, weary. It was not easy getting herself out of the Soul Room, but she did manage before the spirit did something she would regret. "Perhaps re-introductions are necessary," Sonomi suggested with a weak smile. A loop of leather suddenly appeared and wound itself around a loop at the top of the heart and settled itself around her neck.

"Indeed, it would be necessary," Yuugi replies. / Coming out, Yami? /

// I need time to think. //

"It seems as though Yami would rather pine in his soul room. He's- "

"The Pharaoh of Egypt. I know. My dreams told me that much. But as for those two, who are they? The spirit mentioned something about one of them as a Tomb Raider and the other as a Tomb Guardian?"

"Yes, the spirit of the Millennium Ring that Ryou wears is a thief. He used to raid tombs for treasure. Malik comes from a family of Tomb Guardians. Malik has a yami, but he isn't from the Millennium Rod."

"Logical. So, do they have names?"

"Yes, Bakura and Marik. What about yours?"

"Let me ask her." / Spirit? Mutou-san would like to know your name. /

// Let them call me . . . Sonomi. //

/ You-you share my name? /

// Yes . . . for you see . . . there is no coincidence in the naming of any possessor of a Millennium Item. They are often unknowingly named after the spirits of the Item they possess. In this case, your parents named you after me. //

"She says her name is Sonomi." (AN: From here on, the Spirit of the Millennium Heart will be referred to as Yami Sonomi to prevent confusion.)

"Well, tell her it was, uh, interesting meeting her." Suddenly, the Heart glowed and Yami Sonomi appeared. She was identical to Sonomi, as expected, but there was something different about her all the same. She had stopped masking her power, and it radiated from her, causing the skirt she wore as a part of the school uniform to slightly billow around her. While Sonomi's green eyes were that of an innocent, happy, mature teenager, her Yami's were those of one who sealed off her soul to the world to keep herself safe. They were sublimely beautiful, the same shade of emerald green, but they simultaneously shot ice and pain into all that looked directly into them. She placed both hands on Yugi's shoulders and looked into his innocent ruby eyes.

"Yes, and tell Yami-sama that he cannot undo what he has already done; forgiveness is not an option. He gave up what we had for a foolish reason and it has hurt me in so many ways that even time itself cannot completely heal me." She disappears back into the Heart without another word. Yami took over in an instant, but it was too late. Sonomi was asleep, and Yami Sonomi would not come out on her own.

"W-what happened?" Ryou asks from the door.

"Ryou, your Yami took over again," Malik replies, wasting no time to explain the events of the past half hour.

Sonomi found herself in front of the spirit's soul room. She put a hand up to knock, but the door opened on its own. Within, her dark half was sitting on her bed, crying her heart out. Reaching into her pocket, Sonomi pulls out her handkerchief and offers it to the sobbing spirit. "Daijobu?"

"Iie; even all that's happened, I want to forgive him, but I can't!" the spirit replies, wiping her tears. Sonomi sits down next to the spirit and envelops her in a hug.

"Come here, crying by yourself only makes it worse. What you need is a friend. I don't blame you for doing what you did; I'd do the same thing myself. Perhaps it would have been easier for you if you had a friend. Friends are always there for each other; I know I never would have made it without Minako-chan. So, what do you say? Will you be my friend?"

"Y-you'd be my friend, just like that?" the spirit asks, looking up. Her eye makeup was smeared from the crying.

"Yep! Besides, I could tell you were lonely. When you took over, all I felt was a surge of pain and anger. No one should be that way; no one deserves to spend millennia alone after having their heart broken. So, why don't I get us back to my aunt's shop? After I do my homework, we could have a girl's night."

"Girl's night? What's that?"

"I guess you didn't have those back then. It's simple, really. You just get together with other girls you're really good friends with and have fun. So, why don't you let me take over for now? I think I know the way back to my aunt's gift shop well enough." Sonomi opens her eyes and sits up.

"Sleep well?" Sonomi turns to her right and sees Yuugi.

"Oh! Mutou-san! You didn't need to wait for me."

"Actually, it's not Yuugi. I was hoping to talk to your other half." Sonomi realized her mistake when she noted that some of Yuugi's blonde bangs were also sticking up.

"I'm sorry, Yami-sama, but I don't think she's ready. She's been through a lot . . . you have no idea how much it hurt her." Sonomi got off the bed and picks up her backpack. "When she took over my body, all I felt was a wave of pain and grief. Her heart bleeds in many places . . . it will be quite a while before she will heal. Time has not helped her any." Sonomi walks out of the room, leaving Yami with his thoughts.

Kurama no Miko2003: Well, here's the prologue and the first three chapters for you! Please, R&R! So, I see a number of ways how this mess of relationships can turn out! Give me your feedback! Should Yami Sonomi forgive Yami? And what of their hikaris?