Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Puzzles ❯ Share the Pain ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: falsechaos 
Group therapy sucks. Traumatic past memories suck harder.
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological / Mystery / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.15.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.7K | Visits: 246 | Status: Work In Progress
Group therapy sucks. Traumatic past memories suck harder.
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological / Mystery / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.15.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.7K | Visits: 246 | Status: Work In Progress
"Share the Pain"
[ Magic ] Offer 1 monster on your side of the field as a Tribute. Your opponent must select 1 monster on his/her side of the field and offer it as a Tribute.
=====
"I really don't want to be here."
"I'd gathered as much from your little escape attempt yesterday."
Why is she showing off her legs like that? Crossed, then uncrossed. Leaning closer to me. Trying to foster a sense of intimacy, Dr. Valentine? Bonus points for the attempt, but I'm afraid you'll have to face a penalty for poor execution.
"Tell me, Yuugi, why do you think you're here?"
"Perhaps because I keep insisting that Yuugi is dead."
She sighs and leans back. Valentine reaches with a slender hand to tuck an errant strand of blond hair behind her ears. She crosses her legs again. High heels, deep purple miniskirt, and tight, matching blazer. Hardly appropriate attire for a psychiatrist supposedly in charge of group therapy, eh, Dr. Valentine? Not as though any of the others are going to complain.
"Stupid pharaoh. Can't even escape a mental ward properly."
"Stupid tomb robber. At least I wasn't committed by a voice in my head telling me to do *nice* things."
"Aren't you the one telling us that *you* are the voice in your particular head?"
Ryou really isn't worth arguing with. It is my greater maturity that prevents me from responding. It has nothing to at all to do with the fact that I can't think of a proper retort. That's it, of course. Maturity. Three thousand years will grant you that.
We all sit in a semicircle facing one another. Five of us here, including myself. Joy.
Ryou Bakura, self-committed and denying every moment of it. Boasts about digging up graves and hocking any valuables. Hence the nickname 'tomb robber.' Ryou was found standing over one of his roommates with a very sharp knife and debating with himself quite loudly about whether or not to kill the other boy. In two distinct voices, I feel compelled to add. He committed himself soon after. I think that's the part that has him angry. He's managed to escape (as in leave the building, not just his own personal chamber) roughly twelve times. Caught and brought back every time.
The others... I can't remember the others. It's difficult at times to remember just where I am. Inside my chamber, locked away in the puzzling maze of doors and hallways, I am aware of every passing moment, every second that crawls into a corner and dies. My chamber reeks of dead time. But out here... Time flows strangely out here. I am taken from my chamber for minutes or hours or days. Doesn't matter. It should, I think.
Ryou, as much as I loathe the tomb robber, is the only one distinct enough to claim my attention. He mocks everyone, everything, including himself. The sight of blood is enough to send the boy into one startled moment of silence. That silence is what truly infuriates me. He waits for the next moment. The next drop of crimson to splash against the floor. He watches. He'll never make any attempt to stop the source, to alleviate pain. He'll just... watch.
The one with amber eyes... He did not stand by and watch. He tried to help me. Such vital eyes. I wouldn't mind
"Motou!"
"Dr. Valentine."
"You weren't paying attention, Yuugi."
"I believe you were saying something about Ryou's violent antisocial tendencies?"
Her red lips stretch into a thin line. Ah, I guessed correctly, didn't I, Doctor? She nods sharply and turns back to Ryou. Always a good guess that the topic is violent antisocial tendencies when Ryou is in group. The two look so strange together. Dominant, beautiful young women. Sullen, glowering pale fiend. Their children would spell the end of civilization as we know it. The sad thing is that the tomb robber actually responds to her forceful ways and the good doctor seems intrigued by Ryou's violent twists of compassion and contempt.
I think I'll miss civilization as I knew it.
Someone taps my shoulder. I jerk away and stare up at one of the ubiquitous guards this maze is infested with. "Playtime's over, Motou." A kindly face and tone. *Not* the one I jabbed in the solar plexus, then. I rise from my seat. Everyone else is gone by now. Valentine waits by the door impatiently. I'll follow the guard for now.
Twisted hallways. Sharp corners. Every day (every week? month? year?) I follow this maze. I return to the same room, but the path is different every time I walk it. Why? I want to escape this prison. I want to remember. But first I must solve this massive puzzle in which I dwell. I don't want to go into my chamber. It is the only place I can string together coherent thought, the only place I feel remotely whole... But the loss of light is... is...
That voice.
*His* voice.
So like Yuugi's voice. Deeper in tone and timber, a subtle distinction in the shivers that race down my spine, but so like Yuugi's voice. That same vital heat and warmth. The only other one to show me untainted kindness since Yuugi... since he...
...since Yuugi died.
Back into that damned chamber again. The door swings shut and locks behind me. The guard waves cheerily and walks away. I think I'd like to kill him. Too damn cheerful for this place. Violent antisocial tendencies. Hnmph. I walk up to the door. Peer out the tiny window. It's laced through with wire. Couldn't have me busting it out and cutting my wrists with a sliver of glass, now could we?
I deserve this.
I *did* let him die, after all.
Let... myself... die..?
Damn Solomon. I don't need this! I need... I need light. I need to solve the puzzle, put together the pieces, make it make sense. It wasn't always like this. There were others... My mother, my father. Mother was so dark and mysterious, eyes lined in kohl, elaborate headdress crowning her as queen, always aloof and distant. But... she also baked chocolate chip cookies. And hamburgers. And sat by my bedside when I was ill. My father owned a game shop and studied ancient cultures in his free time. He also ruled an entire nation.
I think I may have scrambled a few pieces of memory in my hurry to put them together. There seem to be a few discrepancies. There are others...
Sitting with half-lidded eyes in sterile classrooms filled with dry, recycled air. But why the conflicting memory of angry tutors scolding me for playing in the temples? Talking, laughing, playing games with my father. Sitting ramrod straight, eyes straight ahead, listening to my father discuss matters of state. Helping my mother prepare dinner, just the two of us. Watching my mother at a distance, not daring to approach while she was surrounded by servants.
Discrepancies like...
Walking though a newly built temple, listening to the distant murmur of people outside cheering the completion of the structure. Feeling the hot desert wind caress my face. It is so vast inside! A smile crosses my face. This is truly a worthy monument to the gods! A strange noise in the corner. Someone is staring at me. (when did I go from remembering to reliving?) A scuffle of sandal somehow heard above the crowd outside. He rushes me, knife in clenched fist above his head. I can hear the startled yelling of the Imperial Guards. Why can't I move? I don't care if he is my trusted friend, move! Move! But I can't. (not in memory, at least) The knife glides through my flesh and I'm
Walking through an ancient temple, listening to the distant murmur of volunteers removing debris from the structure. Feeling the hot desert wind caress my face. It's so big in here! A smile crosses my face. Yuugi's parents kneel before a monument to the gods, fascinated by the inscriptions at its base. It stares down at them. A groan of loosening stone can't be heard above the crowd outside. The statue crashes down toward them, Osiris with arms outstretched to gather them in a deadly embrace. I can't hear my own shrieking cries. Why won't they move? I don't care if they can't hear me, can't hear the statue falling, move! Move! But they don't. Osiris gathers them in his arms and
"Stop!!" My own voice once more, shrieking in the darkness again.
This is why I prefer the corner.
Arms around my legs. Head on my knees. Wine-colored eyes staring off into the distance. I can't remember what happens next. If I died in ancient Egypt or if my parents died in a forgotten tomb while I watched. I think... I think they died. I cried for so long after my parents died. Wait. I think those were Yuugi's parents. I wasn't there when they died. Yuugi was. His parents died and Yuugi needed me and so I... I joined him. Protected him.
But how can I remember seeing his parents die? I wasn't there. I was... in the shadows... somewhere... Yuugi had curled around his parents, held his mother's bloodied hand... praying for something... someone... He had lain there for hours before someone came. He was so young. Only ten. I had to come. Had to protect him from being alone.
Odd. His eyes had been violet before I came to him. Violet before turning the color of the aged blood of grapes. No one commented on it. No one had said anything to that effect when they pulled him away from his parents. No one noticed me behind the boy's eyes. They did notice when I took over for him at times. Surprise, surprise. Little Yuugi's grown a spine. I tried not to be forceful about it. When Yuugi needed me, needed help, I would walk in his skin, speak in his voice. I wouldn't let anyone harm him.
But now...
Now Yuugi's gone.
It's so quiet in here. I think... I think there are two mazes, two puzzles. One exists outside this chamber. I must solve it if I am to leave this maze. The most difficult puzzle lies within myself. I must solve *that* above all else if I am ever to leave this chamber. One at a time.
Puzzle within, puzzle without.
One at a time.
[ Magic ] Offer 1 monster on your side of the field as a Tribute. Your opponent must select 1 monster on his/her side of the field and offer it as a Tribute.
=====
"I really don't want to be here."
"I'd gathered as much from your little escape attempt yesterday."
Why is she showing off her legs like that? Crossed, then uncrossed. Leaning closer to me. Trying to foster a sense of intimacy, Dr. Valentine? Bonus points for the attempt, but I'm afraid you'll have to face a penalty for poor execution.
"Tell me, Yuugi, why do you think you're here?"
"Perhaps because I keep insisting that Yuugi is dead."
She sighs and leans back. Valentine reaches with a slender hand to tuck an errant strand of blond hair behind her ears. She crosses her legs again. High heels, deep purple miniskirt, and tight, matching blazer. Hardly appropriate attire for a psychiatrist supposedly in charge of group therapy, eh, Dr. Valentine? Not as though any of the others are going to complain.
"Stupid pharaoh. Can't even escape a mental ward properly."
"Stupid tomb robber. At least I wasn't committed by a voice in my head telling me to do *nice* things."
"Aren't you the one telling us that *you* are the voice in your particular head?"
Ryou really isn't worth arguing with. It is my greater maturity that prevents me from responding. It has nothing to at all to do with the fact that I can't think of a proper retort. That's it, of course. Maturity. Three thousand years will grant you that.
We all sit in a semicircle facing one another. Five of us here, including myself. Joy.
Ryou Bakura, self-committed and denying every moment of it. Boasts about digging up graves and hocking any valuables. Hence the nickname 'tomb robber.' Ryou was found standing over one of his roommates with a very sharp knife and debating with himself quite loudly about whether or not to kill the other boy. In two distinct voices, I feel compelled to add. He committed himself soon after. I think that's the part that has him angry. He's managed to escape (as in leave the building, not just his own personal chamber) roughly twelve times. Caught and brought back every time.
The others... I can't remember the others. It's difficult at times to remember just where I am. Inside my chamber, locked away in the puzzling maze of doors and hallways, I am aware of every passing moment, every second that crawls into a corner and dies. My chamber reeks of dead time. But out here... Time flows strangely out here. I am taken from my chamber for minutes or hours or days. Doesn't matter. It should, I think.
Ryou, as much as I loathe the tomb robber, is the only one distinct enough to claim my attention. He mocks everyone, everything, including himself. The sight of blood is enough to send the boy into one startled moment of silence. That silence is what truly infuriates me. He waits for the next moment. The next drop of crimson to splash against the floor. He watches. He'll never make any attempt to stop the source, to alleviate pain. He'll just... watch.
The one with amber eyes... He did not stand by and watch. He tried to help me. Such vital eyes. I wouldn't mind
"Motou!"
"Dr. Valentine."
"You weren't paying attention, Yuugi."
"I believe you were saying something about Ryou's violent antisocial tendencies?"
Her red lips stretch into a thin line. Ah, I guessed correctly, didn't I, Doctor? She nods sharply and turns back to Ryou. Always a good guess that the topic is violent antisocial tendencies when Ryou is in group. The two look so strange together. Dominant, beautiful young women. Sullen, glowering pale fiend. Their children would spell the end of civilization as we know it. The sad thing is that the tomb robber actually responds to her forceful ways and the good doctor seems intrigued by Ryou's violent twists of compassion and contempt.
I think I'll miss civilization as I knew it.
Someone taps my shoulder. I jerk away and stare up at one of the ubiquitous guards this maze is infested with. "Playtime's over, Motou." A kindly face and tone. *Not* the one I jabbed in the solar plexus, then. I rise from my seat. Everyone else is gone by now. Valentine waits by the door impatiently. I'll follow the guard for now.
Twisted hallways. Sharp corners. Every day (every week? month? year?) I follow this maze. I return to the same room, but the path is different every time I walk it. Why? I want to escape this prison. I want to remember. But first I must solve this massive puzzle in which I dwell. I don't want to go into my chamber. It is the only place I can string together coherent thought, the only place I feel remotely whole... But the loss of light is... is...
That voice.
*His* voice.
So like Yuugi's voice. Deeper in tone and timber, a subtle distinction in the shivers that race down my spine, but so like Yuugi's voice. That same vital heat and warmth. The only other one to show me untainted kindness since Yuugi... since he...
...since Yuugi died.
Back into that damned chamber again. The door swings shut and locks behind me. The guard waves cheerily and walks away. I think I'd like to kill him. Too damn cheerful for this place. Violent antisocial tendencies. Hnmph. I walk up to the door. Peer out the tiny window. It's laced through with wire. Couldn't have me busting it out and cutting my wrists with a sliver of glass, now could we?
I deserve this.
I *did* let him die, after all.
Let... myself... die..?
Damn Solomon. I don't need this! I need... I need light. I need to solve the puzzle, put together the pieces, make it make sense. It wasn't always like this. There were others... My mother, my father. Mother was so dark and mysterious, eyes lined in kohl, elaborate headdress crowning her as queen, always aloof and distant. But... she also baked chocolate chip cookies. And hamburgers. And sat by my bedside when I was ill. My father owned a game shop and studied ancient cultures in his free time. He also ruled an entire nation.
I think I may have scrambled a few pieces of memory in my hurry to put them together. There seem to be a few discrepancies. There are others...
Sitting with half-lidded eyes in sterile classrooms filled with dry, recycled air. But why the conflicting memory of angry tutors scolding me for playing in the temples? Talking, laughing, playing games with my father. Sitting ramrod straight, eyes straight ahead, listening to my father discuss matters of state. Helping my mother prepare dinner, just the two of us. Watching my mother at a distance, not daring to approach while she was surrounded by servants.
Discrepancies like...
Walking though a newly built temple, listening to the distant murmur of people outside cheering the completion of the structure. Feeling the hot desert wind caress my face. It is so vast inside! A smile crosses my face. This is truly a worthy monument to the gods! A strange noise in the corner. Someone is staring at me. (when did I go from remembering to reliving?) A scuffle of sandal somehow heard above the crowd outside. He rushes me, knife in clenched fist above his head. I can hear the startled yelling of the Imperial Guards. Why can't I move? I don't care if he is my trusted friend, move! Move! But I can't. (not in memory, at least) The knife glides through my flesh and I'm
Walking through an ancient temple, listening to the distant murmur of volunteers removing debris from the structure. Feeling the hot desert wind caress my face. It's so big in here! A smile crosses my face. Yuugi's parents kneel before a monument to the gods, fascinated by the inscriptions at its base. It stares down at them. A groan of loosening stone can't be heard above the crowd outside. The statue crashes down toward them, Osiris with arms outstretched to gather them in a deadly embrace. I can't hear my own shrieking cries. Why won't they move? I don't care if they can't hear me, can't hear the statue falling, move! Move! But they don't. Osiris gathers them in his arms and
"Stop!!" My own voice once more, shrieking in the darkness again.
This is why I prefer the corner.
Arms around my legs. Head on my knees. Wine-colored eyes staring off into the distance. I can't remember what happens next. If I died in ancient Egypt or if my parents died in a forgotten tomb while I watched. I think... I think they died. I cried for so long after my parents died. Wait. I think those were Yuugi's parents. I wasn't there when they died. Yuugi was. His parents died and Yuugi needed me and so I... I joined him. Protected him.
But how can I remember seeing his parents die? I wasn't there. I was... in the shadows... somewhere... Yuugi had curled around his parents, held his mother's bloodied hand... praying for something... someone... He had lain there for hours before someone came. He was so young. Only ten. I had to come. Had to protect him from being alone.
Odd. His eyes had been violet before I came to him. Violet before turning the color of the aged blood of grapes. No one commented on it. No one had said anything to that effect when they pulled him away from his parents. No one noticed me behind the boy's eyes. They did notice when I took over for him at times. Surprise, surprise. Little Yuugi's grown a spine. I tried not to be forceful about it. When Yuugi needed me, needed help, I would walk in his skin, speak in his voice. I wouldn't let anyone harm him.
But now...
Now Yuugi's gone.
It's so quiet in here. I think... I think there are two mazes, two puzzles. One exists outside this chamber. I must solve it if I am to leave this maze. The most difficult puzzle lies within myself. I must solve *that* above all else if I am ever to leave this chamber. One at a time.
Puzzle within, puzzle without.
One at a time.