Stay~ ::

Chapter # 2 Journey to the Duelist Kingdom

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"You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me." - The Great Gatsby

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The apartment was empty without your mom's warm, comforting presence. She's been resting in the hospital for the past three days. School's been hard, for the most part, you've been skipping most of your classes, and worrying about your friends. You've yet to tell them about your situation, finding it too risky, considering that it technically fell under the shadow game category. And the last thing you need is to activate your curse.

Speaking of which, you know Yami is active again.

You can feel it when he plays a shadow game. The same horrible feeling you felt when he placed the curse on you. From what you can gather, Yugi, or rather Yami, had beaten that rich boy Seto Kaiba, causing Kaiba to go almost completely mental, before basically falling off the face of the planet.

Crashing onto your bed, you groan. "What am I going to do?" You whisper.

"What can I do?"

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"A tournament at Duelist Kingdom?" 

Tea stands next to your vacant desk as she stares at Yugi. "Isn't that an Island?" Yugi nods, glancing between your empty desk, and his cards. "So that's where Pegasus is keeping your Grandpa?" Joey questions. "Maybe," Yugi says unsurely. "The only way to know for sure is to become a contestant." Yugi lifts a card in his hand. "The boat's going to be leaving in two days."  Tea looks away, "But... it's too dangerous." She tries to persuade. "I have to go." He states firmly. "It's the only clue I have for rescuing Grandpa." 

Tristen, who was staring at your vacant desk, glances at the table. He looks away, finding nothing of interest, before quickly doing a double take. "Huh?" He reaches over, grabbing two cards. "Hey, Yugi..." He gets their attention, "Check this out." Tristen reveals the cards in his hands. "According to these cards, the tournament winner takes the grand prize of three million dollars!" He shouts excitedly. 

Yugi gives him a disappointed look. "So what, Tristen?" He asks, "Who cares about money in a time like this?" He questioned. Tristen deflats, leaning back into his chair. "Y/n would've." He sulked, not having his money-loving friend with him. "They still owe me twenty dollars." 

Tea shakes her head disapprovingly. 

"Speaking of Y/n," Yugi pipes up, "Has anyone noticed their strange absence recently?" Everyone murmured in agreement. Joey's eyes widen, "Oh no! You don't Pegasus took their soul too! Do ya!?" He exclaimed dramatically. 

Some girl speaks up, "Oh, you haven't heard?" She asks the group. "Their mom had collapsed in their apartment, fallen into a coma and all that." Everyone stares shocked. "Yeah, the school is excusing  their absences, considering it a family emergency." A boy intercepts, "It's strange too," He begins, "The doctors are completely bamboozled, not one knows what happened. She's in perfect health and has no medical history of anything that could have caused this."

Tea covers her mouth, horrified, "Oh no... That means that Y/n's just been living alone for the past few days." It's quite well-known in the group about your love for your mother. You consider her your world, one of the only people you truly can trust.

Yugi lets out a shaky sigh. "You don't think that..." Joey nods, "It's too much of a coincidence, it's Pegasus."

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"It sure is late, huh?" You try to lighten the mood as you are squished between two guards, who were 'accompanying' you on board the boat. "You know, the Titanic-" You couldn't finish because of someone yelling your name.