Lion's Mouth: Part I (Yu-Gi-Oh)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

We were all told to leave the roof of Pegasus' castle, so we started for the stairs. I helped Yugi stand up, and Bakura and I stood on either side of him as we walked. He was spaced out ad seemed almost like a zombie.

Finally, we were back at the main doors that led to the castle. Yugi stood before the doors, staring at nothing. His friends stood behind him, trying to cheer him up, but it was like he could not even hear them. Bakura and I exchanged worried looks. We both put a hand on his back in an attempt to comfort him.

I closed my eyes as I let his emotions pass through me. He was afraid of the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle and what he was capable of. He was sad that the Spirit would go to such lengths to win. He was torn because he needed to rescue his grandpa but did not want to hurt anyone. I understood exactly how he felt, yet I did not know what I could do to help him.

"It's ok, Yug," Joey said. "You just lost a few star chips is all." He walked around so that he was facing his friend. "Here, take mine. I owe you big time for helping me get this far. Take them."

Bakura stared at him in surprise. "But what about-?"

"My sister? Sure, she needs my help, but Gramps is in danger right now. We gotta get Yugi into the castle."

"Please, Yugi," Tea said.

"Come on, pal, what do you say? Go kick Pegasus' sorry butt and get your grandpa back." Joey held his star chips out to Yugi. "Go on, Yug. I want you to have them."

Yugi continued to stare straight ahead with a vacant expression.

Joey growled in frustration. He suddenly lifted Yugi into the air by his collar. "Come on, snap out of it! You're really starting to scare me, man. I'm trying to help you out here. Pull yourself together."

Yugi did not appear affected in the slightest.

"Stop it!" I said as I grabbed Joey's arm. "You don't understand. This isn't because he lost. It's that Spirit He's afraid of him, and I am to."

"But he needs to beat Pegasus," Tea said. "How can we help him?"

I had no answer to her, and my heart tightened. I glanced at Bakura. He gave me a sad smile. There was no way the others could understand what was going on. It was up to the two of us to do something. But how could we help Yugi when we felt he had every right to be feeling what he was feeling?"

"If this is how you treat your friends, I can't wait to see how you treat your enemies," a feminine voice said from behind us. I turned to see Mai staring at Joey, still holding up Yugi, with an odd expression on her face.

I finally managed to pull Yugi away from Joey. Yugi did not seem to care about this change, and his suddenly apathy had me worried. Bakura and I each put a hand on his shoulder.

"What's up?" said Mai. "If you have enough star chips to get inside the castle, why are you hanging out here?"

"It's Yug," Joey said sadly. "He lost his chips to Kaiba, and now it's like he lost the will to go on."

"So the little guy finally lost one, huh? Lucky for you guys I came by."

It was a bit more complicated than that, but if Yugi's friends couldn't comprehend what was going on, there was no way Mai was going to understand.