YuGiOh: Souls of Shadow

Chapter 5.2

                "Kaiba!" I gasped, immediately dropping the broom and sprinting to him. My feet pounded up the stone, my lungs and legs burning by the time I reached him. I stopped just a few feet behind him, where he turned around and met my eyes in shock. "You're alive."

"A—Alice..." he said my name as if he couldn't believe I was there, either. "You're alive. What are you doing here?"

My smile instantly faded as reality came crashing back down on me. I hadn't considered how I would handle facing him, telling him of my failure. "I... I'm sorry..."

It was then that he noticed my clothes, and the collar around my neck. His voice darkened. "What has he done to you?"

I tried to say something, but no sound came out. He continued to stare at me, willing me to speak silently, his cold gaze eventually breaking through.

"He... he took Mokuba, and hurt you, so I came to end it once and for all, but..."

"You meant to kill him?" he asked. I nodded silently. His hands curled into fists, as he turned his head away. I could see his jaw clench, a sign that anger was boiling through him now. "You shouldn't have gotten yourself involved like this!" he nearly shouted as he turned back towards me.

"What else could I do?!" I snapped.

"You could have waited for my orders."

"You could have been dead for all I knew!"

A pause followed my words. His eyes narrowed as his voice quieted slightly. "What made you think that?"

"Just before Mokuba was taken, I received an emergency message from your device saying it had been destroyed. And considering everything that followed, I assumed the worst."

A growl came from the back of his throat. "It must have fallen out into the water when I jumped out the window," he told me.

"You jumped out—I'm not going to ask," I shook my head.

"Still, it was a flawed assumption. You should know by now that it's hard to kill me off." He crossed his arms.

"I wasn't going to take that chance, Kaiba. Not when both of your lives were in danger. It was a pretty bad assumption on your part to think I wouldn't do something like this."

"I didn't think that you needed babysitting."

"I don't want to argue with you," I said while clenching my teeth. "The point is, I'm sorry I couldn't protect him, and it's my fault that I—"

"Alice-girl," a voice called from beside us. I looked to find Pegasus making his way down the steps. "I thought I gave you specific orders that you are to have no contact with anyone. Now get back to work. This place is still filthy."

I glared at him, refusing to move.

"What are you talking about?" Kaiba asked. "Alice—"

"She works for me now," Pegasus explained lightly. "Oh? Did she not tell you? Yes, she came here with her little gun, made it all the way to my room without me even noticing, but she couldn't find it in her heart to kill me. So, she resorted to ever so foolishly dueling me, in which she bet her life and lost everything."

"I didn't—"

"Ah," he stopped me with a snap. "Not another word. Remember that I can punish you as I see fit, and right now you're being a very naughty girl by talking to Kaiba-boy."

"I'm not afraid of you," I told him, clenching my fists.

"That's not what I heard." Suddenly, I felt a strong sting throughout all my muscles as they tightened and began to sear with a blistering pain. I fell down onto the steps, unable to catch myself. I was trying to scream, but no sound came out.

It stopped, thankfully. I could only lay there, gasping, shouting in my mind that I was going to kill him. I angrily growled a curse at him through my clenched teeth, resulting in another wave of volts. This time when it let off, the only sound I could make was a strangled scream as my body curled into itself.

"And that's why you should do what I tell you the first time," Pegasus told me as I somehow rose to my feet. I turned to find it wasn't me who was pulling myself up, but Kaiba. He took his hand away from my arm as I steadied myself.

"You'll pay for this, Pegasus," he spat menacingly.

He ignored him completely. "Now, say goodbye to Kaiba-boy."

I looked to Kaiba, who held his glare at the man. "This isn't a goodbye, Alice." He met my eyes peripherally, the tiniest hint of a smirk appearing on his face. "I'll see you again." With that, he turned away, starting back up the stairs, his coat billowing behind him as he went.

His words should have brought me comfort. I had always believed in him, ever since I first saw him. I had never once doubted his vows, at least not before this. There was something that he was putting himself up against here that even he couldn't understand or plan for. It pained me to know that I had missed my only chance to warn him, but even if I did, his tragic flaw wouldn't allow him to head it.

Pegasus looked back to me, pointing at the broom I had left at the bottom of the steps. I decided to hold my glare at him for a few moments before turning away in disgust, mentally giving him some words of departure.

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Time passed. I made my way up the entire row of steps with the broom. The sun eventually set, and night overtook the sky. Kaiba never came back. No one had to tell me what happened. I already knew what Pegasus had done.

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