Friday, 03/30/2001, 12:09 p.m.
Inside a medium-sized room with blue walls and wooden flooring, Shin Osako lay on a white futon on the floor, eyes closed, apparently asleep.
The room's door was locked with a latch.
A soft scent of flowers filled the air.
From the worn wooden window at the back of the room, through a pair of gray curtains, flashes of sunlight occasionally streamed in.
A black wooden nightstand, a polished mahogany closet in a coffee color, a light blue wall fan running, and a small square black Philips television embedded in the wall made up the rest of the view. Lastly, there were some stacked boxes in a corner of the room, still sealed.
A small gust of wind blew into the room through the window.
A translucent figure began to gradually manifest in the middle of the room.
It was Zul-Karun.
Shin opened his eyes. A question came from his mouth. His expression remained calm throughout.
"Hmm, you're back. So, how did it go? What were you able to find out about Pegasus J. Crawford and Kaiba Corporation?"
With a monotone, guttural voice, Zul-Karun spoke. His face remained indistinguishable beneath the black cloth.
"That human Pegasus J. Crawford has made contact with the board of directors of Kaiba Corporation. Together, they are devising a plan to remove the current president of Kaiba Corporation, that young mortal named Seto Kaiba. For now, they seem to be waiting. There was talk of possibly kidnapping Seto Kaiba's relative, Mokuba Kaiba, and then using him as leverage to facilitate their plans. Since then, Pegasus J. Crawford and Kaiba Corporation's executives have remained in regular contact. But aside from the weakness represented by his young relative, Seto Kaiba appears to maintain a tight grip over his company, complicating the plans of his detractors. Seto Kaiba also seems intent on cutting off the armament division of his company and focusing exclusively on training and new technologies. His new project seems to combine both development paths. He called it Solid Vision and it has just entered the market. Pegasus J. Crawford appears especially interested in this new physical projection technology and has contacted Seto Kaiba on several occasions to purchase it. So far, all offers have been rejected. However, they have managed to establish a business relationship involving a merger between the Solid Vision technology of Kaiba Corporation and Pegasus J. Crawford's game from Industrial Illusions, Duel Monsters. In contrast, Pegasus J. Crawford's associates seem more concerned about the imminent elimination of Kaiba Corporation's weapons division than anything else. Some of them mentioned the possibility of using Solid Vision technology for warfare. Kaiba Corporation's stocks are higher than ever, yet they still consider Seto Kaiba unfit to lead the company and fear potential damage to their interests if he succeeds in redirecting the company's development."
Zul-Karun fell silent.
Shin grimaced. His right hand touched his chin, and his face became thoughtful.
A second more or less, Shin looked up, nodded, and then asked Zul-Karun in a measured tone, his expression calm.
"Heh. Good. Luckily, it seems you didn't mess anything up during your first outings around here. Now tell me, what were you able to find out about Yugi Muto and his friends?"
Unperturbed, Zul-Karun responded.
"Nothing of relevance. Most of them lead routine lives far removed from higher mysteries, including the young human named Yugi Muto. But yes, there was one exception among them. It is that young human named Ryo Bakura. Very powerful dark magic protects him and alerts him to my presence whenever I try to approach his location. That power seems to come from an enchanted Egyptian pendant around his neck. I also sensed he is linked to multiple demonic Ka spirits, but they were all insignificant, weak. Unable to get closer, I returned just as I had been ordered..."
With a nod and a slight shake of his head, Shin murmured in a resigned tone. His expression looked helpless.
"I expected that. The spirit of the Millennium Ring is no ordinary being, and the Pharaoh seems more absent than anything else these days. It all adds up. We'll let things follow their natural course. If any trouble arises, we'll intervene... Hmm... For now, I have another task for you. I need you to look for information about, let's say... me, Shin Osako, and my entire family, especially the deceased Gakuto Osako, my father. I want to know everything about him. Use whatever means you deem necessary to accomplish it. Just avoid killing anyone, okay? And don't let yourself be seen either... Haa, I hate being so obvious, but you're an old thing with no common sense... Now go."
In silence, Zul-Karun vanished from the place. A fleeting breeze stirred the windows toward the outside of the room.
The room was left with Shin as the sole occupant. Sighing, he turned over on his futon. With one hand over his face, his expression wrinkled into a dark grimace. A whisper escaped his lips.
"Haa... I need more information. Things are gradually becoming clearer. I can already see most of the big picture. Even if I still don't know much about this place, I'm making progress... and I won't stop. Mother, father, my Hinata... my little Akiko, wait for me for now... I... I will return... whatever it takes, I will come back."
A scene from his other life flashed briefly through Shin's mind. In it, Shin was an adult man. He wore a black suit, had a different, sharper and older face, with black eyes and dark brown hair, his features refined, matching a slim build and average height.
The man sat at a table for four inside a yellow house that smelled of wood. Around him were two other figures. The food served was Italian. The first figure was a pale-skinned woman with brown eyes and short black hair, her features soft and round. She wore a light white nightgown that revealed parts of her skin. She smiled at her husband while they shared a plate of spaghetti. The second figure was a small girl with black eyes, two large brown pigtails on her head, and a blend of both her parents' features. Her attention was focused on a massive lasagna...
Pom, pom!
The memory ended abruptly.
Back in the room, someone was knocking on the door.
A soft, somewhat shaky voice spoke from less than five meters away from Shin, coming from the hallway. Shin's face twisted in a tangle of conflicting expressions.
"Shin, honey, lunch is ready. We're waiting for you downstairs, okay? Don't take too long, or your food will get cold, sweetheart."
AN/One chapter per day. 100 power stones today means one extra chapter the next day. Each chapter is made up of four acts, plus a prologue and an epilogue, and finally a special act — each ranging from 800 to 2000 words. Leave a comment and report any issues below. You can buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/s/8e7c3d4725