Summary: In a world where the darkness and the shadows rule people's lives, how will Yuugi & Co. push back the darkness and once again bring light into the world?

Disclaimer: I dun own Yu-Gi-Oh!, therefore I dun own Yuugi & gang, the Sennen Items, or the Duel Monsters card game…those are all owned by Kazuki Takahashi…but the rest is all mine! -

Note: Mutou Yuugi is roundabout 19-20 years old in this fic…also...

/.../-Yuugi to Yami

...-Yami to Yuugi

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Yami wandered the now-eternally-dark streets of Domino City, Japan, his mind in a seemingly constant state of unease. The former Pharaoh had to keep his light, his hikari, hidden from the darkness that had taken over Domino, and indefinitely the entire world, for roundabout two or three years now. Yami knew that the way Yuugi could gather the magic of the Light around him would make him a verbal 'sitting duck' to the forces of the darkness, which now had people living in so much fear that whatever the servants of darkness said, went.

/Aibou, what's going on now? Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?/ Yuugi asked the Egyptian, the young man's mental tone that of great concern.

Nothing that hasn't already been going on, Yuugi. I'm just worried that we haven't been able to find anyone else willing to help us dispel the darkness, Yami answered, his crimson eyes scanning the area for any signs of what could be called 'unusual' behavior. So far, he could see nothing that deviated from the behavior that had been deemed 'normal' for the past two or three years. Something seemed odd about this day, and Yami was going to find out what it was if it meant his very demise.

/I should hope it doesn't come to that,/ Yuugi interjected from his soul room, which was still somewhat cluttered with various toys and video games. This was understandable, seeing as Yuugi liked to keep his childhood memories close, and the various things that still filled his soul room were leftover from his childhood.

Just a figure of speech, aibou, the Egyptian assured the hikari as he headed back in the direction of the Kame Game Shop, where the hikari still lived with his grandfather, Mutou Sugoroku. The young Japanese man's aging grandfather could no longer get around as easily as he could before the darkness took hold on people's lives, and the boy couldn't bear to leave his grandfather when it was obvious the man needed his help. A change in the wind caused Yami's hair, which had been changed in style from the spiky nightmare that it once was, to flow elegantly behind him. Yuugi had decided a short time ago to let his hair down to land gracefully just past his shoulders, so Yami had decided to follow suit…after all, he had to act as Yuugi at night. Yami also figured that within a matter of days, Yuugi would decide to let go of the lightning-bolt-shaped bangs that framed the young Japanese man's delicate facial structure.

/Just a figure of speech, partner?/ Yuugi echoed questioningly, arching an inquisitive eyebrow.

Hai, Yuugi. Just a figure of speech…nothing more, nothing less. Yami tried to keep his voice calm and reassuring, in order to keep Yuugi from knowing that something seemed way off, but it was an effort made in vain. Yami could sense the waves of worry and nervousness coming from the hikari as he continued walking towards the game shop, the only place that was even remotely safe from the continuing threat from the darkness that had enveloped the world.

/Yami…we'll find someone that can help us, won't we?/

The question came so suddenly that Yami almost tripped over his own feet. The ex-Pharaoh quickly corrected his footing, preventing himself the humiliation of falling when, as a former Pharaoh of Egypt, he never should have tripped in the first place. Yami could instantly feel the worry flowing through the link he shared with Yuugi. By that time, Yami had reached the game shop and stepped through the door, allowing Yuugi to take control as he slipped into his soul room to finally get some rest.

/Yes…you need the rest, aibou,/ Yuugi muttered as he regained control of his own body. Anyone who was watching would notice the odd light emanating from the Sennen Puzzle, as well as the fact that 'Yuugi's eyes suddenly grew more innocent, wider, and the color of the eyes themselves favoring a violet hue rather than Yami's distinctive crimson optics. Yuugi sighed as he quickly climbed the flight of stairs that led from the store itself to the apartment just above, where Yuugi, his grandfather Sugoroku, and his mother lived.

"Yuugi, there you are!" his grandfather announced when Yuugi stepped inside the apartment and carefully slipped his polished leather boots off his feet and set them on the floor just to the right of the door. "I was wondering where you ran off to at this hour!"

"I'm fine on my own now, Grandpa," Yuugi reassured the elder man for about the trillionth time that week as he wearily walked into his bedroom, shutting and firmly locking the door behind him. "So, Yami…where are we on the list of those willing to help?" he asked as the Egyptian materialized in front of the full-length mirror.

"I just have one question before I answer that, aibou…why do you wear all this leather?" Yami's joking response resulted in a long glare from the hikari. "Just kidding, Yuugi! Sheesh, you can hardly take a joke these days…"

"Yami…aibou, think…when could I ever really take a joke at all?" Yuugi asked jokingly, sighing and sitting down on the edge of his bed. "But really, how many people have decided to help us?"

"Let me think for a moment, Yuugi-kun. Malik decided to help, partly as another way of apologizing for that whole mess he started in Battle City. Ryou and the tomb robber decided to help along…though I'm sure that tomb robber is only doing this as a way to get closer to the Sennen Puzzle…" Yami started, wanting to hurry through the list so he could get some rest. It was a Friday night, so he could afford to sleep in the following day.

"Like all things he takes part in that involve you, Yami-san," Yuugi interrupted.

"Yes, Yuugi-kun…you are quite correct. Now let me finish," Yami said, shooting the young Japanese man a stern look before continuing. "Of course, Jou, Shizuka, Honda, and Anzu wish to help. Mai decided to tag along to make sure Jou didn't get himself into any trouble…Otogi's just…helping for the sake of doing something, Kaiba Mokuba said he'd do anything he can to help a friend out, and Kaiba Seto is helping out so that his little brother will get off his back."

"Even Seto is helping?" Yuugi asked incredulously. "I didn't much figure he'd help in our cause."

"Well, aibou…I'm going to get some rest…you should as well. Even though you're not the one doing all this walking, all the worry is getting to you," Yami stated matter-of-factly as he disappeared into his soul room, which was an utterly hopeless and confusion-inducing maze of rooms and staircases.

"I don't know how Yami can navigate that room of his…" Yuugi muttered as he changed into his pajamas, which were really nothing more than a pair of flannel pants and a sweatshirt with an imperial dragon design on the front and back of it. When he realized that he wasn't really talking to anyone but himself, he rolled his eyes and laid his hand on his forehead, careful not to disturb the golden lightning-shaped bangs that framed his slightly tanned face. "Great…I'm starting to talk to myself…first sign of insanity there, Yuugi…" With that, the young man slid into bed, falling asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

The next day's dim rays of sunshine were just bright enough to rouse Yuugi enough for him to realize that someone had grabbed his shoulder and was gently shaking him, trying to wake him up. He quickly shook his shoulder out of the other person's grip and turned onto his side, he hoped with his back turned towards the other person.

"Twenty more minutes…give me twenty more minutes!" he moaned, hoping that if he feigned total exhaustion, whoever was trying to wake him up would get the hint and leave. Unfortunately, that only provoked the person to grab his shoulder again and continue shaking him, this time a bit more forceful than before. He quickly came to his senses when he heard his mother's worried voice fill his ears.

"Yuugi, you have to wake up…you've been asleep all day, and you know that you can't just sleep your day away. Your friends are waiting downstairs for you, Yuugi!"

"Mom, just calm down. Look, I'm awake," Yuugi told her as he sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and smiling at her. "Just tell the guys I'll be down as soon as I can, okay Mom?" he asked her as she smiled back at him and walked out of the room. He sighed and quickly changed into a pair of black leather pants and a black muscle shirt, wondering why Yami didn't wake him up if their friends were waiting for them downstairs.

Yuugi-kun…trust me, if I had known they were down there, I would have awakened you, a groggy-sounding Yami stated, sounding like he had been woken up by Yuugi's mother as well.

/Did Mom wake you up, partner?/ Yuugi asked as he started hunting his cluttered desk for his leather collar, which he had taken off only the night before.

"Don't worry about it," Yami replied, materializing next to Yuugi and scanning the desk before pointing to an area covered in random papers. "The collar's right underneath there, if you were looking for that…"

"I hate you sometimes…" Yuugi joked as he found and positioned the silver-studded collar around his neck before placing the Sennen Puzzle around his neck, wincing a little as the cold metal of the thick chain came in contact with the skin of his neck.

"You know that you don't know what you would do without me," Yami countered, smirking as Yuugi began to hunt down his menagerie of bracelets and armbands. "You know…" he started when two minutes passed with no luck, already disappearing into his soul room. Daytime was a remotely safe time, and Yami only took control in the daytime when absolutely necessary.

"Yami…lemme find them on my own this time, okay?" Yuugi complained as he finally found them. "Ha! I knew I could find them on my own!" the young man crowed as he slipped the bracelets and armbands on and ran down the hall to the door, stopping only long enough to slip his boots back over his feet and grab his school uniform jacket before bolting down the stairs.

"Yuugi, why do you sleep so late on the weekends?" Jounouchi Katsuya asked, glancing towards the apartment with his rich brown eyes. He saw that Yuugi's mother was standing there and waved a good-bye at her before they all walked out the door.

"Do you blame me, Jou? You know walking around at night severely taxes one's strength, and with Yami wandering the streets at night searching for help…" Yuugi explained, trailing off just before he turned a corner. Yuugi's friends all heard two pained cries, and saw Yuugi fly back onto the ground behind him as if he had been punched.

"Yuugi?" Honda Hiroto asked just before Yuugi jumped up and quickly walked out of sight, asking if someone was okay. Honda, followed by Jou and Bakura Ryou, quickly turned the corner, Anzu Mizaki following slightly later. They came upon a rather strange scene-Yuugi was helping a young woman about their age back to her feet, but this woman seemed rather…foreign. For one thing, her hair coloring was not the usual black or brown of Japanese citizens-it was a rich fire-red color, streaked with a rich silver here and there. This woman was slightly taller than Yuugi (Yuugi had grown considerably since his younger days), reaching a height comparable to Kaiba Seto's. Also, her eyes were a pale blue in color, favoring the color of the sky near the horizon at noon, a color that was just as unusual to find in any country as Yuugi's violet-hued orbs.

"I'm terribly sorry…I didn't mean to run into you," the woman was saying, her accent that of someone from the British Isles…or at least of a country close to them.

"It's all right," Yuugi assured her, smiling in what he hoped was a friendly and comforting way. "By the way, what's your name?"

The woman laughed slightly upon hearing Yuugi's question. "I guess in all the confusion, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Alina Rohain, and I'm here in Domino looking for my cousins…even though they're only distant cousins," she said, grinning at Yuugi, then at the rest of the group of friends. "Might I ask for your names…?"

"Alina…odd name…" Yuugi muttered before turning his head up slightly to look the woman in the eyes. "Let me think…using the way you use names, I'm Yuugi Mutou."

"Yuugi…odd name," Alina echoed Yuugi's statement about her name, grinning mischievously at the Japanese man. She then turned to Jou, who was laughing from the scene that was unfolding in front of him. "And your name, sir?"

"Katsuya Jounouchi…but everyone calls me Jou," Jou explained, his golden-hued hair glittering in the dim sunlight. The effect made it look like a halo had formed around his head. His light brown eyes narrowed when Alina simply began to laugh at him. "What?"

"Hmm…nothing in particular," Alina said quietly before asking the others for their names. She blinked a few times wearily before any of the three decided to say anything.

Anzu, a slightly shorter woman with light brown hair and piercing blue eyes, stepped a bit closer to the foreign woman and smiled slightly. "You can call me Anzu." Anzu glanced behind her at a slightly taller man with slightly darker brown hair and light brown eyes and glared at him before turning back to Alina. "And this baka here is Honda."

Alina had to reconsider what Anzu had said, only to remember that 'baka' meant something along the lines of 'idiot'. She chuckled lightly at Anzu, then turned to the final man in the group. This man was about Jou's height, with dark brown, nearly chocolate-colored, eyes. The oddest thing about this man was that he had white hair that probably reached the middle of his back. Alina couldn't really tell, though, seeing as the man's hair was pulled into a loose ponytail. "And your name…?" she asked him hesitantly as he glanced away from her, a nervous look in his deep brown eyes.

"Um…it's Ba…Ryou Bakura…" he replied, equally hesitant. He seemed unwilling to get any closer to Alina than necessary.

Alina blinked at Ryou and tilted her head to one side, as if she were trying to figure this one man out. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ryou Bakura…" she said, holding her hand out to him and smiling charmingly at him. She watched as Ryou glanced towards her hand, then his gaze drifted upwards to land on her face, looking her directly in the eyes. Her smile widened slightly when Ryou hesitantly reached out and took her hand, and she gently shook his hand before releasing it.

Yuugi watched the new scene in amusement, arching an eyebrow. /Yami, what do you think of this Alina woman…?/ he asked the Egyptian as Alina began shaking hands with his other friends, something that Japanese people were not often used to.

She has the same abilities that you and I do…at least when it comes to the magic of the Light and the Shadows… Yami stated matter-of-factly, using Yuugi's eyes to study Alina.

/How do you know this…? Not that I'm doubting you or anything…/ Yuugi countered, his tone quickly turning apologetic.

I can sense both the Light and the Shadows circling around her… Yami told the hikari just as Alina stepped up to him, holding out her hand and smiling softly at him.

"Yuugi, I once again apologize for running into you like that," she said, closing her eyes and bowing her head slightly towards him. This made her seem like she at least knew some of Japanese culture. "I didn't know anyone was turning the corner, and I was in such a hurry to get to where I'm supposed to be staying before nightfall that I just-"

"It's all right, Alina," Yuugi interrupted, taking her hand and shaking it slightly. "I understand that you felt you needed to hurry. Where are you supposed to be staying, anyway?"

"Well…according to the letter my cousins sent, they're almost always at some office building, so they said I could stay either at their mansion…or at the office building."

At that statement, all five friends arched inquisitive eyebrows at the woman. Anzu stepped forward, looking Alina straight in the eye. "The only people that we know that spend all that time in an office building working are Seto and Mokuba Kaiba…" she told Alina, trailing off as she glanced towards the large Kaiba Corporation building.

"You know my cousins?" Alina asked, her tone that of utter surprise. Even though Seto and Mokuba barely knew of the existence of their real family, Alina was their first cousin from their real family, and she was the only living relative the two brothers still had.

"No way! You're related to the Kaiba brothers?" Jou asked, his tone equally incredulous.

"Well, they only think I'm a distant cousin, but I am, in fact, their first cousin. One of their few living uncles moved to Ireland for some reason and married my mother…of course, the oriental looks are stronger if the genes come from the mother, and since my mother was a descendant of the Celts, I look more like my mother's side of the family than my father's side," Alina explained, glancing around nervously. "The name Rohain has been passed down through my mother's family for generations-ever since my many-times-great-aunt…" she added, trailing off.

"What was so special about your ancestor-" Honda started, only to get elbowed in the gut by Anzu.

"Please explain what caused the passing down of that name," Ryou told her, seemingly interested now.

"Well, my many-times-great-aunt was a very powerful Celtic Druidess…but the saddest thing is, her power had been suppressed. She never even realized one-fifth of her full potential."

"Not even one-fifth and yet she was still so powerful?" Yuugi asked, wondering if Yami knew anything about this powerful Druidess. He then decided he'd have to ask Yami about it later-now was not really the time.

"The most powerful Druidess they had ever trained," Alina said, drawing herself up proudly. "But that's beside the point…"

"Alina, could you tell me what kind of magic your many-times-great-aunt specialized in…?" Yuugi quickly asked. The boy was a historian, after all…he had to make good use of this kind of information anyway.

"Hmm…if I remember what my mother told me correctly, she specialized in four types of magic…fire, air, light, and shadows," Alina told Yuugi as she glanced up at the sky. "I really should get going, though-it's getting late, and I'd rather not get caught out here after the sun sets…"

"Nonsense…you're not wandering Domino without even one person who knows the layout of the city!" Yuugi told her, quickly looking at his friends. "Listen, guys…Ryou and I will help her get to the Kaiba Corp. building…why don't you guys head on home? We'll hang out more tomorrow, I promise!" Yuugi watched as Jou, Anzu, and Honda shrugged and went their separate ways, each heading for their own homes. Ryou remained, looking extremely nervous. He quickly pulled Yuugi closer to him and whispered in the shorter man's ear, "Why did you pick me?"

"Come on, Ryou…both you and I know that we are the most safe to travel after dark than the rest of our friends, with the exception of Malik, who is safe to travel at night even without his Sennen Rod!"

"Fine…but remember what has happened between the Pharaoh and the tomb robber…"

"In that case, we'll just have to hope that we go our separate ways before nightfall, ne?" Yuugi asked, quickly turning back to Alina. "Now, if you'll be so kind as to tell us where we are going…"

"Uh…well, I was thinking of going to the mansion, but I'd rather get to know my cousins, as well as tell them the truth about me…"

"So it's the Kaiba Corp. building anyway, ne?" Ryou said quietly, glancing towards Yuugi. He was amazed that Yuugi wanted to go anywhere near the Kaiba Corp. building, considering the long-standing rivalry between him and Kaiba Seto.

"I suppose so," Alina said, sighing wearily. She felt eyes on her and was instantly aware that Yuugi and Ryou were watching her, worried expressions on their faces. "Will you two stop looking at me like that? I'm fine…"

"She certainly has Seto's temperament," Yuugi joked, glancing at a chuckling Ryou. "Come on, we'd best get a move on."

So, Yuugi, do you think she'd help us…? Yami asked the hikari, smiling slightly from the Japanese man's joking jibe at Alina.

/I believe she would, once she finds out that Seto and Mokuba are helping…/ Yuugi answered, glancing at Alina every now and again. Alina was spending her time with the two young men by lightly joking around with them, making small talk, and sometimes even demonstrating a little bit of the magical abilities she had gained as a descendant of a powerful Druidess. Yuugi and Ryou would watch in amazement as Alina would summon small flames that hovered directly above her palm, or a slight breeze that would send her long hair fluttering first behind her, then around her, giving her a rather mysterious look. She never demonstrated her mastery of the Light and Shadows, saying that it was not a good idea to fool around with either in this day and age.

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Sakkara: Well…there you go…that's the first chapter of "Enter The Darkness"…I hope you all liked it…

Shadow: Why…wouldn't they like it?

Sakkara: sweatdrops Shadow…don't…start…

Shadow: What? I thought it was good…

Sakkara: sighs Whatever you say, Shadow…whatever you say…I wrote this mostly when I was bored to death and half-asleep…but you wouldn't know that, seeing as you were asleep almost the ENTIRE time I was typing all this…

Shadow: raises an eyebrow Is it my fault I've needed the rest…?

Sakkara: sighs Fine…whatever…