Whoop! Super long chapter today!
Sarah: Huzzah. -_-
Hey! It's a pretty big accomplishment for me!
Sarah: Whatever. YamiHeart doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Hey, I didn't even have to ask you to do the disclaimer.
Sarah: That's because I'M TIRED AND I WANT TO GET THIS OVER WITH! DX
O.O Okay...okay...Please enjoy chapter four while I calm Sarah down...
Sarah:Grrrrr...
"Where are we going?" Yugi asked as he allowed Amane to continue leading him down the maze of hallways the building was made of.
"My room!" Amane exclaimed happily.
Yugi gasped as he entered a gigantic room covered in stuffed animals of all sizes. A plush, soft pink carpet covered the ground and soft blankets were piled on top of a small bed in the corner. Amane ran to a wooden shelf and pulled down multiple games. Yugi followed her, but stopped in a clearing surrounded by giant dogs and mini elephants. The room kind of reminded Yugi of his own soul room.
Amane came back and plopped all the games in front of Yugi. "Which one would you like to play first?" She asked.
Yugi bent down and looked through the games. CandyLand, Life, a deck of normal playing cards, Go Fish, Old Maid, and Ants in the Pants were a few of the games. One game stood out to Yugi from all the rest and he picked it up. He showed it to Amane, who beamed.
"I love Role Playing Games!"
Yugi smiled again. I found it funny that Ryo's little sister would love RPG's and began to help Amane set up the game. Amane requested that she be the Game Master since the very few times Azrael played with her he demanded to be said position. Yugi didn't mind at all and started to design his own little character.
"Oh! I'll be right back."
Amane got up and left the clearing and returned with a pair of blue-rimmed glasses with red lenses. Amane put them on and sat back down across from Yugi.
"What are those for?" Yugi asked.
"Azrael made them for me. They make sure I can't see your thoughts during the game. I guess it wouldn't totally matter since I'm the Game Master, but I think it's only fair to wear these when I play games with people."
Yugi nodded in agreement as he put the finishing touches on his figure. The game piece had Yugi's hair and big, purple eyes. It wore a black pants and long-sleeved shirt with a gray vest and belt. Amane took off her glasses and her eyes widened as she examined the miniature Yugi.
"It's so beautiful…"
"You can see it?"
"Well…I can see all the thought and care you put into it. All of the world's most beautiful things are made like that."
Amane put her glasses back on and Yugi placed his character at his end of the board.
"Let's play!"
No one said a word for a long time as they let Ryo's words seep in. Jonouchi was the first to find his words.
"What do you mean Ryo?" At first, Jonouchi's words were soft, but then his words quickly escalated in volume as he asked, "Are you saying Yugi's gone forever?"
"Jonouchi! Calm down, man!" Honda yelled as he grabbed his friend, knowing Jonouchi could pounce and try to pound the answers out Ryo at any moment.
"I-I don't know. Azrael is a very complicated man who often experiments when he's bored. Although, I'm not sure what it is he wishes to see by taking Yugi away."
"Well, why did he take your sister?" Anzu asked.
Ryo shifted uncomfortably before answering, "Because I was a bad brother."
"What?" Everyone exclaimed.
"Ryo, I find that hard to believe." Anzu said.
"Yeah! You're one of the best guys I know!" Jonouchi added.
"But I couldn't protect Amane!"
"Protect her from what?"
Ryo sighed and put his head in his hands. "At first, everyone thought Amane was blind because her eyes were glazed over." Jonouchi remembered his sister and how she had almost become blind herself. "Then we found out that she could see, but not like us. Amane saw the world through people's thoughts and souls. After everyone found that out, they started to treat Amane differently. Some feared her, others wanted to experiment on her. I tried my best to protect her from all the jeers and prying eyes, but both of us knew I wasn't strong enough.
"That's when Azrael came to both of us. He said he respected my efforts to protect Amane and her abilities, but it was obvious she would need someone stronger to protect her. Azrael promised he would take Amane far away from all the horrible people, to a place he called the In-Between. I wasn't sure of what to do, but Amane gladly accepted his offer. I figured if Amane trusted him, so could I. I let Azrael take Amane away, but I've never stopped missing her."
Ryo was on the verge of tears again, so no one pressed him further on the subject of his sister, especially since it didn't seem to be too connected to Yugi. Yami was still debating in his head if he should at least tell Ryo about how Azrael definitely had the potential to be violent when Jonouchi snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Well, then what are we going to do to get Yugi back?"
Everyone gave Jonouchi a confused stare.
"What? Just 'cause this guy has some unreachable place doesn't mean I'm going to give up trying to rescue my best bud."
"Jonouchi's right. We need to come up with a plan." Yami said with determination back in his eyes.
The five teens then started brainstorming ideas ranging from hitchhiking to the In-Between to using a time machine to go back in time and grab ahold of Azrael as he disappeared into the shadows. All ideas were quickly dismissed and within an hour no progress had been made.
"Damn it!" Jonouchi yelled as he punched his fist into the table.
Ryo thought about reminding the group he had already told them there was no way to get Yugi back, but decided against it. He knew the last thing they would want to hear was that they would just have to wait for Azrael's next move, but that reality was quickly setting in.
This caused fear to build up inside of Yami. Azrael had made it pretty clear to him that if the gang didn't make a move, Azrael's next one would be to kill Yugi. Yami was once again considering telling his friends how grave the situation truly was when he felt a wave of glee coming from somewhere far off.
Yami instinctively jumped up from his chair, causing everyone to do the same.
"What is it Yami?" Honda asked.
"I think it's Yugi. And…he's…happy." Yami said in shock.
Normally everyone would have been relieved to know some form of positive emotion was coming from their little friend, but then a horrifying thought entered all their minds simultaneously: What if they did somehow manage to find Yugi, but he didn't want to come back with them? What if this "In-Between" was a great place and Yugi didn't want to leave?
"You don't actually think…?"
"God, Anzu, I have no idea what to make of this entire situation! Some guy from Ryo's past comes out of nowhere, takes Yugi, and tells us to get him from a place we can't get to!" Jonouchi was completely frustrated at this point. Nothing they had figured out had gotten them closer to saving Yugi. In fact, most of it pushed them farther back.
Azrael laughed. He had no idea making Yugi just disappear could do this much to the people who cared about him. It was hilarious! Azrael's urge to kill Yugi grew as he longed to see their reaction to the midget's cold corpse.
Azrael abruptly stopped laughing when he thought about how upset Amane would be if she found out. Azrael leaned against the balcony and sighed.
"Why won't she just let me kill him? What's the worst that could happen?"
Oddly enough, the more horrible things Azrael thought about, the more fuel was fed to the fire inside of him that desired to kill Yugi.
"Nooooooooo!" Amane exclaimed as Yugi's character reached the castle that eerily looked like the one the two children sat in.
"Yep, my character reaches the castle and takes the throne." Yugi said with a smirk.
Amane laughed. "How did you do that? Whenever Azrael is the Game Master he always wins!"
"They don't call me the King of Games for nothing Amane."
"I see…" Amane let out a big yawn and looked towards the little bed in the corner.
"Are you tired?" Yugi asked.
Amane sleepily nodded her head yes.
"Come on, let's get you to bed."
Yugi stood up and walked over to Amane. He grabbed her hand and lifted her up from the ground. Amane removed her glasses and as the two walked over to Amane's bed, she continued to talk.
"Do you wonder how I see inanimate objects as well as living ones?"
"The question did pop in my head a couple times. Are you going to tell me how?"
"Uh huh." Amane shook her head in an exaggerated manner, showing how tired she was. "I see the intention the giver had for giving it. Well, that and sometimes I can see memories or events the object has been through. Take your clothes for instance," Amane gestured at Yugi's light blue pajamas he had been wearing when Azrael took him away. "I know they're pajamas because I see memories attached to them that are impossible in real life. And I see something-oh."
Yugi looked down at Amane in concern and asked, "What else do you see?"
A few tears streamed out of Amane's eyes as she responded, "I've been trying to ignore it, but I see all the events that lead to you coming here. From when you woke up from that nightmare to when the shadows engulfed both you and Azrael."
Yugi stopped walking, knowing it was scary when he saw it happen in front of his eyes. He could only imagine the fear a five year old girl would feel from seeing his gruesome capture. Yugi bent down in front of Amane and whipped her eyes. Amane looked at him, and Yugi smiled.
"You shouldn't worry about stuff like that. Yami will be here soon and rescue me. And you too, if you want to leave."
Amane looked at the sincerity in Yugi voice and a new wave of tears came pouring out of her eyes as she fell into Yugi's arms. Amane didn't want to tell Yugi that the In-Between wasn't accessible by anyone except Azrael; she didn't have the heart to crush Yugi's only hope. Yugi let her continue to cry on him until all that was left of her sobs were hiccups.
"There. Better now?"
Amane broke away from Yugi and numbly shook her head.
"Good." Yugi smiled and once again led Amane to her bed.
Yugi picked Amane up and tucked her into her covers. Amane held her teddy bear close to her as Yugi gently petted her head. Then, Amane had an idea.
"Yugi? Will you remind me to show you something when I wake up?"
"What is it?"
Amane giggled. "It's a surprise."
"Alright. Good night Amane. Sweet Dreams."
Amane wasn't used to hearing someone telling her to have sweet dreams and smiled.
"Good night Yugi."
OoOoOOoOOOOOOOooo. I wonder what Amane wants to show Yugi.
Sarah: Whatever. YamiHeart wants to thnak the following reviewers: DarkChao1663, Yam-Chan, zeratheliger, 11 Kairi 11,Mystery Agent, Mystical, and R.N. Walker.
Um...Sarah? You forgot Assassin Massie.
Sarah: No I didn't. I'm not thanking them.
-_- Just because they were right about the fact that if you kill people who don't review you won't get reviews from them doesn't mean you shouldn't thank them.
Sarah: YES IT DOES!
...You do need some sleep. And Assasin Massi, I do appreciate your comment.
Sarah: You're in cahootes with her! You're a cahooter!
Bed. NOW.
Sarah: *GRUMBLE*
Thank you to everyoen for their reviews and I hope to get a lot more! Thank you for reading and I hope to see you next chapter! Goodbye!