Chapter Four: What is Love?

The others teens had watched the entire scenario play out in horror; now, they quickly dashed down to the shell-shocked Spencer (save for Kaiba, who stayed right where he was).

"Spencer, man, are you okay?" Joey cried.

He didn't respond; he continued staring at the last space where he'd seen his son before he flew off with the she-devil.

Yugi, too, stared at that space in horror. Grandpa…he thought. If Susiros does something to Yuri…He didn't dare to finish.

Téa knelt down beside Spencer and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Oh, Spencer…I'm so sorry…" she murmured.

Spencer finally sputtered out, "He…he hates me…" Tears started falling down his face. "That witch…She tricked him into thinking he has to go through torture for me and now…my gods…" He slammed down onto his knees and cried out, "I SWEAR UPON EVERYTHING GOOD, TRUE, AND SACRED, SUSIROS, IF YOU TOUCH ONE HAIR ON HIS HEAD, YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!"

"Spencer, shouldn't we go after her?" Joey asked.

"I don't know if we can…" Spencer sobbed. "If I try to get near them…I don't even want to imagine what they might do to Yuri…oh, dear gods…"

The others looked down at Spencer sadly as he continued to cry for his son. "Spencer, let's come inside," Téa gently said, helping him back to his feet. "There has to be some way to save Yuri, and we need to figure out what it is."

"Yeah…I guess you're right…" Spencer sniffed. He let Téa lead him back to his house.

Joey looked back at Yugi, who still stood on the brick walkway staring after where Susiros and Yuri had flown off. "Hey, Yug, aren't cha comin'?" he called.

Yugi looked back at him and said, "Oh…uh…I'll come inside soon…I just need a few minutes…"

A confused Joey stared back at him as he reentered Spencer's mansion, thinking to himself, Wow, I didn't know Yug sympathized wit his friends dat much.

Grandpa…Yugi thought. What's Susiros going to do to you…A tear fell down his face. If she hurts you in any way…

Yugi, perhaps you should go talk to him, the Pharaoh said to him in his mind.

What? Yugi cried. Why would he listen to me?

Well…it's just a thought, but perhaps if you visit him, you'll trigger some of his memories within him which pertain to you…he could come to see you as a trusting person…and then, even though he refuses to listen to his father…perhaps he'll at least find some strange sort of willingness to trust you…

Yugi thought about it for a few moments. That could actually work…but what about Susiros and Resheph? How can we prevent them from catching me?

Simple-your power of invisibility. They don't have the ability to see through it.

Yugi smiled. "Right…" he whispered. Finally, he nodded and snapped his fingers, changing from his P.J.s to his blue jacket, white shirt, and blue pants. "Don't worry, Grandpa," Yugi murmured. "I'm coming for you…and you too, Yuri."

With that, he snapped his fingers and transformed into a shower of blue sparks which soared up into the air and out after Susiros and Yuri.

Yuri was sitting in on a bed in a rather small room up in a tower. Susiros had taken him to a rather interesting place: a black stoned castle which, though it looked gloomy, was apparently where she made her home. The scarcely furnished place had nothing but a bed with torn-up sheets and a nightstand, but she told him it certainly wasn't permanent; he could redecorate it any way he liked. In the meantime, she'd gone downstairs to the main part of the castle in order to talk to her boyfriend (a 'very charming man' was all she'd say about him) about this.

Yuri didn't feel motivated at the moment to redecorate his room. Right now he just lay on the rather uncomfortable bed and stared up at the stony ceiling, with new lines of poetry running through his mind. In a place of darkened stone, I've left behind the life that was my own…Truly able to start once more, a better life coming in this castle's large tower…

He paused. Something wasn't right…a castle's dark tower as the place where one could start having a better life? Such an atmosphere, such a location…it seemed all wrong.

He sat up. What am I thinking? I've gotten away from that idiot of a father and now I'm with the only person in my life that actually cared even a tiny bit about me! This has to be right…so why wouldn't it be?

He heard a tiny squeak coming from one corner of the place and looked over there just in time to see the back of a rat dash through a little hole in the stone wall. The sight made him shudder. Okay…maybe there are a few reasons…

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of blue out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw a shower of blue sparks soar through his window and form themselves into a human being which could have been his twin.

Yuri's eyes widened. "Who are you?" he asked.

The teen looked a little disheartened upon hearing this. "You don't know?" he said.

A faint remembrance came up in Yuri's mind…he went past somebody as he got out of his father's arms and ran to Susiros…

His eyes narrowed. "You're a friend of my father's, aren't you?" He turned around so that his back faced the teen and folded his arms. "Please go back and tell him that no matter what he wanted you to tell me, my answer will be that he can just go to hell."

"Your father didn't send me, Yuri," the teen replied. "I've come on my own accord." He walked up behind Yuri and murmured, "Your father didn't know what was happening to you almost every day…but I do. You were being beaten up by these three jerks all of the time, weren't you. And you hadn't done anything to them-they just did it because they thought it was fun."

Yuri didn't reply.

"I know you don't trust me, Yuri, but please listen to what I'm about to say: If Susiros really cared about you, she would not have told you to hide your suffering from your Dad and deal with it. He would not have just let it go on because he was a king with lots of duties towards his people; he cared way too much about you to do anything like that."

"Sure, right," Yuri rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious, Yuri. When you vanished, your father was so heartbroken that he let his emotions for you get carried away and as a result got himself trapped in a genie's lamp for 5,492 years. When he talked about you, he said that life was beautiful with you around…he praised your poetry, he raved about what a wonderful being you were…"

Yuri whipped around and faced the man with tears stinging his eyes. "Then why was I always the afterthought in his life? Why did the guardians, the evil bakas, and all of his necessary duties come before me?!"

"He didn't mean to do that to you, Yuri," the teen murmured. "I'm absolutely positive of that. And Yuri, please consider this." He placed his hand onto his shoulders. "Would anybody that loved you really leave you alone in some place like this?"

Yuri shoved the teen's hands off. "How the heck would I really know?! Someone who you claim 'loved' me gave me a nice little room and yet treated me like dirt! If there's some sort of true guideline for love, then I don't know what the frick it is!"

Suddenly, Yuri felt a pain spread throughout his entire body. He slammed down onto his knees and winced, clutching tightly at his forehead.

"Yuri?" the teen cried out, kneeling down before him.

An image slowly materialized in Yuri's mind…the teen in his room and three others were standing before him…somehow, he knew he'd been in the hospital for a little while, and only recently had 'gotten better'…he wasn't actually ill, just gone somewhere…

The teen looked absolutely elated. He dashed up to him and embraced him in a hug…a strange feeling started flowing through him…warmth…happiness…care…comfort…what was it…

An elderly voice spoke to him in his mind: This, Yuri…is love.

The image and pain slowly faded away. Yuri slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the teen. He stared down at him with the same look of caring and warmth that he'd had in the vision.

"Are you okay?" the teen asked.

He really cares about me…Yuri thought, his eyes widening.

Slowly, Yuri stood up and eyed the teen with newfound respect. "What's your name?" he asked.

The teen gave him a wan smile. "Yugi Muto."

"Yugi…" he murmured. It sounded familiar…somehow…"Nice to meet you."