Title: A Trial to the Afterlife

Genre: romance, pure fluff

Rating: T for mild language and some violence (might change)

Pairings: YamiXYugi; BakuraXRyou; SetoXJonouchi; MarikXMalik; HondaXOtogi

Summary: After the Duel between Yami and Yugi, Ra takes the souls of the two star-haired boys and places them into a trial, where, if they lose, then Yami passes into the afterlife. But, if he and Yugi win, then Yami gets to stay in his own body. With the help of Bakura and Ryou, whose bodies were broken up into the trial stage, spirits as their guides, and the mental assistance of their friends, will they succeed in winning this trial against the afterlife?

Me: Okay! Yugi's trial within the Sennen Ring!

Lucy: With a different god from Thoth!

Louis: So be prepared for someone new to arrive!

Me: Please enjoy!

Chapter Eight: Trial of the Sennen Ring (Part 2)

When Yugi woke up, he glanced around and found himself in a large room with cobblestone floors, palm trees, and waterfalls and small rivers along the sides. The hikari blinked innocently.

"Um..." he said, glancing around. "Ryou-chan?"

It took Ryou a moment, but he finally managed to drag himself from within the light's soul and appear before him. He levitated a few feet off the cobblestone ground, sporting a seated position.

"What's wrong, Yugi-chan?" Ryou asked.

Yugi glanced around. "Where exactly are we?" he asked.

Ryou glanced around as well and made a face. "We're in the Sennen Ring, but... Huh. I guess Bakura went a little crazy on the redecorating, huh?" he asked with a small laugh.

"Actually, my darlings, that would be me."

Ryou and Yugi gasped at the prescence of a new voice, and they turned around. Upon doing so, they spotted a woman towering above them, or rather, it was what they assumed was a woman.

The woman was large and wide, and her head wasn't that of a normal human being, but rather it was that of a cow and a hippo combined. Large horns jutted from her head, and long tangles of black hair came from her head and trailed down her back.

Her eyes were mismatched, one a bright purple, the other a pale crimson. But like those of Thoth, they constantly switched back and forth between the two colors.

She was dressed in nothing but a thick amount of crimson ropes around her chest and lower area, covering her up to the best of their thick ability. The woman glanced down and smiled.

"Sorry, dearies, did I scare you?" she asked.

Yugi stared at her wide eyed and turned to Ryou. "Ryou-chan, who is that?" he asked.

The woman chuckled before Yugi could ask another question, and almost instantly, she snapped her fingers, and a loud explosion of what appeared to be spotlights appeared.

"I am Hathor, my dear! Goddess of many many things, but mostly, I am here to judge your trial, dearie," she said with a smile.

Despite her horrifying appearance, Hathor was the type of goddess that you wanted to be around. In this form, she was no attractive, but she was very likable.

Hathor saw Ryou and Yugi staring, and she chuckled again.

"I know what you two are thinking. Why am I like this?" she asked, throwing her arms around to show herself. "Well, it's because this is the form I use to scare off evil spirits, and since this trial is between love, I have to scare off those who are against love."

"Ah," Yugi said, nodding to show that he understood.

Hathor turned to Yugi and Ryou.

"But what you both need to know is that the form is something that does not last forever. I mean, Ryou-dearie, look at you. You didn't always have that appearance, no?" she asked.

Ryou shook his head slowly.

Hathor turned to Yugi. "You see, a form is just that. A form. It is constantly changing and shifting, in such manors that it even allows people to alter it as they please."

Hathor turned to Yugi and Ryou and sat down on a small throne that seemed to appear from nowhere.

"Now, before we continue, I merely wish to say that I am staying in this form, unless it bothers you two. Beauty means nothing to me, but if you two can not bear looking at me, merely say so and I will change appearances to my lovely one," Hathor said.

Ryou and Yugi smiled.

"Please, Hathor-sama, stay in whatever form you are comfortable in," Ryou said with a low bow.

"Indeed. Stay in whatever makes you feel the most comfortable," Yugi insisted, flashing her a smile. Hathor started silently and nodded once, her eyes showing happiness.

"Of all the people I judged, you two are probably the first to say that," she said. Hathor shook her head and turned to the two young men before her with a serious look.

"Okay, my dears. This is the Trial of the Sennen Ring. I am here to ask you riddles, and if Yugi can answer them correctly, he will pass," she said with a wave of her hand. "Ready, dearie?"

Yugi's determined nod was all that she needed.

Hathor smiled and closed her eyes. "Very well. Here it is," My life can be measured in hours, I serve by being devoured. Thin, I am quick. Fat, I am slow. Wind is my foe. What am I?" she asked quietly.

Yugi thought about it, thiking of things that he had seen.

He took a quick glance at Ryou, and saw the hikari sitting with his back straight, levitating in the air right next to him. Yugi also saw that Ryou was making something in his hands.

To Yugi, it looked like fire.

'Fire... Maybe it's fire! But... fire can't be thin or fat... But it has something to do with fire...' Yugi thought.

It was at that point that he remembered when he and Yami had gone with the other hikaris and their yamis (as well as Seto and Jonouchi) to a shrine on New Years.

Yugi remembered that all the yamis and the hikaris bought candles to burn in the shrine, and even Kaiba had bought one, though he denied it whenever he was asked.

Yugi glanced to Hathor.

"The answer is a candle!" he told her.

Hathor gave Yugi a careful study. "Is that your final answer?" she asked. Yugi nodded, feeling confident in himself. Hathor's lips drew back into a wide grin, and she clapped.

"Congradulations!" she said.

Giving Yugi a moment to prepare for the next one, Hathor thought to which one she would use. She finally settled on an idea and glanced down at Yugi, who looked ready to go.

"Okay, next one. What can you hold without ever touching or using your hands?" she asked.

Yugi immediatly knew that this one was so easy that it should have been obvious, but he couldn't think of it off the top of his head. He growled to himself and looked to Ryou for guidance.

He saw Ryou sitting as still as ever, his mouth closed in a thin line.

Yugi sighed and then noticed that Ryou was turning paler, as if he wasn't getting enough air. That's when Yugi noticed that Ryou wasn't breathing as he was levitating.

"Ryou-chan, stop holding your breath! You're going to make yourself-"

Yugi stopped and smacked himself on the forehead and nodded his thanks to Ryou. Ryou exhaled deeply and grinned at Yugi, laughing at his friend's reaction to the answer.

"Have you figured it out, Yugi-dear?" Hathor asked.

Yugi nodded. "Yes, I have Hathor-sama. It's your breath. You can hold your breath without ever using your hands or even touching it," he answered, still kicking himself mentally because he hadn't figured it out in the first place.

Hathor grinned.

"All right, very good! This is your last one, Yugi-dear. Are you up for it?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," Yugi told her. Hathor gave the littlest of the existing hikaris a big smile to reassure him that it was going to be all right. As soon as she was done, she became serious.

"Here on earth it is true, yesterday is always before today; but there is a place where yesterday always follows today. Where?" she asked the light quietly.

Yugi immediatly had no idea what the answer was.

'I do not know this one. All it's making me think of it the Mei Kyuu brothers and their paradox world of theirs,' the little hikari thought. He glanced to Ryou, who was staring blankly.

Ryou turned to Yugi and grinned.

"Yugi, remember, self determination and focus are the keys to a victorious victory!" he said.

Yugi stared blankly. "Uh, Ryou-chan? You might want to get a thesaurus and look up another word for victorious, because you just said the weirdest sentance ever," he told his friend.

Immediatly after, an idea came to Yugi's mind.

'Wait... a thesaurus? A thesaurus is like a dictionary, and in a dictionary, things are in alphabetical order! And yesterday starts with a Y, while today start with a T, so therefore... Today comes before yesterday!' he thought.

"I know the answer!" Yugi said.

"Do you, Yugi-dear?" Hathor asked. Yugi nodded quickly. "Then what is it, dearie?"

Yugi flashed the goddess a grin. "It's a dictionary, Hathor-sama," he told her. Hathor stared at Yugi, checking him over to see if he would suddenly change his answer in the last moment.

Her lips drew back and she laughed.

"Very good! You've passed the trial of the Sennen Ring!" she told the star-haired hikari.

Yugi sighed in relief, and Ryou clapped for him, slamming him hard on the back. Yugi laughed nervously, trying not to cry out in pain. Ryou had gotten very strong in his new transformation.

Hathor pointed to a doorway behind her throne.

"This leads to the next trial. Your yamis are in that trial, and they are waiting for you both," she told them with a big grin on her face.

Yugi and Ryou nodded their thanks to the goddess before dashing off into the doorway. Ryou grabbed the back of Yugi's flowing red cape, trying to keep tabs on him so they wouldn't be seperated.

With a loud and happy yell, Yugi jumped into the glowing doorway with Ryou still attached to his cape.


Me: Yes! Yugi passed!

Lucy: But the next one is the Sennen Rod's Trial, and we all know what the Sennen Rod did to people, so that should give a hint as to what is going to happen next!

Louis: But to find out, please continue reading when we update^^

Me: Please review!