Kinakao: Sorry for another wait guys!

Mari: You promised them a chapter in a few hours!

Kinakao: I had homework…

Daida: That always should come first.

Tamora: Are you kidding me? She needs to be keeping her promises.

Kinakao: Anyways! Here is a totally-not-kidnapped Mokuba to do my intro!

Mokuba: Kinakao does not own YuGiOh or any of its characters, including me. She does own Mari/Rhea, Tamora/Joan, Rayen/Cleo, Daida, and the new room in Ishizu's apartment and the whole school. And Mrs. Tobin, unfortunately. Also! The lovely Apherion owns herself and the character of Deanna. Can I have my donuts now?

Kinakao: Yes, yes. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: The Pure Heart

As we arrived at the school, the warning bell rang. "Whew…Ten minutes to spare." I breathed. We had run all the way there, even though this morning I had just recovered from a deadly wound without explanation. I looked around and gave a small pout. "Well, I guess the first place is to check our school. Three out of five attend here." I observed.

I looked to Tamora, who merely flipped her red ponytail as a response to my question. "What Guardian should we look for first?" She asked, looking around the courtyard. I knew what was crossing her mind: You can't just go touch everyone at a certain time.

To me, Tamora seemed off. I tried to ignore it. "Well…We have only Earth and Air left, right?" I asked my rhetorical question. "I guess we need to look for someone down to earth or someone that is an airhead." I knew that Tamora and I had different classes, so I turned to her and smiled. "Why not you ask about anyone who likes air or has those kinds of qualities, and I'll ask about anyone who might be down to earth?"

The red-head gave me a stern look. "What should we tell people if they wonder why we're being nosey?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

I shrugged my shoulders as the bell rang once more. "Tell them we are doing a survey." I started to run to class. "Meet me at lunch! I'll be at the Fountain!" With that, I turned away from her and waved, darting inside the building and disappeared from sight.

"Someone down to earth?" My classmate Deanna questioned me after I had posed my questions. She knew everyone on campus. We were standing in the hallway between classes. Just as she spoke, someone I had never seen before greeted her, and of course the ever popular red-head replied back with a friendly greeting. "What was this for again?" She asked, turning back to me.

I sighed softly before replying. "It's for a survey I'm doing." I answered her simply. I had explained it in detail only a few minutes before.

Deanna smiled. "Right, right." She nodded, remembering it now. She pointed to herself. "I think I'm pretty down to earth." She grinned. I let out another sigh as I rose up the notebook I was taking for notes in and wrote it down.

I honestly would have thought with her hair color and personality that she would be the Guardian of air. I noted it for later. I didn't want to try and grab this girl any time soon. "Thanks, Deanna. I'll keep in in mind." I gave her a little nod of my head and we parted ways.

I walked further down the hall, going towards my math class, when a sudden glint caught my eye. I stopped and shielded my eye from the light and turned to the source outside the window. The door to the school's greenhouse was open, the keys in the handle of the door shining the sunlight into my face. Soon, a girl with long black hair came out from the greenhouse and started to close the door behind her.

"Deanna!" I called out, racing back down the hall towards the red-head in a dash. I needed her to identify this new person. I was lucky and she had not yet gone into her classroom and I hooked my arm around hers and dragged the popular girl with me back to the window.

She skidded to a stop and huffed at me. "What was that for?" I could hear her silent cursing at me. I pointed to the window, where the girl I had seen was now almost out of sight. Deanna leaned in towards the window and blinked. "What, Rayen Black?" She turned to look at me. A smile grew across my lips.

I rose up my notebook. "Tell me everything you know." I grinned and readied my pen. I just had this feeling that I couldn't seem to explain.

Deanna put her finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling as she started her recounting of information on the mysterious girl. "Let's see…Her name is Rayen Black, she started late to our school, has the first lunch, but she usually hangs out in the greenhouse. She is the president of the Botany club here at school." She concluded, then looked at me and asked, "Anything else?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Thanks for answering that for me. Sorry about dragging you from your class." I gave a little nod. She dismissed the apology with a wave, giving me her bright smile. Another one of Deanna's friends came up to her and she waved goodbye to me and took off.

I grinned to myself. I couldn't wait to tell Tamora. The bell rang, and I sprinted for my next class, already knowing I was going to be late.

Lunch could not come soon enough. I sat through my math class, being called upon a couple of times in class. Well, the teacher had meant to call on me, but the wrinkled old, nearly blind math teacher insisted I did not know my own name.

"Miss Mahogy." I looked up and groaned at the teacher, a very proud Mrs. Tobin. "Please go to the board to answer number seven." I lifted myself from my seat to go to the board, correcting her as I went along. "It's 'Mahogany,' Mrs. Tobin."

As I wrote down the answer on the board, Mrs. Tobin spoke up once again. "Good work, Miss Mohangy." I growled silently as I took my seat. I remembered why I hated this class so much. This had been happening ever since I had been in this class. I glanced at the clock. I had just missed an opportunity to go back to the world I wanted.

However, I did hear the soft chit-chattering of two girls behind me. They were talking about Tamora. "Doesn't she seem strange? It's unusual for her to miss school…" The first girl spoke.

I silently listened in. The second girl chimed in like a bell. "Maybe she has a new boyfriend." They both giggled. The thought of Ryou came into my mind. These girls could never even guess how right they were.

I rushed out after my class to meet up with Tamora at the Fountain. I found her sitting on the edge, her lunch already unpacked. I did not stop my running until I was at her side, where I collided with the other girl in a hug. "I got a lead, I got a lead, I got a lead, I got a lead." I was nearly bouncing as I repeated myself happily and the girl in my arms was close to falling over under my sudden attack.

Tamora smiled and looked at me brightly. This was the friend I knew. "You did? Well, who is it?" She asked with curiosity glowing in her dark eyes.

It made me even happier to see the eyes of the Tamora I had known and cared for, rather than the strange person she had been acting as lately. "Her name is Rayen Black. She has our lunch. We need to find her." I nodded seriously and tried to look down at my watch again. I was surprised to find that it had a crack on the digital screen, but it still worked. It was 11:43. "We need to find her fast."

Tamora pushed me off of her so she could repack her lunch. "How did you get your lead, Mari?" The name sounded almost strange to me now. I recounted to her the event I had gone through with the window and Deanna's information. "Well, I've never seen her at this lunch either. So, maybe she hangs out at the greenhouse during her breaks?" Tamora suggested.

I nodded in agreement. "We need to go find her then, come on." I said, picking myself up and offering a hand to Tamora. She gently pushed it away and picked up her lunch, and we ran off towards the school's conservatory. The Fountain's guardian watched us blankly as we left, a small crack in her hand crumbling slightly at our disappearance.

I was out of breath when we reached the glasshouse towards the back of the school. Tamora seemed completely fine, and a weary look of jealousy was shot to her from me as I leaned forward to place my hands on my knees to rest for the moment. I had been running everywhere, and I realized that my body was still weak from my injuries. It just felt weird in this world. "Well…" I began, "Is she around?"

A voice came from behind us. "What are you doing here?" The voice was stern. Both Tamora and I turned around to look at our interrogator. There stood a girl with long jet black hair that reached about her mid-back. She faced us with stern eyes that made me blink a few times. Her eyes were actually different colors here in the real world. Her right eye was a solid sky blue, while her left hue was a grassy green. It reminded me of looking at an open field, seeing the sky and the ground in the same picture.

Tamora took a glance at me, "Does that answer your question?" She muttered under a hushed voice, which I managed to hear, but decided to ignore.

I stood up straight and smiled to girl. "We just came to do a survey on students. Are you Rayen Black?" I asked gently. I did not want to scare her off right away. Though, I glanced at my watch. It was now 11:59. I was running out of time.

Rayen nodded her head slowly. She seemed to relax more. "Yes, I am. I thought you might be people who were coming to try and steal some of the fruit I'm growing." She went ahead and moved past us towards the hothouse and opened it with her keys. She opened the door wide for us. She smiled at us kindly. "Would you like to come in and see?" She said pleasantly.

I nodded before Tamora could say anything and went inside. The whole house was filled with flowers of almost every color I could have ever imagined. I was in awe. I turned to look at Tamora, who did not seem as impressed. "How long have we had this place at school?" I questioned, feeling that this beauty had to be shared.

Tamora gave a small though as she gently touched the leaf of a nearby plant. "Well, the greenhouse has been here for many years, but I always thought it was unused." She rubbed it gently. It looked like a money plant.

The new girl moved over to a pink flower, where she gently cradled it in her hand. "I helped all these flowers grow when I first came to this school. They are my treasures." Her voice was whimsical as she spoke. She smiled gently to the flower, and the flashback of the ageless painting echoed in my head.

I shook my head to get the picture out of my mind. I had to focus. But, that focus did not last very long. I found a flower that was a pretty gold and blue mixture. I smiled brightly as I gently touched the flower. "They are so beautiful…" I commented, my eyes mesmerized by the petals.

Rayen watched me for a moment, seeming to observe my actions. A smile came across her lips as she spoke gently, "You have a pure heart." Her dual-colored eyes softened as they looked upon me, the pink flower she tended to seemed to perk up on its own. Rayen turned to it and seemed to be almost having a mental conversation with the plant.

I finally pulled myself away from the flowers and glanced at my clock. With a shock, I realized I only had ten minutes left to find out if she was the Guardian. I had to decide between lying to her, and seeming completely crazy. "Rayen," I started to get her attention. "My name is Mari Mahogany. This is Tamora Strong. We'd like to be friends with you." I said simply.

Rayen looked up at me from the plant and smiled, nodding. "You seem to have a good sense about you and you are pure of heart." She glanced to Tamora, a stern look crossing her face. "I will be friends with you." She agreed as she looked up at me.

Now, it was time for the crazy. "Rayen, I believe that our meeting is more than just a coincidence, but is indeed fate." God, I would have run away already from someone talking like this to me, but Rayen just silently listened to me, and I could feel my cheeks turning red from embarrassment.

The silent girl smiled at me quietly. "Yes, I do agree. I have never met someone as virtuous as you." She believed me and complemented me in a short amount of time. I could barely believe myself. She kept her eyes on me, and I started to try and see how much more I could get.

"If I can prove this by touching you at twelve twenty-one, will you let me?" I asked placing a hand behind my head. I knew I must have sounded crazy to the older girl.

However, she gave me a nod of approval. She offered me her hand. "Will this suffice?" She asked of me, her eyes wandering to Tamora, as if she was keeping an eye on her. I glanced down at my watch. It was just now 12:20. I nodded and took her hand before turning to Tamora. "Just follow." I mouthed to her. I turned back to Rayen and took in a breath. I squeezed her hand and vaguely wondered what she meant by my pureness. My watch flipped to the next minute: 12:21.

It took less than a second for me to feel the buzz of power surging through me, stemming from my fingers. The look on Rayen's face told me she could feel it too. "Eitcha Krien Namaeo Zeme Ika!" The chant flowed out of me as the blue portal appeared above the two of us. Her body language seemed to have fear, but her eyes seemed strong, almost as if she knew what was happening. Pieces of dirt pulled up from the ground and went through the portal. The last thing I saw was the beautiful pink flower, wishing us luck on our journey.

I awoke in an unfamiliar bed. It was a white room with many different ancient Egyptian artifacts that adorned the walls and the shelves. I lifted my hands up to look at them and discovered my broken golden watch. I immediately placed my hands to my face, and sat up with sudden energy as I began searching for a mirror. In the vanity across from the bed, I saw the reflection I yearned for. Those amethyst eyes stared at me with a smile growing on the lips of the girl across from me. She wore bandages across her body and was still in her pajamas as well.

I suddenly realized that yet again, I was alone. I pushed myself out of bed, noticing that my side wound was also healed in this world too. "Hope…You have some explaining to do…" I warned her, but I could not listen now. I had to find Rayen, wherever she was now in this world. I also slowly comprehended that I had no idea where I was. I moved to the wooden door and swung it open.

There in the kitchen, just a few steps away from the room I had been in, sat a very familiar blonde head with an almost unfamiliar face that was smiling. She had brown hair tied up in a high ponytail and her brilliant green eyes only left Daida when she saw the door I came through. Her smile brightened. Daida turned to me as well and threw me a thumb's up. "Good job, Sleeping Beauty." She said, teasingly.

I walked over slowly and blinked a few times. She was here, the fourth Guardian, right in front of me. This Guardian spoke. "I cannot thank you enough, Rhea, for bringing me here." She rose and took my hand.

Now, I was confused. "Whoa…Hold on." I said as I retracted my hand. "I need a few answers please. Do you want one at a time or in a series?" I asked them, and Daida rolled her eyes at me while the girl I had known as Rayen seemed to not understand my confusion.

"Just spit them all out, Rhea." Daida grinned at me. She motioned for the other girl to sit down, which this new person obeyed without question.

I inhaled, taking in a deep breath. With that same breath, I did my best to ask all my questions at once. "Where am I? Is that Rayen? Why is she thanking me? Is she really who we think she is? Does she have a new name? Why does she know my name here already? What does she know about this place? Where is Joan?" I finally ran out of breath and Rayen blinked a few times at me before bursting into a giggle.

I was not amused, but Daida joined her in the laugh. "Well, good to know all that is on the table." Daida said, smiling. She rose up and pulled over a third chair so I could join with them. I sat down as Daida began to explain. "You are at my place, well, more specifically Ishizu's house." Before sitting down again, she went into the kitchen and poured the three of us green tea in Japanese style cups. "That is Rayen Black from our world. However, to answer your other question, she had already changed her name, because she is one of the Guardians we have been looking for." She brought over the tea on a small tray, placing one in front of each of us.

The green eyed girl nodded in thanks for the tea, but decided to pick up the story. "My name here is Cleo Arden. I was thanking you because you finally showed me the way here." She smiled at me. I blinked a few time, still confused. Cleo continued. "Years ago, when I was still young, I used to hear a voice talk to me when I would be around gardens and flowers. It told me to believe in the Earth and that I would find my destiny." However, her smile started to fade. "When I tried to tell people about the girl in the flowers, people thought I was just making her up. So, I just did not tell anyone about her anymore and kept to myself and my flowers."

I was suddenly seeing the young girl having to hide herself away, not knowing how to explain her only friend. That meant that her Guardian had woken up inside of her long before any of the rest. I nodded slowly. She continued on. "After years of having her by my side, she told me to only befriend those who I could feel were right. I made a few friends, but not many last. I had not come across anyone in close proximity since I had come to that school that felt like they had a pure heart until you, Rhea." Her smile returned. "Also, she told me that the 'right' person could awaken me to my full potential."

I blinked a few times. I doubt that was me, since all the Guardians supposedly had a "chosen" to be with. Daida smiled at me and took over the story. "I informed her of where we were. Go figures, she actually knows of the world too. Just doesn't duel. I told her about our names here, so that's how she knows yours." She pointed at me, and then continued. "As for Joan, as far as I saw, you and Cleo were the only ones to come back here." She sipped at her tea.

I sat back in my seat with a mix of emotions. I was happy we had found this new Guardian, but now I was wondering what happened to Joan. I assumed she had not heard me when I asked her to follow. I merely shrugged it off. I looked at Cleo and gave a bright smile. "It's great to have you on the team." I wanted to rest and see Yuugi, but I knew that I could not stay. I rose up from my seat and headed back towards the bedroom.

Daida rose up and watched me as I started to walk away and pull the bandages off of my skin. "Rhea, where are you going?" She had that tone of worried back in her voice.

I peeled off the tape from my cheek, my face fully healed as I turned back to look at her and smile. "I'm going back for that last Guardian!"

Kinakao: There we go! Finally, we get our earth Guardian.

Daida: Finally! I was sick of hanging around just that hothead.

Joan: At least I'm not waterlogged.

Rhea: I found her…Can I keep her?

Kinakao: Well, join us next time. I'll try my best to put up more as often as I can! (The next time may not be until tomorrow, Sunday. More homework.) Please Rate and Review!