Misha: Hello~! Chapter ten is finally here, so please enjoy it!

Oh, and here's a shout out and a big thank you to everyone who has faved, followed, and reviewed so far! All of you rock, you know that, right?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or any of its characters (however the OCs are mine).All other rights belong to Kazuki Takahashi & co.

Chapter 10: Sleeping Terror

I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure I was dreaming.

I just had to be… right? I mean, for starters, I was standing outside in the middle of the woods, fully clothed, despite the fact that I had no recollection of ever getting dressed and walking all the way out here in the first place.

Also, there was something defiantly wrong with the moon hanging above my head. Even with the blanket of dark clouds that covered it, a blood-red circular silhouette could be seen glowing in the night sky. Call me crazy, but I don't think the moon was normally supposed to be that color... Though it certainly made everything seem ten times more eerie, that's for sure.

Currently, I was just standing in a clearing of the forest, right smack-dab in the middle of this crater that was encircled by a number of these ancient-looking stone obelisks, wondering why the heck I was out here, exactly.

All of a sudden, a fierce tempest raged through the forest, causing the trees to sway violently as the clouds abruptly began to flash wildly with lightning. The wind was so strong, I actually had to hold my hair down and shield my eyes to keep myself all in order.

And that's when things began getting really strange.

The ground started to shake violently and, to my right, a giant fissure suddenly opened up in the earth. From the gaping hole, these white phantasm-like orbs of light shot out towards the sky like bats out of Hell.

What came next, though, was much more terrifying.

Breaking the ground apart even further, this giant midnight-blue and purple bipedal creature rose to the surface, not stopping until all thirty feet of it was out in the open and above ground. The fiend possessed razor sharp teeth and claws that looked like they were capable of ripping one's soul from their body. The way it was staring at me with those glowing red eyes made me wonder if it was considering doing that very same thing to me…

I didn't have much time to mull it over, however, because right then, another mini calamity soon took place. Much larger than the ones that had previously occurred up in the clouds, a dazzling bolt of lightning abruptly crashed down from the sky above, striking the ground to my direct left.

Shards of crystallized earth rose up from where the lightning had hit, forming some kind of rock formation. With a loud rumble that resembled the sound of thunder, the large crystals broke apart as this massive golden skeletal beast with bat-like wings rose from them. The monster let loose an ear-deafening shriek and as its vermilion-colored orbs gazed into mine, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stand on end as if there was an insane amount of electricity now in the air.

As if those two weren't already enough, another tremor erupted right in front of me mere seconds later, which I was positive marked the arrival of yet another "guest."

Like a geyser, a cylinder of flames soon broke apart the ground and shot itself skyward. Out of the inferno emerged a great dragon-like creature with a long body, a pair of translucent wings attached to its clawed arms, and an extra mouth full of sharp teeth that was positioned above its equally terrifying first one. While the beast was mostly crimson in color, it had a black underbelly that extended to the tip of its tail. Staring into this demon's golden eyes for even a moment instantly made me feel as if my very spirit was ignited in white-hot flames.

Although it probably would have been better to try to run away, or maybe even attempt to hide from them, at that moment I found that the only thing I was able to do was stare up at the demonic trio now towering over me in a mix of both awe and terror.

Though I expected them to try to attack me or something, I was surprised after several minutes had elapsed and virtually nothing took place.

With my initial shock gone and now growing rather weary of this staring contest, I finally decided to speak up. "What is it, already? What do you want from me?"

I really don't know what the hell I was doing yelling at them like that for. I mean, what were the chances they could even understand what I was saying and answer back, anyway?

To my utter astonishment, I actually received a response. It was the golden demon on the left that spoke first. That's right; it spoke.

Well, okay, so its mouth technically didn't move or anything, but I still somehow defiantly heard its voice booming in my head.

"The energy you are emitting interests us greatly, human. It reminds us so very much of hers that we just had to see for ourselves," the skeletal monster replied with a hiss. "Being this close up, I must admit that the resemblance is rather uncanny… What do you think, Raviel?"

The blue demon on the right, who I'm guessing went by Raviel, let out a low but irritated growl. "Just because this human happens to look like the princess still does not prove anything, Hamon. It is still far too early to tell if she is even the slightest bit worthy at all."

"Worthy?" I echoed aloud. "Worthy of what, exactly?"

"Of wielding our incredible power, of course," Raviel snarled at me as if he was annoyed with both me and my question. "What else could we possibly want with a little whelp like you?"

Instead of retracting in fear like I perhaps should have, I found myself glowering up at the dark-colored beast after that last comment. Sure, he was over five times my size and looked like he could probably rip me to shreds at any time he wished, but that was still no excuse for him to be so damn rude! And just why on Earth did they think I could possibly be capable of controlling whatever power they had when I still couldn't even get a handle on my own?

"It would be wise to consider watching what you say, Raviel," Hamon warned his companion. "If she really does turn out to be the princess, you know very well that getting her angry can have some rather dire consequences... Though, to be honest, it would be greatly entertaining watching you be reprimanded, so by all means, tempt the Fates!"

The blue demon growled and glared daggers at the yellow beast, but otherwise said nothing.

"Um… Sorry to tell you this, but I really do think that you're confusing me for someone else," I felt the need to inform them since I still had no idea what they were talking about, which meant that I just couldn't be whoever the hell they thought I was. "Commit this to memory, please: my name is Crystal Yuki, and last time I checked, I was far from being a princess. And I'm certainly not qualified to be wielding anything, especially not some kind of demon power…"

"You do not give yourself enough credit, young one," the red one in the center spoke up this time. "You possess far greater power than you yet realize…"

Great… It was bad enough when just Jaden was lecturing me about supposedly selling myself short, but now I had to hear it from a giant demon, too?

"And what makes you so sure, Mister, um… um…" I faltered when I realized I wasn't sure what to call this one. "Pardon me, but what was your name again?"

"You may call me Uria," the demon dragon answered back.

"Okay, Mister Uria," I started again, "even if you're right about that and even if I was interested in whatever you all had to offer— which I'm not by the way; no offence— I still have no idea how I would go about proving my worth or anything like that."

"Fret not," assured Uria. "Very soon, events will be set into motion, of which you will be involved in, that will put your abilities to the test. How you fair throughout this ordeal will no doubt let us know whether or not you are truly the one we, the three Phantom Demons, have been waiting for."

"Huh?" I vocalized my confusion in an elevated tone. Just what was all of that supposed to mean? "What are you talking about? What kind of 'ordeal'? Is something bad going to happen?"

"Enough with your excessive questions!" Raviel roared in frustration as he threateningly raised one of his clawed hands towards me, which succeeded in making me flinch this time. "You will find out what awaits you soon enough, that we can promise you."

"Yes, so until then, try your best not to die," Hamon advised, a tiny spark lighting up in his crimson eyes that really made it seem as if he found this whole thing very amusing in some way.

At that moment, the forest, and everything else around me for that matter, was gradually beginning to fall into darkness, including those three demons.

"No, wait!" I pleaded to them anxiously. "Please, don't go yet! There's still so much I don't understand!"

But all my cries were in vain because everything still continued to vanish into the void.

"Farewell, for now, Crystal Yuki…" I thought I heard Uria say before he and everything else were completely plunged into utter blackness.

I quickly jolted up from my bed with a loud gasp as a flash of lightning and the roll of thunder suddenly filled my room. My heart pounded forcefully and painfully against my ribcage as I took sharp, uneven breaths.

What was that just now? I thought as my hands shook uncontrollably. It was just a dream, right? Oh, but then why did it and those monsters seem so real then?

As another bolt of lightning momentarily lit up the night sky, I suddenly felt this faint but dark energy coming from outside somewhere. It was hard to describe what it was, really, but I sure knew that I didn't like it.

Without thinking, I jumped out of bed and swung my door open to investigate.

Yet another thunderbolt struck down and, in the light, I could have sworn I saw some kind of shadowy figure glide on by high up in the sky. Whatever it was, I was positive that it was the thing giving off that weird energy. It was strange, but now I was getting the feeling that the shadow was watching me or something...

I followed the black figure with my eyes as it disappeared into the distance, heading over towards that volcano behind the academy.

When it was gone, I closed my eyes and cursed some rather inappropriate things under my breath.

Damn… I didn't want to believe it, but maybe those demons knew what they were talking about after all…

Later that morning, after the sun had risen and it was actually acceptable for me to be awake, I was sitting in Dr. Crowler's class. Contrary to how I normally just idly sat at my desk, taking a nap, today I actually had my notebook open as my pencil glided up and down the page.

I wasn't taking notes, however. Nope; at the moment I was much more interested in trying to remember what those three monsters in my dream looked like, and the easiest way for me to do that was by trying to sketch out their likeness on paper before the images left my mind, as was often the case with dreams.

Truthfully, I still had no idea whether what I had experienced last night was just all in my head or not, but there was just something about that trio that kept preventing me from writing them off as complete fantasy.

That so-called warning they gave me sure felt real enough. Ever since I saw that shadow flying out in the middle of the storm last night, I couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen very soon.

I was still working on my drawing of Uria when one of my not-so-favorite people suddenly approached my desk from the side.

"Slacking off in class again, are we, Miss Yuki?" said Dr. Crowler in a disapproving tone. "Why does that not surprise me…?"

I stopped what I was doing, looked up from my notebook, and smiled coyly. "Um… Sorry about that?"

"I'm sure you are," the professor sighed sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "You know, if it wasn't for the fact that he asked to see Mister Truesdale and myself as well, I would be almost positive that Chancellor Sheppard was calling you to his office to expel you."

"Pardon me, sir?" I asked in genuine confusion, not having a clue what he was talking about.

Crowler flashed me look as if I was one of the most inept people in the world at that moment. "You heard me: Sheppard says he wants to see you, so you had best get a move on, pronto!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" I almost did a military salute as bolted up from my seat, deciding to do whatever he asked so he wouldn't scold me again.

So after Crowler had excused the rest of his class, he, Zane, and I made our way down the hallway towards Chancellor Sheppard's office.

I stared down at the floor we treaded upon, trying to remember what I could have done lately to get into this situation. And that ominous, foreboding feeling had gotten so bad that now it ached whenever I took a step… Even so, I kept quiet.

"Is something wrong, Crystal?" a voice suddenly whispered to me.

I took my eyes off the ground to see that Zane had his gaze locked on me.

"Oh, no; not really," I hastily answered as I forced a small smile. "I just didn't sleep very well last night, that's all…."

It might have been somewhat of a lie, or at least a half truth, but I really didn't want to bother him with any of my personal woes at the moment…

Since I let the conversation die after that, we both went back to walking in silence. Once we finally reached the front of Sheppard's office, however, we stopped. Another group of people were coming in the opposite direction. I saw Professor Banner first, and behind him were Jaden, Chazz, Alexis, and Bastion.

I perked up a little the instant I saw my twin. "Big brother? What are you doing here?"

"No idea," said Jaden. "Sheppard apparently called us here. He asked for you guys, too?"

"Yes, I suppose he has summoned all of us here, hasn't he?" Crowler stroked his long, bony chin. "Some of the top Duelists in the school... oh, hang on! It appears that one does not belong here! Clearly someone's lost." He waved a long, spidery finger.

I wondered if he was talking about Jaden or me since we were the only Slifers here. Well, apart from Chazz, anyway.

"He is not. Chazz was invited," Jaden joked.

"He means you," Chazz growled back at him in annoyance.

"Well, now, I suppose we'd best go in and see what the chancellor wants, shall we?" said Bastion suddenly.

"Right. Let us go," Banner nodded.

The automatic doors slid open, as if by magic. As expected, Sheppard was sitting at his desk, his hands clasped together and resting on the table. The wrinkles on his old bald face showed that he indeed looked troubled. He wasn't smiling that ripe jolly smile, like he'd normally do.

We split up and stood in a half circle around his desk; I stood between Zane and Jaden.

Sheppard cleared his throat solemnly. "Right, you are all probably wondering why I called you all here," he said, his tone unusually somber.

"Actually, yeah," Alexis replied. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes... well, it's a long story, but I shall tell it anyway. Listen well, children... and teachers."

He took a deep breath. "Today I have gathered the top Duelists in Duel Academy, to request for your... aid."

We all leaned forward a little at that.

Aid? In what?

"Ahem... you see, there are three cards," he began. He kept pausing in between sentences, his tone becoming increasingly grave. "Three monsters, to be exact, of the most immense power. They are known as the three Sacred Beasts, or Phantom Demons."

I froze after hearing that statement. Did he just say 'Phantom Demons'? Wasn't that what Uria called himself and those other two friends of his?

"Whoa! Powerful monster cards, huh? I'd like to try those in my deck!" Jaden marveled.

"Jaden, wait! These three beasts are so incredibly powerful, that they are much too dangerous to be used in human hands. Should these three ever see the light of day... catastrophe will ensue. Buildings will crumble. Light will fade. Souls will fall. Our world will be no more."

A gasp came from everyone then while I just stood there in stunned silence.

Dangerous, he said? Three demon-cards capable of destroying the world… is that what he just told us? But if that was true and if those really somehow were the same monsters I dreamt about last night, then what did that say about me? Those three seemed to keep going on about how they thought I was the one who was supposed to use their power, so did that mean they wanted me to use them to destroy the world or something?

No! No, I don't want that. I don't want that at all!

Feeling rather scared and confused then, I closed my eyes and grabbed the hand closest to me, which I just assumed belonged to my brother.

"Crystal, are you sure you're alright?" I heard Zane whisper to me again.

I opened one of my eyes to look up at him. "Huh? Well, I… um…" I stammered out in a hushed tone, not sure if I could answer that question honestly at the moment. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that you're squeezing my hand pretty tight there…"

My gaze fell to wear Zane was looking and I soon realized that I had the fingers of my left hand intertwined with his right one in a tight hold.

Holy crap! How the hell did that happen?

I'm sure that my face must have turned so red then because I felt my forehead break out in a small, uncomfortable fever. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" I apologized as I quickly released his hand and put both of mine behind my back so I wouldn't do anything else stupid with them.

Zane gave me a brief look of confusion but did me a service by deciding not to question me any further for the time being. Instead, he looked back over at Sheppard and asked, "So where are these cards, anyway?"

"They're right here, on this island," the chancellor answered.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood right on end. Were they really that close?

"Really? Where? Under a mattress? Or in a cookie jar?" Jaden inquired. That boy did sometimes have problems distinguishing when matters were urgent, unfortunately...

"You slacker! He just said these monsters can destroy the world! Can't you take anything seriously?" barked Chazz.

Sheppard shook his head. "No, they're not in a cookie jar. They're actually much closer than you think: right below you."

"You mean these cards are buried under the island?" exclaimed Alexis.

"Yes, they are. You see, right when this school was built, the Sacred Beasts cards and their power were sealed away, deep underground. They had to be locked up by eight magic Spirit Gates, to prevent their escaping. And the only way to open these Gates and release the Beasts... is with these."

At once, he bent down and took out a smooth, black box out of his desk. He clicked it open. The lid flew back, as we all tried to get a closer look. Inside was a square, composed of these queer-shaped tan things, with black designs on each.

"What are those?" Bastion asked.

"These are the Spirit Keys, everyone. These can open the Gates and unleash the three Beasts. The reason that I called you all here is to ask you to... guard them."

"Oh, yes? From what?" Crowler hissed.

"There are people who are after the Keys. They covet the three Sacred Beast cards and want to open the Gates and release them for their own purposes. They call themselves the 'Shadow Riders'. They'll try to go after you for the keys."

"But can't they just take us out?" Chazz inquired.

"No, the keys will only work when they are won... in a duel."

Another shocked gasp came from the eight of us.

"Now, this is indeed a dangerous task," said Sheppard. "I can understand if any of you are frightened and want to decline. I won't hold a grudge."

"What? Are you kidding?! Saving the world sounds so cool! Count me in!" cheered Jaden, who wasted no time reaching in and yanking out a key. A string was tied to it, so he quickly put it around his neck.

"Humph! The Chazz never backs down from a challenge!" snorted Chazz, who took a second key after Jaden.

"Certainly! Consider me a guardian, too!" Bastion declared, taking the third key.

"Well, don't think I'll let you boys have all the fun!" said Alexis, pulling the fourth key from the box.

"I'll do what I can. Pharaoh and I love the world," smiled Banner as he took the fifth key and wrapped it around his hand. Pharaoh meowed, as if agreeing with his master, and patted the key with his paw.

"Saving the world, eh? Well, alright!" said Crowler. "This key makes quite a fashionable accessory, anyway!" He snatched the sixth key and tried to see how it would look around his neck.

"Erm, well, it's good to know that you're doing it for a good reason, Crowler... I think," Sheppard scratched his bald head.

Zane shrugged. "Saving the world? Not a bad idea. I'll do it." That was Zane for you, simple and blunt with his answers. As he took the seventh key, my face tightened. It figures Zane would be the kind of guy who just stares danger down like it was nothing. Still, with all this talk about demons and keys and Shadow Riders, I was really on edge.

Sheppard nodded. There was one key still left in the middle. The one I'd be guarding. "Crystal? Do you accept this duty?" he asked me.

I said nothing and only gave a quick nod as I finally worked up the nerve to reach out my hand and remove the last key from the case.

"Right. I see that you've all accepted this task. It'll be dangerous, it'll be tough, it could get chaotic, and the enemy can attack at any time... but I have faith in you eight." Sheppard nodded once more.

So many questions were still swarming back and forth in my brain about all of this, so much so that it was actually giving me a headache, but I didn't bother to ask any of them out loud.

For the moment, all that mattered to me was keeping this key hanging around my neck out of any of those Shadow Riders' hands, and making sure that those three Beasts stayed where they were. Whether I really had any connection to them or not, there was no way I was going to let anyone use those demons to unleash mass chaos or whatever else it was they were capable of. No way in Hell.

Later that evening I went over by the lighthouse since I was in serious needed of some fresh air to clear my clouded head. The beam of light from the lighthouse was sweeping across the ocean, lighting my world up and then casting it back into shadows in beats. Meanwhile, I stared down at the sketches of the three monsters I had drawn in class this morning, lost deep in thought.

So they say you'll destroy the world if you ever see the light of day, huh? I mused warily. Just what kind of 'princess' do you think I am then? I mean, could anyone ever honestly call a pile of rubble a kingdom? I wonder…

As distracted as I was with my own thoughts, I still managed to become aware of a pair of footsteps that suddenly resonated behind me.

"I see that what we were told today at least hasn't given you any qualms about being out by yourself at night, though I'm not sure how safe that is at the moment, to be honest."

I shrugged slightly as I waved my duel disk equipped arm around a little. "Well, even if one of those Shadow Riders is unfortunate enough to find me, I think I'm pretty much ready for them, more or less…"

There was silence for a few heartbeats until Zane finally asked, "So do you think you want to talk about what's been bothering you all day?"

"Yes and no," I confessed as I picked myself off the ground to stand beside him. "Part of me does, but to tell you the truth, I'm pretty terrified of what it may all mean… Not to mention that I don't want you to think that I'm totally nuts if I turn out to be completely wrong about everything…"

"Crystal…" The instant Zane said my name, I locked eyes with him. "You know that's not something you need to be afraid of, but if you'd rather not talk about it, I won't push you."

My heart fluttered wildly then, really happy to hear him say that for some reason.

"And I'm grateful for that, but it's okay," I quietly replied. "I'll tell you if you really want to know. I'm sure that keeping it all to myself will probably only end up making me feel worse, anyway…"

And with that, I went ahead and started spilling my little heart out about everything that was on my mind as of late, not sparing a single detail as I went on about my nightmare and those three mysterious demons. I even showed him the drawings in my notebook to give him a visual aid.

"So you really think that those monsters you saw in your dream are the Sacred Beasts the chancellor told us about earlier and now you're worried because you think they want you to use them to throw the world into ruin and chaos?" Zane summarized after I finally managed to get everything out in the open and stop talking. He seemed to have remained calm and levelheaded about the whole thing, which was a relief because a little part of me thought for sure that he was going to think I had gone completely bonkers, or be so disturbed that he would try to get the hell out of dodge.

"Yeah," I affirmed with a heavy, exasperated sigh, "though I have to admit, even when someone like you says it, it still sounds pretty ludicrous… But even so, I still can't shake the feeling that it's all true, and that's what scares me…" I closed my eyes and hugged my arms tightly, digging so hard into the skin with my nails that I thought I was going to tear it and draw blood. "After all, the last thing I want is to be responsible for the end of the world… But I'll be damned before I just allow something like that to happen without at least putting up a fight first."

And especially not when I finally found so many things in my life worth protecting… I quickly added to myself.

Obviously noticing that I was still pretty on edge, Zane decided to speak up then. "Listen, Crystal… I can certainly understand how something like that would frighten you, but you should know that you're not alone in this."

"Huh? I'm not?" I couldn't help but wonder as I looked back over at him.

"That's right," he reassured. "The other seven of us all agreed to guard a Spirit Key as well, so you don't have to feel like the whole weight of the world is solely on your shoulders. I imagine that it won't be easy, but together we'll see to it that those cards stay where they belong so you won't have to worry about any of those other things happening."

I quietly just stood there for a while, trying to let everything Zane had said sink in. Although I agreed that the fight ahead would definitely not be an easy one, I still really wanted to believe that he was right everything else, too, since thinking otherwise would have probably driven me insane with worry at that point.

"Thanks, Zane. Hearing you say that really helps a lot," I said finally, giving him the sincerest smile that I could. "But still, no matter what happens, just be careful, okay? After all, I don't… I don't want to see anything bad happen to you."

Zane allowed the tiniest of smiles to grace his lips then. "Heh… I was just about to tell you the exact same thing…"

After I had just about all I could stand of staying up late, I finally parted ways with Zane and started to head back to the Slifer dorms by myself.

Although I politely did not take Zane up on his offer to escort me back to my room since I thought I could handle it on my own, I soon found myself regretting that decision as I continued to walk down the beaten path near the forest's edge, half-expecting something to pop out of the foliage and attack me. So it was needless to say that when I suddenly heard a rustling coming from some of the bushes near me, I totally freaked out.

"Eeek! Who's there?" I yelped, jumping a good two feet backward as I took a less-than-intimidating battle stance. Was it a Shadow Rider?

"You better stay back or I'll…" I paused for a moment as I tried to think of a good threat. "Um… Okay, so maybe setting you on fire or materializing a dragon to maul you to death would be a little too harsh, even if you are a Shadow Rider, but I'm warning you, I have a duel disk, and I bet it would really hurt if I decide to hit you with it!"

With that, I dropped my notebook to the ground and removed the duel disk I had on my arm, holding it in my hand as if it were some kind of shuriken.

"Crystal? Is that you?"

I blinked a few times. Wait a minute… I knew that voice.

"Alexis?"

Sure enough, after removing some of the shrubs in her way, the hazel-eyed blonde stepped out of the trees and stood in front of me.

"Oh, thank goodness that it's just you, big sister," I sighed in relief as I quickly relaxed my posture and put my duel disk back on my arm. "But just what are you doing out here, anyway?"

Though she tried to give a response, I soon cut her off as I went ahead and came up with my own answer. "Oh, I know! I bet you're here to have a secret romantic rendezvous with Jaden, aren't you?" I gushed, putting my hands over my cheeks that had turned rosy just by thinking about what my brother and the Obelisk Queen did when they were alone together.

"Cr-Crystal! It isn't like that at all, and you know it!" Alexis exclaimed defensively, though I couldn't help but notice that she, too, was blushing. "I'm just here because I was worried that the Shadow Riders might want to try and pick off who they think is the weakest by dueling one of the Slifer key holders first, that's all!"

"Right…" I said with a coy smile as if I wasn't at all convinced. It might have been a little mean of me to tease her like that, but since I was finding it oddly amusing, I didn't what to letup just yet. God knows I needed something fun to make me feel better, considering the day I had been having. "You don't have to be so embarrassed about it, you know. I mean, you two are betrothed, after all. Just don't go thinking about eloping, though!"

Alexis opened her mouth to protest again, but a brilliant purplish light suddenly illuminating over our heads stopped her. It poured out of some open windows of the Slifer dorm. Out of the windows of... of Jaden's room?!

"What in the world is that?" she cried upon seeing that eerie light as well.

"I don't know, but I'm starting to think that your theory about those Shadow Riders going after the Slifers first might not be so farfetched after all," I gasped with wide eyes as I realized that Jaden and his other two friends were in that room.

With my heart now racing a mile a minute, I rushed past Alexis and headed straight for the Red dorm.

"Wait! Where are you going, Crystal?" she called after me as she caught up to my heels.

I didn't answer. All I did was sprint up the stairs without bothering to grab the railing, nearly tripping on the way. Alexis followed as I reached for the door to my brother's room.

"Hey! What the heck-?!" came a yelp from behind it. It sounded like Jaden. It had to be.

"Jaden! Hang on!" Alexis shouted.

The light appeared to be increasing in size, and in brightness, too. I couldn't see a thing!

I tore open the door hastily and lunged in. "Jaden! What's going on?" I called.

"I don't know," he called back, "but- Ah!" The purple beams had become so intense that we all had to shield our eyes with our arms.

"Heh, heh, heh... I got you right where I want you..."

What was that? A voice? A ghostly one, for sure, like a burning, menacing wind was blowing right over our backs.

Then without warning, everything just went completely black.

Misha: Well, that's a pretty mean way to end a chapter, I'll admit, but what's to come after this will probably be fairly long, so I thought it was better just to stop here.

Anyway, please review and I'll see you next time! Later~!

XXXXXXX

Random Fun-Fact: Although they use alternative spellings, the three Sacred Beasts/Phantom Demons are all named after characters in Judeo-Christianity. (A bit ironic, isn't it?)