Sorry for the extremely late update…for some reason this chapter was much harder to think up than the last couple. Hopefully the others come to me faster. On a very different side note, I got a review from Tom Riddle's Item. Apparently, with my ultra-intelligent bogus ways, I skipped Chapter 4! It goes from 3 to 5! I don't want to go back and renumber chapters, ('cause Chapter 1 was the prologue), and '2' was 1...whatever. You get the picture. However you slice and dice, there's 23 chapters…yea…on with what you're really here for…

As you know, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter. If you don't know who owns them by now, after a total of about 36 total chapters in this series…that's sad. But I'll say it anyway. Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi and Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

/Blah/ is host to spirit

/Blah/ is spirit to host

Monsters so far…

Yugi: Celtic Guardian, Kuriboh, Dark Magician, Black Luster Soldier

Seto: Blue Eyes Baby Dragon, Blue Eyes White Dragon

Hermione: Cyber Harpie, Harpie's Pet Dragon (all are missing)

Tristan: Thunder Kid, Thunder Dragon, Shovel Crusher

Joey: Baby Dragon, Flame Swordsman, Red Eyes Black Dragon (all are missing)

Alex Brisbane: Dark Blade, Pitch Dark Dragon

Tea: Dark Witch, Happy Lover, Seiryu

Chapter 14

Hermione opened her eyes, she found herself in a bedroom of a nicely-furnished home. Seto was sitting at a chair by her side, but didn't realize she was awake. He was making a trinket on an end table somersault with his wand.

"Hi," she said.

Seto let the trinket fall onto the table, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she said, "what happened exactly?"

"You collapsed after you unjinxed the Portkey. We took you back to the Rebellion safe house, and you've been out since. It's got to be the middle of the night now."

"She's going to come after me," Hermione sat up against the headboard, "She needs me to be powerful again."

"How…?"

"She said she needs me to get her old body back. I don't really remember the details but she said she was going to destroy the rebellion, and you!"

"We got here two days ago, how can she have a grudge against us?"

"We have to stop her, putting us pretty much on side with this Rebellion. In order to have complete control, she has to wipe us out."

"Isn't she getting ahead of herself? She doesn't have a body."

Hermione swung her legs over the side of the bed, "I have to go. I won't put you in danger."

"Hey," Seto put a hand on her shoulder, "What are you talking about?"

"She won't rest until she finds me. With that, I can't risk her doing anything to you or the others. I can't let her find us all."

"You don't want to put us in danger. We don't want you in danger! Where will you go? That nut probably wants you out in the open. It'll be easier for her to find you. If she gets a body, it'll be even harder for us to win. It's a lose-lose situation. You're at least better off with us."

Hermione turned to look out the window. The castle was illuminated in the distance.

"We'll get through this together, or be trapped here trying," said Seto, "We'll find the way out."

Set paced back and forth in spirit form. Marik watched him move back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, from his spot on the couch.

"Will you stop that? You're making me dizzy."

"Then don't stare," said Set, "What's taking them so long? How much time does it take to look for a down plane?"

"Maybe that plane went down," said Marik, but stopped after Set's glare, "Sorry…"

Yugi sat in the same armchair, supposedly asleep. However, rest was far from Yugi's mind. He left his soul room and opened the door to Yami's side.

"Pharaoh, are you in here?" asked Yugi.

Yami Yugi appeared in the center of the area, "What's on your mind, Yugi?"

"I'm worried about us. I have that 'something bad is going to happen' feeling, and I don't like it."

"I feel it too," said Yami, "Things have been too easy. From what I could gather from your tale, someone on our side of the Rebellion found you rather quickly, and Hermione was able to escape the castle, along with the Puzzle. I would think escaping a large castle would be difficult."

"You think it was a setup?"

"I don't know, Yugi. But we should be extra careful. We don't know how trustworthy the villagers are."

"All of the other challenges didn't seem so…extreme. The witch in the desert wasn't too bad; and neither was the one with the light and darkness. Then it got harder. We had to fight Joey, find a way out of a maze, and last time…we almost got pummeled by a five-headed dragon!"

"Yes, and it seems the harder the challenge, the more real the danger. When I took a blast from the Fiendish Five, it felt much more real than when we were trying to stop Joey. We have to be very careful here. Maybe Hermione knows something that can help us."

"Do you think she's awake now?"

"It wouldn't hurt to find out. We need to gather as much information about Vaasth as possible if we expect to win."

Yugi left the Puzzle. Tea was asleep on the couch and Tristan, Joey, and Brisbane were in the other room upstairs. He didn't know where Darren was. Maybe he's meeting with the spy.

/Maybe there is no spy and he really works for Vaasth/

/Then he might have told Vaasth about us already! We have to find him!/

Yugi went upstairs and to the door at the end of the hall. Knocking softly, he entered when there was no reply. Maybe he is out of the house, he thought. He peered at some photos on a dresser top. Most of them were scenic, but one was of him and a beautiful woman with long brown curls and cold eyes.

Yugi picked up the photo and then walked over to Hermione's room. He knocked and went inside. Hermione was standing at the window, looking at the town. Seto had nodded off in the chair next to the bed.

"How are you feeling?" asked Yugi.

Hermione shrugged, "It's only a matter of time before she finds me."

"We'll be ready this time," said Yugi, "No surprises."

"What's that?" Hermione pointed to the picture.

"Have you seen this person before, perhaps in the castle?" Yugi handed her the picture.

Hermione took one look, and her eyes went wide. "That's her, that's Vaasth!"

"That's Vaasth? Why would Darren have a picture of her in his bedroom?"

"Maybe they're related," guessed Hermione.

"It doesn't make any sense! He's part of the Rebellion!"

"So he says," said Hermione, "He could be a spy for Vaasth."

"We won't know until he comes back," said Yugi, picking up the photo, "In the meantime, there's not much else we can do." He left the room.

Graydon entered the throne room. Various soldiers bearing weapons of all shapes and sizes had gathered. One of them approached Graydon.

"Sir, Lady Vaasth has ordered us – with you leading – to bring the girl back. According to a reliable source, she's in a villager's home at the end of the town."

"In the dead of night?"

"Yes. She wanted us to leave as soon as you were briefed."

"Then what are we waiting for? The sooner we leave; the sooner Lady Vaasth's power is restored."

Darren ran back to the house and slammed the door shut. "Wake up, everyone, hurry!"

"What is it?" asked Tea.

"The spy reported in. Soldiers are coming this way!"

"Soldiers?" asked Yugi, "How do you know they won't just pass through the city and move on?"

"He said they know that you're here. They're going to try and destroy you!"

"We have to hurry," said Yugi. He ran upstairs and nearly flattened Alex in the process.

"What's going on?" asked Brisbane.

"The soldiers know we're here. They're coming now. We have to fight them," said Yugi.

"Why don't we just leave?"

"Running and hiding won't get us anywhere!" said Yugi, "In order to get of here, we're going to have to fight eventually. Load your capsules. We're going to be ready for them this time!"

Yugi ran into the room Joey and Tristan were in and shook them awake. "Get up guys!"

"What's goin' on, Yug'?" asked Joey.

"Soldiers are coming. Tristan, you have to summon your capsules. Maybe give one to Joey. It's time we did something!"

"Aw right! A fight! Gimme your Shovel Crushed, Tristan."

"No way! You take Thunder Dragon."

"Keep the smaller monsters at the windows. They can attack without having to worry about being seen right away. The big monsters can hover in the sky and around the house," said Yami, taking control. "Thunder Kid, Blue Eyes Baby Dragon, Kuriboh, and Happy Lover should stay in the upstairs windows. Celtic Guardian, Dark Blade, Shovel Crusher, and Dark Magician can stay on the ground outside, and Thunder Dragon, Seiryu, Pitch Dark Dragon, and Dark Witch can hit from the skies."

"What about Black Luster Soldier and Blue Eyes White Dragon?" asked Brisbane.

"Kaiba and I will probably merge with those."

"Oh."

"The soldiers are coming," called Darren from downstairs, "I see them in the distance!"

"Let's go kick some butt," said Joey, cracking his knuckles."

"There they are," said Hermione, pointing from the bedroom window. Seto looked in the indicated direction. Sure enough, soldiers with varying weapons were coming down the road. Seiryu, Pitch Dark Dragon, Thunder Dragon, Dark Witch, and Blue Eyes White Dragon were in the sky. The smaller, weaker monsters were in the downstairs window, ready to attack from inside, and the ground monsters were out in the street. It was Joey's idea to use wand magic as sniper fire from the front bedroom windows.

"How many of them are there?" asked Seto.

"It's too dark to tell. There's enough – leave it at that," said Hermione, "Do you have your wand?"

Seto nodded, "Always. Who do you think is going to hit first?"

When the first row of soldiers made it over the hill the house was on, they were able to see the monsters protecting the area. Immediately, they began engaging the monsters.

The soldiers weren't faring too well against the monsters hidden in the windows. Their attacks (led by Joey) caught most by surprise. When the soldiers looked in the direction of the source, the monsters ducked out of view. A soldier tried to sneak over to the window and find the monsters, but Thunder Dragon fried him.

"Where did these monsters come from!?" cried a soldier, "They're wiping us out!"
"It must be from those newcomers who arrived a few days ago. Lady Vaasth keeps these types of monsters in the castle."

"We need to get into that – look out!" The soldier ducked, pulling his companion with him. A jet of red light flew past them. "Where the hell did that come from!?"

"It must have been from that witch on the roof!"

"Well, we need to get into that house and stop them from hitting us from there."

"We can't, not with those dragons…"
"What dragons?"

"Those dragons, you twit!" He pointed at the roof. Pitch Dark Dragon opened its mouth and let out a blast of dark magic. "Run!"

Yugi ran upstairs and into the far bedroom. "How's it going up here?"

"They think Dark Witch is sourcing our attacks, which is good for us, but it would be helpful if they stopped – Stupefy! – moving!" Hermione sighed, "I got one, but it's hard to get a good aim without being seen."

"Well, so far, they're losing," said Yugi, "Tristan and Tea are on the side of the house, Joey's with the small monsters, Darren and Alex are out back, and I'm on my way to the dragons."

"You're going on the roof?"

"Tristan said I could ride on Thunder Dragon. If we have to dismount, Yami's going to merge with Black Luster Soldier."

Seto watched his Blue Eyes fry ten soldiers, "I think the dragons are fine by themselves. Maybe you should go out and see what's going on down there."

Yugi nodded and hurried out.

Suddenly, Seto felt a sharp pain in his side. "What the…"

"What is it?"

"I don't know…my side hurt all of a sudden. I've got a bad feeling…"

Tristan, Alex, and Tea also felt mysterious pains all of a sudden, but couldn't figure out where they were coming from.

Meanwhile, Shovel Crusher was doing a very good job at confusing and aggravating the soldiers. He would come up from his underground tunnel, plow into a few soldiers, and return below the street. Not only did he stop the soldiers from attacking the other monsters, he was able to slow them down, allowing Hermione to stun them with her wand.

"It would be a lot easier if we had a machine gun," Seto said.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "We don't want to kill them!"

"From what you said Vaasth plans to do, they're going to kill us."

"This is a game, Seto…though it is a cruel, twisted one…no one's going to die."

"Can you be sure of that?"

Hermione didn't respond.

"These challenges seem more and more real. Getting hit by something in the first round was nothing compared to the last one. For all we know, anything that happens here is real."

Somewhere, down below, there was a loud crash.

"What was that?"

"Sounded like it came from the back of the house," said Seto, "I'll go see." He could hear banging and other strange noises somewhere else in the house. Just when he was about to turn the knob, a force on the other side threw the door open, sending him backwards to the floor. When he got up, a familiar looking sword was pointed rather close to his neck. He narrowed his eyes when he saw who held the weapon, "You!"

"We meet again," said Graydon, smiling, "Like I said to you last, I don't wish to fight you."

Seto narrowed his eyes, "Then put the sword down."

"Very well," Seto was as surprised as Hermione when the soldier put away his weapon, "I've only come for Hermione. I don't want to hurt either of you."

"You must be out of your mind if you think I'll go back with you," said Hermione angrily.

"Yes, yes, well your little charade is done. The fighting is over."

"Is it…" said Seto, "Hermione, what's going on outside?"

She peered out the window, "There's nothing...some soldiers in the street, but no fighting."

Seto found something very suspicious, "Why aren't the dragons doing anything?"

Graydon gave a sly smile, "We stopped them, with this." He held out an odd looking pot.

"It's a –"

"Dragon Capture Jar," Seto muttered. He knew if he tried to blast it with his wand, Graydon would slice his wand in two with his sword. "Hermione, destroy the jar."

Hermione barely started to raise her wand when Graydon tucked the jar away, "I wouldn't. It's impervious to magic. Lady Vaasth purposely charmed the jar herself before we left the castle. Now, I'm going to ask again. Come back to the castle."

"If you think I'm going to willingly go back there, you're crazier than I thought," Hermione said.

"If you won't come willingly, then it will be by force," said Graydon. He raised his sword and the soldiers behind him tightly gripped their weapons.

Seto backed up next to Hermione, "You know…it looks like we're gravely outnumbered."

"Yea, we don't have a chance," Hermione grinned, "Ready?"

"Absolutely," said Seto. They both raised their wands.

"STUPEFY!"

Joey groaned and opened his eyes. Man, what happened? Oh yea. Those soldiers are what happened… He rubbed his head where one of the men had struck him. Huh? Where are the dragons? Getting up, Joey began looking for the rest of his friends. He wandered into the kitchen. Alex was unconscious; there was a small cut on his cheek. Wait a sec – I thought this was like some crazy Shadow Game, but he's bleedin'. Is this place real? Joey continued out back. Yugi was on the ground tinkering with something.

"Yugi? What happened?"

"Everything went downhill when someone pulled a Dragon Capture Jar. Tristan and Tea are unconscious. I saw Darren with them before, but I don't know about anyone else."

"Why are you sitting on the ground?"

Yugi looked up at Joey, "They broke the Puzzle."

Oh, man. "Need help?"

"No. You go find the others. I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"Yea. Someone might need help, and the Duel Armor is useless without Yami."

"If you're sure…" Joey ran off again. What's that noise upstairs? He cautiously walked down the hall where strange flashes of light were coming from the end room.

"You okay?" asked Darren. He, Tristan and Tea had found Yugi.

"Just putting the Puzzle back together – yet again," said Yugi. "How are you guys?"

"We're fine," said Tristan, "A little scratched up, but okay."

"I can't believe they have a Dragon Capture Jar," said Tea, "That completely gave them the winning edge."

"I can't believe I got hit over the head with a rock," Tristan muttered, "Of all the ways to go down…"

Tea rolled her eyes, "Try small boulder. Anyway, Yugi, have you seen Joey, Kaiba, or Hermione?"

"Joey was here a moment ago – yes! Finished it! – but I haven't seen the others." Yugi placed the Puzzle around his neck and let Yami take control.

"I think we should regroup with the others as soon as possible," said the pharaoh, "Sorry about the soldiers invading your house, Darren."

"No worries. I fight for the destruction of the monarchy. A little damage here and there won't hurt me."

"We saw a picture of someone that Hermione recognized as Vaasth," Yami began.

"Say no more," sighed Darren, "I know what you might be thinking. Lady Vaasth is my sister."

He ignored the looks plastered on their faces, "I'll explain everything after we find your friends. I assure you, I have only honorable intentions."

"Can you explain why we're losing this?" asked Seto.

"I don't know, but I've got an idea," Hermione waved her wand; she conjured a large flock of birds. They flew about the room. A few soldiers stopped trying to break through an invisible barrier Hermione had made and stared at the birds.

"Oppugno!"

Immediately the flock swarmed around the soldiers.

"Argh!"

"Get 'em off me!"

"Ow!"

Graydon, while trying to keep the flock off of his face, reached into his pocket and pulled out a strange looking object. He held it out in front of him. The stunner Seto sent towards him was absorbed into the strange charm. A moment later, the red beam, now three times its original size went shooting back toward Seto. It hit the magic barrier and kept on going. Seto managed to duck just in time before the jet of light hit the wall, leaving a large burn mark.

"What is that?"

"A gift from Lady Vaasth. It duplicated the magic sent into it and repels it three times as powerful. I can crush your barrier with ease, and then some, but I will offer you one last chance to come back to the castle peacefully."

"And if I don't?" Hermione asked, but she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

The three soldiers who were left standing after all of the stunners and the bird attacks aimed familiar silver shooters at Seto.

"I'm afraid we will have to force your hand. If you don't come with us, your friend will only suffer. These shoot different attachments than before. Being hit by an old shooter won't really hurt you at all. These are much more lethal."

Hermione glanced at Seto, unsure what to do.

Graydon seemed to know exactly what was going on in her head, "Think about it. If you come peacefully, there will be no more hurt. If you refuse, odds are one or both of you will be given unnecessary pain and you'll end up in the castle anyway. You might as well go peacefully."

If I go quietly, Seto won't get hurt, my friends won't get hurt any more, but I'll be back in that prison for the rest of my life. If I refuse, we'll both lose, and I'll still be stuck, all alone, in that castle…for the rest of my life.

"Alright, Graydon," she said, "You win. I'll come quietly…"

"Excellent. Come over here and we'll –"

"…under one condition."

Graydon blinked, "What?"

"I'll go with you under one condition."

Graydon folded his arms, "I'm listening…"

Yugi and the others ran upstairs to find Joey standing in a doorway.

"What is it Joey?" asked Yugi.

"They're gone," said Joey, "They all just disappeared. Hermione and Kaiba and everyone else…they just vanished into thin air."

"No one just gets up and disappears, Joey," said Tristan.

"No, they vanished. Some guy held up this weird charm thing and there was a bright light and they disappeared. I'm not goin' bananas here!"

"Well, there's only one place they could have gone and we all know where," said Yugi.

Tea nodded, "The castle."

"I'm sure they're depending on us to win this challenge so we can all go home. We have to act fast before that sorceress is too powerful."

"We need to get our stolen stuff back and defeat her," said Joey, "Any ideas?"

"There's always the direct approach," said Tristan thoughtfully.

"Yea, good going, Tristan! Let's all walk through the front door and get shot!"

"Calm down, Joey!" Yugi sighed, "Darren, we need your help once more."

"Ask away," he said, "I want to help any way I can."

"We need to get information from this spy; where our missing stuff is, where our friends are, and anything else going on in the castle."

"I'll see what I can do," said Darren. He looked around the house, which looked like a bomb tore through it, "Uh, anyone want to help clean this place up?"

Tanny entered Lady Vaasth's chambers. The tiara was sitting on its cushion, and the sorceress's transparent body was on the balcony, overlooking the city.

"My Lady?"

Vaasth turned, "What is it? I thought I said I didn't want to be disturbed."

"She's back, My Lady."

"Tell Shaile to prepare the transfer first thing in the morning."

"There's something else, My Lady."

"Oh?"

Tanny told her.

"Oh, excellent! This will most definitely work to my advantage!"

Lady Vaasth drifted out of her room, following Tanny down the corridor. The maid stopped at room with two guards at either side of the door. Going right through the door, she went right up to the figure unconscious on the bed. Hmm, you are a handsome one. What kind of person are you?

She placed a hand on his forehead, looking at all of the memories flooding forward.

A fifth birthday party…

Seeing Mokuba for the first time…

Mother's dying wish, "Take good care of Mokuba, Seto…"…

Learning Father died in a car accident…

Living in the orphanage…

Another kid taking a picture of Mokuba and Seto after Mokie won his first chess game… (aka the photo in the lockets)

Challenging Gozaburo to a chess game, "If I win, you have to adopt me and my younger brother Mokuba!"

His first Duel Monster cards, kept secret from Gozaburo…

Private tutoring…

His torture when Gozaburo was livid with him…

Striking a deal with the Big 5…

Taking control of Kaiba Corp…

Going to public school…

Rising to become the Duel Monsters World Champ…

Losing to Yugi Muto…

Trying to save Mokuba from Pegasus…

Forcing Yugi's hand on the castle rooftop…

The fateful meeting with Ishizu at the museum…

Battle City…

The rematch with Yugi and the blast from the past…

The Dartz ordeal…

Somehow agreeing to take control of the Millennium Rod…

Meeting Set…

The Hogwarts letter…

Meeting Harry, Ron, and Hermione…

Hogwarts and Quidditch…

The back porch with Hermione at the Kaiba manor…

Logging onto his laptop after a nap to be whisked away to Voldemort's lair…

Pushing Yugi away from the Sword's magic…

Waking up in the hospital wing months later…

Saving Hermione from Malfoy…

Hermione and Seto's first kiss…

A month of detentions…

Encountering Malfoy for the second time…

Umbridge spilling information about Gozaburo…

Sectusempra…

Dumbledore's funeral…

Grangers' funeral…

Discovering the pilot was a Death Eater…

Entering the Pyramid…

Obtaining the magic sword and glove…

Destroying the Fiendish Five…

Vaasth pulled away, that was a bit more than I expected to see…but this is working perfectly! There's no way I can lose now!

The morning sun shined right through the open French doors and onto Hermione's face. When she opened her eyes and sat up, she realized she was in the same room as before. The last thing she could remember was agreeing to come back to the castle.

Wait a minute – I only agreed to come if Seto was here! Where is he?

The door opened and Graydon came inside. "It is time. Come with me."

Hermione folded her arms, "What about our bargain?"

"Your friend is in the next room. One of my soldiers went against orders and shot him, thinking he was going to retaliate in some way. However his aim was off and his dart hit both of you. You were only grazed by it, but your friend is still recovering."

He saw Hermione wasn't going to budge. "You agreed to return to the castle. You know what is going to happen. I'd rather not have to drag you there."

"What about Seto?"

"What about him?"

"Will I be able to see him later or are you going to coop me up in the same room again?"

"That is up to Lady Vaasth. I doubt she'll keep you cooped up in one room. But we won't know unless we leave." He beckoned toward the door. After a moment's pause, Hermione followed.

"What exactly is going to happen to me?" she asked.

"Lady Vaasth will give you two options on how she will get her new body. One is to let her possess you –"

"Absolutely not!"

"…the other is a slow energy drain, which will also keep the two of you in separate bodies."

"None of them are very desirable."

"They're not supposed to be. If you don't want Lady Vaasth to be able to look through your memories and thoughts, I'd stick with option two."

Graydon led her down the hall and around a corner. Roan was at the end of the hall, at a large set of doors. Upon their arrival, he opened them and nodded his head toward the door.

The room was mostly empty, save for a long table in the center. A man Hermione didn't recognize was examining the objects on the table. Lady Vaasth was also there; her tiara was in the middle of the table.

Hermione noticed that Vaasth wasn't wearing her customary slinky gown and open cloak. Instead she wore a robe that seemed to shimmer, even while transparent. Another silk robe was draped over the table.

"I'm sure Graydon has informed you of your choices," said Vaasth, "I'm also guessing you're going to choose the second option."

Hermione nodded, staring at the floor.

"This is Shaile, Hermione," said Vaasth, "He will be conducting the ritual."

"Please remove your outer garment," said Shaile. He walked over with the shiny silver robe.

"What? Why?"

"It will make the transfer easier," said Shaile.

Hermione took off her jacket, revealing a black tank top. She pulled on the robe and left it unclasped. It reminded her very much of her Hogwarts robes, only this was shinier, silver, and the length ended just at her feet. Graydon took her jacket and draped it over his arm.

"The cloak must be worn by both parties for the ritual to work," said Shaile. He led Hermione to the center of the room, next to Vaasth. "For you, it acts as a collector, and for Lady Vaasth, it 

acts as a receiver. The entire process time will vary, depending on the amount of energy needed. It's gradual, so you won't feel a great loss of energy right away."

"…and how is this supposed to work?"

"The robe will activate on its own. However to start it, you must take hold of the scepter. I will do the rest." Shaile walked back over to the table, and took the tiara and scepter. He held the tiara over Vaasth's transparent head and handed the scepter to Hermione, who took it with a reluctant pause.

To Hermione's surprise, her robe changed from silver to gold. Glancing at Vaasth, she saw that the top of her head was no longer transparent. Slowly, her body became whole again. Hermione gasped, looking down at the scepter. I just pretty much spelled doom for my friends…I can't believe I agreed to this!

Shaile approached once more, this time holding two silver bracelets. "These will measure the amount of energy in each of you. For you, it tells of how much you have left, and for Lady Vaasth, it says how much you have gained." He fastened them around Hermione and Vaasth's wrists, "The lowest yours can go is five, and the highest yours can go is 95. The bracelets will turn gold once the transfer is complete. Only then can you remove the cloak and the bracelet."

Hermione looked at the number on hers. It changed from 92 to 90.

"Lady Vaasth, until yours reaches at least fifteen, you should rest," he said, and then turned to Hermione, "Once yours reaches anything below thirty, I wouldn't do anything strenuous."

Not that I'm going to be doing anything important anymore anyway…

"There's nothing else to do here," said Shaile, "You can all go about your regular business now. And remember – don't remove the cloak or bracelet."

After Vaasth took back her necklace, Graydon led Hermione back to her room. She stopped at the door next to hers. The guards weren't there.

"Weren't there two people here before?"

"Probably rotating the guard, but someone should be there. I wouldn't think much about it," said Graydon. He noticed her staring off at the door, "I suppose you can see him now," he shrugged, "I doubt he's awake though." He unlocked the door.

The dark curtains around the French doors were drawn, letting in very little of the morning light. Hermione could make out Seto's still form on the bed. She opened the curtains a bit to shed some light and gasped.

The back of his hand was completely blood-covered, also staining the bedspread around it. The left side of his head was sporting a nasty cut, and on his left sleeve part of his jacket and shirt was ripped, revealing a disgusting slash. She wasn't surprised to see his capsule belt and shooter, as well as his sword, missing.

"What happened?"

"I wasn't bluffing when I warned you about our new shooter darts. There are very lethal. They're not strong enough to kill anyone, but they pack quite a punch. Merely touching an active one for more than a few seconds can knock someone unconscious. I have no idea what this one was programmed to do, but the wounds will heal. He should be up soon. We cleaned his head and shoulder wound. I see his right hand needs some more care."

"That hand always needs care," said Hermione, "Just what is Lady Vaasth going to do with him?" She squeezed Seto's hand.

"Remember, it was your idea to bring him along. Since you'll be stuck here for a while, I'm sure he'll be company for you. Lady Vaasth will probably keep a close eye on him if your friends arrive for a rescue."

"I'm just surprised you held up your end. I would have thought Seto would end up in a dungeon or something."
"Lady Vaasth only used the dungeons for high-rank rebel prisoners. It's near impossible to escape them. Odds are if your friends are captured, they'll end up there. Your friend isn't there because of our agreement."

Hermione glanced at the bracelet. So far, it was holding at 90. "What happened to his sword, or his capsule shooter?"

"His weapons, along with yours and the other items we took when you first arrived are kept in Lady Vaasth's private keepsake room. She keeps such items as her prize possessions, separate from the treasure room."

"So where is this room?"

Graydon shook his head with a slight chuckle. He closed the curtains again and beckoned Hermione out of the room, "Ah ah ah! I can't give you that information. You can't fool me that easily."

He lead Hermione back to her room, "Tanny will be along soon to bring food and then to care for your friend. Lady Vaasth still doesn't trust you just yet to wander the castle, so I'll have to lock you in. I'll let you know when your friend wakes so you're not alone all the time. Perhaps I can let you see the Gardens – without an escape attempt this time."

"Why are you being so nice?" asked Hermione, taking her jacket back from Graydon, "You don't seem like the other guards at all – Roan especially."

"I may side with Lady Vaasth and give her one hundred percent loyalty, but not even you, a 'guest' in the castle, deserves to be locked up alone."

Monsters so far…

Yugi: Celtic Guardian, Kuriboh, Dark Magician, Black Luster Soldier

Seto: Blue Eyes Baby Dragon, Blue Eyes White Dragon (all are missing)

Hermione: Cyber Harpie, Harpie's Pet Dragon (all are missing)

Tristan: Thunder Kid, Thunder Dragon, Shovel Crusher (Thunder Dragon missing)

Joey: Baby Dragon, Flame Swordsman, Red Eyes Black Dragon (all are missing)

Tea: Dark Witch, Happy Lover, Seiryu (Seiryu missing)

Alex: Pitch Dark Dragon, Dark Blade (Pitch Dark Dragon missing)

Let me know what you think, and I'll see ya Friday!