*Bows to Duo-san* Arigato! Erm, however they do it…

I've almost completely taken out dueling from this. Fighting is so much better, with less research, and more action. And by the way, most of the creatures, I'm giving more powers than the encyclopedia identifies. Only powers that fit, though…

"A-a Lamia?" Leslie asked slowly. Sybil hissed, a forked tongue slithering out of her open mouth that showed her long, venomous fangs. Chazz bared his own, warningly.

"A Lamia is a loathing creature, half snake and half women, but with the ability to appear as a full human," Zane explained quickly, not taking his eyes off of Sybil. No one was moving. "She could have some hidden power, though… I'm not that educated on the Lamia."

Suddenly, Jerome bent his knees, then leaped at the Lamia. She twisted out of the way, and he pushed off of the opposite wall. This time, he landed on her back.

"Dalton, NO!" Chazz cried. Sybil shrieked, and they were all forced to cover their ears. Jerome dug his nails into her shoulders, drawing blood and staining her shirt darkly. She grabbed his arms and threw him over her shoulder. He slammed into the ground on his back with a moan of quick pain. He quickly leaped up, however, only to be grabbed by Sybil around the waist and hoisted up.

As the others made moves to rescue Jerome, she screamed again, forcing them to stop once more. She slid quickly down the tunnel, fading into the darkness.

Light was on the ground. He didn't dare go onto the bed, or… the nest… but he was tired of sitting or standing, so he resorted to lying on the cold floor. His back was to the pool behind him.

He heard a splash behind him, but he ignored it until a wet hand was placed on his arm. Only then did he look up at whoever was there.

"Light!?" It was Alexis!

"A-Alexis" Light stammered. "What're you doing here?"

"Trying to find some answers concerning my brother," she answered. "What's on your neck?"

"Oh, this?" Light pointed to his collar. "That Sybil person put it on me. I can't do much of anything without receiving a shock." Alexis looked horrified.

"S-Sybil?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Atticus mentioned a Sybil. She's the only other Shadow Fiend he knew and could remember from–"

"Wait, Atticus woke up!?"

"Well, only for a few minutes. That's when I saw the cave in the lake and wanted to investigate…" Alexis hesitated, then put her palm to the ground. "Do you feel that? Vibrations…" Suddenly, Jerome was thrown out of the darkness and onto the hard ground, rolling for a bit before stopping.

"Dalton!" Light cried. He stood up and started to move over to the werewolf. But before he could get there, the Lamia, who he recognized immediately as Sybil, lunges forward and knocked Light aside easily. Light slammed into the wall and slipped to the ground, knocked out.

"Light!" Alexis shouted out. The Lamia turned towards her, hissing. Alexis quickly put on her Item. Her legs weren't completely dry yet, but dry enough for her legs to split and her feet to form. She stood up and jumped just in time to dodge Sybil's tail swipe.

Jerome wasn't unconscious; he just pretended to be for a while. He lifted his head tentatively, saw that Sybil was busy, and started crawling towards the nest. When he was thrown, he had seen something glitter, and he thought it might be something important. He was crawling army style, on his elbows, as low to the ground as possible.

Alexis dove towards Light as the Lamia swung her tail downwards. Sybil swung down low in an attempt to slash at Alexis with long nails, but missed.

The nest was in a little dent in the ground. There, in the center, on a pedestal, was a single glass rose. Sybil finally noticed Jerome and screamed.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THAT ROSE!" she screeched. She slithered to him, grabbed his shoulder and threw him away from the nest. Jerome slid a few feet before using the momentum to flip back onto his feet. But before he could try again for the rose, Sybil coiled around him, squeezing tighter and tighter. Jerome shouted in surprise, and struggled to get free.

"Hey, what's the big deal with this rose, here?" a voice echoed. All conscious heads turned back towards the nest. Aster Phoenix, standing in front of the nest, holding the rose by its stem between his fingers! "Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm here, we split up because there were so many tunnels… Whoops." Aster let the rose slip out of his hands, most likely on purpose.

Sybil had a look of horror on her face. As if in slow motion, the rose fell to the ground and shattered. "AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Sybil let out a screech louder than ever and clutched her head with her hands. Jerome dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. The entire cave shook, and portals started opening up. The portals were dark purple and black swirling vortexes. They appeared all around the walls and ceilings, and the rest of the group that ventured into the cave actually dropped out of them!

"Wh-What's going on!?" Leslie cried. The Lamia once again was enveloped in a bright light, but this time it was pure gold. It grew brighter and brighter, filling the entire cave. Light's collar even disappeared. Everyone screamed, and felt the sense of weightlessness.

Kris sat up suddenly.

"What's up, Kris?" Shara asked, sitting up also. Alicia and Syrus had fallen asleep.

"I thought I heard something," the wolf replied. "Did you hear it too?"

"Hmm…" Shara thought a bit. "Yeah, I think I did. Kind of like a screech, right?" Kris nodded, and they both looked out towards the cave. He started to shake, sending waves outward. They girls woke Alicia and Syrus up and backed away from the water's edge. The little bit of cave that was sticking out of the water suddenly dropped as if in sky instead of H2O, a giant gold orb lifted out of the spot where the cave vanished just before the water filled the gap. The orb sped towards the girls (and Syrus) and landed in the shallows of the lake.

Syrus gasped. "Zane! Everyone's back!" he exclaimed.

"Holy guacamole, you're right," Shara said, squinting into the fading light. "But who's that girl?" In front of the group, Sybil, in her human form now, wobbled and fell backwards into, ironically, Jerome. He caught her, and they all tramped out of the knee-deep water.

"What the hell happened?" Kris demanded.

"Long story," Jerome said, shoving Sybil at Chazz. "Let's tell it when we're not all soaking."

"Amen," Emerald laughed. "If one thing's for sure, though, I don't think Sybil here was originally a Lamia, or whatever."

"What makes you think that?" Chazz asked, now carrying Sybil bridal-style, as that was easiest.

"I dunno," Emerald replied. "Girl's intuition."

"Yeah, she never seemed like a Lamia to me, too," Leslie added.

"That's 'cause I'm not."

"Eh!?" They all looked at Sybil now, who had opened her eyes blearily.

"I'm not a Lamia. I'm actually a Lama. I was given that strange glass rose the silver-haired boy dropped… That was right after my love left for an over-seas trip and got caught in a storm. I was angry at him for leaving, and I left the safety of the haven for a little while. This shadowy figure said he sympathized with me, and he offered me the rose. I was touched, and it was beautiful too, but when I held it, my hate just amplified." Her eyes moved to Jerome. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, or any of you."

Jerome shrugged. "'S'all right. You weren't you." Sybil smiled faintly, and looked up and Chazz.

"Young Vampire, if you don't mind, I'm really tired, and I'd prefer a bed to your arms."

"Eh heh heh heh…" Chazz grinned sheepishly. Leslie stretched and leaned on Zane.

"I'm tired too. Trekking through caves really takes it out of ya." Zane smiled and put a hand on her head.

-sighs- that was more difficult to write than it should have been. Well, for those who don't know, a Lama is a protective deity in Sumerian mythology. They're depicted like nymphs: Beautiful and helping. Of course, they served the gods, and in this story, they'll be a little different…

Well, I hope you all enjoyed it! 'Specially you, Duo-san!