A/N: I love how excited everyone is about this story, and I really appreciate the wonderful reviews you guys give me. I have to say, when I posted this story, I had no idea where it would go, but I'm really glad that I decided to take a leap of faith that day! If you didn't see my note at the bottom of the last chapter referencing the little content, please see the bottom of this one before you review. Enjoy!


In spite of the fact that it was entirely owned by one person, Illusion Island was actually fairly large. It was a beautiful island, really, with plenty of untainted greenery. A large portion of it was actually covered by forest, and it was, of course, completely surrounded by water on all sides. In the middle of it sat a large castle that looked like it had been taken straight out of a fairy tale. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had been kidnapped, Yuugi might have actually enjoyed a visit to the island. As it was, he rested his forehead against the bars on his window and wondered ironically if the castle made him the damsel in distress, considering that there was no end in sight to his captivity. It wasn't for lack of trying, of course, but every single one of his escape attempts had been thwarted by guards, and he was growing wary of trying again when every attempt was meant with longer periods of shock torture. He couldn't really feel his right hand anymore as it was.

Footsteps outside of his door made the young hikari stiffen, but when they passed harmlessly by, he relaxed and let out his breath in a worried sigh. It had been two long days since the video had been sent to his friends, and he was getting really worried about them. There was no way that Pegasus and Hafiz were going to let him just walk out of the castle; Hafiz had made that abundantly clear during one of their little sessions. He seemed to take extra pleasure in detailing exactly what he would love to do to Malik, Ryou, and Yuugi. The mere thought of some of the things the man had said sent fresh chills down his spine and he shivered.

Where was Yami? Why hadn't his darkness come for him yet? And why couldn't Yuugi feel him anymore? Lowering his head, Yuugi rested his chin on his arms and closed his eyes. Back when Yami had first told him about the possibility of their being yami and hikari, he'd freaked out. It had been nothing short of terrifying to know that someone could be so important to him; it made him feel far more vulnerable than he was comfortable with. But now that Yami was gone… Absently, he rubbed his chest. The ache had been growing steadily worse, like a cramped muscle that he couldn't relax, and he didn't think it was going to go away until Yami came back.

Was all of this happening because of Maiden of the Moonlight's spell? He didn't feel like he was under her control, but then again, they'd thought he was free of her magic after he and Yami had faced the spell in his soul room. Maybe she was somehow blocking his bond with Yami even though they had returned to the real world. He shuddered at the idea. Maiden of the Moonlight's magic made him feel dirty on the inside, like part of him had been touched with something disgusting that he couldn't scrub away. It was a vile feeling that had slowly permeated every part of him, and at this point, he wasn't sure he'd ever get it off.

Frustrated, he turned away from the window and walked back into the empty room. After his last attempt late last night, Hafiz had made sure his room was stripped of anything that might help. The sheets had been taken off the bed, the mirror in the bathroom was removed, a small square had been cut in the bottom of the door so that guards didn't have to open the door to deliver food and water, and a small black GPS locator had been snapped around his left ankle just in case he did manage to make a successful run for it. There was literally nowhere for him to go, so he sat down on the floor; no way was he getting any closer to the chains that had been left on the bed than he had to.

"Yami, where are you?" he said out loud, pulling his knees closer to his chest. He rested his chin on top of them and wondered how his grandfather was making out, whether the man had awoken or perhaps gotten worse. That was the worst part about being so cut off from the world. For all he knew, Sugoroku was dead, and he wouldn't even know or be there when it happened. The hikari closed his eyes, aware that his thoughts had gotten morbid, but he couldn't help himself. If it weren't for the fact that sight of his tears actually seemed to spur Hafiz on, he might have cried. Instead, he jumped and tensed when the door cracked open for the first time hours.

Kujaku Mai stepped into the room carrying a platter that had a plate with fresh fruit and rice balls on it. She closed the door behind her and walked across the room to kneel beside Yuugi. If she was surprised to find him curled up in the corner, she made no mention of it. Instead, she gestured to the food. "Are you hungry? You haven't been eating well, kiddo. You have to keep your strength up."

"Why? For more torture?" Yuugi snapped. He felt guilty as soon as he saw the stricken look on her face. It wasn't Mai's fault that both of them were trapped there. From what little she had said to him, he had drawn the conclusion that either Hafiz or Pegasus or both had something on her that kept her from running away or from helping him to escape. "I'm sorry, Mai," he said, softening his tone. "I'm just..."

"Frustrated. Scared. Lonely. Tired," she listed with a sad smile on her lips. She herself looked perpetually tired, like it had been years since she'd gotten a decent night's sleep. Her blonde curls hung limply around her face, and her violet eyes were filled with wistfulness as she leaned over and ran a hand through his hair. "If you want me to forgive you, eat something. It really bothers me to see you going so long without eating."

Yuugi sighed but reluctantly picked up one of the rice balls. The normally delicious food tasted bitter as he ate, and he had a difficult time swallowing. Mai produced a bottle of water which helped a little, but he still only managed to eat two rice balls and part of an apple before he had to stop, or he knew he would be sick. Thankfully, Mai seemed to sense that he had reached his limit, and she was all too willing to help him finish the plate. She was actually so eager that Yuugi couldn't help glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, realizing for the first time that it was all too possible that her slenderness wasn't natural.

"Mai?" he said tentatively.

"Yeah, kiddo?" She leaned back against the wall and snagged the last strawberry with a satisfied sigh.

"Why are you here?" When she turned to him with a startled look, he said quickly, "I mean you seem to have free run of the castle. Why not just… run for it?"

Mai continued to look at him as she brought the strawberry to her lips and bit into it slowly. Bright red juice burst from the plump fruit and threatened to trickle down across her chin, but she swept her tongue over her lips, cleaning it up before it could go any further. Only once the berry was gone and she had cleaned every last trace of juice from her fingers did she speak. "Sometimes things aren't always what they seem, kiddo. It's true that I'm not physically locked up like you are. I've had many chances to escape and over the years I know I've allowed more than a few to go by. I realize that might sound crazy to you. After all, I did have family waiting for me." Her expression turned pained for a split second before it smoothed out and she sighed. "But it was better for me to stay here than to try and return."

"I don't understand," Yuugi said honestly. He was remembering Bakura's outburst when Mai's name was mentioned. "Your family... you mean Bakura, don't you?"

"You've met him?" Mai said with a knowing smile, picking up an orange. She peeled it expertly and broke it apart into two halves, one of which she handed to Yuugi. He took it only after she gave him a sharp look that dared him to put it back down. "Yes, Bakura is my cousin. He was always a little pest. I remember I was so angry when my father took him in." Shaking her head, she laughed a little as she popped a chunk of the orange into her mouth. "I thought he was a weird little brat because he seemed so unaffected by what had happened to his parents. It took me a while to understand why he was like that."

Her laughter stopped as she sobered, growing more serious. "Bakura and I were close, hard as that might be to believe. We fought a lot but he ended up becoming my little brother. There were loads of things that my father taught to him, things that no child should ever learn, but Bakura took to them like he had been waiting his whole life for someone with that kind of information." Mai sighed, her violet eyes taking on a misty glaze. "I wanted to protect him. I suppose it's no wonder that I was made a guardian."

The orange was surprisingly fresh. Yuugi chewed a small morsel and swallowed before he said, "Is that why you're still here? You're trying to protect Bakura?"

"Sort of. It's hard to explain, kiddo. Let's just say that Bakura isn't the only one who needs my help." Mai gave him a tiny smile as she finished off the orange and rubbed her sticky hands together. "It's fortunate that I am here. Otherwise, you would've been left alone with Hafiz, and I shudder to think of what might have happened then."

Yuugi actually did shiver. He knew that the way Hafiz looked at him would be a key factor in his nightmares for weeks to come. "So I guess there's no chance that you could help me mistake."

"I said I let attempts pass me by. I didn't say they were recent ones," Mai replied, leaning back against the wall and sticking one of her slender legs in the air. A quick pull on her the leg of her pants revealed that she had an identical GPS tracer locked around her ankle. "Frankly, I'm shocked it took him that long to put one on you. Hafiz put these on all of the servants about six months ago after he got worried that someone might try to leave without his permission. Not that anyone could get off this island without them knowing, but he's paranoid that way. People accepted them because the pay and benefits are so good." Sighing, she gave a wry smirk. "You know, Pegasus was the one who kidnapped me and sometimes I'm not even sure if Hafiz knows that I was brought here against my will. I pretend like I'm a servant and since he doesn't know differently he doesn't challenge me. That's how I was able to come in and help you." She paused and looked at him seriously. "Yuugi-kun, if Hafiz knew I was a guardian, he would have me killed. He knows that I would do anything to protect the Pharaoh's hikari."

For a moment, Yuugi didn't say anything. He couldn't. What exactly were you supposed to say to someone you barely knew who would swear you that kind of loyalty? "Thanks," he said finally, realizing that the empty word seemed so inadequate for what he was feeling. "But I... I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

Her expression softened and she smiled kindly. "Don't worry. Like I said, Hafiz has no idea. And even if he did, he doesn't really consider the guardians as being that dangerous. After all, we don't have Millennium Items." The bitterness in her voice surprised both of them, and Yuugi glanced up at her sharply.

"Does Hafiz have a Millennium Item?" he asked. His mind was whirling from the information that Mai had just given him. All along, Yami and the others had been thinking that Pegasus was the dangerous one. But from the sound of it, Hafiz was the one who was the driving force behind everything, and that was a chilling thought. He and Ryou had suspected for some time that Malik's father often got physical with his children, though they'd never had any real proof and Malik had always refused to talk about it. The idea of Hafiz having the power of a Millennium Item, much less several, was too disturbing to contemplate.

"Not in so many words," Mai said slowly, moving on to a banana. Yuugi took the half that she had handed to him and ate absently, his eyes fixed on her face as she spoke. "Pegasus has the Millennium Eye. I'm sure that the Pharaoh must have mentioned it to you, but it allows him to see into your mind." She tapped the side of her head. "No one is safe from him. Fucking annoying if you ask me. Means he was able to tell who was loyal to him and who wasn't before he went a little sideways. Now I just wish he'd use it to look into Hafiz's mind. Might have stopped this whole mess ages ago."

"You think Hafiz is lying to him," said Yuugi.

"I don't think it, I know it," she corrected. "Everyone knows it. Hafiz is a cruel man and he's only interested in one thing. World domination. Well, two things if you count absolute power as being separate from world domination. I don't know how he knows about the Millennium Items or what his connection to them or Pegasus is, but he's determined to use their power to further his own interests. He's told Pegasus things... things that aren't necessarily true. But for some reason, the idiot man seems determined to believe them anyway." Mai pressed her lips together into a thin, angry line and dropped the peel of the banana back onto the empty plate. "I know you won't want to hear this, but you have to stop trying to escape, Yuugi-kun. It's too dangerous. Hafiz is unstable and if you push him over the edge, he could really hurt you. And I don't know that I would be strong enough to stop him by myself."

Another shiver made Yuugi tremble. He wished more than anything that Yami could be there with him. "But if I stop trying to escape, that means I have to sit here and wait for my friends to come," he blurted out, frustrated. "They're walking into a trap. Hafiz isn't going to just let them leave, especially Malik and Isis-onee-san."

Mai winced. "You just have to trust that they'll be okay," she said. "Right now, I'm with you and you are my primary concern. Not Malik, not Isis, not even Bakura." Her voice grew softer at the mention of her cousin. "I'm only trying to protect you the best way I know how."

"I hate this," Yuugi mumbled, turning away from her. The GPS locator around his ankle suddenly felt a hundred times heavier now that he knew all of the implications surrounding it. If only there was some way to get a message to his friends... they would be coming into this blind, believing that Pegasus was the one to watch. It would give Hafiz the perfect opportunity to stab them in the back. He rubbed his head in an effort to assuage the headache that was building there and sighed. "Thank you for telling me all of this, Mai-san."

"No problem," she said with a wink and triumphant smile. It wasn't until she picked up the now empty plate that Yuugi realized the two of them had effectively shared the meal between them. Her information had been so fascinating that he had been eating without really thinking about it. He looked up at Mai accusingly, causing her to grin in reply as she stood up. "Sorry, hun, but it was necessary. The Pharaoh would kill me if he came to rescue you and found out that I'd let you waste away to skin and bones. You're small enough as it is."

Yuugi pouted. "My grandfather happens to be less than four inches taller than me," he said resentfully. "It's genetic, I'm telling you."

"I'm sure it is," Mai said with another impish grin, purposely ruffling his hair. She laughed when he yelped and balanced the tray against her left hip so that she could open the door. All of the amusement vanished from her face as she stepped out into the corridor, leaving her silent and sombre as she reached back and closed the door behind her. Yuugi's last glimpse of her was of a tired smile flashed over her shoulder right before the door shut with a resounding slam that he felt all the way down to his bones.

Left alone, he curled up into a small ball. He had to admit that the food had made him feel better, and Mai's cheerful, if somewhat sarcastic and annoying, attitude had livened up the otherwise depressing day. But now that he was alone again, his worries and fears were all rushing back. More than anything, he wished there was a way to get a message to one of his friends so that he could warn them about Hafiz, but they would be out on the ocean. Even if he had access to a phone, how would he ever get a message to them? The most he could hope for was that Malik and Isis would be able to put the others on alert for anything Hafiz might do. Because otherwise, he was truly worried about what the man might do to his unsuspecting friends.

GMA

Isis Ishtar looked around the quiet, dark cabin room and resisted the urge to sigh. Though each of them had been given their own individual cabins, her brother and Ryou had decided to share one of the larger cabins that had two beds so that they wouldn't be alone. What they hadn't planned on was that Bakura and Mariku flat out refused to leave their vulnerable hikaris alone, resulting in Ryou and Malik sharing a bed while Mariku and Bakura shared the other. Or at least, that's how it was supposed to be. At the moment, Malik was lying in the left bed, clutching at his stomach and moaning faintly, while Ryou was lying in the right bed with a damp cloth over his face and eyes. She was pretty sure he was still awake.

"Do you feel any better, Malik?" she asked quietly, walking over to his bed. She was careful not to get too close, as the last time she'd been within reach, Malik had nearly vomited on her when he was aiming for the bucket. Her brother had never been out on the open sea before, and apparently he was more vulnerable to seasickness than anyone had realized. He had started throwing up about two hours after they'd left the port and he'd been feeling miserable ever since.

"A little," Malik muttered. His face had a distinctly greenish tinge behind his tan, and to be truthful, he didn't look like he felt better. Even as that thought went through Isis's mind, he groaned and lurched into a seated position, groping frantically for the bucket that had been carefully stationed beside his bed. She grimaced as he retched into it, throwing up water and bile because he'd lost most of the contents of his stomach long ago. When he was finished, he sank back against the pillows with a weak, rasping gasp, and she took the bucket from his loose grip and gingerly placed it on the floor before its contents could spill.

"You'll feel better soon. We're almost there," she said soothingly, picking up a cloth and soaking it in the bowl of water that had been left. She gently sponged the sweat from his face, wishing that she could take some of his illness away. The thought that he might succumb to seasickness had never even crossed her mind, or she would have brought pills along with her. That was the problem with owning a fickle item like the Millennium Tawk. It didn't always give her visions when she wanted them.

"Not soon enough," Ryou said weakly from the other bed. Those were the first words he'd spoken in some time and Isis glanced at him, startled. The continual rocking of the boat had set off one of his migraines, and he looked as miserable as Malik did. He continued, "Is there no way to stop the boat from moving? It's making the world spin."

Malik groaned. "Please stop talking about spinning."

"We're almost there," Isis repeated uselessly. Ryou had brought some of his migraine pills along, but unless he took them before the headache really started, they didn't do much to help. She looked between the two of them helplessly, knowing there was nothing more she could do for either boy. "Do you need anything? Water, maybe?"

"Anything I drink, I throw up," said Malik.

"I wouldn't mind a drink," mumbled Ryou, inching the cloth away from his eyes. He flinched, as even the dim light from the single flickering lamp was too much for his sensitive eyes, but managed to squint at her. "If you wouldn't mind, Isis-onee-chan."

"Of course not." Pleased that she could do something, Isis rose to her feet. "And maybe I'll take another look around the ship's infirmary for some seasickness pills just in case we missed them the first time," she said, knowing that they wouldn't find any. Honestly, what kind of passenger ship had no such pills on board? It was doubtlessly a sick joke of Pegasus's, and it infuriated her, but for the sake of her brother and his friend she was doing her best to keep a lid on her anger. Malik would only panic if he saw that she was upset.

She turned towards the door, intending to leave, and stopped when it swung open. Mariku and Jou walked in, followed by Shizuka. Jou still didn't look like he was at 100% either; he walked with his shoulders hunched forward protectively, as the muscles in his back threatened to go into spasm when he tried to straighten up, but Mariku and Shizuka were whole and healthy, and for that, she was grateful. Shizuka was holding a fresh bowl of cold water, and she walked right past Isis and over to Ryou, where she gently took the cloth off of his face and soaked it in the cold water before replacing it. Ryou sighed softly at the relief and thanked her.

"Where are you going?" Mariku asked, looking at her.

"Ryou wants a drink," said Isis. What she didn't say, but which she suspected that he knew, was that she needed a moment or two of fresh air or she was going to become sick herself. The cabin had grown stiflingly hot even with the lights off, as they were unable to open up the portholes. Malik's illness seemed to grow worse when he could actually hear the sound of the waves crashing. She stepped past the yami and was relieved when he didn't doing anything to prevent her from leaving. For the time being, a temporary truce had settled between them based on the fact that they were facing a bigger enemy and had one goal in common: to protect Malik at all costs.

"Shall I come with you?" Shizuka said, looking over her shoulder.

"I'll be fine." Isis took a step forward and the world tilted. She blinked in shock and staggered, only just managing to catch herself against the doorframe before she went sprawling across the ground. For a moment, she thought that a particularly large wave had struck the ship, but a glance at the others showed that she had been the only one affected. Her stomach tightened with fear; she knew what was coming. It was a vision, and from the way the floor no longer seemed stable under her feet, it was going to be a bad one.

Isis didn't always receive much warning before her visions hit. The less of a warning she got, the worse the vision was. She normally tried to have her visions in private, as they had the tendency to wreak havoc on her body, and she didn't like how defenceless she was while the vision was occurring. Her father had caught her in the middle of one once, and she'd come to at the end to find him kneeling over her prone body holding a knife. It was one of the worst memories of her life, and she'd vowed long ago to never put herself into that situation unless she had to.

Biting back a groan as a familiar pair began to build in her temples, she reached for the wall and physically pulled herself through the doorway on legs that didn't seem to want to work anymore. Mariku, Jou, and Shizuka didn't seem to have noticed her unusual behaviour, so if she could get back to her cabin, she could have the vision and then force herself up again, and no one would ever be the wiser. She leaned heavily against the wall and stumbled down the hallway, breathing heavily.

Unfortunately, the Millennium Tawk was working with her. She felt the vision coming from a distance, like it was a car speeding towards her and she wouldn't - or couldn't - move out of the way. She dimly felt her legs folding beneath her body as she slumped to the ground in the middle of the corridor. The pain in her temples was agonizing as it began to travel down her neck into her shoulders. Her breathing picked up to the point where she was nearly hyperventilating as black spots burst across her vision, blinding her to what was going around her. And around her neck, the Millennium Tawk gave one burning pulse of hot magic... and the world turned white around her.

She was standing - somewhere. There was no way to tell where she was because the light was so bright it was literally blinding her. But it was cold, and gradually she realized that part of the white light was actually snow. Snow? In October? It was nearly unheard of, and yet she recognized the gentle white flakes that tumbled freely from the sky and landed gently on her skin, like winter's kiss. She looked down at the ground and noticed that while she could still see grass, it was heavily frosted with a light dusting of more snow.

Except... her eyes were drawn instantly to the one glaring difference. Brilliant red and gleaming, fresh blood spilled across the grass, running in a thin river directly towards her feet. She'd lost the ability to move or cry out, so she could do nothing but stand perfectly still as the blood seeped around her shoes, staining them an ugly rust color. Instead of soaking into the ground, the blood remained pooled around her feet... and then it started to bubble. A soundless cry of pain escaped her lips as the red liquid grew increasingly hotter to the point where she could feel it burning through the soles of her shoes and into her tender skin. It was agony.

By chance, she opened her eyes and looked down... and saw a pair of crimson eyes staring up at her through the blood. She gasped and fell to her knees without thinking, hands outstretched to help. The eyes vanished, but now the blood was crawling up over her knees and hands. Panicked, she fought, not wanting to drown in the vile liquid, wishing that she had someone to save her, but no one came. It crawled up over her mouth and eyes, pulling her down... down... down...

Her eyes opened again against her will. Through the ocean of red, she could just barely see them. Six figures drawn in shadows with something looming over them. No – someone, a figure cloaked in robe, with no distinguishing features except for a glint of gold where the left eye would be. She tried to move forward, tried to help, as the figure reached out and destroyed the six figures with a sweep of his hand. Then the figure turned towards her – and split apart into two things, a ring with a peculiar stone that burned like fire, and a strange, flat gold disc. The ring fell, disappearing into the depths of the blood as the disc grew in size until it was twice her size and height. She cringed backwards helplessly as it dove down on her and swallowed her whole.

Isis came back to the real world with a gasp that left her feeling muddled. It was always like that after a vision, like the last, sticky remnants didn't want to release her, but wanted to haul her back in. The almost overwhelming need to sleep clung to her as she fought to open her eyes and bring the world into focus. She felt disjointed and separated, like nothing was quite real. Words came to her ears as though they were being spoken from a long distance away, and it took her a minute to understand that someone was with her. Her head turned, sending a jolt of white-hot pain down her spine, and she found herself staring uncomprehendingly at Seto, who was kneeling beside her. Mokuba stood just behind him.

"Are you alright, Isis-san?" Seto repeated. "What did you see?"

She blinked at him, her gaze falling to his lips in an effort to figure out what he had been asking. "What?" she managed to say at last.

"Nii-sama, what's wrong with her?" Mokuba sounded worried.

"She had a vision, Mokuba. Help me." Rising to his feet in a single graceful move, Seto leaned down and wrapped his hands around her arms, lifting her gently to her feet. Isis felt her legs beginning to give out, but Mokuba was there on her right side before she could fall. The two brothers worked together to support her during the walk down the hallway to her cabin.

Inside, Mokuba turned the lights off while Seto helped her to lie down. The mattress felt wonderfully firm but supple against her aching muscles, but she fought the desire to sink into sleep and looked instead for Seto. Upon realizing that he was standing right beside her bed, she struggled to sit up again. Already, the crisp vividness of her vision was beginning to fade, leaving her with a scattering of images that made little sense when she tried to string them together. If she fell asleep without telling someone what little she could remember, she knew that by the time she woke up the images would be mostly gone.

"Priest," she gasped weakly, falling back against the bed. What little strength she had was utterly sapped. "I saw - snow. Blood. So much of it." She reached out feebly and Seto bent, placing his ear next to her mouth so that she wouldn't have to speak so loud. "Burning. The Pharaoh… the six, they're in danger."

"Did you see anything else?" Seto asked quietly.

"A stone of fire," Isis whispered, fighting to keep her eyes open. "The gold disc… it burned. It… I…" It was no good. Exhaustion was sweeping over her, dragging her down into the warm depths no matter how hard she fought. She was only vaguely aware of Seto tossing a blanket over her body and leaving the room with Mokuba in tow before sleep took over and she knew no more.


Please review!

Note: In honour of the fact that this story is nearly at 400 reviews, which will make it my most popular story to date, I'm going to do a little contest. The 400th reviewer will have the chance to have a one-shot written for them by me featuring one of the following couples: Yuugi/Yami, Ryou/Bakura, Malik/Mariku or Seto/Jou. They can send me up to three ideas and I'll pick one to create a one-shot from. If the 400th reviewer doesn't answer my PM (or is not interested in a one-shot), I'll go to the 401st, 402nd, 403rd reviewer, etc… So make sure that you are signed in when you review, or else I'll have to skip you.