Hey everyone !

Really sorry to have took so much time for the 2nd chapter, but it's finally here !

This chapter is a continuation from the 1st one, where you will found what really happened at the end of the 1st chapter.

I think my story will be incredibly long, and I have so much things to do I think it'll take a little time… I have already start the next chapter, though.

Another little information: I love Yu-Gi-Oh ! Duels but I can't write them… In this story you'll essentially find stories, flashbacks, information about the characters, but no Duels, or so very little ... Please understand and excuse me for that!

Finally, you know that I don't owe any of the characters, nor the avatar, but that the story is mine.

Please read & review !

ENJOY !

When Reo lowered his arm, the scarlet blade rushed towards the demon.

"NO!"

Ray rushed forward, as Zarc closed his eyes.

"I activate a Trap card, Hurricane of Magic," Ray shouted, stopping abruptly and skidding on the ground. "Thanks to it, I can reduce the damage points by half. I send my En Winds, En Moon, En Birds and En Flowers Magic cards to my graveyard, and I draw that many cards from my deck."

"Ray, what the hell are you doing?" bellowed his father.

His daughter stared at him in the eyes with so much despair that he was speechless. Ray continued:

"If among the cards drawn I get a monster with the name "Total Blast", I can summon it normally."

She looked at her cards, and frowned. Then she closed her eyes. Slowly, she turned over one of her cards.

"I've drawn "Flaming Princess from Total Blast," and I activate it."

The monster appeared in front of her, from over 2,000 Attack points. He rushed forward, intercepted the dagger, and swung it off course. The dagger finally went to plant itself, deep, in Zarc's left arm, who let out a howl of pain. She opened her eyes and glanced sadly at the still walled demon, whose arm was bleeding profusely, then returned her gaze to her father. She smiled softly at him, a sorry look on her face.

"By banishing this card, I can inflict half of its Attack points on each player, which is 1000 points of piercing damage!"

"What the…" Reo started, aghast.

He didn't have time to finish.

The Princess flushed, inflated like a balloon, then exploded violently.

A huge shock wave shattered all the surrounding walls, as if they were made of glass. Already pierced in places, the one Zarc was held against collapsed and completely entombed the demon. The others, unable to hold back, were all swept away by a gigantic wave of dust that fell on them with force.

When the explosion finally ended, everyone got up with difficulty. The Professor made a grimace of pain as he straightened up. Ray was the only one still standing, eyes closed, a sad look on her face.

She had won the Duel… Not in the best of ways, of course, but trying to do as little damage as possible. Her father had lost too, but the most important thing was that Zarc could no longer harm anyone.

Zarc…

Suddenly remembering the demon, she turned her head to the place where he was before the explosion. There was only a pile of rubble. Zarc was probably below, badly wounded, his limbs and his body bloody. At this thought, the girl rushed towards the rubble and began to release one by one the blocks of earth in search of the demon, murmuring his name more like a pray than to really call him. Her face was betraying a great panic.

As emerging from a heavy sleep, others immediately joined her to search with her. Sora, Edo, Gongenzaka, Reiji and Crow began to desperately call their friend, hoping that he would answer them, and that he would emerge from the heap of debris with a bright smile, as they knew him. Kaito and Kurosaki, who knew Yuya and Yuto, were calling them with a loud voice, releasing the blocks with new ardour.

Behind them, motionless, Reo stared at his daughter, distraught. He did not understand her behaviour. Why was she looking for Zarc, the demon who had hurt them so much ? Why was she protecting him ? Why was she so concerned about him ? To the point of forgetting him, her own father ?

After some research, Ray discovered a scratched hand, hidden behind a block of dirt. Stifling an exclamation, she redoubled her efforts to gently lift Zarc's weak body, still in Yuya's guise, from the pile of rubble that covered it. He moaned in pain, his eyes narrowed, but didn't move. His face was wet with sweat; his arm was stained with blood, as were his torn clothes; and his body was covered with bruises.

Obviously he was trying to open his eyes but couldn't. She gently placed a hand under his head, lifted it up, and rested it on her lap. Then her other hand - the one that wore the bracelets - ran down his body and up his arm, and ended up caressing his palm with the tips of her fingers. He closed his in his grip, and Ray was relieved to find that he could move and, best of all, that he didn't seem to want to hurt her. On the contrary, this contact seemed to appease him.

But his hand was so cold… She leaned her head over the demon and call him with a soft voice:

"Zarc ! Zarc ! Open your eyes, Zarc !"

He opened them slightly, revealing eyes with golden reflections. They had lost their evil glow, and irises were no longer thin slits like those of wild cats; but they no longer gave off any light. They were terribly dull.

She felt him move his head imperceptibly to try to observe the people who were scrambling behind her back, before his gaze fixed in her. A half-smile split his chapped lips.

"Ray…" he murmured softly.

A sound of footsteps came to her. She redressed her head. Her father had come closer, and was looking at them alternatively. She took a long breath.

"Dad…" she begun. "Order your medical unit to take care of Zarc, please."

A incredulous look answered her. Reo seemed surprised and worried. He didn't seem the only one.

"But Ray… Zarc is dangerous ! He is a demon who only thinks of destroying everything !" he almost begged her. "If he regains his health, what will happen to us ?"

"No, Dad…" she answered down, as for herself. We may have been wr…"

A heart-rending scream interrupted her. She quickly turned her head towards the source of the noise. Zarc was twisting on her knees, shaking with violent spasms. He narrowed his eyes again, and his free hand rubbed his chest. He was panting, parting his eyes to observe the girl, as if asking for help.

But what to do ? Ray wondered, distraught. She was aware of the demon's suffering, but what could she do to help him ?

Helpless, she finally hugged him in an attempt to ease the pain, and held the demon's other hand more firmly, still stroking it.

After a few seconds, she felt Zarc's breath stop and his head slump into her knees, tilting sideways.

Hand still on his heart, the demon had passed out.

A silence took place around Ray. Everyone was looking Zarc, under the disturbing guise of their best friend, wounded, vulnerable, with his large dark circles under his eyes, his bloody limbs, and his broken glasses. Nobody dared to move him, as if he could shatter at the slightest touch.

The girl was looking him with a sad expression. Her hand left Zarc's to free his sweat-soaked hair from his face, and stroke it while removing his glasses. Her four bracelets glittered on her wrist. Her eyes lingered on Zarc's hand, resting on his chest.

As took by a sudden inspiration, she picked up his injured hand and put it along his body. Then she put hers, ornate by her bracelets, on the demon's chest.

She felt his chest shuddering under her fingers.

She felt the irregular heartbeats of his tired heart.

She closed her eyes, and concentrate on these beats.

All of a sudden, Yuzu's Rubies, Serena's Sapphire, Ruri's Diamond, and Rin's Emerald all sparkled with a brilliant glow. Rays of pink, blue, white and green light swirled around her wrist, kissing, parting again, creating colours of unimaginable, vivid, magical hues.

They rose into the sky, dancing, overwhelming all who gathered below them. The bracelets created yet more, always more alive, always more beautiful.

"It's incredible," Gongenzaka whispered in wonder.

Soon the whole sky was filled with colourful sparks, like thousands of dancers in resplendent outfits performing an elegant and sumptuous choreography. They whirled around Ray and, as if guided by the curves of her body, the delicacy of her limbs, they intruded, purer than water, into the chest of the unconscious demon. Gradually, his large dark circles disappeared, and his eyes relaxed.

The bracelets continued to create new streaks of light, until they themselves transformed into sparks of colour, without outlines or shapes. They in turn wrapped themselves around the girl's wrist before creeping, like the others, into Zarc's chest.

Then, all light finally disappeared, leaving only Ray, Zarc in her arms, surrounded by the others, as silent and motionless as statues.

Ray gently stroked the demon with her now bare arm, and turned to her father.

"Could you do what I asked you to do now? Please ?"

Eyes still on Zarc's chest, which rose and fell with the rhythm of his breathing, he nodded silently.

"Thank you, dad."

Later, a stretcher came to carry the demon. The Professor had ordered the medics to take him to the top of one of Academia's towers, to one of the cells in which Ruri and Rin had been held, and to treat him there.

He also ordered all Duellists injured in their Duel with Zarc to take rest, and assigned them each a room within the fortress.

Finally, when everyone was gone, he approached his daughter, who remained close to him, and hugged her with all his strength. And when the young girl, moved, whispered a "I'm back, Daddy!" in the hollow of his ear, the poor man burst into tears.