Good Day Readers and welcome to the sequel to Pain of Betrayal, Pain of Loss! Thanks to all of you for the support and I hope that you all enjoy this latest edition of the Hope sisters. Sorry for the late update, yesterday was a bad day for me.

Obviously I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh only Kylie and Katherine Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also italics symbolise a mind conversation, a video tape or something in a language that isn't Japanese. I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy

Chapter 10: - The Truth of Doma

Grarl charged towards Kuribabylon and I felt my heart hammering madly within my chest, this attack would destroy Yami if he ended up taking it – the only relief being that the Barrier wasn't active – my fingers curled into fists as I kept my eyes open. Suddenly, stars appeared over all of the Kuriboh brothers causing my eyes to widen in shock whilst the stars combined together and formed a large rainbow coloured star which hung in front of all of them, the axe of Grarl crashed onto the star and was repelled.

"Too bad. The Special Effect of Kuribee is that it can make the opponent's Attack zero. Hence ending the Battle Phase for one turn only," Yami explained. The little furballs were all celebrating the successful prevention of their destruction, Rafael admitted that he had been underestimating the group, even calling them charming. "My turn!" Yami declared. But at that moment the Pure Cemetery activated, stripping Yugi of Life Points.

Yugi – LP: 3000 – LP: 2700

"I activate the Magic card, Pot of Greed! I can draw two cards from my deck!" Yami declared. He was probably banking on getting a hold of Timaeus who might be able to help him out of this situation, Yami drew his two cards. "I activate the Kuriboh Brothers' Special Effect! To Summon Kuribabylon!" Yami declared. The massive fluff ball appeared on the field once more as my eyebrows furrowed together. "And then I use Kuribabylon as a sacrifice! And the Monster that I'm Summoning… come out! Black Magician Girl!" Yami declared. The Brothers couldn't be sacrificed as a Release, so he had to combine them to achieve this act.

Black Magician Girl – Attribute: Dark, Type: Magician, Level: 6, ATK/2000, DEF/1700

I smiled upon seeing the female Magician, she had asked us to help protect her world from destruction, but I knew that she wasn't going to sit on the side lines and do nothing. She would lend us her power at every opportunity, likely by combining with Timaeus to release the strength that still slumbered within her; I lowered my hand to my Deck and I felt the reassuring pulsing strength of Andromeda travel through my arm and reached my heart.

"Take a look Rafael! This is my trump card! The Eye of Timaeus!" Yami declared. I saw a shocked expression flicker across the blonde man's face, he was clearly shocked by the appearance of that Dragon within this Duel, the blue-green Dragon appeared on the field with a fearsome roar that brought a cascade of wind and power whipping around the Duel area, causing it to be shrouded in a bright light; I was forced to throw my arms up in order to protect myself from the powerful gusts that were lashing out around me.

"This is Timaeus!" Rafael exclaimed. I could barely hear the blonde over the wind but it was loud enough that I could just make out the words, another roar echoed over the landscape and I wondered what power would be unleashed by this particular Dragon, Jounouchi got an Equipment Magic that warped Monsters through time so that implied whatever came out would be incredibly power… but just what would appear?

"Timaeus! Combine with Black Magician Girl! And create a new power!" Yami commanded. I saw the two of them begin to rise into the sky before merging together, causing a blinding light to be sent out. "I Summon Dragon Knight Black Magician Girl!" Yami declared. The light died down and I saw the fused creature, Black Magician Girl was clad in resplendent armour with a sword and shield in her hands whilst she was seated at the base of Timaeus' neck.

Dragon Knight Black Magician Girl – Attribute: Dark, Type: Dragon/Fusion, Level: 7, ATK/2600, DEF/1700

"Go forth! Dragon Knight Black Magician Girl! Attack Guardian Grarl!" Yami commanded. Normally such an attack would be completely bonkers, Grarl was stronger than the Dragon Knight was; but Timaeus was no ordinary card, that meant that the Monster must have some hidden ability that would keep it from being destroyed by the clash between these two Monsters. "Dragon Knight Black Magician Girl's Special Effect! It allows me to discard one card from my hand to the Graveyard. All damage I receive is reduced to zero and the opposing Monster is destroyed!" Yami revealed. My eyes widened at that powerful effect, with Rafael being shocked and visibly terrified by the twist. "Go on! Black Dragon Burst!" Yami commanded. Timaeus opened his mouth as a fiery ball began to gather within his maw before being shot forward towards Grarl.

"So, this is the power of the Legendary Dragons…," Rafael spoke. Their leader must have known about these Dragons and forewarned his Musketeers before sending them out, a cloudbank had been thrown up by the attack and obscured Rafael's side of the field, it faded enough to reveal Grarl was gone and Yami was relieved. "Not yet! Reverse card! Self Sacrifice!" Rafael declared. The face down card proceeded to rise up and the remaining smoke suddenly flowed back towards Rafael and seemed to be streaming into his torso as cries escaped from him; eventually the smoke faded and Rafael stumbled, but in front of the blonde a light began to grow and from it emerged Guardian Grarl. "Self Sacrifice is activated when one of my Monsters is destroyed by battle… by paying one thousand Life Points, I can return the selected Monsters back to the field using this card. So, my Guardian Grarl… goes unscathed," Rafael explained.

Rafael – LP: 4000 – LP: 3000

And because of Grarl's destruction being prevented, this meant Pure Cemetery would continue to remain on the field, allowing it to continue to deal damage to Yami's Life Points. With that Permanent Magic on the field dealing out damage every turn, Yami would be put into a significantly dangerous position and I felt butterflies flickering around within my stomach as I worried about what would happen to my king.

"Nameless Pharaoh… we will not lose to you and your team. Do you know the reason behind that? It's because we of Doma hold strength you guys don't," Rafael revealed. My eyes widened and Yami parroted some of the words back, completely confused by that declaration, what kind of strength could they have that we didn't? The Oreichalcos perhaps, but the Nameless Dragons opposed it… so what was it? "Yes. The strength to accept the darkness we possess in our hearts. Just like how we have light in our hearts, we too have darkness within. If this world works like a scale, a balance acting as its' foundation… each opposite side would balance the light and darkness of our hearts. And this would be obvious reasoning. If your link is with the 'light in the heart' then us of Doma are bounded by a strong belief in the 'darkness in the heart'," Rafael explained.

"Believing in the bonds of the darkness within your hearts?" Yami questioned. I didn't like the sound of that, no person was pure that much was true, some people – like Katherine and Yugi – were pure of heart, but that just meant there was very little negativity inside of them or they were naturally altruistic people. We all had light and shadow within our own hearts, but favouring one over the other could be dangerous, being too kind or being too cruel could hurt someone, whether it is the person or those around that person.

"You are right. 'Darkness in the heart' will forever be ahead of 'Light in the heart'. It lies in the deepest part of despair. People like you who pretend to be righteous all the time could never come to terms with the depth of such logic! The depth of our despair and sorrow is unparalleled to anyone's on this Earth!" Rafael declared. My eyes widened as I felt a chill creep down my spine, rather terrified by the words that Rafael was speaking to me and Yami right now.

"That kind of thinking is wrong! Revenge and destruction… even if you accomplish these things, then what?! You'd only be left with a vast emptiness!" Yami challenged. However, in response to Yami's words, all Rafael did was laugh before agreeing with what had been said, admitting that if things were done half-heartedly, then it would lead to emptiness, but it wouldn't remain; the blonde then went on to reveal that Doma's true purpose was nothing! To set mankind back to the beginning.

"Have you lost your ever loving mind!?" I yelled. I couldn't comprehend the madness that had just been told to me, doing something like that was insane, it was so ludicrous that I was tempted to start hitting myself just to try and make those words have some kind of sense added to them… but I don't think that was even remotely possible, that was exactly how those words sounded right now.

"Kylie's right! You want to return the history of mankind to zero?" Yami questioned. Rafael explained that Doma had been observing history since the beginning. "Observers?" Yami repeated. That didn't mesh with what Holo-Pegasus had told us, he made it seem like Doma were more influencers than observers, there was the possibility that whoever was running this show was a liar, but I couldn't say until I ended up meeting him.

"From the first day 'history' as we know it was first created, there has stood an organisation behind all of it. And that's Doma! Doma has always been guiding people on their path, always trying to lead them. At other times, Doma would give human society a push. Sometimes, unjust methods are used just to guide history. However, humans have rebelled against Doma's ideas," Rafael began to explain. Yeah, they were influencers just like Holo-Pegasus said, there was nothing about them that observed history.

"Yeah, maybe because humans like a little something called… FREE WILL!" I snapped. I hated the idea that someone or something had been controlling the path of human history this entire time, things could have happened differently if they hadn't messed up our lives, I couldn't image what reasons they had for the terrible wars that had plagued history, wars that could have been adverted by Doma.

"Yet none of them know where it is they stand. Just like that, about one thousand years of history passed and people made the same mistake over and over again. Yugi, Kylie, why do you suppose that of all living things on Earth, only humans are blessed with 'wisdom'? That's because it is the fate of human beings to act as guardians and protect this planet," Rafael continued. My eyebrows furrowed together at his words as Yami repeated some words. "In spite of that… just open your eyes and look around you! At the ends of this horizon, there are humans who are stained with selfish desires and they are decaying this planet. Endlessly shedding meaningless fresh blood. The foolishness of humans has gone far beyond that of Doma's expectations! Not long from now, humans will destroy this world. Thus, Doma has adjusted its' aim. Doma has chosen to no longer guide the history of mankind. But lead it towards the path of 'reset'," Rafael explained.

"You mean to reset the history of mankind?! Don't talk nonsense! Are you going to decide that based on your judgment alone?!" Yami questioned. My blood had chilled and my face was probably pale as I stared at the blonde, who simply stated it wasn't 'our' judgment but that of the overall leader of Doma, someone who supposedly gave Earth a paradise in the past. "The person who's managed this world in the past?" Yami questioned. My teeth gritted together as my fingernails pressed into the flesh of my palm as I was angry upon hearing that one guy was deciding the fate of me and everyone I loved.

"Nameless Pharaoh, Miss Kylie… there should be 'darkness' that lies dormant within the deepest thresholds of your hearts. Nameless Pharaoh, have you ever thought about that? What kind of King were you in the past? The things you have done when you obtained absolute power and authority," Rafael wondered. Yami probably had, he probably thought about the truth behind his memories a lot, but there was nothing we could d, to get his memories back at the moment… some inconsiderate git had frozen the necessary tablet.

"The things… I've done?" Yami spoke. Rafael asked if my King could dare say he had been a good one. "Don't tell me that city was my… Impossible! I… I don't believe in such things! There is no darkness within my heart at all!" Yami declared. Rafael turned his gaze to me as I continued to stare in silence at the blonde who'd become so twisted in the years since I'd last seen him.

"Of course, there's darkness in my heart. I just decide not to be controlled by it. The light of my heart is stronger than the darkness," I answered. Rafael seemed surprised by my words, but then turned his attention back to Yami and dared him to use the light within his heart to prove that no darkness existed within him.

"It's my turn! I set two cards in reverse on my field! Then I activate a Magic card, Exchange!" Rafael declared. I pushed my lips together as I tried to wonder what Rafael could possibly be up to by using that card. "Exchange is a Magic card that allows you to trade one card in your hand with your opponent. We only have one card in each of our hands, thus we can only trade those cards," Rafael explained. The two then approached each other and Raphael took Yami's card. "Necromancy. This is a card that allows Monsters to be revived from your opponent's Graveyard. I have not even one Monster in my Graveyard, so this card has no use to you even if you hold it," Rafael revealed.

"Now, give me your card," Yami insisted. Rafael did as the ancient spirit wanted and extended his card to him, whilst calling it the card of fate, Yami turned around and began to walk back to his position which allowed me to see the shocked and terrified expression on his face when he looked at it. "Impossible! This card is… the Barrier of Oreichalcos!" Yami declared. I felt slightly weak in the knees upon hearing those words, why had Rafael given Yami that card? This wasn't going to end well if the sickening twisting in my stomach was any evidence.

"Yugi, you are holding a fragment of the Oreichalcos you took from Gurimo," Raphael stated. Yami looked at his opponent before raising his hand to tightly wrap around that sickening pendant. "As I said earlier… in this Duel, I will not be using the Barrier of Oreichalcos. You're the one who will be using it! You should know the power of this card. If someone who doesn't have a determined heart uses this card, that person will become a prisoner in the darkness of his heart. But for a strong Duelist like yourself, you should be able to control it well. If you deny having any darkness in your heart, prove it to me by being able to control that card!" Raphael challenged.

"Like hell he'll use it!" I snapped. I had faith that Yami wouldn't make use of that accursed card, wouldn't risk using it because of its' deadly power. "I know Yami can defeat you without it!" I declared. I could feel the evil energy radiating off of that card, meaning nothing good could ever come of using it, such blackened power was only going to come and harm the user in the end.

"My turn!" Yami declared. He drew a card, but that damned Pure Cemetery card took effect, with so many Monsters now resting within his Graveyard, Yami was going to take a larger amount of damage on this turn; all I could do was have faith that he'd be able to overcome the obstacles that Raphael would set before him

Yugi – LP: 2700 – LP: 2200

"Go! Dragon Knight Black Magician Girl! Attack Guardian Grarl once again!" Yami commanded. Timaeus roared and lunged towards the dinosaur-like Monster; but Rafael was faster, he activated a Trap card known as Crystal Seal. "What?!" Yami exclaimed. A massive quantity of crystals started to grow around the Dragon Knight, preventing it from moving and entrapping it completely inside of the crystalline structure. "Black Magician Girl!" Yami cried. My mouth opened up in shock at seeing the female Magician and Timaeus being seized by the crystals.

"Monsters that are sealed by the crystal… not only can they not attack but they are also unable to be sacrificed. But if the trapped Monster's Attack Power changes, this seal will be destroyed," Rafael explained. My jaw clacked closed as my green gaze narrowed into a glare, that card was designed to force someone to use the Barrier since it raised Attack Points, that was a dirty play if I'd ever seen one that didn't count as cheating.

"I set one Monster in face-down Defence Mode! With this my turn is over!" Yami announced. He had to stay strong until he could get a hold of a card that would be able to change the Dragon Knight's Attack Power without risking the usage of that accursed card. Rafael didn't appear to be swayed by this as he simply went ahead to get on with his turn.

"Magic card, Rod of Silence – Kay'est!" Rafael declared. Another crystal grew out of the ground, this one containing a blue rod, before the crystal suddenly shattered, thus allowing Backup Gardna to pick up the Rod. "Rod of Silence can increase the Defence Power of a Monster equipped with this card by five hundred points," Rafael explained. That only made Backup Gardna's protective strength more difficult to overcome, I was kind of wishing Dragon Knight could have dealt with that Monster first.

Backup Gardna – DEF/2200, DEF/2700

"Then I activate the effect of Rod of Silence! It can guide Guardian Kay'est onto the field!" Rafael declared. Backup Gardna raised the rod and pointed it at the spot beside Grarl, a blue beam of light shot out from it and struck the ground, thus allowing the aquatic woman to materialise onto the field; her eyes were firmly fixed onto the one that was opposing her child.

Guardian Kay'est – Attribute: Water, Type: Sea Dragon, Level: 4, ATK/1000, DEF/1800

"Guardian Grarl, destroy Yugi's Defence Position Monster! Swift Cleave Attack!" Raphael commanded. The scaly guardian raised his axe above his head before bring it swinging down to cut through the Monster, revealing it as Big Shield Gardna before he shattered with a small cry. "My attack has not ended yet! Guardian Kay'est, Direct Attack Yugi! Pure Water Beam!" Rafael ordered. The mermaid swam forward as she gathered water into the palm of her hands, which she blasted at Yami, dousing him with a geyser of water

Yugi – LP: 2200 – LP: 1200

Yami dropped to his knees from the force of the attack, seemingly struggling after being hit by the water and it probably would have been worse if that had been a Shadow Game. Rafael proceeded to end his turn, Yami seemed to be struggling to breath as the blonde stated they'd know who the victor was on the next turn, without Katherine here I couldn't confirm that theory and I swallowed thickly as my hands moved to clasp together almost like I was praying.

"We're not through yet!" Yami declared. It was good that he was continuing to fight but he was once more dealt damage because of Pure Cemetery, taking six hundred points of damage this time around, my lips twisted into a frown as my fingers began to exert more force on my clasped hands; hoping that something would be change in the card that Yami had managed to draw.

Yugi – LP: 1200 – LP: 600

"I promised them that I'd save both our worlds! I… must not… lose in a place like this! I activate the Magic card, Treasure Card of the Heavens!" Yami declared. Yes! That was just the card he needed in order to change the state of his hand, if he could get something out that could either change Attack or destroy cards then he'd be able to change the tide of this Duel, I just knew his Deck would answer his call for help.

"It's pointless, Yugi!" Rafael declared. He did nothing to stop the cards being drawn so I felt my lips push into a frown as I tried to think about why it would be pointless, surely his Deck would respond to his call… unless the Oreichalcos did block the bond between Duelist and Deck. Yami took a card and pulled it free but – thanks to the Soul Seeing spell I had active – I saw Yugi seize a hold of Yami's arm, clearly protesting to whatever act the ancient spirit was about to take.

"Don't do it Yami!" I cried. There was only one reason that Yugi would stop his other side, that was if Yugi thought that Yami was about to make a seriously big mistake and there was only one card that would constitute as a big mistake in this situation. "You don't need that card to win! Trust in your Deck and find other options! I know you can do it!" I cried. We had to stop Yami from risking his and Yugi's soul in such a deadly manner

"But if things keep going this way, I'm bound to lose! Partner, Kylie, this is my battle!" Yami protested. I couldn't believe that he was willing to use that card… just to avoid losing… was he so prideful that he couldn't accept a simple loss, even though it was safe to do so; this wasn't a Shadow Game! "One that bets my way of justice and my belief!" Yami added on.

"You're compromising those beliefs if you use that card!" I yelled. Yami pulled his arm free of Yugi's grip and I saw the hurt and sorrowful look on Yugi's face which caused my heart to twist up as I focused on the Pharaoh's back. "Don't do it! Don't you dare use it!" I screamed. I had to convince him to stop, I couldn't let him do it! "PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!" I pleaded.

"I'm going to activate this card from my hand! Barrier of Oreichalcos!" Yami declared. He slid the card into his Duel Disk and I didn't react as my Bracelet flared to life at the appearance of the Barrier whilst Yugi's spectral image disappeared.