Disclaimer: I no own, I no own.

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Sorry about taking so long, guys... *shrugs* I sort of went on a writing spree for DOA and my new HP ficcy and my new Redwall ficcy...Many apologies. *bows* This chappie wanders away from Yami's monsters quite a bit, to - *snicker* You'll have to figure it out yourself.

Sento-Kami: Nope, you're not stupid. XD

Princess Ria: *sigh* Yet another Dark Magician fan...sorry to say, no Sinistrad this chapter.

Kage noTenshi: Heh, the pharaoh's gonna come back just in time to welcome some rather unwelcome visitors...

Molly Jean: Yup, it was short. This chapter is DEFINITELY longer than usual.

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NOTE: This is my personal interpretation of the god cards. To me, Obelisk doesn't seem very nice. In fact, I don't trust him at all. The Saint Dragon of Osiris is, well...high-and-mighty. Ra is...well, you'll have to find out about him later.

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Dragon Shadows, Chapter 10: On the Other Side of the Fence

They'd been wandering in enemy territory for days. Apollo didn't know where they were. He didn't know who they should be watching out for. And he didn't know where else to go.

It had been awful, the force that drove them out. The dark sky had flashed blue and bright white, and what had once been their fortress was a smoking heap of rubble. And in the midst of it all had been the huge, hulking silhouette...

And they had fled.

Well, that wasn't the entire truth. It had been Ganymede's suggestion. Obviously they couldn't stay. But Ganymede had added that the great creature didn't seem very friendly - and the others had suddenly agreed.

Or maybe that was because the silhouette had started to move towards them.

They'd changed form, all three of them, followed by Adamantis. The others went as they willed, but most chose to go with their leaders. So they'd flown for what seemed like an eternity, until they saw the small, isolated castle on the horizon.

They were clustered around a small hillock in the normally flat ground, all eyeing the castle in the distance with caution. It was impossible to tell whether it was guarded or not.

"Should we risk it?" Io murmured in Apollo's ear.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

It was Adamantis who saved them on that matter. "Look at it this way," he said matter-of-factly. "We have absolutely nothing left to lose but our own lives." Letting his eyes travel across the assembled monsters and then drop, he added, "And I doubt anyone will miss us when we're gone."

"You're right," Apollo said suddenly. "Our master doesn't seem to care about us as he did before the Kami-no-cardo came into his possession."

Io sighed and fingered the ragged and singed edges of her silver-white hair, blue eyes defeated and without hope. "We have no choice, if we wish to save the others. I don't know about any of you - " she glanced around at the other three, "But it's a risk I am willing to take."

It was only when they were less than half a mile away from the fortress that they noticed the creature settled around it. Another one. Another Kami-no-cardo. A great, red serpent.

Osiris.

*****

Amaranth had been an outcast for a long, long time. It all began after she had left the pharaoh's monsters, to wander in the realm of shadows for forever and a day, alone and yet not alone.

There were others, too, other exiles. Incomplete or ripped, as hers had been. There were two Dark Magicians whose cards had been tampered with, and two discarded pieces of the Forbidden One.

All the same, she'd never really been one of the pharaoh's monsters. At first they had been in the possession of another, and she had been valued too much to duel with. It had been after that only duel that she had been cast out.

Betrayed by kith and kin.

She tilted her head upwards, looking towards where the sky might have been, had this been the real world. She couldn't have seen the dim, purple-black clouds, even if she wanted to.

It had been a battle, here, in the realm of shadows, that had led to her blindness. She had wandered in circles for days before finding a spot in the middle of nowhere - or so she thought. There had been a group of renegades - other exiles - who had crossed paths with her and challenged her to a match of magic. They had had a powerful sorcerer on their side...and so the incident had left her crippled.

Gwyddeon and Ezekiel had found her shortly after that, lost and injured. Before the incident she would never have trusted another Dark Magician - after all, he was nothing more than the pharaoh's servant, and it had been the ancient laws of the same pharaoh that forced her to leave.

She had realized shortly after that Gwyddeon and Ezekiel were like her - outcasts in the Shadow Realm. Supposedly they still had a master, yet he cheated at the game and therefore was not considered as such. Not by his creatures, and not by anyone else.

They'd exchanged tales of woe and sorrow, doom and destruction, short-lived hope and lost love. It wasn't a question of where they would go - they were there, and that was all that mattered.

Amaranth tried not to think of what she'd left behind - all the faces were blurred and indistinct in her darkened mind. She'd buried the memories of her past life when the ancient laws had forced her to leave. She was no longer one of them - her card had been taken by a different master, and then destroyed. So she belonged to no one.

And all her love had been left behind, in the pharaoh's castle. She'd grown cold and quiet, not showing the heartbreak deep inside.

She had thought at first of going to her brother, but his master was the one who had...had...

She wouldn't think of it anymore.

*****

Apollo finally found the courage to approach the fortress. He could sense the others behind him, following about five paces behind. The great red dragon seemed not to notice them; it didn't move at all.

When Apollo was within two paces of the blood-red scales, he saw what must've been a gate behind them. So the dragon was guarding it...or holding those inside captive. But no matter the case, they had to get inside. There was nowhere left to turn, and every single creature was dead tired.

"Excuse me..." he began tentatively. "Great lord..."

The dragon didn't move.

"Will you allow us entrance?"

Apollo began to step even closer to the glittering scales. That was when the dragon began to shift. It slid slowly around the fortress, until the head came into view.

Apollo nearly screamed and ran away. But being Apollo, he only backed up several paces, bumping into Adamantis.

"It's huge," he whispered.

"That's why they call them gods," Adamantis muttered, somewhat cynically.

"YOU DARE REQUEST ENTRANCE TO THE FORTRESS OF THE PHARAOH?"[1]

Apollo gulped. "...yes...?"

"DO YOU HAVE A REASON THAT I SHOULD NOT DESTROY YOU, PITIFUL WORM?"

"...we...ah..." Apollo turned to Io. "Help!" he hissed. "I think it's going to just kill us!"

She started chewing on her lower lip. Ganymede was holding a whispered argument with Adamantis. The rest of the monsters hung behind. The situation was getting desperate - the god didn't trust them at all.

"Woo!"

All thought was interrupted as the four monsters heard the unmistakable sound, the warcry of a...

A Kuriboh.

On instinct, Ganymede yelped and attempted to hide his head in his arms. Apollo shuddered and tried to disappear into the ground. Io stood firm, hiding her fear.

Adamantis, on the other hand, had no previous encounters with the creature and didn't know better. "Wha - what're you all afraid of?" he said. "It's just a fuzzball."

"It's the worst enemy one can ever find." Ganymede was staring at the abominable three-toed creature with loathing. The creature in question was 'woo'-ing excitedly to the great red dragon. The god growled softly.

"IT SAYS TO LET YOU IN."

"Thank you, great lord."

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN I AGREE WITH IT."

Apollo's spirits fell. "Why not?"

"WHAT IS THE WORD OF A KURIBOH AGAINST THAT OF A GOD?"

"Wait!" A new voice cut through the ominous silence that followed the god's question. "I say let them in." There was another creature up on the battlements - a Dark Magician. By his side was another, the Celtic Guardian.

Ganymede sighed in resignation. "Any guesses to where we are, cousin?"

Apollo shook his head, then nodded. "Somewhere we don't want to be. But we still need sanctuary."

"Sanctuary with our enemies?" Ganymede raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"...I said to let them in. They are of no concern to you. WE shall deal with them..."

Apollo noted wryly that the Dark Magician was having a hard time convincing his ally - or enemy, more like - to move and let them in.

"WHY SHOULD I?"

"Because we're...asking you to?" The Dark Magician knew he was walking on thin ice. "Please. We beg you."

The dragon rumbled angrily deep within its throat. "IF YOU INSIST..."

All of a sudden, the dragon was gone. Well, not entirely. In his place was a man, obviously an Egyptian, to judge by his attire and manner, but his skin was...green. And the clothes he was wearing actually resembled...wrappings, like those mummies were bound in.

"You're..." Adamantis said, eyes widening. He may not have fought against a Kuriboh before, but he knew his ancient Egyptian history. "You're..."

"OSIRIS, LORD OF THE DEAD."

Adamantis bent down upon one knee. The three others quickly did the same.

"OH, STOP THAT NONSENSE. GET INSIDE." He gestured with one green hand at the doors to the fortress, which were swinging open. Gratefully, the four and their followers rushed inside.

The gate shut behind them, and they saw the red dragon reappear.

Inside was pandemonium. Monsters they had seen before, old enemies, old allies. Some were chattering excitedly, others eyeing them suspiciously. Io, Ganymede, and Adamantis just stood there uncomfortably as they were examined by the onlookers.

Apollo, on the other hand, was scanning the crowds for someone. His blue eyes finally alit upon one monster. In shock, he stared, dumbstruck. "You're...you can't be..." But it was. His younger sister's fiancée...

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[1] Yes, the gods all talk in caps, LIKE THIS. I got the idea from the Death in Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Don't own it.

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Wow, that was the longest chapter yet! Just in case anyone's getting confoozled, here's a list of the monsters in this chapter and their names:

Seto's BEWDs: Apollo, Ganymede, and Io (Io and Ganymede are cousins)

Ripped-up BEWD: Amaranth (younger sister of Apollo)

Hyozanryu: Adamantis (means 'diamond' in Latin)

Pieces of Exodia: Er...Right Leg and Left Arm?

Pandora's (Arkana's) Dark Magicians: Ezekiel and Gwyddeon

NOTE: Heh heh...so the first pairing of the story is ???/Amaranth. Person who guesses gets to name any monster without a name so far!! (This includes Seto, Joey/Jounouchi, Pegasus, Mai, and anyone whose deck I am familiar with. --- And GriffinFire, since you actually helped me think this up, this does not apply to you.)

So review!! Guess the mystery monster!!