Hi again! Wowie I am so in the mood to write right now…(write-right…right!) To everyone who reviewed, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

Special thanx to CherryBlossom for giving me all those title ideas, I'm used one for the last chappie and I hope you don't mind if I use them in later chappie, pleeeeeease?.

Okay, fine, I admit, I don't really mind reading yaoi, but this fic and everything I plan on writing thus far is yaoi-free, and IM PROUD OF IT! *chant* I will not succumb to readers liking only yaoi……

Serashi: *sweatdrop* I'll apologize for her beforehand fore someone gets mad. She really doesn't hate yaoi all too much but it gets to her that, thanx MaidenoftheMoon for bringing this up, some people won't read her fics cuz they're yaoi-less. ….Why do I always have to apologize to people for her?

Kirsta: cuz I'm only a lil baby hikari

Seto: whose none too innocent in her writing sometimes

*Kirsta whacks him with frying pan*

Seto; x_x

Serashi: aww poor baby! *snicker* I'm sorry.. can't help……*falls over laughing*

Kirsta: *sweatdrop* ANYWAY….

Disclaimer: If you've been reading my story or any of ff.net at all you can recite it… am not writing it again.

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Chapter 24

Duty of the Keeper

"Get up," a stern voice sounding much like Caleia's own commanded. Caleia looked up and saw the ghost-like image of princess Caleia of the past, the "other her." The whit light radiating from her cast a soft light around the two girls. "Get up," the princess repeated. "I'm sick and tired of your lamenting and stalling." Caleia cringed, knowing full well the truth in the words. Still, she could not find the will to move.

"I can't," she only managed to say in a hushed voice, almost apologetically.

"Yes you can," the princess amended sympathetically. "You are my descendant and my heir. You have the strength and the power to do this. You must only find you will. And that is something I cannot find for you."

"You are asking me to do the impossible! I can't do this!" Caleia snapped.

"I am asking you to find yourself, nothing more." The princess faded away, leaving Caleia once again in the dark. In her raging emotion she picked up her sword, which had slipped out of its sheath when she rolled, and flung it at the opposing wall, embedding the blade within two stones.

The Sunstar crest at the hilt of the sword glinted with an inner light. It caught Caleia's eye and seemed to be like a spark to rekindle the warmth inside her.

"Sparks," she cried, holding said magic card out. Sparks danced out of the card and lit several nearby torches, allowing Caleia once again to see. She went retrieve her sword, bracing her feet on the wall so she could unlodge it. Stumbling back as the blade finally came free, Caleia's attention was caught by inscriptions on the blade she had not seen before. These were no ordinary inscriptions, they were moving, flowing, forming hieroglyphic messages, then changing again in an unending cycle. It stopped at a passage.

I am Sayana, sword of two realms

Forged for the Keeper of the Cards

Then it dissolved and reformed.

To keep order between the realms

As that is the duty of the Keeper, my wielder

"That is the duty of the Keeper," Caleia muttered, the words running deep into her mind. The sword in her hands seemed to give her strength, the numbness of her heart and mind eased as her determination slowly returned to her, but this time not only as a mask to hide her insecurities, just a true will of her mind and heart.

With her hands she drew the magical symbols for fire and light and directed them down the sides of the corridor. The extinguished torches sprang alive once more with fire, lighting her path. Sword in hand, Caleia raced down the hall with a new vitality, her cape billowing out behind her.

Using the shadows as cover, a lone ninja, Ansatsu, followed the girl, waiting for his employer's command to attack.

***

Silence passed between the two spirits, leaving them to their own thoughts for the moment. It was Bakura that finally broke the silence, unable to stand it any longer.

"Divide and conquer," he muttered, almost an almost amused voice, a smile almost playing on his lips. "Of everyone I know, you, of all people, Pharaoh, should see his strategy."

"This is no time to be smart, Bakura, or is that wound of yours depriving your brain of blood?" Yami retorted.

"The wound is already clot," Bakura simply returned. "The energy from my Millennium Ring helps me heal quicker."

"I still think you lost--wait, something's coming--duck!" Yami shouted, dropping to the ground. Luckily for him, Bakura listened and followed Yami's example. Two Dokuroyaiba whizzed above the two where their heads were a moment before.

Getting up, Yami and Bakura could hear the two cursed boomerangs hit and crack stones further down the corridor as they turned around pursue their targets once again. Swords held at guard, the two yamis waited for their return.

***

Morsei reached out to the mind of the assassin he hired. "It's time, kill her," he commanded. The Ansatsu moved faster, getting closer to Caleia, before making a leap over her, flinging shuriken at her as he passed. Caleia jumped back, two of the shuriken embedding themselves into the stones of the floor where she had been. With her sword she deflected the rest, but not before one of them lightly glazed her shoulder. She clenched her teeth and grimaced at the sharp pain.

Recovering quickly, Caleia fell into a guard position, waiting for another attack from the Ansatsu or perhaps making one of her own. Though the cut was shallow, Caleia could feel a thin trickle of blood from her wound down her arm, but she pushed the notion of it out of her mind for the moment and concentrated on the ninja in front of her. She knew how dangerous this clan was. The ninja gave no warning before he lunged at her, drawing his sword in mid-flight.

Caleia raised her sword in barely enough time to block the ninja's sword as it came slashing down at her. The force of the strike jarred her arms so that for a split-second, she could not feel them. Barely after she had recovered, the Ansatsu came after her again. This time she was ready to fight back.

The sharp clangs of the swords striking one another filled the corridor. Eyes fixed on her opponent, Caleia moved with fluidity, her arms and sword never stopping as she blocked each blow from the ninja. The Ansatsu moved with equal deftness, never once allowing Caleia a moment of recovery between strikes or the chance to sneak in an attack of her own.

A surprise jump kick from the Ansatsu instead of a sword strike caught Caleia off guard, sending her reeling. Her sword clanged loudly on the stones as she stumbled into a wall and lost her balance completely, ending up sitting on the ground. The ninja leaped at her, bringing the sword swiftly down at the girl.

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:-D I'm going to be mean and leave this a cliffie! Reviews=Motivation to write so review if u wanna know what happens soon. I actually don't have the next part written so it's not just a matter of me feeling up to typing, but actually being in the mood to write!

Now, what should happen now? Should I end the story right here and have Caleia die? Or maybe she could just get seriously injured? Yami and Bakura have their hands full so they can't help here… and she has been unarmed… hmmm… I wonder… I seriously have to decide, no jokes, really. I just went braindead and must finish my stupid homework therefore I must stop typing.

A HAHAHAHAHAHA! Spring break starts today! HEHE that means more time to write, if I get the inspiration *hint hint* not kidding though I'm stuck again… pleeeease don't come back writer's block!

Must find writer's block medicine *starts blindly walking around house*

Serashi: *sweatdrop*

Till next chappie!

~Kirsta~