Help and Hindrance: By Saturn

Chapter 10: Plans of Attack, Thoughts of Love

AN- ::dodges tomatoes and cowers in corner:: I'm sorry this chappie took soooo long, and it's all my fault. I'm lazy and a little busy, so I haven't gotten around to typing this. If I don't get too lazy before school starts, then maybe I'll be able to get up the rest of H&H.

Why chapters take so long: First I write the draft of each chapter in a notebook in my home. Then I wait at least a week (it's usually more) and then I read it again to proofread for errors and plotholes. Then I get around to typing the chapter and posting it. But I have finished the writing of H&H so all I need to do is get around to typing the rest of the chapters. Anyway, you're probably tired of hearing me babble, so here's Chapter 10. Please be a considerate reader and review.

Thoughts are in ' ...'

Chapter 10: Plans of Attack, Thoughts of Love

Solara burst into her house and began to rummage through her spell books. Finding the one she needed, she hurried back to the celestial dial. 'There isn't much time,' she thought to herself, 'I have to summon them now.' She dug through a self of potions and ingredients and grabbed what she needed, knocking bottles over in the process. Rushing over to the celestial dial, Solara checked the time until the alignment. Feeling the press for time, she flipped open the first book, reading the list of ingredients for the summoning spell. Solara went back to the shelves and grabbed a small cauldron and some more bottles of strange looking solutions, all having old, worn labels. And from her bag, she took the picture Ryou had given to her of him and all his friends. Placing all the items by the celestial dial, Solara had nothing to do but wait the few minutes until the alignment was in place. She began to prepare the mixture of various ingredients in the cauldron. As the celestial dial clicked, signaling the alignment, Solara recited the proper phrases.

"Mystic energies of dimension, open the gates of space for me," she recited, holding out her arms to the skies. Green magic burst out of the cauldron, causing the room to have an eerie glow.

"Gods of language," she said, pouring another ingredient in the potion, "Let the summoned two understand and speak the spoken language." Pink energy laced out of the mixture, causing a pink mist to creep over the floor.

"Energies of transport, bring the selected two from the realm of Earth," Solara poured in yet another ingredient and blue energy enveloped the room in a haze.

"Yugi Mutou and Jounouchi Katsuya, appear at the appointed place and prepare for your duty!" Solara threw in the final element to the spell and tipped over the cauldron to activate the spell. Golden energy whipped through the room, causing a vortex.

Meanwhile, the book shook and glowed golden in Yugi's hands. "Yami, what's happening?" Yugi shouted as the same wind filled the room from when Ryou vanished.

Yami shouted, "It's the spell she cast! It's working!" Yami and Bakura both shielded their eyes when the light grew brighter as Yugi and Jono were sucked into the book also.

Yugi fell on something hand and cold. He kept his eyes closed as a headache crept into his head. Groaning slightly, Yugi heard an unfamiliar voice in the background.

"... can't believe it worked. That's great, we'll have Ryou out of there before we know it. Now, which ones' which?" The voice asked itself. Yugi's head still felt heavy so he continued to listen to the voice. "The blond one must be that Jono-uchi person. What a strange name. Now the other must be Yugi, or could it be his yami? They look the same in the picture. Damn, now I'm confused," the voice grumbled to itself. Yugi opened his eyes to see a green face peering at him.

"Aahh!" he gasped and jumped back. The girl sat back and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She rubbed the back of her head nervously. Yugi tilted his head in confusion. The girl had just spoken to him in a language that definitely wasn't Japanese but what was ever stranger was that Yugi understood it.

Yugi timidly held out his hand, "I'm Yugi." Yugi surprised himself further to find that he spoke the language as well. "Solara," she took his hand and smiled. Yugi looked next to him and saw Jono laying on the floor.

He promptly let go of Solara's hand and said, "Hey, is Jono going to be okay?" Solara stood up and replied, "He should be. It's just the effects of the dimension travel. Usually fatigue and a headache are the only symptoms." Yugi let his eyes wander over Solara's different features in curiosity. "Sorry about this," Solara said sheepishly, "I can only imagine how strange it must be for you now. Your friend is taken, and then you're summoned by one the kind who wants Ryou dead in the first place. Heh, heh, help and hindrance all in the same place." (AN- Title explanation). Yugi opened his mouth to answer her when Jono sat up, holding his head with one hand.

"Ug...Yugi? AH!" Jono shouted when he saw Solara. "An alien! Watch out Yug', she might suck out your brain or somthin'." Solara rolled her eyes and Yugi laughed, "Jono-kun, this is Solara, she's the one who brought us here to help Ryou."

Jono stood up and rubbed the back of his head, "Ug, nice to meet you," he said to Solara, "Sorry about the brain sucking thing." Solara shook his free hand, "No problem, I prefer to suck out eyeballs anyway," she said.

"WHAT?!" Jono shouted, dropping her hand. Solara giggled, "Just playing with ya," she said with a wink. She walked over to the celestial dial, "Now, onto the matter at hand." Solara grabbed a piece of parchment from the bookshelf and sat across from Yugi and Jono, unrolling the map. The map showed a layout of the ancient castle of Ikana.

She pointed to a spot, "This... is where Ryou is most likely to be held, it's on the top floor, so most people wouldn't be up there for any reason." She put a white bean from her bag on the spot. Jono and Yugi exchanged glances and returned their attention to the map.

Solara continued, "There is only one main gate, here," she pointed to the main entrance. "But there is a small basement entrance around the back and it isn't guarded heavily at all. And here," she said, stabbing a small knife from her bag into the map," is the armory. We'll probably need some weapons on the way there. Have you guys ever had any combat experience before?" Yugi turned his gaze to the floor and Jono looked up at the ceiling.

Solara laughed nervously to herself and said, "Heh heh, it's okay. You can at least defend yourselves, can't you?" Both nodded, now a little worried about themselves as much as Ryou. Solara stretched and said, "We'll get going in a few hours. We should all get some sleep."

Yugi and Jono both lied down as Solara turned to leave, finding that they needed the sleep. Solara put the map back in her bag and lied down as well. She tried to sleep but soon her thoughts settled on Ryou. She purposely hadn't told Yugi and Jono about the ceremony, 'but then again' she thought, 'they probably already know from the book. They couldn't have done the ceremony already either,' she thought, 'they would most likely wait until dawn to perform it. I can't let anything happen to him, but why do I have this feeling for an Earthling? Could it be.......LOVE?? No way,' she thought, 'I can be in love with him. I know, I'll think of my ideal guy, and then I'll prove it to myself. First, he'd be built, but not very muscular; his skin would be one of those really pale greens, almost tanish. His eyes would be really dark red, almost with a brown tone to them, but still be warm looking. Finally, his hair would be a nice light color, maybe a grayer color or a silvery color, wait a minute,' Solara put the pieces together. Lean build, pale colored skin, brown toned byes, and silvery hair?! 'Oh my god,' Solara thought as she put a hand to her head, 'My ideal guy is Ryou.' "I guess I really can't deny it any longer," she whispered to herself, looking out at the moon. "Even if I don't know him very well, I've fallen in love with an Earthling, not just any Earthling. I fell in love with Ryou." Solara sat there, startin at the moon and thinking of Ryou until the moon began to sink beyond the horizon. Solara gently woke both Yugi and Jono.

"What's the matter, Solara?" Yugi asked, rubbing his eye. The female Pyrian looked out the window towards the setting moon, "It's time."

End Chapter 10

AN- Well, there it is. I have the rest of H&H written so it should be out soon, unless I get lazy again. Apologies in advance. Please review, let the author know you love her. ^_^