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Chapter 12 – Lost and Found

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*laughs*

^.^

*continues laughing*

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Oh, my brother can just be so stupid at times!! That is hilarious! *laughs harder*

-^_^- *shakes head several times* Anyway, I don't think I'll bore you with my little life stories at the moment, you'll probably want to get straight to the story! Especially since it's taken so long for me to update! *kicks self mentally, and tapes a sign onto forehead that reads: 'Kick the Author for not updating enough'* ^^ I've got some badges you can wear, too! *puts one on that says: 'I kicked the Author for not updating enough!' in big multicolored letters*

Please R&R

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  Yami kept his eyes shut while he flew in the air with Steth, he didn't feel like seeing just how far up in the sky he was. And he felt the need to be alone for a moment, to grieve the loss of his Aibou. He was afraid that if he opened his eyes, they would be full of tears. He couldn't show Steth that side of him. He needed to be strong. For Yugi.

  "We're there, you can look now." Steth said softly as he landed on the ground, and let Yami slide off his back. Yami's eyes went wide. They were in the middle of nowhere, and no city lights could be seen anywhere even far off in the distance. Everything was quite dark, and it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to his surroundings. He was in the middle of a forest clearing, a cave's entrance in front of him, and off in the distance he could see a large castle.

  "Where-"

  "Where you are is not important. But where you must go is." Steth pointed to the cave's entrance. "I know of your shadow magic capability. It should work quite well here, considering where we are. Go, now, before the nearby guards sense our presence. I can only keep them away for a certain amount of time."

  "We're in the Shadow Realm, aren't we?" Yami looked at him with a frown on his face. "Yugi can't last long in the Shadow Realm, he might me dead alrea-"

  "No. This is not the Shadow Realm, he will be fine, Yami. But only if you find him now!" Steth turned his back to him, and surveyed the surrounding forest, no emotion on his face.

  Yami nodded his head, and made his way slowly down into the mouth of the cave. It was so dark that he couldn't see a thing. Just when he felt his hopes wither away, he saw a light. It was a tiny light, but a light nonetheless. He looked down to see both millennium Puzzles around his neck glowing faintly. He kept his eyes open in determination, and made his way down to a dimly lit part of the cave. He could hear a faint sound of muffled sobs, and the dripping of water somewhere not far from where he stood. The light from both Millennium Puzzles grew brighter, and he picked up his pace until he found himself in front of a set of metallic bars. He looked down to see Yugi curled up in a little ball, crying his heart out.

  "Yugi…" Yami called up energy from the Millennium Puzzles, and for a split second he wasn't human, he was a spirit again, and then he was through the bars, and at the side of his loved one. "Yugi, it's me!" He shook the boy's shoulders.

  Yugi looked up slowly, his tear-stained face disbelieving. "Y-Yami…?" He groped out in the darkness, and his hands found their way to Yami's face. He was quite real. "Yami!" He threw himself into Yami's arms. Yami smiled down at his Aibou, and replaced his Millennium around his neck. Yugi felt the comforting presence back in the back of his mind, and he felt reassured and safe once more.

  "We have to leave now, Yugi. Come on." Yami took more of his energy and power to get them both through the metal bars separating them from freedom, and ran as fast as they could towards the light at the end of the cave.

  The emerged from the cave, panting, and Yami looked around for Steth, who turned to smiled at them.

  "Ah, good." Steth motioned for them to follow him as he crept into the darkness of the forest. They followed him, a little reluctantly. He led them to what looked to them like the side of a tall mountain. But when Steth pressed his hand against it, the bottom half started to glow a strange green color until part of the mountain disappeared, and was engulfed by the strange light. It was big enough to be a gateway or doorway of some kind. "Come, this will bring you back to the Mansion. Don't be afraid, just walk in…"

 Yugi was the first to walk forward. But he had Yami's hand entwined with his own, so he felt a lot braver than he normally would have felt. Yami walked only a foot behind him. Soon the two were completely surrounded by the green light. It was almost blinding, but the two managed to keep their eyes open. Yugi squinted, and noticed what seemed like a shadow somewhere in front of him. He walked towards it, and closed his eyes just as another brighter light erupted from the shadow. Yugi pulled Yami closer to himself, and they walked straight into the light, together.

 Merely a few seconds later, they opened their eyes and noticed that there was absolutely no light around where they were. As soon as their eyes adjusted to the darkness, Yugi noticed a small light coming from what looked like the bottom of a door. Yami noticed it, too, and pulled Yugi to a door. They opened it, and gasped when they saw all of their friends standing in the middle of a large room. It almost looked like a banquet hall.

 "Yugi!" Everyone turned, gasped, and ran towards him. He was smothered by their hugs and pats on the back until Yami stepped in front of him, and warned them away with his ever-narrowing crimson eyes.

 "What happened?"

 "How did you find him?"

 "How did you get back?"

 "Where did that irritating guy go?"

 "Yeah, what's his name?"

 "What's going on?"

 "You've only been gone for a half an hour!"

 "How did you get here?"

 Yugi and Yami were bombarded with questions, and neither got a chance to reply as they kept on coming and coming. Yugi settled for smiling reassuringly and being led away from them by Yami. Yami sat him down on his lap, and wrapped his arms around Yugi's waist, protectively. Before they could say anything, Steth appeared in the doorway, a grim look on his face.

 "I need your help. All of you." They all walked towards him, except for Yami and Yugi, who remained motionless. "Except for you, young Yugi and Yami. And you, too, Mister Kaiba. Your little brother must stay as well. You four are needed here for the time being." He gestured for the rest of the group to follow him. They all disappeared out into the hallway, and left the four of them alone in the large room. Seto looked a little apprehensive. Jounouchi had been among the others who had gone in the hallway.

 Steth came back in a few minutes later, followed by not one of their friends. "I will be gone for a short while with the others. I will return, but this is quite a delicate operation."

 "Operation…?" Kaiba looked at him suspiciously.

 "I will explain everything to you when I return." He noticed the look on Kaiba's face, and sighed. "Nothing will happen to your friends. They will be fine." Kaiba relaxed a little, but still looked quite uncertain as he sat down beside Mokuba.

 He disappeared back into the hallway, and after a flash of light, there was complete silence. The only sounds in the mansion were the breaths that escaped their lips, and the steady rhythm from the ticking clock on the wall opposite from the door. No one spoke a word, as they were all deep in thought.

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 "Shit, I can't see a thing here!" Jou's voice broke the silence that followed their departure. He turned around, and tried to find a wall somewhere.

 "That was my face!" Ryou cried out as Jou's hand collided with the side of his head. He stumbled back, and someone else cried out.

 "Ow! My leg!" Malik pushed Ryou away from him, and tried to walk further away from them all.

 "God damn it, Malik! That's my foot!" Marik cursed under his breath, and Malik jumped back.

 "Sorry, Marik." Malik walked back towards his Yami, and Marik grabbed his arm, keeping them together.

 Finally a small light found its way to the darkness, and Steth's face became visible. He was several feet away from everyone.

 "Please, follow me. Do not stray away from the light." He gave them a warning look, and they followed him in silence. They finally found themselves at the mouth of a huge cave. It was just in front of a large castle. "I need you to go inside the Dark Castle and help me destroy the Evil Amulet. Without that Amulet, the Darkness cannot exist here. It will not be an easy task, and your lives are in danger while you are here."

 "Can we just get it over with?" Bakura earned a glare from Ryou.

 "Yes. The castle is like a maze. Only, if you don't try to get to where you need to, you get there. If you try to get somewhere, you only end up further away from your destination. Following so far?" Everyone nodded. "Alright. There is an entrance not everyone knows of. It's just at the foot of that hill, under a small rock. It leads to the underground city, where all of the free people live. Go there, and get in there as quickly as you can. Just remember that when you're in the castle, if you try to get further away from the evil, you'll only get closer. I'll be right behind you."

 They all nodded, and ran out of the cave as quickly as they could. They ran to the small rock, and picked it up. One at a time, they lowered themselves down into the underground tunnel. Before they could see anything, the rock above them was replaced, and the darkness around them seemed to dissolve.

 "Is it just me or do you all feel like we're being watched…" Jou muttered just as his eyes adjusted to the lights. He looked around, and saw that he was in a huge underground tunnel. Hundreds of people were standing around them, looking at them curiously.

 "Oh, I'd say we were being watched all right." Marik replied. They all took deep breaths, and followed the path down through the crowd of filthy beings. The silence was unnerving.

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EEP! I finished! But not soon enough! Aw man… I might as well stay up later and answer all your reviews! No harm in doing that.. That'll give me… *thinks for a second* Seven hours of sleep tonight! Wow! More than last night! XD

Thanks:

Angel Reaper:

Hee hee! And yes, I think you know the answer anyway… Yeah, too many people! Sheesh! I better not make more people chase after them! It'd be too much to handle! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing! I LOVE REVIEWS! ^__________^ Though I probably don't deserve them because of my bad habit of not updating right away Thanks anyway! ^^

Yeah, Saries… But I'm getting used to it now! And I bug my other friends by trying to give them other nicknames, too! One of my friends has a funnier nickname, though, it's 'Cake'! ^_^ Ria's not a bad nick name, it's actually pretty catchy! But if it bugs you, I won't use it ^-^ I know! *huggles Yugi* I feel so mean! I'm always being so cruel to him! I should give him a whole chapter of something that he really wants… Hmm… I think I have a feeling of what that would be ^_~ Yeah, I try to make Steth seem a lot better, but… He's a hard character to write, he's an odd one sometimes! ^^ Thanks for reviewing!

Yamishadowcat22: Thanks! -^_^- And you'll see soon enough! I'll be explaining it in more detail in the next chapter!! ^.^ I know! Thanks for reviewing!!!! ^^

Spiritual Winds: I know! I'm so mean to him! But… Don't worry, that'll be coming soon! ^_~ In one of the next chapters! I think he deserves that much at least! If not more… ^.^ THANKS FOR REVIEWING!!! ^_______^

Dagger 5: Yeah, it's better off if no one else knows! It's bad enough with people calling me Saries… But if all the Sarahs in the world got called that… It'd be pretty bad! Four? Whoa! That's a lot! But then again… I know a lot of Sarahs now! Yeah, Science isn't my favourite class… But next year it's finally optional! I don't have to take it unless I want to! ^_^ But I might anyway… Aww, sorry for making it a cliffhanger! I hope this one isn't!!! It's wasn't meant to be!!! If it is, I apologize! -^_^- Yay! I hope you do! I think I nearly got to that the other day… I had a story that was 17 pages long! For one chapter!! O_O;; Oh well, no close enough yet! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!!!!!!!

Ling Ling: Yeah, a little scary ^^ WOO!!! *huggles crate of reviews* Yay! ^^ Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!!! ^________^

Hikari: Yay! Thanks! -^_^- I hope you did really well!!! I bet I'm even worse at math than you are! I bet you… this Yugi plushie that I am!! ^^ Yeah, I guess that's true! I am pretty good at spelling, I usually make no mistakes, and I'm horrible at math! ^-^ I LOVE WRITING TOO!!! ^____^ So would I… If I got to pick between Math and Writing, I'd pick Writing!! I'd love that!!! Well I really hope you liked this chapter! THANKS for reviewing!!!!

RedTaurus: Thanks!! ^^ Yay! I'm glad you like it that much! ^________________^ *blushes* I hope you like this chapter, too!!!


*Huggles every single reviewer* YOU ALL ROCK!  ^___________^

Oh my gosh! I'm on the fav. list of 18 people!!!  *huggles all 18*
And 23 of you guys have me on your alert list! Man! I feel so loved!!!!
*dances and huggles the 23 people*

I love you all! *huggles everyone again*


Well, I think I'll go to sleep now before I fall over… Tomorrow is going to be horrible, it's one of those days where they make every class shorter, and everyone is confused, and people get late, and it's stressing… But I get out early! So I can start straight away on more writing!

Unless stupid math gets in the way… Again… O_O;;
That was horrible.. I was four pages behind everyone else. But I got a 53 on a test… At least I passed -_-'

Anyway…

Please R&R!!!!

*falls asleep on keyboard*