Chapter 17 - Truce!
Crimson gritted her teeth and held on for dear life. She was hanging off a rock on the side of the red-tinged cliff, far below the reach of the three boys. They were desperate to try to find a way to rescue her, but to no avail. They didn't come up with anything that could possibly help the situation.
Kaiba was really angry. It had been partly his fault that Crimson had ended up in this position. If Yugi hadn't tried to help, everything would have been fine. Right now, everything looked beyond hoping.
"We'll think if something," Yugi promised. "Hold on Crimson!" Crimson was trying her best to, but the rock was starting to slip from her grasp. To make matters worse, a small crack formed on the portion of the rock she was holding. With a gasp, Crimson's squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to fall into the dark abyss below her.
"Come on guys!" she urged. "Think of something quick!" Yugi, Kaiba, and Bakura weren't having much luck. They couldn't find rope or anything else in the expanse of flat, red rock surrounding them. Crimson looked over at the endless black hole she was hanging above. She gulped. It didn't look very inviting to her.
Raiya, Mistress of the Shadow Realm, was watching from her Crystal Ball in her castle. She was not happy.
"Fools!" she cried out into the echoing chamber. The many Shadow guards around her winced. When she wanted her way, she got it. No one had the power or courage to challenge her. Even her own father, Lord Ryu of the Shadows, was reluctant to go against her. She was the most powerful Sorceress and she acted her part well.
"Sorry... Mistress! We hoped we did not-,"
"Imbeciles! Unworthy beings!" Raiya pointed accusingly at the Crystal Ball, showing an image of three worried boys and a terrified girl. She lashed out at her servants. "I only wanted the blonde scum to be gone! This is ridiculous!"
"I thought... I thought... you...w-wanted to get rid of Yasmine..." a servant stuttered. The others watched Raiya in fear. Her normally beautiful features showed rage. In a flash, the Shadow figured who had dared speak out melted into the ground. The others yelped and started to panic.
"You dare..." she whispered menacingly, her dark eyes flashing. Her voice was the same eerie blend that lingered long after she stopped speaking. "I want to face Yasmine, not banish her to eternity in the Shadow Realm! That fate is left to her pathetic friends! The brunettes and the blonde deserve that. She has the Millennium Anklet! I will not risk that Item being lost in this Realm."
"S-s-sorry!" the servants wailed. "We promise to do something!" Raiya stomped the floor and perfectly rectangular stones flew into the air as the section of floor under her cracked and crumbled. The servants coughed on the black dust. Echoes of the blast rang throughout the castle.
"What?" Raiya demanded. "What will you do that will not give us away!" Raiya's tone became soft as a whisper, but still in every way fierce. "I told you before. I face the three! I face them! And from the moment they see me they should know I am evil. I don't even want them to have a glimmer of hope I am on their side, as in rescuing Yasmine. It's a wonder what Mortals do with hope."
Raiya impatiently glanced at her Crystal Ball. "No... we only have one chance. We must lay our chances on their pathetic intelligence."
"This is hopeless!" Yugi said. "There's no way to haul her up!"
"Don't say that!" Kaiba growled. He picked up Yugi by his black color, looking him straight in the eye. "We will find a way to rescue her!" Bakura tried to ease Kaiba's grip on Yugi. After a few seconds, Kaiba let go. Yugi, who had been a whole foot in the air, fell with a thud.
"What's going on up there?" Crimson asked, trying to shift her weight to climb the rocks. Suddenly, the rock she was holding onto crumbled. With a scream, Crimson grabbed onto another rock below, scratching her arms.
"Crimson!" The three boys rushed to the side of the cliff. The situation was not improving.
"Can't you use your powers and levitate up here?" Yugi called.
"No!" Crimson replied, grunting with the effort to hold on. "It's too dangerous! My Item is unstable, especially in this Realm. Or else we would be okay already."
"And we can't magically create a rope either," Bakura sighed. Kaiba snapped his fingers.
"That's it! Bakura, we can create a rope. Remember Crimson told us that all Duel Monsters were real? Well... how about Magic and Trap cards?" Yugi and Bakura looked at each other.
"It's worth a shot," Yugi agreed. Kaiba pulled out his Deck and searched for a card.
"Shadow Spell!" As he held the card into the air, two intertwined bolts of lightning from the cloudless, black sky lit it on fire. A stack of chains appeared at his feet. Without wasting another minute, Kaiba, Yugi, and Bakura quickly grabbed the pile and tossed one end over the side. Crimson grabbed it and the three boys pulled her up.
"Crimson!" Yugi exclaimed as she finally got over the side. She struggled to her feet and flew into Kaiba's arms. He stared at her in surprise.
"I'm alive!" she cried happily.
"You wouldn't have died," Kaiba stated simply. Crimson pushed herself away from him.
"What's the deal? You were all worried about me one minute and then the next you act like nothing happened. Don't say that-,"
"Crimson," Bakura interrupted. "Let's not get too worked up. That, besides my unfortunate trip, was what led to your fall."
"You're right," Crimson agreed. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry for arguing."
"Me too," Kaiba said. For a few seconds they just sat and looked at each other. Finally...
"No way! I'm not sorry!" Crimson burst out. "I nearly died! Someone better have a good way to cheer me up..."
"It was all Yugi's fault, I refuse to apologize," Kaiba snapped. Yugi and Bakura looked at each other.
"You can't change old habits," Yugi said. They shook their heads. Crimson and Kaiba were glaring at each other. Crimson was angry that she nearly had to go through a near-death experience, even though she wouldn't really die, but rather be lost in the Shadow Realm. Kaiba was angry that he got tricked into apologizing to Yugi; after all, it was Yugi's fault.
"Anyways," Crimson finally said, turning to the other two. "This current matter has seriously alerted me on the fact of how we treat each other." Kaiba snorted and Crimson fought the urge to pound him to the ground.
"As I was saying..." she continued through clenched teeth, eyes closed as if to suggest she was calm. "We need to do something. Me and Kaiba have been..."
"Kaiba and I," Kaiba corrected.
"Shut up!" Crimson screamed. The other three boys did as she told. "Anyway, sorry about that. Kaiba and I have been arguing a bit too much, and so have Yugi and Kaiba. Don't you guys see? This is the same thing that led to my death... as in, my past."
"That's true," Bakura said. "Conflict only tears us apart, and it can lead to devastating things."
"Glad Téa's not here to preach us about this..." Kaiba muttered under his breath.
"It doesn't matter who does," Crimson said. "We need to agree to patch things up, kinda like a truce."
"A truce between you, Yugi, and me?"
"Exactly! We promise that until this Shadow Realm thing is over and we are safely in our homes, the four of us will work together to bring our friends back and defeat Raiya, with no arguing." Crimson held out her right hand. "I place my trust and life in your hands."
"Your life..."
"What? Do you want me to commit suicide again?"
"Yeah, Crimson, as if I'm really going to make you pregnant..."
"Thought so. Anyway, truce?" Kaiba and Yugi and Crimson looked at each other. Yugi readily stuck out his hand and took Crimson's. Kaiba was reluctant. Finally, he reached out his hand and took Crimson's. He made sure not to take Yugi's, as if it was one sign of defiance. Crimson rolled her eyes.
"Okay," she announced, getting to her feet. Around her the red-tinged wasteland disappeared, replaced with the endless black world they were trapped in. Crimson looked around and squinted into the distance.
"The birds!" she gasped. "They're way ahead of us!"
"I'm surprised that we can still see them," Bakura said, as he and Yugi raced after them. After a second, Kaiba and Crimson followed. The four raced against the clock to catch up to the White Ravens. As they ran, Crimson turned to Kaiba.
"I was wondering..." she said. Kaiba looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "What you said... and what happened between Seth and Bianca in the past..." Crimson twirled a strand of her black hair, jogging. "You know the whole thing about why she committed suicide... it's been bothering me... that isn't really going to happen... you won't really..." Kaiba smirked. "Oh no... evil smirk...I don't like that..." Kaiba's mouth formed into an awkward grin, one that could be classified more as a very evil smirk.
"Well... I guess I could arrange for that if you wanted..."
Yugi and Bakura had gotten considerably ahead of them by now. Within a few seconds of this remark by Kaiba, they heard a yell-shriek-gasp noise, a "hey" and then...
"You pervert!"