Into Darkness

Ame no Mizu

Author's note: hmm... how to put this.... Now, I know you all have been very, very good to me, and this is in no way connected to any of you, but I am going on hiatus. My home life is a little... messy right now. I'm a junior in high school, and there's just too many things I have to do. I've got three short stories, two essays, and a full summary of Macbeth to finish by next Wednesday. There's just no time left for me to write anymore. I'm completely spent. You can go to my bio page for more details (when I'm out of hiatus, the full reasons, etc.) if you really want to know. Until then, I'll try to post what I've already written, like up to ch. 11 of this story, and anything you guys can do to make this easier on me would be appreciated, even if it's just sending me a little e-mail and reminding me I'm loved. It'll help, believe me.

Otherwise, if you're looking for more fics to read, I'd suggest checking out The Panasonic Princess, my very best friend (and the person I cheat off of in Chem). She's a fantastic writer, and I think you'd all like her. She's got a wicked sense of humor (wicked as in evil, I mean).

So, I hope you'll all check me out in the near future, and I hope to have everyone's support till I get my life straightened out.

You have no idea how much you all mean to me.

~Mizu-chan~

Chapter nine:

Point of No Return

Marik awoke to deft hands stroking his hair softly. He purred, and leaned into the touch, opening his eyes to look into those of his yami. They kissed, and Marik cuddled into the taller Egyptian's bare chest.

"Good morning, koibito," Malik growled, making his hikari giggle and they kissed again, "Sleep well?"

"Very," Marik answered, "You?"

"Never better."

They heard the front door open and close. Bakura's voice resounded throughout the house.

"If anyone wants breakfast, they've got to come down for it!"

The two grinned at each other and slowly got out of bed, getting dressed. They went back downstairs hand in hand, and the others smiled as they entered the kitchen.

"Hey, you two," Bakura greeted, "We're making eggs. You want some?"

"Yeah, sure," Malik said, and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, pulling Marik onto his lap.

"You know, if you weren't done, you can go back up to the bedroom," Ryou grinned and Marik stuck his tongue out at him.

"Trust me, we did enough in there to keep ourselves satisfied for a week," he snapped.

"We know," Bakura growled as he placed two plates in front of them. The group laughed and began to eat.

Marik stopped laughing when he felt his yami tense beneath him (and not in the good way). He looked around, and saw Bakura and Yami had done the same.

"What's wrong? What happened?" he asked when Malik's grip on his waist tightened protectively.

"Something's coming," Malik growled dangerously, "Something evil… pure evil. It's coming fast."

"I feel it, too," Bakura also growled, pulling Ryou to his feet and into his arms, "Yami?"

"I do."

Marik's eyes met Ryou's, and he could tell the albino was thinking the same thing he was: This is not good.

"Upstairs. Now," ordered Bakura, "Into Ryou's bedroom, all of us. There is something coming, I can tell."

They went upstairs as a whole, the hikaris taking their breakfasts with them. They filed into the bedroom, sitting in various spots, Ryou and Bakura taking the bed, Yami and Yugi, the large chair, and Marik and Malik, the floor. They sat in silence for several minutes before anyone spoke.

"Is it still there?" Ryou whispered to his yami.

"Faintly, yes," he whispered back, "And whoever it was wanted us to know they were there. This isn't over," He turned to the other yamis, "The hikaris aren't safe. They never were."

"But Hynes is dead!" Marik cried, "I thought you killed him!"

"I did," Bakura snapped, "This isn't Hynes. Hynes was never powerful enough to emit this type of energy. This… is something much more dangerous."

"I don't like this, yami," Ryou whimpered, and Bakura held onto him tighter. Marik looked up at his own yami, remembrance dawning in his mind.

"Malik… could this be that woman Ryou put to sleep?" he asked, and Malik paused, apparently thinking.

"It could very well be, hikari," he murmured. Silence reigned once more.

It was one in the afternoon before any of the yamis let their hikaris leave the room. Bakura was nervous. That feeling… it chilled him to the bone. He nearly panicked when he realized that Ryou wasn't safe. He wanted this to end. He wanted Ryou to stop worrying. He wanted to protect his hikari without doubt.

That woman Marik was talking about… he didn't want to believe it, but she may have been more powerful than he'd given her credit for. It was strange, but when he first saw the woman, she didn't seem all that capable of anything magic. Then again, neither did Ryou, but he apparently put the woman to sleep…

He didn't want to think of it, but this suddenly seemed totally out of their league.

Should they run? Call for help? Stay and fight? There were so many possibilities. They couldn't run. They'd be tracked down. Who would be powerful enough to do anything they couldn't? And would the hikaris be in more danger if they decided to fight? Bakura's head hurt trying to think everything out.

But one thing was clear: the hikaris had to be protected at all costs.

But how? The yamis hardly seemed able to protect themselves. How the hell were they going to protect their hikaris? Was this what this evil wanted?

Ryou told him that Hynes had been following him since before he'd gotten the Ring. It could've been just a perverted obsession (Hynes was certainly capable of it), but it was very possible that Hynes knew that Ryou was destined for the Item, and also knew that the albino would lead him to both Yugi and Marik. But how could he know? Unless…

This woman… how could Bakura have overlooked her?

Malik glanced over at his fellow yamis as he leaned his head against the iron legs of Ryou's bed. Marik had left to go downstairs and get some water. His eyes met Bakura's, and both yamis tensed. Suddenly concerned, he got up and left the room, intent on going to the kitchen to his hikari. As he began to descend the stairs, a noise made him jump. It sounded like breaking glass.

"Marik!" he shouted, and sprinted down the stairs. He could hear the other yamis following him. When he reached the kitchen, he saw Marik on his knees, picking up the broken shards of what appeared to be a glass.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered, "I just… got this chill, and the glass fell out of my hand. I'll have to get Ryou another one… including the other two I broke earlier."

"What's going on?" came Yugi's voice from the foot of the stairs. Yami turned and growled.

"Yugi, I told you to wait upstairs with Ryou," he said.

"I know, but Ryou wanted to know what was going on," Yugi whispered.

Malik felt Bakura tense angrily beside him.

"You mean Ryou is up there alone?" he gasped.

Yugi remained silent.

"Dammit," Bakura hissed, and pushed the boy aside as he rushed up the stairs. Malik's eyes met Yami's, and they followed. They found him in the middle of his hikari's bedroom, on his knees, his head in his hands. Malik's eyes were glued to the wall beside him. On it, in bright red paint (he hoped it was paint, at least) was:

It has begun. Prepare for your end.

Ryou was nowhere to be found. The Millennium Ring was on the bed where its owner had been sitting.

"Oh, no," whispered Marik, who had come up behind them. Malik wrapped his arms around his hikari's shoulders as the boy began to cry.

"It's okay, Bakura," said Yami, putting his hand on the spirit's shoulder comfortingly, "We'll get him back."

"Get off me," Bakura hissed, knocking Yami's hand away from him, "It's not okay, you bastard! Ryou is gone! He could be anywhere! We'll never find him!" he gave a choked sob, and croaked, "I've lost him…" He broke down and collapsed, crying into the rug of his hikari's bedroom.

Malik looked into Marik's bloodshot eyes, over to his fallen friend, over to the ex-pharaoh and his hikari, clinging to each other as they would to their lives, and knew that the true battle had begun.

Yanatarei looked down onto the sleeping form in her arms. It had been child's play to convince the others, even the pharaoh's hikari, to leave the room. She had to get her hands on this one. He was powerful… even more so than his yami. He was considered a threat.

But he wouldn't be after she was finished with him.

She would perfect the spell that stupid mortal had attempted on the little blonde hikari. She, of course, would get it right. The yamis would never know what hit them. It was perfect. Pure genius. They would never attack this innocent looking creature. They would have to surrender, and Yanatarei would have a clear path to world domination.

She would let them grieve over the loss of the hikari. Then, she would set him loose.

"Welcome to the end, kiddies… you're all mine…"

She let her maniacal laughter reverberate through the empty space around her, and, in a blink of an eye, she was gone…

Well… there ya go. Yeah, I know Yanatarei is like a cheesy comic book villianess, but that's how I wanted her for this chapter. You'll learn more about her in chapters to come.

Next time: Bakura slips into depression, runs off, and Malik gets frustrated with Yami. In their divided state, can they deal with a Ryou turned bad?