Pocky s'mores go to hobbit13, Hikage Kitsune, lilmatchgirl, and ShadowFire2. Y'know, something I forgot to say last chapter was that I thought up a sequel when I wrote this one part… weird, cuz I thought this would be a story with a definite ending that wouldn't have any room for a sequel… like I said, weird. And I took some liberties with Joey's deck in this chapter. So sue me. Wait, on second thought, don't.
Oh yeah, updates will be weird because I have major writer's block and only very vague ideas as to where to go after this chapter. (shrugs) Ne, I'm better at figuring out the beginning and very end of stories than the middle… oh, but now that I'm done with AP testing (Germanoslavia! Hahaha), I can hopefully work on this more.
Okay, for anyone who read my Gundam Wing CYOA (Mission Complete), ff.net deleted it. I put it on my website, tho, the link for which is on my bio. Sorry, apparently ff.net doesn't let me do slashes anymore. --; Neither does it let me do my little "at" symbols for pagebreaks or the squiggly lines at the end of each chapter, OR my asterisks for actions. Annoying.
Disclaimer: All I own is Seiyaryu. Well, actually, I don't even own her. I own a Seiyaryu, yes, I own her personality, yes, what I don't own is the rights to her. Wait a minute, Seiyaryu's a Duel Monster from Yu-Gi-Oh!, right? And if I don't own the rights to her, then I also don't own the rights to YGO, ne? Wow, my own logic surprises me sometimes… oh wait, I forgot Zake, I own him too. He's completely my own creation, but you can have him if you want. He's actually quite a bishie. Now let's see… if only I could find those sketches I did of him…
Oh yes, one new note. [blah] is telepathic communication.
Egyptian Shadow Destinies: Chapter Ten
…And the Duos' Troubles Continue
Wingweaver glanced around frantically for some sort of cover, or a handy hallway/door that they could slip into and hide in without being noticed. Having no such luck, she half-turned to see if they could go back the way they came, and saw Seiyaryu attempting to hide behind her. Even with the situation as serious as it was, Wingweaver couldn't help but be slightly amused. "What are you doing?" she asked the larger monster.
Seiyaryu glanced up embarrassedly. "Um, trying to hide?"
Wingweaver raised an eyebrow. "You're bigger than me."
"Yeah, but you have higher attack power!" the dragon whined. Wingweaver rolled her eyes, just as an Alligator's Sword turned the corner, and all three Duel Monsters froze.
Seth's monster was the first to speak. "What are you two doing, standing around the castle when Master Seth demanded us to be ready to fight?" he said, scowling and obviously having yet to realize that these two were intruders.
"We're searching around the castle, making sure there aren't any cowards hiding around," Wingweaver answered smoothly, ignoring Seiyaryu, who was repeatedly poking her in the back.
The reptile monster gave them both a strange look. "Well, you'd better hurry it up. Everyone else'll get suspicious."
"We will, don't worry," said Wingweaver. Seiyaryu was still poking her, and annoyed, she hissed, "What?"
"Wing! That's one of Seth's generals!" the dragon whispered back frantically.
Wingweaver almost swung around before she could stop herself. "What did you say?" she asked a little too loudly, then thought of something else. "How did you know that?"
Seiyaryu waved a claw around aimlessly. "I stole the list from you a while back when you weren't looking," she shrugged. "But what should we do?"
Before the fairy could answer, Alligator's Sword interrupted. "What are you two whispering about back there?"
Seiyaryu threw him a nervous look. "Oh, um, er, you know, strategy stuff. Can't have anyone else overhearing, now can we? There's a good chance someone could've snuck into the castle while everyone else was distracted-OW!" The dragon shut up quickly when Wingweaver kicked her hard.
Alligator's Sword, however, didn't seem to have noticed. "You know, I never thought of that," he pondered. "Maybe someone should be searching for intruders. Hey! I know! It might be the Pharaoh and his pals, come to look for their friend! We should check the dungeons!"
"Oh yes! Great idea!" Seiyaryu said brightly, with a false smile. As soon as the reptile had turned away, Wingweaver shot her a withering glare that had her cowering.
"Now look what you've done!" she grumbled as they followed the Reptile general. "Now we have to figure out a way to stop him from getting to the dungeons-"
"General! There's news from outside, sir!" A Toon Alligator ran out of nowhere, about a third as big as the two rebel Duel Monsters. They twitched slightly at seeing a CARTOON, of all things, in Seth's castle, and almost missed the rest of what he said as a result. "They said two Duel Monsters were seen entering the castle from the upper levels, and it's suspected that they're still inside! Apparently, the two monsters were-" he cut off with a strangled cry as a small burst of energy flew at him from behind the Alligator's Sword.
The reptile turned quickly, drawing out one of its swords as it turned to face the two light monsters. "You-"
"Thanks a lot for blowing our cover, Sei," Wingweaver muttered out of the corner of her mouth as she dropped into a fighting stance. The dragon shrugged.
"Hey, that little drawing would've figured it out anyway, and at least this way I got to kill something…" She eyed the Alligator's Sword hopefully. "I don't suppose you'd let me…?"
"No. You've blown up enough already today." With that said, Wingweaver darted forward, making a golden ball of light appear in her palm, which she threw at the opposing monster. Alligator's Sword didn't stand a chance. As she landed neatly past the smoking pile of ashes on the floor, Wingweaver turned back to Seiyaryu. "Aren't you coming?"
She just stared at the remains of the reptile and sweatdropped. "Yeah, sure. Hey Wing? Remind me to never get on your bad side."
"You act as if you've never seen me do it before," replied Wingweaver. "Let's go, before we attract any more unwanted attention. Nodding, Seiyaryu followed her through the maze of hallways until they reached what seemed to be a solid wall to the outside. Wingweaver was about to smash through it when she felt the dragon's eyes on her. Sighing lightly, the fairy turned to see Seiyaryu giving her the best puppy-dog eyes she could manage. "What?"
Seiyaryu stared at her hopefully. "Could I? Please?"
Wingweaver considered it for a moment, then shrugged. "Sure, why not. I'll let you do the honors." As Seiyaryu cheered and stepped forward, she warned, "Just don't overdo it. We don't want to get buried in a pile of rubble."
"I know, I know. You think I didn't learn that lesson the last time it happened?" Before Wingweaver had much of a chance to ponder when exactly Seiyaryu had collapsed a wall on herself, the dragon had already powered up her attack and blasted a hole in another of Seth's walls, creating another handy entrance and an exit big enough for the both of them to squeeze through easily.
The pair jumped out of the wall, Wingweaver gracefully, and Seiyaryu with a yelled "Yahoo!" and a bit of a stumbling exit. Spreading their wings quickly, they lifted up into the air until they were a good hundred feet above Seth's castle and a fair distance away, too. Distant cries reached their ears, and Wingweaver glanced back. She faced forward again, smiling. "They've seen us, and are giving chase. Looks like the plan's working, hmm?"
Seiyaryu grinned happily. "Ooh, perfectly. Now all we have to do is lead them to the prepared battlefield and hope we don't get blasted into a thousand pieces along the way."
"Thank you very much for that image, Seiyaryu…"
She laughed, neatly dodging the Blue-Eyes' White Lightning. "Aw, don't worry, we'll be fine. Just keep on your toes, 'kay? Nothing can go wrong now!"
Wingweaver sighed deeply, shaking her head. "Famous last words."
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"All alone and lonesome," Joey remarked to himself. "Just where I wanna be right now." Weaving his way through the piles of rubble, the blond made his way over to where Tristan lay unconscious. "Well then, I guess it's up to me to take down this sucker. Too bad no one'll witness it, huh?" Grabbing his friend, Joey tried to pick him up and almost fell over with the effort. "Tristan! Why do you have to weigh so much?" he complained, deciding to ignore the fact that the brunette was passed out at the moment and couldn't hear him.
Sighing, Joey shook his head and dragged Tristan over to the remains of a collapsed wall, leaving him there to provide some sort of shelter. Taking up his previous spot in the middle of the now very cracked road, Joey positioned himself so he could see both the Gadget Soldier and his friend. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly, forcing a grin onto his face though no one else was there to notice it. "Don't want this thing to destroy the city, do we? Well then, let's get this show on the road!"
Throughout Joey's little heroism stunt, the machine had been advancing slowly, seeming to enjoy the fact that its opponent was completely helpless and had no means of escaping. As soon as Joey turned back to it, the Gadget Soldier stopped, surveying its prey with a lazy look. Joey gulped, and a bead of sweat ran slowly down his face. 'Someone please tell me why those things must always be so BIG…'
Running through his mental list of cards that he had in his deck, the blond quickly tried to think up if he had any monster with over 3900 attack points, and came up with nothing. Groaning quietly, Joey barely managed to evade the blast that the monster sent at him, which blew up anything in a five-foot radius as soon as it hit the pavement. Rolling across the street, Joey landed on the sidewalk and leapt to his feet. "I don't suppose we could talk this out?"
The Soldier regarded him with something of an amused expression before firing another attack, which came so close to the teenager that it singed the end of his jacket. "Hey! Okay then… I guess it's time for Plan B!"
Drawing a card from his deck and hoping for the best, Joey glanced at it and growled. Jinzo; it would be helpful if one of the cards used to power up Gadget Soldier, but unfortunately, he didn't have any such luck… that, and it was a sacrifice monster. Well then… digging through his deck, Joey came up with the card he wanted and held it up. "Ultimate Offering!" As the card came into effect, Joey acted quickly; grabbing a non-sacrifice monster, which turned out to be Swordsman of Landstar, he summoned it and sacrificed if for Jinzo without a second thought, working as fast as he could so Seth couldn't use his card's effect. Paying five hundred LP for the summoning of an extra monster gave Joey a small burst of pain and made him wince, but it was worth the effect. Best of all, thanks to Jinzo's effect, Ultimate Offering was cancelled out for the time being. That being done, Joey had to concentrate on what to do next: lower Gadget Soldier's attack and/or raise Jinzo's. And this was where the hard part came in.
"All right, first off…" Joey held up a magic card in his right hand, while still clutching his deck in his left. "I'll activate Tailor of the Fickle, to move Machine Conversion Factory from Gadget Soldier to Jinzo!" As the mysterious building reappeared, stripped the Soldier of the extra parts, and moved to do its work on Jinzo, a part of Joey's mind briefly wondered why he was declaring his moves out loud, even if it was obvious. Another part of his mind slapped it, told it to shut up, and explained that it was more dramatic this way.
Joey smiled as his magic card finished its work, now that the attack and defense scores of the two monsters were a bit closer to each other. Jinzo now had 2700 attack and 1800 defense, while Gadget Soldier had 3600 attack and 2000 defense. Good, but not good enough…
"One more card should do it," Joey mumbled to himself, reaching for his deck and drawing another card. He took one look at it and grinned. Just what he needed. "Graceful Dice!"
The little angel popped up in between the two combatants, holding the die that always seemed to be a bit too big for it to carry. It threw the die up into the air before disappearing, but no one was paying any attention to it anymore, now that its precious burden had been dropped. The three of them, Joey, Gadget Soldier, and Jinzo stared at the die intently, as if willing it to land on a certain number… it rolled slowly, rocking on the "six" side for a while… before, with a little burst, it turned to land on three.
The Soldier smirked, staring Joey straight in the eye before it launched itself right at Jinzo (3000/2100). Joey stared straight back, seemingly unafraid… and if the Gadget Soldier had been looking closer, it would have noticed the identical smirks spread across both Joey and Jinzo's faces.
Sprinting forward, Seth's monster drew back his arm to deal the final blow to Jinzo, which would then streak towards Joey once the other machine was destroyed. It flew towards Jinzo's head, coming closer… and closer… and closer…
"Now!" Joey yelled, and if his monster had a voice at the moment, it would've shouted the same thing at the same time. Now grinning fully, Joey whipped out the card that he had hidden up his right sleeve. "SHIELD AND SWORD!"
The Gadget Soldier had about one millisecond to look startled before Jinzo reared back slightly, bringing its hands up in front of itself and delivering a lightning attack that struck his opponent full-force. As the energy coursed through the Soldier's body, Joey was forcibly reminded of a very, very large lightning rod in the last few seconds before it let out a shriek and disappeared entirely. Its job completed, Jinzo turned around and gave a formal bow to Joey before it too disappeared, presumably back to its home in the Shadow Realm.
Forgetting the fact that no other mortal but him had seen the fight, Joey grinned happily, making a victory sign. "Oh yeah! Who's the man now?"
A soft moan from behind him caused Joey to whirl around, his hand automatically dropping to his deck. ('My deck? MY DECK? Since when has that been a reflex?') He heard it again and relaxed as he recognized the source of the noise. Walking over to the wall, which had miraculously not collapsed even more during the battle, he poked his head around it to regard Tristan, who was waking up and rubbing his head.
The brunette gave his friend a weary look. "What happened?"
Joey waved his hand around casually. "Oh, you know, I beat the Gadget Soldier, saved our lives, rescued the city, etc., etc."
Tristan glanced around, and seeing no sign of the monster, raised an eyebrow. "Well, whaddya know…"
Joey rolled his eyes good-naturedly before leaning in closer to him. "Yeah, I did it. But you know, Tristan, you sure picked a great time to take a nap."
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"The Library of Forbidden Knowledge?" Malik repeated dubiously, staring at Maha Vailo like the monster was crazy. "Why exactly would Seth keep a bunch of books he doesn't want anyone to know about? Don't you think he'd burn them instead?"
Maha Vailo shrugged. "Don't ask me what goes through the mind of a priest of Set," he answered. "All I know is that this library is here, and I am its keeper."
"Riight…" Malik mumbled, before leaning down to whisper in Yugi's ear. "Tell me why exactly we should trust this guy again?"
Yugi took a quick glance around the library before turning back to his friend. "I didn't say that, but as he claims that he isn't really working for Seth, I guess we should give him the benefit of the doubt… just keep on your toes."
Malik mock-saluted the shorter boy. "Aye, aye, captain." He burst into laughter as the shorter boy glared at him.
Ignoring the two mortals, Maha Vailo grabbed one of the torches beside the door and swept around the room, lighting the rest of the torches so the whole library could be soon. Stopping in the middle of the room, he turned back to the door and bowed. "Feel free to look around. If you have any questions, I'll be over at that table." He waved a hand to their left, and Yugi and Malik could clearly see a stack of books and scrolls surrounding the desk.
"Okay, now I know I'm going insane," Malik muttered under his breath. "It's not enough that we have to break into a castle that just happens to be located in a place called the Shadow Realm. No, that castle just has to have a library in it, the Library of Forbidden Knowledge, with the librarian being a freakin' monster with the personality of… of… of one of those stereotypical mysterious guys!"
Yugi tried to stifle a laugh. "That's nice, Malik. But we might as well look around."
Sighing, Malik shook his head, but he wandered off to one of the shelves on the far side of the room. Picking up a book, he read off the cover, "An Account of the Lives of and Treatment of Kas in Ancient Egypt, As Seen Through the Eyes of a Molten Behemoth? You've got to be kidding me…"
Yugi ignored him, going over and unraveling one of the scrolls. He studied it for a moment before he smiled. "Interesting… forbidden magic. I think this could come in handy…"
"Feel free to take what you need," said a voice over Yugi's shoulder, causing him to jump and glance behind him. Maha Vailo sent him a slightly guilty smile before continuing, "Seth won't notice if anything's missing anyway. He never comes down here."
Yugi nodded, tucking the scroll into his pocket. "Thanks."
Meanwhile, Malik had thrown the book haphazardly into a corner, where it burst into flames. He stared at it, sweatdropping and hoping Maha Vailo hadn't noticed, before he figured that that was why it was considered a "dangerous book." Reaching out, about to grab another one, he yelped when it suddenly sprouted fangs and tried to bite him. Knocking it off the shelf quickly, he kicked it towards the wall, where the other book was still flaming. In mere seconds, there was nothing left but ash, so Malik turned back to the shelf, wondering idly why anyone would create books like that and how they ended up in the Shadow Realm anyway. Little did he know that the fanged book had quite a past, and had been sent to the Shadow Realm by a certain Pharaoh five thousand years back after it bit him.
Back to Malik. The Egyptian went through a few more books, holding onto one that focused on magic in combination with different types of weapons, and throwing the rest into haphazard piles all over the place. Across the room, Maha Vailo was sending him a scandalous look, which Malik luckily didn't notice.
"Let's see… anything else of interest," he muttered. "Manipulating Magical Artifacts and Other's Magic to Your Own Uses? Sounds boring, but useful. Maybe Yami'll want to take a look at it. Hidden Special Effects of Extremely Obscure Monsters… useless AND boring… hey, what's this?" Malik studied the cover for a moment before yelling, "Hey Yugi, you might want to take a look at this!"
Maha Vailo glared at him. "Silence in the library, please!"
"Hey, it's not like there's anyone else but us three in here…"
"Yes, but some of the books have very sensitive hearing. They may create a commotion," the spellcaster answered pompously. Malik rolled his eyes and beckoned Yugi over.
"What is it?" Yugi took one look at the title and immediately focused on the book. "The heck?"
"Ah, I see you've found that book," Maha Vailo remarked from behind them, causing both teenagers to spin around.
"Do you mind not doing that? You'll give someone a heart attack!"
"Sorry," the monster apologized, not sounding sorry at all. After all, Malik had been ruining his precious books. "Do you want to know what that is about?"
"Sounds pretty self-explanatory," Yugi remarked. "Forbidden Dueling Methods? But why were they forbidden, anyway?"
"You might want to sit down for this," Maha Vailo answered, walking over to his desk with Yugi and Malik following. "And bring the book."
Curious, the two took a seat in front of the spellcaster, who flipped the book open to the first page. "This is about the only item in the whole library that Seth takes any interest in. You see, long before Yami's time, there were other ways of playing the Shadow Games, and various takes on those ways. Some of them were more complicated than others, using dice and other items as major ways to play instead of stone tablets. Some of these were much more dangerous than what you call Duel Monsters today, and they required a lot more magic and power than the other versions. Eventually, the Pharaohs before Yami banned them, citing that they were too hazardous, and also that they were so rare that few knew how to play, and if they grew to have the same popularity as widely-played Duel Monsters games, many of the sorcerers and mages who played them would be destroyed from the sheer pressure of playing, even if they did win."
Yugi blinked. "And what ways would those be?"
"There are many of them, but two of the most well-known would be the melee rules of 'Duel Monsters' and Dungeon Dice Monsters. There are also a few which are extremely unusual and never really caught on. There's a good chance that Seth knows other ways of dueling than that which you are used to, which may prove to be a major disadvantage if you are to fight him."
Malik gave him a suspicious look. "How did you know we were against Seth?"
Maha Vailo chuckled. "The Pharaoh and his former High Priest have been rivals and enemies for as long as the prophecies care to name, and you are the reincarnations of some of Seth's ancient foes. It's a good bet that you are working against him, though not all forms of the same person agree with one another…"
"What are you talking about?"
"The boy, Seto Kaiba," the spellcaster answered. "He disagrees with Seth on many counts, and would not be here if he could help it. If you can convince him to leave Seth's side, he will be a valuable ally."
"And how exactly are we supposed to get him to help us?" frowned Yugi.
Maha Vailo just gave him a mysterious smile. "It's all a matter of leverage. Seth has something that Kaiba wants. Take it from him and return it to its rightful owner, and I can guarantee that the boy will help you on your quest. Though," here a thoughtful look entered his eye, "if things continue as they are going now, that might not be necessary. Seto Kaiba is learning more about his 'employer,' and the more he finds out, the more he dislikes the priest. Soon enough, he may change his priorities… and when that happens, the balance will shift."
Malik cocked an eyebrow at the monster. "Excuse me, but are you a prophet or something? Because I could've sworn you were just trying to tell the future."
Maha Vailo smiled knowingly, tapping his nose with one finger. "No, not a prophet, but you could say I'm observant… and all signs point to a sudden change. Whether for better or for worse, only time can tell. But in the meantime, I believe you have somewhere you need to be?"
"What do you mean?" Malik asked, just as Yugi yelped and tugged at his sleeve.
"Malik! It's almost time for us to meet the others! Let's go!" The two dashed out the door, but Yugi paused on the way out.
"Um… Maha Vailo, thank you for your help. Are you sure you don't want to leave Seth's castle and come with us? The rebels might mistake you for one of their enemies and hurt you."
The spellcaster shook his head. "No, I'm fine here. It's my duty to guard this library." He stood up and walked over to the exit, putting a hand on the door. "Besides, who else do you think works as a spy for the rebels?" Winking, he closed the door softly, leaving Yugi staring at its polished stone surface.
"Well, that was unexpected," he remarked, turning back to Malik, who was waiting further down the hall and studying a scroll that showed a map of Seth's castle. The Egyptian nodded sharply and turned right, beckoning Yugi to follow.
"Actually, it makes sense," the taller boy said. "Maha Vailo's a light monster, and if you remember, most of the rebels are light-types or weaker monsters. Besides, having someone in such a high position in Seth's little autocracy would mean they'd get a lot more information."
"I guess…" Yugi shook his head. "I'd never have guessed it. C'mon, let's go meet the others."
"And hope they had more luck in finding Ryou?"
Yugi smiled. "Yep. But I'd say we've found something useful too."
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"Well, the first thing to do here would obviously be to find out where exactly the portal leads," Marik pondered. "The obvious way would be to go through it and see what happens. My guess is that it's somewhere near Domino City, since that's where the vast majority of attacks have been happening, but still, it has to be somewhere within fifty miles of where the monsters have been appearing. That's about as far as its power works, and the monsters can only appear in that area. The problem is, that still leaves a lot of area to search. We need to test it out and see where the other portal is, and that means sending something living through it."
"How about I push you in and we find out that way?" Gemini Elf suggested. Marik gave her a withering look.
"How about I push you in, for all the help you're giving me?"
She shrugged, walking up the stairs. "Hey, if you have any better ideas… whoa!" Gemini Elf tripped on the last step, stumbling forward and right into Marik, who fell – right into the portal.
"Whoops…" She peered forward, trying to see through the colors and into the real world. All she managed to see was a slight glimpse of the other side of the room, faded and tinted with whatever color happened to be flashing at the time. "Hey Marik, you in there?"
No answer. "Marik?" She tried poking at the portal, only to have her finger disappear. She withdrew it quickly, before slowly sticking her whole hand in again and moving to the other side. Strangely enough, there was no sign at all of her hand. Shrugging, she moved back to her starting position, cupped her hands around her mouth, threw all caution to the winds, and yelled, "Marik! Hey Marik, can you hear me? Marik!"
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The first sensation the slave got when he went through was dizziness. The many rainbow colors that had flashed in the portal were now surrounding him, forming a sort of swirling tunnel of colors that zipped by faster than he could stand, spinning and buffeting him around like it was some sort of demented roller coaster. Marik closed his eyes, wishing the sensation would stop, but only succeeded in making it feel like he was going faster. Now he understood why portals were never really popular back in ancient Egypt. Seriously, even if you couldn't open a way to the Shadow Realm yourself, it was easier to go ask a priest or someone to do it for you than to go through this torture. Whoever made this thing up was either extremely demented or extremely evil, or both.
It took a few seconds for Marik to realize that he had stopped spinning, since his head still insisted on making it seem like he was still twirling around in that insane tunnel. It took a couple more seconds before he realized that, instead of spinning, he was falling, and falling fast.
Snapping his eyes open, the spirit glanced at the ground beneath him and winced. Looking up, he noticed the portal some twenty feet above him. Twenty feet above plus one hundred feet below equaled… ouch.
Luckily for Marik, Seth wasn't stupid enough to stick a portal in some random place 120 feet up in the air. There was a small river below him, and from what he could tell, it wasn't very deep, but it would work to break his fall somewhat. The rest of the scenery was lost to him, except for a dense forest of trees, before he hit the river hard.
Ow ow ow pain pain pain can't breathe SETH I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR THAT GEMINI ELF YOU ARE SO DEAD WHEN I GET BACK UP THERE – all thoughts of murder fled his mind as soon as Marik realized that he was about to land face-first in the mud at the bottom of the stream. Moving so his feet were under him, he landed on the bed of the river and launched himself upwards again, breaking the surface in record time. Taking a deep breath to get the wind back into him, Marik treaded water for a few seconds before he swam to the bank, getting out and scowling at his sopping wet self and the portal hovering innocently above him. Nothing else seemed to be falling out, and he scowled.
"GEMINI! WHERE IN THE NAME OF RA ARE YOU?" Marik yelled at the top of his lungs. Not his best moment, but considering that he'd just fallen a good distance into a river and was now completely drenched, it was understandable. He received no answer and glanced around, trying to find a way back up there. Seeing none, he was just about to summon a winged monster of some type or another when a head poked out of the portal. Strangely enough, it didn't fall to the ground, and no body followed it.
Marik sweatdropped slightly at seeing Gemini Elf, swirly-eyed as her head poked out of the portal. "Ooh… dizziness… too many colors… I need to hurt whoever designed that thing…" She shook her head slightly, glancing around. "Marik? Ya down there?"
"What do you think?" he asked her dryly. She looked down.
"Oh, there you are. Geez, look at that drop! I'm surprised you're still in one piece."
"No thanks to you," he replied. "Just get me back up there."
"Sure, sure," Gemini Elf answered. "Hold on, I'll pull you up with something." Her head disappeared, and moments later, a rope descended from the portal. Marik grabbed on to it, wondering idly where she'd gotten it, since the room was bare, and decided that it was typical rebel issue. He gave it a quick tug to let her know he was coming up before he walked over to a tree, set his feet against it, and began climbing.
Ten minutes later, he was back through the portal, lying on the ground as his head tried to adjust to the fact that he was no longer spinning. Gemini Elf bent over him, looking not the slightest bit concerned. "Hey Marik, you okay?"
Silence on the part of the spirit. "Marik?" Still nothing. Gemini Elf blinked, then started poking him repeatedly on the nose. "Oh, Marik…"
Marik groaned, but said nothing. "Marik! C'mon, we still have to search the rest of this place. Marik?"
He finally snapped, grabbing her finger and holding on to it. "I'm up, I'm up! Geez…" He sat up, glancing around. "The only problem was that we didn't have much of a chance to find out where exactly the portal led…"
"You mean you didn't recognize it?"
Marik shook his head, frowning. "Nope. Haven't seen a place like it during my whole time in Domino."
"Oh." Gemini Elf thought about that for a moment, then shook her head. "That's a problem."
"You're the inhabitant of the Shadow Realm, so what do you suggest we do?" Marik asked her, standing up.
"Hm… well, the only way to find out where it is given a time limit is if we send someone through there and tell them to find a place that you know of, so you can meet them there later and they can lead you to the portal," the monster mused. "Both of us are out of the question, though, so the logical choice would be if we send someone else. Considering it's only us two at the moment, I'd say you choose one of your monsters, preferably something that can fly or at least move quickly, and tell it to find Domino City. Pick a place and tell it to meet you there, and you can follow it back later."
Marik nodded his agreement before flipping through his deck. "Blue-Winged Crown!" The blue bird appeared before him, screeching loudly as it stretched its wings. "Go through the portal, and you'll end up in Japan, somewhere near Domino City," he instructed the monster. "Head for Domino. When you get there, you should see a large building – the largest in the city. That's Kaiba Corp. Meet us on the rooftop in three days. When we get there, you're to show us back to the portal, so we can find out where it emerges in the real world and destroy it. Understand?" The winged-beast nodded. "Good. Go now, and I'll see you in three days." Without any further instruction, the Blue-Winged Crown dove head-first into the portal and disappeared.
Sighing, the Egyptian spirit turned back to Gemini Elf. "You're right. I guess we should be heading back now. Isn't time almost up?"
The monster gasped, having completely forgotten about their original mission since they found the portal. "Oh no! I can't believe we forgot! It's been almost three hours since we separated from the others. Let's go."
"Alright," Marik answered as they headed out the door. "I just hope one of the other groups had better luck finding Ryou."
Gemini Elf nodded. "I'm sure they did, Marik. I'm sure they did…"
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Dark Magician Girl groaned loudly. "A prophecy. Just what we need. What does it say, Pharaoh?"
"Hold on, I'm getting there," Yami said distantly. "Hm…" He mumbled a few phrases in Egyptian under his breath before nodding. "Okay, it says something like, 'When two forces of the ancient long ago clash in a future time of machines and science, one great titan will fall-' "
"Well, that's obvious," DMG grumbled. Seeing Yami glaring at her, she waved a hand. "Sorry. Go on." When the Pharaoh turned away and was no longer listening, she muttered to herself, "But how did the ancient Egyptians know what machines are anyway?"
" 'One great titan will fall,' " Yami continued. " 'Their battle will be long, their struggle harsh, their allies few and many, loyal and treacherous. But in the end, they will each stand alone, for the fate of the both realms rides on this battle. Those once considered friends, turned against each other, will fight the last of their millennia-long conflicts, and only one will survive. Pharaoh and High Priest, good and evil, real world and Shadow Realm… and the one who emerges the victor has supreme claim to both.' Then there's the picture, and underneath it, more writing. 'Pharaoh Yami and Priest Seth. The one who will claim final triumph will be…' " he paused.
Dark Magician Girl leaned forward expectantly. "Will be? Will be who?"
Yami was silent for a long moment before he heaved a slightly disappointed sigh. "I don't know. It's rubbed out right there." DMG cursed uncharacteristically and would've started banging her head against the wall if it weren't for Yami's next words. "But under that… there's something else. More of the prophecy, I guess… a rhyme, of some sort."
"Really? Where?" Dark Magician Girl all but pushed Yami away in her enthusiasm to see. "What does it say what does it say what does it say?"
Yami sent her a death-glare. "I would read it if you'd get out of the way. And please try to stay out of my light; I need it to read." Sheepishly, the magician scooted over to the side, leaning over Yami's shoulder to look at the hieroglyphics, though she didn't understand one pictograph of it.
"Now, where was I?" Yami pondered. "Ah, here.
" 'It started with six, it ends with nine.
" 'The people, the values, the battles…
" 'The first, where the understated prove themselves,
" 'The second, where the weak show their power,
" 'The third, when strength is most valued,
" 'The fourth and fifth, rolled into one,
" 'The sixth, the revengeful – the imperfect ending,
" 'The seventh and eighth, the scorned, the defenders,
" 'And the ninth, the final clash.
" 'The Shadow Realm awaits the day when its fate is decided.
" 'And what shall that fate be?
" 'Only time will tell…' "
Yami stopped reading there, his brow furrowed into a frown. "Well, there's another puzzle for us to get confused over. Do you understand that at all?"
Dark Magician Girl shrugged. "Somewhat. Six something in the beginning, and there will be nine at the end. The rest of it, I have no idea, except that the 'ninth' whatever-that-is is referring to when you and the others finally go up against Seth. Any other ideas?"
Yami shook his head. "No, that's pretty much what I gathered from it too. I don't suppose you have anything to copy this down on?"
Immediately, she produced a piece of parchment and a pen from out of nowhere. Yami took them, sending her a questioning look, and Dark Magician Girl shrugged. Yami shook his head, writing it off to the fact that she was a MAGICIAN, after all, and got to copying down the prophecy.
A few minutes later, Yami rolled up the scroll, stuck it inside his jacket, and looked at Dark Magician Girl. She also stood, stretching as she glanced around the room. "I don't suppose there's anything else of interest here?"
Yami shook his head. "No, I already checked before I came across the prophecy. There's really little else."
Dark Magician Girl shot a nervous glance around the room before she walked up to the altar and knelt before it. "Well then, I guess we'd better pay our respects to Set and then be off. I mean, we don't want him to be angry at us because we walked in, looked around, and walked out without acknowledging that this is one of his shrines…"
Yami nodded, kneeling down beside her and mumbling a few phrases under his breath. The spellcaster couldn't catch all of it, but from what she could tell, he was asking Set to please hold off his priest for the time being. He stood up quickly after he finished. "Okay, let's go. It's almost time for us to head back and meet the others."
Sighing, DMG quickly said her own prayers before she followed suit. "It's time to go? Really? It didn't seem like that long to me…"
Yami waved his hand around, taking in the whole room. "We spent a good two hours wandering around outside, and I used up another half hour copying the prophecy. We should get there just in time."
"Oh. Alright." Dark Magician Girl followed Yami as he exited the room, watching as the door shut behind him of its own accord. She shivered slightly. "That's freaky. Do all shrine doors do that?"
Yami smiled slightly at seeing her reaction. "No, just the particularly old and powerful ones. Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while."
"Probably not. I bet that'll be the last shrine I'll see for the next few centuries…" DMG fell silent as she followed Yami through the corridors of the castle, hoping that he knew where he was going better than she did. They walked like that for a while, with Yami pausing at each intersection while he tried to figure out where he was going, before she finally spoke. "I sure hope Ryou wasn't on this floor…"
Yami shot her a sharp look. "Really? Why not?"
"Well, we spent so much time in that shrine that we really didn't have time to explore the whole place that thoroughly. If he was there, we might've missed him, and I'd feel terrible if I found out that he was on the dungeon level we were supposed to search and we didn't find him. And then, by the time that we would be able to come back, if it was too late…"
Yami shook his head. "Don't worry about it. We did the best we could, and as far as we know, he was nowhere on this floor. Besides, it's more likely that he was on another level, and one of the other groups found him."
Dark Magician Girl nodded hesitantly. "I hope you're right…"
Yami smirked, half to reassure them both and half because of what he was saying. "Of course I'm right. I'm the Pharaoh; I'm never wrong."
DMG couldn't help but to laugh. "Really now? Then why does the tomb robber find it necessary to correct you all the time?"
"Because he's a tomb robber, and it's a well-known fact that kings and thieves rarely get along," Yami grumbled. "But despite all that, he's rather good at heart."
"Oh, so that's why you keep him around. I knew there was a reason."
Yami shot her a glare, and she rolled her eyes and was quiet. It was a few minutes later before either of them spoke again.
"Is it just me, or is a little too quiet in here?" Yami asked softly, slowing to a halt as his eyes darted around suspiciously.
Dark Magician Girl shook her head. "Well, it's always pretty quiet in here, but I think you're right. Something's off…" Unconsciously, she moved a little closer to the Pharaoh, who put his hand on his deck.
"Right…" Yami murmured, still looking around. He caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye, and he focused on it quickly, nudging his companion in the side and jerking his head in its direction. Upon closer inspection, there was nothing there but a patch of shadow… still, he drew out his cards and pulled one out, only sparing a quick glance down at it. Koumori Dragon. Perfect.
"I don't see anything," Dark Magician Girl whispered back, but she still moved along with him when Yami snuck over to the shadow. They inched closer to the patch, and as they came nearer, Yami could see that it wasn't so much a shadow as a large patch of darkness, apparently stuck there for no particular reason. He shared a meaningful look with his partner, and she nodded, showing that she had noticed it too. They continued moving forward, keeping a close eye on it, and were almost, but not quite, startled when a figure uncoiled itself from the darkness.
The first impression Yami got from the monster was that it was rather large, for something that managed to sneak into the dungeon unnoticed. The blue dragon was around fifteen feet tall, nowhere near as big as the Blue-Eyes, but still large enough to be a potential source of trouble. Its large teeth showed clearly as it yawned widely and gave them an appraising look. His gaze swept from Dark Magician Girl to Yami, at which point its claws immediately came unsheathed. Searching his mind to see if he recognized the monster, one picture in Yami's head clicked. An Aqua Dragon.
If the dragon had had eyebrows, they would be raised. "Well, apparently here we have a Dark Magician Girl, who I wouldn't know if she was a traitor or not, as I don't recall seeing one in the army. Judging by that, she must be a rebel monster." Said spellcaster growled. "And there we have a… well, from the scent of him, it's not really a mortal. He was mortal once, but I think he's a spirit now. In any other case, I would be confused, but from that hair of his… I'd guess he's the immortal Pharaoh himself." The last part was said mockingly, causing Yami to scowl at him.
"Yes, so what if I am?"
Sighing slightly, the dragon dropped into a half-crouching position. "I'd say that's too bad. That means, by order of my Lord Seth, I have to exterminate you. A bit of a pity, really, to have do destroy such a beautiful monster as your companion. See, it would've been easier if you'd just claimed to be an innocent citizen who somehow managed to wander into this castle."
Yami rolled his eyes. "The last time I checked, there were no such things as 'citizens,' innocent or otherwise, in the Shadow Realm. And you would've been told to destroy all intruders anyway."
Aqua Dragon bared his fangs in a grin. "Hm, good point. I'll have to bring that up to Lord Seth. In the meantime," he raised his claws, "I believe I was about to kill you?"
Yami and Dark Magician Girl barely managed to get out of the way before Aqua Dragon launched himself forward, trying to slash at them. He turned his head and shot a blast of water out of his mouth at Yami, which missed him by about a foot and caused rubble to shower down near the Pharaoh. Yami cursed quietly, shielding his head and rolling out of the way, as the dragon dove for him again. "DMG! You could help, you know!"
"His attack power's 2250! My magic would bounce right off!" she yelled back, raising her staff and firing off a Dark Magic Attack to prove her point. As expected, it did nothing but hit the dragon on the shoulder, disintegrating just as it hit. It served her purpose, however, as Aqua Dragon turned away from Yami to study his new opponent.
"You know, that actually hurt a little," Aqua Dragon commented, in a slightly amused tone. "If you're lucky, it might just bruise tomorrow. Oh wait… you're going to die right now, so you won't ever know what the result of that is." He attacked again with his water attack; Dark Magician Girl managed to hold it off with her staff for barely long enough to get away.
"You're better than I thought," her enemy said thoughtfully. "Now, if only I could get Lord Seth to use a Brain Control on you, I might just spare you. Unless, of course, you're willing to work with us without that kind of persuasion?"
"Never!" she shot back at him, aiming with her staff and firing an attack at him that the dragon dodged lazily.
Now hovering in the air, the Aqua Dragon gave her a disappointed look. "Really? It was such a kind offer, I thought you couldn't turn me down. Oh well. Some women are too stubborn for their own good, I guess." He leaped at her, claws brought forward, as he powered up his water blast for extra insurance. DMG fell into a crouch, ready to leap away…
[Wait!] Yami's voice rang in her head, causing her to lose her concentration for a split second. She recovered quickly, however, and glared at him.
[What is it? I'm about to be killed here, you know!] Dark Magician Girl yelled mentally, not at all happy that Yami had used her power of telepathy against her.
[Just stay there and wait for him to come to you. I have a plan.]
She hesitated for only a second. [Okay, but I hope I know what you're doing.]
Yami's mental voice was laced with a smirk. [Of course I do. I'm the Pharaoh.]
Dark Magician Girl chose not to answer it. Breaking the telepathic link, she focused on the dragon heading toward her, glad that her powers allowed the exchange to happen in no more than a few milliseconds. Bracing herself for the attack, she readied her staff in a defensive position and waited for the Pharaoh to make his move.
It came, and not a second too late. Just when she thought she was about to be speared through with Aqua Dragon's claws, blown into pieces by his water attack, or both, Yami's confident voice rang through the dungeon.
"Book of Secret Arts!"
Dark Magician Girl had never been more grateful for magic cards in her life. But then again, she'd never had to deal with a Pharaoh who had a thing for the dramatic either. As she blasted the Aqua Dragon, who shrieked as he was destroyed, a small part of her mind grumbled against Yami. One second later, and… okay, it might be better not to think about that.
Shaking her head to clear it of any unnecessary thoughts, Dark Magician Girl gave Yami a glare. "Nice thinking there, Pharaoh. But do you mind not cutting it so close next time?"
Yami merely chuckled and walked past her, taking his former place as the leader of the duo. Sighing and shaking her head, Dark Magician Girl followed, as the two headed out of the dungeon maze to meet up with their friends.
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"Ryou!" The white-haired boy turned at hearing his name spoken by a very familiar voice, only to have the wind knocked out of him when something – or someone – ran into him full-force, grabbing him and hugging him tightly. Ryou tensed quickly, only to hear Ryu-Ran chuckle beside him. Giving the monster an odd look, he decided that whatever it was wasn't threatening him. It was then he noticed the few strands of white hair that hung in front of his face.
"Wait a minute… Bakura?" he asked, gently pushing the spirit away to take a good look at him. "It is you!" Indeed it was, and the tomb robber was grinning like an idiot at having found his reincarnation.
Bakura nodded, watching as a slow smile spread over Ryou's face. "Yeah, it's me. Are you okay? How long have you been here?"
Ryou gave him a look. "Yes, I'm fine. What do you mean, how long have I been here? It's only been little more than a day…"
"Really now?" Bakura pondered casually, having once again gained his composure. "Well, that's interesting. It's been about… what, five hours? For us."
"Five hours?" Ryou sent him an incredulous look, then shook his head. "Five hours, and you manage to make it to the Shadow Realm, get into Seth's castle, meet a couple new friends," he gestured at Chaos Mage, who did an elaborate bow, "and find me? From what I've seen of this place so far, it's not easy to go anywhere, even if you have a vague idea of how to get there…"
Bakura sweatdropped. "Well, our lives are adventurous, to say the least." Grabbing Ryou's shoulder lightly, he began to steer the teenager in the direction from which they had originally come. "So, tell me what you've been up to while we've been looking for you. Did anything interesting happen?"
"No, not really… except Seth and Kaiba passed me on their way to go see Mokuba, or something. I learned that Kaiba doesn't really want to be here, and also that he isn't exactly willing to help a classmate in need, especially if that classmate is a captive of Seth…"
"Note to self: hurt Kaiba as much as possible as soon as I get the chance," Bakura muttered to himself. Ryou sent him a questioning look, and the King of Thieves just grinned. "Okay, well, tell me how you got out of your cell, then."
As Ryou filled Bakura in on the details, Ryu-Ran took a quick glance at them before he sidled over to Chaos Mage and whispered in her ear. "Is it just me, or is there something weird going on here?"
The magician glanced at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Well, don't tell the humans, but I think we're lost," the dragon murmured.
Chaos Mage snorted. "Probably not. In case you're forgetting, we're following Bakura here, a tomb robber and the King of Thieves."
"Maybe so, but did it take you this long to find us, from wherever you were?"
She thought about that for a moment. "No, but then again, we did a bit of wandering around before we found where Ryou was kept…"
"Ah," Ryu-Ran paused. "And have we passed that cell yet?"
"…uh oh. Bakura!" Chaos Mage yelled.
"…nicely done, Ryou, you'd have made an awesome tomb robber if you lived in our time. One of the best," Bakura was saying, before he was interrupted. Ignoring Ryou's sweatdrop, he turned to give the monster an exasperated look. "What?"
"As I was telling her, I think we're lost," Ryu-Ran told him.
Bakura blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? I know where I'm going."
Chaos Mage shook her head. "No, I agree with Ryu-Ran. We should've gotten out of here a long time ago, unless there's some sort of trick or we're lost."
Bakura pondered that for a moment. "Well, we're definitely not lost; that would be an insult to my tomb robber's skills." Behind him, Ryou rolled his eyes, but Bakura didn't notice. "And I don't think there's a trick. I would've noticed it by now."
Ryu-Ran coughed politely, getting Bakura's attention. "Um… I hate to tell you, Bakura, but we've been going in circles. The proof's right there." He pointed to a candle, lying innocently on the ground inside one of the cells. The others stared at it blankly. "I've been getting a weird feeling for a while, so I dropped that a while back. And anyway, there it is."
The four of them just stared at it for a few minutes before Bakura groaned. "What? But I don't understand… we shouldn't have been going in circles. I've been following the ashes in the cells, so we should eventually end up back where Ryou was…"
"Except we aren't," finished Ryou. "Is anyone else smelling a rat?"
Silence greeted him, until Ryu-Ran moaned loudly. "Judging by the way this is going, we'll never get out of here!"
"Ryu-Ran-" Ryou began, but stopped and yelped as the dragon fired a blast at the wall in frustration, causing a shower of debris to fall from the spot.
Bakura blinked. "Well, that's one way to get where we're going; blow holes in the walls…"
But when the dust cleared, there was nothing there, except a wall with a few small chunks of rock missing. Ryu-Ran glared at it for a moment before he burst into indignation. "Hey! That's no ordinary wall! It should be in pieces by now! That's not supposed to happen!"
"And yet, it's still standing," Bakura mused. "Interesting…" He turned to Chaos Mage. "Do you mind trying?"
She shrugged and did as he asked. The result was a slightly larger explosion, more dust, and a few more rocks on the ground. Still, the wall held fast. Ryu-Ran walked up to it and kicked it, hard. "Stupid wall…"
"Well, it's been decided that, either Seth likes the walls of his dungeons about ten feet thick, or that's no ordinary wall." Ryou stated. "And I know for a fact that the walls are only about three inches thick… so what are the 'no ordinary wall' options?"
"One, it's a magic wall," Bakura walked up to it and tried his little magic-identification spell again. Nothing happened, except for a slight sparking that burned him slightly. Stuffing his fingers in his mouth, Bakura scowled hatefully at the wall before continuing, "Two, it's not a wall at all, and we're trapped in an illusion in our own minds. Highly unlike, because I don't remember any blackouts that would tell us that we entered our mind-realms. And three… this wall is protected by a non-human magic. If those are the only choices, then I'd say number three. Then what could it be?"
Ryou thought about that for a few seconds before his eyes alighted on Chaos Mage and Ryu-Ran. "A Duel Monster?"
"And what Duel Monster would that be, pray tell?" Ryu-Ran asked sarcastically. "I know of no Duel Monsters that are rock walls that trap people in a… maze…"
"Or a labyrinth," Bakura said slowly, a grin beginning to form on his face. "A Labyrinth Wall! No wonder your attacks didn't affect it, since it has 3000 defense…"
Ryu-Ran clapped his hands together cheerfully. "Well then! Now that we've figured that out, what next?"
"That's easy. We destroy it, and then we can get out of here," suggested Ryou. "But does anyone have any idea just how we get rid of it?"
Ryu-Ran and Chaos Mage shared a meaningful look as they positioned themselves in front of one of the walls. "Ryou dear," began Ryu-Ran, "do you remember what I asked you earlier about combined attacks?"
Ryou blinked. "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"
Chaos Mage smirked. "Just watch."
Simultaneously, the two linked hands and started firing up their attacks to maximum power – and beyond. Ryou could only watch in astonishment as a beam of light, red and a deep blue swirled together, shot out from the two of them and hit the wall. Immediately, the whole dungeon started to vibrate, and pieces of rock started falling from the ceiling, and Ryou and Bakura ducked reflexively, shielding their heads.
Then, almost as suddenly as it had come, the tremors stopped. Ryou looked up and saw the two monsters standing triumphantly, with the piece of wall they had attacked slowly disintegrating. Grinning, Ryu-Ran turned back to the two humans standing behind them. "Well? It's destroyed, let's go!"
Bakura once again took the lead, with Ryou walking next to him and the two monsters trailing behind. "Combined attacks?" Ryou muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah. I've heard of them," Bakura answered distractedly. "What happens is that two or more monsters fuse part of their energies together. Then, their respective attacks go up by half again. The average of the new attacks is the 'combined attack power,' and it deals damage like a regular attack."
"Oh." Ryou thought about that in silence for a moment, before something else struck him. "Two or more?"
Bakura nodded. "Yep. It can lead to some pretty destructive combos, believe me. So much so, in fact, that it was outlawed in all but the most extreme Shadow Games. The problem with it is that it takes so much energy out of the monsters that the ones that combined their power can't attack for the next two turns. It's more of a last-ditch move than anything else."
"Hm…" Ryou stored that away in his mind for future reference before he turned back to Bakura. "So, where exactly are we going now, anyway?"
"To the second basement floor," the tomb robber said. "We're supposed to meet the others there in… oh, about twenty minutes. Believe me, they'll be as happy as I was to see that you're okay."
"Ah," Ryou mumbled, remembering Bakura's reaction. "Oh, joy."
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Taking a good look at the two figures, flying in from the distance with what looked like a dark cloud following them, Seth grinned. "And the pieces are falling into place. The players are almost ready… soon the game will really begin."
Kaiba sent him a weary look. "What are you blabbering about now, Seth?"
The priest turned to him, looking as innocent as could be. "Why, nothing really, my dear Seto. And please, don't be so formal with me! You know I absolutely loath it when you speak to me like that."
The CEO rolled his eyes. "Shut up, priest. And don't even start forcing that 'Lord Seth' title on me. I'll call you what I want, and speak to you how I want."
Seth just cocked an eyebrow lazily. "Really now? And what if I harm little Mokuba because of it?"
Kaiba fell silent, and Seth smirked. "Ah. I thought so. Worried about little Mokie's safety, now are we? Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of hurting your beloved little brother as long as I have a use for you. Of course," he paused, "With the Pharaoh and his pals in my castle, I can't promise anything. They might kill him!" he said in a mock-worried voice. "And then where would you be? If he dies, then you no longer have a reason to work with me, but then it's their fault, so you would never help your brother's murderers… oh, what to do, what to do? This is quite a situation you've gotten yourself into, Seto-chan!"
Kaiba growled at the nickname, and Zake moved slightly closer to Seth. "Supposing that everything goes to plan – the Pharaoh's plan, I mean – what are we going to do?"
Seth stretched back lazily. "Don't worry, I've got it all figured out. My strategy depends on them believing they've defeated me for the time being."
Kaiba glared at him. "You mean you'll purposely lose this battle?"
The priest smiled calmly. "Well… I wouldn't call it that. A 'necessary loss' is more like it. And, of course, we'll have to put up a good fight, and get rid of as many rebel monsters as we can in the process…"
At that point, the brown-haired teenager tuned his previous incarnation out. He was starting to have his doubts about this whole deal. Not only was Seth cruel and sadistic – even more than he himself was known to be – but he was willing to sacrifice as many of his followers to get what he wanted. Seto wondered idly if they knew how Seth worked, then dismissed it as unimportant. Not only that, but he was doing this to protect Mokuba, and Seth was doing nothing to keep his little brother safe. He was even suggesting that Yugi and his friends would have the nerve to hurt him… As much as Kaiba hated to admit it, he couldn't imagine them doing anything bad to Mokuba. They were too nice for that, and it would be more profitable to help them instead, but he couldn't just abandon his brother… and then, of course, you have the fact that Seth was planning to blame the takeover of the world on him. You couldn't get much worse than that. But he didn't really have a choice in the matter, did he? He was in too far to back out now.
Kaiba sighed softly, shaking his head. 'Seto Kaiba, WHAT have you gotten yourself into now?'
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'Cold…'
'Lonely…'
'So quiet…'
'Seto…'
'Seto, where are you?'
Mokuba shivered slightly in his cell, hugging his knees tightly to his chest. The only sounds he could hear was that of his chains clanking against the cell floor, reminding him of his captivity, and the steady drip, drip of water falling against the stones somewhere. Other than that, it was completely silent. The room he was in seemed soundproof; nothing from outside could be heard.
And it was starting to drive him crazy.
Locked up in the dark, no light, no sound, nothing to convince him that he hadn't lost his mind yet… nothing to differentiate between when his eyes were opened or closed, when he was awake or asleep… it all seemed like a never-ending nightmare. Waking or sleeping, he couldn't tell. It was all the same, now… even when he was sure his eyes were open, he couldn't see anything at all, not even his hand in front of his face. Some might find it peaceful, to be alone in the dark where no one could bother you… but Mokuba wasn't one of those people. To tell the truth, he was scared. Scared to death in this small, cramped space, where there was barely enough room for him to even curl up without scraping the walls in front of and behind him. It was a good thing he wasn't claustrophobic, or he would've broken down into a screaming fit a long time ago.
What day was it? How much time had passed since he had first ended up in here? Mokuba had no idea… no sense of anything at all, anymore. Seto had promised to try and get him out, but… Seto was working for Seth. For his captor. He knew his brother only wanted to rescue him, but just the thought of it was almost worse than being locked up here.
He was shaking even harder, now. It was making the chains rattle even more. Mokuba moved so his hands were flat against the floor, to try and stop them from moving so much. The freezing feeling against his palms made him gasp slightly, retract his palms, and place them on his knees. After a few seconds, he wrapped his arms around his legs again and started rocking back and forth, back and forth… Seto, it's been so long since you last came. Where are you?
A sound. A small sound that broke the silence surrounding him, that made his thoughts stop in their tracks. What was that? It came again, and Mokuba identified it this time, as being inside his own cell. His throat constricted tightly, and it came again. A quiet sob, the only other sound he had heard in days.
Mokuba sighed deeply, forcing himself to stop crying. He hadn't cried since he was eight… but this time, he couldn't help it. And besides, if he could hear himself, at least he knew he was somewhat sane…
A bitter laugh emerged at the last thought. Somewhat sane. He used to be so proud, of himself, of his brother, of his brother's company… and look at him now. Reduced to crying to know he wasn't going mad.
He laughed again, a sort of half-chuckle, half-hiccup as the tears started running again. Who was he kidding. He was a coward, always depended on Seto to rescue him… just as he was doing now. He didn't even know where Seto was, if he was okay, if he was even alive… Mokuba refused to think about the last option.
Please help me, Seto… please come soon…
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And… there you go! ESD, chapter ten! Twenty-two pages, with the formatting I detailed last chapter. Hope you enjoyed!
Okay, I know the prophecy didn't rhyme. He was translating it, and I was too lazy to waste time trying to get it to rhyme. Deal with it. Updates will come faster now, hopefully, since all I have left in the way of major testing is finals for four classes. Ugh… finals…
Oh yes, I need your opinions for something. What do you guys think of a SetoxIsis coupling? This might be SetoxIsis later, depending on if you guys want it or not. I can write it without the romance, if you want, so tell me what you think.
Review review review! Reviewers get… um… (runs off to find her sugar stuff) (comes back with her arms piled full of brownies) These! So review! And flames will be used to BURN THE AP TEST, LIKE THE DRAWINGS ON OUR BOARD SHOWED BEFORE WE TOOK IT!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!! – (clears throat) Um, yes. Sorry about that. Review, pwease!