The next morning the group was in for a surprise when they looked out of the windows.
"Guys! Look!" exclaimed Tristan in the Dining Hall where they had gathered for breakfast. "We're moving!"
It was true. The airship was now flying along at a nice clip, and nothing but blue ocean could be seen in any direction.
"Woah!" exclaimed Téa.
Mokuba walked over. "They managed to fix the engine last night, and Seto ordered the ship to take off immediately. We've been flying for about six hours now. If all goes well, we should be able to make it back to Domino by this time tomorrow."
"That long?!" exclaimed Tristan. "It didn't take us that long to get out here!"
"I know!" said Mokuba. "But the engine isn't up to full capacity. Hey! Don't look me that way! We're doing the best we can!"
"Tristan, calm down," urged Téa.
Before Tristan could answer, the door opened. Duke and Kevin entered, escorting Serenity. Serenity looked awful. She was pale and her eyes were still puffy from crying. She also looked like she hadn't slept at all that night. It had taken everything Duke and Kevin could do to get her to leave the hospital wing for a meal.
"Hey, Serenity," called Tristan. "Come here and look at this. We're on our way back home."
Serenity sniffed, "T-that's good."
"Cheer up, we'll be getting your brother to a real hospital soon," said Duke. "Now sit down and have something to eat."
"Okay…" said Serenity, softly.
They walked over to the closest table and sat down. It was a quiet meal; hardly anyone had anything to say. And no one ate much, most were too worried. Serenity hardly touched the bagel in front of her.
About ten minutes later, Drake and Lara entered.
"Where have you two been?" asked Téa. "Take that back, I don't want to know."
Lara gave her a steady look. "We were looking for Shayla."
"Where is she?" asked Mokuba.
"Don't know," replied Drake. "We couldn't find her, and we looked everywhere. She hasn't been seen in the hospital wing since yesterday. Her room is looked. She wasn't in Mai's room. Ishizu hasn't seen her…"
"We were hoping she had made it here for breakfast," added Lara. "So much for that idea."
"Well, people don't just disappear," said Kevin.
"With Marik still running around…" Téa trailed off.
"Do you think she's in trouble?" asked Duke.
"I hope not," replied Téa. "But we still need to find her. It's been half a day since anyone has seen her."
"Maybe it's just bad luck," said Tristan. "You know, we just keep missing her."
"I hope that's the case," said Drake, grimly.
"You don't think Marik would really hurt her, though, do you?" asked Kevin.
"She does have a Millennial Item," commented Téa. "I don't like this. We need to find her, and fast."
"I'll come with you," volunteered Lara.
"Hey Serenity," said Tristan, trying to snap her out of her melancholia. "Why don't you come with me? We can see if Shayla is in the hospital wing and check on Joe and Yu-Gi while we are there."
"Oh…okay…" said Serenity, apathetically.
"I'll come with you," said Duke. Tristan glared at him, but said nothing.
"I'll see if Seto knows anything!" chimed Mokuba.
"Go right on ahead, Mokuba," said Kevin. No one else was willing to talk to Kaiba.
"Well, let's get going," said Drake. "No point in sitting around here."
"You're right," agreed Duke as they all stood up.
"Just be careful in case Marik shows up," cautioned Tristan as they all went their separate ways.
"I hope my brother is okay," sniffed Serenity.
"I'm sure he's on the road to recovery," said Kevin.
"And soon we can get him and Yu-Gi to a real hospital, where they can get the help they need," added Tristan.
"Serenity, just don't give up hope on your brother," said Duke. "Because I know he'd never give up hope."
"I know…I'm trying," replied Serenity. "But…But…Mai…."
The two boys went quiet for a moment, not sure what to say to that.
Tristan took a deep breath before he answered, "We're on our way back to the city. Joe will get real help. I'm sure he'll make it through this."
"Yeah," agreed Kevin. "And with you there by him all the time, you know he isn't going to just give up."
"Thanks guys," said Serenity.
"Don't mention it, that's what friends are for," said Kevin as he pushed open the door of the hospital wing.
"How are they?" Duke immediately asked the first doctor he saw.
"No improvement," he replied. "But, they haven't changed for the worst either."
"Joe!" called Serenity, hurrying to the empty seat by her brother's bed. "I'm here for you! And I'm not going to leave you!"
"Hey Yu-Gi," said Tristan to the other unconscious figure. "Hang in there bud, okay? We're on our way to a hospital; we'll get you help. So keep fighting, because we haven't given up yet."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"I have no idea where she could be," sighed Lara as they failed to locate Shayla.
"This ship is big, but it's not that big," said Drake. "I am really beginning to think Marik might have done something."
"I don't even want to think about that!" exclaimed Téa. "We have to keep trying!"
"Where do you suggest we look?" asked Lara. "Because I am out of ideas."
"Well…um…" stammered Téa.
"I think we should head back to the hospital wing and see how everyone is," said Drake.
"Okay, okay," conceded Téa. "But we're not that far from Shayla's room. Let's check there one more time, just in case."
"Fine," said Drake. "But I doubt we're going to find her."
"Come on then," said Téa, leading the way to Shayla's room. The couple followed.
The halls seemed way too quiet as they walked along. No one was in the area, namely because everyone else was in the hospital wing. Téa knocked on Shayla's door.
"Shayla? Are you in there?" Téa called.
No answer.
"I didn't think so," said Drake.
Téa tried to doorknob. "It's still locked."
"Let's go, no point standing around here," said Drake.
"Wait a moment," said Lara as she put an ear to the door. "I hear something in there."
"Like what?" asked Téa.
"Sounds like someone is crying," answered Lara.
"Shayla! Shayla!" called Téa, pounding on the door. "Open up! It's us!"
No answer.
"Why won't she open the door?" asked Drake.
"Well, she sounds really upset…" commented Lara.
"Shayla! Please open the door!" said Téa.
Again, no answer.
"Shayla, come on!" called Drake.
No response.
In the brief pause of silence, they could hear footsteps coming their way.
"Oh no, I hope that isn't who I think it is…" muttered Lara. "Everyone else is in the hospital wing…oh no…"
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Drake said.
They all froze, afraid that Yami Marik would walk around the corner at any moment. They were rather surprised when someone did walk around the corner. It wasn't Yami Marik; it was Seto Kaiba.
"Kaiba?!" gasped Téa. "What are you doing here?"
Kaiba glared at her, he never liked people questioning his actions. "Walking," he replied, coldly.
Drake muttered something under his breath that caused Lara to prod him rather hard with her elbow so that no one else would hear her boyfriend's comment.
"What are you doing here?" Kaiba asked them.
"We're trying to get Shayla to answer the door," said Téa, a bit snappishly.
"Oh?" asked Kaiba. He seemed a bit surprised.
"Yes," said Lara. She crossed her arms defiantly.
Téa turned back to the door, rolling her eyes so that Kaiba couldn't see her and knocked again. "Come on Shayla, we know you're in there."
"How do you know?" asked Kaiba.
"We can hear her crying, okay?" retorted Lara.
"Shayla! Open up!" called Téa, who was beginning to sound frustrated. But again the blind girl did not reply.
"Do you think she might be hurt?" asked Drake.
"I didn't think about that," admitted Téa.
"Let me," said Kaiba, coldly. He pulled out the master key to the ship.
"Sure you should be doing that?" asked Drake, skeptically.
Kaiba gave him a venomous glare. "If she's in trouble, we need to be able to help."
"You actually want to help someone? I'm shocked," said Drake.
Kaiba gave him another hard look before opening Shayla's door.
"Shayla?" called Téa, who was the first to enter.
Drake and Lara followed her in. Kaiba leaned against the doorframe, watching. Shayla was sitting on the bed. Her knees were pulled close to the chest. She was crying into a pillow on her lap. She was hugging her legs tightly, so she looked like she was curled up into a ball. She didn't even acknowledge those who just entered.
"Shayla? Are you okay?" asked Téa. She walked over to the bed and put an arm around the blind girl. Shayla didn't even respond to that.
"Hey, Shayla, are you…do you want to talk?" asked Lara.
Again, no answer. Shayla just sobbed into the pillow. She was shaking she was crying so hard.
"She's upset," said Téa, at length. "Probably…probably because of what happened to Mai."
"Come on Shayla, get up," urged Lara. "We're going for a walk, it will do you some good."
That still failed to get a response out of her.
Téa pulled the pillow away from Shayla. Now they could see that Shayla wasn't exactly crying. There were no more tears. Instead, she was half-sobbing, half-shaking.
"Pull yourself together," said Drake.
Shayla did even seem to hear him.
"Shayla, will you please say something?" asked Téa. No answer. "Did you hear me?" No answer.
"She's taking this a lot harder than I thought," said Lara.
"I think it's worse than that," said Drake, after a few moments thought. "She seems to be in a state of shock."
"What do you mean?" asked Téa.
"Well…It's like the lights are on but no one is home," said Drake. "M-Mai's death must have hit her really hard, and now she's sort of…lost."
"Oh my!" gasped Lara. "But…what can we do?"
"I'm not sure," answered Drake. "But I don't think she sound stay here."
Téa pulled Shayla to her feet, and Shayla didn't even try to resist. "Come on, let's go for that walk." She began to escort Shayla to the door, walking right passed Kaiba without even looking at him. Kaiba seemed more than surprised to see the blind girl like this. Lara and Drake followed Téa out. Kaiba waited until they were out of sight, then went the opposite direction.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"I don't think I can take much more of this," said Tristan, impatiently, as he looked around the hospital wing.
"Calm down," said Kevin. "Joe and Yu-Gi need you here."
"I need to take a walk," said Tristan, sounding rather irritated.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Duke, but Tristan was already walking out of the door.
Kevin and Duke exchanged a look but said nothing.
Tristan walked rather briskly through the halls, heading towards one of the open-air passages. It was starting to get to him, seeing so many of his friends hurt. He knew he needed a breath of fresh air to calm down.
WHAM! He turned to corner and collided with someone.
"Watch where you're going!" snapped Tristan before he even realized who he had bumped into. It was Yami Marik. "Oh no…"
Yami Marik laughed as Tristan suddenly looked like a trapped rat. He grabbed Tristan by the collar and pushed him into the wall.
"What's the deal?!" demanded Tristan, trying to break free of Yami Marik. But his grip was like iron. "Let me go!"
"Not until I have what I want," replied Yami Marik.
"What are you talking?" asked Tristan.
"Where is Obelisk the Tormentor?" asked Yami Marik.
"I don't know, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!" snapped Tristan.
In response, Yami Marik raised him a few inches off of the ground. "I need Obelisk to release the power that will make the world mine! Yu-Gi had that card during our duel and now it is gone! That means one of you must have done something with it. You were closest to him. Where is Obelisk?"
"I told you I don't know!" exclaimed Tristan as he tried to break Yami Marik's grip from his neck.
"I will find out one way or another," growled Yami Marik, raising the Millennial Rod to the side of Tristan's head. Tristan's eyes went wide and he tried to pull away from it. "So, you do believe in the power of my rod."
"Let me go you psychopath!" exclaimed Tristan, who was trying not to panic.
"Not until I find where Obelisk is!" growled Yami Marik.
He began to use the Millennial Rod. Tristan gasped as the object by his right cheekbone began to glow.
WHAM! It was like something inside of his head exploded. Tristan didn't remember anything after that for a long time but darkness.
When he finally came around he was laying on the hallway floor, dazed. His head was throbbing painfully, but that seemed to be the only injury he had. Yami Marik was nowhere to be seen.
"Ugh…" groaned Tristan as he pushed himself into a sitting position. "This has gotten way out of hand…"