SJ: another chapter up. *glares* it's not like any of you CARE!
Kageka: don't mind her. She's just upset at lack of reviews.
Dragon Child: we don't own a thing.
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The small child was Naid, but a five-year-old version of her. The child wore a dirty, ripped, stained t-shirt belted around her waist and shorts under it, much in he same poor condition as the shirt. Her hair was tangled and dirty, but still recognizable as the signature Muto tri-colored hair. She wore no shies and her feet were callused and dirty. Her skin was tanner than the current Naid's with fresh cuts and bruises on it. Through the frayed shirt, Naid could see the glint of the Armlet on the child's arm.
"You look exactly like me." the child said.
"My name's Naid, and so is yours… can I just call you chibi? You know what it means, right?"
"Hai." Chibi said with a smile, up until those few words they'd been speaking Arabic. Naid sat down and sighed. "What is it?" chibi asked worriedly.
"I'm tired. The Armlet's power was sustaining me but it stopped a while ago."
"That's funny. Mine is working just fine, plenty of magic left." Chibi looked at Naid a few seconds before continuing. "Do you want me to transfer some energy to you?"
"No. Something tells me we'll need as much as possible in one place."
*~*
Several days had passed since the Jinzo had been released from the Shadow Realm into the city. Each day Yami, Bakura, and now Malik had gone back into the Shadow Realm, both looking for Mokuba and any clues as to why the monsters were being released. There was always someone in Naid's room, guarding her, and a lot of the time it was Yami, Bakura, and Malik, going over their small amount of findings. Nothing ever made sense and they tracked what seemed like a million false leads.
Meanwhile, things were being released into the real realm too fast for the three of them to keep up with. They ignored the smaller monsters and went after the larger ones. The two spirits were almost constantly in charge of their hikari's bodies, worrying Grandpa, Tea, Tristan, and Joey. Seto, on the other hand, understood the urgency.
But this day would change that dramatically.
Yami, Bakura, and Malik were off destroying a Summoned Skull, Seto on "guard duty" at the hospital. After the Summoned Skull was destroyed (using a pumped up Dark Magician) it dissolved like usual, but something else happened, too. A portal to the Shadow Realm opened right under the trio's feet, depositing them in a Harpy Lady nest. Yami winced at the ancient Egyptian expletives spouting from Bakura's mouth and summoned his Dark Magician. Each of the other two also summoned a monster and about five minutes later the Harpy Ladies were gone.
"What happened?" Malik asked.
"Whoever's been sending the monsters into the world has grown brash enough to try and send us here" Yami said, looking around.
"Why would they wait u-" Malik cut short and looked around, frightened.
"What?" Bakura asked.
"My yami. He's here." Malik whispered.
"How can that be? I thought that when he was banished to the Shadow Real during Battle City it was forever and his soul in so many pieces he'd never be able to come back." Yami said.
"So did I. but he's gathering. If we don't get out of here soon, he'll be back in my body." Malik's voice was wavering. Yami nodded and attempted to open a portal back out of the Shadow Realm. To his surprise, it worked; apparently whoever sent them there didn't seal it so that they'd stay.
The three of them left as fast as possible. Right before he left, Malik stumbled as if he'd been hit. He shook his head and kept going.
*~*
"Don't you get bored here?" Naid asked.
"Kinda. But I always find something to do." Chibi shrugged.
"How long have you been here? Because even though we're the same person, I don't remember this place."
"Not long."
It took a while, but eventually the Armlet was regaining its power. How long it would take to completely recharge, Naid didn't know. She hoped it happened soon because both she and Chibi new something was going on, something would happen soon that would require use of the Armlet.
Their suspicions were confirmed not too long after when they were bathing. Normally shy about that kind of thing, they both figured that since they were technically the same person it would be ok.
As they got into the lake to wash off, Chibi was surprised at the number of scars on Naid's back and torso.
"I'm in for a hard life, huh?" Chibi asked quietly, absently tracing one of the scars on Naid's back with her finger.
"Yes. I don't know if you've realized this yet but you're a Guardian. That means you do anything for what you're guarding, even to the point of death. Sola isn't your spirit guardian, either. She's more like an ally or partner, but not your guardian, especially not after you turn eight." Naid sighed and started floating on her back.
"What happens then?" Chibi asked curiously.
"I shouldn't tell you. I think I've already said too much." Naid shook her head.
"You know since you don't remember this, neither am I."
"Still no." Naid smiled and Chibi was about to protest when a twig snapped. They knew that they were the only beings in that strange desert-place except for the spiders, snakes, and scorpions – and they stayed out of the oasis.
Chibi grabbed their clothes and they dressed underwater, waiting for what or whoever it had been that had snapped the twig.
As soon as they had finished dressing they heard laughter and a man's voice.
"Don't worry small one, I'm only after your elder self." A tall, rather spooky-looking man stepped out of the trees. His eyes were beady and gleamed like a bird's. His nose was beaky and his hair was slick and black. He as slight of build but what muscles he had were well toned.
Naid grabbed Chibi, who had frozen at the sight of the man, and swam out to the middle of the lake – they had previously been up to Chibi's neck. Chibi started thrashing and Naid realized that she could swim well, if at all.
"Calm down, put your arms around my neck, and relax." Naid ordered. Chibi nodded and did as she was told. The man was staring at them from the bank. "Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and hold tight." Naid said quietly and Chibi complied
Naid dove down beneath the surface a few feet and swam as fast and hard as she could. Just as Chibi was tightening her grip in fear born from running out of breath, Naid surfaced at the far edge of the lake.
"Go! Run!" she yelled, depositing Chibi on the sand and catching her breath. Chibi nodded and ran off towards the desert. Naid straightened and turned to the man who was quickly running around the lake towards her. After a quick assessment of the situation, she turned and ran, catching up to Chibi
*~*
"Something is seriously wrong." Yami proclaimed from his place next to Naid. Malik and Bakura turned and stared at him.
"How do you know?" Malik asked.
"I just … do. I'm not quite sure what it is though." Yami said, frowning.
"Well I can't sense anything. What about you?" Bakura said with a shrug.
"Neither can I." Malik responded.
"You're imagining things, Pharaoh." Bakura decided. Yami shook his head. He knew something was wrong, and nothing they said would convince him to the contrary.
*~*
The man was catching up to them, fast. It seemed like he never got tired, whereas Naid was already carrying Chibi on her back. Suddenly a blast hit the sand next to Naid. She turned just enough to see that the man had summoned a Red Eyes Black Dragon. She narrowed her eyes and concentrated on Zoa. To her surprise, a Zoa slowly appeared in front of her.
"Zoa! Attack that Red Eyes!" she ordered. The Zoa nodded and destroyed the Red Eyes. The man seemed unfazed, however, and summoned another one, along with an Axe Of Despair. Naid quickly used Mirror Force to protect her Zoa, but it drained most of the rest of her strength.
With the last of her energy she reached out and found help, pulling it towards her as she fell to the sand, unconscious.
*~*
All of a sudden everything went dark. Except Yami could still see Bakura and Malik … wait…
"Marik!" Yami yelled, recognizing the other dark.
"Yes, Pharaoh?" Marik asked calmly.
"This is your doing, isn't it?" Yami accused.
"No. Marik shrugged and Yami blinked in confusion.
"Truly?" Bakura asked. Marik nodded.
"Then why are we here? Yam asked.
As if on cue the scene around them changed and they were about five feet above a sandy desert. Then gravity kicked in.
"Get your foot off my face, tomb robber." Yami snapped.
"Only if he gets his rump out of mine!" Bakura responded. Marik got off Bakura, who in turn got off Yami.
"Okay, where are we?" Yami asked. No one answered, but they heard the scream of a duel monster being destroyed and turned in time to see a pumped up Red Eyes destroy a Zoa. Behind the Zoa was Naid, face in the dirt and a small child on her back. Immediately Yami jumped up, summoning a Dark Magician. Bakura equipped the Dark Magician with his Axe of Despair and it destroyed the Red Eyes. The Dark Magician glared at the man who was standing behind where the Red Eyes had been while Yami, Marik, and Bakura went to see if Naid was ok. She groaned at Yami's touch, but that was all. The man glared at the group and a portal opened up behind him. With a sneer he stepped through it and it closed behind him.
"I wonder what happened." Yami muttered, glancing from the two on the sand in front of him to where the man disappeared. Suddenly Naid coughed, spitting out sand, and pushed herself up on her elbows. She coughed some more, causing the child on her back to slide off. The child opened her eyes when she hit the sand and she turned to Naid, who was still coughing
"Are you ok?" she asked Naid worriedly.
"Fine. Just swallowed some sand." Naid sat up and wiped her mouth. "What are you two doing here? She asked Bakura and Marik, the only two in her line of sight.
"Can't forget me." Yami said. "Who's the kid?"
"Call her Chibi. She's me at age five. Now why are you three here? Not that I don't appreciate the help." Naid said, shifting so that she could see all of them.
"We aren't sure. We were in the hospital watching over you – well Marik wasn't there –" Yami began, but Naid interrupted him.
"Hospital? Why am I in a hospital?"
"You don't remember?" Yami asked. Naid shook her head. Yami went into an explanation of what had happened, ending with when Naid had woken up.
"Hmmm … perhaps we're in a part of my mind, I can't sense Sola and I doubt you can sense your hikaris and it explains that. It would also explain Chibi and why I can't seem to recall this from when I was her age…" Naid frowned and looked around. "We need to get back to the oasis."
"Why?" Yami asked.
"Because it's dangerous outside of the oasis. Look at your Items. They're glowing really faintly, keeping you safe from attack. The same thing happened to me and when I ran out of energy I was attacked by scorpions, quicksand, snakes, and spiders." Naid explained.
"You ran out of energy? Isn't the power in the Armlet infinite?" Yami asked.
"Apparently not. But I think it was already pretty depleted. You said that Sola formed a temporary body for over twenty-four hours? That would deplete the Armlet's power to far, far less than half. It'll take days to regenerate the power from that." Naid said and started heading back towards the oasis.
"So it's more draining than a normal use of energy, even the after effects." Bakura asked.
"Yes. But if either of you try anything …" Naid began.
"Don't worry about me. That vision I was granted… I won't be making trouble any time soon." Bakura shook his head and Naid glanced at Marik.
"You haven't given us a reason to trust you yet."
"I will tell you, and only you, Guardian, when we get back to the oasis." He said coldly. Yami arched an eyebrow, but Naid sent him a look, trying to tell him with her eyes to back off. Fortunately Yami got the hint.
"Hey, where's Chibi?" Naid asked suddenly.
"What?" Yami asked. No one had noticed that Chibi had gone.
"Ring, point me to the child." Bakura said quietly. The pointers on the ring jangled feebly but otherwise did nothing.
"if we really are in some part of your mind and if she was really some part of your subconscious, then maybe she already served her purpose/" Yami suggested. Naid nodded.
"I wouldn't suggest worrying about it, Guardian. I have the feeling that we've got bigger problems." Marik added. Naid nodded, a thoughtful look on her face.
It took them a while to get back to the oasis, and by the time they got back Naid looked like she was about to collapse.
"Are you ok?" Yami asked her, worry thick in his voice, using a tone he normally reserved for Yugi.
"Fine. She snapped, her rough tone a harsh contrast to Yami's soft tone. Yami looked taken aback. She turned to Marik. "You wanted to talk to me?" Marik nodded and they walked off to the other side of the lake.
When they returned, Naid had a thoughtful look on her face and she seemed worried about something. She also looked like she could barely stand.
"You look tired. Why don't you go lie down?" Yami suggested. Naid nodded and sat with her back to a tree, falling asleep instantly. Yami blinked and looked worried, but Bakura reassured him.
"That's a trick a lot of warriors use. If a crisis arose, she'd be up in an instant. I imagine she can go a long time without sleep, as well. Thieves use that trick, too."
"Which explains why you know about it." Yami smirked.
Some time later Naid woke up. She stretched, yawned, and Bakura was in her face, telling her he needed to talk to her. They went off a ways and when they returned Naid looked troubled.
"What is it?" Yami asked.
"You'll find out eventually, but you're not to know until it happens. Neither are you, Marik. One thing I can say is that some of the things Bakura said matched with some of the things Marik said." Marik and Bakura shot each other a glance. Yami looked puzzled, being the only one who had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. Naid smiled at his puzzlement and his expression softened.
"Oh, yeah, sorry for being snappish earlier. I get that way sometimes."
"It's ok."
*~*
I am so BORED!" Naid yelled.
"So are we. You don't have to make a big deal about it." Marik snapped.
"Has that sun moved at all since you've been here? Bakura asked irritably.
"Nope, not once." Naid grumbled. Suddenly her expression brightened. "We can practice summoning things!"
"Is that a good idea? That man could come back at any time. Is the Armlet even fully recharged yet?" Yami said.
"No." Naid pouted. "Then we need something to talk about."
"You're a yami, right?" Marik said, narrowing his eyes at her in thought.
"Yep. The only mortal yami." Naid responded proudly.
"Why? Marik asked. "Why are you the only outlier?"
"Well, one of us had to be the yami. Being female would have set either Sola or I apart. But being a yami is to protect. You and Bakura both call me 'Guardian'. Also I'm better with the Armlet than Sola." That provoked several stares. Naid pointedly rolled her eyes before continuing. "She told me once that she created it knowing that she wouldn't be able to use all its power but that someday someone would. I seem to be that person. But the main reason I'm a yami is the same reason you three are. My soul is darker than Sola's, due to my childhood."
"Chibi seemed ok." Marik pointed out.
"She hasn't seen the worst of it yet, and she's good at hiding things." Naid shook her head. Bakura seemed to be the only one who realized the hidden meaning.
"That means you hide things well, too, Guardian." He muttered, soft enough that no one heard him.
"So, what happened to you that makes you think your soul is darker than Sola's?" Yami asked and found himself on the receiving end of a death glare that was more intimidating than Seto's. Marik opened his mouth to say something, but Naid was suddenly on full alert, silencing him with a swift hand motion.
"DOWN!" she yelled and they flattened themselves against the ground and a blast of Dark Magic swept over them.
Naid was the first one back on her feet, glaring at something off in the distance. It was the man, surrounded by high-level duel monsters. One looked a lot like Arcana's Dark Magician. The other yamis stood as Naid started barking orders.
"Summon things, as much as you can. If you know martial arts or weaponry, use it. If you don't, use Shadow Magic. Marik, you'd better be using the dagger in the Rod." The others stared at her for a second before doing as she said. The man and his monsters rushed to meet them head on and the battle began.
Yami was blasting away with his Shadow Magic, doing nearly as much damage as the Summoned Skull and Dark Magician he'd summoned to assist. Marik was apparently an expert with the dagger in the Rod, taking monsters out using one or two thrusts. Bakura was using martial arts, and was taking a while with it, but it was effective. Naid was interchangeably doing everything. She'd gotten daggers from somewhere and was fighting with seasoned grace. She was using Shadow Magic left and right and would use martial arts at every chance. But for all her attack, she had poor defense and had sustained several injuries before too long.
Eventually all of the monsters were destroyed and it was just the yamis against the man.
"Who are you?" Naid asked.
"Falcon." The man smirked.
"He's not the man I fought before." Naid hissed at Bakura.
"What exactly did you hear in that castle?" Yami asked.
"Guys, we've got an opponent here. No distractions would be nice." Marik said, his voice bordering on angry.
"Good idea." Naid muttered.
"Here's another good idea – let us handle him." Yami said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She glared at him, but her hands dropped to her side.
"Don't underestimate me, Pharaoh." Falcon hissed. Behind him reared a large, scaly, aquatic creature. It had six arms and was standing on its sharp, pointed tail. The face was that of a man, but it was a blue green like the rest of the body. It was impossible to tell if it was a male or female.
"Meet my ka!" Falcon snarled as the creature leapt at Bakura, who quickly backed up and the Ring glowed. A large part man, part snake appeared behind Bakura.
"Meet my ka, Diabound." Bakura smirked.
"I've seen that before, haven't I? Yami muttered, his face contorted in a particular type of concentration that meant that he was remembering something.
"Yes, you have. Now see what it can do." Bakura narrowed his eyes and Diabound attacked Falcon's ka … and did little to no damage. Bakura swore in ancient Egyptian, causing the other yamis' eyebrows to shoot up.
"That was creative." Naid muttered.
"Is that even physically possible?" Yami asked.
"I think so." Marik paused. "Shall we assist him?" before Yami could answer Falcon's ka seemed to disappear. Bakura looked around warily at the mist that appeared as Falcon's ka had disappeared.
The mist solidified around Naid and Falcon's ka appeared next to her and wrapped its long tail around her, squeezing hard enough that Naid let out a small yelp of pain.
"Let her go!" Yami yelled at Falcon.
"Why?" Falcon asked. Shadows started swirling around them, but stopped abruptly as Naid let out a loud, pained yell and Falcon's ka let her go. Falcon and his ka disappeared in the mist a second later.
Naid fell to the ground and lay there, not moving at all, blood still oozing out of some of the wounds she'd sustained in the battle earlier.
"No!" Yami gasped, running over to Naid and shaking her. "Wake up, please!"
"The Rod can heal." Marik said suddenly.
"Then do it!" Yami snapped. Marik came close to Naid and the Rod glowed briefly before Naid's eyes shoot open, she sucked in air, and promptly vomited.
"Thanks." She muttered when she'd stopped throwing up. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the sky, exhausted.
"It's still misty." Bakura muttered, letting Diabound go back to wherever it was ka-beasts went when not serving their masters. All of a sudden Falcon's ka appeared above Naid and drove his tail through her stomach. She screamed and the place they were in screamed with her, shattering and leaving them in a dark abyss. Falcon's ka smirked and disappeared again.
The yamis fell in that dark abyss for what seemed like forever until they finally hit a hard stone floor. The males blinked at the sudden and surprisingly gentle stop. Naid didn't seem to be aware of what was going on. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps, her eyes were shut tight, and her fists kept clenching and unclenching.
"Marik, heal her or something!" Yami yelled, sounding helpless.
"I'll try." Marik muttered. He held the Rod over her would and it glowed briefly, the wound partially healing before Marik ran out of energy. Naid's breathing eased and she seemed to relax and Marik sat down, totally drained. "She should be ok … if we bandage that."
"Bandage it with what?" Bakura asked.
"I'd think a tomb robber would be more inventive than that." Marik smirked and took his shirt off. He pulled out the dagger from the Rod and cut his shirt into strips. Bakura handed Marik his shirt and Yami gave Marik his jacket since his shirt was made of leather. Marik used the strips to bandage Naid's wound, sticking the extras in his pocket.
"So, where do you think we are?" Bakura asked.
"These stones look like the stone between Yugi's soul room and my soul room, but that's not where we are." Yami muttered.
"It does look like those stones, but we're not near my soul room either." Bakura said, glaring at the stones.
"Nor mine." Marik added.
"So are we near Naid's soul room?" Yami wondered aloud.
"No, we're not." Naid pushed herself up on her elbows.
"You shouldn't be moving." Marik said dryly.
"Shut up." She snapped at him. He shrugged and turned away.
"You really shouldn't…" Yami trailed off as Naid sent him a piercing glare. Naid shifted and stood, staggering a bit. Yami stepped under her and put her arm around his shoulder. Bakura, to their surprise, did the same on her other side.
"You won't allow yourself to die, nor anyone to get in your way. I respect that." Bakura explained.
Naid snorted, not sure whether to believe him or not.
"So, which direction?" Yami asked. All they could see was the floor and inky blackness. Somehow. Like in their soul rooms, they radiated some kind of internal light, but it faded after about twenty feet. They couldn't see any walls or floors.
"How about this." Marik set the Rod down on the floor and spun it. When it stopped, the head was pointing the way they were facing.
"Let's go." Naid said, determination in her voice. The unlikely group set out into the darkness, not knowing nor understanding what they were in for.
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SJ: *is in a better mood* YAY!!!! My one year anniversary here at ! *blows on party horns and throws confetti, dancing around like a maniac*
Kageka: terrific. Who gave the chibi sugar?!
Dragon Child: I think she got a cake from somewhere… *sakes head* anyways, SJ, get on with the after chapter notes!
SJ: Oh, yeah! Okay, the next chapter, if all goes as planned, should be all hikaris and Seto. *blows party horn again* before you ask the visions that both Marik and Bakura saw will be explained later. MUCH later. Review replies! *face droops and tears well up in her eyes* actually, I had no reviews for chapter three. *drops the party stuff sadly*
Dragon Child: come on, people! We don't CARE if we're flamed or if you say you hate our guts or even if you cuss us out! Just REVIEW!!!!
Kageka: no reviews greatly depress an author, we'll have you know.
SJ: *monotone* hope y'all enjoyed the chapter.
Carpe diem