I don't own Yugioh.
Chapter 43
They were standing in the ruins of what used to be a city. Dark clouds swirled overhead, and the streets that were once paved blue and white were dirty with gray and black ashes. The houses were demolished, and fragments from different buildings lay in the roads that were now ruined and overturned. The roads themselves were cracked and broken, and sidewalks were smashed to bits. No grass grew, and all plant life was dead. It was apparent that there used to be trees and other living things, but they, too, were dead. Soft winds blew through the town. It was like a ghost town. Nothing seemed to be alive.
"It's…so empty…," Anzu whispered, placing a hand over her hair that was blowing in the wind so she could see.
Isis put a hand over her mouth, and whispered, "Impossible…"
Sugoroku was shocked as well, and dropped to his knees, his eyes wide.
"Jiichan?!" Yugi exclaimed, going over to the man, "Daijoubu?"
"I don't believe it," Sugoroku whispered, "What happened all these years? Why is it like this? Ruins?"
"Pull yourself together, jiisan," Yami looked at the old man, "We can't linger!"
"But still…," Ryou whispered, "…to think that we came all this way to find out what Gaia is, only to see it like this…"
"It wasn't always like this," Isis stated, "The Gaia I knew was a beautiful place. With mountains and rivers full of life, and creatures and plants full of energy. There were so many more colors then there are on Earth. And laughter filled every street. What in the world happened to cause Gaia to…crumble?"
They were quiet.
Jou kicked a piece of wood near his foot and listened to it echo as it bounced down the street, "Che. Definitely destroyed. It looks like my living room. Ironic, isn't it? That something called a 'living room' would be so dead."
They were quiet for a while.
"What happened to the items?" Malik asked.
They looked around.
"Dunno…and Yug is back to wearing his usual sweatshirt and jeans," Honda pointed out.
Yugi looked at himself, "You're right…"
Yami gave Sugoroku a hand up, "Don't worry, jiisan. We'll find out what happened."
Before they could say another word, the ground started to shake.
"Earthquake…!?" Seto exclaimed.
They all struggled for balance as the ground under them shook even more, and cracks started to increase on the already broken pavement.
"Ow!" Mokuba fell onto the ground.
Yugi, Anzu, and Malik also ended up on the ground. Sugoroku knelt down to the ground for stability.
Just as abruptly as it started, the shaking stopped.
They were quiet for a while.
"Is…everyone alright…?" Isis stood up from where she had knelt down on the ground as well.
"Itai…," Mokuba complained, rubbing his bottom, "That hurts…"
"I'm okay…," Yugi stood up.
"Me, too," Malik responded.
Anzu just nodded and stood up shakily.
"Were there always quakes?" Honda asked, "Isis-sama?"
Isis shook her head, "None that I could remember. There had never once been a quake. Sugoroku-san…?"
"Over fifty years I'd lived on Gaia…not one quake," Sugoroku stated seriously.
"Then…," Seto blinked, "…it's related to the disasters?"
"It's crying."
They blinked and looked at Ryou.
"What do you mean?" Yugi frowned.
Ryou closed his eyes and bent down, placing a hand on the broken ground, "The planet is crying."
"The planet is crying?" Honda blinked, "How can a planet cry?"
Ryou shook his head, standing up, "I don't know. But I do know that this planet is in pain. I can feel it." He placed a hand over his heart, "It feels like the planet itself it dying." He winced.
"Are you alright?" Seto glanced at him.
"I can feel its pain," Ryou whispered, "Its cries."
"How could anyone still be alive?" Sugoroku whispered, looking down.
"Don't be sad, minna!" Yugi suddenly spoke up, "We only just got here! We can't give up now!"
"Yugi's right," Yami nodded, "We've come too far."
"But…damn, man…this place gives me the creeps," Jou stuck his hands into his pockets and shivered.
Seto placed a hand on Jou's shoulder, smiling when the younger boy looked up at him.
Jou nodded.
They started walking through the decimated town.
"Everything's so dead…lifeless," Anzu gulped.
"It's horrible," Yugi agreed, taking her hand, "Demo, we have to keep going."
Anzu nodded.
"Nothing looks familiar," Sugoroku stated, "I can't make anything out. It's like a wasteland."
"I'd call it more of a tomb," Seto narrowed his eyes.
"It definitely feels like a graveyard," Jou moved closer to Seto.
Mokuba reached up and took his brother's hand. "I don't like it."
"Neither do I," Malik agreed, already having a firm grip on his sister's hand.
"So empty…not even the Shadow Realm felt like this," Yami whispered.
"So…what do we do now?" Honda stopped walking, "We've been going for almost three hours. We're already tired from our hike in the woods of Mount Fuji."
"I dunno 'bout you, man, but I sure don't wanna sleep out here in this giant tomb," Jou shivered.
"I feel the same way," Anzu bit her lip.
"But what other choice do we have?" Isis looked at them, "Everyone's tired, especially the kids…"
"I'm not!" Mokuba protested even though his eyelids were drooping.
"Tell that to the judge, kiddo," Seto grinned.
Malik yawned, "I'm not tired, neither."
"Your voice says otherwise," Isis smiled.
"There's something that's been bother'n me since we got here," Jou spoke up.
"What's that, Jou? Too dark for you?" Anzu teased.
"That ain't what I mean!" Jou sputtered, then cleared his throat, his tone serious, "I mean, is that there's no life at all here. Not even a wild animal or a rat or some'n. No sounds, no people. It's even worse then a graveyard. The only thing that lets us know we're really in this dump is the slight breeze that blows through here and there. But…think about it, there's no insects, no animals, and no people. No monsters, even! You'd think this kinda place would be swarming with ghosts and monsters!"
"That's very stereotypical," Ryou frowned, "But he has a point."
"I noticed it, too," Yugi stated, "It is kinda weird."
"It definitely isn't what it used to be," Sugoroku shook his head.
"I don't think that's the point," Yami crossed his arms, "The point is, if there are still no animal or insect sounds, then they sense danger. That means that whatever caused this mess is probably still hanging around."
Some of them gulped or paled.
"Very reassuring, Yami," Seto grumbled.
Yami grinned at him, "I try."
Seto scowled.
"Maa, maa…," Yugi sweatdropped.
"We should find a place to rest," Isis interrupted.
Sugoroku nodded.
"No way in hell am I sleep'n in this place!" Jou pointed at the ruins.
"I feel the same way," Honda agreed.
"I don't like it, either," Anzu nodded.
"Then let's just keep on walking," Yami shrugged, "If we're not going to stop, then keep on going. There are only two choices, you know. Stop, or go. So which will it be?"
They exchanged looks, then said at the same time, "Go."
Yami nodded.
"But where do we start?" Yugi asked, "Jiichan, do you know of a place where we can start to look for some clues or anything?"
Sugoroku shook his head, "I did…but nothing is recognizable now…OI! What are you doing?!"
Yugi had walked up to the ruins and was looking around in them.
"Yugi!"
The others ran over to catch up.
"Maybe we can find some clues here," Yugi pointed to the mess of wood, stone, and other unrecognizable things he was sorting through that they thought used to be a house of some sort.
"We can't find anything in so many piles of rubble…," Honda groaned.
Malik started to look through the rubble as well.
"Malik…," Isis blinked in question.
"Yugi is right," Malik stated, "We don't know what else to do."
"It is strange, that there aren't even remains of anything organic here," Yami was looking through the rubble as well.
"Like an empty coffin," Ryou agreed.
"Will you guys stop talking about dead things!? You're creeping me out!" Anzu gulped.
Yugi looked at the rubble. We come all this way to find that Gaia is practically burnt down to the ground. And the ground just trembled again…another small quake. Ryou said that the planet itself is dying. I knew things couldn't have been good, but this is really, really bad. Terrible. What are we supposed to do?
After another few hours of searching through different piles of rubble and comparing artifacts that they found (but unable to find a clue of any person or living thing), they met back in the destroyed road.
"That last quake was scary," Ryou breathed out as they stood there.
"I'll say," Anzu nodded.
"Did you guys find anything?!" Yugi called as the last two came back.
Seto shook his head, "Not a thing."
"Nai," Jou agreed.
"Damn…this is going to be harder then I thought…," Yami crossed his arms, "And now we don't have any idea where we are. We've just been walking down streets and turning every which way, inspecting piles of rubble and such…"
"He's right…I have no idea where we are," Isis turned and looked at Sugoroku, who shook his head in a 'negative'.
"The question is, what to do now…," Yami frowned.
"Mokuba! Come over here!" Seto called to his younger brother, who was standing a few feet away from them and looking at something far into the distance.
Mokuba didn't respond.
"Mokuba!"
Some of them looked up.
Seto walked over to him, followed by the others, "Mokuba, what are…?"
"Shh," Mokuba closed his eyes, "Can't you hear it?"
They frowned and exchanged looks.
"Hear what?" Honda blinked.
"Quiet," Mokuba stated.
They all went quiet, listening.
Yugi gasped, "That's…!"
"A song…," Yami blinked.
"I still don't hear it…," Anzu frowned.
"This way!" Mokuba took off running in a direction.
"Un!" Yugi followed just as quick.
"Oi!" Yami ran after them.
The others stood for a moment in shock and confusion before following.
"Damn, they run fast!" Honda panted.
"That comes with a life of danger for Yugi and Yami, I'm sure," Jou responded.
"Hurry! We're losing sight of them!" Isis demanded.
"This is as fast as I can run!" Jou complained.
"So run faster!"
"I can't!"
Mokuba, Yami, and Yugi took another turn.
"It's getting louder!" Mokuba stated.
Yugi nodded, "It's the song from my dream…"
"You mean…?!" Yami blinked as they ran.
Yugi nodded, "Un! It's someone from Gaia! Someone's singing the song!"
Before another word could be said, the ground beneath them rumbled again.
"Kuso…!" Yami swore as they stopped and tried to get their balance.
Mokuba gave a yelp of panic and grabbed onto Yugi to steady himself. Yugi nearly fell over as well.
Suddenly, the ground opened up beneath them, sending them plunging down into an unknown darkness.
"Yugi!? Yami?! Mokuba?!" Jou shouted as they saw the three disappear.
"They fell through!" Seto yelled, trying to get over to the area.
"Kowaii!" Anzu wailed.
Ryou gritted his teeth, then fell over.
"You okay…!?" Honda shouted, trying to catch up with them.
"This one's stronger then the others!" Isis exclaimed.
Malik screamed as the ground under him caved in, causing him to plummet down.
"Got'cha!" Jou reached out and grabbed Malik's hand.
"Don't let go!" Malik cried, tears running down his face.
Jou winced as he struggled to keep a hold as another quake threw him to the ground. His breath left him, and he almost let go, but somehow kept a hold of Malik's hand. Just then, the ground beneath him crumbled. Jou gave a startled yelp.
"Hang on!" Seto shouted, and grabbed Jou's foot. But then, he started to slide forward. He stuck his foot into a crack in the ground, wincing from the pressure. Anzu tried to get over to help, but with another quake, Seto was flung forward and Malik, Jou, and Seto were plunged down.
"Jou!?" Anzu shouted. She shrieked as the ground bucked, sending them all into the air and landing on different parts of the ground. Anzu fell through right away after landing on Isis. Sugoroku, who was nearby, also fell down the hole with them.
"Sugoroku!? Isis-sama!? Anzu?!" Honda shouted, looking around. "Ryou…?!"
Ryou winced, sitting up as the quake slowed to a stop.
"They all…fell down…," Honda's eyes were wide.
Ryou looked around, "Are we the only ones left…?"
"Looks that way," Honda held out his hand, "But how the hell are we supposed to do anything on our own?"
Ryou allowed Honda to help him up and shook his head, "I…don't know. I'm worried about the others…"
A dark voice spoke from behind them, "I'd be more worried about yourselves."
Ryou spun around, only to meet with a fist in the face. He was knocked out right away.
"Ryou!?" Honda started to pull out his throwing weapons.
"I wouldn't try it," the same voice came as the monster that loomed in front of him held a claw to the underside of Honda's chin.
Honda froze.
There was some more laughter, obviously not from the monster. A shadowed figure stepped out from behind the monster, "Do you like the welcome? I thought it was brilliant. I wish I could have caught more of you, but this is an unusual find. One who can use the power of Shadows and one who can use the powers of Holy. Heh. Doesn't matter to me."
"What do you want?" Honda gulped. He blinked when he noticed Ryou stir and sit up with a moan.
"I'll make you two a deal," the shadowed man stated, "You two come with me, and I won't kill you or your friends."
"Coward…!" Honda shouted, but the creature just pushed its claw towards Honda more, cutting his neck a bit. Blood trickled down from the small puncture.
"Otto…don't want to make him angry, now," the stranger chuckled, "My pet is very protective. Now…will you cooperate? Or, I should ask you another question…do you have a choice?" He started to laugh.
Honda growled, and Ryou narrowed his eyes even though the both of them were scared.
TO BE CONTINUED…