Disclaimer: Finally, a second chapter! Once again, this is an entry in CM Aeris's Realm Saga challenge. The DL, DG, DD and those theories belongs to her. The Negative realm, its residents and theories all belong to High Crystal Guardian. With some additional ideas belong to Ebony Kuroneko. And I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. The only thing I own is this fic.

Notes:

/Word/ - Hikari speaking to Yami

(Word) - Yami speaking to Hikari

#Word# - Telepathy

Italics - thoughts or emphasized words

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Quest of the Lost Realms

Chapter 2: The Future Realm

It had been a rather unpleasant ride to the Negatives. Talk about a lousy means of transportation! Sure, they don't feel tired, but the three would choose fatigue over severe motion sickness any day. And now they're in some strange place in an unknown realm.

Kaeru's eyes darted around their surroundings; trying to survey the place they're in: a wide open area, full of grass and a few trees; a very serene place that is but a dream in their realm. A moment later, Kawari's voice snapped the negative ring spirit out of the thought.

"Look what I found!" It is a piece of abandoned newspaper, a little dirty, but still legible. "Let's see what is going on lately."

Three pairs of eyes scanned the page, nothing interesting. Until they see the date, it is approximately 49 years after from their time! Now that caught them completely off their guard, did they time travel? For a moment, they stared at the date blankly, trying to process that tiny piece of information. They had expected to land in another realm, not another realm and time. Their next thought: the nerve of those DL people, for dropping them in an unknown place with no guide at all. There they are, a bit lost and confused, but at least this realm is virtually free of any wreckage. Now, it would be best to get going and find a place to stay.

After trekking through the place, it finally clicked in their minds that they're in a park. It was very calm, too calm as a matter of fact. There's no one around. It was a while until the foreboding atmosphere lifted when Kira, the version of Mai they had seen on the holographic communicating screen earlier, came up to them.

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It has taken Kira a while to drive there. Normally she'd roof-hop to her destination, and be there in no time. But now she's driving her convertible because she will be hosting three guests from an unrecorded realm. Needless to say, Kira was a bit excited, and sure that Kuro and Namu felt the way. Now, where have they wondered off to? She is currently at the place in the park where the portal had opened ten minutes ago. Kira gave a shrug, no problem; she had made sure that there would be no one in the vicinity. So she only has to scan the park for them. Ah, three aura signatures to the right, there they are. She thought to herself and hurried after her guests.

"I finally find you guys!" She greeted, "Hi! I'm Mai from this realm, but call me Kira. You are?" Seeing that this is their hostess, the Negatives introduced themselves and Kira to her convertible, considering the alternative: being stranded in an unknown realm and an unknown time.

Silence was kept among the four, all left to his or her thoughts. Except for Kawari and Kaeru, who were having a conversation thru their link.

/There's something not right, have you noticed? /

(Yes. It's quite odd that its forty-nine years has passed yet this Mai look not a day older.)

/So, what do you think? Should we trust them? /

(Well, let's not jump to conclusions.) After closing their link, Kaeru spoke up to Kira, who is in the driver's seat next to him.

"Pardon me, but there are a few things we'd like to know." It was not a question, it was a demand. Kira gave a thought, they are hard customers, and it would be hard for them to cooperate if she were to keep them in the dark. Besides, who's gonna be there to punish her? No one! They were free! This is going to be fun!

"No problem! Start the questionnaire." Now both Kawari and Saguru had their full attention toward the conversation. Kawari started the first question,

"Is this really forty-nine years into the future?"

"Yes. I take it that you're wondering how you've landed in another realm and in another time?" Three nods. "You three know that there are different time zones in world? The same goes for all the realm, your realm is in what you'd call 'present' and mine is forth-nine years in the future. Time in all realms pass in the same pace, but there are different time zones. Make sense?" Saguru voiced the question that had risen after that last explanation.

"Make sense, but if you're supposed to be forty-years older, why don't you look any older?" Kira's eyes narrowed, this is going to be hard.

"It's a very long story. But I'll sum it up for you. It has to do with my DD powers. Forty-nine years ago, Namu, Kuro and I were chosen to be DDs. One of our powers is that we won't age."

"What is this realm called? Ours is called the Negative Realm."

"Our realm is not named. Perhaps, you can give it a name?" Kaeru thought about it and suggested,

"How about calling it the Future Realm? It is forty-nine years into the future."

"That sounds nice, seeing it holds the unknown, both pleasant and unpleasant." Kira agreed. Seeing that that hit a soft spot, Kaeru decided not to go into that and instead asked the last question.

"Where are we going?" Kira smiled, remembering how surprised they'll be to see the 'kid.'

"We'll be staying at the Kaiba Mansion, until Kuro and Namu find something. And no, there won't be anyone else you'll recognize. You'll see when we get there."

A moment later, Kira pulled up into the familiar mansion. She parked her convertible near the curve, next to the fountain. Then the front door to the mansion opened and a middle-aged man walked out. The Negatives took a closer look to the man, he looked very worn, had short, raven black hair, with a few strands of white hair, and dull sapphire eyes. It was no one that they recognized, so they asked,

"Kira, who's this?" Kira grinned,

"None of you recognize him?" Then turned to the man, "Kid, introduce yourself to your guests." The man glared at Kira,

"Stop calling me kid! I'm almost sixty years old already!" Turning back to the Negatives with a gentle and welcoming smile, he greeted, "Hello realm guests. My name is Mokuba Kaiba." Upon hearing that, the Negative's faces were filled with absolute and utter shock. This would have been a very, very, very rare and comical scene for those who know them as calm and ready for anything. (A/N: I'd love to see that!)

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Bright Misdreavus: As I was saying, this is the second chappy. Hopefully this is better than the first chapter.

sky: You want Shadow back? Me too, and he will come back to life. Anyways read and review people!