hey everyone! long time no see ;; i'm afraid i got kinda sidetracked with everything else i've been writing (and new characters and ideas coming every minute...) but i promise i'm gonna keep up with this one. This section has a few more chapters in it, but i'll try not to drag it out too long. After this is the big final thing, so it won't be all that long before this is done. Keep on reading, and review!

oh, and my timing is horrible on this section -.-;;;; i have no sense of how long a night lasts. so forgive me

0-0-0-0-0

Korimo had a fine taste for the opulent and expensive. One particular item in the old mansion had caught her interest; an exquisite old grandfather clock. It was now displayed prominently in the very center of the house, where it could be heard from all over. It was this clock that helped Yami-tachi the most. With each chime, they were one step closer to being safe.

The clock struck 8. The sun went down. Korimo walked confidently to Yugi-tachi's cell.

"Well," she said as she walked, wanting to alert them of her presence, "I hope you've had a good day. It will be your last one, I assure –"

Korimo stepped up to the door of the cell and found it empty. She gasped.

"What!? But they couldn't have…only Fukamito and I can open that door!" With an angry flash of purple light, the door slammed open. Korimo stomped inside. All the bags and supplies were still in the cell.

"They were stupid enough to leave these behind…" Korimo muttered. She picked up Yugi's bag and dumped the contents onto the floor. It was almost empty; the only things inside were a flashlight, a pocket knife…

And Korimo's old diary.

"Now what's this?" Korimo picked up the papers up and found herself reading words she'd written years ago, words she'd foolishly kept.

"…Sensei told me before that dark power comes from the moon, but I've had to find the rest out on my own. She didn't want me to know, I expect. My new powers are strongest under the full moon, even during the daytime, when I'd otherwise be weaker. Likewise, the new moon drains my power, and I'm as weak under the stars as I am under the sun. I'll have to remember this, I wouldn't want to make a stupid mistake and mis-time an attack…"

"No…where- damn, of course. Trust Fukamito to lead the captives into the wrong room!" Korimo fumed. "Damn, they know. Fukamito was right after all…good thing he's not here to point it out."

Korimo paced around the small cell, then out into the hallway.

"New Moon is only a day away…They're hiding, of course. Now that they know…They're not complete idiots. But I'll find them. I know their kind. If I hold onto just one of them, I'll get my fight with the King of Games…"

0-0-0-0

Ryou and Tea were close to the top of the house by the time the clock struck 8.

"This way," Tea said, pulling on Ryou's arm and dragging him into a room. She walked softly to the air vent and listened with her head on the floor. " I hear footsteps, but they're way far away."

"Then we should be safe here for a little while?" Ryou asked, sitting on the floor.

"Yeah, think so." Tea replied, sitting next to him and stretching her legs out. "But we shouldn't stay here for too long."

"Right," Ryou agreed.

Tea sighed. "I wish we hadn't left everything back there, I don't even have a watch on!"

"But there's a clock somewhere around here, I heard it a few minutes ago."

"Really? Please tell me you know what time it is."

"About 5 minutes ago, it was 8 o'clock." Ryou let his head fall back and looked up, out the small window in the room. "But the sun's just barely set. It'll be a long time till morning."

Tea yawned, stretching out again. "Wake me when you hear that clock again, in that case. I'm going to sleep."

"But Tea—" Ryou started to protest (after all, he was tired, too) but Tea, who had barely slept the night before, was already dreaming. Ryou sighed and looked back out the window.

0-0-0-0-0

The clock struck 9.

"Quick! This way!" Duke whispered, pulling Serenity along a hallway.

"What's up, Duke?" Serenity asked. "What happened?"

"She's on this floor, I heard footsteps."

"Maybe it's one of the others, though."

"Can't take the chance," Duke said, panting from running. "Either way…gotta stay split up."

"Oh…" Serenity looked behind her, then turned her head back around and started to run faster. Duke could only watch open-mouthed as he fell further and further behind Serenity.

"Track team," She said before he even asked. "Whaa!" Serenity skidded to a stop just before hitting a dead end at the end of the hall. Duke ran right past her, and into the wall, crashing loudly.

Serenity winced, and listened. There were indeed footsteps behind them, footsteps that had quickened after hearing that crash.

"Duke! What now?" Serenity asked. "If that is her, she's right behind us!"

"Duke looked around. The hall was straight for a little while, with a sharp turn before whoever was following them could see them. On one side of the hall was solid wall—no escape there. On the other side, however, was a railing before a long jump down. Duke stood quickly and looked down. The footsteps came closer and closer. There was a soft-looking chair at the bottom of the drop, but it was so far away that aiming for it was near impossible.

Still, it was their only chance.

"Serenity, trust me on this. We gotta jump."

"What!? But—"

"I said trust me! There's a chair or something a few floors down from us, try to land there!" Duke almost picked Serenity up off the floor completely, but she grabbed onto the rail and jumped down. She fell fast, hair streaming out behind her. Duke watched nervously as she fell. The footsteps came ever closer.

Serenity somehow managed to land on the chair, but cried out as she hit it.

"SERENITY!" Duke yelled, then jumped after her as the footsteps sped up again. Duke didn't have such a good landing—he hit a large, decorative rug next to the chair.

By the time Korimo got to the dead end, they were hiding again three floors below.

0-0-0-0-0

The clock struck 10.

Korimo had been wandering fruitlessly for an hour, since Serenity and Duke had slipped from her grasp. She cursed to herself as she walked, going through deserted hallway after deserted hallway. There was nothing more she could do.

Korimo cursed again at her foolishness.

"I should have left Fukamito alive," she muttered. "Useless as he may otherwise be, I should never have lost such a good spy." Had Fukamito been there, Korimo would have sent him out to scour the house as well, giving her two pairs of eyes and a handy set of teeth and claws.

Korimo came to the entrance hall, where there was a large space. Rather than walk, Korimo concentrated for a few seconds on a levitation spell and floated around the hall.

"They know my power will be weak tomorrow, but I'm just as strong as ever tonight. They'll be sorry, they'll WISH they'd gone along with my plan…" Korimo floated off down yet another hall, still muttering.

0-0-0-0-0

The clock struck 11.

Yami slowly and quietly walked along the halls of the uppermost floor. As usual, Yugi chattered in his ear the entire time.

"Do you know what time it is? Where do you think everyone else is? Do you think they're okay? What if they're caught! What are we gonna do tomorrow if we all get out? What if we don't!"

"Yugi, don't worry," Yami said, attempting to reassure his agitated light. "I'm sure the others are fine. But we have to make sure that we'll be alright, too. So be quiet and help me look out for a place to hide."

Yugi was a little bit taken aback; his Yami almost never scolded or asked anything of him, especially when he was worried.

"Yami, something wrong?"

"No Yugi, don't worry…"

"Come on, I can tell."

"Yugi please, now's not the time-"

A translucent Yugi leapt onto Yami's back and began tugging on his hair. "Come on, tell me. Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me…"

Yami sighed and shook Yugi off. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"About the others?"

"Well yes, but there's something else…" Yami turned out of the hall and into what looked like a library. He sat on a large armchair by an empty fireplace. "We still don't know how Korimo's power works. We don't know just how strong she is tonight, or will be tomorrow."

"But the Puzzle has always had enough power to drive anything off," Yugi pointed out. "I'm sure it's more than enough to hold her off."

"I hope so, Yugi," Yami looked around at the window, where the sliver of a moon hung high above the surrounding woods. "I hope so."