Darkness Within

Note: Yes, I am evil. Poor, poor Joey… sob What's going to happen to him, I wonder?

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh, but…. I'm very happy to take credit for my fab storyline! does dance before regaining dignity Uh, here ya go.

Chapter Seven: Truly See

Fiacha rested her head on Joey's chest and shook with terrible, gut wrenching sobs. It wasn't the pharaoh who had taken everything from her, it was Marik. She picked up her sword and nearly threw it into a tree, but she knew that it would only use another if she left it. And there was only one way to destroy it.

"Pharaoh," she whispered, not even turning to see if he was still there. He would be. "Don't follow me. I'm going to fix this."

She knelt down and kissed Joey on the lips, feeling sad that the first time she really saw him, he was hurt because of her. "Don't worry, Joey. Marik is going to pay for this," she whispered into his ear. Then she gently put his head down and stormed off to find Marik.

Meanwhile in the Shadow Realm…

"It sure is c-c-cold in here," Joey mumbled, wondering how long he had before he lost his mind. Maybe he should have listened to Yugi and told her. At least she was safe.

"How could you?"

"Fiacha?"

There she was, standing right in front of him. He could tell her! "How did ya get here? How?"

"Why did you leave me all alone, Joey?"

"But I had to. I did it to save you."

"And then what? I was supposed to thank you? I hate you, Joey."

No, she couldn't. "But… Fiacha. I-"

"I don't want your excuses! You can die for all I care!"

No. Fiacha didn't yell at people like that. If she were really there, she wouldn't be yelling.

"This isn' real."

"And now you don't even believe me?"

"You aren' Fiacha. I don' have to listen to you."

He stood up and walked away, whistling a tune, while secretly losing heart. He'd saved Fiacha, but at what price?

"Joey… why aren't you here anymore?"

Serenity. It couldn't be. It wasn't real.

"I need you, big brother. Now the only person I have is Seto."

"Kaiba? No, anything but-"

"It's true, Wheeler. We're all better off without you. I mean, look at the girl you saved. She and Duke are having a wonderful time."

"What? No way!"

"Why don't you turn around and see it for yourself?"

He couldn't take this. He wasn't strong enough. What kind of mess had he worked his way into now?

She closed her eyes and held the sword above her head. "I call upon the Shadow sword to take me to the domain of Marik! I have a deal to make!"

The "deal" was really to get rid of him for good, but what did that matter. What he didn't know was about to hurt him.

She felt as if she was on a roller coaster, only much, much worse. "So you couldn't stay away, could you, my dear?"

He was going to pay for what he'd done. "Where is Joey?"

"You want to see him, go ahead and take a look." He pointed to a crumbled figure on the "ground" clutching his legs and muttering to himself.

"Joey?"

"Not real… not real… not real… not real," he muttered, closing his eyes.

"No, Joey, I'm real. I'm here."

"Your just one of Marik's tricks," he said, standing up. "And I'm sick of it!"

He punched her in the face and she fell down, surprised. "Wow. That really, really would have been a good trick on Marik's illusions," she muttered through a bloody nose. "But for me, it just hurt."

She grinned weakly and picked up the shadow sword. "A real sword can't hurt you, but the worst pain in the world is betrayal." She thrust upward, trying to stab the spirit with her magical sword. He stepped aside and punched her in the back, slamming her into the "ground".

Joey looked very confused, and just stared in amazement. "Fiacha, is dat really you?"

She grunted in response, trying to stand up. Her back was really going to hurt in the morning. "Give it up," Marik said. "You can't possibly win."

"Wanna… bet?" She rammed the sword into him hard, and he fell over. "The shadows want to devour power. You, Marik, are the most power that they will ever get."

"No!" he yelled, reaching out to grab her arm as he disappeared. "If I'm going, so are you!"

She smiled and pushed him back, leaving the sword in his disappearing hands. "Buh bye."

Joey blinked at her. "You really put a dent in my hero act, ya know."

Fiacha actually giggled a real, girly giggle. "I know, Joey," she said, throwing herself into his arms. He grinned and stroked her hair. "You're still a hero, honest. But I couldn't let you stay here because of me."

"Serenity and Kaiba aren't… you know, are dey?"

"Who and who?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know dem. As soon as we get back, you're gonna meet the gang."

She blushed and nodded, then realized that she didn't know how to get back. "Oops. One little problem. I have no idea how to get out of here."

"You what!"

"Well, um… I got here using the Shadow sword and my shadow powers, but I don't know if I can-"

"Need some help?"

"Yuge!"

Yami shook his head, but knew that Joey would insist on calling him "Yuge" no matter how many times he told him that he was not Yugi. "I think I have the solution."

Fiacha blushed again and hugged Joey. He was the nicest guy she'd ever met. Not that she'd met a lot of guys, but still. He was… Joey. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"You told her, then, Joey?"

"Told me what?"

"Oh, nothing," Yami said, using the puzzle to take them home.

Later that night, Joey took her to Yugi's house to meet all of his other friends. Standing in the shop were four people she didn't know. Two girls, both with brown hair, and two guys, one with a brown-triangle hair and the other with a black ponytail and piercing green.

"Hey guys, dis is Fiacha," he said proudly, indicating the scared, violet eyed girl.

"Hi, I'm Tristan!" said the triangle haired one, shaking her hand for a very long time. When she finally reclaimed her hand, thanks to Joey's glare, the two girls laughed.

"I'm Tea," the one with darker, shorter hair said with a smile. "And don't worry about Tristan… he's mostly harmless."

"I wasn't worried," she said with a smile at Joey. The light was catching his hair very, very well at that angle. She blushed.

"I'm Joey's sister, Serenity," the other girl said, sticking out her hand. "And while he isn't paying attention, I'm also dating a really cute guy named Seto, who he hates, so make sure not to mention him at all. There, now we're officially friends."

Fiacha smiled and glanced at the black-haired boy with interest. He was very quiet. "Um… hi!" she offered, smiling at him.

"Please no more for the fan club," he muttered as three pompom waving girls screamed something indistinct behind him. "I'm-"

"DUKE DUKE, HE'S OUR MAN…" the girls shouted.

"Duke," he finished with a cringe. "Do they ever give up?"

Fiacha edged nervously away from the door as if the screaming girls would stampede her to get to Duke.

"I'd assume not," Fiacha noted dully, not the least interested in the horrible "every girl loves me" act of Duke's. If so many people cared about her… she'd never have a reason to be bitter or filled with hate ever again.

"So, Serenity, how are ya?" Joey questioned, giving her a glare that said "if you're goin' out wit Kaiba, I'll kill 'im."

Smiling, Serenity shrugged. "I'm fine. But tell us Joey… where'd you meet Fiacha?"

Tristan smiled. "Yeah, where'd you find a girl stupid enough to fall for you?"

Joey bopped Tristan on the head and Fiacha froze. Fall for him? Whoever had said…? But was it obvious? Did she just radiate with joy whenever he looked at her?

"Hey, don't be so tense! Tristan's just kidding around. We all know that no one like you would ever like… Oh my gosh! You do!"

She turned crimson. "What? I… well… he… we…but…"

"Oh… my… gosh. You like my brother? Oh my gosh, that's… Well that's perfect! Now I can totally give him a hard time if he tries to press me about Seto!" Serenity hugged her and then rushed off, presumably to tell this Seto person that her brother was now being forced into accepting their relationship. Somehow, she didn't think he'd much care.

"Okay… so, how have you been?" she tried, wanting to change the subject.

"I've always wanted someone to like him, just so I could ask them what it's like. Okay, first, what do you like about him?"

Fiacha blinked. "Er… well… he's… nice?" she attempted. Why did she like him? How was she supposed to know?

"You don't have the slightest idea, do you?" said a cold voice from the doorway. Suddenly, Fiacha felt the need to hide somewhere.

"Seto!" Serenity squealed, throwing her arms around the newcomer. "That was fast."

"It happens when you own a jet, and a helicopter and a limo and… Never mind. So, how's my girl?"

And as those cool blue eyes looked at Serenity, they were suddenly warm and passionate. Amazing, what this emotion called love did to people.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Joey asked, whispering in her ear and making her heart lurch.

"Oh… nothing. Just-"

"Kaiba! What are you doing here?" Joey yelled indignantly as he noticed his sister's boyfriend.

"Joey," Serenity warned. "He's my boyfriend. Can't you just try to-"

"Get away from my sistuh! Now! I want you outta here!"

Fiacha timidly grabbed his sleeve. "Um, Joey-"

"What?" He yelled, as if very enraged to be interrupted in the breaking of his sister's heart.

She backed away and said nothing. Joey's eyes softened. "I'm sorry. I was just mad at Kaiba, that's all." He smiled and brushed her arm softly. "But I guess you were gonna tell me to lay off 'em cause they like each other, right?"

Fiacha nodded and swallowed her fear. The last time someone had yelled at her in that way… She ran her index finger over the raised scar on her shoulder, concealed as always by long sleeves. Glass was a scary object, that much she knew, but it was the anger that did the real damage. What if…?

"I think I can chill for a little bit, but da first time you say anything dat I don' like, Kaiba, you're outta here. Deal?"

"I-" Serenity stepped lightly on his foot. "Deal," he grunted, kissing Serenity's hand. Joey stepped forward, but a pale hand held him back.

"They deserve a moment, Joey."

Tea was looking at the two of them with clear envy. It was really obvious that she wanted to fall in love, or maybe even that she already was. It was more a matter of… with who and how they reacted.

So they all ended up watching a movie on Yugi's tiny little TV. Mostly, though, Kaiba watched Serenity and she watched him watch her. It was kind of sickening, in a romantic way. Fiacha felt Joey's hand reach for hers and twined her fingers in his. Whether it had been spoken or not, there was now clearly something between them. She should have been thrilled, but something was nagging at the corner of her mind, a sort of foreboding, the tiniest thing out of place. But what?

End note: Aw… they're so cute. Don't you love a good romance? Unfortunately, I don't think the adventures are quite finished. You can find friends in unexpected places, but then, there are also enemies that lurk there. I just love to keep you guessing! Review, please, and there will be more!