Darkness. That was the only thing that surrounded him. A complete, and utter darkness.
It made him shiver, surrounding himself with his own arms to keep back the biting cold. But it didn't help, and he continued to shiver.
He didn't like this feeling. It was like when you swam down to the deep end of a pool and the water pressed against you from all sides. He didn't think he should be able to breathe, but somehow stale and frigid air was filling his lungs.
Then light fell across his shoulders, along with a strange warmth. He turned, and before him was the Key. A light tainted with gray was falling out from the Obsidian set into it. Slowly he reached out, wanting to enclose his fingers around it.
But his hand hit something. An invisible wall. He touched it again, watching as the clear surface flickered with the same grayish light given off by the Obsidian.
Suddenly the Key vanished, leaving him in the darkness once more.
He heard something creak, then close. Mokuba sat up with a start, wide-eyed, trying to push his dream to the back of his mind. He felt a prang of relief when he saw Chiquita standing beside the door, her hand still resting against it from where she had closed it.
Her formed seemed a bit slumped to him, her head hanging. Slowly his eyes fell to her hand and a knot rose in his throat. She held a box filled with things.
"Chi-Chiquita…" Mokuba whispered as the girl slowly came over to him. He noticed she averted her gaze. Beside him he could feel Takoda rustle, then sit up as she awoke.
"It's time to go." Chiquita said in a small voice as she placed the box on the ground. "We've come to the Holding Ground." She took the lid off the box and handed each a warm coat, along with mitts, scarves, boots and hats. "Put them on." The Mexican advised in a monotone. "It's very cold out."
That was all she would say, even though the boy asked her to explain. Silently she unlocked their handcuffs, helped them put on their winter gear, blindfolded and gagged them both, then bound their hands with rope. Finally she led them both through the door and into the hall, handing them over to other men.
The two hostages were then hauled off the boat. Chiquita was right, it was cold out. A freezing wind howled in their ears as they were walking down to the docks. Snow crunched under their feet as they were pushed forwards, then loaded into yet another truck. By then both children's teeth were chattering, but Mokuba was thankful for the tarp over the truck's box that sheltered them from the wind.
It took awhile for the truck to start moving, and by then Mokuba and Takoda were huddled close together for warmth. And though he had not yet seen the faces of the other people who were also captives, he still welcomed the heat they gave off.
After what felt like an eternity of driving down the bumpiest road Mokuba had ever encountered, the truck came to a stop and they were being forced out of the truck's back. He only heard the voices of Antonio and Chiquita, but he supposed they had come alone and whoever they had paid stayed with the boat.
The whole lot of them were once again forced to stumble through the snow, only there were actually banks piled up around them that they had to fight their way through. Then, suddenly, the wind was cut off and Mokuba felt stairs under their feet. They were going underground.
It seemed to get warmed the further down they went, and soon the sounds of fire crackling reached their ears. Door hinges squealed and a rush of warmth fell over them. Mokuba was pulled away from the group, and he felt Chiquita unbinding his hands. Another squeaking sounded, and he was pushed through a doorway.
Another cell. The boy thought glumly. How wonderful…
With his hands free Mokuba pulled off his blind fold and gag, taking in this new place. It was a cavern, that was sure. But this one seemed older than the one they had left behind, and smaller. The other cavern Mokuba had thought was a natural one, but this one was clearly cut out from the earth in a large circle. There were faded pictures on the walls, and Mokuba thought he could make out the form of an odd looking creature on the wall behind his cell.
The walls of this new cavern were lined with cells, which were obviously not part of the original structure. He watched as Chiquita and Antonio separated people and put them into different cells. Mokuba counted each cage like room. There were five in all. He shivered. According to Chiquita there were seven Gems, but the Egyptian Gem didn't have a Keeper, and Antonio didn't need to lock himself in a cage. So that left five Keepers.
This was all planned well in advance… Mokuba found himself thinking.
Right now Antonio only filled three of them, one with Mokuba, the cell beside his with Takoda, and one across the room with the young man with the fiery hair. The remaining people, an older Indian man, what Mokuba guessed to be his wife, and the small girl Mokuba had heard crying before they were taken to the boat, were taken out of the room through a separate door. Faintly Mokuba wondered where they were going to be taken.
Feeling a bit tired because of the warmth given off by the large fire in the center of the room, Mokuba turned to inspect his new "home". His cell was smaller than the old one, but the pallet in the corner had more blankets for warmth. There was no table. Instead, sitting on a tray was a bowl of warm soup and a piece of bread. Hungrily Mokuba picked them up and sat down on his pallet, eating ravenously.
As he gulped down the soup he looked around the room. The man across the room had his own soup in his hand and drank it like water. Takoda used the bread as a spoon, but still ate little. Finally she pushed her tray away from her and lay down on her cot.
Mokuba ate silently, as did the redhead. After filling himself as much as he could, the boy followed Takoda's suit and lay down to sleep. His eyelids fell heavily and sleep had taken him before he knew it.
Quickly he led the way up the path towards the house. He pushed open the gate, then hurried up the front path, through the door, across the dinning room floor, and into the kitchen. A stampede of footsteps followed as the others came after him.
The brunette sitting at the island froze in his reading, then looked up at them. He blinked.
"What's going on?" Sanders asked, sitting straight.
"There are things that we have to talk about." Yugi told him as he leaned against a counter. Behind him he could hear Joey yelling up the stairs for Kaiba to come down, though not in such a pleasant way.
"Sanders," Ishizu said, ignoring Joey's crude choice of words. "How far have you gotten on the book translation?"
"Not as far as I'd like." Was the reply. "I have the first part translated. It just states things about the original Gem Keepers and the Gems themselves. But then things get tricky…"
"What do you mean?" Ishizu asked. She moved out of the way as Joey entered into the kitchen and crossed over to Yugi, pulling himself up to sit on the counter.
"I mean, it's almost impossible to translate." Sanders said, his brow creasing in a frown. "See, at first it's all in a pattern, a puzzle of different languages." He reached for the book and flipped through the pages. "But here, everything changes. It goes into something else. It's no longer just a jumble of different languages. It's almost as if…"
They waited for him to respond. Finally, Joey spoke. "It's almost as if what?"
Sanders slowly tore his eyes away from the pages and looked at them all. "Almost like it's a completely different language all its own."
"How much do you know then?" A voice questioned. They each glanced at the door and saw Kaiba had finally arrived from the floors above. He cast a glare at Joey, then leaned against the frame of the kitchen door.
"Well, the book states that each Gem has its own gift." Sanders explained, flipping through the pages again. "It never says exactly what, but it gives hints. It's almost like the writer of the book was reluctant to tell everything and would rather have us figure things out."
"Like a test." Ishizu mumbled. "To prove our worth, perhaps?"
"Maybe." Sanders told her. He stood with the book held before him, walking around the kitchen as he explained. "The book also says where each Gem Keeper returned to, and everything goes along with how each Gem got into the hands of the new Keepers. Surprisingly, none of the Gems have wandered too far from their original homes."
"Then we've learned nothing new?" Joey questioned.
The door crashed open from the entranceway, and a moment later Bree pushed past Kaiba, panting for breath. She smiled weakly, and waved a hand for Sanders to continue as she took a spot against the wall beside Kaiba.
"I never said that." Sanders responded to Joey's question. He flicked through the pages until he stopped and placed his finger on one of them. "We've learned three things. First, the Egyptian Shadow Gem, the Lapis Lazuli, was never passed on. In fact, when its Gem Keeper returned to Egypt with the Gem in hand, he hid it away in a hidden temple somewhere. There are clues here that if we figure them out can lead us to this temple. And I think I have most of the clues figured out."
"But, the Gem will still be safe, won't it?" It was Yugi who spoke. "I mean, it's Gem Keeper must have died hundreds of years ago, that means no one's left to hand it down."
"I'm afraid that isn't so." Sanders uttered. "It's because of the fact the original Gem Keeper died that we have to find the Lapis Lazuli first. See, the seven creators of the Shadow Gems made it so that only the Keepers could decided who was to be the next Keeper. They placed many spells on the Gems to assure that they couldn't be stolen and used, or even be taken if the Gem Keeper was murdered. But, unfortunately, they overlooked the possibility that the Gem Keeper would die of natural causes before passing it on. So, because the Lapis Lazuli's Keeper is dead, it means whoever gets a hold of it first can declare themselves its Keeper."
"It's like everything is against us." Bree muttered.
At this Sanders smiled faintly. "That's not exactly so. See, the second thing we've learned is that the writer of the book also lefts clues to where the gate to the Chaos can be opened."
"It can't be opened anywhere?" Yugi asked.
Sanders shook his head. "No. The Chaos Gate, as the book refers to it as, can only be opened in the place where the seven Gems were created. But that's the part of the book where the writer starts to ease into this unknown language. From what I've been able to make out, this place where your friends and family have probably been taken is cold and barren. I'm guessing somewhere far up North."
"What about the third thing?" It was Ishizu's question. "You said there were three things we know, what's the third?"
"Well, that's not as clear as the other two." Sanders uttered. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I've been getting the hang of this new language in the book, and I have a rough idea of just what we can expect if the Chaos is released."
"And that is?"
"Well, I've made out a few statements about monsters and the souls of pure people. Also something about the "Dark Realm". I think that the Chaos is in fact the combined power of all the creatures lurking in the Shadow Realm. Maybe the monsters themselves will be set free, maybe their power will just come together and wash over the land. But there's a few passages about "negative power feeding it", so I think the power of the monsters will feed to that of the Chaos itself. And it also states that "the dark one will wield its force". But that's all I've been able to translate, and I'm not sure if it's accurate or not."
"A dark on wielding the Chaos?" Ishizu mumbled, appearing deep in thought.
"Sounds like whoever is gathering the Keepers." Bree added. "Maybe he wants to "wield" this power."
"I think you mean "they"." A voice mumbled. Everyone turned to look at Yugi, only to see a hard and serious look on his face, showing that Yami was in control of his body.
Joey was the first to recover from the suddenness of the yami's appearance. "What do you mean?"
"It has come to my attention that this Gem Keeper isn't the only one pulling this off." Yami uttered. "And I believe that one of them is coming here."
"What?" Sanders asked, his eyes wide.
Yami nodded. "Whoever is doing this knows that the other Keepers are here, as well as the other Gems. And they are coming for them. We can't stay here, it's no longer safe."
Sanders opened his mouth to respond, but the door in the entrance hall opened again, only less urgent from when Bree had entered.
She quickly crossed across the dining room, heading over to the kitchen, a dark look on her face. He followed behind, not exactly sure what had gotten into the girl. When she got to the kitchen door she pushed it open, ignoring the wondering looks from the others in the room, here eyes locked on the man standing with the book in his hands.
"We need to speak." She said in a dark tone. The boy appeared beside at her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Medea, dear. This isn't the time." Sanders told her, a cold undertone in his voice.
Medea's glare deepened. She opened her mouth to respond when she froze. Slowly her eyes widened as she took in the book Sanders was holding. Her eyes fell across the black stones on the cover. Faintly she remembered similar stones sitting on the desk in the study. She also remembered her "father" holding one as he asked her something, then darkness came over her.
"Onyx…" The word slipped from her lips.
Before she could say more a light breeze fell around her, almost like invisible hands wrapped around her shoulders in a gentle yet urgent way. A weak voice whispered in her ear, You must get away from it…
Nina? Medea asked the voice silently, but already the spirits presence had left her, only to be replaced by another one. This other one seemed sinister, something that she should run from. But she couldn't help but be curious.
Ignoring the questions from Sanders about what was wrong, the young Greek spun about, pushing past Marik as she went into the dinning room. He moved to follow her, as did a few of the others.
From where he leaned against the counter watching the strange actions of the girl Yami suddenly tensed, feeling a build up of something unknown. Though it was faint, he knew it was slowly growing more powerful, and more dangerous.
What's wrong? Yugi asked from within his own head.
Something isn't right… Yami uttered his reply, casting a glance around the room. There's something going on… From the corner of his eye he saw a faint form, but it was gone when he looked again.
Within the dining room Medea was slowly moving towards the front door with a dazed look on her face. Marik reached out and grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at him, though her eyes continued to seek out the front door.
"Medea." Marik whispered. He gently grabbed her chin and turned her face towards him, but her eyes kept on the door. "What's wrong?"
"It's coming…" Was the only answer she would give him.
"What is?" He asked, but she said no more. The others were filing out into the dinning room from the kitchen.
"Medea?" Ishizu appeared beside the two of them, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?" The girl didn't answer, just continued to gaze at the door with an expression that was a mix of wonderment and fear.
They continued to ask her what was wrong, but she would not answer. Finally, the doorknob of the front door began to turn. Medea's breath caught slightly, her eyes widening a bit. "It's here…" She whispered.
The door burst open, and pleasant voices entered. Chayton appeared in the dinning room's doorway, followed by Ryou. Finally, Sundari came into view.
She had been laughing with the others two, but suddenly she went quiet, her eyes locked on Medea and Medea's on her. A prickling sensation went through both girls, which grew to envelope the whole room.
All eyes grew in fear as the surging power circled around the two Shadow Gems, the brooch around Medea's neck and the bracelet around Sundari's wrist. Both Gems shone with light, a light that grew until it was overwhelming, forcing some of them to close their eyes or look away.
Loud crashes sounded off, along with things shattering. The force continued to grow, its might pushing every back. Everyone except the two girls in the eye of the storm.
"They Seven Stones will be joined in the Earth once more…" A hoarse voice whispered, it's words almost lost to the roar that was filling the room.
Then everything went dark…
Moonlight fell in through the window, onto the silent forms in the dining room. Things were a skewed as if a storm had run through the place. Pictures had fall off the walls and their frames had shattered. Dishes left on the dinner table were now pieces on the floor. Chairs were toppled over as well as an ancient oak cabinet that had sat in the corner of the room.
Someone stirred. He sat up slowly, then froze as he winced with pain. Something had hit him hard in the chest, a platter that had been left out after someone's quick lunch. He rubbed his chest as he sat up, trying to remember what had come about that caused him to be lying on the floor.
The others began to move as well, groaning because of their own pains. They all continued to sit where they had fallen, taking note of their hurts.
"Is everyone ok?" A voice rang out through the dark room. It belonged to Joey. He sat on the floor in the kitchen. Slowly he stood up, rubbing the back of his head. With care of a throbbing pain in his arm from where he had landed on it he reached for the light switch and flicked it both the kitchen lights and the dinning room lights on. Only the kitchen's worked.
"Nothing broken." Yugi replied. His stomach hurt from where he had fallen on his Puzzle. "What about the rest of you?" He stood, looking around at the others.
Bree shifted from where she had been slumped against the wall. She looked around, then realized she was in Kaiba's arms. She blushed slightly, unnoticed in the dark room, and shook Kaiba back into consciousness, standing quickly as she did.
"My head is killing me…" Ryou murmured. He rubbed it and stood up from beside the door into the entrance hall.
"So is mine…" A second voice, much like Ryou's only colder, uttered.
The room froze, then turned to look at the two figures. Both of them slowly turned to stare at the other, stunned looks on their faces.
"This… This can't be." Ishizu was the first to speak, standing slowly and staring in bewilderment at both Ryou and Bakura. "How is this possible?"
"They aren't the only ones…" Another voice whispered, and they turned to see Yami sitting on the ground, separate from Yugi and solid as well.
"Is it just me, or are there two Yugis and two Ryous?" Joey stated, his eyes incredibly wide.
"There is." Yami assured him, slowly standing and brushing off dust.
Ishizu opened and closed her mouth several times before she could make words come out. "How did this happen? How can you two be here? With us? On the physical plain?"
"You expect us to know?" Bakura retorted, the shocked expression draining from his face. "While we explain it, we'll also tell you how the universe began."
"I was just asking a question." Ishizu snapped back at him. "You don't have to give me attitude."
"Well-" Bakura began, but a soft voice cut him off.
"Please, stop fighting." It whispered. Everyone turned to the kitchen and saw a stranger standing there. She clung to the doorframe as if too weak to stand. There was a gash in her forehead from where an item in the kitchen had collided with it. The blood was already snaking down her pale face and matting up her blonde hair.
"Nina…" Yami whispered. He got to his feet and went over to her, helping her to stand.
"They're gone…" The former spirit's voice was quiet and even Yami who stood beside her had to strain to hear her words.
"Who is?"
"Them…" She replied, tears forming in her eyes. "I-I couldn't help them. I tried to warn Medea to get away before the two powers collided. But she didn't listen to me…"
"Yo-you're the girl me and Chayton saw in Medea's room…" Yugi said, a bit in fear and in awe. "The ghost." But already Nina had lost consciousness again in Yami's arms.
"They are gone…" Everyone turned to Marik, who was looking wide-eyed around the room.
"What?" Ishizu asked.
"They're gone." He repeated, then looked everyone in the face. "Medea. Sundari. Chayton. Sanders. They're not here."
"Oh my god, they're not." Bree whispered, looking at all the people in the room.
"Maybe they're around here somewhere." Joey offered.
"I highly doubt it." Yami told him. "Whatever it was that knocked us out for so long, I don't think it was an accident." He then motioned for Joey to come over to him. "Help me get her upstairs, she needs rest." The taller boy nodded, taking one of Nina's arms and draping it over his neck while Yami did like wise with her other one. The three of them went over to the entrance hall and disappeared up the stairs.
"What do you think could've happened to them?" Ryou asked, a strain of worry in his voice.
"I don't know." Ishizu admitted. "But, just incase they are somewhere around here, we should split up and go look for them." The others nodded, then slowly moved off to search for the others.
Yami slowly picked Nina up, then looked over to Yugi who was still standing in his place, staring at something before him. "Will you help me clean her up?"
"Hang on a second." He whispered. Yugi bent down, pushing through the broken chair that was before him. Slowly he pulled out the book with black stones set into its leather cover. "We still have this, that's good news." He noted.
"Probably the only good news we'll have tonight." Yami uttered, then began to make his way towards the staircase.
Yugi cast a look around the messy room, then followed after Yami and Nina, unsure of what had happened, and equally unsure if he wanted to know or not.