yay, i get to survive to write another chapter! again, it's taken a while to get this next part up, and i really did hope to have a lot more to show for my delay, but life just isn't being very fair to me. honestly, i get maybe one hour a week to write which is so frustrating for someone who's gets ideas at maybe ten times that rate...
but yeah, i know also i said that my "climax" was gonna be a full three chapters, but it looks to be more like four. i meant to make this one nice and long, but i just can't get it to end, so i cut it in two, and here's the first part. i hope i'll have time to finish the next action-packed chapter soon...enjoy anyway...

Part 1 (Chapter 15) – Dream World

All was quiet and still. Slowly, I stood; a strange, empty sort of energy lifting me to my feet. The pain had gone, but I felt no joy in that fact. I felt nothing. A cold wind blew past me. I looked to it's source without emotion. Entering my vision was a sudden rush of both color and blackness. Nearly overwhelmed, I shut my eyes, breathing deeply. The next moment, as I looked again, the storm had passed. Replacing it was a new figure, more like a silhouette. Whoever it was stood still. No features were visible, yet I felt the sight of that being press down on me. In fact, I could see nothing distinctive about the figure at all. It was almost as though he didn't really exist, and was instead, a void in this shadowed world.

I should have been terribly afraid, but a calming presence emanated from this new source of power. Strangely enough, in this spirit's hand was lifted a long, sturdy pole. The material that made it was plain, but what drew my attention was the orb atop this strangely-fashioned staff. It swirled every color imaginable and some I couldn't even begin to describe, all barely confined in a delicate casing of pure crystal. I felt drawn to this strange object, and started to walk towards the figure. With each step, the silence in the air around me pressed harder on my soul. Every breath became an effort as my body fought to keep going. Yet I pressed on.

Finally, after an eternity that had taken no time at all, I stood, trembling and forcing my lungs to work. The strange, shadowed spirit set his arm forward, bent towards me only at the elbow, his palm level and opposite of the ground. He made no other motions. I couldn't bear to talk, but in my faintness, grabbed his arm. My hands found no resistance, yet my body felt support. Power flowed into me from the darkness I grasped: the strength to stand strong once again despite the pain. However, something left me at the same time, something I felt was vitally important, yet I couldn't remember what it was.

"Who are you?" I was surprised to hear my voice speak for me. I had not moved my lips, yet the question on my mind echoed throughout the air. There was no answer. "Where am I?" Again the question came without effort, and again there was no response. I turned my attention to the staff the stranger held. Now that I was closer, I could see that the glowing sphere that rested on the carved rod was decorated with a golden eye.

"I have seen that before, but where?" My thoughts were spoken aloud once again.

"It is not likely." I started at the new voice in the air. I had not expected a reply. The figure seemed to shift his weight ever so slightly and gestured to the rod. "It is the symbol of the millenium crest. I am the keeper of its power and all whose destiny intertwines with the great and wondrous tragedy of shadows," he hesitated, "but your soul is strange to me." His voice was young and masculine, not what I had been expecting. Every word spoken by this dark figure hung heavy on the air, seemingly filled with both a solemn sadness and a strange sense of irony.

I stretched out my hand, almost subconsciously, towards the glistening eye, but he pulled the stick away, just out of my reach. "Who are you that you would come to me?"

"I...I don't know," I admitted sadly. "Perhaps I was never truly anyone."

"Perhaps," his voiced seemed to smile with sympathy. "But you have come to me for a reason." Slowly, he stretched his staff back towards me. My fingers once again moved to the eye.

Yugi ran. His heart pounded in his throat, but he didn't dare to stop. So much was riding on these next moments. He had to find the girl or all would be lost. There was no time to rest. I won't fail. For Ryou's sake I'll save her. The thought choked Yugi up. Everything had happened too quickly. I never even said good-bye. I never let him know how much his friendship had always meant to me. I promised not to give up on him, but my friend is gone now, and I still don't think I can believe it.

Calm yourself, hikari, Yami's voice reached him. Don't give into doubt and sadness. Focus on the task at hand.

I will try. Yugi continued along. But I don't think I could bear another loss. Yugi continued to look frantically, but he knew time would soon run out. What he was looking for, Yugi couldn't be sure. He only hoped that he would know once he found it. All was dark and still around him. Unlike the magical shadow realms, this place was a blank world, void of life and magic. Yugi had the feeling of being stifled by the emptiness of it all. If only Yami had been able to come. He would know what to do.

The power is in your heart, Yugi. Never forget that. Trust it to save the ones you love.

You're right. I can't forget that. With all I hold dear to me, I will succeed. I won't be afraid again. Next to him, the air shimmered; and as Yugi looked, two figures began to come into focus.