Authoress Notes: Hello, everyone. I'm back with the twenty-fourth installment of this long fic of mine! It's thanks to you guys that I've made it this far. I'll be ending this fic soon, so the curtain on this story will come down in the next few chapters. So please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own YGO. Simple as that.

Pairings: AtemxAnzu, SetoxShizuka, JounouchixMai

Warnings: Violence, cursing, sexual references, and the occasional OOC.

Plot/Summary: The end is nearing. Two opposing powers will soon clash in an effort to destroy a world or save it. Two people, one full-bred vampire, the other half of his kind and the human kind, find love in each other. But there's always a price for everything. Will that price be life?

Dark Desires

By: xKuroSeraphimx

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Chapter 24: Family Ties

Sapphire eyes widened at the gigantic beast, the information given to her slowly being processed into her mind. Seconds passed into minutes, which then turned into hours before she spoke, "… What?"

(You heard me…) Eden the Eternal Dragon replied slowly. (But… That does not make you the adoptive whelp.)

Mazaki Anzu blinked twice for a moment. "So if I'm not the one who was adopted… Does that still make me one of Lucifer's direct descendents?"

(Yes… If not that, an adequate ruler to his throne.) A strong gust pushed at the brunette, causing her to take a few steps back in surprise. (Those other two, however…) A loud, thundering growl reverberated around invisible walls from the great dragon and Anzu's ears began to ring.

"Other two? Who? Akito? Teana? Lucifir?" Anzu questioned, her interests perked an interval or two.

(The two who are always bashing heads…)

Anzu rolled her eyes, realization dawning at her of who Eden was talking about. Right… Those two… Then, her mind brought up the question of what about her other sibling.

Lucifir.

"Umm… Eden?" she called cautiously. A grunt was her response, confirming that he was listening to her, albeit reluctantly. "What about my other brother or sister? What happened to Lucifir?"

(That whelp… I do not sense his presence in the outer world… But that does not mean he could be dead…) Eden added as an after thought. (What do you wish to know of him?)

"Well…" Since Eden confirmed that she had another brother, Anzu began, "Since he is my brother, I was wondering what had happened to him in the past. Why haven't I learned about him till now?"

(He is not directly linked to Lucifer himself… Lucifer, in a moment of morbid pity, took this vampire boy and raised him by himself until he met that human wench.) A spike of anger sparked in Anzu's chest at the rude way Eden spoke of her mother, but nevertheless held her tongue. She liked her body parts where they were, thank you very much. (… He grew up under the High Lord's wing and he himself sired a son.)

"He did?" Anzu asked curiously. That must mean I have some sort of nephew or something. She mused blankly."What was his son's name?"

Suddenly, the brunette half-breed fell back on her butt as Eden broke into several roars of what sounded to be laughter. The bars rattled, the area shook at the sounds until minutes later, Eden calmed himself and Anzu was done rubbing the sore spot on her behind. Then he spoke,

(His son… Is a person whom I think you know really well, girl…)

Anzu frowned. Typical of him, she thought, to speak in riddles. "And who would that person be?"

He snorted at her, the air escaping his nostrils threatening Anzu to fall yet again on the floor. (Lucifir's son has always helped you. He knows it himself that he is the son of Lucifir. Even now, he does 'errands', as he would like to call them, for the benefit of you. Sound familiar?) Through the bars, she could see that there was a slight smirk on the many heads of Eden.

Anzu slowly took in the information, registering the hints with careful scrutiny. It wasn't long before she realized who it was, coming in the form of an emotional punch in the gut at whom Eden was talking about.

"You can't mean…"

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"Where the hell were you?"

Mikagami Hikaru turned to face Mutou Atem, halting in his hurried steps to face the tri-haired vampire. Cautiously turning to face him, Hikaru noted the dangerous and raging aura currently surrounding Atem like a dark cloud. Indigo eyes flashed under ivory bangs before Hikaru said,

"Conversing with a visitor. What of it?"

A frown marred Atem's brow and a suspicious glint flashed in his ruby eyes. Zorc was coming soon, Atem could feel it, and he just needed to take care of some business with the elusive Hikaru. He spoke, "You must know of what happened to Jounouchi, correct?"

Hikaru nodded, agitation rising in his chest. He couldn't deal with this, not now. Teana and Akito were fighting somewhere, demons were set loose on their world, and Anzu couldn't be felt anywhere. "I know…" he replied slowly, hiding the apprehensive tone under his voice. "I know of what Akito did. But you must understand, Atem, I have my reasons. We all do. Now's not the time. Teana and Akito are currently having a fight over Domino; surely you must know that."

At this, Atem's eyes narrowed into vicious slits, yet this did not faze Hikaru one bit. "I do know. But what else can I do? Teana and Akito are beyond my power to stop and Zorc's soon to arrive any moment!" he growled, a spark of dark power flashing from his hand unconsciously.

Hikaru's eyes narrowed also at the mention of Zorc, but he could care less about that egotistical vampire. He needed to find Teana and Akito fast…

In the next second, a thought came to him.

"Atem," Hikaru started, taking a step forward to his comrade. "I have an idea."

Atem stared suspiciously at the ivory-haired vampire. His senses were put on full alert at what Hikaru could possibly propose, but nonetheless listened. "What is it?"

"Take me to the others." Hikaru replied seriously. "I'll take their Limiters off."

At this, Atem's eyes widened an inch or two. "What? You'll break their Limiters off? But how? Only Lucifer or his descendents could…"

Hikaru shook his head. "You forget, I was personally taught by Lucifer himself. That, and my father, whom I had talked about being the scientist who altered my, Akito's, and Anzu's genes was one of the sons of Lucifer."

"… You can't be…" Atem choked on the lump of surprise clumped tightly in his throat. "Are you trying to tell me that—"

The ivory-haired vampire nodded slowly, if not solemnly. The ground shook by some unknown force and the walls of the hospital the two currently stood in cracked. Hikaru spoke, "Yes… I am the grandson of Lucifer and the body that I'm currently inhabiting belongs to my father, Lucifir."

Atem stared at Hikaru for long minutes; long after debris began crumbling to the ground near them. He couldn't believe this. So much answered in one moment, and new questions arriving in the next. Hikaru definitely kept secrets hidden well on his shoulders, and managed to not tell them for long until now, but this? Did Akito know? Teana? Anzu…?

A frown suddenly marred Hikaru's brow and agitation and frustration clearly showed upon his face before he said, "But this does not make me blood-related to Anzu or Akito or Teana. Come, Atem! We haven't got much time! Take me to the others so I can break the binds that chains their latent powers!"

Wordlessly, Atem complied, but not without mentally making sure that he was going to get some answers after all this. He was making sure everyone was going to be kept alive. He began running, Hikaru dashing beside him, and in a flicker of worry, Atem tried to search for any trace of Anzu's energy.

He found nothing.

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She was flung at a nearby building, crashing through the windows and bouncing off inside before she rolled to try and absorb the blow. Teana gasped in pain, feeling several sharp shards of glass penetrate the skin of her arms and legs. Akito flew through the hole she made, grasped her neck, and slammed her against the wall behind her, causing Teana to cough as her lungs vibrated from the impact and her brother's long nails piercing her throat.

A feral smirk stretched upon Akito's lips before Teana sent a vicious punch towards his face. Falling backwards, Teana dropped to the ground, and, without missing a beat, sent a roundhouse kick towards Akito's stomach. Grunting, he flapped his wings to escape falling on the ground, but Teana rushed forward, ebony wings spread to give her acceleration through her momentum and tackled headfirst into his gut again and out the window.

The two were soon back out in the sky. Akito, growling angrily, grabbed the back of her shirt and propelled her away from him. He coughed once she let go, spitting out blood and saliva before the twisted smirk reappeared on his face. He looked up at Teana and was satisfied at her disheveled state: a shallow cut was above her left eyebrow, blood dripped down the corner of her lips and several lacerations were carved onto her right shoulder from earlier. Yet, despite this, she smiled the same smile, pleased to find he wasn't at all better fit than her.

"Well now… Hasn't this been fun?" Akito said, blinking blood out of his eye that had dripped down from his scalp. "How long has it been now?"

She grunted, straightening herself into a stance. "I dunno… A few minutes? An hour? More?" She shrugged. "Who cares? When we're done, I'm gonna be the last one standing."

He chuckled darkly, his azure eyes flickering onto the masses beneath them, and the destruction ensuing right under their feet. "Yet… There seems to be something wrong with your performance as of late, my dear sister."

Teana frowned, wondering what he was implying. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Akito spread out an arm to the ground below. "It seems to me you're holding back. What, worried about the pathetic worms?" he tauntingly wagged a finger at her. "Tsk, tsk. Dear sister, that naïve act of yours will get you killed… and soon. Then again…" the dark-haired man laughed. "I always knew you to be weak. What, that foolish Anzu rubbing off on you? Anzu? Or rather… Is it that man, Hikaru?"

He didn't quite expect a blast of white power to be his answer, but he was amused nonetheless. Following that, Teana homed in on him, a furious look on her face, her fist crackling with power. Laughing even more, Akito gathered his own energy into his palm and sent his fist forward the same time Teana did hers.

In the next instant, Teana was sent plummeting towards the ground. The very earth shook once she made contact, forming a depression into the floor while her brother, Akito, laughed, a high, malicious laugh.

"… Grr… Son of… Akito…!" Teana struggled to get up, her back heavily damaged, making her wonder if her wings could have survived the fall. Doubtful, but she stood up, slightly hunched as she grabbed her stomach, feeling her insides turn to soup at Akito's attack. The brunette painfully stretched her wings, and was thankful that her wings were as tough as the rest of her body was.

Akito leered down at her, over twenty feet above her in the air. "You've become soft, Teana! Very disappointing indeed!"

Teana's rage skyrocketed at his words and she slowly formed a ball of crackling white energy in her free hand. Akito chuckled at her measly attempts to stand upright before he spoke,

"That bit of humanity shall surely get you killed! Can you keep up? I do not think so!" Akito taunted while the ball grew ever larger and brighter in his sister's hand. Then he formed a dark sphere, the size of a basketball, and the smile on his face widened an inch or two.

"Like so…"

Seconds later, his attack was sent hurtling towards the ground. Teana was about to retaliate until something caught her ruby eyes…

BOOM!

An explosion erupted in the vicinity that the attack was thrown. Dust piled into clouds on impact, and it took Akito a while before his eyes searched if there were any remains of his sister from the blast.

Then he found her.

Lying face side up, her wings folded over her entire body, he found her in that state. The ends of her wings looked singed and charred and she remained motionless with her large wings over her body. Akito's smile reached his ears until the wings slowly unfurled to reveal a small boy curled tightly in Teana's arms, her eyes shadowed by her bangs.

"Teana! Akito!"

Akito's dark eyes flickered onto the figure approaching the devastated battlefield. Hikaru ran at full speed towards Teana's limp form and seconds later, he finally reached her, fully disregarding Akito's presence above. Akito arched a brow at Hikaru's arrival, but smirked at the flash of pain and anguish he sensed from the ivory-haired vampire.

So the knight comes to save his princess… Akito thought amusingly. No matter… He'll die soon enough.

"Teana? Teana! Teana!" Hikaru shouted at the woman. The boy in her arms did not wake either, and Hikaru could faintly see the ragged slave clothing he wore. The vampire reached a hand to shake Teana awake and his hopes were plummeting each second she didn't respond.

She looked dead.

Huge amounts of blood seeped from her back, staining some of Hikaru's clothing that touched the floor near her. But that didn't matter to him. All that mattered was trying to find if Teana or Anzu were alive or not…

"… Ugh…"

The sound came from the brunette's mouth and Hikaru couldn't have felt happier in his dark life than ever to hear her. She painfully tried to shift to one side, but found she couldn't find the strength to even remove her arms from cradling the boy. Hikaru held her down carefully and said,

"Teana? Teana, are you okay?" he called to her, hoping she'd respond.

She was silent for another few seconds, causing Hikaru to fear that she'd gone unconscious until her mouth moved to speak. "… I'm… What do you mean that… I'm okay? Does it look like… I am?" she gasped; her eyes still were shielded by her bangs.

Despite her harsh words, the ivory-haired vampire smiled. He moved a gentle hand to remove the annoying bangs obscuring her eyes.

Dual-colored eyes locked with his indigo ones. Red and blue both glared at him in an exasperated way, but the maliciousness in the glare was reserved only in the left eye, which was the ruby one.

"What the h…" She stopped herself, hissing at the pain erupting from every known and unknown part of her body. "What are… you doing here?"

"Foolish girl, I came to help," he replied softly, glancing at Akito who was smirking down at them. "The others are somewhere else. They are going to deal with Zorc soon."

A frown etched itself on her brow at the name of Zorc, but she questioned no further upon it. She grunted, trying to sit up, but Hikaru gently held her down, earning him a biting profanity at his reprimand. No doubt, that was on Teana's side.

"Little one, I'll deal with this. Recover your strength for now."

"Idiot." The brunette snapped at him. "He isn't like that. You should know… He won't wait. Unhand… me!"

She struggled against him, still clutching the boy in her arms, but Hikaru easily overpowered her now, and she stopped.

"I'll deal with him… You and Anzu," he shot a glance at the boy. "Take care of yourselves and him. I'm not that weaker than you."

"Fuckin'… Idiot!" Teana snapped. "…Th-Thank you, Hikaru… Shut up, Whore!"

Hikaru stared at the girl as Anzu and Teana battled within until he shook his head. Standing up to his full height, he turned to Akito, who looked like most of his wounds had healed up. No doubt, thanks to his fast healing powers. Damn it, he took too long…

"Done?" Akito called amusingly. "This'll be fun… I haven't fought with Hikaru the Cold Executioner in a while… This shall be very amusing indeed!"

"Enough talk." Hikaru snapped quietly. Amber sparks emitted themselves on his body and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. With a roar, a blast of power erupted from his form and Akito's smiled was washed off his face.

Once the dust was gone, Akito looked upon the new visage Hikaru took. Two long, spiraling horns poked out of his long, silver hair. His ears had elongated three inches than normal and three maroon stripes were painted on each side of his cheek, right under his eyes. His hair was finally loose, flowing beautifully along the wind and two, giant black membranous wings emerged from his back. Gold eyes flashed at the half-breed with a cold, deadly threat and the huge, fifteen-foot scythe in his hand glinted with malevolent intent. In the center of the weapon blinked a demonic eye, also staring hungrily at Akito's form.

"Well, well…" Akito murmured softly. "Seems his father's been hiding some secrets from me… Heh, heh. So is this what his other form looks like? … Or rather, is it his son's?"

"Ready?" Hikaru called, his new form giving off a different kind of aura than just a few moments ago.

"So be it, Hikaru!" Akito called joyously, excitedly. "Let's see who's the better demon, shall we?"

Then he dove down like a hawk and soon, the second match begun.

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Well, here's to this chapter. I hope you enjoyed and if you did, please review. See you soon.