Here's the final chapter, finally. I am sorry for the way too long wait, and I hope that I still have some readers left… for all those who were still waiting for an update of this story, thank you. It is great to know you like this.

I'd post review responses here, but since they seem to have been forbidden I'll just have to say a big collective thank you for all my readers. So.

Thank you.

Big thanks, once more, to sarasusamiga for betaing the previous chapters. This chapter is, unfortunately, un-betaed... but at least the story's now finished.

And in the case you have forgotten just what was going on with the story…

Previous chapter: Ryou finally reached his brother, but so did also Yami and two demons. After an encounter with the latter, Bakura was left unconscious on the cliffs, Yuugi took over as Yami lost consciousness as well and helped Ryou to fly the demons. They were hiding in a small cave when Jou and Seto found them, but, unfortunately, so did also the demons.

And now, on with the story.

Chapter 12

Bakura woke up with a groan. Breathing didn't exactly hurt, but it didn't feel too good either. He tried to gather himself up from the rocks – they were disagreeably sharp under his back – but fell back down with a wince of pain.

"It seems that you have received a decent blow," a voice commented coolly, and he staggered fast to his feet, startled.

"Who are you?" he shouted at figure that had been standing by him, or at least he tried to. Getting up so quickly made his head spin so that he was afraid he would faint again, and the words he got out were barely a whisper. Leaning against a big rock he concentrated on focusing his gaze at this stranger.

"Who are you?" he asked again, more calmly, as he managed to see that this person was only an old woman.

The woman shrugged. "Call me Evayne. Come." She gestured with her hand. "If you just can walk, we have to move on. Our help is needed."

Bakura snorted. "What makes you think I'm going to help anyone?"

"What were you planning to do, then?" The woman gave him a dry look. "Leave the Ring and your brother for the demons and scurry back to your hole?"

Bakura frowned. The last thing he remembered was getting hit by some kind of magic – by those demons, most likely – just when he had been about to start fighting Yami. Now… He glanced around, but saw no traces either of Yami, his brother, or the demons. Or of the Ring, what comes to that.

He cursed silently and directed his frown towards the woman. "And how are you connected to all this?"

She shrugged, again, and started walking onward. "Are you coming?"

For a moment Bakura glared at her back, took then a few tentative steps forward, and, finding that his legs did support him, started to follow her.

-

Not so far away, Ryou and others were staring at the approaching demons, desperately trying to figure out what to do. The cliffs rose sharply behind them, blocking the escape, and the demons were already so close that it would have been too late to run anyway.

"Can you do something about them?" Seto whispered to Yuugi, who shook his head hesitantly.

"I can't really use the Puzzle; Yami can. All I Can do is get the Light, and I'm afraid they're prepared for that." He glanced quickly at Ryou. "Maybe you could do something," he whispered, and Ryou blinked confusedly.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You used the Ring earlier, didn't you? At least on some level. Try to do it again."

Ryou fingered hesitantly the Ring that was currently hanging on his neck. He could feel it, like a soft pulsing in the back of his head, and it made him quite uncomfortable. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be able to use an artifact that belonged to the Goddess of Death.

"Just give it to us," came a soft voice, and with a start he raised his eyes to meet the female demon's. She was beautiful, deadly beautiful, as she watched him with her dark eyes. For a moment – he wasn't certain if it was just his imagination or something the Ring caused – he felt he could almost see the ages that were hidden behind her eyes.

She was as old and beautiful as the stars on the sky, and as dark and cold as the space behind them. He gulped once, nervously.

The woman was standing right ahead of him, her hand stretched forward. Waiting. Slowly, he grasped the Ring and lifted it up. He could hear Jou's sharp breath as he was about to say something, and could almost feel the glare Seto shot at the hunter, silencing him.

The Ring pulsed against his hand, like a living creature, and as he closed his eyes he could still see it in his mind.

Please, he thought, if you can, just make it go away.

Fast as a striking snake the Ring's five trinkets rose to point toward the demon, and they emitted a dark beam that struck her into chest. The impact made her body fly few meters, and as it hit the ground she didn't get up again.

Ryou was still staring at her with wide eyes when someone grasped him from behind and wrenched the Ring from his hands. He heard Seto's sudden shout and Jou commanding his dogs to attack, but in the same moment that someone wasn't anymore behind his back. The male demon materialized beside the body of his companion, swinging slowly the Ring in his hand. He looked down at the other, shaking his head.

"Told you the boy might be problematic. You just never listen, do you?" He glanced at the small group that was staring at him. "Thanks for the Ring," he said with a smile. "Now, how about handing over the Puzzle as well, so we can all move on?"

"I do not believe your kind has any need for these artifacts," a little out-of-breath voice said behind the demon's back, and he spun around on his heel.

An old woman was slowly approaching them, climbing up with obvious difficulty. A white-haired boy followed her, a constant frown on his face. "Evayne," Seto breathed at the same time as Ryou shouted, "Bakura!"

Not paying any attention on them, the woman stopped as she reached the same level with the demon. "Give me the Ring and leave this place," she said quietly, and a little smirk flashed on the demon's mouth.

"Give you the Ring? Hardly. But you're welcome to try to take it." He made a small movement with his hand and suddenly the earth cracked below them. Ryou lost his footing and would have fallen into the split that was suddenly gaping in front of them, but Jou managed to get a hold of his hand and dragged him back just in time.

"Look out, the mountain's collapsing!" someone shouted, and it was only a tiny exaggeration. Big rocks were falling from the mountain's side, crashing down towards them with a high speed. Just before the first one would have reached them something glittered dimly above them, and the rock bounced aside.

Ryou glanced toward his brother who was trying to stay on his feet on the other side of the split, on the still restless rocks. "Thanks," he shouted, but Bakura was wildly gesturing toward the right.

Seto saw it also, and as he glanced there he saw that it was the only safe direction to move on. They started running there, as fast as they could on the tumultuous ground. Bakura blocked the falling rocks as he best could, but he was having enough trouble as t was in trying to avoid falling into the cracks that were still opening into the ground.

As he stumbled onward Yuugi kept on calling for his brother.

Yami… wake up, Yami, we need you here…

It seemed to him that the whole mountain was shaking, and even though he could see the stable land not so far away, he didn't know how they'd ever be able to reach it.

Yami!

A big rock flew down just by his head, and he flinched.

If you're going to wake up some day, do it now!

There was a faint familiar feeling in the back of his head, and with a relieved sob he pushed his brother into control. Do something about this!

"Wha…" Yami stumbled and fell on his knees, avoiding by hair's breadth a rock that would have wiped him down the cliffs. He didn't have time to figure out just what was going on, but his reflexes worked and he grasped the Puzzle. Soft light came from it and entered everything around hem, and in a moment the quaking stopped. Some sand was still floating down from the mountains, but soon everything was calm again.

Everyone stopped and turned to look at the youth who was still on his kneels on the ground.

"Did you just stop an earthquake?" Seto found himself asking, awed against his will.

Yami winced. "Please don't shout," he muttered holding his head.

"I'm not shouting," Seto said, and Yami winced again.

"Just shut up, then."

Jou shot a look around, trying to see where all his dogs were. He knew that he had lost one, again. As he petted a big black bitch that came to lick his hand, he noticed Bakura watching them near by. For a moment he stared at the white-haired mage, then, suddenly remembering the demons, ha glanced around but saw nothing.

"Where did they go?" he asked aloud, and Seto – who had been watching just Ryou – raised his head sharply and looked around as well.

Nowhere was there a sign either of the demons or Evayne.

-

Deep, deep in the ground there was a big cavern, a dark and damp place where no light had been seen since the times when the gods walked on earth. Now, there was a dim flame, glittering in the darkness. Slowly it grew stronger and stronger until it lightened the walls of the cavern. Evayne looked carefully around in the light, standing on a small ledge on the cavern's wall. Finally her eyes stopped on the demon who was floating in the air, not so far away.

For a moment they were silent, then the demon smiled a little.

"I have to say that I'm impressed. You're still alive."

Evayne shrugged. "It wasn't a coincidence that I was sent here when I'm at the height of my powers."

"And…" the demon said slowly, "shall we now test those powers?"

Before Evayne could answer the light suddenly went out and the ledge under her feet disappeared. She was falling again, in the dark. Taking a deep breath she ignored this for a moment. She drew from her power and sent it like a lightning toward her enemy. Even though she could not see or hear anything, she knew that she had hit him, and brazed herself against the counterattack she knew would come, slowly stopping her fall and starting to float on the air as well.

-

"They're gone."

Jou snorted at Ryou's quiet comment. "That's quite clear. The question is: will they come back?"

"I hope that Evayne will," Ryou muttered, his gaze flicking between Yami and his brother. Bakura was still standing farther away, keeping an eye on them

Seto walked over to Yami and bent over him. "Are you all right?"

This time Yami managed to suppress his wince. "Yeah, I'm fine. The grandmother of all headaches is just visiting me, that's all."

They were quiet for a while, then Jou sat down on the rocks, his dogs gathering around him. "I guess all we can do for now is to wait."

"Yes…" Yami got up slowly. "Of course," he said, straightening himself a looking grimly from Bakura to Ryou, "there is the matter of these thieves."

Seto took a step forward so that he was standing between Yami and Ryou. "And what have you planned to do about them?"

Yami met his gaze evenly. "We cannot have people stealing our holy artifacts and escaping without punishment, I am sure you understand that."

"Then deal with the thief and leave Ryou alone. I am sure you understand I will not let you harm him."

Yami didn't answer, just smiled softly. Everyone was silent for a moment, then Seto glanced over his shoulder at Ryou who was staring at the ground. "You did not have anything to do with it, did you?"

Ryou looked up slowly, biting his lip. "We stole it together," he said after a while. "We needed it," he continued hotly before Seto could say anything. "Or at least I thought we did." He shot a glare at his brother. "Someone just wasn't interested in telling me why he wanted the Ring in the first place."

Bakura shrugged. "You know it wouldn't have worked in any case, don't you? So I thought I could just as well use it to for my own purposes."

"It could have worked." Ryou was still glaring at him, stubbornly. "There's no way of knowing if we don't try."

"What could have worked?" Jou cut them off, annoyed. "What are you talking about?"

Ryou glanced at him hesitantly but in the end decided to answer anyway. "Our sister. Amane. She… died a little ago, and we… I thought… that maybe…"

"It is as your brother says," Yami cut him off. "It wouldn't have worked. Even though you seem to be able to use the powers of the Ring, you wouldn't be able to bring back the dead."

Ryou shot an angry glare at him. "Yeah, maybe I wouldn't. I'm not Death's son, anyway. You are here, alive and well, even though you should be dead."

"Yes," Yami said softly, "but I never died. You could have used the Ring to save your sister while she was still alive, but not after. The dead do not return."

Jou was following the discourse with growing discomfort. He didn't like the idea of stealing from gods – actually, he didn't like the idea of dealing with gods in one way or another –but… If Shizuka died, would he be ready to steal from the Lady to bring her back? Yeah, maybe.

Seto's thoughts were following a very similar pattern to Jou's. Doing his best to hide his uneasiness he cleared his throat. "I… understand your point," he said to Yami, "but… it doesn't make any difference. As long as I live, you will not harm Ryou in any way."

Yami smiled. "Oh, but it would be quite easy for me to take care of that little condition, wouldn't it?" He fell silent for a moment, as if listening. "Very well. I will leave him be – Yuugi seems to have taken sudden liking on him. And don't worry, he will be quite able to convince Mother to forgive your little friend." You fondling, he added in his mind to his brother. "You, on the other hand…" he said, turning to Bakura.

The thief smiled lazily. "I'm so happy you finally remembered me. I was starting to get afraid you don't want to settle this matter."

"Bakura…" Ryou started worriedly, but he silenced him with a wave.

"Be quiet and step back," he muttered. "I'm going to take care of this cocky midget once and for all."

"You're welcome to try," Yami said, and just then the earth grumbled again. For a moment Ryou thought that Yami had released the earthquake he had stopped, but the startled look on Yami's face told him he had nothing to do with this.

-

Evayne could feel her combatant flying upwards, and she followed him. She was tired, but she knew that she had, finally, gained upper hand, and she wasn't about to give up. Now, if she only could reach the Ring… Pushing herself forward with all her strength she reached the demon and got a hold of his hand. They hadn't been this close before during their battle, and for a moment, despite all her skills and knowledge – or maybe just because of them – she was terrified. Still, she managed to get a hold of the Ring and clung to it, being dragged forward by the demon. She heard the demon snarl, and at that moment they sprung back to the surface.

-

"It's Evayne!" Ryou shouted as he saw the robed woman clinging to the demon's hand.

Yami looked up at the battle that was now going on above them, and quickly muttered few words under his breath. The patterns on the Puzzle glowed softly, but no other reaction could be seen. Still, the demon cried of pain, and his grip of the Ring was suddenly loosened. Evayne hold to it, stumbled in the air, and fell down.

Bakura reached out with his arms, and Evayne's fall became slower, until she just floated down to the ground. The demon was still hovering in the air, pain clearly visible on his face. He looked down at the seeress, Lady's son, and the mage, hesitated for a moment, and disappeared then with enraged cry.

"They are gone," Evayne said after a moment, quietly.

"So… it is over?" Jou asked hesitantly, and she smiled bitterly.

"As much as it ever will be. At least for this battle." She looked at the Ring in her hands and turned to Ryou. "You'd better take a good care of this," she said, offering the Ring to him.

"What?" Yami stared at her. "But it…"

"Belongs to him, for now." Evayne looked at him seriously. "Believe me in this."

"But… I… all right." Yami sighed. "I will. Though I will have to speak about this with Mother, of course."

"Of course," Evayne nodded, and gave the Ring to Ryou.

"I'm not sure if I want to have this," Ryou said quietly, watching the Ring in his hand.

Evayne smiled a little. "Maybe you don't. But there are times when we have to do things we do not want to do, and you have to carry the Ring for now." Her and Ryou's eyes met for a moment, and then, with a sigh, Ryou put the Ring on his neck.

"So," Seto said, watching the Ring suspiciously, "maybe we should leave home now." This got a very hearty agreement from Jou. "Will you come with us?" he asked still looking at Ryou, and the white-haired boy stopped fingering the Ring and looked up at him with a smile.

"I'd love to."

"We, on the other hand," Yami stated, looking at Bakura through slit eyes, "have still matters to settle."

"Indeed. Maybe this time no one will come to interrupt us."

"If they value their lives, they will not."

Ryou looked at them worriedly, but Evayne petted his shoulder. "Don't worry. They won't kill each other. Not now and not here, anyway."

Ryou looked at the two battle-eager mages who weren't anymore paying any attention to others around them and sighed. Turning his back at them he looked at the others. "Maybe we should go, then."

Jou nodded. "Let's go find Feron. He's still alive but hurt."

The three boys started slowly walking down the cliffs. Seto glanced over his shoulder at Evayne. "And you?"

She shook her head. "I'm needed elsewhere, I'm afraid. They just cannot give an old woman a break." She smiled shortly. "But we will meet again, if my memory serves me right."

Jou glanced at her quickly. "Somehow that doesn't comfort me at all," he muttered quietly, but the others didn't hear him. They said their goodbyes to Evayne, glanced once more at the battling mages, and walked away, Seto and Ryou holding hands, Jou snickering quietly at them.

A/N:

(If you don't remember Feron… he's one of Jou's dogs, got hurt in the pervious chapter.)

So. Believe it or not, it is finished. I was going to write an epilogue for this, and I still might do it, but let's just say that this is finished for now. Maybe if I some day get the inspiration I'll write it, but... let's see what's the situation after a couple of years.

Thank you very much for reading this far! I know this is quite a humble story when compared to Michelle West's books, but I hope it has kept you entertained anyway.

And if you ever need something good to read, check out her books. (Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death, and the series that is, kind of, a continuation for them, starting with The Broken Crown. They're all great books, but personally I like the latter series even better. Be warned, though, they're not any fast reads.)

And thank you again.