Disclaimer: I don't own Yuugioh.

Under Pressure

Chaos and Order

The only thing that broke the silence following Mahaado's words was the low, rumbling growl that came from the snow leopard. He stood protectively in front of Mokuba, whose arms were wrapped so tightly around Atemu's torso, the boy's arms were hidden under the leopard's thick fur. It seemed as though the entire palace had fallen silent, unsure of whether to panic or run for cover. The stain glass window had been shattered once again and revealed the multiple moons, fading as morning began to creep up.

But it seemed as though dawn had refused to show itself to the village around the palace, while the palace itself was bathed in morning's light. Shrouded in darkness, villagers poked their heads out of their windows and doors, curiously wondering if perhaps it were about to rain. Very slowly, people began to realize that the shadow over their homes was not only a rain cloud but the giant monster that was Aura, circling the palace in a lazy circle. A rumble of thunder shook the sky.

A shrill scream pierced the stunned silence, sending every inhabitant of the village and palace into a state of utter and complete panic and hysteria. Mothers and fathers grabbed their children and prized possessions and fled their homes into the crowded, surging streets. Innocents, who had only just returned to their homes from the palace, after taking shelter there when Dimys and Aura attacked the palace, grabbed their unpacked sacks and bags and sprinted back to the palace doors, only to see that Holly and many other Sprites were refusing entry. And while many people understood this to be for their own safety, seeing as how the colossal attacker was preparing the palace, seeing that they had nowhere to hide threw many villagers into frenzies of fear and rage. Roads were blocked with people trying to flee the town and looters stole foods, items, and money from the distracted villagers and empty homes. A light rain began to fall, soaking the fleeing villagers.

The palace was also filled with terror and frenzies. Servants, cooks, maids, and others were running about the palace, claiming personal belongings and family members. Many were thrown from the stairs in the panic, but none stopped to check the injured. Those who fell were damned, condemned to a death of being trampled by their peers. Every door was ripped off its hinges as people shoved their way to the exits. Some threw themselves out of lower floor windows to escape. Only soldier Sprites stayed, hidden in the kitchen basements, refusing to flee the palace.

Soon, people began to see that the shadow that Aura was casting was growing. The shouts and screams of terror grew louder and louder as people were suddenly swallowed by the darkness from alleys and shady corners. The pushing and shoving became more severe as people struggled to run away from the darker alleys and empty homes, lest they be absorbed into the darkness as well. The darkness was creeping up the palace walls, over the plains that surrounded the palace, into the homes of those few who refused to run away, and into the kitchen basement.

The last, suffocated shrieks of fear from those that got swallowed rang through the air and died away into the next scream of the next victim. Tea gripped Yuugi tightly flinching every time the terrible cry of the soldier Sprites reached them.

The damage from the nurses and the doctors was very evident throughout the infirmary. Broken medicine cabinets and bottles sprawled pills and liquids all over the marble ground. Beds were overturned and there were even a couple trails of trickles of blood. Many doctors had gotten bit from Atemu as they tried to shove Mokuba out of their way as they ran for cover. Mokuba was clinging on to Atemu tighter than ever.

"We have to get to low ground!" shouted Mahaado. "We Aura attacks the lower floors while we're on the top floor, we're dead! Mana and I will distract Aura! All of you flee the palace and join the crowd; if Aura can't see you, she can't kill you. Keep your heads down, keep running and whatever you do, do not come back for us!"

"What does that mean?" asked Leucothea worriedly.

"And why am I not going to help slay the monster that killed my brothers?" shouted Neptune.

"You are a prince now," cried Mahaado, looking exasperated. "Your duty is to protect your sisters, Calypso, the Empress, and Leucothea, the princess!"

"That is not how Typhoon ruled!" roared Neptune.

"Typhoon is not the Empress anymore!" exclaimed Mahaado. "You are willing to put your sisters in the danger of fighting Aura? Don't you care if they were to die just as cruelly as Proteus and Triton? Haven't you lost enough family?"

There was silence as everyone prepared to retreat from the palace. Kaiba sprinted ahead and grabbed Mokuba, clutching the boy tightly to the young man's chest. Running to Atemu's side, Mana and Mahaado watched Tristan and Joey scramble out of the infirmary, Kaiba run awkwardly out, Mokuba held tight in his arms, and Tea and Yuugi tearing out together, hand in hand, Mister Mutou trailing behind them. And though Leucothea and Calypso grabbed Neptune's arm and tried to escape, but he would not move, he merely stood and glared at Mahaado.

"Don't let the Aura win," Neptune said finally. Mahaado nodded as Calypso, Leucothea and Neptune took the other's hand and followed the others out of the infirmary, keeping each other on their feet.

"I'm worried for them," breathed Mahaado, his gentle blue eyes staring at the door fearfully.

"They each had a partner, we should be grateful for that but…" said Mana gently. She stroked Atemu's soft ears absentmindedly. Shaking her head sadly Mana whispered, "She'll pick them off."

Mahaado looked at Mana and nodded. Aura would use her stolen powers to absorb everyone into the shadows… unless he, Mana, and Atemu could get Atemu's energy back.

"How can we destroy her?" breathed Mana, looking at Mahaado expectantly. "She's too big, too strong… we have to hurry, the others are going to try and flee the palace and as soon as Aura sees them, she'll kill them."

Mahaado sat silently. His mind kept bringing up completely useless ideas and thoughts.

"Mana, can you conjure a Black Burning attack in this realm?" asked Mahaado.

"Yes, why?"

"That attack can burn through the roughest hide, and all we need is an injury that's bad enough for a few shadows to come and try and heal it. My Black Magic attack can't break through Aura's hide, I've already tried. Anyway, I can drain enough of Aura's energy to get Atemu back in his real body. Once Atemu is back in his body, we'll have another person to try and bring Aura down."

"That's a good plan… in theory. What if we fail?"

"We'll have to make another portal to Master Yuugi's realm and send them home. Aura can't get to them there," muttered Mahaado, looking out the window again. "You attack and I'll drain. I'll send the energy to you and you'll channel it into Atemu's body, got it?"

"Yeah," whispered Mana, clutching her staff to her chest nervously.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"GO!"

In a gust of wind, Mana had disappeared from Mahaado's side and shot through the infirmary window, sending shattered glass out of the window. The rain was now a lighting storm, sending jolts of light flying through the sky. Her speed was amazing as she darted straight up toward the dragon's enormous body, weaving in and out of Aura's tentacles. Brandishing her staff, Mana uttered a simple spell that transformed the tip of her wand from the traditional rounded curl to a shining, diamond blade. She stopped short of the monster's humungous form, whispered a prayer, and thrust the blade into Aura. Aura's roar of pain was enough to inform Mana that she didn't have a lot of time before Aura started thrashing around looking for the magician. Now was the time… then the countdown to Aura's destruction would begin.

"BLACK BURNING!"

Mana's magic, coming in jagged, rose colored beams, channeled through the blade and into Aura's body, tearing the dragon's insides, slicing straight through, cutting off a portion of the monster's tail. As the piece of flesh began to fall, it sprayed the palace, the village, and Mana with Aura's tainted, black blood. Falling through the air a few feet but catching herself, Mana clutched her mouth. Retching and gagging, Mana felt filthy, covered in Aura's disgusting insides. She remembered Mahaado's teachings, as she felt the dirty blood drip down onto her, one lesson stuck out in her mind.

When one's heart and soul becomes evil enough, their body will begin to take on the traits of evil… ugly, deceitful… contaminated. But there is a time when even the most impure person decides enough is enough. But some people don't stop until it's too late. They keep commuting sin after sin. Until even their blood becomes venomous and sinful. If anyone became that evil, not even the most powerful purification spell would save them from being absorbed by their hatred.

Mana had never thought it was possible for someone's blood to echo what their soul to look like, but now that she was seeing it, it made her sick. The smell of rotting flesh, sickness, and decay filled Mana's head. She looked around and saw that the stench was coming from the blood. She settled on the roof of the palace and vomited, her energy suddenly failing her. Behind her, a whooshing sound signaled that Mahaado was swooping up to use the Drainage Spell. Mana turned around to see if the presence and smell of Aura's blood was affecting him as affected her. As she watched him fly toward the wound that was showering Mahaado with the vile blood, she felt a rush of pride toward Mahaado. Though he looked extremely pale and sick, he was not allowing himself to alter his intentions.

Mahaado evaded Aura's lashing tentacles with what looked like extreme ease as he darted toward the wound that Mana had just created. To his immense pleasure, there were little sparks of shadows dancing around the injury. He held out his hands and plunged them into the tainted blood and began to murmur his spell. As soon as he felt the Shadows beginning to fill his body, he pulled one hand from the gory mess and pointed it toward Mana, who had positioned herself in front of the infirmary window, holding out one hand to Mahaado and one toward Atemu's body in the infirmary. He saw her shake her head to throw her drenched bangs out of her eyes. The rain fell just as it had the night Proteus had been murdered. Mahaado tossed his head trying to shake his long hair out of his face. Soon he'd have enough energy to start transferring it to Mana.

But Aura felt her new power being stolen. She straightened her body and flew up into the sky, the shadow she cast suddenly smaller. She ignored the danger of lightning and added her filthy blood into the rain. Mahaado was thrown backward, but he was not going to give up. He shot the bright gray ball of power he had retrieved from Aura to Mana and bolted back up to follow Aura, avoiding the jolts of lightning. Mana held onto the energy, feeling that this was not enough to keep Atemu alive, watching in horror as Mahaado flew straight into the lightning storm. Soon, he was out of her sight unless a particularly strong flash of lightning lit up the sky. She carefully watched for Mahaado to send her down anymore of Atemu's power. At first, he sent down energy slowly in tiny portions but as time continued, he sent down more in larger portions. Mana sent up words of praise and affection, though she was unsure if he could hear her.

No matter how hard he tried, Mahaado couldn't keep Aura still long enough for him to get a decent amount of power from her, but he saw that as he became better at finding her wound, no matter how much she thrashed, the more power he took, the harder it was for

This continued for several hours. Mana began to worry about how much longer Mahaado could keep up fighting Aura, especially since she had seen spurts of scarlet blood fall from the sky. Even she herself began to feel the strain of containing Atemu's energy. She wondered how Atemu could do it everyday of his life without collapsing of exhaustion. No matter how hard he tried, Mahaado couldn't keep Aura still long enough for him to get a decent amount of power from her, but he saw that as he became better at finding her wound, no matter how much she thrashed, the more power he took, the harder it was for Aura to control her new body. She would suddenly lose the power to levitate herself for short spurts of time. But she used her tentacles to wrap Mahaado and throw him away from her wound. She desperately wanted to retreat so she could heal her wounds. But the magician would let her go. He blasted her tentacles sending them down to the ground, used a spell to trap her and pull her back, and continued to steal her stolen power.

Then Mahaado sent Mana down another portion of Atemu's life energy and Shadow powers, and the female magician whooped in joy. She had enough to transfer to Atemu so he could sustain his own life! Even better get up and move. She pointed her arm back toward Atemu's body and poured the energy into the infirmary. Watching it flow smoothly through the air as though a pale river, Mana felt her heart fill with happiness as the natural color of Atemu's skin and hair began fill up his body once again. His chest inflated suddenly and began to rise up and down, but he did not move.

"Now… I need the energy from that leopard," said Mana. She pointed tow fingers at Ebony's body and whispered the words that Mahaado had taught her when she was younger; she had never been good at Drainage spells, but maybe she could work it with an animal. With a shock, she remembered that the animal had to be severely hurt for the Shadows to show themselves. Swallowing slightly, she though, I don't want to hurt Ebony. Ebony hasn't done anything; he'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and gotten Atemu's energy.

A flash of lightning filled the air and Aura's roar became merged with the following thunder. The rain fell down, falling lightly on Mana's body, washing off the black blood. Closing her eyes, she sent a flash of blue light at the leopard. When she opened her eyes, the leopard was on the infirmary ground, bleeding freely. She whispered the words of the Drainage Spell and felt the sensation of the Shadows filling her body. She held up one hand to Mahaado, just in case he sent any more power to her. Suddenly she felt as though there were no more of Atemu's power to be taken from the leopard and she stopped the spell. Mana combined the new power she had gain with the power she had recently gotten from Mahaado and sent it to Atemu.

Atemu's head snapped up at once, his eyes wide and alert and his body tense. He caught Mana's eye, as she sent him another spurt of power. Unsurprisingly, Atemu looked as though he wanted nothing more then to wring Aura's neck. He leapt to his feet and sprinted across the wreckage of the infirmary. Now rainwater was spilling into the room through the broken window. Poking his head out of the window, Atemu discovered the window was attached to a very sturdy tower and climbed out of the window onto the tower.

"What's happening?" shouted Atemu over the lightning storm and fight above from Mahaado and Aura. Another ball of shimmering energy fell out of the sky, but instead of falling into Mana's hands, it shot straight into Atemu's chest. His skin became a healthier shade of the beautiful shade of bronze it usually was.

"Mahaado is getting your life energy back from Aura!" cried Mana, pointing up her staff at the fight, as though wanting nothing more than to shoot random shots of magic up at Aura.

"Alone?" In his eyes, Mana saw, the Shadows were stirring, feeding Atemu's anger, his instinct to run to Mahaado's side, his fear.

"Atemu, I'm worried about him!" said Mana, swooping down and clutching his arm as she had done when she was younger. How she missed the days when she was younger. Even when the world was coming down around them, Mana could count on Mahaado and Atemu to put everything right. Maybe if she believed in their old days one more time, Mahaado and Atemu would save her again.

Atemu put his hand on Mana's shoulder and asked, "Can the Shadow Guardian change his or her form to the shape of any animal they desire?" His voice sounded tired and weak, and Mana felt herself cringe. She hated to hear Atemu sound so exhausted. He was perfect, her big brother, and he knew no bounds. How, then, could he possibly sound so overtaxed? Mana saw his face change instantly when she cringed, from pained and temperamental to worry. "What's wrong? Did I say something?"

"Can you help Mahaado?" asked Mana, looking Atemu in the eyes, as she had done when they were young and she wanted something from him. Immediately, Mana saw Atemu's defenses crumble. Just like when they were kids.

"That depends on if I can do what I think I can."

"Turn into animals? Yes, Mahaado told me something about that. When the Guardian gets strong enough, he can morph his body, and if he gets even stronger, he can levitate himself."

"Do you think I'm strong enough?"

"I think you can do anything."

"Good." Atemu lifted his head toward the heavens and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he sprinted toward the edge of the roof and jumped. Mana levitated herself off the ground a few feet, to see if she needed to catch Atemu but all she saw was his body being tangled in whips of Shadows, clinging onto his body and wrapping around his limbs. As his form sank to the ground, his body became enshrouded in darkness.

As soon as Mana began to follow Atemu down, an enormous falcon erupted from the shadows, and began to fly upwards, toward Mahaado. Its wings were

glittering gray and silver, cutting through the rain smoothly and easily. Trailing behind the falcon was his long, shining black, tail and a stream of pale blue and violet Pure Shadows.

"Atem!" Mana cried, gliding after Atemu. They ignored the downpour spilling on them both and broke through the storm clouds, the clouds drenching them both even more. Hair and armor sticking to her, Mana felt the rain and winds suddenly stop, the sounds of the storm thundering below her, the tumultuous thunder seeming closer than ever.

She closed her eyes and shook her head roughly to toss her hair out of her eyes. But above her, she heard the falcon that was Atemu screech loudly, and she felt the wind being blown down to her from the falcon become even stronger as he beat his wings to shoot up. The rancid smell of Aura's tainted blood filled the magician's nostrils once more. Her stomach turning, Mana opened her eyes, searching for Mahaado through the mass of tentacles and blood. Above her, Atemu seemed to have already found Mahaado; he was shooting toward Aura's head, slicing through Aura's tentacle with his wings. Mana followed his route with her eyes and saw that one tentacle right in front of Aura's head was wrapped tightly around something, as though hoping to squeeze the life out of it. Mana's heart sank. That form was…

"Mahaado!"

Aura's grip was wrapped around Mahaado so many times; he couldn't move anything under his chest. But that's not what Mana was worried about. Mahaado's head was limp, rolling around his shoulders every time Aura moved. Mana fell out of the air a few feet before catching herself. The sight of Atemu becoming swallowed by his Shadows once more tore her eyes off of Mahaado. Atemu had pulled above Aura and transformed himself back to normal. When he began to fall downward, he gripped Aura's body and held tight.

"Mana! I'll cut Mahaado loose, you take him back to the palace!" shouted Atemu, attempting to get a secure grip on Aura. He threw himself onto the rounded, serpent-like part of Aura's dragon body. "Mana, lend me your staff!" And though he could no longer see Mana, Atemu saw her staff soaring to toward him. He reached up and gripped it. He thanked his lucky star that she had left the tip of her wand a blade. Atemu glanced back up at Mahaado and felt it heart skip a beat. Aura had felt Atemu approach and was beginning to lower Mahaado to her mouth.

"No!"

Panicking slightly, Atemu plunged the blade into Aura's flesh, spraying him with a splash of her black blood. Ignoring the rotting smell, he sent a wave of Pure Shadow magic through the staff, causing Aura to roar in anguish. Impressed by his result, Atemu, keeping the blade firmly in Aura's body, began to run, dragging the blade and sending attacks of Pure Shadows as he went. Aura's screams and roars were enough to keep him running, through the pain of his chest squeezing his lungs, his spinning vision. As he reached Aura's head, he felt his route tilt upward as Aura shook and tossed her head. He yanked the blade out, feeling a sense of cruel satisfaction hearing her scream in pain. Sprinting across her head, Atemu ignored Aura's roars of rage, now replacing her roars of pain, and he leaped off her nose. He seemed to soar through the air, feeling a sense of freedom he had never felt before in his life. Is this what it was like to fly? Atemu blinked, realizing he was close enough to Mahaado, and swung the blade viciously, cutting straight through the tentacle. Mahaado's limp body immediately began to sink down.

It took Mana all of two seconds to dart up, catch Mahaado, and shoot back down toward the infirmary. Atemu let himself fall a little bit more, relishing the winds blowing his hair into his face, the cool air biting his cheeks, his body soaring weightlessly down. He closed his eyes. He missed enjoying the feel of the world. Aura let loose earths shattering din, finally spotting Atemu, the source of her pain. Snapped back to reality, Atemu opened his eyes to see Aura opening her jaws wide and a fog of hot breath filled the air around her. Suddenly, a water attack formed in her mouth, flecked with the stolen Shadows that Mahaado had not taken back from her.

She's going to destroy the palace, just to kill me! thought Atemu, visions of Mana and Mahaado being crushed by the tremendous pressure of Aura's attack flashing through his head. No, this would never do. He had to do something, but his Shadow Blasts were nowhere near powerful enough to prevent Aura's attack from destroying the palace and half of the village.

"Nyx!" cried Atemu, still soaring through the air. "Grant me your strength! One more time!" And as Atemu felt the tingling chill of falling through the rain cloud, Nyx heard. Time seemed to slow, and the rain stopped in midair. A new power pulsed through Atemu's body, strengthening him, comforting him, and healing him. He sensed the name of the attack pass through his mind, and Nyx's silky smooth voice echoed through his mind.

Just call out the name of the attack. You must strengthen it as you battle with it. Use it!

The tips of his fingers tingled as the Shadows waited for Atemu to call the new attack, waiting, but never pressuring Atemu. This was a sensation Atemu had never felt before in his life. He felt as strong as he was, as pure as he was… never doubting himself, never worrying… his calm gave him a new strength, surging through Atemu's veins.

The attack! The dragon is ready to launch hers! Lord Guardian! Now!

"APOCALYPICTIC CESSATION!"

A tiny bubble of Pure Shadows bloomed from the tips of Atemu's fingers. Now, thought Atemu, attack! And as soon as Atemu thought the words, the tiny bubble began to blossom and grow until it was twice as large as the palace. It began to morph and twist until it became the form of a colossal, pure black falcon that opened its beak and screeched its fierce cry that rumbled the ground. Atemu was frozen in midair, his eyes pure black, as they had been when he had saved Leucothea from the table Aura had thrown at her. He thrust his arms in the direction of Aura and the falcon disappeared and became a beam of pure energy and threw itself at Aura.

And at the same time, Aura let loose her attack from her mouth, the spiraling beam piercing everything to get to Atemu's attack. The moment they hit, a shockwave pulsed through the air, destroying the top two levels of the palace.

It seemed as though the two attackers were evenly matched. But slowly, Aura was worming her body around, behind the Lord Guardian, preparing to knock him out of the sky. She began to pull her tail back, preparing to strike but…

"NO!"

Mahaado and Mana appeared suddenly above Aura, both staffs pointed directly at Aura's head. Mana's hair floated gently in the wind, her magician's hat having flown off in her haste to get Mahaado of harm's way, her armor was chipped and her boots were ripped and filthy. Mahaado's matted hair flapped loosely in his face, his hat having fallen off while he was chasing Aura, his robes torn and stained, his armor dented and broken, his skin battered and bruised. Underneath Aura, Atemu's bedraggled hair was blown in every which direction, his armor cracked and shattered in places, his chest covered by only a pure black undershirt, his dark streaked with dried blood even the rain couldn't get off.

None of them had ever looked more majestic, their power radiating off of them as though they were fires giving off heat. Mahaado's expert Drainage and Transfer spells, his excellent Black Magic attacks, his determination. Mana's destructive Black Burning attack, her amazing speed. And Atemu's extensive power with his shadows.

"BLACK MAGIC!"

"BLACK BURNING!"

The two attacks plowed down, the bright, jagged rose with the emerald, shots merging together, hitting Aura directly in the eyes. Her attack died at once as she closed her eyes, shrieking in pain. But the second her mouth closed, Atemu's Shadows shot up and vaporized Aura, her body slowly being torn to pieces and destroyed until nothing was left. A little fog of Tainted Shadows hovered in the place where Aura had been and then soared into the sky and vanished.

Atemu lowered his arms and blinked. His eyed returned to normal and his body began to fall back down. Mana swooped down and caught Atemu and brought him to the ground. Mahaado slowly followed, his breathing coming roughly. He landed next to Atemu and Mana, and looked at them, seeing their tired, weak, saddened faces.

"We won," said Mahaado, bowing his head, his eyes burning with exhaustion.

"Why does it feel like we lost?" asked Mana, looking from Mahaado, who looked dead on his feet, to Atemu, who was leaning on the ruins of a home, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand and rubbing his temple with the other.

"Look around you," said Atemu, his voice shaking slightly. Mana looked around the village and at the palace for the first time. The village itself lay in ruins, the once beautiful homes and shops torn down, looted, and some were on fire. The filthy stone road was littered with the dead bodies of the pour souls that had gotten trampled by the fleeing villagers. The palace, once a shining symbol of hope and strength now looked haunted and old. Its windows were shattered; the floors were collapsing slowly, each falling under the last one's weight. The hustling bustling town was deserted and reeked of death and Aura's rotted blood.

Mana threw herself into Mahaado's arms, feeling his tears drop into her hair. "Oh, Mahaado… everyone… everything's dead. Typhoon, Proteus, Triton… that little servant girl… what has happened?" The pair of magicians fell to their knees, sobbing gently into the other's ear. Atemu watched them for a few minutes, but turned away. Alone, he began to walk the streets of the fallen city. Family pets walked around helplessly and fearfully, looking for food and water, mewing and whining weakly. Atemu closed his eyes to block the sight of dogs attacking a litter of kittens hungrily. His heart ached. He loved animals. Suddenly, Atemu heard a noise that made him want to let the tears he was forcing back fall.

A baby's cries began to fill the air, probably no older than a year. Atemu began to search the streets for the source of the sound but found nothing. He followed the cries to a particularly bad alley. In a bundle of blankets, a baby girl was shrieking. Pumping her fists and kicking her feet, the little girl wept.

"You poor little thing," whispered Atemu, his eyes wide with concern. The baby became silent at once, watching Atemu approach. Her deep black eyes and silky black hair against her snow-white skin shined brightly from the fire a few houses down. Atemu crouched down and picked the child, holding her against his chest. If there was anything he loved more than animals, it was children. He reached down and moved her bangs out of her eyes.

Lord Guardian.

Atemu glanced around, Nyx's voice echoing loudly around the alley. He glanced down at the baby.

No, no, Lord Atemu, I'm not the baby. That is my daughter. I was hoping you could find her a home.

"Nyx, why isn't she Lady Guardian?"

She's a girl. The taboo is that the Shadow Guardian must be the opposite gender of the last one.

"Why can't you take care of her?"

I'm dead. Her voice had a touch of amusement in it.

"Nyx… why couldn't I save them? Proteus… Typhoon… Triton… my powers were supposed to help me protect the ones I cared about, but I could save them. Why?"

How did you know Triton and Typhoon had died?

"I heard them talking about it when I was in that leopard's body. Why, Nyx? I couldn't protect them."

You test to become Shadow Guardian included how you handled your failings, other's failing, and death.

"My… test?"

Oh yes. And you passed with flying colors! I never would have thought anyone would have been capable of producing the Apocalyptic Cessation in such a short time of having his or her powers.

"Test?"

Yes. And now that the test is over, I think it's only fair for me to return your friends to you, don't you?

"What… you mean Proteus, Triton and Typhoon would come back?"

Not just them, Child. Everyone who died. The villagers who died, the palace, the servants, the village… yes, I think I'd better clean up the mess Tabitha left behind.

"Who is Tabitha?"

Don't you worry about her. Now is a time to celebrate. You've saved an innocent from Tabitha's evil embrace. Two actually.

"Innocents?"

Aura and Dimys of course! You must need rest. Anyway, I think there are some people who want to see you.

A flash of light blinded Atemu and he was thrown backward, but he was careful to take the blunt, the baby held close to his chest. There was a sound of thumps hitting the ground in front of him and a shimmering light floated high above the city. It flashed a couple times before spiraling downward. Another pulse of light and then it vanished.

Atemu gasped. The city and palace had been repaired. The beautiful river that flowed through town was shimmering against the light of the multiple moons, breaking through the storm clouds. Atemu was shocked to see that the day had gone by so fast, the renewed beautiful palace and village, but not as shocked to see the people lying in front of him. Proteus in glimmering silver armor, Triton lying against the wall, his large square head bobbing against his chest, going up and down, Typhoon in a pure blue gown, decorated with topazes, even Imo, her pink hair falling into her eyes. Surrounding them were many people Atemu didn't know, but he was sure they had been victims of Aura's attack.

"Nyx?"

I'm still here, Child. But I can't stay long. Do I have your word that you'll find a place for my daughter?

"Of course. What's her name?"

Diana.

"I'll treat Diana well, Nyx."

I know you will, Child. Thank you. And farewell.

"Goodbye Nyx," murmured Atemu, looking down at the baby, with a smile on his tired face.

"You know, if you keep talking to yourself, people will start to think you're crazy," said a familiar voice behind him. Atemu spun around to Dimys standing there, her bright blue hair pulled back into three long braids in the back of her head. She wore a gray dress that had many buckles and was cut above her knees. Her black boots shined against the moons' light.

"I'm trying out the 'goth' look. What do you think? Too much?" Dimys watched Atemu stunned face turn to joy as he shook his head firmly. Dimys let out a genuine giggle and launched herself at Atemu, carefully avoiding the baby. She wrapped her arms around Atemu and sighed. "I'm sorry. I truly am. I never thought my jealousy would get me into this much trouble." She looked up at Atemu. "Do you forgive me?"

Atemu glanced around, seeing that Dimys had left no permanent damage thanks to Nyx. "I don't see why not." He smiled. "Just don't throw Proteus of the palace towers again."

"I heard that," snapped Proteus's voice. Dimys glanced over Atemu's shoulder as Atemu turned sharply to see Proteus stumbling to his feet. He looked up and smiled. "Lord Atemu, you are the coolest!" He sprinted toward only to stop short at the gruff order, "Careful, don't run!"

Triton seemed to be himself as well as he climbed to his feet, smiling at his brother and Atemu. "Proteus!" Triton scooped Proteus into his arms and kissed his brother's forehead. "Proteus, I swear, if you die again before you're forty, I will die… and kill you." Triton smirked at Atemu's good-natured chuckle, and jumped as a flash of blue dashed past him and wrapped itself around Atemu's shoulders.

"Aura?"

"Oh, Lord Guardian, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Aura squealed joyfully, squeezing Atemu's arms.

"You're welcome?" said Atemu, feeling a little taken aback by Aura's new behavior.

"You destroyed the Tainted Shadows in my soul and heart! Now Dimys, Typhoon, and I can live as a family again!" And as soon as she had let go of Atemu, Aura clung onto Dimys, both laughing happily and dancing on their tiptoes.

"How old are they?" whispered Atemu to Triton.

"Thirteen and fourteen. Can you believe the Tainted Shadows got so bad they started claiming teenaged girls?"

"You know, if you think about it, you can make the Tainted Shadows start sounding like pedophiles," said Proteus, his face trying to be serious but the corners of his mouth twitching. Triton rolled his eyes and popped Proteus in the head with his knuckle and turned back to Atemu. Proteus sniggered and winked at Atemu who was looking as exasperated as Triton.

"You mean Typhoon's only fourteen?" asked Atemu, trying not to smile at the way Proteus listened to Atemu with unwavering attention. He didn't realize how much he had missed Proteus's good nature.

"Fourteen and a half!" said Typhoon, poking her head out from behind Triton and smiling from ear to ear. "My papa said I was always mature for my age. You know… excluding the whole starting typhoons with my temper tantrums thing."

"You are kidding me!" Everyone spun around to see Mahaado and Mana, standing right in front of the alleyway, Yuugi, Kaiba, Solomon Mutou, Leucothea, Neptune, Calypso, Joey, Tristan, Mokuba, and hundreds of other villagers right behind them. Mahaado was wearing an expression of pure glee.

"Atem, you got these dorks back?" chuckled Joey winking at Proteus who had pretended to yawn but was pointing at Triton. Triton grabbed his finger and bent it backwards.

"Ouch, ow, ow! Uncle, Uncle!" Proteus cried.

"You know? I think this calls for a celebration." Typhoon smiled, her arms wrapped around her two sisters. "A celebration for the kingdom's most powerful warriors! Dark Magician Mahaado, Dark Magician Girl Mana, and Lord Atemu, Guardian of the Shadows!"