To everyone affected by Katrina, from the Chaos Chao family: We feel for you, guys, and we'll do our part to help.
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That moment of levity past us... hey quick, DUCK!
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I can only wonder how many did that...sigh...0
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Disclaimer: See last chapter, you sillys
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The rest of this level was just like the first part, once the lights in the stairs were cut off: dark. It was also deserted of monsters, traps, or any other threats, aside from the lack of light, which seemed curiously suspicious.
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This also meant that Yami had more time to worry about outside concerns now, such as wondering where Ryou, Honda, Rosa the Vinebeast, or that cowardly thief Bakurah had gotten to, and how powerful Hauru was likely to be in combat (a battle seemed to be the only way they were going to finish things, at least by this point), and whether or not his hand was going to be able to heal naturally after all these years of using magic…
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Yami shook his head slightly. Worrying like this was pointless.
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…Although, IF Hauru had been capable of breaking up the vault, even if it had only happened yesterday, this meant that Hauru was a powerful demon indeed, and that there was very little chance to defeat him…
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Further musings on the subject were interrupted when Yami 'heard' a faint, oddly familiar almost-sound in the back of his mind. While he had been thinking, the three of them had reached a part of the corridor where it split into two separate paths. Jou and Yugi began walking down the one side, but Yami hesitated, staring down the other way.
"Hmm? Yami? Is there something the matter?" Yugi asked, noticing Yami's distraction immediately and stopping himself.
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"Huh? What, Yam', why'd ya stop walkin'?" Jou asked, noticing the reason for his best friend's turning back a minute after the fact.
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"…There's…something…" Yami hesitated, uncertain, then nodded to himself before striding down the second corridor, leaving the others to follow behind, their questions ignored.
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The further he walked, the better Yami could 'hear' what he was looking for…something he would have never been listening for at all if he hadn't been alerted to the possibility of its existence by Yen's sword. The corridor itself was short, only twisting around once (in what would have been a complete circle that lead nowhere if it wasn't a magic building) before reaching what had once been an imposing stone door covered in protection spells carved into it.
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It was not imposing now. In fact, the only thing left of the door were the scattered rocks and chunks of stone all over the floor, all that was left of the material that had once composed it.
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"Whoa…what happened?" Jou whistled, nudging some of the rocks with his feet.
"…Just as I suspected," Yami sighed, indicating the mark that had recently been carved into the wall of the corridor right beside the doorway, "It appears that Bakurah, at least, is alive and up to his old tricks."
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"You know dat fer sure?" Jou asked, staring at the mark, "How can ya tell?"
"This is his mark," Yami said simply.
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Bakurah had explained the mark to Yami once (more like bragged about it repeatedly, really). The necromancer-demon's mark was a circle with three lines through it, two horizontal and one vertical. The circle stood for the world, the vertical line for the traps and other barriers people put between Bakurah and their valuables, and the two horizontal lines were supposed to depict that Bakurah was more than capable of crossing those barriers and coming back with the treasure - and that he was especially capable of doing it a lot more than once.
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When Yami said this, Jou laughed, "Dat sounds like him all right!"
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"But doesn't this mean…" Yugi trailed off, looking at the doorway.
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"Yeah, dere musta been treasure in here!" Jou exclaimed, "Dat no-good thief! While we're riskin' our necks ta save da day, he decides ta go find himself some treasure!"
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"Not exactly," Yami said, stepping through the doorway and smirking with satisfaction at what he found there.
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"Huh?" Jou blinked.
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"Wow!" Yugi gasped - he had followed Yami inside and was now standing at the mage-demon's elbow, staring at the gleaming items laid out in front of them.
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Jou made similar noises of appreciation when he finally stepped inside.
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"If he's such a great thief, why'd he leave all dis stuff behind?" the blonde wondered, goggling over the various rare and shiny things the room was filled with.
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Indeed, most of the valuables had been left untouched - undoubtedly, a few of the smaller, nicer pieces were now heading further away by the moment, tucked neatly inside of Bakurah's pockets for, as the thief would put it, safekeeping - but this roomful of wealth was not what had attracted the necromancer-demon's attention in the first place, not anymore than it had attracted Yami's.
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For set out on a table in the corner, innocuous amongst all the other golden trinkets and treasures, was something that could not, should not have ever been here at all. Judging from the scuff marks, the one other thing that should never have been moved here at all had been here as well, but Bakurah had already left with it.
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"Oh c'mon, I bet dat Ha-ka-ku guy won't miss a coupla little gems," Jou was saying.
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"You shouldn't take things like this, Jou! None of those jewels belong to you!" Yugi scolded him.
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With the mortals distracted, Yami was able to slip his prize - a small box made of gold - into his pocket completely unnoticed.