Blood Only Glows in the Dark Chapter 41: 41, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

You love me! Even if bad things happen to Yami!

Well, don't none a'yall worry - that fun is only just beginning!

Disclaimer: Yugioh does not belong to me

Claimer: The stuff I invented is mine, all mine!

The only difference between being hit by a sleeping spell and drinking wine until you passed out was that with the wine, you got to be drunk and enjoy yourself BEFORE you had to suffer through the hangover.

That was why Yami woke up to a throbbing pain in his head, a foul taste in his mouth, and a feeling of extreme embarrassment that he had been taken out so easily. Five thousand years of rotting in that pit had caused his skills to deteriorate inexcusably.

The next thing he noticed, though, was that there was something wrong with his legs and hands. He couldn't move them…after a minute or so, Yami realized they weren't working because he had been tied up. With rope, even!

So that wouldn't have been a problem…IF there wasn't something keeping Yami from ripping the rope off like the flimsy string it was. In fact, there was something seriously wrong with him, now that the sleeping spell's effects were starting to wane; his whole body felt very strange, and his senses were somehow so pitifully weak…

…Actually, Yami had felt like this once, and for years. But that hadn't happened for ages now…ever since -

"Will you look at that? He seems to be waking up," came a grating female voice.

Hearing the girl's voice, Yami forced himself to get his eyes open. Easier thought than accomplished - there was enough active sleeping magic still on him that Yami's body reacted as if it had been recast in lead. That would even explain his sudden strange feebleness…

"Hmm…" came a masculine voice Yami identified as Hauru's, "Well, inferior animals do make inferior seals. Oh, and where are you going, my dear?"

"Where do you think?" came the girl's voice, "He's been such a nuisance…I only want to show him my appreciation for all he's done."

"I wouldn't bother. That seal is still more than enough to leave you as frail and helpless as you were the day we met," Hauru told her, the amusement in his voice holding the faintest undertone of mockery.

…Almost…there! Yami managed to get his eyes slightly open - only to have them shut immediately, watering from unexpected exposure to the bright light this room seemed to be lit with. It took whole minutes for them to fully adjust as well, leaving Yami with the feeling that there really was something dreadfully wrong with him.

This new room was fairly large, much like the oversized room below where the golems had been massed, though not nearly as dramatic. Instead of using any witchboil or fire, the room was lit with clean, bright light, such as one would get using electricity. Furniture-wise, there was one oversized chair decorated with spikes with various skulls impaled on them - undoubtedly Hauru's personal throne, as Hauru was currently lounging in it. The only other decorations the room had were the mountains of bones piled around the walls, some human, some not. The disgusting girl was hovering near the throne, and sneered at the mage-demon's confusion as he propped himself up to look around.

"It's such a shame, really," Hauru announced, a trifle placidly, "He managed to get ALL the way up here, but he still has to die. Such a waste of material…"

Yami bristled at the commentary, then turned his attention towards something else. The faint vibration in his fingers was a good enough excuse…and that was when Yami saw the circle.

Yami had already noticed - and paid no mind to the fact - that he was not quite in the center of the room. But this was the first time he'd looked down, and to his dismay he found himself sitting inside a ring of runes and other symbols for channeling magic. The whole circle was glowing a faint purple, and looked distinctly familiar. Yami had never seen anything like this before, but something in his bones told him he knew who had created it.

"Ah, I see you've finally discovered our little sealing ward there," Hauru said, this time addressing Yami directly, "Do you like it? It was put in especially for you, you know."

"I feel so flattered," Yami replied, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.

"You SHOULD be," the girl suddenly piped up, apparently feeling ignored, "I personally think we should just torture you for a while, but this is supposed to be a better idea for finding where you stashed that pesky little brat."

"That would be because it is," Yami thought he heard Hauru murmur, in a tone not-at-all friendly.

Certainly the demon looked less than pleased with the girl's attitude towards his plan. Suddenly Yami was almost glad the girl was a stupid mouthy bitch - if she insulted Hauru like this enough, he would have to avenge the slander to his power and cunning in full demonic style.

Inattentive as she was - full of the belief that she and Hauru were full-fledged partners in whatever insane venture this was for them - the girl missed the demon's remark entirely and continued sneering at Yami.

"So, where is he, anyway? I mean," the girl pitched her voice into a piteous whine, "He's my FRIEND and I'm SO worried about him…"

Yami considered a retort - 'eat gargoyle shit and die' came to mind - but instead opted to ignore the girl completely, thus keeping himself from justifying her existence via acknowledging it.

The fact that she clearly didn't like being ignored was a nice bonus. Looking past the girl, Yami gave Hauru a bland smirk, telling the demon without words that he wasn't going to get any answers this easily. Hauru, for his part, seemed to approve of his prey having a backbone, because he merely smiled in return and mentioned, "Much a delight as this is, I really must be getting along with my plans…if you don't speak of your own free will, my man will leave you singing like a parrot in no time, so there's really no point in -"

"Argh! If there's no point to all this stupid stuff, then let me have a crack at him already!" the girl piped up, turning to address Hauru, "You said I would get a chance to make him pay!"

"Shouldn't have done that," Yami murmured as Hauru fixed an icy stare on his female cohort.

Slowly, Hauru raised an arm, while the girl eyed him in curiosity and confusion. An eye blink later, the girl had already crashed into one of the bone piles next to Hauru's throne, slammed there by that same arm, which was now retracting to its regular length.

"Owww," the girl whined as she struggled out of the bones and to her feet - and just how in the hell had she lived through that, anyway? - and staggered a few steps towards her former ally, "Hauru! What the hell was that for, you stupid bastard!"

"You actually had a use once, little girl," Hauru said, his voice now as icy as his glare, "I see keeping you around afterwards was a mistake."

"Well, with my new powers, I'll make you pay for that!" the girl shrieked.

She raised her hands, which started to spark with power - not something he could remember sensing her possessing, if Yami thought about it - and moved to strike Hauru with that power.

Whether or not she would have caused Hauru any damage, no one would ever know. Mere instants before her attack would have been launched, the girl's neck vanished in a spray of blood.

Slightly flabbergasted at the sudden change in action, Yami gaped rather openly as the girl's body collapsed, twitching in its death throws and promising to make a pretty big puddle of blood. The mage-demon forced his face back under control as soon as he could, of course, but Hauru had not looked surprised in the least. Instead, the demon only looked vaguely disappointed.

"You should know by now that I prefer my meals alive and screaming," the demon complained.

Hauru was addressing the person who stepped out from around the bone pile. That one made a point of avoiding touching any of the girl's blood on the floor, and in a completely non-servile tone replied, "She was in the way."

Then the newcomer turned towards Yami, who wasn't really able to keep himself from visibly gaping in shock this time. Of all the people…this was bad, this was SO bad…Yami fought through a wall of a slightly unfamiliar feeling - fear - and grimaced.

"Hello, Yami," the newcomer smirked.

Yami growled in the back of his throat.

"…Hello, Seto," the mage-demon reluctantly replied.