Episode 17 – I Could Die For You

"Yami. Yami? Yami, wake up!" Seto gave Yami a violent shake.

"Wh-a-a-a-at?" He growled, sitting up. He blushed when he realised he had been sleeping against Seto's arm. "Oh, sorry." Yami yawned, shifting himself to get comfortable.

"Are you sure-"

"Yes, yes, yes." Yami said hastily. "I'm going to walk around a bit, it feels like I've been sitting here for months…" Yami got up and stretched, his spine clicking in several places. He winced, before slowly walking away from them.

"Don't go too far!" Seto called softly after him, before settling himself on the ground to sleep.

Yami nodded before continuing to walk, squinting to get his eyes to adjust to the dim light. He wasn't sure if there even was a night or day time in the world they were in, but either way it was going to be dark.

He stopped by the edge of the chasm, trying to sense exactly where Yugi was. He could tell he was on the other side, but Yami could see no way of getting across. He would have to figure out a way, or he would never get Yugi back… At least he knew he was alive. And he was waiting for him. Yami hadn't been away from Yugi for very long, but he was already missing him so much that his heart ached whenever he thought about him.

Yami sat down at the edge of the chasm, dwelling in his own thoughts as he kept a sharp eye open for danger. Although he was impatient to get going, he knew he shouldn't go without the others. And though they hadn't seen anything when they were walking, he had been sure there were hidden dangers everywhere around them…Yami couldn't risk getting hurt or killed now. Not when Yugi was so close…

The hours seemed to drag on as Yami waited for the time to pass, growing ever more impatient by the minute. His heart beat with adrenalin at the prospect of being with Yugi; he yearned to hold him in his arms again, to love him…to kiss him.

At last, after what seemed like months, his time was up; so he stood up, stretched, and went to wake Bakura.

"Bakura…" he said quietly as he shook his shoulder. Bakura jerked upwards, causing Ryou to wake as well. Ryou groaned as he sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Sorry Ryou…" Bakura murmured, kissing him on the cheek. Ryou smiled.

"Don't worry about it."

"You don't have to watch, Ryou." Yami whispered. Ryou shook his head.

"I want to stay with Bakura…"

Once Bakura had sat himself up against the wall, Ryou sat down in his lap, leaning his head on his chest. Yami smiled sadly at them before sitting down next to them, leaning his chin on his knees.

#Are you okay, Yami?# Bakura asked, looking at him with concern.

#Yeah…I just miss Yugi.#

#Hey, don't worry. We'll find him. We'll get him back…# Bakura reached out and held Yami's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. He shifted so that he was closer to him, and leant his head against Yami's. #We'll find him…#

#Thank you…# Yami closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep, his dreams filled with images of Yugi and him, together, and hopefully forever…

"Yami?" Yami opened his eyes to find that he was the only one still asleep, and heaved a sigh as he stood up and stretched again.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"Half eight." Ryou said in reply.

"Half eight! We were supposed to set out half an hour ago! Come on!" Yami marched off ahead, leaving behind a very confused group of people.

"We're only late by half an hour…" Ryou said in a dazed voice.

"Oh well, come on." Seto said, running to catch up with Yami.

"So, what's your plan?" Bakura asked, peering down the considerably dark depths of the chasm.

"Err…haven't got one yet." Yami admitted, wrinkling his nose as he looked around the edge of the gorge. "We'll just have to work our way round…" So Yami set off again, squinting ahead to see if there was a path.

"I don't see any way of getting across, Yami…" Bakura said, coming up behind him and peering over his shoulder.

"Well, we'll have to find a way." Yami said stubbornly.

Yami was about to start walking again, when a loud, screeching sound resounded from the other side of the room (for lack of a better word). Yami yelled, covering up his ears; it sounded like someone was trying to badly tune a microphone, and it was magnified to a hundred times its normal volume.

"ARGH, will someone shut that thing up!" Ryou shouted after a while, who had fallen to his knees and covered both his ears tightly.

And then it stopped. Seto breathed a sigh of relief as he cautiously brought down his hands from his ears, looking over to the other side of the abyss.

"What was that?" Ryou asked, standing up shakily. Bakura held onto him, making sure he didn't fall down.

"I don't know…" Yami said quietly.

"YOU WILL KNOW NOW THOUGH!"

"Uhh…what?" Yami asked as the voice echoed around them. It sounded strangely…familiar.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"I know that laugh…" Ryou said with a groan, clutching his head in his hand.

"A SIMPLE ROUTE THERE IS TO PASS,"

"IF YOU WISH TO REACH YOUR YUGI,"

"THERE IS NO NEED TO TRAVEL FAST,"

"OR DANGER'LL COME IF YOU FLEE."

"Oh dear… The Paradox brothers…" Ryou said with a sigh.

"The who?" Seto and Bakura asked in unison.

"They were eliminators in Duelist Kingdom…"

"But that was ages ago!" Seto said, stunned. They stopped talking when they heard them continuing.

"BUT SEARCH YOU MUST TO REACH THE DOOR,"

"IN ORDER TO REACH HIM SAFELY."

"IF AT THE END THERE ARE OF YOU FOUR,"

"THEN YOU WILL BE RELIEVED GREATLY!"

"HOW much time do they spend on making these rhymes?" Seto asked, staring across the chasm in amazement.

"SO NOW IS THE TIME TO MOVE ON,"

"THEN YOU CAN BE WITH YOUR LOVER,"

"IF YOU WAIT THE PATH WILL BE GONE,"

"SO LOOK OUT A LITTLE FURTHER!"

"That doesn't even rhyme!" Ryou said, exasperated. "Lover and further… God."

"IT'S THE BEST WE COULD GET!"

"YES! BE GRATEFUL WE ARE HELPING YOU!"

"Yeah… Why are they helping us?" Yami said thoughtfully.

"That doesn't matter! Come on, let's go!" Bakura said, before walking along the ridge. Yami sighed, following him.

It took them at least two hours to find the door and walk through it to the other side, but when they had they felt happy and contented. Well, mostly.

"Oh, I'm so hungry!" Ryou groaned, his stomach rumbling for the twentieth time.

"You're not the only one…" Bakura grumbled, holding his stomach as he dragged himself along the path.

"Oh come on, we'll be there soon enough…" Yami said reassuringly, slowing down so that they could catch up. Even Seto was starting to feel the effects of the lack of food, although he was trying his best not to show it.

"Yeah, let's hope so…" He muttered, arms crossed and head held high. Despite all this depression though, Yami was feeling considerably happy.

"Well, someone's in a good mood…" Bakura said gloomily as he caught site of Yami's face.

"Shouldn't I be?" Yami said, smiling. "Come on, if we're lucky we can get there in a few hours…"

"A FEW HOURS!" Bakura shouted, eyes wide with torment. "BUT I'M NOT GOING TO LAST THAT LONG!"

"Well, you'll just have to!" Yami said happily. Bakura growled.

"Stupid…need food…not happy…" Bakura muttered to himself, causing Yami to giggle at him (whoa, Yami giggling!).

"Come on, quit whining…" Yami said, elbowing Bakura in the side.

"Ow…" Yami sighed, speeding up so he was at the front again.

"This is going to take a while…"

"Okay, so we're back here again…" Joey said, the Snakes and Ladders board reappearing around them.

"Yup." Marik said, looking around. "Wow, this is weird…"

"Yeah…" Joey stood up and walked towards Marik. "Now, where's that Kamu-Kaji guy?"

"Right here." Joey yelled as Kamu's voice came from right behind him; he ran and hid behind Marik, peering cautiously over his shoulder. Kamu laughed a rich, bellowing laugh, shaking from head to foot.

"It's not funny." Joey muttered. Marik snorted.

"You sure about that?"

"Come on, come on, stop arguing. Now, it is time for you to start…" The die that they had used the day before materialized in front of them, and as before Kamu picked it up, hurled it, and watched patiently to see what it landed on…

"Four!" With a scream Marik and Joey were pulled forward with an invisible force, which had grabbed them by their collars and dragged them along the board.

"Oh no…" Joey groaned as the word 'Forgiveness' and a large ladder rose in front of them, and before they knew what was happening they were being pulled up it, knees knocking against the rungs.

"Ow, ow, OW!" Marik said as he went up, and with an 'umph' they fell flat on their faces on the next square.

"Ah, ow…it feels like my knee's been crushed…" Joey said, nursing his leg delicately.

"It probably has been…" Marik said, wincing with pain. They looked down to find they were now on square number 31, a considerably large way up from where they had been.

"Oh well, at least it's an improvement." Joey said. Marik nodded. "Hey, look…" Joey said, pointing to a word that had appeared in front of them. "Affection…What d'you suppose that means?"

"Forgiveness…leads to affection." Joey looked nonplussed. "Maybe it means something…"

"Perhaps someone wants forgiveness…" Joey said, frowning. "But I can't think who…"

"Hmm…" For a moment a picture of Malik crossed Marik's mind, but he shook the thought out; he didn't think it was him. Although, somewhere inside him…

"Hey, Marik! C'mon!"

"'Kay…" Marik walked with Joey to the edge of the square, a questioning look on his face. "What now?"

"Dunno. That's what I'm going to find out. OY, KAMU! What're we doing?"

"Patience, Mr Wheeler…" Kamu picked up the die again, threw it, and watched.

"Five!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" This time they seemed to whiz along at lightning speed, not even having the time to prepare themselves for what came next.

"Huh…" Joey looked up to see the word 'Penitence' hovering above them before a ladder rose up from the board, and in no time they were being pulled up that as well. "Oh, can't we just walk!" Joey growled as he sat up, almost despising this as he saw the word 'Reconciliation'. "I have no idea what that means…"

"Penitence means to be sorry, or to apologise; and Reconciliation means to make up. So apologising leads to compromise…" Marik looked thoughtful. "Well, that makes sense."

"What square are we on?" Joey looked hazily down at the board. "Ugh… forty four."

"Yup. Hey, don't worry! It means we don't have that far to go until one hundred…"

"Ugh…" Joey continued to moan, holding his head in his hands.

"Oh, come on…" Marik pulled him up by his arm, and walked to the edge of their square.

"Marik…please forgive me…" #Pegasus, you will pay for what you have done to him…# Malik clenched his hands. #He didn't deserve this…it was my fault. Why couldn't he just leave him!# Malik fell to his knees and sobbed into his hands, his anger growing out of control.

"PEGASUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUS!" Malik screamed, and with a flash of light the screen he was watching exploded, glass flying everywhere. He shook with anger as he stormed out of the room, clutching the Millennium Rod tightly in his hand. "YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO HIM!" He roared, bursting in through a door to Pegasus' room.

"Oh, will I?" Pegasus' patronising voice said from the corner of the room.

"Why am I even doing what you want! You didn't keep your promise, Pegasus! YOU DIDN'T KEEP IT!" Malik was fuming.

"Tut, tut, tut. Where is your patience?"

"I knew you were trouble from the moment I saw you!" Pegasus smirked. "You promised us a chance to be back together as a family with Odion and Ishizu! I didn't trust you, but I was willing to do anything to make Marik happy! ANYTHING! How would you like it if someone went up to you and promised to give you something that you wanted, and then totally destroyed you life with not a care for your feelings!" Pegasus' smirk dropped instantly.

"How would you know what I want?" He said menacingly.

"How! HOW! It's what everyone in the fucking WORLD wants! LOVE! I know about your life…about your love, Cecilia…how she died! Do you think this is what she wants, huh! Do you think she wants you to destroy other people's love! Just because yours was struck down, doesn't mean you can do it to everyone else! You're not the only one who matters in this world! Face the facts, SHE'S NOT GOING TO COME BACK, AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! JUST LIVE WITH IT!" Malik turned on his heel and flew out, breathing heavily from his shouting. All he wanted was for Pegasus to understand, but no matter what he did, Pegasus had never listened to him before. He had had enough.

"Don't worry Marik…" Malik whispered in a hoarse voice. "I'll get you out of there…" He turned around a corner and disappeared out of sight.