Zypher: Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter of Price of Love. I thank you all for your reviews so I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Note: Since I'm now on an obsession with playing the new Shadow the Hedgehog game, I plan to add only one of the Black Arms monsters in here and they are the Black Volts (or Black Hawks) that Shadow is able to ride on certain stages. I love them since they are like cute little black and red wyverns. Squee!
Price of Love
Chapter 5
The next day, Yugi woke up to Zairu's gentle nudging. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked to him. "Is breakfast ready?" Yugi asked and he nodded. "Come, Yami wants me to bring you to his room to have breakfast. Anzu will be eating alone this morning." Zairu said and he nodded as he got ready and soon followed Zairu towards Yami's room.
When Anzu made it downstairs, she wondered where Yami and Aqua was. She walked over to the nearest Nightstalker guard and asked about their whereabouts. "They are in their private quarters having breakfast with their guest. You are to eat in the dining room and then be ready to pack your things." The brown Nightstalker told her. "But-but why?" she stuttered.
"You have angered them with your talk about something that will never happen. They have decided to not marry you and have their kingdom merged with yours. They have other things in mind and with you upsetting their guest has not made them happy. He attempted to try and run away last night and could've possible got himself killed out there. The cause of that was you and your talk so they want you to be gone now." The Nightstalker explained.
She tried to think of who their guest was and then remember the young boy who was sitting at the table last night.
'If I'm not mistaken, I think he was the missing Light Prince that ran off. The Queen of the Light Kingdom is still searching for him. Maybe if I tell her that her son is here, she will come and get him and maybe I can have another chance with merging our kingdoms together. Obviously he's the reason they don't want to do so.' she thought before she did as the Nightstalker said and went to the dining room to eat.
As they were eating, Azzere flew in through the window with a note in his mouth and went to curl around Yami's neck. "What's this, Azzere?" he asked as he was handed the note. He unrolled it and looked it over before smiling softly. "Ah, I'm glad she's coming." he said. "Who's coming, Yami?" Yugi asked, very curious.
"An old friend of ours. She says she learned that you are here and she wants some of the dragons to stay here and watch over the kingdom just in case something was to happen." Yami said and he nodded.
They continued to eat, feeding some scraps to Azzere until he left and a guard came in to tell that their friend was here. "Great, send her in." Yami told him and he nodded as he left out. "You will definitely love Keara, Yugi. She's a really good friend." Yami said as another Nightstalker came in and took their trays.
They waited, talking a little bit more until the door was open once more and a girl walked in. Aqua smiled as he got up and gave a hug. "Nice to see you again, Keara." Aqua siad as she returned the hug.
"Same to you, Aqua." She said as she was released from the hug and she walked over to the bed where Yugi still sat. "And I believe you are Yugi. Nice to meet you." Keara said as she held out her hand. Yugi took hers and gave it a short shake.
"It's nice to meet you as well, Keara." Yugi said. She smiled and looked over to Yami. "Well, as I know, since you have the Prince here, the Light Kingdom may wage war and I want to leave Tirranun, Voxx, Vishimtar and Nafagen here to watch over the kingdom." Keara said and he nodded.
"That would be great, Keara. Have you set up a place for them to stay?" Yami asked. "Yes, Tirranun has an underground cave filled with lava. Vishimtar has a island in the sky. Voxx has a cave of ice on one side of the lands and Nafagen is in one of fire on the other side. They will come out if they were to feel any sort of disturbance that comes here and will try to stop it if reasoning with them doesn't do anything to help." Keara explained and he nodded. "Great, that will do wonders for us. Will you be staying as well?" Yami asked as they walked out from his room and towards the gardens.
"But of course. You didn't forget about the festival, did you?" Keara questioned. "Oh yes, the festival of the Black Volts. We did forget about it since we have an annoyance here right now." Aqua said. "You don't mean?" she started.
He nodded. "Yes, Anzu's here but she won't be here for long. She's leaving today for something she did." Yami said. "What did she do this time?" she asked as they made it out to the gardens. "We'll tell you later." he said.
While they were talking, Yugi walked over to Aqua who was standing next to a bush of flowers and tugged on his shirt, causing him to look down to him. "Aqua, what is the festival of Black Volts?" Yugi asked.
"This festival is to celebrate the arrival of winged dragons called Black Volts. They always come to stay here for a month or two before leaving back to their home. Since they only travel to one spot of their choice every 100 years, we celebrate their arrival since they chose our kingdom to stay in." Aqua explained. Yugi nodded and Aqua took him to sit on another bench.
"What day are they to come?" Yugi asked. "Sometime tomorrow night. A few may stay with us so be on the lookout for one of them." Aqua said. "How do they look so I'll know." he asked again. "They have red and black scales, four eyes of a golden color and only wings as their mode of transportation. They may be around half your size if not smaller so if someone was to have them as pets, they can carry small items and sometimes even people if they're trained to be strong enough to carry a person." he explained and Yugi nodded. "They sound very interesting. I can't wait to see them since this will be my first time."
"I know and I have a good feeling you will like the festival that will happen before their arrival. We'll be going down to the town to join in the festivities." Aqua said and Yugi nodded, a smile lightening his features.
Everything was quite peaceful in the gardens until Anzu came in. "King Yami, I wish to ask if you would reconsider your option of making me leave." she said. "I will not change my decision. You have upset Yugi and that's not something I will take lightly. We are not having any form of marriage and I would never join our kingdoms together. I have something much more in mind about marriage and it isn't with you." Yami said.
"Oh, and you're saying the Light Kingdom's Prince happens to be part of this? I bet you haven't even known him for that long." Anzu said with a huff. "Actually, we known him all his life. We have watched him, giving him small gifts until his time when he is ready to come to our kingdom for refuge from his life as a prince on the other side of the lake. We may know him as a prince of our so called enemy kingdom but we treat him as a person." Yami said. She huffed once more and turned her back to him.
"Fine, if that's what you want then I don't care but this won't be the last time I'll be coming here. I'll be back one of these days and I will make you agree to marry me." Anzu said before leaving. "You can try all you want but I'll make sure you won't even get past the barrier." Keara said. Anzu only sneered at her and left through the door once more.
"I tell you, I'm glad our father didn't make an arranged marriage with her when we were young. I don't think I could take her incessant talking any longer than this." Yami said. "I agree with you on that one. I myself wish she didn't learn about this kingdom from her parents." Keara said.
Back in the Shine Palace, Shiori was having her own predicament. Like the healers told her, her husband's heart was to fail sooner or later and it seemed everytime he has fallen, some force was to get him back up. She even checked to see if his heart finally failed and when she didn't feel nothing, a second later, his heart was beating once more. 'Something is going on and I can only guess who is doing this.' Shiori thought.
Up above in the shadows of the rafters, Seto and Ruby watched closely, making sure she didn't get to close to finding out who it was keeping her husband alive. All they knew is if she found out they were behind it, she may start the war earlier than expected. "Seto, shouldn't we do something so she won't find out we're the cause of her husband still being alive?" Ruby asked.
"No, as long as we keep hidden, she won't suspect a thing. She may think the Dark Kingdom may be the cause of it but she doesn't have proof of it unless she see us." Seto said and he nodded once more as they left from the hall and towards the queen and king's room to watch Kitargi.
Yugi heard what Yami told Anzu before she left and looked back to Aqua. "Is it really true that you both came to watch over me during my childhood?" Yugi asked and he nodded. "Yes. You may have heard from your mother of how bad the Dark Kingdom was and we didn't want you to believe her so we left little trinkets and gems from our kingdom to you to show you we aren't any different from any other kingdom. We just rather keep ourselves more secretive from others from the decisions they may try to make such as what you saw with Anzu." Aqua said.
He nodded, now finally learning what the mysterious gifts he kept receiving when he was young were from. A while later, Keara walked over to where they sat and Aqua looked up to her. "Well, hello Keara, is there something you need?" he asked. "Actually yes, I remembered that you once told me that the Prince of the Behemoths is loosing his power, right?" she asked and he nodded. "How bad is it now?" she asked again.
"We don't know since we haven't went to check on him recently. Yami told me earlier that one of the behemoths mistaken Yugi for a regular human and tried to take him back to their den but didn't get far last night." Aqua explained.
She nodded. "Should we head over and see about his condition? I think I may have a way to heal him back to full health by tonight if we leave now and Yugi is willing to help." she said, looking over to him.
"Sure, if there's any way I could help, I'll be glad to." Yugi said and she nodded. "Alright then. I'll go ask Yami is he would like to come as well and I'll met you two at the castle entrance." Keara said and they nodded as she left once more and they headed back into the castle to wait for her.
Back in town, everyone was awake and ready to head to the palace. "Is everyone ready to go?" Jou asked and they nodded. "Alright then, let's get going and make our way to the castle. I really want to get out of here soon." Jou said as they left out.
Ryou looked around to see the people setting up for the festival. "I wonder what they are setting up for?" he asked. "If I remember from a book I read on the Dark Kingdom, they're setting up for the Festival of the Black Volts that should be traveling here to stay for a month or two before heading back to their home." Diamond said.
"Do you think we may be able to see them?" Ryou asked. "I don't think so. We're not going to stay here long. We're just going to see if Yugi is in the palace. If he is, we need to get him and leave. There's no reason for us to stay here any longer." Kaiser said.
"There's the castle now." Malik said as he pointed to the looming black structure before them. "Well, let's get moving so we can get out of here before someone realizes we're from the Light Kingdom." Jou said as they made their way to the castle.
Keara walked to the gate entrance where Aqua and Yugi were waiting. "Yami said he didn't want to come so it'll just be you, me and Yugi." Keara said and he nodded. "Alright, let's get going then." Aqua said as he knelt down to let Yugi climb on his back and Keara let her own wings appear on her back. Soon, they were off towards the forest.
Yugi looked down to watch as the inhabitants of the Dark Kingdom prepared for the festival and then thought he saw something peculiar. 'That can't be. My mom couldn't have possibly sent my friends to look for me, did she?' he wonder as he tried to see if they were down there but didn't see them again.
Aqua turned to look to him. "Is something wrong, Yugi?" Aqua asked. "No, just thought I saw something but it was nothing." Yugi said and he nodded. "If you're sure." Aqua said as they reached the forest and started heading in the direction of the behemoths' den.
When they got there, they landed and Yugi climbed off Aqua's back as they went inside. The behemoth from before came over to them and bowed before Aqua. "Lord Aqua, what brings you here today?" he asked. "We came to see about Catoblepas' condition." Aqua said and he nodded. "Come with me then." he said as he walked ahead of them and they followed.
Yugi looked around the den as he walked, amazed at the lifestyle of the behemoths. soon, the reach a part of the den where the prince resided. "He's in here. Are you planning to help him recover?" the behemoth asked and he nodded. "Yes, he will be fine hopefully before the day ends." Aqua said and he nodded as he left them to do what they needed.
They walked inside and saw Catoblepas laying on his bed, breathing harshly as sparks of lightning came off from him a few times. He opened white eyes and looked over to them. "Ah, Lord Aqua. Nice to see you again. Have you found someone to hold my power while I heal?" he asked softly. "Yes, Catoblepas. We have someone and I will help heal you so you don't have to wait long." Aqua said as he looked over to Keara.
She nodded as well before looking to Yugi. "Are you ready to help, Yugi?" she asked and he nodded. "Alright, here what you need to do." she said as she held her hand out an in a flash of lightning, a trident appeared in her hand.
"This is Karana, Lord of Storms, trident. It's strong enough to be able to hold Catoblepas' thunder power long enough for me and Aqua to heal him so he can have his power back. But since it's so powerful, you can't hold it on your own so I'm granting you his power so you can hold his trident along with Catoblepas' until we get done." Keara explained and he nodded.
"Alright, I'm ready whenever you are." Yugi said and she nodded. "Ok then. I call upon the power of the God Monster Karana and bequeath thee with his power temporarily." Keara said and in a flash of lightning, his power was transferred to Yugi. Once the transfer was done, she handed Karana's trident to him before turning to Catoblepas.
"Alright, now hold still and I'll transfer your thunder power to the trident so we can start healing you." Keara said and he nodded. She concentrated silently and Catoblepas shivered lightly as he felt his power leaving him.
The lightning sparked and flayed as it was removed from Catoblepas and to the trident. Once all of it was sealed into the trident, Keara and Aqua started working their own magic together to heal Catoblepas while Yugi watched.
They finally reached the castle and seeing as it was guarded from the entrance, they flew over the wall and landed on the courtyard. "Knowing that most likely there will guards around every corner, we need to stay quiet and sneak by them so we won't catch their attention and have them all coming after us." Jou said and they nodded.
"And what do we have here. Little warriors and two healers from the Light Kingdom. Why are you here?" a voice spoke and they turned around to see Bakura and Crimson standing there. "Why should we tell you? We're here on important business." Jou said, glaring at them.
"Well, if you were to be able to get into the castle, you wouldn't get far with all the Nightstalker guards roaming around but, of course, we are the commanders of the Shadow Palace warriors and we can get you inside only if you give us something in return." Bakura said.
"And what would that possibly be?" Malik asked. "Why not your two healers." Crimson said, looking over to Diamond quietly. "No way! We're not giving them to you! Who knows what you two might have planned for them!" Jou hissed.
Bakura only shrugged his shoulders and turned away. "Fine, then go ahead and sneak into the castle then. But I warn you, if you get caught and King Yami finds you and learns of what you're planning, he will not be happy. We know you're here to take your prince back to his home and both the King and Lord is determine to not let him go back yet until he's ready to confront his parents and tell him his decision." Bakura said as he and Crimson walked off.
"If he knows and so does the king, then we may be in for big trouble. Jou, we're willing to take his offer if it means you guys won't get caught and get sentenced for gods know what for trying to get Yugi back." Ryou said. "No, if we lose you two then that means we'll have to find you along with Yugi and get you three out of the castle." Jou said.
"Jou, I think it's best we just let them get what they want so we can get in here without any trouble. Ryou and Diamond may find a way out without causing much trouble or attention to them." Topaz said.
Jou thought about before sighing and nodded. "Alright but as long as they get out of there before we head back." Jou said and looked over to Bakura and Crimson. "Ok, you got yourselves a deal." he said and Bakura turned back to them with a smirk.
"Good, now follow us and we'll take you inside without the guards noticing you're inside. You're on your own if you want to keep out of their sight." Bakura said and they nodded as they followed him and Crimson into the castle via secret entrance.
"You're on your own from here. If you encounter anyone else, you just better hope they won't throw you into the dungeons once they sense you are from the Light Kingdom." Crimson said and they nodded. "We'll be fine. We only trust you that you both will treat them well." Malik said.
"Don't worry, they'll be fine. We may be commanders of the Dark Kingdom but that doesn't mean we'll treat them wrongly. We only battle those that dare harm our kingdom and its people." Crimson said and he nodded. "Well go on ahead, Ryou and Diamond." Jou said and they nodded as they followed Bakura and Crimson out of the secret path.
"Well, we better get moving as well so we can find Yugi and get out of here without causing to much trouble here." Jou said as they left out of the secret path as well. 'I just hope those commanders don't rat on us and we get caught anyway.' he thought.
As it became dusk Catoblepas was fully healed. "Thank you, Lord Aqua and Lady Keara, for helping me." Catoblepas murmured. "It was nothing. We couldn't let you stay in this horrible condition without our help since we're so close to your den." Aqua said.
He nodded. "I am grateful and I know the other behemoths are as well. If you don't mind, I would wish to have my power back so I may tell the other behemoths that I'm alright now." Catoblepas said. Keara nodded and looked over to Yugi. "Yugi, come over here please." she said softly and he nodded as he walked over.
"Now, what I want you to do is hold the trident over Catoblepas and concentrate his power back into his body like an electrical current." Keara said and he nodded once more as he did so, closing his eyes and concentrated on his power that was held in the trident. Soon, a spark of lightning appeared and seeped back into Catoblepas' body little by little until a stream of it was flowing from the trident to him.
Catoblepas closed his eyes quietly, relaxing as his power was returned to him. Once the last of his power was returned to him, electricity surged over his body before settling as he stood up. "Ah, that's much better. Thank you, Yugi." Catoblepas said.
Yugi nodded. "It was nothing. I'm just glad I could help." Yugi said as he gave the trident back to Keara who sent it back to Karana's domain. "So, Catoblepas, now that you're healed, are you planning to come to the kingdom to celebrate the festival with us?" Aqua asked as they walked out.
"I will see if I can. I may have a lot to do since I've been injured but if I get it all done before the Black Volts show up, I'll be there." he said and Aqua nodded. "Well, we best be going now since it's getting late. We do hope to see you tomorrow." Aqua said as they left out. Yugi climbed onto his back once more and they were off back to the palace.
Zypher: And that's all for this chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it and will review.
