NOTE: Thus the final installment of Haunted Mansion. You all have had your guesses. You all have had your thoughts. Now…you shall see what I've had planned from nearly the beginning! I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Epilogue

Seto shot up in bed, sweating terribly. He heaved for a moment, trying to catch his breath. He had broken out into a cold sweat. All his bed sheets had been twisted around. Some were even lying on the floor from his constant kicking and seizure-like jerks.

"What…the heck was that?" Seto breathed heavily. He held his head. "It felt…so real." Vaguely, he realized his left shoulder was very numb. He glanced over at it, glad to see it was still in one piece.

He looked around. He was in his room. No mansion…no ghost. No gunshot wound. Nothing.

It was all just a dream….

His door opened. Seto froze.

"C'mon, Seto," Mokuba poked his head through, "you've got half an hour left before school starts! Get moving!" he suddenly held his jaw, rubbing it.

Seto got out of bed, "Something wrong, kid?"

Mokuba winced, "Nah…just a toothache or something. …Or a bunch of toothaches. And I've got a bit of a queasy stomach, but it should pass. I skipped breakfast: it looked revolting. But anyway, get moving!" He shut the door.

Joey parked his bike at school and slowly got off it. "Ow, ow, ow, ow…" he whimpered, finally just letting his bike fall onto the others parked there. He walked slowly into the front yard of Domino High. Duke was lying under a tree nearby, looking like he was asleep. Joey limped over to him and lightly nudged his leg with his shoe.

Duke cracked open an eye, "Mornin'."

"Hey. Not enough sleep?"

"Oh, plenty of sleep. My back's just killing me. I want to lie down before I have to sit in those crappy plastic chairs all day."

"Yeah. Strange…I woke up dis morning wit' pulled muscles all around or somethin'. My whole body's on fi'a. I feel like I just got a full-out workout yesterday or somethin'."

Duke nodded, "I understand how you feel. I was fine last night before…before…" Duke furrowed his brows. "Hey wait a sec…. Weren't we all out together last night?"

Joey frowned, "Now that ya mention it…."

"Hey guys," Tea popped up happily beside them.

"Why is she so full of sunshine?" Duke sighed, closing his eyes once more.

"What's up with him?" Tea inquired.

"His back hurts. He's not the only one…though I'm beat all ov'a," Joey answered.

Tea narrowed her eyes, "No kidding."

Joey turned his eyes to her, "Do you feel strange? You wake up with any weird injuries?"

Tea shook her head, "Nope. Just a little discombobulated, but after last night, what can I expect?"

"What did we do last night?" Joey inquired. "Duke an' I were trying to figure that one out."

Tea looked at him incredulously, "You forgot already? Why, we-" she stopped. "We…we…." She looked at the ground as if trying to figure it out.

"See! You can't remember either!"

"What can't Tea remember? Do we have a test or something? Aw man, if Tea doesn't know, we're all doomed!" Tristan hobbled over.

"What's wrong with you now?" Tea crossed her arms, "What is with you three?"

"It's nothing…just a pulled leg muscle…and a stretched back muscle, but that's all," Tristan stated.

"You all sound like you were running marathons last night instead of…wherever we were," Tea commented. "Was Ren alright?" she turned back to Joey.

"Yeah. I mean, she remarked that her jaw hurt a bit, but it's probably just wisdom teeth or somethin'-"

"Joey…she's fourteen. That's really young for wisdom teeth. It's not…unheard of…but it's still really young for it to be bothering her."

"An' the dentist nev'a mentioned them. Hmm…could just be something else. I dunno," he shrugged, wincing. "Say," he looked around, "where are Yuge and Bakura?"

"Ah, Mr. Muto called me. He said Yugi's in bed with something that looks like pneumonia."

"That's terrible!" Tea gasped, "I hope he gets better soon!"

"Yeah…Bakura has it too I think," Tristan added. "I think Mr. Muto said that. Bakura must have called Yugi to ask him to bring his homework at the end of the day, but Yuge was sick too. I dunno. I was half asleep when I got the call."

"I wonder how Mai is doing," Tea stated. "She was with us too…."

"But man," Tristan sat down beside Duke, "I had the freakiest dream. We were on our way back from the…place, wherever that was, and we got sidetracked at this creepy old house-"

"A mansion," Tea breathed.

Tristan frowned, "Yeah…how'd you know?"

"It was moneybag's," Joey screwed up his eyebrows, watching Kaiba himself step out from his limo in front of the school.

"Yeah…it was. He and Mokuba were there. Kaiba told us to get off the property."

"Then I went inside," Duke suddenly said. They all turned to look at him. His eyes were wide as he looked at each one present. "Do you think…we all….had the same dream then?"

"But that's unheard of," Tea said.

Joey turned around and cupped his hands over his mouth, "'Eh, Kaiba! Get over 'ere!" Seto stopped and glared lightly at the blonde boy. Figuring he could spare the mutt a little peace of mind, he stepped over for a moment.

"What do you want?" he inquired.

Tea was about to beat around the bush and ask him what was on all their minds as casually as possible, but Joey took the shortcut and blurted it out right quick, "'Ey, you didn't happen ta have a weird dream that we were all at that ol' Kaiba Mansion, did ya?"

Seto froze, his eyes widening. "What did you say?"

"I take that as a yes," Tristan affirmed. "Did you end up dying as well?"

Seto blinked. How could they know? They couldn't all have had the same dream…it's not possible!

Then…did it all really happen? But…it makes no sense. We're all here, in one piece. And I have no recollection of going back home afterwards. Just…waking up in bed.

"I'm not sure," Seto replied honestly. He last remembered running to the gate and holding out the green stone up to a bunch of oncoming ghosts. Then he woke up.

"You know…I don't think he did," Tea put a finger to her chin, "There was a crowd of ghosts attacking him – I was right behind the leader, pretty much being dragged around. And he held up a ring, and everything went white. That's when I woke up."

Joey scratched his head, "That happened? I don't really rememb'a that…. I kinda quit dreamin' after I ran into a glass wall. I mean…I remember being sorta half awake, half asleep afterwards, but that's about it."

"Same here," Duke added. "My dream was really short though. It sounds like you all had a much longer experience than I did."

"But…who was that leader guy?" Tristan leaned against the tree.

Tea bit her lip, "…No…ah….No…Noa. …That was it. Noa-"

"Mr. Kaiba!" a teacher ran down the steps trying to reach the student. "Mr. Kaiba, can I please see you in my office? I have something to discuss with you." Seto scowled and went along with the instructor.

Joey turned back to Tea, "Noa what? Were you about to say something?"

"No. …I forgot."

Serenity reached Domino Middle School. She rubbed her jaw. Man, did it hurt! Hopefully she had just slept on her head in a strange position or something. She hoped it was nothing the dentist needed to fix.

"Hey, Serenity!" Mokuba jumped down from the brick wall lining the front of the school yard, "How are you?"

Serenity looked up and smiled, "Fine, fine. Just a bit sore in the mouth. You?"

Mokuba looked at her quizzically, "You too? That's weird."

Serenity blinked, "You mean…your mouth hurts as well?"

"Yeah…go figure," Mokuba rubbed the back of his head. Serenity watched him. A sudden vision shot through her mind.

Mokuba popping out of the bushes.

Mokuba tackling her to the ground.

Mokuba pressing his mouth against hers.

Serenity blushed immediately, looking away. Why had that crossed her mind? Sure, she had dreamed that little segment last night –and a strange overall dream it had been- but she should not dwell on it. Why had she even dreamed about him…like that anyway?

Mokuba looked at her. She was trying to avoid eye contact. Why? He noticed a bit of red on her cheeks. She was blushing? But why?

"Ren? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah!" she turned back to him, trying to rid herself of the pink. "Just fine! Come on…we should get going-"

Mokuba stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Serenity, seriously: what's wrong?"

Serenity paused for a moment. "You'd…think I was crazy if I told you."

"Try me."

"I'd…rather not." Her blush deepened. Okay, so she had interpreted those words just a little differently from how Mokuba had intended them to sound.

"Serenity-" he stopped as she turned around and suddenly kissed him. He blinked slowly, but soon relaxed into the kiss.

Around the schoolyard, students began to witness what was going on. Some even started catcalling and cheering them on.

Mokuba moved his hands up to her jaw and forced the two further into the kiss.

A sudden stinging of pain on his shoulder snapped them out of their act.

"Cleaning the boards and desks after school for the two of you!" their homeroom teacher put her hands on her hips, "PDA is not allowed on school grounds, and I will not tolerate it! And you!" she turned to the rest of the school body, "All of you should be ashamed…."

She blathered on and on about meaningless school rules that no one followed, but the young Kaiba and small Wheeler did not pay attention. They hooked hands and had all that they needed. All troubles flowed away.

A boy sat in the branches of a tree in the schoolyard. He smirked as he saw them. The wind blew and rustled the leaves, blowing them across his view. When the breeze died, the boy had disappeared.

"I'll meet you guys at the front of the yard. I just have to run to my locker really quickly," Tea told the guys and took off for the opposite end of the hallway from which they set off. She ran to her locker, and upon reaching it began to undo the lock.

Seto was putting his things away at his locker, just a couple away from hers. Tea opened her door and was about to shove some extra books in when she noticed a white envelope sitting atop her pile of books.

"How did that get in there?" she whispered, taking out the envelope and pushing her books in. She shut the door and turned the envelope over in her hands. There was no name on it. Only hers.

Seto glanced out of the corner of his eye towards her. "Secret admirer, Gardner?" he inquired, smirking.

Tea frowned up at him, "Don't be silly. No one would ever like me like that." She began to open the envelope messily. Seto rolled his eyes and stared into his locker blankly. He wasn't as sure about that as he had been a while ago….

Tea picked up her backpack and shouldered it while slipping out a crisp sheet of white paper from inside its hold. She began reading. Seto closed his locker and made to go when her gasp stopped him. He turned around to find her gaping at the letter.

"No way…it can't be," she whispered. She looked up at him, her expression full of shock. What was she looking at him for? He hadn't given her the stupid thing.

"K-Kaiba…read at least the last line of that…."

Seto looked at her suspiciously and took the note from her. He unfolded it and began to read:

Dearest Tea,

I just wish for you to know that I shall never forget one such as yourself. You brought a…feeling to me which I have not felt these many years. It has…changed me, I believe. Seeing your determination and your love has been a large help for my own transformation. I have a long way to go yet, but after seeing you and your friends brave countless dangers, I am inspired.

You may not notice me, but I will always be…hanging around. I cannot leave, and yet I must. I will never be able to come into society. Just know that I will never forget you.

And please…give Seto and Mokuba my apologies

Yours truly,
Noa Kaiba

Seto looked up, amazed, only to find Tea looking to the side of them. He followed her gaze and saw a lone figure in the shadows of the hall that branched off from this one.

The boy looked up. His sea-green hair uncovered his eyes. He gave a small smile and disappeared into the darkness.

As if he had been only a dream.

Finished: 7:29 PM, March 28, 2006

….And there you have it folks. That is the end of Haunted Mansion. I hope you enjoyed it! And I hope you liked the ending well enough. Haha, see? I can't kill people and keep them dead. It's not quite my way. I'm not as evil as you thought, am I? Well then, I hope this story wasn't a complete waste of your time. I really hope you liked it! I appreciate all those who have stuck with it and who read it from beginning to end! Thanks again so much: you don't know how much I appreciate it! I was surprised how popular this story was: I'm really happy with its success (for a horror story!). Well, if you could lave one last REVIEW, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again! See you later!