Ah! LOOKIT THE LENGTH! Oo Yup, tis long, but I hope you guys'll like it! I won't respond this chappy 'cause that'll just make it even longer. Thankies very much for the reviews everyone! You guys rule! Enjoy Chapter 7!

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

"This is talking"
"These are thoughts"

Chapter Seven - A Sprit's Secret

Yugi threw himself back on the scorching sand and gulped in the clean fresh around him, trying to recover from having to climb most of his way out of the trap with a rope alone. He could feel the rays of hot sun on his face, but he preferred it much more then the damp and stuffy feeling of the room he had just climbed out of. He felt something light tap off his face and reached a hand up subconsciously to tap the ball of light that was bouncing off him worriedly. "I'm ok..." he muttered, letting his hand drop down on the sand again.

Bakura was the last out of tomb-like room, Ryoura having climbed out before Yugi, pulling himself out and refusing Joe's outstretched hand. He insisted that he didn't need their help and simply sat himself at the end of the long drop and tried to catch his breath.

"Well... that was refreshing," Ryoura sighed, taking the bottle of water Ilia offered him and downing a large amount. He sighed and handed it back so she could offer it to Yugi, who gladly took it, though he didn't seem pleased to have to sit up. "Nothing like a thirty foot rope-climb to relieve stress!" he exclaimed in what the others assumed was an attempt at a husky voice.

"Yugi, I thought you said this was the entrance," Bakura said, looking over at Yugi. His words caused the rest of the group to look at the Puzzle Spirit, who had lied back down on the ground.

"It was..." Yugi muttered, placing the back of his hand on his forehead to help shield his closed eyes from the sun. "Just a false one..."

"I know that," Bakura grumbled, pulling his legs away from the edge of the drop and pushing himself to his feet, "but don't you think it was a little reckless to destroy the barrier without considering what would happen?"

"Your the tomb-robber, you should have known..." Yugi hissed in a whispered, angry voice. His tone was very different from that in his previous sentence, but the strangest thing was the ball of light seemed to jump at his words and bounced hard against his head, causing Yugi to yelp in pain.

"Oh, so it's my fault?" Bakura growled, hands clenching into fists and gritting his teeth. He didn't appreciate getting blamed for Yugi's mistakes.

Yugi rubbed his head and looked at Bakura worriedly. "I didn't mean to say that."

"You didn't-!"

"Bakura!" Ryoura yelled, grabbing the whole groups attention. He was standing now, stance similar to Bakura's as he stared hard at his yami. "He didn't mean it..." he said quietly, glancing in Yugi's direction. "Just drop it."

"And what has gotton into you?" Bakura yelled, glaring at Ryoura. "Your personality's turned as fickle as Yugi's lately! Ever since you started going on about that shadow!"

Ryoura's mouth shut tight and his gaze stayed locked in Bakura's, though by the way his posture tensed it was clear Bakura's words had hit him hard somehow.

"Shadow?" Yugi looked from Bakura to Ryoura, both of which seemed to have frozen the moment the words had left Bakura's mouth. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously and stood up. "What shadow?"

"Ryoura-" Bakura began, but before he could continue Ryoura interjected again.

"Bakura don't," Ryoura whispered, and the entire group was surprised to hear a quiver in his voice. That along with his deep breathing told them he was afraid of something.

"Ryoura, what's going on?" Joe asked curiously as he walked over to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ryoura?" The teen's gaze remained locked with his yami's, even when Joe called him again. "What's wrong buddy, what's going on?" he asked, shaking him.

Ryoura's gaze dropped to the floor and he took a deep breath, looking up at Joe. "Nothing..." he muttered, then looked back at Bakura. "It doesn't make a difference now... Tell them..." he turned on his heel and began walking away from the group towards his horse, which had luckily stayed in the area, only running a short distance away.

"What?" Bakura whispered to himself, watching Ryoura walk away. He's eyes dropped to the ring then closed and, with a slight use of magic, he opened the link between himself and Ryoura. It was only for a moment before his lighter half realised what he was doing and, for the first time ever, forced Bakura away from his emotions and threw a magical barrier around himself, shielding his mind and blocking out all connections with his darker half.

"Bakura?"

His eyes snapped open and he looked over at Yugi, whose expression had turned serious after realising that what Bakura was saying with important. Bakura took one more look at his lighter half and sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"What shadow are you talking about?" Yugi asked again.

"Alright..." Bakura muttered, sitting himself down on the sand again and folding his legs. "A few days ago..."


"So... you think one of these 'lost souls' is after Yugi?" Ilia asked, hugging her knees to her chest. The group had settled a few feet away from the site the temple was set in, Steve and Joe having been sent to work to set up a number of tents that they had brought with them, though they were still listening in on the conversation. Ryoura was still with the horses, trying to keep them all together so they wouldn't run away.

"Well, Ryoura said he only sees it near Yugi, so yes," Bakura nodded. He felt something hit him and growled, swatting it away. "Yugi, could you please control this thing?" he asked through gritted teeth, glaring at the ball of light the had been bouncing off him for the past number of minutes.

"I can't control it, Bakura..." Yugi said, though he was only paying slight attention. What Bakura had told him had answered some of the questions that had been plaguing him the past few months; why was he hearing voices and why he had the constant feeling of being followed, but it didn't explain why he was now carrying a knife in the inside pocket of his jacket, or why he kept saying and doing things without thinking. Unfortunately, he knew that they were somehow all connected. "How powerful did you say they were?"

"Not very," Bakura started, "As you've seen yourself they can create illusions, and they can manipulate your dreams to the point of driving someone insane, but that doesn't seem to be this one's intent. Have you been having nightmares?"

"Well..." Yugi looked at the floor thoughtfully and tapped his foot lightly on the ground, a nervous habit he seemed to have gained from Yujhi. "No... No, I haven't. But.. I have been feeling a little off lately. Is it..." he looked up at Bakura, frowning. "Is it possible for them to manipulate people themselves?"

Bakura looked at Yugi quizzically, "I... don't know what you mean."

"Like, actions," Yugi said, looking over at the horses and catching sight of Bakura's, as well as it's broken reins. "Can they make you do or say things?"

"That would be impossible unless they had some sort of direct link with you, such as through an item," Bakura assured him, glancing sideways as Ryoura made his way over to Joe and Steve, laughing at them and offering help. "And the chances of that are slim to none. I don't think you need to worry about that."

"Direct link?" Yugi thought, his hand shooting straight to his Millennium Puzzle. He had believed something was wrong with his Puzzle since he returned from his memories to find Yujhi gone, and it had acted on it's own after Yujhi's soul had gone. He was hoping to leave that mystery until after he'd saved his lighter half, but the problem seemed much to dangerous to him now to just leave it alone. "Then again, how would anything connect itself to my Puzzle? Did it slip in while Yujhi was at the Shadow Realm? That seems the only explanation... but even if it did, why would it be trying to kill me? Does it want Yujhi's body to use like a host? Or is it an old enemy..."

"Yugi, are you ok?" Ilia asked, shaking him slightly. Yugi just shook his head and kept his eyes on the floor. Frowning she looked at Bakura, who had now folded his arms and had his head lowered, a frustrated expression on his face and eyes closed. "Should I tell them what I saw?" she thought to herself, remembering when she saw Yugi cut the reins on one of the horses.

"Dammit!" Bakura thought angrily, opening his eyes and glaring in Ryoura's direction. The youngest teen had completely blocked him out of his mind, and no matter how much Bakura tried to slip himself through the barrier, he couldn't read his hikari's emotions in the slightest. Figuring that this method wasn't working, he would have to be more forward.

Getting to his feet he walked quickly over towards the group of teens that had just finished setting up camp for the night, grabbed Ryoura by the forearm and dragged him away mid-conversation with his friends.

"B-Bakura what're you doing?" Ryoura asked as he stumbled after his yami, tripping over his own feet for a moment before following him.

Bakura didn't answer, he just strode away from the group until they were out of earshot and spun around to face his lighter half, letting go of him and folding her arms. He looked at Ryoura with a stern glare and said, "Tell me what's going on."

Ryoura's eyes grew wide and he shook his head forcefully at Bakura's words. "No, that'll only make it worse."

"Make what worse?" Bakura asked, keeping his voice the same monotone voice, though he was highly confused. When Ryoura continued to stare at the floor Bakura shook his head. "Ryoura, we can't help you if we don't know what's going on. And if you know any more about this lost soul, you should tell us. It may help all of us."

Ryoura took a deep breath and looked up at Bakura, as if considering his words, and bit his lip. "I guess... the situation couldn't really get worse..." as he spoke, the ball of white light that had been following Yugi floated behind him and Ryoura's body tensed slightly before he looked back. He stared at the orb for a moment then turned back at Bakura. "Um... The... The lost soul, it didn't know I could see it..."

"It didn't know?" Bakura asked, his stern front dropping at letting a curious tone edge into his voice.

"Ya. I mean, it's not like I can see it all the time, just sometimes..." Ryoura folded his arms and looked at the floor as he shuffled from one foot to the other. "But I heard what you said about it not being able to control Yugi, but this one can speak through him."

"Speak through him?" Bakura repeated, mentally kicking himself for his constant repetitions.

"When Yugi said that you should have known about the trap, his voice changed, right? That's because the spirit was talking through him. It was commenting through Yugi, I saw it," he looked up at Bakura, worry obvious in his expression, "It just sort of appeared behind Yugi for a second and mouthed the words he was saying... I think that's why Yugi's attitude keeps changing, that spirit keeps talking through him and too him, so he's getting confused."

"Ryoura this is very serious..." Bakura muttered, looking over Ryoura's shoulder at Yugi. "If this spirit can talk to and from Yugi it could slowly manipulate his mind. It could turn him against us, not to mention it must be a very powerful soul to be able to do so."

"Can it make him do anything? Could it control his body?" Ryoura asked, looking back at Yugi too.

"No," Bakura answered flatly. "I've already told Yugi that it would need a direct link with him, and there's none I can think of."

"Are you sure...?"

"Again, Ryoura, is there something you know you're not telling us?" Bakura asked again. He was becoming increasingly worried about Ryoura's attitude; he seemed to be hiding far too much. For a moment he thought Ryoura was thinking of saying something, but he simply shook his head. "Alright then." Bakura sighed. "I don't believe him for a second, but he's not going to tell me any more then he already has right now."

"I'm... going to check on the horses..." Ryoura muttered and walked away quickly, followed by the little ball of light, which floated through the air calmly behind him instead of bouncing like it usually did.

When he reached the group of horses, which hadn't moved since he'd left them earlier, he sighed and leaned his back against his own, then looked at the ball of light. He floated motionlessly in front of him as he stared at it for a minute, then shook his head and let his gaze drop to the floor. The light floated in front of him and tapped against his forehead lightly, making him look up.

"Who are you exactly?" he asked the ball, which simply bounced and floated a short distance away. "And why can't I tell the others? And why can't they see or hear you like I can?" The orb emitted a strange noise and Ryoura narrowed his eyes. "A gift? More like a curse! I'd prefer to be clueless then to have to keep your secret from my friends." The ball of light spun around and darted right in front of his face and Ryoura threw his hands up in front of his face. "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell them!"

The orb seemed to relax as it let itself drift down slightly before it moved away again. Ryoura sighed and looked up at the slowly darkening sky as the sun began to set. To anyone watching, it looked like Ryoura was standing with a mute, glowing orb as he stared at the sky.

But to Ryoura, he was standing with a spirit that had practically begged him to secrecy. He could see and hear it while others merely saw a bouncing ball of light, and because he immediately trusted the spirit that had saved their lives, he'd agreed to silence, listening when it told him not to tell Bakura anything about it's existence. He could feel in his heart he could trust the spirit.

But as he watched the stars appear in the dark night, Ryoura heard something from the voice of the spirit that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Raise your guard Ryoura, and stay around Bakura at all times. I'm afraid you may be in danger..."


"Who knew your girlfriend could be useful for something after all, Steve," Joe grinned as he gulped down the last of the soup Ilia had prepared for the group.

"Ok, that's it, you can cook for yourself next time," Ilia huffed, grabbing the bowl from his hands and putting hit with her own, which was also empty.

"Aww, come on Ilia..." Joe whined, clasping his hands together as if begging. "I didn't mean it, it was a joke. Forgive me?"

"Not likely!"

"Hey... where the rest of 'em?" Joe asked, looking around. The rest of the group seemed to have disappeared, leaving nothing but a few empty bowls. "I was wonderin' why Super-Steve didn't jump to your aid like he always does."

"They're over there. Yugi left early to try and find a way into the temple, but you were to busy stuffing your face to notice," Ilia answered, collecting the empty bowls. Stacking them together see pointed off one direction while looking at her washing-up. "They're over there, if you're wondering. The rest went to see if they could help. But you can't go," she said, standing up and grabbing Joe's jacket as he tried to walk away, "because you're going to help me clean up."

"What? Aww, but I don' wanna..." Joe moaned, folding his arms in a childish pout.

Ilia smirked. "Tough. Not get to work!"

"No fair... you're just going to make me do all the work anyway!"

Ilia looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. "Ya, probably."

Steve shuffled through his deck until he came across the cards Yugi, Ryoura and Bakura were looking for. Taking all three Blue Eyes White Dragons out of his deck he handed them over to each person in turn, though he felt very reluctant to do so. They were the only three Blue Eyes in existence, as it had practically been made law that no more then the original four were to ever be printed, so naturally he didn't like handing them over to anyone, not even his friends.

Yugi took the card from Steve and looked at it momentarily before turning around. Before him stood a number of monsters summoned by himself and the Bakura's, including his ever-loyal Silver Fang, Ryoura's favourite monster Uraby and Bakura's Man Eater Bug. They had all been helping to dig through the sand to find the entrance to the temple, but the shifting sands simply slid back into place most of the time, slowing their progress.

It was Steve who had mentioned using bigger monsters, and Yugi had quickly remembered that Steve possessed three Blue Eyes White Dragons, which, after a short time of thinking, Yugi figured would be the best choice for the job. He would have summoned all three himself, but Bakura had insisted that his body had not yet regenerated enough magic to replace that which he had lost saving them from the fall and then scaring away the lost souls inside the trap. So it was decided they would each summon a dragon to avoid endangering anyone's life with a magical overuse.

Ryoura lined himself up next to Yugi and Bakura stepped up beside him. He hadn't spoken very much since the warning he'd been given from the spirit, and had ignored Bakura when he asked him about it. He also kept the barrier un between the two, blocking the Ring spirit's access to his thoughts and emotions. When Yugi and Bakura lifted the cards high above their heads he did likewise, and in unison the three Item users called. "Blue Eye's White Dragon, I summon you!"

An explosion of light erupted from all three cards and flew upwards, taking on the form of three, huge dragons before fading away, leaving the three real Blue Eye's hovering the the air above them. The dragons exchanged glances and roared a greeting to each other as they allowed themselves to float to the ground, landing before their three current masters.

After a quick order from all three, the dragons turned around and let a roar escape them once again, then began flapping their wings powerfully. The wind was thrown forwards in gusts and struck the sand, blowing it out of the way in giant amounts. With each flap a large weight of sand was blown away from the desired area.

Yugi stood, silently watching the dragon's work, with his eyes locked on the floor. After a few minutes Yugi's eyes grew wide and he pointed down at pointed golden plate that appeared in the sand. A few more minutes and the item was revealed as an Obelisk, with the traditional gold-plated tip 1. There were two such items protruding from the sand, and once enough sand was blown away, they could see the obelisks sat on a stone path, leading to a large, rectangular archway which was undoubtedly the entrance to the temple.

By the time enough sand was removed to reveal the entrance, front path and half of the temple itself, the dragons had become exhausted, returning to their cards without consulting their masters. Yugi's vision had been obscured more and more as the work proceeded, the amount of sand bellowing through the air increasing, but now that he had a clear view of the temple he couldn't help but stare as the moon's light lit up the temple's walls.

It stood about forty feet high, with intricately chiselled sculptures of Duel monsters along what would have been a flat, plan wall. A detailed sculpture of Slifer the Sky Dragon curled it's way up one side of the entrance, Obelisk the Tormentor on the other with the Winged Dragon of Ra seated on the top of the entrance, it's head reaching high above the roof of the temple, only slightly lower then the obelisks. Yugi was amazed it stood in such perfect condition, though he assumed it was protected by magic.

Bakura seemed less impressed then Yugi, eying the building with a dull gaze. He had seen the temple a few times before, back in his real time, when he set up camp a mile or so away for up to two weeks as he debated whether or not to try and steal from the temple. In the end he decided the temple had no direct connection to the Pharaoh, and though the raging monsters that he could release from moving a single object from the temple would certainly cause problems for the Pharaoh, he knew he had no guarantee that he would be safe from them, either.

Once Yugi had recovered from his awe-struck state, he shook his head and focussed once again on his task. Somewhere within this temple was the key to saving Yujhi from the Shadow Realm. Fuelled by that thought alone his mind threw his body forward as he ran down the hill, but no sooner was he a few feet away did the ball of light dart beside his face and begin bouncing after him madly. When he didn't slow to it's actions he flew right in front of his face and he ran into it.

Yugi felt like he'd been punched in the face. The orb seemed to have locked itself in place and when Yugi ran into it the force knocked him backwards. Sitting on the sandy ground now he pressed both hands over his face, trying hard to rid himself of some pain by applying pressure to the side of his face that had been injured. The orb hovered sadly in front of him, making concerned noises as it tried to apologise.

"Yugi are you ok?" Ryoura asked as he knelt by Yugi's side, placing a hand on the others shoulder. Bakura stood behind him, looking at the orb and then at Yugi. When Yugi nodded, though it was clear he was in pain, Ryoura sighed. "You know he's right, you shouldn't go running into that temple without thinking. Plus it's dark! Do you ever watch scary movies? Everyone knows all the bad stuff happens in the dark."

Yugi took his hand away from his face and looked at Ryoura sadly. "But... Yujhi..."

"I know..." Ryoura frowned also, but before he could say anymore Bakura spoke.

"Yugi, if something happens to you on the way in, you'll never be able to save him." Bakura stated, folding his arms and closed his eyes. "It would be best to even up the odds by waiting until morning, when your well rested and your magic has had time to replenish itself."

Ryoura watched as Yugi looked from Bakura back to the temple with a sort of longing. It hurt Ryoura to see anyone look so desperate and so sad. Yugi missed his lighter half, he'd blamed himself for the loss of the boy all those months ago, and now he was so close to saving him it must be horrible to be told to wait. But Yugi took a deep breath and released it shakily, then nodded.

"Ok, come on..." Ryoura got to his feet and help Yugi up, who seemed to lose all energy and spirit as they made their way back to the camp. But, dull as he seemed, Ryoura didn't need magic to sense how worked up he must have been inside. When they reached the camp he asked Ilia if she could do anything for him, as it would be impossible for him to sleep in the state he was in.

"Well..." Ilia muttered thoughtfully, "I could use a spell I learned when I was younger. It helps clear the mind and relax the body."

"Great, thanks," Ryoura smiled making his way back to the campfire. Everyone except himself and Ilia had retired to their tents for the night, each of the group having their own, and the camp was growing quiet. Throwing some sand over the fire to put it out, Ryoura sighed. "I could go for a spell like that about now..."

Ever since he had been warned that he might be in danger, he had tried to stay near Bakura as much as possible, as the spirit had instructed, but that was proving more of a difficult task then he first thought. Bakura had begun to notice Ryoura's odd behaviour, so Ryoura had to keep his distance to avoid rising suspicion, meaning he couldn't stay near his yami without concerning him.

He eventually made his way to his tent and lay down to sleep, but spent the next hour or two just listening to the sounds around him, which was really no more then the odd shuffle of someone turning in their sleep after Ilia had used her magic to help Yugi sleep. As the minutes crept by Ryoura's eyes became tired, and though he was worried about the lost soul, fatigue from the days activities overcame fear, and his mind drifted asleep.

Again, the dream that had been haunting his mind every few nights came back. Once again he felt like he was drowning, that eerie voice taunted him, Bakura collapsed, blood-covered and Yugi would slay invisible enemies. And then that cry of pain. Why was that voice to familiar?

It was at this point of the dream that Ryoura would usually jerk awake, but for once it wasn't the dream that awoke him, it was the loss of oxygen.

His gaze met a pair of eyes of a blood-lust red when his eyes shot open, his voice lost to fear as he felt the person's hand press harder over his mouth. He tried to move his arms to try and push the person away, but a searing pain shot through his wrists. He couldn't see, but he knew his wrists were bound by magic. Breaths quickening from fear, he froze as the voice chuckled.

"Shh... don't be afraid... your death shall be much slower then the others..."

Ryoura gasped as a dagger's point pressed against the side of his face right beside his eye, the person twisting it playfully and letting it pierce his skin slightly. The persons eyes narrowed in obvious enjoyment.

"Poor, poor Ryoura..." the figure taunted, moving the dagger away from Ryoura's face. As he did, he muttered a short spell under his breath and the blade glowed an eerie red. The figure held the dagger to his face and grinned, the red light casting sinister shadows over his features. "You should not have told anyone you could see me... I may not have decided on making you suffer this much..."

Ryoura's eyes grew wide as the light hit the persons face. "Yugi!"

The spirit within Yugi's body smirked and slashed and red blade down, slicing through Ryoura's flesh and releasing a tortured scream from the teens mouth.


To Be Continued
1 An Obelisk is a tall, four-sided pillar with a pyramid-like top. The top is plated with gold, to 'catch the first rays of light' in the day.

AHAHAHAHA! I'm so frickin EVIL! XD
Poor Ryoura! -glomp- Why do I make all the bad stuff happen to you and Yugi...
Ryoura: 'Cause we get the most pity...
Aww... poor thing -huggle-
Can you tell I've been reading Eldest? -sweatdrops- My writing seems to reflect off the book I'm reading at the moment, that's why theirs a little more detail. Hope you guys don't mind that.
Ok, I hope you guys enjoy that chappy! It took me frickin' long enough, didn't it? Now, unless I change my mind (which I probably will) the next chappy will by fairly violent. So look forward to that! (in the next year -sweatdrop-)
Please review, and slán slán for now!
Bay Bay!
Bayleef