Bloody Hearts Chapter 4: Lifeline, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Zypher: Thank you all for reviewing to the last chapter. Here's chapter 4 to Bloody Hearts.

Bloody Hearts

Chapter 4

The next day, Keara woke up early to see if she could find where Yami was located. She knew she had to help in some way before the prophecy begins. "But how will I find him? At the most, he won't come out unless Yugi was alone or if he's hunting." Keara mused as she took some spell books in hand and walked over to the table. She sat down and started to look through the books until she found a way to create a relic to let Yami not be in immense pain when he comes near Yugi.

She created the relic and placed three symbols on each of the triangles. The eye of Horus on one, the yin-yang symbol on another and the Celtic cross on the last. "There, now in order for him to help out Yugi when it comes to be that time, I need to find him in order to give him power equal to Yugi's." she murmured to herself as she got up, placing the tri-force(1) relic in her pocket and went out, hoping that she will be able to find said vampire.

Never would she thought to be assisting the enemy as she was now but this was indeed a life or death situation for what was sure to be coming.

Back at their small home, Yami was still awake, thinking about Yugi. 'I want to know so much more about him but I can barely get near him.' he thought and sighed as he got up. He went to Aqua's room and saw he wasn't in there. 'He must've gone out hunting.' he thought once more before leaving out as well, needing to clear his mind and hopefully find Diamond somewhere.

Aqua struggled a bit as he flew through the air, looking for a suitable meal for the day. He found a man walking by and quickly dove for him, dragging him into an alley and quickly sucked his blood. Once he was done, he disposed the body before leaving once more. The dragon vampire landed on a roof and sighed. "These wounds will take forever to heal. With this condition, I need to keep myself hidden more often." he murmured quietly as he got up and flew off once more, heading to the park.

Keara was already there, looking through more of her spell books for a spell that will help Yami. She looked up when she heard someone landing near her and turned to see Aqua walking in her direction. Already knowing he was a vampire, she quickly picked up her things and hid behind a tree to watch what he was going to do. 'Although I think he won't do much looking the way he does. He's practically on death's door.' she thought as she watched him walk by. "Maybe Yami can find a cure for these wounds, they starting to become a huge burden on me." Aqua commented as he walked by catching Keara's attention.

'He knows Yami. Maybe he can help me. Of course, I need to show him I won't slay him if he finds out I'm a vampire hunter.' Keara thought as she came out from behind the tree and came up to him. "Hey, wait up! I need to speak with you." she called as he turned to her and, already sensing she was a hunter, was about to fly off. "Wait, don't leave just yet. I'm not going to slay you. I just need to speak with you." she explained and he nodded. "Alright, what is it you want?" he questioned. "I need to ask, do you know a vampire named Yami?" Keara questioned.

"Yeah, I live with him. Why do you want to know?" he asked. "Will you take me back to your home? I need to speak with him about the prophecy. He has fallen in love with one of my friends who is in my circle. Because of the prophecy, I need to give him extra powers so he can come near him. His current aura doesn't match so they can't be near each other." she explained and he nodded. The mentions of the old prophecy were enough to convince she was trustworthy enough to guide. "Alright, follow me. You may have to wait though since he might be out around this time." Aqua said as he walked off, Keara following behind him.

Yugi and the others woke up before Anzu did and used this time to sneak out of the house without her knowing. "So, what are we going to do today?" Jou asked. "I would like to take a walk through the park if that's alright." Yugi replied. "Of course it's alright. We might just go ahead and get some breakfast before we split up to do our own thing until tonight if Anzu makes us go on another hunt for Yami." Nanaki said. He smiled and nodded as he left the group as they went to go to a nearby cafe.

When he got to the park, he sat down on one of the benches and sighed, glad to have this time of peace. What he didn't realize was that Yami was making his way towards him. Said vampire was deep in thought until he sensed a strong light aura and looked up to see Yugi there. 'There he is but I know I still can't get near him without falling unconscious from the power of his aura.' he thought as he watches the boy from afar. Yugi looked up when he felt Yami's aura and turned to see him there. "Oh, it's you. What brings you out here so early?"

"Nothing much, really. Just came to clear my thought and hoped to find your friend. I wanted to speak with her." Yami replied. "Why do you need to speak with Diamond?" Yugi asked as he got up and walked over to him but stopped when he noticed Yami backing up.

'That's right. He can't come near me with my aura too strong compared to his.' he remembered. "She helped me before and told me if I needed help, I should look for her." he spoke. "Oh, well, she should still be in the cafe but it's best to wait until she leaves the group first so my friends won't suspect something." The vampire nodded as he walked off. "Wait, where are you going?" Yugi called, not wanting the vampire to leave just yet. "I'm going to head back home for now. Maybe we can see each other again one day."

"Well, do you think we could meet up later? I really want to learn more about you." Yami thought about Yugi's inquiry before nodding. "Sure, I guess we can. How about midnight so at least your leader won't notice you're gone." he suggested and Yugi nodded. "Alright, we'll meet back here in the park." Yugi said happily which made Yami smile.

"Alright, see you then." he said as he left the park. Yugi smiled and sat back down on the bench. 'Maybe soon, I can truly tell him how I feel. After hearing the legend and knowing that Yami has those feelings like the vampire in the legend, I know that soon we will be together and save the world, even if we do need to sacrifice our lives to do so.' he thought as he stayed in the park a while longer before getting up heading out of the park.

Keara stayed in Yami and Aqua's home as he left once more. She placed her books on the coffee table and sat down, waiting for Yami. When she heard the door open, she got up as Yami came in. "What are you doing here?" he asked, ready to fight if that ended up being the reason for her appearance. "I came here to talk with you about the prophecy. As we all know now, you love Yugi but you can't get near him because of your aura level. I can help you if you trust me." Keara explained. The vampire didn't give it much thought as he wanted to be with Yugi without any problems and nodded. "I can trust you if you are true to your word and will help me be able to walk alongside Yugi."

"Of course, come with me and I can help strengthen your aura." Keara said and headed back outside with Yami following behind her. She stopped him and placed a hand on his forehead, bringing him down with her as she placed her other hand on the ground. With a quick chant, she summoned forth all the negative energy that dwells beneath the earth's surface and converted it into dark power. He felt the increase in his aura and smiled softly.

When she felt that Yami's aura was on par Yugi's, she removed her hand from the ground and his forehead and got up. "There, not only are you stronger, you also gained the powers of a dark necromantic wizard and mage. Now, let me see your sword." she said and he had his sword materialize in his hand before handing it to her.

She chanted softly as she slid fingers along the flat of the blade, making runes of the dark elven race appear on his sword. They glowed softly before disappearing. "I will do the same for Yugi and once the runes are done, they will be combined so that you or Yugi won't be harmed by either weapon, especially if they were to be used against you or him." she explained and he nodded. They headed back inside and she pulled out the relic from her pocket. "And take this as well. This will help you if you and Yugi encounter trouble when you are needed to take care of the prophecy." she added as he took the relic.

"I know there should be no reason to ask but why are you helping me and what is your name?" Yami inquired as he sat back down. She placed a hand against his back and chanted healing spells to heal the wounds made by the holy items until all was healed and blood was restored. "I'm Keara and I came to help you because I thought you have come to defeat us when you came to the club last night. But after you left, Diamond explained to us your true intentions for coming. I want you to forgive me for thinking otherwise." Keara explained as she summoned all her dark necromantic powers to create an unlimited supply of the healthiest blood imaginable.

The blood itself is a combination of the healthiest, most well-kept humans to the finest of witch and elven blood of old combined to create a near representation of a delicate wine. With it, the blood shall give him and Aqua the strength of the forgotten powers of old combined with the modern powers of the new. "I want to help you both as I don't want to see either of you dying after your role has been done to seal the evil back where it belongs." she continued as she took the blood and set it in the refrigerator. He nodded and sighed.

"I thank you for helping me out. Maybe I can help you and your friends as well by heading back to the castle and seeing what our king is up to. More or less he will be the one to conduct the ritual when he finds the Pyramid of Light. I have seen scrolls that talked about the item and how it, if used correctly, could be the end of the world as we speak. While I'm there, I'll see if I can find them." Yami suggested and she nodded. "Alright. I best be going now so I'll see you whenever I do." she said as she left out.

Yami watched her leave before looking out the window to see it was getting late. 'Hopefully Aqua makes it back before any hunters come out.' he thought as he got up and went to get a little rest before he goes to visit Yugi and make his journey to the Dark Castle after Yugi leaves.

In said castle, Anubis was sending out every available vampire to search for the Pyramid of Light. "Once I find the pyramid, I will first unlock its powers and use it to destroy Yami. He may or may not know that he is the only vampire that can stop me if he finds the Prince of Light. I'm not going to let him succeed with ruining my plans so I will be sure he is eliminated before he can rise to power." Anubis murmured. A low-class vamp walked in and knelt before him. "King Anubis, we have located the Pyramid of Light but it is guarded by a strong light barrier. Us lower and some of the mid class vampires can't get through without being burned to ashes." The vampire reported.

He nodded and got up. "Take me to where the barrier is located; maybe we can have some of our strongest vampires attempt to retrieve the pyramid." he spoke and the smaller vampire nodded as he led the way.

Anzu walked out their shared home later that night, angry that everyone had disappeared by the time she woke up. The brunette didn't bother with looking for them and went out hunting herself. When she came across one of the buildings, she felt a strong aura that resembled too close to Yami's but was severely weakened. She looked up to see Aqua perched on the edge of the roof. "Ah, a vampire dragon. He must've been around Yami if he has a near matching aura signal as. He looks like he already encountered some strong holy items so I will be happy to end his misery." Anzu whispered as she snuck into a nearby alley and aimed her gun at Aqua.

Aqua didn't notice her and Anzu was glad for that as she quickly pulled the trigger, the bullet aiming straight for his heart. He heard the resounding jolt and moved out the way but not quick enough as the bullet tore into his back, just mere inches from his heart causing him to cry out, falling from the roof in pain. The dragon fell to the ground harshly, landing on his side with his right wing beneath him, causing the bone to crack under his weight. Aqua winced as he tried to get up but he was in too much pain seeing as the bullet was combined with raw light energy and could've easily killed him if he didn't dodge.

Anzu came out of the alley, a victorious smirk on her face as she walked over to the seemingly dead vampire. "This has to be the easiest kill I ever made and without the help of my circle. Maybe I should look for Yami on my own and take care of him myself." she commented and she knelt down beside Aqua and picked up the dragon pendant he wore around his neck as proof she done him in. "Too bad he was a vamp; he looks cute enough to be something to me. Oh well." she commented as she got up and pocketed the pendant and left.

Aqua's breathing was heavy and snarled softly as he got up and started to limp his way back home. He however didn't make it far before collapsing onto the ground with a painful croon.

Yugi was making his way back to the park after telling his friends where he was going to be. Like Keara told Yami earlier, she gave Yugi a sword forged of light and placed runes on the blade so it was now combined with High elven runes like Yami's sword. When he was about to enter the park, he saw a form lying on the ground. Worried that it was a victim of a vampire, the small hunter quickly walked across the street and gasped as he saw Aqua.

"What happened?" he gasped in horror as he helped the weak vampire. Aqua winced because of Yugi's aura but was able to tell him what happened. "Hunter...bullet...pain..." he whispered incoherently. "Did you have an encounter with a hunter?" Yugi questioned and he nodded.

"Take...me to...Yami." he mumbled before falling unconscious. 'He knows Yami. Glad I decided to meet with him tonight.' Yugi thought and with all the strength he could muster, he helped Aqua upon his shoulder, leaning most of the weight on it and started walking to the park once more.

Yami was already at the park and was waiting for Yugi to come. He looked up when he felt the familiar light aura but also felt a dark aura combined with it and easily knew it was Aqua but he also felt it weakening. The vampire got up quickly and ran over to where they were. "Yugi!" he called and stopped when he saw them. "Yami! Help me! I saw him hurt and told me a hunter shot him." Yugi said as Yami ran over and helped Aqua up. "Aqua, what happened?!" he asked but didn't get any response. "He fell unconscious after he told me to come look for you. I'm worried, what if he dies?" Yugi asked as Yami slung Aqua over his shoulder.

"I don't know but I have an idea what we could do. Yugi, head back to your home and look for Keara and tell her to come back to my house. She can heal him like she did for me but hurry, Aqua's aura is diminishing and if we don't seal that wound, get that bullet out and give him blood, he won't survive the night." he murmured and Yugi nodded as he ran off back home as Yami took Aqua back home.

"Please, don't die on me, Aqua." he whispered as he continued to carry Aqua back home.

Seto felt that something was wrong and got up. Bakura looked to him as he got up. "What the matter with you?" he asked. "Something is wrong, someone's aura is dying and it isn't Yami because his is stronger now. It feels like Aqua's." Seto muttered and he gaped. "What do you mean it's Aqua?! He just got himself out of a battle with a hunter before!" Bakura exclaimed. "Another must've come and got him while hunting for being so weak. You know how hunters are, taking something from the vampire to show they killed him or her. If they took his dragon pendant, he won't live even if his reserves are replenished."

Bakura got up quickly and called for Marik, Crimson, Ruby and Toben. "Well, we aren't going to let that happen. As much as I really don't care for Yami and Aqua, I'm not going to have him die on us." Bakura murmured and Seto nodded as they left out. "Who's going to watch over the club?" Crimson asked. "Mokuba will come and watch it for us. We just need to worry about Aqua's life." Ruby replied and he nodded as they left out the club and quickly made their way to Yami and Aqua's home.

Zypher: There, that's all for this chapter. Yes, I am evil but don't worry, I'm not going to let Aqua die but he along with Yami will get payback so review and you'll get chapter 5.

(1) - This version of the tri-force is not the same as the one from Legend of Zelda. Don't be confused by the two. Same concept in design but for a completely different purpose here.