Bloody Hearts Chapter 7: Sweet Nightmares, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Zypher: Hello again and welcome to chapter 7 of Bloody Hearts. As you know, Aqua died in the last chapter but I'm not that evil so he won't be gone for as long as intended. Anyways, I thank you all for your reviews and I present to you chapter 7.

Bloody Hearts

Chapter 7

After Anzu's death, which they were all grateful for; Keara was made into the new leader of their circle of hunters. She was happy to be assigned to that position but she had more important things to do as of now. Back in her room, she was looking through her Necromancy books, trying to find a resurrection spell that she could use to bring back Aqua.

Aqua himself was lying in an in-lined jade coffin, his body lifeless but she could see that his soul that was in his pendant was trying to fight away death. She finally found a spell to her liking, although it would use half of her life, she was willing to sacrifice it for a friend. She whispered the incantation and a dark glow surrounded her. She felt the pull of half of her soul leaving her and entering Aqua's lifeless body.

She finished the incantation and as the last words passed her lips, a dark glow came from Aqua's body as her soul combined with his body and part of his pendant, intertwining with his sealed soul. His eyes opened slowly before he sat up from the coffin. The vampire placed a hand up to his head, still slightly dazed before looking around. "What...happened?" he asked. "You were killed by Anubis because of a trick he was planning. He stabbed you straight in the heart with a dagger before you could finish him off and you died. Yugi was distraught to see you die and we couldn't save you in time but I was able to bring you back to life with a little Necromancy magic." Keara explained and he nodded as he climbed out of the coffin. "Thank you."

"It was nothing. I hate seeing Yugi sad. I care for him like a little brother and I will do anything to keep him happy. Right now, I think he would want to see you." Keara said. He nodded before he left out the room. She watched him leave before she sat down on her bed, tired out from the loss of half of her life and the strong Necromancy magic she had to use. The new leader lied down on her bed and went to sleep.

Aqua headed downstairs and saw Yugi still being comforted by Yami. "Yami, I really miss him. I didn't even get to know him that well." Yugi whispered. "Don't worry, little one. I know Keara will find a way to bring him back. It was saddening to know that he couldn't come back as easily since he was killed swiftly by Anubis. He couldn't summon the power to let his soul from his dragon pendant free and let him be reborn. But I know Keara will find something for him if she was able to heal even the most fatal of wounds with her magic." Yami said to him, stroking his back softly.

"I know. I believe in her. I just hope she did find something." Yugi murmured. Aqua smiled, seeing Yugi was completely devoted to his safety, nothing unusual for hunters, and came into the room silently. "She did and I'm glad to be back, Yugi." he spoke, causing Yugi to look up quickly before jumping out from Yami's arms and over to him. "Aqua! You're ok! I was anxious after seeing Anubis kill you so quick that we couldn't do anything to help!" Yugi cried as he hugged him. Aqua hugged him back, happy to have known that the Necromancy magic also healed all of his wounds.

"I was concerned as well that I died before I even had the chance to know you well but I'm back now and I will make sure that Anubis doesn't succeed with killing anyone ever again." Aqua replied as he picked up Yugi and took him back over to the couch where Yami sat. "I'm glad to see you alive and healthy again. You don't know how many people you worried other than Yugi and I." Yami spoke as Aqua sat down. "I know. I should've known Anubis was going to play dirty when he's about to lose his life before achieving his goal." he murmured.

"But we still have the scrolls and I know we can come up with a plan to take him off the throne and kill him off before he can try anything to hurt the people of both the human and vampire race." he continued. Yugi stayed quiet in Aqua's arms, listening before he thought of something. "Yami, I have an idea of sorts." Yugi said as he sat up and looked to him. Yami turned to him. "What is it, Yugi?" he asked.

"Well, you said that Anubis has the Pyramid of Light which is the key to bringing the destruction of the world along with the spell to do so. Instead of dealing with him, we should worry more about the Pyramid. As long as he has it, he could do something to harm us with some of its partially unsealed magic." Yugi said. Yami tapped his chin and nodded. "You do have a point there but knowing Anubis, he will keep the Pyramid of Light with him at all times to access its power at any given moment." Yami said, thinking about what he said.

"But I have an idea but we may have to ask Keara about this before we try it. But what if we take the Pyramid and shatter it with our combined magic? That's the only way that I can think of that will end all this and no one in the future will have to deal with this ordeal as well." Yugi said. "That does sound like a good idea, Yugi, but as you said, we should ask Keara or Seto about this. The Pyramid of Light is powerful and if we're not careful, the power it could release when shattered could do major harm to the whole entire world." Aqua said. Yugi nodded before he yawned.

"Well, I guess you're getting tired after everything that happened. Let's take you to bed and we can tell the others about what we could plan with your idea tomorrow." Yami said and he nodded as they got up and took Yugi to his room before looking for a spare one and went to sleep as well.

Back in the capital, Anubis was looking for a way to unleash the full potential of the Pyramid of Light.

'Once I find a way, it will take no time to defeat those low down, good for nothing vampires and their hunter partners. Once they're out of my way, finding the scrolls and taking over this world will be no problem without a Prince of Light and Darkness to stop it from happening.' he thought as he finally came to a page that talked about the ancient history of the Pyramid of Light that was also in the tomb where it was held. He read through it, remembering that he destroyed the part that told of how to shatter it without it releasing its power in the tomb when he was there.

The next day, everyone gathered downstairs to talk about what Yugi told Yami and Aqua last night. "Well, that could be possible but like Aqua told you, it could cause a problem if the power released from it being shattered does some harm the world and we can't let that happen." Seto said. "But that's the only lead we got so far so there may be something else that Anubis has that will tell us how to destroy the Pyramid without unleashing any power from it." Nanaki said.

"There is that but there is also the tomb where the Pyramid of Light was hidden. Since Anubis unearthed it, we can find it easily and look there. I suggest we split into two groups. Half of us heading to the capital while the other half checks the tomb of the Pyramid of Light. If we find anything, we'll meet back here. But we must be careful, these places will obviously be dangerous and we can't afford to lose anyone again." Keara suggested and they nodded.

Soon, they were all armed and ready to go. Yugi, Yami, Keara, Seto, Ryou, Topaz, Marik, Kaiser and Diamond went in one group while the other consisted of Nanaki, Vincent, Malik, Aqua, Toben, Bakura, Crimson, Jounouchi and Ruby. "Remember, we all need to come back alive. Don't let anything stop you from getting back unharmed." Keara said and they nodded before they all left, heading off in different directions.

It didn't take them long to get to the vampire capital but of course, only Yami, Marik, Keara and Seto could see it. "What are we going to do? If we can't see it, how can we possibly get inside?" Ryou asked. "Easy. We know of the spell to bring down the barrier but we will have to only make a hole in it so it won't alert Anubis." Seto said as he started weaving a spell that made a hole into the barrier. "Let's hurry now before someone else finds out the barrier is down." he murmured and they ran inside before the hole closed up.

"Wow, the capital doesn't look any different from Domino." Ryou whispered as they walked through the capital, Yami weaving another spell to cover up Ryou, Topaz, Yugi, Kaiser and Diamond's mortal aura. The last thing they needed were vampires trying to come after them. "Yes, when we made this our capital, we inherited some of your town's traits while we were here. We didn't bother with cars and some other technology but we still have that here." Yami explained. Yugi looked to Keara. "Keara, why isn't your aura hidden?" Yugi questioned. With his own abilities, he could tell between different auras and compared to the dark aura of Seto, Marik and Yami and the blue aura that was shielding their own, hers was just a mix of red and black.

"Because, I happen to have another form other than this. A dragon form. I never really told any of you about it before when Anzu was around or else she would've tried to force you guys to fight against me for training purposes or use me as a secret weapon or any other nonsense. I had no intention of doing such just because she said so. So I never said anything about it until we either got rid of her or I needed to change to help you and the others out of danger. Dragons and Vampires don't have much of a relationship between each other so none of the lower vampires should come near us. They know of my aura and messing with a dragon isn't something they would want to do." Keara explained.

"Who knew that you would be a dragon? No wonder why you would want to help us out so much seeing as Aqua is a dragon as well." Marik commented. "Yeah, I never thought I would be helping out vampires but after seeing Aqua and his state of condition, I knew there was something I should do to help him along with any of his friends. I care for my dragon kin a lot no matter whether they're a race I can't stand much." They continued on their way, glad that any vampires didn't come towards them like Keara said. They soon reached the palace where Anubis resided.

"Well, there's the palace. Now the problem in getting inside. How are we going to get pass those guards?" Kaiser inquired. "I have an idea." Diamond hummed as she concentrated before a small hole opened up on the ground and a little green creature popped out from the hole. He looked towards Diamond before jumping into her arms. She stroked his head before placing him down again. "Carbuncle, I need you to do something for us. I want you to lead the guards away from the palace doors for us so we can get inside." she whispered and he nodded before running off. He ran inside the gates and caught the guards' attention easily as they chased him.

"Well, that was easier than expected. I thought they would've been smarter than that." Topaz muttered. "Well, let's not worry about them right now; let's get inside before they come back. Carbuncle is going to meet us inside." Diamond said and they complied before heading inside the double doors.

With the others, it was taking them slightly longer to find the tomb. "You don't think Anubis hid the tomb out of sight from us so we can't find anything about the Pyramid of Light, do you?" Jounouchi asked. "He may have but we won't know as of yet. If he did cover the tomb then we should feel a strong sense of dark magic around the tomb when we get close." Aqua said. On cue, they felt a strong wave of magic nearby.

"Bingo." Bakura whispered as they led Nanaki, Vincent, Jounouchi and Malik toward the hidden tomb. "Now the problem in getting inside, we can easily pass his magic with a simple incantation to get rid of it but we may not be strong enough to pass the light barrier that was around the tomb in the first place." Ruby said.

"Maybe we can go in. We may not be affected by the light barrier as easily as the vampires would be. Take down Anubis' barrier and we'll see." Nanaki commented. Aqua nodded as he whispered an incantation to take down Anubis' barrier and all was left was the glowing light barrier. Nanaki headed in first and placed one paw pass the barrier and didn't get any reaction from it. He went inside fully before Jounouchi and Malik followed behind him.

Vincent did the same but was repelled by the barrier went he place his hand inside. "I guess I can't go through because of my demonic transformations. You guys will have to go without me but be careful in there." Vincent murmured. They nodded as they headed inside the tomb. "Try to look everywhere in that tomb. There may be something in there that will get rid of this barrier or at least weaken it enough for us to get pass." Aqua told the group and they nodded as they headed inside.

"Man, it's dark in here. Mind givin' us some light, Nanaki?" Jounouchi asked and he nodded as he lifted up his tail, illuminating the hall as they walked. "First thing's first, we need to find a way to lower that barrier so the others can get inside. We may have weapon but we don't know a scratch of magic to help us in here except for Nanaki." Malik murmured. Nanaki nodded. "Now the problem is where would be the best place to find it? There has to be a room or something in here that talks about the Pyramid of Light or the tomb itself." Nanaki said.

"Well, we best keep searching and maybe we find something here, or at least a torch." Malik said as they continued on their way.

When they got inside, they made sure there was no one around before taking a break, waiting for Carbuncle to show up. Another hole appeared and he popped up from the floor. He jumped out, walking over to Yugi and he picked him up. "The guards didn't see you leave, did they?" Diamond questioned and he shook his head.

"Good, now, where should we go to find the Pyramid of Light?" She questioned. "At the most, it will be wherever Anubis is and I can take a guess he may be in the library. We must hurry so he won't try to unlock the powers of the Pyramid." Yami spoke. They nodded and letting Carbuncle taking the lead so he would tell them if there were guards around, they started on their way towards the library.

They soon found a hall that was lined with torches and followed it, coming up to a room where the Pyramid of Light once stood. Up on the wall was the same gold eye that was on the Pyramid of Light. It was glowing softly. They looked towards it. "I bet that's what keepin' the light barrier up." Jounouchi said. "I'll take care of it." Nanaki murmured as he ran towards it, powering up for a Sled Fang attack and jumped, slamming into the center of the eye headfirst. He landed and the jewel that served as the pupil started to crack before it shattered.

Outside, Aqua and the others watched as the barrier disappeared. "Come on, let's get in there." he said and they all headed inside.

After avoiding a few guards, they made it to the library. They heard Anubis in there and decided to listen in on what he was talking about. "Soon, the power of the Pyramid will be mine but of course, I can't get its full power until I get those scrolls back from those vampires and their little pets. But at least with this power, I can do something." Anubis muttered. Carbuncle looked to Yugi, seeing him starting to shake in fear and went over to him. Yugi looked down to him before picking him up and holding him close.

"Come on, we can't let him go and look for the scrolls without no one to take him down if he finds their hiding place." Keara said and they nodded as Marik kicked opened the door. He entered in along with Yami while Ryou, Diamond, Keara and Kaiser drew their weapons. Seto stayed with Yugi since he was still scared. "Alright Anubis, hold it right there. You're not going anywhere with that Pyramid." Yami called. Anubis turned to them and grinned darkly. "Well Yami, I see you finally came here. Whatever will you do this time?" he asked tauntingly. "I hope you're not here for revenge when I killed dear Aqua now are you?"

"We're not here about that even though I will do so soon enough. We have more important matters to deal with." Yami hissed. "Oh, and what are you planning to do? Shatter the Pyramid of Light? It's impossible and I know because I will make sure you don't!" Anubis roared as he called upon the magic of the Pyramid and a dark mist started to fill the room. They were covered with the mist and it began to affect them, causing them to slowly drift.

Ryou, Diamond, Topaz and Kaiser got knocked out by the spell easily being human. Marik tried to stay awake but he couldn't handle it either and fell to the floor as well. Yami coughed as he tried to stay awake along with Keara who brought out her wings to try and fan the mist away but with each beat of her wings, more seemed to gather. "What...are you doing...to us?" Yami snarled, straining to stay awake from the spell. "A little spell I learned of. It will put you all to sleep and show your worst fears through your dreams. You will never break free if you still have those fears." Anubis replied, grinning viciously.

"We will break away from this and we'll shatter that Pyramid before you can find the scrolls..." Yami whispered before he slumped onto the floor. Anubis laughed. "I like to see you try. If you can't break away from the spell, you can do nothing to stop me." Anubis claimed as he left out the library, looking around. The mist covered the hall but he didn't see Seto or Yugi. "That Prince of Light is here somewhere, I felt his aura even if it was covered." he growled as he looked around the hall, the mist now starting to cover throughout the halls to do its master's bidding.

Seto and Yugi escaped just in time before the mist could overtake them but they still got a whiff of it on the way out, falling into the spell as well. Carbuncle was already asleep in Yugi's arms so he was of no use. "Come on Yugi, we have to find a place to hide before Anubis finds us or we fall asleep because of the spell." Seto muttered, his eyes drooping bit by bit as they continued to run.

"I don't know if we're going to make it anywhere safe, Seto." Yugi whispered. "We will. I have to make sure you're safe or else Yami will have my head if you're captured by Anubis when he breaks free from his spell." They continued to run but Seto was starting to slow down before he finally collapsed. Yugi stopped and went back to him. "Seto! Seto, wake up!" he cried, shaking him but to no avail. He was already asleep.

He sighed softly, yawning again before getting up, still holding Carbuncle. 'I need to find a place to hide and fast.' he thought as he continued running through the halls. He only got close to where the throne room doors were before he too collapsed. 'I'm sorry, Yami...I couldn't get away.' Was Yugi's last thought before he fell into the deep recesses of slumber. Anubis smirked as he came out from the shadows. "You're mine now, Prince." Anubis sneered as he grabbed the boy and took him away, Carbuncle in tow.

Aqua and the others reached Jou, Malik and Nanaki and they looked at the carvings on the wall. "What do they say?" Malik asked. "It says that the Pyramid of Light is an ancient light artifact with immense powers. A good sorcerer made it to be in tune with the Sennen Puzzle, an artifact of darkness. The Pyramid of Light and the Sennen Puzzle were originally owned by the first Princes of Light and Darkness. But an accident that killed the Prince of Light caused the Pyramid of Light to take on dark power, shadowing the light. Now whenever someone takes the Pyramid, they hold the power to destroy the world with a simple spell which is held in the Scrolls of the Ancients." Aqua read.

"Does it say anything about how to destroy it?" Ruby asked. Aqua looked at the carvings again. "I think I found it." Aqua said as he looked at it.

"Since the power of the Pyramid was so strong to be taken into mortal hands, the sorcerer that made it sealed it away in this tomb, sacrificing his life to create the barrier. If it was to be taken from its tomb however, the only way to destroy it without releasing the power would be to..." Aqua started and stopped, seeing as the rest was worn away but it wasn't from time. "The rest I can't read..." he murmured. "Well, that's perfect. We may have found the only way to destroy the Pyramid of Light without releasing it full power but we don't even know what to do now." Crimson growled. "He's right. What are we going to do now?" Nanaki asked.

"It's best we leave for now and wait for the others and tell them what we know as of now. I have a good feeling that I may just know how we may be able to destroy the Pyramid but I'm not sure." Aqua replied as they started to leave out. Unfortunately, the same dark mist Anubis used on Yami and the others started to seep from the shattered crystals of the jewel that sat in the eye. It wafted over to them and it went unnoticed until they saw the hall was getting darker than usual that it was actually covering the glow of the torches.

"Oh no, it must've been a trap when we shattered that jewel that let the barrier down. We need to hurry and get out of here..." Nanaki murmured as they started to run but since they didn't know what the mist did, they each already inhaled some of it and were starting to drift. Jounouchi and Malik were the first to fall. Vincent turned back when he heard them fall and transformed into Chaos. He flew over and grabbed them off the ground to follow behind the other vampires and Nanaki. But even as Chaos, the spell didn't wear off and he started to fall asleep as well, collapsing to the ground.

Aqua, Ruby, Crimson, Nanaki, Bakura and Toben continued to run, hoping to at least get out first before coming back to get them but the spell started to affect them and only Aqua was left awake, Nanaki, Bakura, Crimson and Toben not able to handle the spell longer. 'I need to get out of here and to the capital. Yami and the others might be in trouble and we can't let Yugi be taken by Anubis.' he thought as he found himself in the dark hall and used instinct to find his way towards the entrance. But his pace started to slow and he collapsed to the ground, not able to fight off the mist clouding his mind.

'I...can't...let this spell...take over...' he thought brokenly as his eyes closed, falling victim to the mist's magic.

Anubis smirked as he gotten everything ready for a location spell. "Yami thinks I won't be able to find the Scrolls of the Ancients does he? Yes, I wouldn't be able to but I can now since I have the Prince of Light in my hands. And I will make sure he never escapes." Anubis murmured before he laughed darkly, his triumphant glee echoing through the halls like a siren's deadly song.

Yugi struggled in the chains that were clasped around his wrists, pained whimpers coming from him as his greatest fears showed through his dreams.

Zypher: Whoo, long chapter. I bet you all want to kill Anubis right now, don't ya? Don't worry, torture him as much as you want in your reviews. More reviews equal more torture for him. Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you will review (to enjoy torturing him while doing so). See you next chapter.

Note: The form of Carbuncle I'm using is the Eidolon summon from Final Fantasy IX; look for a site called Eternal Legend and you'll find some screenshots of him there.