Notes: Thanks to Mega M for plot suggestions!

Chapter Seven

Waiting for their lost loved ones to come back was agonizing.

Duke had directed them to move Yugi and Umbra upstairs, onto the couches in his office. Lumis was just sitting by Umbra, not moving and not wanting to move. Atem and Téa were doing likewise with Yugi, while many of the others paced or awkwardly stood by.

The Paradox Brothers hadn't taken the items and left yet. They wanted to see if both lost ones would make it back. Plus, they weren't sure the tiara didn't need to stay here until the task was accomplished. Para was holding the fox whip, but Lumis hadn't let go of the tiara. Now it was projecting a time counter in the air, counting down from a six hour limit.

Duke sighed, running a hand into his hair. "We'll have to keep the store open downstairs," he said.

"WHAT?!" Joey yelled. "You're worried about your business at a time like this?!"

"We have to make sure things look normal," Duke insisted. "Unless you want to explain to Yugi's mom or Mr. Muto if they drop by that Yugi is dead and we're waiting around to see if he can make it back by playing through some mythological obstacle course."

That silenced Joey. He cringed at the thought. "Uh . . . no, I don't want that at all."

"I didn't think so," Duke grunted.

"Mr. Muto might come over here anyway," Téa worried. "He was interested in the Chinese items. . . ."

"At least he'd be able to handle this better than Yugi's mom would," Tristan said.

"Would he?" Joey frowned. "Or would this drive him to a heart attack? I mean, Yugi's never been . . . dead before. . . ."

Gansley looked away. If his bad heart hadn't been healed by the angel Kasumi, he was sure he would have suffered a heart attack long ago from all the horrible things his loved ones were going through.

Joey drew a shaking breath. He could see Gansley was afraid Joey's concern had merit, but this was not a time Joey wanted to be right. "Well, Lumis is in no shape to help you out downstairs," he said to Duke and David. "I'd volunteer, but that would probably look immediately suspicious."

"Yeah." Duke managed a weak smirk. "We'll manage. We can just say Lumis and Umbra are working in the back, like they often are."

"And I'll help," Serenity smiled.

"Just let us know as soon as they get back," David said.

"If they get back," Nesbitt muttered.

Joey shot a harsh glare at him. "They're gonna get back!" he boomed. "No 'ifs' about it!"

Nesbitt gripped his arms and didn't respond.

Lector gave him a sorrowful look. He knew Nesbitt well enough by now to know that he was experiencing survivor's guilt from Yugi saving him. He wanted more than anything to believe Yugi and Umbra would come back to them, but the logical, pessimistic side of his personality could never stop thinking about the other possibilities. He was too afraid to believe and then be let down.

"My poor friend," Lector said quietly. He laid a hand on Nesbitt's shoulder.

Nesbitt tensed, but then slowly relaxed. Years ago, he might have snapped something cruel about Lector patronizing him. He might have even believed it, or made himself believe it. But now he knew that Lector was sincerely trying to comfort him. And Lector no doubt felt badly too. Nesbitt wished he could think of something comforting to say, but his mind was blank. Instead, he just reached up and gripped Lector's hand.

"Hey, you know that story in the Bible about Thomas?" Crump said.

Johnson started a bit to hear his name. "You mean the man who couldn't believe Jesus was alive again unless he saw Him?"

"Yeah," Crump said. "The Bible never says what his attitude was or how he said what he did, but you kinda get the impression that he was just being a stubborn jerk not to believe what his friends said. . . . Or maybe that he was like Kaiba and he refused to process the supernatural no matter how much evidence he had."

Seto grunted.

"But you know, I don't think that was it at all," Crump rushed on. "I was thinking recently that I'll bet he was like you, Nesbitt."

Now Nesbitt started. "Me? Why?"

"You love so much that you can't take loss," Crump said. "You're so afraid of having your heart busted even more that it takes you a while to accept when you have someone back after thinking they were gone. I'll bet you anything that's how Thomas felt too."

Nesbitt looked away. "Maybe so."

Lector smiled a bit. "It makes sense to me."

Joey backed down, sobered into silence.

Duke, Serenity, and David quietly left to try to do what they could in the store. Everyone else remained.

Lector glanced over at Vivian, who was chewing and pulling on her handkerchief but staying quiet. That was a relief. Lector had to wonder if she really was worried about Yugi, at least. She certainly seemed to be.

Nesbitt followed his gaze and glowered. He didn't trust Vivian at all. He wouldn't put it past her to come up to Lector with crocodile tears and say some nonsense about them comforting each other in their hour of sorrow. The more time went on and she didn't budge, Nesbitt's suspicions only grew instead of lessened.

Seto awkwardly went over to Atem and Téa, but really wasn't sure what to say. This was such a bizarre and unheard-of situation. Still, there was at least one thing he was fairly confident about, even in the face of all of this that didn't make sense.

"Yugi is the King of Games for a reason," he said gruffly. "He'll make it."

Atem looked up in surprise. "Thank you, Kaiba," he said. With Seto's personality, it took a lot for him to even say this much.

Téa reached up and gripped Seto's hand. "Of course he'll make it," she said fiercely.

Seto went stiff, but didn't pull away. After a moment he slowly curled his hand around Téa's.

The gesture wasn't lost on Vivian. "You're with her?!" she shrilled at Seto. "You would choose her over me?!"

Seto spun around, his eyes filled with warnings. But before he could speak at all, Mokuba ran over to her.

"Just shut up!" he spat. "You don't have any right to even talk about being with Seto after you tried to use his life to bribe Lector! Okay, maybe you did try to help later, but only to get on Lector's good side and get him to take you to dinner! You didn't really care about Seto!"

"You little brat!" Vivian stamped her foot. "I did care! I wouldn't have let Seto die! I thought I knew where the pearls were and that I could save him! I was going to do that no matter what Lector said!"

"Well, no one would know that from the way you acted!" Mokuba screamed.

Mai hurried forward. "Okay, I think it's time for a time-out," she said to Vivian. "Come with me, hon." She draped an arm around Vivian's shoulders and tried to steer her to the door.

Vivian didn't go willingly. "But I want to stay here!" she cried.

"There's nothing you can do here . . . except maybe make things worse by setting off everyone's nerves," Mai said. "Let's go."

Vivian whined, but finally walked out with her.

Gansley quickly pulled the door shut. "Good riddance," he muttered.

Lector groaned and shook his head, covering his face with both hands. "I shouldn't have encouraged her by taking her to dinner," he groaned.

"You did what you felt was right," Atem told him. "She held up her end of the bargain, whatever her motives."

"But I didn't actually say I'd take her out. I said I might consider it." Lector sank back against the desk. "Maybe I was afraid she'd just keep pestering me no matter what I did. . . ."

"I believe you wanted to give her a chance," Atem said. "Mokuba gave you a chance and it changed your life. In turn, you changed the lives of all your best friends. Just in case Vivian was capable of the same life-changing experience through kindness, you felt you couldn't just turn her away without trying."

". . . Maybe that's true," Lector conceded. "But in this case, I probably only made it worse. I may know how to interact with people in general, but when it comes to women with romance on their minds, I am completely clueless."

"She doesn't really love you, even if she thinks she does," Gansley said. "She's infatuated with you at best. At worst . . . well, we all know what's on her mind more than anything else," he grunted.

Noa folded his arms. "You don't have to pussyfoot around me, Gansley," he said. "Or Mokuba either. We both see her for what she really wants. She has a one-track mind regarding sex."

Mokuba gave a firm nod. "Oh yeah."

"And yet she did act genuinely worried about Yugi just now," Lector remarked. "I wonder if there really is a good person somewhere underneath all that shallow lust."

"If there is, she's nowhere near mature enough to dig her out," Nesbitt growled.

"No, she isn't," Atem agreed. "But perhaps Mai can help her." He sighed and looked back to Yugi. "Hopefully away from here."

Everyone thoroughly agreed. They had enough stress right now.

". . . I wonder how Yugi and Umbra are doing," Téa said softly.

"Hey, when Yugi's there, there's nothing to worry about," Joey said. "They're probably more than halfway home by now!"

Lumis looked up at the projected clock. "It's been less than an hour. . . ."

"Yeah, but Yug breezes through challenges and games," Joey insisted. "They'll be here way before that clock counts down!"

Lumis wasn't so sure, but he laid his hand on Umbra's and didn't say anything else.

". . . I wonder why we were given this chance to save both," Atem remarked. "Surely there must have been other occasions where more than one person needed to be brought back at the same time, and yet there's apparently no record of something like this in the past. . . ."

"There does not mean there never was," Para said.

"History is often remembered with flaws," Dox added.

Yami Bakura gave a dark smirk. That was certainly true.

"Anyway, who cares why?" Joey retorted. "The important thing is that the chance was given to them! And they're gonna be back!"

"That's true," Atem said. "But I still can't help wondering why. If nothing else, it gives me something else to think about. . . ." He sighed and rested his hand on Yugi's.

"I'm also surprised that Lumis even gave Yugi that chance," Tristan said low. "Especially since that means it's not a guarantee he can get Umbra back."

"It should show that he's better than you think he is, Tristan," Atem said. "I'll admit I was somewhat surprised myself, but I am so grateful. I know they'll be back."

Tristan slowly nodded. "Yeah. . . ." He scowled. "I always end up looking like a real jerk when I don't trust these people and then they do things like this. . . ."

"It would be foolish and unrealistic to simply trust everyone right away, especially people who have already hurt you or your friends in the past," Gansley said.

"I guess so." Tristan shoved his hands in his pockets. "But I can't think of anyone who hasn't proved themselves worthy of being trusted after all."

"Vivian," Nesbitt growled.

". . . Right," Tristan conceded.

Bakura turned away, staring out the window at the city below.

Yami Bakura stepped close to him. "Are you still regretting not being able to use the tiara yourself?" he asked.

"I can't deny it still hurts, especially with this option being offered to save multiple people after all," Bakura quietly replied. "I thought I had decided I couldn't bring Mother and Amane back with a disaster as the price, but then when I learned there was only one available slot, it still felt like a devastating blow. I suppose in my subconscious, I still considered that there was that chance for them." He gripped the windowsill. "But then Yami Marik had to come and ruin all that. He took poor Yugi! So now I'm mourning my friend as well as mourning the loss of the chance to save my family." He bit his lip. "I don't know if I can stay here. . . ."

"Do you want to go then?" Yami Bakura wondered.

Bakura sighed. "Maybe I will," he said. "But for right now I want to try to stick it out. I want to know they will get back safely."

Yami Bakura nodded. "Alright. But don't try to stay on if you feel you cannot. That won't help anyone."

"I know," Bakura agreed. He tried to smile. "Thank you, Yami. . . ."

Yami Bakura shrugged and grunted.

They were talking low enough that most did not overhear. Lumis did, however, but he opted not to speak. He wasn't a comforting sort and didn't know what to say. He didn't even know what it would be like to have multiple people he cared about so much.

He gripped Umbra's hand, longing above all else to feel some life coming back into it. But of course it was too soon to hope for that. He would just have to keep waiting and hoping.

At least Umbra had a chance, unlike that poor Bakura kid's dead loved ones. . . . But at least too, Bakura had other loved ones who were still alive.

Although . . . maybe Lumis wasn't as alone as he felt. Duke had defended him and Atem had allowed him to take the tiara. . . .

It was nice, at least, to think that maybe he had other friends now too.

No one could replace Umbra, though.

xxxx

Yugi stepped over a fallen log in his path as he and Umbra wandered through the forest. So far the world was a lot like Capsule Monsters, with Duel Monsters everywhere who were both friend and foe. As in Capsule Monsters, they were initially inside containers, usually Chinese vases or boxes. Each container was marked with the same symbols that were on the Chinese magical items. When released, however, the Duel Monsters would walk with their new masters and never return to any container. Yugi and Umbra had acquired two monster allies already, and they were currently searching for either their next battle or whatever else was set up to challenge them.

"I still haven't been able to figure out what we're really supposed to do here," Yugi said at last. "This world reminds me a lot of Shadi's Capsule Monsters dimension. But if this place is connected with the Chinese magical items, why are Duel Monsters here?"

"Search me," Umbra grunted. "Maybe they had Duel Monsters in China too."

"Maybe," Yugi mused. "And if this place really is like Capsule Monsters, eventually we'll have to go through trials of integrity and character."

Umbra made a face. "I'm sure I'll fail at that."

"Don't be so hard on yourself!" Yugi retorted. "You're not a bad guy. You even saved Serenity's life before you really decided to reform!" He smiled. "And you sure mean the world to Lumis."

Umbra sighed but smiled too. "It's strange how we went from not getting along to being close like that."

"I'm sure Lector and Nesbitt could relate," Yugi said. "They have a similar story."

Umbra thoughtfully nodded. "Actually, I see a little of us in them," he admitted. "Lumis definitely has Nesbitt's reckless impulsiveness. Although what a lot of people don't realize is that he's also the most intellectual between us."

"I think that's great," Yugi smiled. "It shows he's a really well-rounded, unique person."

"And he never even got as far as college," Umbra said. "He taught himself most of what he knows and learned the rest on the streets." He shook his head. "While I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth."

Yugi blinked in surprise. "Your family was rich?"

"Still is," Umbra said gruffly. "I'm just not a part of it anymore. They wanted to dictate every part of what I did, and when I refused to be controlled like that, well, bam, there went my inheritance and my family."

"They don't even care about you anymore?" Yugi sadly realized. That would be another way he could relate to Lector.

"I don't know," Umbra admitted. "Maybe they tried to find me when I left, or maybe they just figured I was no good and I wasn't worth looking for. None of them showed up when Lumis and I got arrested. It was in all the papers."

"When we get back, maybe you should try looking them up," Yugi encouraged. "Maybe they've been going out of their minds worrying about you and just haven't been able to find you. Umbra isn't your real name, is it?"

"No," Umbra grunted. "But by now it's just kind of stuck." He didn't seem willing to volunteer what his name really was, but Yugi didn't care about that.

"That's kind of nice, though," Yugi said. "Yours and Lumis's names do fit together well."

Umbra vaguely nodded but fell silent for a while. ". . . If we don't make it back, how do you think the others will manage?" His worry bled into his voice.

"Oh. . . ." Yugi looked away. He didn't want to have to think about that, although he couldn't deny he had such concerns too. "I think they'd be really sad, but they'd be able to get through it," he said carefully.

"But you're the emotional support, the rock, among all your friends," Umbra said. "You brought all of them together. If you're gone . . ."

"They're strong enough with each other," Yugi said softly. "And they'd help Lumis too. . . ."

"I don't think anything could help Lumis." Umbra sounded morose. "He would just shatter. He's never had anyone who cared about him but me. He clings to me a lot because of that."

"That must be kind of hard on you sometimes," Yugi said.

"It's not like I've really had anyone else either," Umbra shrugged. "And when I thought I was going to lose him . . . I didn't handle it much better."

"That's how it is when you really love someone," Yugi said. He sighed. "The only reason I was able to let Atem go was because I thought that would be better for him and that it was what he really wanted. But even thinking I knew that . . . I never stopped missing him and wanting him back. And he wanted to be with me and the others so much too, or he wouldn't have finally come back."

"Too bad it's not that simple for us to get back." Umbra brushed a stubborn branch out of his face.

"Well, I wouldn't say it was simple," Yugi said. "He was in the afterlife for several months. But then Shadi came and offered him a rare second chance opportunity and he took it." He smiled.

"Wasn't it hard for him to leave when he had loved ones there too?" Umbra wondered.

Yugi hesitated. "I worried sometimes about that, but he insisted that while he was sad to leave them, he'd grown close to me in a way that he hadn't with anyone from his past, so he wanted to be with me and the others the most. And someday we'll all be together in the afterlife. I guess Mahad, at least, is still with him now. Oh, that's the Dark Magician," he quickly explained. "He was assigned to protect Atem in Egypt, and he became the Dark Magician so he could continue to protect him through the ages."

Umbra shook his head. "That's some devotion."

"I think all of us have at least one person we'd be willing to do anything for," Yugi said. "I hope so, anyway."

Umbra fell silent. He definitely felt that way about Lumis.

A roar startled them both back to the present.

"What was that?!" Umbra exclaimed.

Yugi gasped as the Duel Monster in question stepped into view. "Oh my gosh! It's a Giant Rex!"

The dinosaur roared again, fiercely showing all of its overly sharp teeth.

"I'm pretty sure T-Rexes don't have sails on their backs!" Umbra said. While he stared at the creature in horror, his and Yugi's Duel Monsters ran out in front of them to prepare for battle.

"I don't know why Pegasus called that one a Rex, but he did anyway," Yugi said. "And none of our monsters are powerful enough to stand up to it!"

Umbra snarled. "That Shadi character didn't explain any of the rules to us! What happens if we lose all of our Duel Monsters?!"

"We probably don't want to know!" Yugi frantically looked around for another of the Chinese boxes that held Duel Monsters. To his relief, he spotted one and touched it. A Maha Vailo stepped out.

"Well, that's just great!" Umbra threw his hands in the air. "He's too weak also!"

"If we could just find a magic card," Yugi moaned. "You'd think they'd have some here somewhere!"

The Maha Vailo looked around too. "Here's one," he announced, and grabbed a glowing sphere out of a tree.

"It talks?!" Umbra said in disbelief.

"He's a human Duel Monster, so why not?" Yugi smiled. "And alright! It's Mage Power! That's 500 points by itself, and 500 more because of Maha Vailo's special ability!"

The Giant Rex was quickly defeated with one last roar.

Umbra let out a shaking breath. "Okay. I'm guessing things are only going to get more dangerous from here."

"Probably," Yugi said in concern. "We'd know it wouldn't just be a walk in the park . . . er, forest."

"How much time do we have left?" Umbra asked.

Yugi took out the watch and opened it. "A little less than five hours."

"Then let's keep going. There aren't any more of those equip spells around here, are there?" Umbra studied the tree the Maha Vailo had visited.

"It doesn't look like it," Yugi said.

"Then we'd better pray nothing happens to Maha Vailo," Umbra said. "Right now, he's our best hope."

Yugi nodded in worried agreement.