Thank you for these characters and their stories, Kazuki Takahashi. Requiescat in pace.

Chapter Seventeen

Dria

"Would you calm down already?" I slammed my fist into the wall, leaving behind a rather large hole in the otherwise stable wall.

"How can I calm down at a time like this? Pegasus is out there right now, hurting two of the most important people in my entire existence! But I can't do anything except sit here and wait!" I screamed angrily.

In the short time I had known him, Yugi had already wormed his way inside my heart, a task that normally took others many years to accomplish. The Pharaoh practically owned my heart, as he had since the day I had first seen him in my visions.

"You can just go after them you know." He had removed himself from the immediate vicinity, avoiding my anger as much as physically possible.

"To leave behind the other three, completely at the mercy of your torment? I'd rather -"

What would I rather do? Could I really just leave Yugi and the Pharaoh to Pegasus' games and continue to protect the others? Could I really leave the others, these kindred souls I held so dear, to the games of my shadow friend? If only I could be in two places at once.

Cloning was tricky stuff that was more trouble that it was worth. I could only be in control of one "person" at a time. When I was in control of one, the other just existed, void of any soul, easy bait for either humans or shadows. In my current situation, cloning would not be of any use.

"Go to him. I've already helped you more than I planned to. Why stop this streak now? Give Pegasus this as a present, would you?"

I cocked my head at his request and shouted in shock as his hand went flying across my face. I fell back in disbelief.

"You hit me. I mean, you actually hit me! You haven't done that in years."

He grinned wickedly and shrugged at my dismay. Seto and Grandpa came running down at the sound of my shout. My friend, since he was such a helpful shadow, vanished with one last statement.

"Have fun explaining this one, Dria." I groaned in annoyance. He had left me to explain not only my own shout, but also the destroyed wall in the living area.

"You want to do what?"

Seto, naturally, didn't like the idea of me going anywhere possibly dangerous. He also didn't like the idea of me actually fighting against Pegasus. I had told him I had learned to resist Papa's Eye over the years, so it would be harder for him to affect me. He was also still irritated over the fact that I was in love with who he thought was Yugi. Seto never did like losing anything to anyone.

"I have to, Seto. Pegasus will cause far too much destruction if he succeeds."

Seto hissed in annoyance at my persistence as he stormed back to the room he was currently sharing with Mokuba. Grandpa had remained silent during this exchange.

"You think I should stay too?"

He shook his head, "Clearly, you do as you see fit. I trust that you know, better than anyone here, what the right thing to do is. You have taken such good care of us already. Now, go and take care of my grandson. He's all I have, you know."

I smiled and hugged him fiercely. He was becoming more and more like Shimon every time I spoke with him. After my friend promised to ensure their safety four different ways and in five different languages, I headed out to find Yugi. My friend had told me Father had already pulled their duel into this realm, so they had to be around here somewhere.

The light from my necklace began to glow stronger and stronger with each passing minute, and a soprano hum began to fill the air: the two Items, the Puzzle and the Pendant, were calling one another. I smiled sadly. The last time this happened…I shook my head. What mattered was that it was happening now, and it would help me find the men I cared about.

'With Yugi gone from this world, he can no longer help me prevent Pegasus from reading minds.'

My head snapped around at the sound of that familiar voice. It was just his thoughts, but it meant he wasn't too far from here. Nothing, not even a thought, was secret in the Shadow Realm. There were no shadows to hide behind here, which I always thought was ironic. The place that seemed to be the easiest place to hide, due to all the shadows, was hard to hide in because of all the shadows. It was like trying to hide in a room with no furniture.

I picked up my speed as the thoughts grew more frequent and the voice got louder. I finally came upon a tiny bubble, inside which laid the tiny arena.

"Let's take a look," Pegasus' malicious laughter echoed off the darkness.

I stuck out my hand, expecting it to reappear in front of me or be prevented from entering. My eyes widened when my hand passed through. I looked down at my necklace, the only light piercing through this sea of darkness. It was opening a doorway for me through the bubble. I took a deep breath and walked right into the heat of the battle.

I saw the much duller, yet still powerful light coming from Papa's Eye. With one wave of my hand, I blocked his magic, concealing the card the Pharaoh now held.

"Impossible! My Millennium Eye, it's being blocked!"

I smirked. They couldn't see me yet, which was to my advantage. I heard the thoughts of Yugi's friends also banging against the walls of the dome, trying to force their way in. Turning the light of my Pendant towards their thoughts, I smiled widely as they flew in and surrounded the Pharaoh. His friends would be able to guard his mind as well because of the bond they shared.

"My Millennium powers are totally unstoppable!" His Eye was powerful, that was true. But unfortunately for him, it paled in comparison to my necklace. I appeared behind the Pharaoh, hopefully completely visible to Father.

"Dria! What are you doing here?"

I didn't answer him. I only smiled at the Pharaoh when his eyes widened in surprise at my appearance. Pegasus growled angrily, clearly feeling the same betrayal he had given to me.

"My detonator will win this duel for me, despite my daughter's treachery."

"Wrong! Now that she and Yugi's friends are with me on a whole new level, this is a whole new game!"

I smiled proudly at my Father's opponent. He hadn't lost his confidence and his ego hadn't deflated much. He still stood tall and proud, regardless of his situation. I watched in joy as he managed to save the Dark Magician and took control of Father's prized creature, Relinquished. I thought he had forgotten about the detonator for a moment, but then I realized he still had one more card out.

"I still have the card that took the last bit of Yugi's courage to play."

My eyes widened at his revelation. It was Dark Magic Ritual. Who would have guessed little Yugi would have that stashed away in his deck? There weren't that many copies of that card in the world. I only knew 3 other people who did, myself being one of them. I shook my head. That wasn't important at all right now. I had to make my disappointment and pain at Father's deceit clear. As the Pharaoh summoned his monster, my Pendant activated, and I joined forces with said monster. I became the Magician of Black Chaos.

"...but not before his final courageous act set the stage for the greatest magician in all of Duel Monsters."

Pegasus shouted in shock when he realized it was me, "But how? Why?"

I met his eyes coldly, "You tried to hurt my friends, and you planned all of this behind my back. Mother is gone, Pegasus, and no amount of ancient magic or modern technology will ever change that. Cecilia would be disappointed in us both for how we've acted, Father."

He closed his mouth and glared back at me. He had taken my bait. Now, he would be defeated by his own ambition. The brain control would expire in the next turn, but I trusted that the Pharaoh had a plan. I was completely willing to follow him to the end, no matter the outcome.

I turned to look at the Pharaoh. He was surprised to see me out there, dressed up as his magician. He turned his eyes to where I had been standing moments ago, only to snap his gaze back over to the field. I winked at him, "It's about time I actually gave you some help, after all the times you've helped me."

He opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed it; he had already remembered to not go against my wishes. He placed two cards face down, one being a monster. I sensed that he had placed Kuriboh next to me. What was he planning?

"Now Relinquished is back where he belongs with his daddy."

I scoffed. Who 'invented' Duel Monsters again, Father? Pegasus merged Relinquished with the Thousand Eyes Idol, making him even more dangerous. As much as I loved both of those monsters, their combined form still gave me the shivers. What was worse was that they knew it too. As I ignored the conversation the two duelists were having, Thousand Eyes Restrict grinned at me.

Interesting situation we're in, isn't it, my Lady?

I rolled my eyes and chose to ignore the beast. He had already taken on Father's state of mind, so there was no point in trying to reason with him. As was the case for nearly all my monsters, they were actually very kind and loveable on their own but could become something entirely different based on the psychological makeup of their duelist. I turned back to the Pharaoh again, catching his eyes. I gave him a small smile and nodded.

"This duel will be won by the card Yugi picked in his final act of courage!"

Pegasus only smiled. "Time to open your peepers!"

I raised my eyebrow. What kind of statement was that, Father? I raised my staff, acting like I would be able to stop Restrict's attack. I knew it was pointless, but I couldn't let the Pharaoh see that. Green lights shot out in all directions. I was trapped, frozen in my position, unable to attack or defend.

"Chaos Mage, come to me!"

I could only hope that Pharaoh's plan would work, or all hope would be lost. Suddenly, thousands upon thousands of Kuribohs began appearing. I cheered in my head as Restrict was forced to absorb all the Kuribohs, who went on to cover every single eye.

"You're about to see just as many explosions!"

When it was all over, I rubbed my eyes, which were a little star struck from all the explosions caused by Kuriboh. I raised my staff once more, preparing to strike my father for the final time.

"Attack with Chaos Scepter Blast."

I spun the staff in my hands before sending off my attack. I was absolutely showing off in front of the Pharaoh. I probably wouldn't be able to do this again, so I might as well seize the opportunity. I heard a low chuckle from behind me; he likely realized that I was having fun and trying to impress him.

When I finally made contact with the ground, I closed my eyes. I couldn't bear to watch my attack destroy my father. It was hard enough to attack him because I loved him dearly and I was angry with myself for not having noticed his pain sooner. But this was not what Cecelia would have wanted for us, so I had to defeat Pegasus for everyone's sake, my own and his included. Restrict was destroyed and with no attack points, and Father lost the duel.

Yugi's soul returned as soon as Father's life points hit zero, which meant it was time for me to return to my own body. The hologram of the Chaos Magician vanished as the duel ended, leaving me alone on the field. I darted back into the shadows, hoping to get away so I could return to my own body faster. I smiled as I heard Yugi's voice, but my heart broke at the sobs Father let out. He would head for his secret study as soon as the darkness faded. I had to get to him quickly before he could sink any further into his despair. I was the only one who could catch him now.

I opened my eyes as my spirit settled back down into my body in Yugi's room. I knew Seto, Mokuba, and Grandpa were all safe, seeing as they were about to be released from the shadows. Hopefully, nothing too bad had happened while I was away. I jumped out of bed, only to have my leg buckle under my weight once more. Here I thought sleep was supposed to help heal ailments. I ran my hand over the injury, my skin glowing as I did, and the fractured bone was finally repaired.

I ran outside and upstairs as quickly as I could. Something bad was going to happen, and I knew I had to get to Father first, before anything else happened to him. His mind was weak from the strain the shadows and the duel had forced on it. I sighed in relief when I finally reached his room. He was standing in front of Mother's portrait, completely unharmed. Three cards laid on his desk, three empty cards.

"Father?"

"How sweet of your daughter to come," I twisted my head back towards the window, my Pendant glowing once more.

"Bakura." I narrowed my eyes as I spoke his name. This was the evil spirit, the one who had caused me to suffer 5,000 years ago. I placed myself between the two men as Bakura walked towards Father.

"Get out of my way, little girl."

I stood firm, my necklace still glowing. He kept coming closer, only stopping when he was directly in front of me.

"I said, get out of my way." He raised his hand, moving to hit me.

I flicked my head up, sending him flying back into the wall. Unfortunately, my recent adventures in the Shadow Realm had left my body and mind exhausted like it had Pegasus. I forced my eyes to stay open, my energy almost completely drained. Bakura leaped forward after recovering and shoved me to the side, causing me to hit my head on the corner of the short wall in front of the stairs. Blood ran down my neck as I collapsed against the wall.

"Alexandria!" Pegasus cried out in fear as my body slumped over. Some of the blood dripped down over my face, clouding my vision.

"I'm sorry Father."

My world went black as Bakura approached my father.

Yugi

Joey and I tried to keep up with Tristian and Tea as they led us around the walls of Pegasus' castle. A sudden scream rang out through the courtyard. My heart froze, and then restarted when I realized it was too low to be a female scream.

"It sounded like Pegasus."

Three guards came down the stairs in front of us, Pegasus slumped over one of them. He looked almost lifeless. If it weren't for his low groans, I would have thought he was dead. Croquet was no help; he just brushed us off completely. I was suddenly worried. What if Pegasus hadn't released Grandpa and the others? What would I do then? More importantly, where was Dria?

We continued our journey upstairs. Pegasus had a small study tucked away up here. At first, I didn't notice it, but when I nearly slipped on the stone, I saw it. Blood had puddled on the floor. My heart froze again as my eyes traveled to the source.

"Dria!" I screamed in fright.

She was lying against the short wall, an awful wound on the side of her head, her eyes closed. She must have hit the corner of the wall; did someone push her? I dropped to my knees and tried to wake her up. She couldn't be dead, not her. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes. I tried to ask her what had happened calmly, but the words got caught in my throat and I couldn't make them understandable to anyone.

"Yugi, please calm down. I'm not dead yet."

I sighed in relief. But, if Croquet had just been here, how did he miss her? "Dria, what's going on?"

She sat up and winced in pain. Joey handed me part of the nearby curtain he had torn (he shrugged when I raised my eyebrow), suggesting I use it to clean off her head. I gently touched the side of her head, trying to dab the blood as lightly as possible. She hissed in pain at every touch, but otherwise didn't move to stop me.

When I found the actual wound, her hand covered mine. Her green eyes stared into mine, and a grateful smile spread over her lips. "Thank you." She took the blood-soaked curtain from my hand, pressed it against her head, and stood up.

"What happened here, Dria?"

Her eyes filled with sadness, "I couldn't protect him."