Author's note: ehehe...this chapter took a while. Sorry 'bout that. Thank you for reviewing, Serafinamoon! Were the POVs not clear? oops. I know the transitions were weird in the fifth chapter. Also, thank you Mitsuko-chan for reviewing! Yep, they're definetly going to get themselves in trouble. And thank you Matt for beta reading this. Enjoy, everyone!

Chapter 7--Division 24

Yuugi slowly felt himself return to consciousness. He didn't know how long it had been since he had been thrown in here; it hardly seemed to matter. His body was still racked with pain, so he didn't move. He could hear people talking softly nearby.

"I'm tellin' you, it's true! I heard 'em talking!" one voice whispered excitedly. It sounded like a boy.

"Ah, c'mon. There's no way..." another voice, also male, replied, sounding skeptical.

"Is so! You guys believe me, right?" the first said back.

"If you say so, then I guess. But still..." a new voice put in--this time a serious-sounding girl.

"It can't be. How could something like that have happened?" the second boy said.

Their conversation was interrupted by the room's door being yanked open. Someone was roughly shoved inside as a harsh voice said, "That will teach you to run off, rat." Yuugi heard a thud as a body hit the floor. Whoever it was sat up, groaning slightly.

"Scat!? No...they caught you..." said the first boy Yuugi had heard. So...apparently Scat was here as well.

"Yeah...but at least I got to be free just once..." Scat sounded sad, and in pain; Yuugi supposed she must have been whipped as well, although she seemed to be in better condition than he was. "Hey--it's him!" Scat added, noticing him.

"Who?" a new voice asked.

"This guy I met when I broke out," Scat explained. "Hey, you awake?" she said to Yuugi.

Yuugi tried to sit up, but couldn't. "Yeah..." he whispered.

"Don't move yet," Scat said. "The longer you sit still, the faster that'll heal. It won't heal all the way, but it's better than nothin'."

"You guys're lucky," the girl Yuugi had heard before said. "We had a battle today, so they won't have anything for us to do till tomorrow. Sorry 'bout you getting caught, Scat."

"It's okay, Krin," Scat replied. "I tried my best...it just wasn't good enough. C'mon, we should do something about his back...you can die if you lose too much blood, can't you?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure...right, Datch?"

"Yeah," said the boy Yuugi had first heard speak. "I think I heard that once."

"What do you think we c'n do anyway?" the other boy asked boredly. "He's gonna die either way...what difference does it make?"

"We did it for you too, Brell!" Scat snapped at him.

Krin agreed. "If we don't all help each other survive, we'll all die that much sooner."

"We'll die either way," another boy said. "You know we will."

"Shut it, Frac," Scat muttered.

"Yeah," Datch agreed, "we have to help him."

"Do what you want, I don't care," Brell said, crawling into a corner of the room to take a nap. Frac also wandered off. The others, however, remained to help Yuugi, who was wondering if he would be paralyzed for life by this. His Guardian body, however, was far more efficient at repairing itself than an ordinary human's; he hadn't even lost feeling in his back. This was a good sign, but Yuugi had some trouble thinking of it that way with all the pain it was causing him.

Scat filled her cupped hands with some filthy water from a tray in one corner of the room. She carefully poured it onto Yuugi's back, having seen the Chaos Army's healers wash wounds but not knowing why they did it. Scat assumed that getting an injury wet made it either heal faster or hurt less; it never occurred to her that an injury should be kept clean.

"Just sit still for as long as you can...I think you'll be fine. They were tryin' to keep you alive, after all."

"What if he gets sick? Sometimes that happens after people get hurt, doesn't it?" Krin asked. She had seen people become ill when their wounds became infected, but she didn't know about germs or bacteria, and so thought that wounds themselves made you sick.

Scat shrugged. "Maybe they were just gettin' sick anyway. Why would getting hurt make you sick? It just makes you feel kinda tired and weak for a while, that's all."

Only slaves who either overcame whatever illnesses they contracted from an infected wound or managed to avoid getting sick survived long in the Chaos Army. The Overlord's troops considered this a good thing, as it guaranteed that only the strongest and hardiest slaves remained to work. Fortunately, Yuugi had a strong immune system by virtue of being a Guardian; a Guardian's powerful connection to their World gives their body abnormal levels of energy.

Yuugi didn't move or speak for several minutes. Then, feeling slightly better, he looked up at Scat, who sat next to him. "....thanks," he said softly.

Scat managed a small smile. "Don't bother...you helped me first."

A new person, someone Yuugi had neither seen nor heard before, crept from a shadowy corner. He or she made barely any noise as they approached. "Who'th tha', Thca'?"

Yuugi gasped, seeing the person at last. She looked almost human, but some of her limbs were in the wrong proportions, she had silvery-gray striped fur, pointed, triangular ears set almost on top of her head, and a fluffy tail. Her eyes were wide and slanted, and the tip of her nose had the same rough texture as a cat's. Yuugi could see pointed teeth poking out slightly from her thin-lipped mouth; it was these combined with the odd shape of her mouth that interfered with her speech. On her face and arm were tattooed numbers: 206 and 24206.

Scat patted the ground next to her, inviting the cat-girl to sit. "Hey, Skitter. This is a friend I met when I got out. He tried to stop them from taking me back, but they got both of us."

"Thath sorry, Thca'. Wha' we gonna call him?"

Scat thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I dunno...I guess he can pick."

Yuugi frowned, confused. "Scat...I already have a name..."

Scat stared at him, wondering if her friend was delirious. No slave had a name once they were captured. "They took your name...you don't have one anymore."

Yuugi shook his head weakly. "No...didn't take it...still have my name...it's...Yuugi...."

All of Division 24 sat up and shouted, "WHAT!?" They quickly came over to Yuugi, Scat, and Skitter. Datch, a slim, wiry boy with pale skin, dark hair, and small spines sticking out of his elbows and the bones of his spine, grinned broadly, an unusual expression for a slave; it stretched the 291 on his face. "I told you! I told you it was true! I heard 'em say there was a name they couldn' take, an' it was true!"

Brell, a stocky boy with brown hair, muddy-colored eyes, and 185 on his face, looked skeptical. "But you can't stop them from taking yer name. Nobody can."

Ordinarily, Yuugi would have shrugged, but at the moment he wanted to move his shoulders as little as possible. "It didn't work...I still have my name."

Frac shifted nervously, thin face drawn as he stared at Yuugi, pale green eyes alight with interest. "How come? What happen'd?" he asked, nervously rubbing the 24606 on his arm.

Yuugi took a deep breath, still feeling weak from loss of blood. "I don't know...I don't know what happened." Yuugi knew that his identity had remained intact, but he didn't know why.

"Oh..." Frac sat bad, looking disappointed. Suddenly, he sat up again. "Hey--you don't have a number!"

The slaves all looked, and saw that he was right. They hadn't noticed at first because it never occurred to them that Yuugi wouldn't have a number; they hadn't bothered to look for it. Now they saw that his face, although slightly bloody, was otherwise unmarred, as was his arm.

Scat figured out why after a moment. "I guess when they couldn't take your name, they forgot about giving you a number...they usually do them together."

Krin smiled. Looking at her, Yuugi shuddered; her whole face was covered with heavy scars, as though someone had scraped her skin off with a knife; the 349 on her face was slightly warped from the terrible injuries done to the skin it was tattooed on. She had dark brown hair and stormy blue eyes, now narrowed in vengeful happiness. "You have no number, you still have your name...it's everything they don't want."

Datch sighed sadly. "He'll prob'ly get one, though...they'll see it since the Lieutenant's inspecting."

Yuugi gasped, suddenly realizing what this meant. "Oh no--he'll recognize me!"

Brell snorted. "Why would the Lieutenant care about you?"

Yuugi shivered, thinking of the last time he and the Lieutenant had met. "He's looking for me...I don't know exactly why. Actually...the whole Chaos Army is looking for me. Vi--I mean Shang--said that the Overlord wants to capture me, but he didn't know why."

Frac laughed nervously. "That can't be...why would they want you?"

Datch looked thoughtful. "Wait...I think it's true. I heard them talking about looking for someone...a Summoner, I think. They said the person was a Guardian, too, but I'm not sure what they were talking about. Could it be him?"

Yuugi nodded. "If he finds me..." he couldn't bring himself to finish the thought.

Scat looked worried as well. "Yuugi, if you have a number there's a chance you can get by without being noticed, but...our numbers are tattoos. We can't give you a tattoo."

Krin shrugged. "We can scratch it in. This is underground, it's mostly just rock--there are little stones on the floor. Just use them."

Scat nodded. "I guess there's nothing else we can do. But...don't scratch it into his face. We can just paint that one on with some dirt or charcoal or something, we'll find some tomorrow."

"Why not?" Brell said harshly. "He won't last long anyway."

Scat glared at him, and he fell into a mulish silent. "We aren't giving him a scar on his face because someday he's going to get out of here, and he shouldn't have a number on his face his whole life."

The other slaves strongly disagreed with this. They knew full well that no one had ever successfully escaped from Chaos slavery--Scat herself had been recaptured.

"Scat, there's no way he's gettin' out. He'll die here like the rest of us, what's the difference if he has a number on his face?" Datch asked, shrugging sadly.

Scat shook her head. "No. They couldn't take his name, and they're not gonna keep him here. He'll get out--I just know it."

Skitter smiled hopefully. "Really, Thca'? He really ge' ou'?"

Scat nodded decisively. "He'll get out, Skitter. And so will we!"

No matter how difficult it was to believe this, the pitiful group was glad for any hope. They searched for any sharp stones to scratch Yuugi's number in with as Scat and Skitter explained more about the base to him.

"We'll give you 741--Luke just died, they won't have taken him out of the computer yet."

Yuugi sat up gingerly, wincing in pain. He wasn't sure how long ago he had gotten here, but he knew he must have been unconscious for several hours. Some of the wounds on his back were still leaking blood, but for the most part they had clotted over. As long as he stayed fairly still for a while, he would survive, although scars would most likely remain. "Isn't Luke a real name...?"

Scat shrugged. "I dunno...guess so. Luke was a transfer, he got sent from some place with a lot of water--he'd been an oar slave first, he said, rowing some thing called a boat. He said it traveled on the water, but I don't know. Anyway, he heard one of the overseers call his partner Luke, so he thought it'd be a good name.

You should prob'ly know a little about the base...we do different jobs, every division has a kind of job they do. We have 14, they're messengers and attendants and stuff like that...08, they're mostly something called demolition, it means they take stuff apart...03, they build stuff...we used to have 09 and 10, but they got put into one, 19, and they make little stuff, weapons, clothing, things like that...we used to have 06, trenchers like us, but they were wiped out...and there's us--24. We go into the battles and carry the weapons and supplies and stuff. That's why they always need knew ones for 24, we get killed a lot. When there's no battle, we get put in with the other divisions. They give us food and water one time every day...I think that's all you need to know. Just do what they tell you and keep quiet, and you'll have a chance of living longer. Oh, here are the others...hold out your arm."

Yuugi did so, closing his eyes; he didn't want to watch them carve a number into his skin with a piece of rock. He clenched his teeth, trying not to cry out at the pain. When they were finished, a bloody "24741" ran from his shoulder to his elbow on the outside of his arm.

"Okay...you should try to sleep a little now. We don't have long to rest normally, so we all gotta sleep while we can," Scat said, curling up on the floor. Skitter faithfully curled up next her, and the other slaves arrayed themselves around the room. Yuugi lay down on his stomach again, hoping that when he woke up he would be able to move normally.

I wish Yami was here, he thought as he fell asleep.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Gone?

What do they mean, gone? How can someone be just--gone? It doesn't work that way, it shouldn't, it can't...he can't be just--gone. How can I believe that my only living relative disappeared, apparently to another universe, and no one knows why or if he'll ever return? I can't believe that, I can't believe in other Worlds, and I can't believe that he's just missing. People don't just disappear.

Except that Yuugi has already disappeared...more than once. Except that that strange man--they called him Vice--shape-changed, and I know I didn't imagine it, as much I'd like to believe that I did. I know that pretending those other universes don't exist didn't bring my son back.

Yuugi's friends told me that he disappeared, and they didn't know where to or why. They said they were sure he'd be fine, that they'd fine him, no matter what it took. I don't know if they believe it, but if they don't know what happened or where he is, I don't know how they can possibly find him. But I won't destroy their hope. I know I did the same thing, after all.

It's easy to pretend that nothing is wrong, that everything is the way you always thought it was. It's easy to pretend that someone's coming back, even if you know they aren't missing, but dead. I know because I did that, when my son disappeared. I pushed it out of my mind that he was probably dead. Even now, it's hard for me to imagine that he's dead; to me, he's just...gone. There was never a funeral, never any closure.

So now that Yuugi has disappeared just like his father did, I find it just as hard to believe that anyone is going to find him. It's hard enough to believe that he's gone. How can you feel when someone is simply gone? Yuugi's friends said they don't know if he's in trouble, but I know he wouldn't worry them like that. He would have told them where he was going, or at least left a note.

That girl--Scat--she's gone too. Maybe they left together, or disappeared as it may be. They said she was from another World--a refugee. She seemed nice enough, if a little strange. Almost like those other strange people...the ones my son knew....

I never asked them who they were, or where they were from. To be honest, I didn't want to know; I had a feeling the answer would be something impossible. But I knew them--they were...nice people. Strange, yes, but they were nice people. They disappeared with my son; maybe they're dead too.

That man, Vice--he was one of them. He looks almost the same now as he did then; maybe a little older in his eyes. He used to have a friend, Gashiru they called him. All of them had their own strange names, and their own strange pasts, I suppose. They never spoke of it. And now...they never will.

Because they're gone, like my son is gone, like his wife is gone, like Scat is gone, like Yuugi is gone. They disappeared, no one knows to where. No one knew where my son went; no one knew how to find him. And now Tea, Joey, and Tristan tell me that Yuugi and their new friend Scat are gone, and they don't know where they are, or how to find them. They tell me it will be all right, but I can't help feeling that I may never see any of them again.

I never saw my son again, after all.