THE DARK KNIGHT

When Yugi came to, his head throbbed. He slowly rose to his feet and looked around.

The village is gone. He thought. Then he saw a Dark Knight next to Rydia. Without thinking, he pulled the Dark Knight's sword from its sheath and pointed it to the man's neck. "Get away from her." He hissed.

The Dark Knight looked at Yugi. "You've grown a few feet since I last saw you, Yugi." He said, his voice sounding eerily familiar.

The small teen's amethyst eyes grew wide and his whole body trembled. He slowly lowered the sword. "How do you know my name?" He breathed.

"That's not important at the moment." Replied the Dark Knight. "Look at her. She's injured, and we need to get her someplace to rest. You care about her, right?"

Yugi looked at Rydia who was unconscious. He nodded a reply.

"Then trust me."

Yugi returned the Dark Knight's sword, lifted Rydia into his arms, and said, "Lead the way."

The Dark Knight nodded. He and the small teen hurried off.

Mrs. Muto walked with a staff in hand into the throne room to have a word with the Kind of Baron. She bowed respectfully. "My liege." She said.

"Hello." He replied. "You wished to have a word with m, correct?"

"Yes." Mrs. Muto answered. "You sent Cecil and Kain to deliver the Camelian Signet to the village Mist. Why?"

The King of Baron laughed. "The people of Mist know too much."

"Just as the people of Mysidia knew too much about their own crystal? Is that why you sent the Red Wings there to retrieve the Water Crystal?"

The King frowned. "You've spent too much time away."

Mrs. Muto balled a fist. "My liege, tell me, what is my name?"

He hesitated.

She grinned. "I knew it."

The King of Baron's eyes grew wide.

Mrs. Muto pointed towards him. "You are not the real King! You are an imposter!"

He narrowed his eyes. "Unfortunately, you will be unable to prove it. Baigan!"

Baigan charged into the room with a group of guards. "She's a traitor to the King!" He shouted. "Seize her!"

The guards complied.

Mrs. Muto struck each guard with her staff. Then she shouted, "Fira!"

The spell took affect and hit the guards and Baigan.

A few guards scrambled back up to their feet, charged, and grabbed her arms, holding her, and took away her staff. "Silent." Baigan said.

The spell took affect, and Mrs. Muto was unable to speak which prevented her from casting her spells.

She struggled to get free.

"Take her to the dungeon." Ordered the King. "I will decide what shall be done to her later."

The men took her away.

Mrs. Muto closed her eyes. Yugi. She thought. I hope you were not in Mist. But I still hope that you are alive and well. She opened her eyes, and they moistened. I'm sorry Yugi. This is my fault. I should have told you not to let go. My son. My only boy.

Yugi's head perked and he stopped.

The Dark Knight stopped and turned to him. "It's unwise to stop here." He explained. "We're in the Damcyan Desert. There are monsters here."

Yugi nodded. "Right." He muttered. "I'm sorry." He looked at Rydia who was still injured and unconscious. He caught up to the Dark Knight and continued to follow him. "Are you ever going to tell me who you are?"

The Dark Knight sighed. "It's still not important." He replied.

"It's important to me!" Yugi snapped.

The Dark Knight shook his head. "All I ask is that you let it go for the time being."

Yugi looked away, frustrated.

I can't believe he doesn't remember who I am. Thought the Dark Knight. What happened to him the night he left Baron?

Suddenly, a giant worm came out of the ground.

Yugi stared in terror. "What do we do?" He asked.

"For right now," said the Dark Knight, "we run."

Yugi nodded. He and the Dark Knight bolted with the sand worm chasing them. Dammit. He thought. He's taller than I am so his legs are longer than mine. Plus, I'm carrying Rydia.

The Dark Knight stopped, grabbed the collar of Yugi's shirt, and ran. "I wish you had more of a growth spurt!" He shouted.

Yugi stumbled along, trying to keep up and not to drop Rydia. He looked over his shoulder. "I think we lost it." He and the Dark Knight slowed and stopped. He panted.

"Well, we made it to where we needed to get to." The Dark Knight announced, pointed to a town by an oasis. "That's Kaipo. We just need to find the local inn."

Yugi nodded. Then he looked at Rydia. "You hear that?" He whispered. Then he smiled. You're going to be all right. He thought. "Let's go."

The sun was setting when the innkeeper looked up and saw Yugi and the Dark Knight. Then he spotted unconscious and injured Rydia. "Just go put her to bed." He said. "Forget about paying."

Yugi and the Dark Knight nodded. They hurried to the farthest bed and placed Rydia in it. Yugi threw the blanket over her and sat down beside her on the bed. The Dark Knight sat down in the bed next to the small teen and the girl.

Rydia moaned and opened her eyes. She smiled softly when she saw Yugi. When she saw the Dark Knight, her smile vanished and she glared in silent anger.

The small teen took the green haired girl's hand and gently squeezed it.

The Dark Knight sighed. "I'm sorry for what I've done." He apologized. "I don't expect you to forgive me. But at least allow me to protect you."

Rydia looked at Yugi.

The small teen smiled and nodded.

Rydia squeezed his hand as tears streamed from her eyes.

Yugi wiped away her tears. "It'll be alright." He whispered.

Rydia smiled softly and nodded.

Suddenly two soldiers and an officer came charging in.

Yugi and the Dark Knight shot to their feet.

"Hand over the girl." Ordered the officer.

"Not on your life." Yugi hissed.

"Under whose authority?" The Dark Knight demanded, ignoring the small teen.

"The King wants all Summoners annaliated." The officer said. "Now hand over the girl or perish."

Fear gripped Rydia. Her eyes pleaded for help.

"You're not taking her." Yugi snapped.

"Fine." The officer spat. "Then you two shall die where you stand. Attack!"

The Dark Knight drew his sword as the two soldiers charged. He swung and slashed.

The soldiers casted spells that did massive damage to the Dark Knight, but kept missing Yugi.

All poor Yugi could do was dodge. He saw the Dark Knight getting beaten and then he looked over at Rydia, still hurt and staring helplessly in horror. What can I do? He thought. I can't fight. But I want to protect Rydia. I'm useless. What can I do? Out of instinct, he shouted, "Thundera!" He felt magic rise rapidly inside of him.

The spell took effect and hit the soldiers and the officer. All three fell to the ground. The officer slowly rose to his feet and stared in horror at Yugi. Then the officer fled.

Once the magic fell, a dizziness washed over Yugi and fell to his knees, panting. Wh-What was that? He thought. I don't remember being able to do that.

The Dark Knight sheathed his sword, went over to the small teen, helped him to his feet, carried him to Rydia's bed, and set him down. "Are you all right Yugi?" He asked.

He nodded slowly. "I just don't know where that came from." He answered.

"Thank you." Said Rydia.

The Dark Knight and Yugi looked at her. "I thought you hated me." The Dark Knight replied.

Rydia smiled. "You and Yugi protected me."

A smile came across Yugi's lips.

The Dark Knight nodded. "I'm Cecil."

Yugi felt a spark of recognition in the back of his mind when he heard the Dark Knight's name.

Rydia nodded in return. "I'm Rydia."

"Esuna." A White Mage from Mysidia said.

Mrs. Muto smiled. "Thank you." She said.

The Black Mage in the cell next to them snorted. "I don't see why you're helping someone who stole our crystal." He hissed.

The White Mage looked at him. "That's enough." She said. "This woman had nothing to do with the robbery of our crystal. She stood against the King of Baron and is now here with us."

Mrs. Muto looked at the Black Mage. "Please try to understand." She begged. "My son is missing and it is possible he's out there somewhere. I believe in my son. I believe that he will come here and stop the King."

The Black Mage snorted.

Mrs. Muto looked up at the ceiling. Yugi. She thought. Be careful.

dragonchild247: I told you Yugi wouldn't die. Now that he knows who the Dark Knight is, he'll be having more memories come flooding back than he expected. But what will happen next? Who will they meet in their next adventure? (Again, if you've played Final Fantasy IV, you should know.) Find out in the next chapter! Please review.