A/N: Hurray! Finally this chapter is done. XD Sorry the update took so long, I had four days of work followed by lots of familyness but I was still writing the while time! So much so that it took an entire day and a half to get it all from my notebook to my computer. I actually have half the next chapter too (well, it was originally gonna be one long chapter) but wanted to split them up so I could update sooner. So here you go, FINALLY and the next couple updates shouldn't take nearly as long.
Had it been this dark last time?
The shadows pulsed to the rhythm of a heartbeat, and Yugi felt eyes watching them, tracking their movements.
"We should probably stay close," he cautioned. "I don't think they like me very much."
Seto watched the shadows form maddening images, taunting him with scenes straight from a nightmare.
"I don't think they're very pleased with either of us." He replied with his usual confident smirk.
He wasn't about to leave Yugi's side for anything though.
Not here.
The small boy glowed with an unearthly aura of light in this place, and the shadows kept their distance from him.
They moved swiftly through the blackness, ignoring as best they could the scenes of torture and depravity. Ignoring the shadow's attempts to drive them mad.
Finally they came to a wall. It was an ugly pulsing thing, oozing, dark and angry. And it remembered Seto.
As they approached, the dark, ugly colors of old dried blood and sickly green poisons intensified and swirled together.
"It didn't look like this before." Yugi heard Seto mutter.
Everything seemed to be darker and nastier than before.
He didn't get a chance to say it, however, as vines with wicked thorny tips and sharp spikes tore from the wall and shot towards Seto.
Yugi stepped quickly in front of him and they shied away from his light.
He and Seto looked at each other, then at the wall.
"I don't think the shadows will allow me any farther, Yugi. Kisara is there, just on the other side of the wall."
Yugi nodded, his thoughts mirroring Seto's own.
"How long will it take to prepare a body for her?" He asked.
Seto blinked, caught slightly off guard by the question.
"Not very long at all, why?"
"I can take it from here and if you have a body ready, I'll have somewhere place her spirit when we return."
Seto nodded his understanding and quickly disappeared.
Leaving just Yugi.
And the wall.
Yugi stepped forward.
The wall challenged him, dared him to defy it.
He concentrated, summoning all of his light.
The glow around him intensified and he reached one hand toward the ugly, pulsing thing.
The wall shrieked in agony and pealed away from the brightness.
Yugi stepped forward and the wall parted around him.
He was light.
The darkness could not keep him out.
So dark
So alone
There had been light
There had been hope
But now the shadows pulsed
They were angry
And Kisara was afraid
They thickened possessively around her
She didn't understand
They had left her alone before
She was trapped
She couldn't leave
She had tried and failed
So why?
Why did they thicken around her so?
Why did they seek to claim her, possess her, control her?
They pulsed around her, pressed towards her and when she could no longer hold them back . . .
The shadows screamed.
They stopped their assault on her, distracted by something else.
She looked up and saw small cracks riddling the wall.
The vile thing that had stolen her freedom, that had trapped her here.
It was pealing away from something.
Light poured through the opening.
It was so bright, she hid her eyes afraid they would be blinded.
But the light was gentle.
She looked forward again to see a brilliant shining creature defying the darkness.
He smiled.
Sweet and warm and bright and she gasped in awe.
She had felt this before.
His was the presence that had sent shockwaves through the dark and given her hope.
And he had come for her.
To take her home.
She smiled,
laughed for pure joy,
and reached out to take the small, radiant boy's hand.
Mokuba shifted impatiently where he sat and wished for the hundredth time that he knew what was going on.
He had followed the conversation just fine until his brother had suddenly began speaking Egyptian and snarling at thin air. Then Yugi had suddenly changed, to Atemu he assumed.
He knew Atemu had taken over while dueling in the past and had actually seen him separate from Yugi during that final ceremonial battle but it was really kind of creepy to watch them switch up close like that.
And now Yugi and his brother had both gone to get Kisara. Well, they hadn't really gone anywhere, they were still in the room, hands locked and eyes closed while their spirits presumably walked through the shadow realm.
Ancient Egyptian spirits, magic, the shadow realm . . . man he hoped his teacher didn't make them write one of those 'what you did over summer vacation' papers. That could get awkward.
His thoughts scattered as Seto's head jerked up. Yugi still looked far away and Mokuba turned giving his brother an anxious, questioning look. Seto smiled at him. Really smiled.
"Yugi's bringing her." He replied quickly, searching the room for a good spot, then clearing the couch of extra pillows and random junk. He knelt beside it, eyes closed and began chanting in a soft lilting voice.
The Egyptian syllables rolled from his tongue and hung in the air making it thick and stuffy. The lights flickered and Mokuba suppressed a shudder. He wrapped his arms around himself and resisted the urge to make a frightened retreat. Instead, he watched in fascination as the thick air condensed into a misty human form. The shape slowly became more solid, more real though it remained frighteningly generic. It had no discernable features or characteristics, no sex, no color and, Mokuba realized with embarrassment, no clothes.
The sudden need to cover the naked figure dispersed the fear of the intense alien magics and he scrambled to find something to cover it. Fortunately there was one close by that Seto had knocked from the sofa and, doing his best not to look, he covered the now solid form.
The chanting became quieter and finally ceased. Seto opened tired, glassy eyes and looked down in confusion.
He was sure he had preformed the ritual correctly, every syllable perfect, every element woven with precision. Why did the body look so . . . wrong?
He didn't have time to speculate further as Yugi jerked awake, gasping for breath and panting heavily. His knees buckled and he would have fallen if Seto hadn't jumped up to steady him.
"Kisara?" He asked worriedly. Yugi nodded towards the couch. Seto hesitated, and looked back toward his disturbing creation.
And there she was. Replacing the odd looking body was a tall, slim girl, light blue hair framing a pale face with delicate, exotic features. She was just as he remembered. Beautiful. Perfect.
Her chest rose and fell as she breathed evenly and deeply as though asleep. He wasn't sure, but he guessed her soul was adjusting to its new home. He wanted so badly to touch her, make sure she was real, but he reminded himself that this was hardly the place. Instead, he turned to Yugi.
"Time to do the same for Atemu."
Yugi looked at him in surprise.
"But . . . right now? You look exhausted!"
Seto was exhausted but he wasn't about to admit it. He told himself he didn't want to leave a debt hanging over his head. In truth though, he was eager to thank his small rival. And get Kisara home where they could interact without an audience.
"Now or never, Yugi." He said more harshly than intended. He never had been good at thanking people.
Yugi's eyes widened and he nodded quickly.
"You might want to sit down, I'm not sure how this will affect you."
Yugi settled into one of the two recliners and Seto placed himself next to the other, beginning the ritual again. He watched intently as the body began to form and worried, as Seto and Mokuba had, at how oddly generic it was. He held his piece though, glancing at Kisara and taking comfort from the fact that the ritual had already worked once. So intent he was on watching the process and the weaving energies that he didn't even notice Mokuba hurriedly scavenging for another blanket.
Just before the body solidified fully, the chanting changed. It deepened, taking on a harsher, more guttural sound and Seto's hand shot in Yugi's direction, grabbing firmly at air. Yugi gasped slightly and leaned forward, clutching at his head. Seto jerked his arm forward, making a sharp pulling motion and the small boy cried out in pain. Seto then placed his hand, palm open, on the now solid body's forehead, the chanting loosing the dark quality, then and quieting as he came to the end of the ritual. Yugi collapsed back into the chair, breathing heavily and rubbing his temples to ease away the remaining ache.
Mokuba paid attention this time, watching as the body merged with the soul. The surrounding air blurred and shimmered then focused again, leaving the likeness of the Egyptian pharaoh behind. He looked back and forth between Atemu and Yugi. They still resembled each other, though not nearly as strongly as they had during the ceremonial duel. In fact, besides the hair and small stature they were only about as alike as a Japanese boy and Egyptian boy could get.
The chanting finally ceased and Seto collapsed into a sitting position. He maneuvered until his back was to the couch and drew his knees up, wrapping his arms around them.
Mokuba hovered worriedly. "Seto? Are you ok?"
" 'm fine." Came the muffled reply as Seto's eyelids drooped and his head lowered to rest on his forearms. "Just need to rest." Mokuba barely heard the last part of the reply it was whispered so softly and he noticed that his brother's breathing was already slowing into the rhythms of a light sleep.
Yugi finally soothed away most of his headache and surveyed the now crowded living room. He smiled at Kisara sleeping on the couch and Seto dozing next to her but his eyes lingered on Atemu, the smile turning warm and affectionate. Then he flushed bright red when he realized how very little Atemu, and Kisara for that matter, were wearing. He finally looked at Mokuba and saw his embarrassment reflected in the younger boy. He laughed and grinned at Seto's younger brother.
"C'mon, let's find these guys some clothes."
Mokuba nodded vigorously.
Ryou stirred.
He tasted Magic.
Smelled it actually.
It smelled like white.
It sounded like a feather.
More scents, tastes, sounds and smell joined it.
Red foam, green blood, blue salty clouds, yellow ants and purple sand.
They all swirled together and were gone.
Then swirled again with something dark.
Dark but not bad or sinister.
The sinister came afterwards.
From elsewhere.
The shadows that watched him suddenly shifted their focus.
He felt the eyes leave.
They no longer wanted him.
Some of the pressure on his mind lifted.
His thoughts cleared ever so slightly.
The overwhelming fear disappeared.
He was still frightened.
But it no longer paralyzed him.
He began to work up his courage to leave the room,
Curiosity lingering at the edge of his madness.
He wanted to see what had captured the shadows attention.
And what magic made such yummy flavors.
A/N: Hehe, poor Ryou. Crazy people are so much fun to write. Oh, btw, does anyone know if there's a name for shipping Seto and Kisara? I'm gonna change the description slightly and put up a proper summary in the beginning and was wondering if there's an official (or semi-official) name for the pairing already in existance.