Ranko: Okay, it is either really late at night or really early in the morning right now, I can't tell. All I feel is just plain tiredness.
Yuugi: Do you want to just answer reviews?
Ranko: (nods)
Yami: Ranko appreciates all the favorites, followers, and reviews, but unfortunately she cannot answer them all.
Phantom Luna: Oh, I'm pretty sure that Yuugi's friends already saw the doll, sorry that I didn't clarify that. =3 Anyway, what is "pasta?" (I have never watched Hetalia, though I really want to). Please continue to review!
princesshatley92: AH! You're so demanding! Yet, I cannot deny you! =3 Please continue to review!
Black Rose of Fire: Don't worry, I will probably cry too! Anyway, yeah, I love the Alice in Wonderland theme park too, I wish there really was one. Please continue to review!
Great: Thank you for the amazing review! You always make me feel so loved and then you make me feel like some writing god! Anyway, I liked the return to Yuugi's childhood last chapter too. I will answer any questions you have, I love to give answers! Please continue to review!
lilpopsplash: I have learned that most people have that problem, not knowing whether to live Yami or not. I will swear this though, by the end of the story, you will love Yami more than ever…even though he won't let Yuugi have fun in the amusement park. ;) Please continue to review!
TheGuardian'sOfTheFishbowl: Oh, you didn't have to make it funny! Thank you for saving that though, you make me feel so loved =D. I hope that you are feeling better now! Please continue to review!
Chesirecat23TheWantedOne: I swear, at this point, I love you (not in a creepy way) and your amazing reviews! Thank you for making me head bigger than it already is! Yami is a bitch, but that is why we love him! The Shadow Men are coming so hold your breath and wait a bit longer! I wish there was an Alice in Wonderland theme park, I am a Wonderland freak! The best conversations usually occur when someone gets off track. I love the Cheshire cat! I got you, I would like a plastic penny purse too. Thank you, thank you, thank you! From now on I am a review collector! Please continue to review!
Tyrant Dragon Knight: I wish my Yami was as obedient as yours. Thank you so much for the kind words, you are about to make me cry! Anyway, don't you just hate it when you get one of those balloon mallets and it deflates? Bummer. Anyway, do I really have to say it at this point? Hmm…I'll say it anyway. Please continue to review!
Yuugi: Your reviewers are weird…
Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing!
Ranko: Love you all! Enjoy!
-/-
Yuugi walked back down the familiar streets back to his house with his friends. Yuugi still had Yami's doll clenched tightly in his fist, staring into its eyes every few minutes. Mai was walking next to her cousin, looking at him worriedly and testing his reaction.
A few weeks ago, Yuugi would have been having a mental breakdown if something were to happen like this. Then Mai realized with a jolt that something like this has happened before, when Miho discovered the doll house and showed it to them Yuugi had freaked out.
Mai looked around the group of high school students, they all looked so much older than they should be. It was scary upsetting for Mai. How did all of this start? When the Shadow Game began? When Yuugi waited until the last minute to get a game for Jou's party? Maybe if Mai had never come back from college, this never would have happened.
Mai mentally snorted, even she knew that was a stupid thought. Whether she came or not, that wouldn't have made a difference. No, she was wrong again; if she hadn't been there for them they all would have probably died in the first Game.
But then again…
Mai stole another glance at her cousin who was currently looking the doll straight in the eye, looking defiant and tired and just plain pissed. Mai smiled softly; her little cousin has definitely proved that he could handle himself.
She looked ahead and saw the street to turn on to get back to the house just up ahead. She had a horrible feeling in her stomach and it felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Mai knew that her cousin was going to have to be strong during this time, because she didn't know if she would live long enough to always be there for him.
"Mai….Mai, dear." Her grandfather called her name in a sweet voice, gently nudging her shoulder and brushing her hair behind her ear. "Mai, do you want to see your new cousin?"
Mai wondered what her grandpa was talking about but then she remembered where she was. She was in the hospital. She had been there for hours waiting for her aunt to have a baby.
Mai held out her arms to show that she wanted her grandpa to carry her. Her grandpa laughed softly and picked the child up, groaning softly. He carried her to her aunt's room, dozing on and off throughout the whole walk. Finally they reached a small room and Mai was immediately alert when she heard the sound of quiet coos.
She looked up from her grandpa's shoulder and saw her aunt in a hospital bed with a small bundle in her arms that was the source of the cute coos. Mai's uncle was standing over her, smiling at the little bundle in her aunt's arms. He noticed Mai and his father there and beckoned them over.
Mai squirmed out of her grandpa's arms and wobbled over to her aunt. She leaned her weight against the bed to keep herself from falling and peaked over the edge. Her aunt was holding the bundle out to face her and wrapped in the blankets was a little person with beautiful amethyst eyes unlike anything Mai had seen.
"Mai, sweetheart, meet your cousin, Yuugi."
"Yuugi?" Mai repeated, testing the name on her lips; it felt nice. Yuugi looked at Mai and giggled.
"You'll protect Yuugi with everything you have, won't you, Mai?"
Mai touched the mark that was tattooed to her side when she was born that marked her as a Shadow Hunter. She nodded in response to her aunt's questions. "Forever and ever."
Mai touched the mark on her side that was no longer the sign of Shadow Hunters. It was a different tattoo and it told her she was going to die.
Mai was sleeping restlessly in the guest room at her grandpa's house. She had just carried Yuugi from Hokkaido to Domino city, taking the train, right after Yuugi's parents were taken away by the Shadow Men.
She was tossing and turning in her bed, moaning as if she were in pain and sweat plastered her golden blonde hair to her forehead.
She saw blood red eyes glow behind her close eye-lids; they invaded her dreams and stared at her coldly. She heard a quiet voice whisper something, but she couldn't hear it. Suddenly, she felt a deep burning sensation in her side that made her scream.
She sat up with a start, panting and looking around the dark room for the terrifying red eyes. She twisted around to see if anything was behind her and hissed in pain, her hands flying to her side where her Shadow Hunter tattoo was. The pain was unbearable and it made her see spots in her vision.
She lifted her night shirt gently and gasped at what she saw on her side. Instead of the pure mark of the Shadow Hunters tattooed on her side, there was a new mark that looked to be tattooed on with blood. It glowed like coals on her skin and below the mark was a number.
"G-grandpa…" she called weakly. "Grandpa!"
Mai remembered that horrible night when she was told by her grandpa that she was cursed by a Shadow Man and the number below the tattoo was the number of days she had left to live. She cried and it woke Yuugi up, coming in to the room, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
He saw her tattoo and grandpa had to seal off all of his memories and knowledge of Shadow Hunters, cutting off his tie to the Shadow Realm as well so he would never be cursed the same way Mai was.
Mai smiled humorlessly, fully realizing that Yuugi may not be cursed like she was but he was cursed. Yami…he was Yuugi's curse. And looking back on it now, Mai knew that the one who placed the curse on her was Yami. Vindictive bastard, he was even jealous of Mai then. He wanted Yuugi and Mai was the only one who stood in Yami's way.
It has always been Mai, because whether she was cursed to the life of the Shadow Realm, she would always keep her promise to her beloved aunt.
"Mai?" a voice called her name.
She snapped out of her thoughts and saw that Yuugi and all of his friends were standing on the front porch of Yuugi's house, waiting for Mai. Yuugi looked at his cousin worriedly and Mai quickly dawned a smile. "What is it, Yuugi?"
"We need the key to get in," Bakura answered for him.
Mai nodded and walked up the steps to get to the front door, pulling out the key, the shaking in her hands barely noticeable.
The number below her tattoo now was only a two.
Shadow Realm ~
Yami sat on a grand throne that was made out of black marble. He was like a spot of black ink on a clean piece of white paper. He chuckled to himself that he must also be like a drop of ink on Yuugi's clean life. Ironic, huh?
Before him was an ornate chess board that was decorated with carved wooden figures, made to look life like. Off on his side of the chess board, now off the board, were three figurines. He picked up one of them that looked like Ryou and twirled it around his fingers before putting it back down.
There was one figurine that he wanted badly to hold, but it was all the way on the other side of the board. A figurine with spiked hair and wide eyes. Yes, he would have to bring Yuugi to him if he wanted the boy. There was another piece that was close to being on Yami's side of the board.
His dear old friend Mai. He chuckled and swept his hand over the chessboard. The surface was now clear and he could see anything he wanted to see. Mai's face was shown to him. She looked tired and older than she actually was. If he remembers correctly, Mai only has two days to live until she is forced to live in the Shadow Realm for eternity.
Yami didn't want to put that curse on Mai all those years ago, but he had too; it was the only way to get Yuugi. Mai was standing in his way and he needed someone to get rid of her. He needed to destroy Yuugi's crutch so he would fall into Yami's arms.
Yami scowled whenever Yuugi came into the picture with Mai and looked to be talking to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Yami clenched his fist so tight that his nails penetrated his skin and he started to bleed. He didn't register the pain though.
Didn't Yuugi understand that everything he has done has been for love? That the reason he did all of this was to be with Yuugi? Why didn't Yuugi believe him when he told the boy he loved him? Yami needed Yuugi, the boy was much more important to him than Yuugi realizes.
Yami swept his hand over the surface again and it turned back into a chessboard. That didn't matter now, the last Game was about to begin and that would finely decide Yuugi's fate.
Yami smiled to himself; no matter what, he would win this Game and Yuugi would be his. No more playing nice.
Elsewhere ~
Yuugi stood in the middle of the hall of his old house, just staring down the stairs that would lead to the basement. His friends were standing behind him but they tried to look like their minds were preoccupied with something else so they weren't just staring at Yuugi.
Yuugi's legs couldn't seem to move. It was like someone had taken out the muscles and the bones. Yuugi didn't want to go down into that basement; he was truly afraid to take that first step down.
Yuugi had seen this place weeks ago, but it was just some sick illusion that Yami created as Yuugi's nightmare, he hadn't been down there for over ten years. Not since the day Mai found him huddled in the corning crying, his clothes torn up and his arms scratched as if he had been attacked by a cat.
The neighbors or Yuugi's family didn't know how to explain what happened to Yuugi. They made up the story that Yuugi's mom had died in an accident and Yuugi's dad had come home to beat Yuugi before committing suicide.
Yuugi's mom's side of the family never knew the world of Shadow Hunters and though Yuugi's parents to be lunatics, judging by their basement. The thought made Yuugi's blood boil but then again, by the way the basement looked, Yuugi wouldn't blame them.
Yuugi took one step down, and then another and another; his friends were one step behind him. Yuugi felt like he was stepping into some kind of weird dream when he took his first step into the basement. He felt like he wasn't really there, that he was still in the paper house. But the cold temperature of the room and the smell of dust told Yuugi this was not a dream.
There were protection charms lining the walls and stacked on every bookcase. It looked exactly the way it did in Yuugi's nightmare, except there was no phantom child wondering around the room with curious eyes and a wild imagination.
Yuugi heard Anzu draw in a surprised breath. "Whoa, will you look at this stuff?" Her fingers hovered over a jade pendant, as if she was afraid to touch it. "It's amazing, I'll bet some of this stuff is priceless."
Seto didn't have a problem touching this and that. He fingered a silver bell that Yuugi remembered holding when he was a child. "This is Chinese, you ring it to clear away evil spirits."
Bakura held up a bracelet of agate and gold beads. "This is Egyptian, seven strands, see? Malik told me that the number seven is sacred in Egypt." Then Bakura realized who he was talking about and put the bracelet down, reverting back to his depressed state.
Honda didn't seem to be as knowledgeable on all of these antiques as the rest of his friends but he recognized their worth. "All this stuff belongs in a museum."
Mai crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "Yeah, and I'm the security guard telling you not to touch anything."
Everyone drew their hands to their chest all at once.
Yuugi really wasn't paying attention, he was still too absorbed on where he was. He felt like he was suffocating on the stale air and the presence of magic. Yuugi had to shake himself out of his thoughts and remember the purpose of being here. He had to start searching.
He walked over to his parents' desk. In the dream, the illusion created by Yami, everything was neat and in order, all of the notebooks were where they needed to be—easy convenience for Yuugi. But in real life, nothing was on the desk, not even an ink stain.
"Maybe on the shelves," he said to himself.
He tilted his head to read the spine of the books. He remembered the notebook being bound with faded brown leather and thick…
"Found it!" he cried triumphantly, making his friends give him strange looks.
"Found what?" Anzu asked, walking over to her shorter friend.
Yuugi didn't answer her right away, he looked through the notebook and saw his mother's neat, cursive writing and his father's thick, black writing. He looked back to the bookshelf and his eyes widened at what he saw.
"Oh no, there's not just one journal," Yuugi said. Mai's eyes widened when she realized what her cousin was looking for. She snatched the notebook out of his hand and flipped to the front cover.
In her aunt's script was: Book 1 of 3
"There are three," Mai finished for her cousin.
"We'll have to read through them all," Yuugi said dejectedly.
Mai snapped the book she was holding shut and took the other two down from the bookshelf. "Well, we better get started then, we can't waste any time."
Yuugi looked at his cousin like she had grown a second head. "But Mai…"
"We'll take turns reading them," Mai said before Yuugi could finish. "Bakura, Honda, and I will read through them first. You, Anzu, and Seto should get some rest."
Yuugi didn't argue with his cousin, but he was worried about her. She seemed to be really on edge lately and he couldn't figure out why. Mai was usually a calm person.
He slept for three hours, thankfully with no visits from Yami in his dreams.
The journals were strange. Mai had covered and translated over half of the journal Yuugi was reading but it still didn't make any sense to him. The journals were almost like step-by-step instructions on how to call up the Shadow Men.
'Shadow Men,' Yuugi thought. 'They're like the boogie man, an ancient myth used to scare children. The monster in hiding in your closet, watching you from the shadows. I only wish that they were just a trick of the light and would go away when daylight comes.'
Yuugi looked up and stared at the closed closet door. Yuugi blinked and he could swear he saw the door standing wide open and before him was an endless plane of darkness and ice. The Shadow Realm.
Did his parents call the Shadow Men because they wanted their power? That is what Yami told him but then again, he should know by now that he shouldn't trust everything that Yami has told him.
He shook himself out of his thoughts and went back to reading. There was a phrase in his father's heavy black writing that caught Yuugi's eye.
I would become a Walker between Realms myself, if the danger wasn't so great. But I have studied different methods, some more dangerous than others, but the one I consider most likely to succeed would be the circle of runes.
'Runes…' Yuugi thought, his mind trying to register the word that has become so familiar to him lately.
"It's magic. A letter from a mystical alphabet, different ones used to serve different purposes. Very tricky business. Basically, don't be messing with it, if you don't understand it."
Yuugi suddenly shot to his feet, the journal and the papers that were on his lap scattering across the hard wooden floor. "I got it!" he cried triumphantly. He turned on his heel and ran up the stairs to the main floor of the house.
Anzu and Honda sat there in silence, blinking in confusion. They shared dumb-founded looks and shrugged at each before getting up and following Yuugi up the steps.
By the time to two got there, Mai, Seto and Bakura were already up and Yuugi was explaining to them his plan. Honda heard blood come from Yuugi's mouth and he went stark white; this couldn't be good.
"So we just have to carve theses runes on a door," Yuugi re-explained when they were back down in the basement with a kitchen knife. "Then we stain them and say their names to charge them with power, and then we open the door."
Seto just stared at Yuugi, cupping his chin with his fingers as he thought for a moment. "And this will get us to the Shadow Realm."
"Hopefully," Yuugi said.
Seto's eyes widened and he immediately turned to Mai. She was the professional here, shouldn't she be taking care of this? Unfortunately for Seto, Mai didn't say a word and just listened to Yuugi.
"So what do we stain them with?" Bakura asked.
Yuugi shrugged casually. "Blood, what else?" Honda felt like he was going to be sick. It was obvious on his face and Yuugi noticed. "Don't worry, Honda, I'll take care of it." Yuugi began to pace as a thought formulated in his head. "We should probably use a smooth door, one that is good for drawing and carving. The door to the basement from the upstairs side should be good."
Yuugi was surprised how he was talking about this so easily.
"Are we really going to go through with this?" Honda asked. All of his friends threw him a look and Honda suddenly remembered why they were here; his right side felt empty without his best friend there. "Right…" he said weakly.
"I'm excited," Anzu said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Let's do this!" She ran up the basement stairs and waited there for her friends to catch up.
Yuugi stopped Mai before she could lift her foot to walk up. "Hey Mai, are you okay?" Yuugi asked.
Mai stood there for a moment, staring at her cousin blankly before putting on a goofy smile. "Of course I'm alright, Yuugi, why would you ask that?" Her words may have been sweet like honey but the way Mai jerked her arm out of Yuugi's grip made Yuugi feel uneasy.
"Um, no reason." He followed Mai up the stairs with the notebook tucked under his arm. Seto was holding a magic marker to mark the door first and Bakura held the kitchen knife to carve the outline in the door.
Mai snatched the book from Yuugi and began to recite instructions. "Okay, first you have to make two circles, one inside the other. You have to leave room between them for runes to go there."
Seto followed what Mai said and made two perfect circles with a good size ring for runes to be added on.
First was Dagaz, shaped like an hourglass on its side. It reminded Yuugi of the gambling rune that Yami used in the last Game. Dagaz represented twilight and dawn, when things are just changing.
Then Thurisaz, the thorn; it was shaped like a thorn sticking out of a stem.
Anzu made a comment on that room. A lot of old fairy tales had thorns in them If one gets pricked by a thorn or a spindle or a needled, then that person died, goes blind, or sleeps forever. Yuugi shivered at the morbidness.
Then there was Gebo. It stood for a lot of things: a gift, a sacrifice, death. It was shaped like an X.
Yuugi remembered drawing the rune of Nauthiz, a slanted X, on the closet door when he tricked Yami during the first Game. He still remembered that look of hurt and anger on his face when he realized what Yuugi had done.
Yuugi had a bad feeling about the Gebo rune. It stood for sacrifice. Something was going to happen, maybe not now but sometime in the future.
Next was Isa, the rune for the power of primal ice. It was just one straight line, up and down.
Kenaz, the torch, for primal fire; it was like an angle.
Raidho, for movement, traveling. For protection walking between the worlds. Shaped like an R.
Uruz, the ox…shaped like an upside down—
"I know what it looks like Mai," Seto snapped before Mai could finish her description. All of the friends stood in silence as Seto drew an upside-down U. They knew that rune; it was etched into their hearts. It was the rune that started this mess. They would never forget it; it was a painful reminder that their friends were stuck in the Shadow Realm and needed to be saved.
"So is that the last one?" Seto asked, almost in a whisper.
Mai nodded and Bakura began to carve out what Seto drew. Bakura made it look easier. His knife strokes were so precise as he made thick cuts but not too thick or deep. Yuugi was actually worried about how sharp the knife was, because the next time it would be used, it would be going through the flesh of his hand and not the wood of the door.
As Yuugi was worrying about how he would cut himself to get enough blood to trace the door, he barely noticed that Bakura sliced a clean cut across the meat of his thumb. By the time Yuugi realized what was happening, Bakura was outlining the carvings with crimson liquid.
His blood was as dark as Yami's eyes.
"Bakura!" Yuugi shrieked in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? Do you really think that I would let you cut yourself when you are terrified of anything sharp?"
Yuugi was touched that Bakura thought of him but was also upset that he had to do that for him.
Their end product was surprising good for amateurs and Yuugi felt a sudden rush when he realized how close he was to his friends and how close he was to punching Yami just like he promised.
"So what now?" Anzu asked after standing in silence for a few moments. "How does this work?"
"Well, the thing with runes is that whatever you've written will become true," Mai explained, "It's like when we drew out nightmares for the first Game. We drew a picture of what we were afraid of, and then the pictures came true. Runes are the same."
Yuugi twirled his ring around his finger. "Yami said something like that to me. When I put on the ring and said the words, I made my own fate, he said. The words came true when I said them."
"So we did the first two steps," Seto said. "Now all we have to do is charge the runes with power by saying their names out loud and then…"
"And then look out," Bakura said cheekily. "Alright, let's get this started." They grabbed all of their things before chanting anything; they didn't know what would happen when the runes were activated, they may not have time to do anything.
They all changed clothes and to say the least, they all looked silly. They looked like they were ready to go camping or hiking in winter, all bringing an extra pair of clothes in a small backpack. In a fanny pack attached to Yuugi's belt was a mini survival kit. And when Yuugi said mini, he meant mini. It all managed to fit in a tin cup and still had room for more.
They had no idea what they would be facing in the Shadow Realm so they wanted to be prepared.
They all stood in a line facing the door, all of their hands holding on to each other's tightly. They all turned to each other and gave individual nods. Mai tugged at Yuugi's hand and whispered, "You should do it."
Yuugi nodded and turned back to the blood stained door. He had the sudden feeling to let go and run out of the house and flee back to Domino. But he wouldn't do that, he wouldn't do that to his friends. Also, he really wanted to punch Yami in the jaw.
It was now or never, no backing out now. He had been through too much hell to just back out now and be a coward. He would not let all of their sacrifice, ever since the first Game, to end here.
Yuugi let go of Bakura's hand, who was to his left, and Mai's hand, who was to her right, and took the notebook from his backpack. Yuugi began to read the names.
"Dagaz." Rune of change. "Thurisaz." The thorn. "Gebo." For sacrifice. Yuugi's voice began to shake but he swallowed and continued with an even stronger voice, now as if he was talking to Yami. "Isa." Primal ice. "Kenaz." Primal fire. "Raidho." Traveling.
Then finally, the last rune in the circle. It was ironic that the rune that started it all would be the one that would make or break their fate. Yuugi took a deep breath. 'This is it,' he thought to himself.
Then in a choked whisper, he spoke, "Uruz."
"You invoked the rune of Uruz. You pierced the veil between worlds."
With the last word, the blood on the door glowed like red foil and there was a sudden large gust of wind through the room as the door flashed like a strobe light.
Shadow Realm ~
Yami's head snapped up from where it had been resting on his hand. His eyes widened as he stared at the chessboard in front of him. It began to glow. Yami stared in shock and awe; he didn't expect Yuugi to act so quickly.
Yami blinked and leaned back on his throne, smiling like a lion. "Game start."
-/-
Ranko: I like this chapter.
Yami: I finally made an appearance!
Ranko: Dude, it is only the third chapter, calm down. You're acting as if it has already been half of the story.
Yuugi: Tell Ranko what you thought about this chapter. What you liked, what you didn't like, constructive criticism. We love feedback!
Ranko: I really hope that I didn't overwhelm you all with so much information in one chapter! Please review!