I've realized I've made a terrible mistake. Yuniko lives in the seventeenth century, but in the Ryouko's dairy I have written 1400. I am so sorry for this and I shall soon change these little mistakes and hope you'll all forgive me (I'd do it right now if the com I sit on would let me open the damn file).

Now, with no more to apolpgize for I leave you in the hands of my story -- (just don't forget to tell me what you think of it afterwards. It's no fun writing this without encoragement.)

Evil from north

Malin slowly healed and was able to walk again after about fifteen days. Yuniko was with her most of the time and kept her company. Atemu watched over the two with concern for the princess and her new friend.

Malin's complete family had been beheaded, one after one, with Mina last. First the prince had been unsure to kill the small girl, but after her behaviour and her cowardice he let her die the same death as the others. She had cried and begged him for mercy, but there was never any to gain anyway and the young girl lost her head crying.

Malin never asked where her family had gone to. Either she didn't want to know what had happened with them, or she thought they had left without her.

Once Malin was healed enough to walk she asked the other to share room with her. Malin instantly agreed, but she didn't want to sleep in an own bed. Atemu didn't say anything. The girls were young and he guessed Malin still had nightmares, and Yuniko had the specialty to make such go away.

"Princess," Malin said one night when the girls had gone to sleep.

"What is it?" Yuniko asked calmly.

"Will… can I stay with you always?"

The princess could see the fear and uncertainness in the other's eyes through the darkness. She remembered how she had asked almost the same question to her brother not too long ago.

"Of cause you can. Stay as long as you wish for and longer. I always wish to have you by my side."

Malin snuggled closer and rested her head on the treasure's chest. The former thief girl could hear the safe beating of the pure heart in there.

"Then I will stay with you always," she said right before she fell asleep.

In the middle of the night Yuniko jerked awake. There it was again, that feeling of wrongness. But it was far stronger this time.

Slowly, careful not to wake Malin up, she left the bed and walked over to her wide window to look outside. The sky was bright from the light of the full moon and the sparkling stars. Nothing looked out of place. She was about to leave her room when she felt eyes on her.

Determined to find out what was wrong Yuniko opened the window wide and let the night air in. It was cold, too cold even for the early season of spring. It felt like winter was coming once again.

Suddenly she locked eyes with him. A male being on the roof right in front of her room was watching her with interest. Not curiosity, but almost businesslike interest. All she could see was his midnight blue, sparkling eyes. But soon they were gone and the feeling of wrongness faded away.

"What is going on?" the princess whispered into the now almost warm night air.

Yami was totally out of it the next day in school. Jono tried absolutely everything, except dancing around naked in the middle of class. Duke, a friend from another class tried to take Yami back to the world with an extra spiced cookie, but he hadn't even noticed it since his mind was obviously not in his head. Jono's younger sister Shizuka tried to make him react my kissing his cheek, but he just looked at her for a second before he patted her head.

"Listen up class," Mr. Scot said when they all sat down to begin the history lesson. "Tomorrow there will be a new student in your class. Her name is Mazaki Anzu and I hope you will all welcome her politely. Mr. Atemu, You're responsible for her the closest days."

"Huh?"

Mr. Scot looked at the confused teen over his half-moon shaped glasses. He was a stern teacher, but he was also very fair. But now his eyes narrowed at Yami.

"Did you not hear what I said?" he asked as he looked straight into those dull purple eyes.

"Eh… what did you say?"

Jono mentally hit his forehead. Yami used to be the one who paid most attention on this class. He was really out of it.

"I said you will stay here after class and after school since you have detention for not paying attention," Scot said sternly.

"Oh," Yami nodded and his eyes went out of focus once again.

His student's far off look concerned Mr. Scot big time. But he wouldn't press it until after class.

When class was over and everyone packed up to leave Yami did the same, already forgotten that he had detention.

"Mr. Atemu," a voice said and Yami suddenly jerked out of his zoned out state. He turned to face his very serious teacher.

"Huh? Is something wrong Mr. Scot?" he asked stupidly.

Scot narrowed his eyes and Yami just blinked.

"You were to stay here after class, remember?"

Yami blinked again. "Huh? Why? When did you say that? Has… has something happened?"

The suspicion in Scot's eyes melted into concern. "I told you when this class started. And the last question is mine to ask. You have been totally out today. To be you it is a really unusual fact."

Yami nodded and went to sit down in front of his teacher. His teacher didn't know what had happened to Yugi. "I'm just… My brother is at the hospital for reasons unknown. He's… Dr Lou says he is in a state of dreaming, but he won't wake up."

Scot nodded at him to go on.

"Yugi means… everything to me, but yesterday the doc called and said that… Yugi is not my brother."

Yami fell silent and thought back at the night before once more, as he had done all day. But however many times he replayed the conversation they had had with Lou, it still didn't make any sense.

"Lou said that he had checked Yugi's and my blood many times with the same result. I don't know what to think anymore. He also said that Yugi's body is… not defect, but strange. He showed us the X-rays and brought others to compare. Yugi has never been at a hospital before, so his skeleton hasn't been discovered till now. Lou doesn't know if he has some disease in his bones but… nothing with Yugi's body is what it should be."

"You took a lifetime to discover that," Scot said quietly, making Yami stare wide-eyed at him. "You have not seen it, have you? I noticed, especially during P E, Yugi's way to move and his reflexes is indeed unusual, but you will never notice if you do not look. Have you not seen it when he winds his body? He is flexible like nothing I've ever seen, but that is not all. He can move his back in a way that is not possible. Are you sure you have never noticed such an obvious fact such as this?"

Yami opened and closed his moth, stunned. Of cause he had noticed that Yugi could move and twist his body strangely, but everyone thought it was because he was unusually agile. Of cause he had noticed Yugi's elegance when he walked and moved. Was that really so important in this issue?

"Your brother is special," Scot said and nodded at his own statement. "Be sure to take care of him. Go home now."

Yami just nodded and walked out, now with the new information buzzing in his head like a nest of bees.

Scot sat still in his chair, staring after Yami's back.

"I know you have noticed, my prince," he mumbled to the empty chair where Yami had been just moments ago. "But now, just as then, you close your eyes to what you do not want to see, do you not? You must open your eyes. There is no other way to see what is happening, and what has happened."

Scot closed his eyes with a deep wrinkle between his eyes. "Look at her for real. Why are you closing your eyes at the sight of her?"

Atemu sat on his throne, resting his head on his fist with his eyes closed in thought. Yuniko had talked to him and his father two days ago about something that was wrong. She hadn't been able to tell them what, but she had been truly concerned. She told them that first time she felt it was in the northern forest three weeks ago. That time she hadn't had time to tell them, and with Malin there the princess's attention had been focused on her. But two days ago she had felt it again.

"Your majesty?"

Atemu opened his eyes at the voice. "Father Scot," he acknowledged and stood. "I am glad you answered my call."

"Of cause. His majesty said it is a very serious matter."

Atemu nodded in gratefulness. Father Scot was a priest and one of his most loyal friends. He wasn't an old, boring storyteller scolding children. He was only in his middle ages with strawberry blond hair and playful eyes, dressed in the higher ranked priests' traditional robes.

"My sister has told me there is something wrong, but she can not tell what. I believed you knew anything about it, father."

A wrinkle appeared between the priest's eyes in a worried expression. He nodded slowly.

"I have, but not so strong it has concerned me. I can not decide from where it comes either."

Atemu shook his head in disappointment. He had really hoped Scot could help him. "Sister said it comes from north, maybe even beyond the woods and outside our kingdom's lines. The land beyond ours is unknown after all."

"And for a very good reason, your majesty," Scot said seriously. "According to the ancient scripts the land north of yours are the land of the undead. My great grandfather tried to travel there, but when he came back he said nothing about it. After his death I found his dairy where he wrote about the darkness and a castle watching over it from a cliff. My great grandfather was not the man to imagine things. Neither was he a man to cover such a thing to the royal family if not for very good reasons."

Atemu frowned in concern. "Do you know what kind of creatures inhabits the north land, father?"

"No, your majesty. There is nothing that unseals that mystery. I will once again search though the holy library for answers. Be patient my prince. Your beloved sister will warn you if this strangeness repeats itself."

"Thank you father. You may go."

Scot nodded and bowed before he left the castle. He was greatly concerned about this new matter. He hadn't lied to the prince, but he hadn't told him about the real reason for his concern either. The princess should know nothing of the north lands, not the prince either for that matter. The king himself had ordered that right before Atemu was born.

But the prince couldn't feel the aura of evil that was awakening in the north. That the princess could was very unnerving. It could mean she was in great danger.

Yuniko's sleep was disturbed by dreams that night. She tossed restlessly in her bed and whimpered every once in a while. She saw eyes and strange shadows. They were filled with evil, something the pure princess couldn't stand to look at. But one pair of eyes was the same from the night she had awoken from the strangeness in the air, something she now knew was evil. She hadn't felt it before, so to her it was strange and most of all hostile. Those eyes looked about ready to swallow her whole.

She didn't know what awoke her when her eyes finally snapped open. She lay on her back with Malin not too far away. The former spy really was a heavy sleeper.

But when she sighed and relaxed, she felt it again. The evil, it was close, far too close.

Careful not to wake the other girl up Yuniko left the bed and dressed in a plain white dress and went outside.

"Princess?" the guard outside her door whispered in question. "You should not be outside at this time of night."

"Please stay here and see to Malin," the princess prayed. "Something is wrong and I have to talk to my brother."

Yuniko used her sad and worried puppy eyes and the guard had no choice but to obey the plea.

Once she was sure the guard wouldn't follow her, the princess took off running toward her brother's chamber the fastest she could. The closer she came the stronger the feeling of wrongness grew, and she didn't like it one bit.

The guard outside Atemu's door grabbed his sword when he heard the running footsteps coming his way. When the young princess appeared in the rays of moonlight that shone through the high windows he let go of his weapon once again, a frown on his face at the scared expression on the treasure's features. It didn't suit her.

"Open the door," she called loudly, making the sound of her scared voice echo throughout the hallway.

The guard was sure Atemu would be out of the door the same second the words left the princess's mouth, but nothing happened. He tried to open the supposed unlocked door, but it wouldn't move.

"Open the door!" Yuniko cried again as she closed the last distance between her and the guard.

Sounds were heard from the inside of Atemu's locked door, but they weren't the sounds that should be there. Yuniko started to push at the door with all her might.

"Brother! Brother, open the door! Please!" she yelled and the guard tried to help her push the door open.

Her voice and awoken a lot of people who lived in this part of the castle and doors all along the moonlit corridor was opened. The desperate cries also attracted the attention of many guards.

"Stay back, my princess," Samuel said and pushed her away from the door. He and two more guards started to throw themselves at the door to force it open.

Yuniko desperately wanted to help but was held back by one of the men from the council. She held his hand to support herself and jumped up and down from anxiousness.

"OPEN THE DOOR!" she yelled with the top of her lungs and the door flew open from a forceful blow of the three guards and they themselves fell in clumsily.

Yuniko was already released from the old man and ran over the guards to look for her brother.

The room was a disaster zone. The bed was broken and the sheets ripped and tainted with blood. Claw marks was visible on the walls and everything else. The window was wide open and the thin curtains flattered in the cold night breeze.

The princess was at the window before anyone could stop her. She would have fallen from her own speed, hadn't a quick guard caught her. But he missed what Yuniko saw.

Above her she saw the shadow of a man with huge, batlike wings. His eyes locked with hers for a brief second and the young princess lost herself in those bottomless blue wells that were the man's eyes. But as she almost fell and the guard caught her she also saw the limp body the man carried with him. She recognized the form of her beloved brother's body and instantly guessed what had happened. The being silently took off to the endless sky.

"Brother," Yuniko called into the night after the creature. "BROTHER!"

The guard holding her suddenly let go and another, more familiar pair of arms held her back.

An inhuman, high-pitch scream made everyone inside shiver. Yuniko could hear words in the scream, but couldn't make them out. She saw the shadow of the being, almost invisible against the black sky, hit his wings down hard in anger before she turned around to the owner of the arms that held her.

"Brother?"

"It is okay sister," Atemu said and hugged her to his chest. "I used magic to transport myself back here."

Magic. It was a dangerous tool. Only the people of royalty knew how to use it correctly, but they had big respect for its untamed force and just used it in emergencies.

"You are bleeding," Yuniko said and pushed away. "We have to take you to Lisa."

The young princess took her brother's hand and started to pull him with her through the crowd and out the door. They met Lisa right outside. She looked as scared and anxious as the princess, and the prince had no choice but to follow the two females to Lisa's healing room.

Kanaka had broken up with her lover. Right now that wasn't what she needed. Yami hadn't eaten when they came home, just locked himself up in his room and refused to come out. At least that was what she guessed. She hadn't tried to talk to him. It was times like these she missed her husband the most. How could she not. He had been the one her two sons looked up to and taken care of them. She had always been the one standing at the side when the three of them played together. She had no hand with children after all.

"Please come back to me," she whispered where she sat at the kitchen table. "I can't make this on my own, I need your help."

She didn't notice when she fell asleep.

She was lying on a field in mid spring. In a distance she could see a white castle and a golden eagle floating not too far over her.

She stood at the sound of a horse nearing and turned to the sound. What she saw made her stunned. It was Yugi! Just… not Yugi.

The rider closed the distance between them and the two on the horseback looked down at her.

"I know you," Yugi said with a female voice. "You are the one who gave birth to me."

"She is your birth mother?" the other girl said, one with bronze coloured skin and milky blonde hair, dressed in a pair of Isabella white pants, purple tunic and grey cloak.

Yugi nodded and jumped down from the horseback. She could just stare at her supposed son. He was dressed in boots, loose white pants, blue tunic and deep blue cloak and the long, wavy hair pulled back in a low ponytail. But it was no boy who stood in front of her. It was a girl who looked not older than 13 years.

"What are you doing here? You have no place in my kingdom," Yugi said calmly.

"Y-Yugi… what do you mean? I'm your mother, of cause I have a place in your life."

Yugi closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again they were death serious.

"Kanaka, can you not see what I am? I am the princess of this land. You are the one who gave birth to me, yet you are not my real mother. Can you not see? This world is not meant for you."

She stared at the girl in front of her. She was a splitting image of Yugi, and by her talk it was someone alike Yugi. But this girl had a royalty in her way to move and talk. Yet, this was the one she gave birth to.

Another horse approached and the princess turned to the other rider. It was another very young man with blond hair and dark, blue eyes. He looked about fifteen years old.

"Princess, you should not be here. His majesty would be furious if he knew I let you this close to the northern woods."

"I know Kay. I just had to tell this woman off. After all, she is not part."

She stared at her supposed son. The princess elegantly sat on the horse again and moved it up her friend's side.

"Shall we go?"

Kay looked down at the woman with a suspicious frown before he nodded. The princess started off towards the castle, but Kay hesitated.

"Stay away from her," he said with a cold look at Kanaka. "I do not know who you are, but if you are to harm our beloved princess, I will never stop hunting you."

The man rode off after the two girls, leaving her with her tears.

With a gasp Kanaka lifted her head from the table.

'It was a dream? No, it couldn't be. But... if it wasn't, then… what did it mean? Yugi… did you and I dream the same dream for a moment? Did you bring me into your dream to tell me… I am… not…'

She couldn't finish the thought. She was proud to be Yugi's and Yami's mother. She was proud that she had been able to give birth to two children when the doctor had once said she could never have children of her own.

'Is this some kind of punishment from you? Do you want to punish me for… being a worthless mother?'

Hiccups stopped her train of thought and tears dropped down at the table in heavy drops.

In Yami's room he heard the sound of someone crying. First he ignored it, thinking it was his own mind crying out loud at him. But as he continued to listen, he realized it wasn't. He had never heard this crying before.

Yami didn't remember how he got there, but all of sudden he found himself embracing his mother's form, which shock from crying and hiccups. She was mumbling something inaudible to him and he could just stroke her hair gently.

"I'm so sorry," Kanaka finally managed to say so he heard. "I'm so sorry for being… such a bad mother." More hiccups and pitiful sobs followed.

Yami didn't understand what she meant. Of cause she wasn't a bad mother, she was just… She just didn't have the hand with them. She couldn't control them if he and Yugi would one day try to break loose from her. She was lucky both of them were as calm as they were.

"Will you… please give me another chance. I can make it up to you. I can be the mother you deserved. Please… I'm begging you."

Yami said nothing. Just continued to let his mother weep and hold him as her tears fell onto his chest.

"I love you," Kanaka whispered. "I love you both so much!"