"What happened?"
Yugi's lips thinned and he answered Atem, "I…I don't know."
Screams came from inside and Dartz joined in when he noticed Noah was missing. Kaiba came out shouting for Mokuba. Lydia who came out too, found Kris hiding in a snow fort she and Noah made beforehand. This whole scene became clear to the King and his council. The guardians, save Hiroto and Shizuka, were confused.
Atem and Seth acted quickly; in the blink of an eye they chanted a spell, which transported all of them, including Kaiba to Yugi's home.
"Yugi," said Atem, worriedly, "when we enter, do not be surprised if the house is strange, or there are missing items, okay?"
Atem led his wife inside. The others followed. The shop looked the same, however, Akefia and Marik inspected ahead in case of hidden beings. There were none, however on returning they had grim expressions.
"Grandpa?"
He's… Akefia placed his hand on Marik's shoulder. "Motou-sama is not here."
Silence.
Then a scream; Yugi could not believe some creature stole his only family. He pulled his hair until Atem calmed him.
"Yugi," he breathed, "I must tell you something."
Seth had Kaiba sit down, the CEO momentarily quiet for the freaks surrounding him. Everyone had shed their charms and bands to have more strength.
Atem had Yugi sit down on the loveseat with him. The boy was breathing hard and had cold sweat trickling his face. He was not in good shape.
Atem bit his lip and said, "As you have learned, the Shadow Realm gets souls sometimes. The Angels of Heaven come to get those souls trapped there and take them to Purgatory or Limbo. I,er, well our kind can enter Limbo without being dead. It is a halfway point of physical world and spiritual. What Seth has not told you about Limbo is that there are inhabitants living. Actually living," he waited for a response. Yugi had that determined look in his eye; he had seen it in duels and his studies. Atem took that as a good sign and continued the explanation.
"The creatures of Limbo are like what you saw tonight. They can change their form, but are not shape shifters like Kisara. Red is what you call an imaginary friend. He and his kind are made from the dreams, wants, ambition and wishes of children. They come walking into the world as fully grown children, unless the child desires a baby, and are nurtured by others. The creatures are also made of nightmares and fears. When the child is no longer a child and they lose their innocence, the creature receives fragments of the human's life, and depending on the life, they become functional or dangerous. Red is functional, as is Bloo. Lastly, when the human that created them dies, they live on, missing a part of them."
Still no reaction from Yugi, and he seemed worse. His eyes were sunken in and he had bags. Ishizu came to look at him. She gasped.
"What is it?"
"My King," Ishizu shook but Yugi held her hand.
"I-I think t-that R-r-r-red, did some…thing to me," Yugi huffed out the words, using his little strength.
Atem held him close and checked himself. He sensed no curse, incantation, or spell. He did feel Yugi's heart beat slowing, that was it. He stared into those amethyst eyes he loved so much, the boy was not hurt, but clearly something had been done. Something only those blasted creatures could fix.
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Seto watched as the man, Atem, took Yugi up to his room. He looked around the room. All these freaks were acting as if what that guy said made sense. It did, but Seto kept quiet. The man that could have been his twin was staring at him. The dark man had his eyes on Seto since they left the mansion. The woman standing next to him was also giving him a quizzical look. He kept his face in a scowl, but by the nonchalant attitude towards him, he knew it was failing.
"Kaiba-san," said the dark man.
Seto grunted.
"Are Yugi and your brother close?"
He nodded cautiously.
"Alright," the dark man whispered something to the woman. "Mokuba will be safe; he and the others are just being used as bait."
The man with aqua hair stood up, "This is not some game those bastards can play. Taking Prince Noah -"
"Be quiet, Dartz," yelled the dark man to the one named Dartz. "It has been an unfortunate event for all of us. Our future Queen is in jeopardy if what those things did is fatal!"
Dartz sat down. The dark man turned to Seto. He seemed scared as did the rest of the freaks.
"What is going on? Why are they all so worried for Yugi? Seto bit his lip and his scowl turned into aggravation and disbelief. "Wait…."
"Queen?"
The dark man looked at Seto, "Pardon?"
"You said…that Yugi is your "Queen?""
"Yes, King Atem married him a little less than two months prior to this disaster. The boy has been under my wing since, he is an excellent student."
The eyes of the CEO were bulging out. Yugi a Queen. Yugi married!
"That's bullshit!"
No, it isn't you damn jerk.
"What?! Who said that?"
Me.
Seto turned his head to see Marik standing across the room. The voice he heard had come from that direction, however Marik was a mute, he could not speak.
"What the hell are you freaks?"
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Yugi would not lie down, so Atem settled for cradling his wife in his arms. The boy's pale skin had a sickly tint to it and he still had cold sweat. The King did not know what was happening. He checked several times and all he could see was Yugi's slow heartbeat. The beat was not dangerous, but irregular.
He sat with Yugi on the bed, awaiting the instructions for the game that those creatures wanted; hopefully it would be before midnight.
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The outskirts of Domino held a forest with eight figures standing by, three of which were in a lion cage.
Red called his best fighters to make sure only the Angel and Kaiba got to the center of the maze that he and Wally transformed the trees' roots into; Bloo had her shot gun out. The shot gun she possessed was manufactured during the Civil War in America, with the trademark knife connected to the head, she had it since after the war ended and infused with her wild magic. The bullets could be navigated to the targets and reach higher ranges than a tank's fire. Also, if she ran out of bullets, the knife was a good substitute and the gun made a decent club.
Bloo changed into her beastly form, which was similar to her cousin's, except her fur was sky blue, her tail shorter, and her ears resembled a cross between a lamb and a German Shepard and the biggest difference were her knees did not bend backwards, but she had an extra pair of arms.
Next to her sat Wally, a yellow skinned red headed trickster, whose weapon was a cane that extended. Then Coco, a flightless bird lady, holding a large bola that had retractable spikes. Then it was Bloo's boyfriend, Crackers, who resembled an elf with dirty blond hair and green eyes. He was an archer and carried an array of daggers. His arrows were poisoned too, but he switched them with the ones that temporarily paralyzed the victim.
Together they planned to stall the guardians Yugi had and Red would take care of the Angel boy.
Midnight was approaching and the Leaders of the Shadow Realm had a curfew to keep.
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At midnight a collective sense of dread went through the room. All the elders could not stay; Kaiba had been briefed on what was going on and calmed for the most part. Dartz seethed in anger. He could not protect Noah long enough and those beasts stole him away. Akefia did not want to leave Ryou to the game of those creatures. Seth and Kisara were weary of the skills of the guardians. Lydia had fallen asleep with Kris in her arms.
Atem came down with Yugi at his side. The guardians had changed into their clothes from home and had their weapons with them. Yugi also donned jeans and a shirt.
"We'll be okay."
The King hugged his Little One tightly, "Yes."
The creatures would not harm the humans and children. That did not mean the game was easy; the Shadow Realm bound gathered and in a flash were gone.
A knock at the door startled everyone except Yugi. He opened it to find a map and compass with a note written in perfect cursive, "Enjoy the Maze."