A/N: I OWN NO PART YU GI OH 5DS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS!

Chapter 48: The Stars of Darkness

Era's POV

Yusei and I were flying through the sky one night, scouting for demons. It had been a week since Paradox was defeated and I knew Yusei was preparing himself for the World Racing Grand Prix. It was starting tomorrow and I was worried.

"Something wrong, Era?" Yusei asked me as we flew. I looked at him as we flew. He gave me a stern stare, silently saying that he knew something was wrong and wasn't going to let this go. "Remember, Era, you promised you would stop trying to hide stuff from me."

I sighed. "I know," I responded. "I'm… I'm worried, Yusei."

"About what?" Yusei asked as he pulled me to a hover. "The tournament?"

"Yes… No… I…" I stammered. I turned my eyes away from his gaze.

"Era, I can't read your mind like you could've when I was human," Yusei told me. "I can only guess what's wrong. You're the one who needs to explain it."

"I'm worried what'll happen in the tournament," I answered.

"Why?" Yusei asked.

"Yliaster is teamed up with the demons and they're the champions in this, so whoever gets through the tournament faces them," I replied. "And the day that's supposed to be is a… bad day for angels."

"What's that day? Why's it so bad?" Yusei asked.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him above the clouds. He gave me a confused look and I pointed to three, dim stars. "Those are what angels call the Stars of Darkness."

"Stars of Darkness?" Yusei repeated.

I nodded. "There have only been three kings and secondary kings in the history of demons and angels. The King of the Underworld is the one you destroyed. Then there was Secondary King Felacious, and finally, Secondary King Sidias. Each became what demons never become, a star. And two times have the demons gained significant amount of power for a full day," I stopped. He grabbed my hand and I looked at him. "And each one was after one of the Secondary Kings was killed."

"What're you saying, Era?" Yusei asked.

"When you look at our history, you see a trend," I told him. "Each secondary king was killed two thousand five hundred years apart. And when you killed the King of the Underworld, that was also a two thousand five hundred year difference since the last leader was killed. A total of nine months had passed between the times the secondary kings were killed and the time of demonic kind gained their power. And the day that we are supposed to face Yliaster, it will be the marking of the ninth month after the King of the Underworld was killed."

"How do they gain the power?" Yusei asked growing tense.

"The Stars of Darkness and our sun turn black for the day, though the sun is a bit after the Stars of Darkness," I explained shocking him. "And with that darkness gives the demons extra power and that power is horrible and deadly to angels. The demons before didn't have the kind of strength they had today. With the extra power, they could launch a full scale invasion of Earth and without other angels, take it over."

"That's not going to happen, Era," Yusei assured. "No angel will let it. And I know our lord won't either." I nodded but still seemed unconvinced. "Listen, Era…"

A growl from a demon cut him off and we turned as one came and grabbed me by the neck, flying farther away from Yusei and fast. I looked at a demon with a glare and used an attack spell in my hand and shot it into his chest the best I could with the digging pain in my neck.

The demon was thrown off of me and let go. I barely caught myself with my wings so I didn't fall as I coughed and tried to regain some breath. Yusei was quick to hover in front of me protectively while holding me behind him.

We both looked at the demon who glared at us. "Who are you?" Yusei asked as we both didn't recognize this demon.

"My name is Atyis," he stated. "And I am here to deliver a message from our king."

"Message?" I repeated.

"Guardian Angel of Light, you have little to comprehend of the danger that is coming. If you want to be able to at least survive the coming darkness, you will come to the Underworld and surrender yourself there. Or you will watch as all of angel kind and humankind are eradicated," Atyis told us. "That includes you, your child, and your mate. And if you fail to comply, your mate will be the first to die."

Yusei tensed along with myself. "I would love to see him try to take me on. Last time, I nearly killed him myself," he told the messenger. "If he thinks he can beat me to take Era, let him try. But he will never take Era back to the Underworld. That is something I can promise."

Suddenly, the demon disappeared in a dark, spark like flash. By the time I realized where he was, Atyis grabbed my arm and yanked me away from Yusei.

"You are coming with me," the demon said.

But in that moment of me yanking back, Yusei shot a strong attack spell at Atyis and hit his head. The demon was sent about five yards back and away from me, but not before I felt a piercing man shoot into my arm where his hand was.

I looked at my arm to see a mark on their written in a language that I didn't know. I tried to use a curse release spell to get it to leave by nothing would release me from the mark. Yusei came over and looked at it.

"That is a special curse only strong demons can master and its effect will kick in on the Day of Darkness," Atyis stated.

"Day of Darkness?" Yusei repeated seeming confused.

"He's meaning the day that the Stars of Darkness and our sun go dark," I told him. "What's the effect, Atyis?" The demon only laughed wickedly before disappearing.

Yusei immediately turned to my mark, tense. We both tried to use a curse release spell at the same time but that still did nothing.

"What is this thing?" Yusei wondered.

"There aren't any spells for demons that are said in our books like this. I'm not sure where that Atyis discovered the curse or what this curse is, but I have a bad feeling about it," I replied.

"We'll find a way to get it off you before the Day of Darkness, Era," Yusei assured me. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to you."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

"Because I promised the Crimson Dragon and you that I'll keep you safe," Yusei responded. "Alright?"

I sighed but nodded. "Alright," I agreed.

Yusei slowly touched his lips to mine and I gave in to the kiss. When he pulled back, he held my cheek while resting his head against mine. I closed my eyes in peace and moved my head to his chest.

"Why don't we get back to the garage and get some rest?" Yusei suggested.

I nodded slowly. "Alright," I agreed as we separated. Yusei grabbed my hand, though, and gently pulled me with him towards the garage.