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

Hey, guys! Sorry this took so long to get up. I had exams for school and then for some reason my account decided to not want to allow me to download chapters onto my document manager. So, yeah. I've been ridiculously busy and then my account decided to be stupid. So I've been unable to update anything. At least, it's up now and I am truly sorry it took so long. The other will come up as soon as I can.

Also, I would like to give a shout out, as promised, to Yukou Fukui. She is right and figured out the reference it was from first. Yes, it is from Star Wars. It is from the Clone Wars animated series if you didn't know, so nice job Yukou!

Now, back to the chapter that took so long to get up. I hope you like it!

Chapter 57: The Reluctance of Her Inner Self

Era's POV

I was flying around the night sky with Yusei, scouting for demons as usual. It had been a week since Primo had used his plan with his army of Ghosts. I looked down slightly. I was so confused about… myself. 'What have I become?' I thought.

"Era?" called Yusei's voice. It snapped me back to reality and I looked at my mate. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Yusei," I told him. "Don't worry about me."

"I will worry about you, Era. Especially with that face you were making a minute ago," Yusei retorted.

"What face was I making?" I asked.

"A sad and confused sort of face," Yusei answered. He gently grabbed my hand and pulled me to a hover. "Come on, Era. Tell me what's going on in your mind."

"It's nothing. Really," I responded.

"Era, you can't hide stuff from me," Yusei responded. "Especially after everything that's been happening."

"It's just…" I stopped and looked down. Yusei slowly pulled my face so I met his eyes. "I just… I don't know exactly what's happened to me since I met you. Especially after becoming your mate."

"What do you mean?" Yusei asked concerned.

"It's like I've gotten weaker," I answered. "I've become so reliant on you and I can't seem to get into any sort of trouble without you helping me. Before I met you, no matter what trouble I came into I would be able to get out. I could find a way to survive it and do things myself, without the need of anyone else. And now… Now it's like I don't have the strength to do anything alone. What's happened to the me I used to be? Can I really not do anything by myself anymore?"

"Era, just because you rely on someone, it doesn't mean you're not as strong as you once were," Yusei responded gently. "It just means you've grown accustomed to being stronger with someone around. The strong Era I first met has always been there. I still see her everyday."

"I… just don't think that's true, Yusei," I retorted. "I can't seem to do anything by myself anymore. An angel is supposed to be able to do anything by themselves, be able to get out of any situation by themselves. I can't do that. Not like I used to. Before, I could keep myself from going to the Shadow Realm when I lost to Marik when I shouldn't have been able to, just by using my powers. Before, I could get out of a demon cage on my own. I could do so many things by myself before I met you that I can't seem to do anymore." A tear fell down my face and I closed my eyes tight.

"Era, listen to me…" Yusei began.

"I can't keep relying on you, Yusei. If for some reason we separate and I get stuck in a situation, I can't wait and rely on a chance that you'll come and get me," I interrupted. "I need to learn to work on my own again."

"Era, what're you saying?" Yusei asked sternly.

I slowly activated a phase through and invisibility spell and flew off before Yusei could grab me again. I took a deep breath before activating a transport spell and finding my way to another place.

Yusei's POV

As soon as Era disappeared and I felt her arm leave my grasp, I immediately began to worry and tried to keep myself from panicking. I noticed a flash about fifty feet from me that quickly disappeared. I knew what that meant. I knew that spell. She went to another world and my locket wouldn't be able to track world to world issues.

"Era…" I muttered, trying to keep tears from falling.

"Ah, I see that your precious angel has finally left you," came a familiar voice that I was not in the mood to hear.

I flipped behind me to face demon king. "What do you want, Brehnam?" I asked angrily. "What have you done?"

"I haven't done much. It is simply one of the simple side effects of that little curse that was placed on the Guardian Angel," he answered.

"What does that mean? What side effect? To make her question herself?" I asked.

"It is a very special curse. One of its many side effects is that it makes the cursed angel question her relationship to her mate," Brehnam answered with a grin. "There is no specific way in which she will question her relationship, that is decided based on the angel and what they've been through."

"Brehnam…" I growled angrily. "What does is the final effect of the curse? What is its main purpose?"

"I would love to tell you. But I would love it so much more to make it a surprise," Brehnam replied frustrating me more. "Don't worry. I'll let Era stay free until the curse's effect takes place. After all, I want to see you suffer in shock and fear once it does. But we'll have to see if you can even find your mate first." He then disappeared.

"He's going pay one day," I muttered angrily. I took a deep breath. "I'll worry about him later, though. I need to find Era. And the best way for that is…" I brought out my locket and contacted Yue."

I was quick to get a response from her: "I'll look for her on the Angel Maps right away and let you know what I found as soon as I can." I sent back a thank you. I noticed the sun rising and sighed. The others would not like hearing about what happened with Era. This wasn't good.