Ahhhhhhh another difficult chapter ToT. It has been so long...

It's okay everyone, I'm surviving! I'm still in the explaining phase of chapters (though I'll probably never be done explaining...) so it will be a bit choppy. Hopefully the next one will run a lot more smoothly :3

That was an eventful day, something everyone had thought. Who knew something like a witch would attend their school? Sure, they had their fair share of crazy adventures and scenarios, but a witch? It seemed so farfetched.

'Aibou, you seemed preoccupied. Is it about what Suzuka said?'

Yugi internally shrugged. She knew of the other him, but he also knew of her. That would make sense, of course it would make sense. He had this whole other life as pharaoh.

While those thoughts occupied his mind, he couldn't help but notice how unfazed his other self was. After all, it was a witch who randomly appeared and spouted all this nonsense about war and magic. Not only that, but the fact that they knew each other. True, the spirit of the puzzle did reciprocate the understanding by adding on or even finishing her thoughts, however everything seemed just so crazy! Everything made sense yet nothing did! Was it supposed to be this way? It didn't help that he knew, or to better word it, felt that they were hiding something. If not the spirit, definitely the witch.

But it didn't matter anyways, the Pharaoh was vastly different than he was.

'Aibou?' Yami asked once more and caught the boy's attention. The boy stayed quiet for a moment.

"I'm curious," Yugi spoke out loud. "You say you don't know her, and I know in my heart you are not lying. How can you even..." he trailed off, not knowing what he even wanted to say. He sighed. "What do you know about her?"

There was a beat of silence.

'I'll be honest, I don't know.' This answer was expected, but quite disappointing. 'I know I knew her. I know she was more than someone I just knew. I know her past and even the reason why she is who she is,' Yugi waited for Yami to continue. 'Even though I know these things, they feel like such a distant memory that everything is fuzzy. I'd need something to help me remember. Which is why I don't really know anything, despite the fact that I know so much.' Once he finished, Yugi felt the feeling of confusion and almost guilt. He knew he wasn't lying, but he also knew the feeling of guilt of not being able to answer any questions.

"Was she really reincarnated more than once?" Yami looked at Yugi.

'Yes.' It was one word yet felt so heavy. 'She was reincarnated three times.' After hearing the tone in his voice, Yugi dropped the remainder of his questions and headed to bed.

The witch was absent the following day, something that left Yami in a quite puzzling mood. Of course, the rest of the gang didn't pay too much mind to it and went about their day.

"Hey guys!" A familiar voice brought their attention elsewhere.

"Bakura!" Yugi smiled and the others greeted the boy.

"Where were you yesterday? I thought we were going to walk together after school." The sad voice that Bakura used really worked up some guilt in the others, even if they knew he wasn't doing so on purpose.

Well...

"Oh, I'm really sorry. We had to do something yesterday, see-" Yugi started to explain but he felt Yami almost tug him away from the situation, a sensation only the two of them really understood. "I mean, we had to clean up a whole mess. Gosh it was so awful it took a long time, even with the gang." He glanced over at his friends, hoping they received the message. Luckily, they did.

"Yeah Bakura! You shoulda been there!" Jounouchi put an arm around the white haired boy and pulled him down. "Anyway, sorry we couldn't hang out with ya. We will soon."

"Oh, well-" the bell rang and each of them went for their seats, all except for the curious boy who resided in the millennium ring.

"So, why didn't you want us to mention Shio?" Anzu asked Yugi, who at this point was now Yami. Honda took a bite out of his bento and nodded in agreement to Anzu's question.

"Yeah, what was all that about?"

Yami took a second to formulate a response.

"I don't really know. All I do know is, the less people know of her, the better. Plus, if I were to mention her, I'd rather do so in a better setting other than a classroom full of students."

The gang agreed, reminded of the dangers of their situation. Anzu shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, it's not like we can keep this a secret forever, right?" She asked. Yami shrugged, not knowing if keeping the secret or exposing it would be any different.

"Who knows?"

"Ah!" Jounouchi shouted. "If only she were here!" The others seemed to have laughed at the sudden remark, but truly, they did feel what the blond was feeling. This whole situation was still fresh.

"Eh, it's okay, we'll see her tomorrow," Honda spoke, feeling like the gang was overthinking it. The other's felt reluctant to agree with Honda's statement. In one day, it was revealed that witches and demons existed. Sure, the millennium items were mysterious enough as is, but this? And a huge war to top it off? Crazy wasn't even half of it. While it would've been nice for the witch to be present, they had no choice but to wait like sitting ducks.

Unfortunately, she did not come to school the next day either.

It wasn't like him, but Yami started to get worried. Less worried about her, more so worried what took her. After much consideration, he asked Yugi if he could huddle up the group in the same classroom they had officially met the witch.

"How do you know she's not sick?" Jounouchi asked the same question Yugi thought.

"Witches don't get sick, they can't exactly get sick. They use magic so they can usually think of a spell to counter anything pathogenic. Unless it's a curse or something, it doesn't affect them," Yami explained.

"What if she's just busy?" Honda countered.

"That's usually not the case. Time doesn't exactly work with her the way you'd think. She has a," he took a moment to think of a word, "familiar that manipulates it. She named it Karu."

'Is that how she did that thing in the classroom before?' Yugi wondered. His partner confirmed his speculation with a nod.

"I just, something just feels wrong." Since the gang knew Yami wasn't exactly one to take a situation and dramatize it, they decided to play along.

"Okay, so we gotta find a witch who could be anywhere because she got them magical powers," Jounouchi ever so cleverly pointed out. "How da hell we gonna find her, let alone get to her?" Yami almost smiled as he remembered something. He was taught some spells himself. Now if only he could remember the words...

He stood up and took a breath. Everyone else took a step back. Yami raised a hand in front of him before saying a few words.

"Sehlehk mik vah."

The classroom immediately changed from a room with tables and chairs, to a beautiful hallway with velvet red carpets and gold accents and decor. As the gang inspected their surroundings, they concluded that they were either hallucinating or they somehow teleported, which oddly enough, would not have been the weirdest thing they went through.

"How da hell-"

"Everyone has the ability to chant spells, they just need to know how to utilize their mind. Witches and demons don't chant because they have a special kind of energy that can be used instead," Yami explained. Jounouchi raised a brow and stuttered on his own words, not knowing how to process the information given. Yami suddenly looked down the hallway. Something felt... well, he just felt something; he had to go there.

So he did.

Jounouchi was the first to follow, then Honda, then Anzu. Yami took a left, then a right, before going straight to a door which looked like every other door in these hallways. Yami put both hands on the door and pushed without thinking. The rest of the gang almost cursed him for suddenly opening a door that could have been a trap or something.

"Tell me!" a voice shot through. It was female, and coming from long haired woman who held a long thin sword. She wore what looked like a military outfit. In front of her, was a bloodied Shio in chains. "Oh," she looked at them. "Looks like we got company."

His blood ran hot. Shio was in chains, and for what? Shio looked at them before panicking.

"Don't hurt them! They don't belong in this mess!" The other woman stabbed her in the shoulder.

"Then let me see her." Yami suspected the one she was talking about was Suzuka and the one she was talking to was Kasari, not that it mattered much. Kasari spat in the woman's face.

"Bite me." As she wiped her face, she clenched her jaw out of frustration.

"Fine. Clearly hurting you isn't enough. What about your friends here?" She gestured to the group. Each of them took a step back before she raised her hand up high. Four silhouettes of animals emerged from behind her and she struck her hands down, signaling them to attack. Honda was mauled by a bear, Anzu was attacked by a bird, Jounouchi was attacked by a lion, and Yami was bitten by a snake.

"STOP!" Kasari screamed, not wanting to have them killed. "Unchain me and you can see her." The woman smiled.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" The chains on her wrists were undone and Kasari took a breath. She hunched her back and wings sprouted before changing color. As they dispersed, Suzuka was slowly getting up.

"God Zeia, I didn't know you missed me that much." She soothed her injuries and healed at the same time. She looked over at the group who were toggling a very fine line before looking back at the woman named Zeia. "Wanna give your captain a kiss?" She teased.

"You are NOT my captain,"

"Not anymore."

"And you never were." She pointed her sword to her chest. "Ever since you betrayed us, it has been my life's goal to kill you."

"Betray? You mean be a witch?" She waited to see if she possibly misunderstood. "Sure I mean dying as a demon, I have full control as to who and what I will be in the next life Zeia."

"I was your captain, and you will address me as such!" Suzuka sighed.

"The only reason why you were my captain was because I turned down the role," she appeared in front of her and grabbed her chin and pulled her close. "But the truth is, you still took orders from me, therefore, I was your captain." She smiled before Zeia attacked her, forcing her to take a step back. "Come on Zeia, you'll never surpass me."

The moment her final words escaped her lips, she was stabbed through her heart.

"I," Zeia started, speaking through her teeth, clearly angered by her words, "have made enormous strides since you died, and I will surpass you, no, I did surpass you. I'm better, stronger, more powerful than you." Zeia twisted the sword to create a larger wound. "Zera Furane, you are no longer my equal, and no longer my enemy." Suzuka chuckled.

"Really? Just a stab? Is that all I taught you?" A cough. "Zeia...?" She coughed again, this time with a considerable amount of blood. Zeia took a step closer and put a hand on her cheek.

"A special poison I concocted. It causes paralysis and other terrible side effects, even death." A victorious smile graced her lips before she laughed. "Proud of me yet, Zera?" A hand grabbed the sword and another at the handle where Zeia's hand resided. Now she was trapped and couldn't move. "Wait, how? You aren't supposed to move."

Now it was Suzuka's turn to laugh.

"Isn't the human body so interesting?" She tightened her grip and Zeia tried everything in her power to run away. This feeling was familiar, and she was terrified. "Humans grow an immunity to things when exposed to it multiple times."

She pulled the blade to bring her closer.

"Isn't it fascinating? After all, we were designed after humans." She looked over at the group who, despite being gravely injured, were watching the whole interaction. "Close your eyes." They followed her orders and once they did, they heard the sound of rain. "Okay, you can open them."

The room was now empty. There was no "Zeia".

Suzuka brushed her injuries away, at least, that's what it looked like, and tended to the others.

"What happened?" Anzu asked, despite knowing she didn't want to know the answer.

"Guess I can thank you guys," she ignored her question. "The seal broke." Yami looked up, grabbing his now healed arm, soothing the phantom pain away.

"What seal?" Honda asked, making sure Jounouchi was alright.

"The thing binding me to this pathetic body that I have to share," she shivered in disgust before she clutched her stomach and hunched over.

Before any of them could blink, there were two Shios.

"I didn't think you were serious about doing something so stupid," the one on the left scowled.

"Well I was tired of being bound to you for so long," said the right.

"And who's bright idea was it to just randomly seal yourself with something that clearly needs a vessel!"

The one on the right rolled her eyes before sighing. The one on the left just huffed before looking at the gang.

"Sorry about that," she smiled. "I hope you're not too hurt." Anzu simply stared. "Oh, I'm Kasari."

"Suzuka." The Shio on the right raised her hand to identify herself.

"What," Jounouchi started. "The actual-"

"Language," Anzu interrupted.

"-fudge nuggets happened?!" The rest of the gang shrugged seeing how it was somewhat appropriate.

"Ah before we do that, let's leave. I don't exactly want to stay in this place," Suzuka looked around. Ironically, she seemed rather pleased with her surroundings, but she did insist on leaving.

So they all left and found themselves back at the empty classroom.

"Okay," Yugi spoke now that he was separated from Yami again. "One more time?" Anzu got the gist of it thankfully, however poor Jounouchi, Honda, and Yugi were confused.

"Basically I realized I had an enemy and realized I could break my seal. But in order to break my seal I needed some sort of external force of some kind. I wasn't given the specifics of this spell so I don't know too much about it, anyways. Yeah. And then you guys came." Kasari was very obviously annoyed at Suzuka, but knowing how little power she had, she knew she couldn't actually be upset.

"I still can't believe I actually let you drag me into that stupid plan." Kasari huffed once again. "Never again will I willingly let myself be tortured at your expense."

"Hey now," Suzuka patted her shoulder. "I'm free! So now you'll never do it again." Yami shook his head as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He knew for a fact Suzuka knew that was not what Kasari's point was, but he also knew she was saying that to just get on her nerves.

"Suzuka-ze..." she sighed. In a way though, she was glad it happed sooner rather than later. She knew what the risks would've been had they stalled on breaking that seal.

"Okay," Honda sighed. "I think we got it." Yugi joined in as he felt quite exhausted. For some reason he was just so tired.

"I, I would really like to stay but..." Yugi stumbled a bit. "Goodness I'm so..."

"Yeah," Kasari spoke up. "You guys should rest. Especially you Yugi." Everyone looked up in confusion.

"Yami is using you as a vessel and since he used magic, it drained your energy a lot more than it's used to," Suzuka finished. "Go on everyone, I know you all had questions but I assure you we have the time."

Yami fused back with Yugi and took over for the time being.

"I'll see you tomorrow I guess," Yami greeted them both. They nodded their head as a response.

"Goodbye everyone!" Everyone bid their farewells and left.

.

.

.

"So when will you tell them about Pharoah?" Kasari asked. Suzuka simply stared at the desk in front of her.

"Some day."

Oh my goodness. Sorry I kind of rushed that end part there. I was so close to finishing chapter three. Anywho. I hope next chapter is better. See you all then!!

Author's note about the -ze part. It's supposed to be an honorific for witches.