Malkuth

This dream was not of his own making.

It was a dream of the past, but of a past not so distant as it typically was.

It was a past pertaining to the lands they slept in. To the lands many others had walked before, which were only barely distant from the borders of other regions.

And he could see before him, an army. An army preparing to come toward the vast stretches of a violent river, only for all but few to refuse to move on.

'A hundred fathoms!' they protested. 'The kings and armies of our enemy wait at the banks of the river for any who manage to survive even that!'

Their commander turned, and listened as the protests continued.

'They have too many soldiers and elephants- and we are tired. Let us go home, to our wives, our families.'

The commander on the white horse stared.

And in the end, after much thought, he agreed.

However in the night as they fled, he clutched beneath his cloak a pendant, which had been gifted to him as they claimed it in the spoils of war. A magnificent object of gold, from which point there had been no failure. He held it close, and in the darkness...

He vanished.

And with him, after witnessing such flight in the darkness, four others.

When Katsuya awoke, it was to quieted argument and the distant chirrups of native birds. His eyes opened to be met with clear sunlit skies, and the slick sands of what was likely a river bank rather than the lake as they'd suspected. He awoke, and, grabbing his head with a groan found himself jumping back as whomever was beside him did the same.

"NNYH-!"

"A-AAAH! I'm s-sorry!" Sen cried, fumbling over the first aid kit in her arms.

He stared, opening his mouth to speak only for the girl's brother to cut in first. "Don't even bother wasting supplies on him," Haga snorted, pulling his jacket down from where he'd evidently left it to hang and dry. "We don't know if we'll need them for something serious!"

Ah- "You act as though we're going to be here for more than a day," Yugi muttered back, the tone immediately identifying him as the 'other'.

Haga caught on to the 'swap' quite quickly as it seemed, and as a result he was pulling his jacket on and regarding the teen with a dark glare. "Tch! It's safer to be prepared than not at all," he remarked, "Though given your apparent origins, I'd hardly expect you to realize that..."

"APPARENT-!?"

"Oi oi, break it up!" Katsuya snapped, though his gaze fell on Haga rather than Yugi. "If we're stuck here we're stuck here! But fight'n t' th' teeth ain't gonna help w' that!" Briefly, his eyes moved back to Sen, the girl still trembling. "...Yer brother's righ' though," he went on, Haga turning with more than evident surprise.

"Wait. What?"

From where he and Shizuka had been salvaging things from the water, Ryuzaki nodded, the pair both wringing out their soaked clothes after dumping what bags they'd managed to recover. "The scratch on Jonouchi's face should heal up fine without a bandage," he explained, pulling his shirt back on despite the dampness. "And realistically, we really don't know where we are."

"All we know is that we're at a river, and that we're somewhere in India," Shizuka continued to Yugi, the duelist looking mildly confused with regard to the relevance of the statement. "India is much larger than Japan; and there's a lot more wildlife too. If we're not careful, this first aid kit could become useless even!"

"There are tigers here, Other me," the 'normal' Yugi went on, his other half briefly looking to the side where the spirit hovered. "And if I'm right, I think that the man-eating ones might live in India too."

"Hmmmmmm-"

"See? What did I tell you?" Haga snorted, his tone instantly cutting through the calm which 'Yugi' had been reverting to. "We can't just use the supplies without thinking!"

"A-Aah- I was only trying to help!" Sen protested.

"I wasn't talking about you."

"...You weren't?"

"Awfully odd statement to make, given that your sister was the one using those very supplies," 'Yugi' muttered, Haga flashing a sharp glare back.

"What was that, Mister 'two spirit'?"

He almost wondered if it wasn't his headache that was keeping him from simply joining in the fight really. As it was, watching the two bicker was an almost other-worldly experience, with Ryuzaki moving to stand beside him while wearing a similar expression. "Not quiet the same when you're not in on it, huh?" he remarked, implications of the phrase coming from experience all too impossible to miss.

"Yea... Could say tha'," Katsuya muttered, before rustling met his ears.

Immediately, the group went silent, turning on the sound with a snap. There were no words spoken, and the rustling faded. With their eyes held on the bushes and wilds before them, a small handful began to move forward, Katsuya in particular toeing over and preparing his fists for what could well be a threat. Closer, and still closer he moved, glancing to the side as Ryuzaki as well came toward the bushes, Yugi following behind. And with a short nod-

"D-DON'T HURT ME!"

"NYH-!" "H-HAHH-!" "WHAT THE FU-"

Before either of them could move, a man leaped out from the bushes, hands held before him in defense. "Don't hurt me!" he repeated, his Japanese chopped and heavily accented. "Don't!"

It was... "...We won' hurt yah," Katsuya eventually said, the other five more or less shocked silent. The man before them had clearly been through a bit of trouble, though perhaps not as much as they had. Though he certainly bore the signs of someone who'd been wandering aimlessly through wooded ground after all, he also showed the signs of a man who had prepared for it. He wore a thick, protective jacket over his clothes, bits of bramble sticking to the cloth as he attempted to regain his breath. The fairly choked form of Japanese he spoke made considerable sense as well, from looking at him; though they were both blond after all, Katsuya at least had the face of a Japanese teen- the man before them however was clearly European, likely of French, or perhaps Spanish descent, with dirty blond hair curling in slight waves as fearful blue eyes looked them over. "Oi. How much Japanese d' yah know?" he continued, the man before them swallowing.

"I-E-Enough to recognize it," he decided as an answer, slowly bringing his hands down in relief. "Hah... Of all the people to find, Japanese," he muttered under his breath, loose tones of some language other than English meeting his ears.

"Erm. Who are you though?" Shizuka asked, coming closer as the man collapsed to sit on the ground.

It took a few moments before he answered, exhausted as he clearly was. "Alex," he finally breathed, tilting his head back and then down in some vain attempt to calm himself. "Alexander Brisbane."

Ryuzaki's eyes seemed to light up at the name, the boy almost choking on his own words before speaking. "Brisbane?" he repeated, blinking rapidly. "As in, the archaeologist?"

"Eh? He knows him too?" Yugi remarked, the other Yugi passing the message along himself.

"Our grandfather also mentioned an 'Alexander'," he began, frowning.

"Your grandfather?"

"Tamae-ba said she was going on some kind of expedition with an 'Alexander Brisbane'," Ryuzaki went on, nodding. "Said he was an old friend."

As Alex looked from one to the other he seemed to squint, taking in their words and their faces both. "Tamae-ba... Tamae Ryuzaki?" he questioned, holding his hands out with a gesture. "Sugoroku Mutou?"

Both of them nodded, and the others regarded the information with wide and wary eyes. "Keichi, you said that Tamae-ba was going to be 'on-site' in India," Shizuka started with a swallow. "But, if this man is here..."

"Where were y' runnin' from?" Katsuya questioned stonily, looking to Alexander suspiciously. "...Why were y' runnin?" he added quickly after, Alexander briefly halting himself as he moved to answer.

"I- I ran for help," he started, pausing as he struggled to find the proper words for the language. "There was, an accident?" He frowned. "No, not accident, more..."

"An accident?" Yugi immediately questioned, snapping his other self from control as the spirit was blown out from the body.

"Yugi- We agreed to warn each other!" the spirit protested, going relatively unheard as Katsuya glanced back.

"Hey, what happened to my aunt?" Ryuzaki added in with a growl, the man before them choking on his words again.

"Now- Calm.. Calm down," Alex told them, "Calm! It was not an accident- they merely..." A bit of hand waving, and he tried one word. "...Energetic?"

The six stared. "What."

"Kie... Kie..."

"K-Kieru?" Sen offered, quiet stutter briefly causing the others to jump. "Th-They vanished?"

"Vanished!" Haga 'laughed', rolling his eyes. "Of course, because even your relatives can't just have normal accidents-"

"Stuff it Haga, b'fore I stuff it for yah."

The curtness of the tone was enough for the boy to silence, and their attentions were moved back to Alexander. The man seemed to be regarding most of them with an almost fond gaze, more particularly, the boys whom had questioned him so fiercely upon hearing his names. "You greatly resemble them," he observed with a nod. "...Yes- Very similar to them, especially you! Very 'Sugoroku'!"

"Erm-" Yugi flushed, scratching the side of his cheek whilst his other half absently floated above in the air. "T-Thanks?"

"Oi, get down fr'm there," Katsuya hissed to the spirit, 'Yugi' merely giving a flat shrug.

"I'm hardly doing anything wrong!"

"Tha' ain't th' point, get-"

"Where'd you leave my aunt?" Ryuzaki pressed, the archaeologist sputtering somewhat.

Beside him, Yugi nodded, as though only now recalling the severity of the situation. "Right- if they vanished, where did you last see them!"

"A-Ahhh... Well, there was a... A pocket..."

A few confused glances and they looked back, Alexander quickly realizing his mistake.

"Kakush- Ah! No, 'Kakusui'!" he corrected, "A pyramid!"

"A pyramid?"

"Aren' those Egypti'n..?" Katsuya murmured, a sharp huff coming from behind.

"Pyramids aren't unique to Egypt, don't be an idiot," Haga snapped, adjusting his glasses and continuing on. "Sloped and stepped pyramids have been built by a good number of cultures throughout history! South America, Greece, and India are among them," he snarled, "Not that I'd have expected you to know that I suppose!"

He sputtered, turning back on the boy with a snarl. "We- C'mon, th' hell did y' think I was gonna think 'f!"

"Exactly my point."

"WHAT W'S THA'-"

"Nihan!" Shizuka snapped, cutting the argument short. "We don't have time for this! ...Right, Keichi? Yugi-han?"

While Ryuzaki merely grunted awkwardly, Yugi nodded, speaking up and helping Alexander to his feet. "Shizuka-chan is right," he started, gripping the man's hand firmly as Alexander stood. "We need to move if we want to do something—Brisbane-san. Can you show us where the pyramid is?"

His hand released, Alexander swallowed, rubbing his hands over and looking altogether more nervous about the prospect of returning than he did his missing associates. "Erm... Well, yes—but I must warn you, there are many shi... shika..."

"...Deer..?" Shizuka offered confusedly, a few of the others holding their heads as Alex fumbled.

"You can just say 'trap' you know," Haga snorted, "We're not idiots."

"Ah." The man coughed, and in the awkward pause he left for them, the group more or less gathered what would be needed of their dwindling supplies.

"Look—whatever's there, we c'n deal w' it, alrigh'?" Katsuya insisted. "We've seen worse."

He was pretty sure he could hear Haga muttering something in response to that, but whatever he said was quieted by either his sister, or Ryuzaki, the two of them flashing some sort of look to the bespectacled boy.

As it were, they were apparently convincing enough that Alexander was finally relenting. With a slow nod, he adjusted the grip of his bag. "...Alright," he decided, closing his eyes for but a moment. "Follow me."

Alexander turned to lead them off through the bushes, and behind him, the six teens traded glances with each other. Perhaps it was simply the nerves left over from the plane crash, but now that the conversation was more properly over it felt as if there was something quite wrong about the situation. More wrong, at least, than two seasoned explorers and researchers vanishing without a trace while one escaped largely unharmed. More wrong than the relative silence that settled over them, broken only by the occasional muttered bit of conversation between siblings and old friends. More wrong, even, than what he could see in his mind right now.

"Hieroglyphs..?"

"Ugh!" Haga scowled from behind the blond, shaking his head. "Please, tell me you're not going to ponder Egyptian Pyramids in India again."

NGH- "I WASN' TALKIN' T' YAH!" Katsuya growled and looked back, continuing. "An' b'sides that, what's it matter to you?!"

"It matters that I have to listen to your idiocy, that's what."

"YOU DON' EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!"

"Oh please you're the one who heard 'Pyramid' and cried Egypt!"

"So what, tha' means right off I've gotta be-"

"Nihan! Katsugi-kun!" The boys snapped out of their argument, the others having turned to stare from where they'd stopped walking. Immediately as they did so, they realized where their bickering had taken them as they walked, eyes widening at the enormous stone structure not far from them. "...We're here."

That...now that was one hell of a pyramid...

"Hm! See," Haga snorted from behind him, "What did I tell you? Classic 'Indian Style'."

"Yea, since when th' hell were you an expert," Katsuya grumbled, Yugi merely muttering for his other self to keep out of it as he laughed uneasily.

Haga, somewhat surprisingly, did not completely answer that. "I look into where all of my beautiful insects live," he sighed, waving a hand. "If that includes glancing at pyramids, then that's that..!" Uh-huhhhhh...

Of course...

"A-Ah... um... i-if it's Indian," Sen piped up, the group finally passing some stone-work from around the structure, "Then...wh-why does it have those..?" ...Those?

Katsuya came over to stare at the stone, Alexander as well pausing to listen in. "AH-! Those'r hieroglyphs aren't they!?"

"WHAT!?"

While Haga loudly shouted off about how impossible it was, Alexander merely nodded, the group facing him as he spoke. "Yes—Sugoroku was just as confused, I think. We never found a reason for them," he admitted with a swallow, rubbing the back of his head. "...Sorry." Hahaaaa...

"Yeesh that's weird..."

Yugi nodded in agreement, the others moving to pass them as Alexander continued leading them up the pyramid. "Yea...normally you can blame trade routes or similar, but..."

"But?" The other Yugi ducked down, blinking. "What do you mean, 'but'?"

Another swallow. "Well...I don't think the language ever made it this far..."

"Mnn...but then how-"

"Awwww hell this is going to be worse than that Kyoto trip isn't it..." Ryuzaki's loud groaning snapped the boys from their hushed conversation, with Shizuka merely laughing quietly at the statement.

"K-Keichi, this is for your aunt..."

"I didn't say I wasn't going to do it anyway..!" Just that he wouldn't enjoy going up all these stairs.

"Watch your step," Alexander warned as he led them up the long stairway to the top. "Both up and down; we'll be going down a number of flights once inside as well."

Another groan from Ryuzaki, accompanied by a quick 'wOAH-!' as the teen slipped not even five seconds after. It was a minor fall, of course—he soon pulled himself up with muttered curses about 'jinxes', following after the others into the temple entry-way.

The stonework here, much as it had been outside, was again out of place. While well worn and aged, it appeared to bear the runes and carvings of a number of languages from beyond the region, both familiar and not. Despite the wear of time, one could have easily dusted everything down to present it as 'new', even, and as Alexander led them to the doorway, Katsuya felt himself shudder.

There was a...darkness, it felt like. Perhaps not 'darkness', his mind corrected, but rather, an anomaly. A corruption, a wound, something that 'wasn't right'. The steps within the doorway were long, thin, and narrow. They spiraled down with nothing but a stone wall tunnel surrounding them, and if it hadn't been for Alexander's flashlight and the flashlight which Sen had pulled from their emergency pack, it would have been pitch black. "Hihhhhh..." The blond shuddered, shaking his head as he looked around. This entire place was giving him the creeps—he half expected a mummy to jump out at them, and the thought alone sent shudders through his spine.

"Do you think I should go ahead?" the other Yugi asked, floating in the gap between Ryuzaki and Yugi. "It would be easy to check what awaits us."

Yugi shook his head. "Other Me, unless you have the eyes of an owl, you're not going to see anything."

The spirit of course merely pouted at that. "Nonsense!" he insisted. "If I can navigate Domino, then I-"

Any arguments concerning factors such as the light pollution within Domino's vicinity never came when 'Yugi' said this. "sH-IT!" Instead, there was a shout from behind, and without thinking, Katsuya pressed himself against the wall. Tumbling down the steps fell Ryuzaki, having tripped once more on the stone and even fallen through the other Yugi in the process, thankfully stopping before he crashed into anyone properly solid. "AUUGHH...It keeps happening..!"

"Keichi, maybe you should check your laces over..."

"Pff! If it's his laces, he deserves it!" snorted Haga, his friend scowling in response.

"Yea yea, lets see you live without your precious beetle buckles then," he grumbled. "Ughhh..."

Those ahead merely stared for a few moments, before turning back. "Hahhh...save it f'r later," Katsuya sighed. "We start tumblin around in th's place, who knows what's gonna happen..."

"T-Th...that's right," Sen murmured from the back, clutching her flashlight as she looked to Ryuzaki and swallowed. "A-Ano...do you n..need help..?"

Ryuzaki shook his head, pulling himself up. "Nahhh, I'm good—hey shine that light over here for a sec," he added, going after the laces anyway. "Thanks."

"N-N...no pro-problem..."

"This path is pretty narrow," Shizuka noted, looking around them in the dark. "Brisbane-han, just how did you end up separated from the others?"

Alexander merely pointed downward. "The stairs stop soon," he answered, the light shining over his face to cast a strange and eerie shadow over it. "From there, there were a number of komiji..." Eh?

"...Eh... 'pieces'?"

"Komichi, komichi!" Shizuka corrected, looking back to Alexander. "He means the path, neh?"

"Aah...yes," he decided in the end, turning back to walk as Ryuzaki finished with his laces. "There were three paths from the exit. Each of us took one—mine was a dead end," Alexander explained calmly, "And the one Tamae took, kill-"

"KILL!?"

Haga groaned, slapping a hand over his face at Katsuya's outburst as Yugi hurriedly helped the man with another language mix up. "Ahh! 'Kiru' is the wrong 'cut' here," he quickly warned. "You want 'hasamu'-To cut off, right?" he added, the man blinking as Yugi attempted some broken english to further the point.

Luckily it seemed that, whatever language Alexander spoke as his first one, English was still somewhere in there as his number of alternatives. "I see..." Mnn.

"Honestly," Haga muttered, rolling his eyes, "Why would he say 'kill', and in English..."

"What w's that..!"

"Nihan..."

Shizuka's warning tone met the air and the boys quieted, with Sen eyeing her brother uneasily as Yugi gestured for his friend to continue moving.

"Can't blame me f'r bein' careful," he muttered under his breath, scowling.

"There's careful," the other Yugi chuckled, "And then there's 'scared'."

MNH- "I AIN'T-!"

"The exit..!" At Yugi's outburst, what could have been a friendly argument was cut short, sparing the group of the likely unfriendly one that would have followed between Katsuya and Haga. Coming into the large stepped room however, their eyes quickly widened with alarm, the seven of them arranging themselves along the edge of what seemed to be a pit.

"E-Erm..." Sen swallowed, peering down as her brother eyed Alexander with evident distaste. "D-Do we really have to go th...this way..?"

Alexander nodded. "Unfortunately, we must—this is the only path to the others," he explained, pointing the flashlight toward the other 'gateways'. One was marked with what appeared to be a blue haze, a fog surrounded by spiked runes. Another, opposing it directly, was marked with spiral of sorts, in a pinkish red. Finally, there was what stood directly across from them—a symbol which appeared to represent the two combined, a sphere in violet, surrounded by writings of even more bizarre shape. "The path of Chaos is the one I took," Alexander continued on, leading them along the narrow path. "It was filled with a number of traps, and in the end there was nothing but a staircase and a platform ruin at the bottom. The path of Order," he noted, "Was similar—however it seemed to be based in riddles of some sort. As Tamae had been there first, they were already solved, so I was able to pass to the end with ease."

"And at the end?" Ryuzaki questioned, taking great care to stick to the walls as they moved.

He shook his head. "Nothing, again. There was another platform, and a number of runes, but I was unable to decipher them." Well that was just grand then, Katsuya thought to himself as they moved. Nothing but the middle path in that case...

"So then," Yugi murmured, his partner busy floating over and about the pit with curiosity, "The path that Grandpa took..."

"The Gate of Choice," Alexander tells him. "What runes we could decipher state clearly that where the others are meant to be 'paths', the one which we are taking now is meant to lead to a sort of challenge; something which would be used to determine the fate of its trespassers, I believe." He was sounding oddly well spoken now, Katsuya noted, frowning somewhat. His thoughts were cut short by another of Ryuzaki's uneasy attempts to make light of things, a few groans meeting the air.

"Hahaaa...hell of a 'pyramid scheme' going on here isn't it..." Pyramid...

...

AAAAAUGH. "Keiichi..." Shizuka sighed. "Really..?"

"It keeps me from looking down alright," he hissed back, Haga rolling his eyes from behind the teen whilst Sen merely gulped. "I'd offer an alternative, but I kinda figured people'd get even more pissed if I started reciting periods of prehistory!"

Shizuka had no response to that beyond yet another sigh, and so the gap of silence was taken by Sen. "A-Ano...I don't suppose some of us could wait at one of the path entrances instead," she asked hesitantly. "Rather than going all the way..."

"You could," Alexander replied, "However I wouldn't recommend it."

"Errrr..." Um? "...Because..?"

Yugi guessed the answer to Katsuya's question first, glancing back as they came to the first 'path' and started to move beyond it. "If my Grandpa and Ryuzaki-kun's aunt both vanished up ahead," he explained sternly, "Then there's no telling what could happen to us. If something does happen," he adds, "We need to be together to face it."

"Exactly," their guide confirmed. "More importantly, we don't know if the same thing could happen out here—better we stick together, than something happen to pick us off one by one." ...Again with the...interesting and more well-spoken phrasing, Katsuya noted, frowning as they approached the 'Gate of Choice'. From the side, the other Yugi floated back from the pit he'd inspected, a slight scowl on his face.

"Find anythin'?" Katsuya muttered, Yugi as well looking to the spirit expectantly.

"Hmph. Just spikes and dusty skulls," he grumbled, arms crossed. "This pyramid has no sense of creativity..." Ahahahahaaaa...

What the hell was he expecting down there, a puzzle bridge? "Other me, this isn't supposed to be 'fun'..." Yugi laughed nervously.

His other self did not answer, save to cross his arms somewhat childishly and grumble too quietly for anyone around him to hear.

"Here we are," they heard, looking forward as they finally came to steadier ground than the narrow footpath that had each of their hearts racing. Alexander looked forward to the gaping doorway before them, its entrance framed by pillars of carved stone—no, crystal, Katsuya realized as they moved toward them, his eyes skimming over each portion. One side for rugged, raw crystal, and the other for smooth, polished stone, the pair of them shimmering with such a light that one would think they themselves were glowing, rather than being illuminated by their weak flashlight bulb.

Much like the rest of the gates and walls, the archway before them was covered in runes as well—he couldn't read them, of course. A glance to the other-Yugi, who was muttering something to his double, said that the 'eldest' of them couldn't either—be it due to memory loss, or never having such a memory at all.

It was unnerving, to put such things plainly. The very sight of the pristine work left each of them silent with awe, the enormity of the gateway's chamber practically dwarfing the pyramid itself. As if they had stepped into the palms of a giant, accompanied by the very monsters carved along the runes beside them, there was the pressure of someone's gaze bearing down on the group. Eyes from nowhere, boring through their minds and souls, as if to impose judgment before whatever trial awaited them even occurred.

He could practically see them moving even...flickers of stone following along from behind, waiting for them to join their carvings for all eternity, where none could see-

"Are you coming?" Alexander asked from ahead, Katsua snapping from the mild stupor he'd fallen into. During the brief daze he'd apparently ceased all movement entirely, with the others already ahead and looking back with either annoyance, worry, or a mix of both.

The blond coughed, nodding. "Er...yea," he said, giving one last look to the gate above as he swallowed. An almost skull-like dragon's head, horned and winged, sat at the center of the gate...joined by light on one side, the dragon depicted displaying brilliant rays as it 'sang', and darkness on the other, its counterpart covered in wisps of smoke. "Yea," Katsuya repeated, "Righ' b'hind yah..."

The stairs down were simple—they entered a chamber even larger than the last, the floor sunken far beneath the other doorways that appeared to be available. It was a dead end, Katsuya quickly realized as he stepped down the stairs and peered around. "So this is where Grandpa went?" he could hear Yugi asking behind him, the blond walking further into the room as the others remained relatively close to the entrance. There was something about this room that was sending shivers up his spine—the sort he wanted to ignore, he noted darkly, but in the same way the sort that he never could.

Above them, the doorways available could have been entered. They appeared plain for the most part, save a single crest above each to connect its associations to the paths behind them. "That's right," Alexander was telling Yugi as Katsuya realized this, Haga telling Sen the same thing about the gateways as they whispered in hushed tones, "I found his headscarf near the center of the room." Ryuzaki was now asking about his aunt...Shizuka was countering that it was unlikely for someone to simply lose a headscarf as it was, and that for Alexander to have proof was fortunate enough...

As Katsuya looked to the centerpiece before him in the room however, he found those thoughts fading. This was where Yugi's grandpa had vanished, that was clear; at the foot of a great, stone 'map' it seemed, the very center of the work rising up into rings and spheres to steadily move up into the ceiling. Each one was different; the bottom, which he inspected now, was seemingly half frozen in ice, locked beneath some spell. It told of a world of relative age, one that seemed to even ring familiar to him he thought as he reached out for it. The other rings were different—some appeared to be cliff realms, others were depictions of a desert storm...and near the top, right before those which vanished completely into the darkness, there was nothing but hovering crystals and stones. "'ve seen this before," he muttered clearly, the others turning to look at him with a snap. As they realized how close he was, a chilling air came over the crowd, Yugi himself stepping forward with worried eyes.

"You've seen it?" Alexander remarked curiously. "But that's impossible! I've never seen anything like it!" he exclaimed, Ryuzaki rolling his eyes in turn. Even Haga seemed to be judging Alexander for the comment, despite who it was aimed toward—though perhaps, given the events of Christmas, such thoughts were justified.

"A-Um..." Sen swallowed, taking a step forward as well. "J-Jonouchi-san...n-not to be rude, but how have..."

Katsuya knelt down, and as he reached out toward what seemed to be carved stone cliffs, he could hear Yugi's other self shout in alarm. "JONOUCHI!" he screamed, just as worn fingertips brushed along the edge, "DON'T-!"

That was the most he heard before his hearing was blocked. Just as quickly as his hearing vanished, so did the sensation of touch. So did the sensation of sight, of smell, and even (he noticed when his tongue briefly numbed) the sensation of taste. As if someone had clipped him so hard on the back of the head that he'd passed out in an instant, hovering between the boundaries of life and death to the point where even the usually muffled cries of his friends calling for him to return could not be heard. On the light plus side, he supposed, the shuddering sensation in the back of his spine had vanished with the rest of his senses.

On the other, however, when he next awoke he would be met not only with the blinding light of the sun, but the sight of total isolation.

Gone.

Yugi stared, and so did the others, as in literally less than an instant, Jonouchi was gone. "He..."

"He just vanished..." Haga muttered, eyes widening with fear. "H...HOW DID HE-!?"

"What you think we know?!" Ryuzaki 'laughed', his own face forming a broken grin as he tried to comprehend what just happened. "I...It's always you guys isn't it!?" he shouted, turning to Yugi in that moment. "What the hell is that thing, a 'magic magnet'!?"

"It's feeling like one," the other Yugi muttered, his words unheard by the others in the room.

Yugi for his part merely stepped forward, choking on his own words while he looked over the map. Behind him, Shizuka was frozen in shock—Sen, of all the people to do so, was currently tapping her arm lightly, attempting to snap her from the daze, but for now, Yugi's thoughts could only barely consider his surroundings. He was gone...he was just, gone, Yugi realized, turning to Alexander with wide eyes. "B... Brisbane-san," he started, swallowing. "When you last came in here, when you found Grandpa's scarf-!"

Alexander did not respond, apparently caught in the same shock that Jonouchi's sister was in. "Hey," Haga snapped from the side, tone heavily laced with a bitter attitude. "Answer him why don't you! You got us in this mess!"

"K-Kats-Katsugi, t-tha-t's not entirely..."

"All that searching the first time around," Ryuzaki muttered, grin dropping bit by bit as he turned to Alexander himself, "You didn't think to maybe check out the great huge MAP in the middle of the room!?"

The frenchman swallowed at that. "I... I thought it was clear, I had..."

Yugi didn't respond to him, though he did flash him a look similar to the one his double had placed on the man from the moment Jonouchi vanished. "...That's not important," he decided firmly, stepping toward the map. "Jonouchi-kun...Jonouchi-kun just vanished into whatever is connected to this map—and it's likely that that's exactly where Grandpa, and where Ryuzaki-kun's Aunt have gone too!" he continued, Ryuzaki flinching as the girls slowly turned their eyes to Yugi and the map.

As he looked back to the others, Alexander swallowed, a curious glint in his eye despite the evident worry in his voice. "Now...now, Yugi," he started carefully, lowering his gaze. "Don't do anything rash..."

Perhaps he should have paid attention to just how odd Alexander sounded in that moment, but instead he gave everyone a small nod, his double moving to take his hand as he realized what they were to do. "Everyone—you do what you need," he told them. "Call for help...find someone to come get a way home..."

"O-Oiii, Yugi..."

"What the hell are you doing," Haga muttered, his friend sputtering while the girls themselves appeared to move closer. "Ngh—Sen-!"

"I'm going in after Jonouchi-kun!" Yugi announced. "I can't leave him behind, and I definitely can't leave my grandpa in there.

"...I'm coming too then!" The others turned as Shizuka rushed over, nodding. "Katsuya-nihan is my brother...I can't leave him in there, right?"

"O-OIII! SHIZ'KA-!"

The girl looked back with a stern glare, expression briefly locking Ryuzaki in place much to the other Yugi's evident interest. "Keichi—you go and get help, okay?" she demanded, her friend sputtering in response. "We'll look for Tamae-ba as well, so you don't have to worry!"

"Worry!?" he protested, "You're going into some sort of 'demon game' that you might never leave!"

"A-Ahhh... w-well, if I can he-help..."

It was Haga's turn to grow flustered at this, his glasses nearly falling from his face even. "You too!?"

Sen swallowed, but nonetheless managed an impressively confident nod, the gesture appearing so firm that Haga was struck silent for a full number of seconds. "Y-Yes...Yes!" she repeated, swallowing again. "I want t-to help!"

Yugi looked over his fellows for one last moment, and as he traded a final stare with his partner, nodded. "Alright," he decided. "Ryuzaki-kun, Haga-kun," he started, the latter of the two jumping. "Don't worry! I'll make sure everyone gets out safe!"

"You..." Ryuzaki appeared ready to protest, but in the end nodded. "Alright—but don't take too long..!"

"WHAT!?" Haga cried out shortly as his friend's elbow met his side. "NGHHH..."

"Unless you're going in after them..."

"But, SEN-!"

The girl merely smiled. "I-I'll be fine...h-honest..!" With that, she looked to Shizuka, taking her new friend's hand. "S-Shall we?"

As Shizuka nodded, Yugi jumped. "Ah, wait-!"

"Let's go!" In an instant just like with Jonouchi, they were gone, touching what appeared to be a wood. Yugi himself moved to face the same location, swallowing.

"There's a strong change that where we touch will determine where we go..." his other half murmured, the 'solid' one nodding.

"Right. You and Brisbane-san will get help, right?" he asked, looking toward Alexander as he said so. Alexander merely looked over the boy with a sort of fearful confusion, and reluctantly, Ryuzaki nodded and answered for the three.

"...Yea," he said, swallowing. "Just remember what I said! You-"

"You bring back my sister OR ELSE," Haga hissed, his tone coming out so violently that Ryuzaki found himself inching back a touch. "UNDERSTAND!?"

"...Well. That's-"

'Not now, other-me!' "...It's a promise," Yugi told them, turning back to the table. Now that he was about to go in, he could feel his stomach churn with unease, his swallowing doing nothing to change the feeling. "...I'll see you later!" He did not wait for an answer this time—gripping his partner's hand, the two of them both reached for the woods and let their fingertips meet with the stone, sensations torn from them both and leaving them with nothing but the other as they 'fell'. Nothing but themselves, and their thoughts as they waited to reawaken in whatever land they were falling for, such thoughts drifting considerably as they did so.

What a strange thing to remember, Yugi found himself thinking as his own thoughts began to fade from consciousness, the void between realms surrounding himself and his 'other' entirely. Strange...

Yet that did not change the fact that in those few moments, he could see nothing but sand in the back of his mind, as it was assailed by the voices from a long lost memory which wasn't even his own.

AN: Wow. Holy crap.

First off many endless apologies for the wait, everyone—I've received so many reviews over the past year and a bit, and I'm absolutely amazed and even awed that you're still hanging around waiting for me to finish these! Largely, the set up was the issue with this chapter...but really that's just making excuses. More than likely something will put a kink in the next chapter and the next, but with so many positive supporters and readers how could I possibly think to abandon this?!

No matter how long it takes, I'll always update, right until the end!

First off on the note of serious updates...

The Contest concerning the Doma Arc. What with having spent so long between updates this time around, I'm holding the contest longer than it was before; previous entries will still be considered, but until the next update, you can send in even more! What was this contest again?

The team will need to travel via Motor Home through the United States for this arc, and they need to get from San Fransisco to an unknown destination on the East Coast, preferrably near a Marine Base of some kind-that is to say, one with boats. If you have an idea of a route, send it in! Whether here, through the review/PM system, or even through my tumblr, which you'll find at 'usagisquared'.

Also on my tumblr are a good number of In-progress and completed 5Ds and Zexal fanfictions!

(There's even a short comic!) So be sure to check those out as well (and spread them, they could use the hits!). The 5Ds ones are currently rather scattered unfortunately, as I'm working on the directories again, but the Zexal ones—or at least enough that you can find their source tag—are all kept within the handy tag 'zexalfic' within the blog.

I'll also be offering art commissions soon! These include not only YGO style icons and artworks, but even custom sprites based on those from the most recent game, 'Clash Duel Carnival'! (This money goes toward paying off my student loans, so please consider..!)

Now then, onto...

Anonymous Review Responses

(I'll be covering reviews received VIA tumblr here as well!)

Universevisiting

Oh gosh! You don't come across as creepy at all; actually your review was what gave me the final push of motivation to get this chapter finished, so don't you dare feel bad okay? I'm so glad you took the time to send me the review you did...and I'm even happier that you've stuck with me this long, even with my stupid long pauses between updates!

Oh goodness...every word you've said about my writing has my face going red, thank you for everything, really! And look! You don't have to reread (yet); new update for you!

Trix

Hello Trix! I'm hoping you're still around to see this-I'm quite glad you're enjoying the story (or at least were at the point you reviewed ahah), and I hope you enjoy continued bits as well! Thank you very much for clearing up that note on the origin of the name 'Peachshipping' as well! I'd been wondering why that was, since her name has nothing to do with Peaches...It hadn't occurred to me that it would refer to her V-Pet from the earlier arcs!

Please enjoy the chapter above! (And the same goes to all others there, whether they review or not!)

Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that really, really, REALLY needs to work on consistency in her updates...

'Malkuth' is one of the ten Sephirot in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, more precisely, the Tenth. It sits at the bottom of the tree, and is the only one which does not emanate directly from God; rather, it emanates from God's creation; that which despite being the lowest, contains the potential to reach the highest.

Further connecting this chapter to that particular sephirot however, is the fact that it's associated with the Material plane, and as it's additionally connected to the element of Earth, can thus be the one closest to where everyone is for most of the chapter.

Because they sure as hell aren't on the material plane now.

Two-spirited!? Please, please, please, before chasing after me with all the ferocity of a flock of angered chickens, understand that this term (while seemingly offensive in context by way of Haga.) is not meant to be an insult! Two-spirit typically refers to a person whose body simultaneously manifests both a masculine and a feminine spirit, and is a term used within the Native American community. However, it can also be used more abstractly, indicating the presence of two contrasting human, or animal spirits. In that context, the term is rarely used now-

But who do we know who really does house two contrasting spirits within one body..?

Brisbane is a typically English or American Surname. Alexander is a relatively common European name in general.

AND YET HERE I AM MAKING HIM FRENCH- however in the defense of that, people move around a lot- it's not actually surprising that Alex could be French and yet... Have the name 'Brisbane' really, it's a matter of heritage and 'who got the baby' in the end.

This is the only chapter in which I get to have 'faltering-Japanese-Alexander', or at least for a while, so you can all deal with my puns...

'Kieru' is 'to vanish'. 'Kiei' however, means 'spirited', or 'energetic'.

Meanwhile 'Pyramid' is 'Kakusui', while 'Pocket' is 'Kakushi'!

And of course, while there are many ways to say 'Trap' (including of course, the obvious 'English' one, which each of the kids would have known anyway); in this case, Alexander was stumbling over 'shikajirai', or 'booby trap'. (Shika, the first bit, would have of course brought 'deer' to mind however.)

I WARNED YOU ABOUT THE STAIRS BRO.

IT KEEPS HAPPENING.

Language barrier strikes again! 'Komiji' was 'Komijin' or 'in very small pieces'. What Alexander meant was 'komichi', which means 'path' or 'lane'.

Another pun! AH! This one should be familiar to those who have watched 'KLK' (Kill La Kill); Kiru of course is often romanized to 'kill', enough that it's very easy for the group to assume that's the right word. However, it also means 'to cut', at least in the context of cloth.

As Yugi points out, it's an entirely inaccurate use of the word; the 'cut' that he wants is 'hasamu'.

...Oh dear. He appears to have stopped fudging his lines now...

Huhuhuhuhuuuuuuu...

Three gates? With a different form of runes each? AND A DIFFERENT COLOUR SUN?

Why. I couldn't possibly be referencing anything, nope...

Whaaat paths of chaos and order? Nahhhh I can't be- okay you caught me I'm referencing Zexal now shh.

Hey can you blame me? Kazuma himself states that there's 23 ruins relating to those realms! We only ever saw 7... Not to mention, there were things spotted within the ruin we see him explore, that are actually extremely relevant to this arc...

Apparently Keiichi Ryuzaki has a nervous tic now. Why didn't we see it before? Because those were high-speed scenarios, and moreover, they were technically very different ones as well; both are very dangerous, but for a lot of people, a fear of heights is very different from a fear of a killer in the vicinity. In the former case, he needed a way to keep focus...spitting out the first thing that comes to mind is how he does it. (This is clearer in things like Shizuka's flashbacks.)

What. Me reference Zexal AGAIN? ...NEVER... (Don't look at me it was a GOOD SERIES okay.)

You may be wondering what's going on with the boys here; both of them are very attached to those girls somehow, but they're just letting them go?! Fear not-they have plenty of justification, and you'll see that next chapter!

...Along with what the hell that Alexander guy is up to...

Fan Art and My Art Section

Nothing here, and nothing of note for the Musical section either! Things were just too spaced out, too busy...

Of course, anyone interested in my art in general is more than welcome to browse my tumblr; who knows, I'm bound to get some more Skin work out now that the ball is rolling again~!

Until then, that's all for now! Until next time, I hope you enjoyed this, and continue to enjoy the fanfic!