A/N- Hey, guys! Sorry I took so long, but things just kept getting in the
way. I'm not going to go into details so you don't have to worry...^_^
Thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and thank you for being so patient with me! ^_^
It'sHardToBelieve: Thanks for everything and I'm glad that you are so understanding of the situation! ^_^
Sword Master Jeff: Thanks for telling me how to do italics! And thanx for reviewing! ^_^
LadyDeathStrike1: I'm glad you liked the cliffy and thanks for telling me about your story...I need to get caught up on that along with everybody else's since I disappeared for about a month...^_^
Una: Hey buddy! Tell me about it! I've got so much homework I usually can't think straight! And it's all (mostly) from ONE class!! O.O Of course! I would be boring if I just put... "They walked, and walked, and walked some more and then FINALLY made it to wherever they were going..." ^_~ Yeah, I like that necklace too...(hint: I'm wearing it right now...:P) Actually, I don't think it's a carabineer...*blushes profusely* I must seem like such a dork...=^_^=...Well, if it's so hard for me to end it there it must have been made doubly harder by the fact that it took me a month to update it, ne? If I actually manage to get it to work right by putting it on the web page and not loose anything I will most definitely inform you! Your sissor pic should be on it's way to you! I finished it Thur? And then something went wrong with my scanner, but I think I've fixed it now!
Nightlight5: Thank you! ^_^ I'm glad you think I've been doing so well! Your support means a lot!
hobbit13: ^_^ and I appriciate your criticism! It's helped me to improve and shown me what I need to work on! I'm glad you're my critic! Sorry, but puns are a part of writing and there's no escape from it...*wears your same smug look* ^_^ EEK! BUT I HAPPEN TO LIKE CLIFFIES!! Well, at least you won't have to worry about any more for this story...*smirks*
Helbaworshipper: Glad you think so! ^_^
Bunny Aino: I thought it was you! I was going through all the chapters looking for all the ppls that reviewed and I saw both of your names and wondered if they were both you! ^_^ Well, it's true! God luvs U 2! ^_^ That does sound like a lot of fun! I'm glad you got the chance to go! I LOVE those scavenger hunts! They are so much fun! Thanks for reviewing! ^_^
Sorceress Vanessa: You are so funny! ^_^ Thanks! I'm glad that you liked it and think I did such a good job on it! That's a major boost to my self esteem! No, you didn't confuse me with your instructions! You did a great job and thank you for showing me how to do it! Thanks for everything SV! ^^
Subieko: I know! 8 essays is WAY too many!!! I was seriously stressed by the end of the weekend! YES! Exactly! That's the word I was looking for! Grappling hook! I couldn't figure out what it was so I just used a word I remembered from going rock climbing...I feel like such a baka now...=^_^= Thanks for your support!! It really means a lot!
Nicky: Well, if you insist on calling her kool lady I won't stop you, but I didn't seem to like her that much...kinda, but not really. HAHAAHAHAHAHA!! I can just imagine you attacking Marik w/a rolled up newspaper and winning!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!! -^_^- Thanks! Like I told you b4 I did get an idea. I went to the sequel making muse store and bought one, but unfortunately it was one of those you can use one time only...ha ha...not. Actually English is the ONLY challenging class I have...all the other ones are so easy.
Hazel-Beka: I'm glad you didn't think last chapter was too corny and I'm really sorry about your fic! I hope things get better for you Hazel-chan. Thanks for being my friend and giving me your support through this story! ^_^
LilKay13: *screams in delight!* THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I'm glad that you think so highly of me! You're so sweet! *hugs you* ...Cute! cutefulnism!! Coolieolieous word! That was cool! Yup, 'nother cliffy! I hope you like this chapter! *snort* So funny! I love your funny reviews!
Guess who?: I have no idea who you are...*scratches head*
Tsuki Koumori Ryu: Yeah, well, as you can see it's taken me a while to get things done as well...It was my little brother Julin that ate my muse! I'll leave him with you for his punishment. *smirks evilly* I'll try to check it out! ^_^
*sigh* Well, here we are, the last chapter...I hope you all enjoy!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 29
After several confusing turnarounds, many staircases, and much hiding, dodgeing, and running from guards, they finally made it to the throne room. Sitara pused open one of the doors, that led in by the side, a slight crack, only to find the "room of meetings" empty.
That is when they heard it, a high, cold, cruel laughter coming from right behind them.
"MARIK!"
The white/blond, lavender eyed teen behind them laughed sinisterly. His spiky light blonde hair reminded Yugi of a demon as the eyes that were of a softer hue than Yugi's held nothing but malice within their depts. "Who were you expecting?"
"YOU!" Sitara yelled fiercely, thinking back to the day that this madman stabbed her sister.
Marik smirked at the pair of them, eyes narrowed threateningly as he started towards them. Yugi and Sitara backed up, away from the deranged teen, into the throne room, right out onto the middle of the floor when Marik stopped causing them to halt as well.
Yugi had no time to admire the scenery as they three of them stared at each other, waiting for someone to strike first. Marik smirked at them, the sight was bone chilling and did nothing to comfort Yugi's nerves.
"Well, it doesn't look like any of us are gong to drop dead suddenly by this staring contest so why don't we start NOW!"
What happened next was so fast that neither Yugi or Sitara had time to react, Marik had been hiding his hands behind his back during the brief period of stares, forming a globe of dark Shadow Realm energy. As soon as he shouted, he had brought his hands out and threw the globe at Sitara. It hit her full force and sent her crashing into the nearby wall with a thud before she slid down the wall, unconscious.
Yugi was on his own.
//Do something, Yugi!// Yami instructed.
Remembering his fight with the Guardian, Yugi drew out his Dueling Deck immediately. Gripping it in his left hand, he hurriedly tried to grab the top card off the deck with his right hand. Unfortunately, Marik was ready for him and leveled off a blast in his direction. It impacted him directly in the chest and it was almost as if someone had set a bolder on top of his stomach. Yugi tried to keep a hold on his cards, but they all were forced out of his grasp as soon as he impacted with the floor and slid on his back until the friction took away his momentum.
Groaning, he sat up, Marik's insane laughter ringing in his head. He looked around. Cards were scattered all over the floor, feeling heavy and weighed down, Yugi managed to shakily stand. It was hard to breathe for a moment and his vision swam as he swayed on his feet causing Marik to cackle even more sinisterly. From sheer will alone Yugi was able to regain his senses with Yami encouraging him the best he could.
Yugi stared for a moment into Marik's icy gaze, but quickly dodged to the right as Marik aimed another blast at him. Yugi dropped to the floor, rolled, picked up the closest card from the floor and stood upright in a single fluid motion, calling on the Dark Magician. Just as Marik struck again, Yugi's favorite monster manifested in front of him, sustaining the blow.
Marik sneered at him before taking something out of a pocket and to Yugi's immense shock and disbelief a Duel Monster appeared at his side. After a quick command that Yugi could not distinguish, the Summoned Skull lunged at Yugi's Dark Magician, leaving Yugi unshielded as they fought.
Marik smirked at Yugi, believing him to be defenseless as Yugi was now backed up into a corner, there were no other cards laying near enough for him to use, and Sitara was unconscious in a corner of the room against the wall. Panicking, Yugi did the first thing that came to his mind...
A black-violet aura of fire jumped up and swarmed around Yugi as he clasped his hands as if in prayer before throwing them outward towards Marik, palms facing the white-haired teen. Marik looked up, surprised, as the ceiling above them rumbled and falling stars appeared to materialize out of the roof to rain down upon him.
He quickly put up a shield, causing the meteors to bounce harmlessly off and dissipate into thin air. Anger rising, Marik hurled his strongest, most damaging attack at Yugi, intending to be done with the ingenuous youth. Instantly, the ceiling disappeared to be replaced with rolling, dark storm clouds. Lightening zipped around Marik, not touching him, but gathering energy from the very circumference of ground surrounding him.
A sense of foreboding descended upon Yugi as he fought the inner turmoil inside of himself to remain calm. He looked from Marik's lavender gaze to the purple and blue hued thunderstorm billowing above him. In the blink of an eye, a bolt of the lightening that had been gathering energy from around Marik lanced down at Yugi, driving him to his knees as his whole body began to tingle with a feeling of pins and needles.
'Strange, shouldn't I be unconscious by now if I was struck by lightening,' Yugi thought uncertainly. Then he looked down and realized his right hand was grasped around the Enhancer. It was somehow keeping Yugi from passing out, but strangely enough it was also transferring the electrical discharge into energy, rejuvenating Yugi's strength fully.
Marveling at his new power, Yugi stood back up and with a look full of determination told Marik simply, "I will not let you win."
Marik sneered, "As if you could stop me."
Yugi was not deterred, however, and without a conscious thought, the black- violet fire aura sprang up around him again and the scar from the Black Crystal began to glow the same black-violet color before a beam of dark light streaked across the separating distance at Marik and began to disenigrate Marik's body from the bottom up.
His eyes widened in fear as his hands began to fade in front of his face and he screamed out, "What's going on?! What did you do to me?! NO! NO! *NOOOOO!*" before he disappeared completely from sight.
Energy completely depleated from that one attack, Yugi slumped to the ground, barely staying conscious enough to ask his yami what had just happened and hearing the faint reply, as if it was coming from a great distance away.
//You sent him to the Shadow Realm, Yugi...//
Darkness began nibbling at the edges of his vision until everything was hidden from view as Yugi sunk into oblivion.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yami became extremely concerned and anxious about his hikari when he had gotten no response from his aibou for the last thirty minutes that he had tried to reach him.
Yami stood in the hallway that was connected to both of Yugi and Yami's doors. He was standing in front of his partner's door and was trying to get it open, but it seemed to be locked from the inside and no matter what Yami did, it would not come open. At first he had started by knocking on the door and calling Yugi's name. When that attempt failed miserably after several minutes, Yami had thrown himself against the door to force it open.
When Yami still failed to get the response from the door that he wanted, he turned his back to the door and leaned against it, arms and legs crossed, head bent slightly forward in thought and concentration. Therefore, he was startled out of his reverie as the door suddenly opened of it's own accord so that Yami toppled over into the room to land very ungracefully upon the stone floor.
Too worried about Yugi to mortified by this, Yami quickly picked himself off of the floor and rushed over to Yugi's side to be shocked once again as he saw, kneeling next to the unconscious form of Yugi laying in his soul room bed, a girl with aqua-green hair and a slender, athletic body.
"Who are...?" Yami began, but was silenced as the person turned around. It then became apparent who it was...Sitara. It was the girl he had seen many times through Yugi's eyes, the girl that had kept him safe and helped him along after he disappeared into that swirling black vortex from the Shadow Realm.
Turning his gaze back to Yugi, Sitara answered the unspoken question that she knew was burning in his mind. "He'll be fine in a little bit after he's rested. Whatever it was that he did to get rid of Marik really took a lot out of him. I just woke up a few seconds ago and came over to him. I put my hands on his temples to cast a healing spell and somehow I ended up here. Now that you are here, I can leave and try to help Yugi's body heal. Don't worry. He'll be back with you in your realm soon enough."
Yami nodded silently, conveying his thanks as he rested his hand against his hikari's limp arm. Sitara stood up, putting a hand on Yami's shoulder in a comfort gesture and gave a short jerk of the head in acknowledgement before vanishing from the mental plane of existence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yugi slowly climbed out of the abyss of unconsciousness and realized that he had had the strangest dream ever. Pegasus had kidnapped him and his friends, then banished him to the Shadow Realm, where he had been transported to a magical kingdom called Chamera to fight the evil, mind controlling maniac, Marik.
As he opened his eyes, sunlight filtered into the room throwing shadows into the corners and illuminating the bed and dressers. Yugi sighed contently before he realized that he was not in his own bedroom. Yugi groaned, knowing that he had not been dreaming. He sat up with difficulty, arms shaking in exhaustion. Just then a familiar aqua haired girl walked into the room.
"Oh, Yugi! You're awake! I'm so glad you're ok! What happened to Marik?" the young princess asked, curiosity piqued.
"Um..." Yugi thought for a moment. Instead of getting into the messy details of explaining what had happened, Yugi settled on, "I defeated him..."
Sitara stood there for a moment wondering if Yugi was going to say anything else. When it became apparent that he was not going to reveal any more information she said, "Oh," and continued on as if they had never stopped talking. "I've found a way to get you home. Kero-oshi taught me and Inara a spell to transport yourself from one spot to another, even if it's in another dimention."
Yugi's eyes grew wide at the reference. "Then...does that mean...?"
Sitara's eyes lit up and she smiled, "Yeah, Kero-oshi is alive. He transported himself just after he fell and he's been looking after us this entire time. He saved me from the avalanche and even used a bit of his magic to keep us safe as we fell into the river. I can perform the spell on you now," Sitara's voice broke at this point and tears pooled in her eyes. "I'm going to miss you, Yugi. You freed my father and my sister and saved all of us from Marik...and you've been a really good friend too..."
Yugi smiled sadly noting the implications of that statement. "Sukidayo," Yugi whispered back.
Sitara looked puzzled as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"It means I'll miss you in Japanese, Sitara. I'm glad I got the chance to know you." He took the Enhancer from around his neck and held it out to Sitara, "Take this to remember me by. I want you to have it so you'll always remember our friendship. I know I'll never forget you."
Sitara took it into her shaking hands, as soon as she touched it something exploded inside of her and she wrapped her arms around Yugi in a firm embrace, giving him a small peck on the cheek. Realizing what she had done, Sitara pulled back, blushing in embarrassment. Yugi just sat there stunned, a slight tinge creeping up his face as he stared at Sitara in amazement.
"Well," Sitara said, clearing her throat uncomfortably, "I guess we should get going then."
She stepped back and began chanting, her hands moving in odd configurations so that she could transport another person besides herself. As she came to the end of the incantation, she ran a cool finger over the scar from the Black Crystal until it retracted and came to rest in Sitara's palm. A quick, sharp jolt of pain flashed in his head as Yugi was sent home.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"...And then she told me that I shouldn't worry and Yugi would be back in our realm soon enough. That's when...Ugh!"
Yami's story about what happened in Yugi's soul room was interrupted as all of Yugi's friends felt a brief, piercing pain in their forehead before Yugi materialized out of nowhere. Yami caught Yugi as he became unsteady and almost fell to the floor and almost everybody called out Yugi's name in surprise and relief.
Yugi looked up and smiled at everyone as both Yami and Bakura lost their solid bodies and became spirits once more. The two Millennium Items flashed as they drew their respected spirits inside and Yugi told them all in a somewhat odd tone of voice, "Well, that was an interesting was to spend spring break!"
*~*Owari*~*
A/N- Well, that's the end. I hope you all enjoyed it and I want to give a special thank you to all of the following for reviewing! (These are in no particular order)
Sorceress Vanessa
Nicky
Hazel-Beka
Skits
Mech-Gryphon259
fishkisser
Subieko
Una
Casey Katemera
Yugismpuzzle
Mitsuko-chan
Jenna Casey
Bunny Aino
chirusii
Jibbitessa
Towairaito Zoon
AmunRa
Kayrie
LadyDeathStrike1
Caytlyn
hobbit13
Yami's Tenshi
2lazy2login
Ice-Spirit Phoenix
mel
Tsuki Koumori Ryu
Wendy
Karamas_Girl123
Chrono Cross
YamiWestley
starfire
LilKay13
deranged black kitten of doom
sugarpony
Nightlight5
JadedKatrina
Phantom1
Oklina
Meant To Live
It'sHardToBelieve
Sword Master Jeff
kioku4
Helbaworshipper
Guess who?
Sorry if I misspelled anyone's name, forgot someone, or put you on twice. Now I'd like to give another special thank you to all of those that put me on their favorite author's list!
Hazel-Beka
Nicky
Subieko
Sorceress Vanessa
Una
Jibbitessa
Chrono Cross
Sword Master Jeff
LilKay13
Mitsuko-chan
Tsuki Koumori Ryu
Casey Katemera
JadedKatrina
It'sHardToBelieve
DBZ Warrior1
Nightlight5
Mech-Gryphon259
Bunny Aino
stealth16
Thank you all so very much for helping me keep this story going! You guys are the best and I wish all of you good luck in whatever you work on! *hugs everybody* (if you aren't comfortable w/that you can have a handshake! lol!) Thanks for everything minna! ^_^
SEQUEL NOTES: *I HAVE AN IDEA!* I actually was able to come up with something for ROD III, but there are a few kinks I still have to work out before I put it up, which is going to take some thinking about. If you want me to e-mail you the link (or to tell you when I'll be putting it up) just e-mail me and the address on my profile page and tell me that you want to be informed of when I post ROD III: ?
Thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and thank you for being so patient with me! ^_^
It'sHardToBelieve: Thanks for everything and I'm glad that you are so understanding of the situation! ^_^
Sword Master Jeff: Thanks for telling me how to do italics! And thanx for reviewing! ^_^
LadyDeathStrike1: I'm glad you liked the cliffy and thanks for telling me about your story...I need to get caught up on that along with everybody else's since I disappeared for about a month...^_^
Una: Hey buddy! Tell me about it! I've got so much homework I usually can't think straight! And it's all (mostly) from ONE class!! O.O Of course! I would be boring if I just put... "They walked, and walked, and walked some more and then FINALLY made it to wherever they were going..." ^_~ Yeah, I like that necklace too...(hint: I'm wearing it right now...:P) Actually, I don't think it's a carabineer...*blushes profusely* I must seem like such a dork...=^_^=...Well, if it's so hard for me to end it there it must have been made doubly harder by the fact that it took me a month to update it, ne? If I actually manage to get it to work right by putting it on the web page and not loose anything I will most definitely inform you! Your sissor pic should be on it's way to you! I finished it Thur? And then something went wrong with my scanner, but I think I've fixed it now!
Nightlight5: Thank you! ^_^ I'm glad you think I've been doing so well! Your support means a lot!
hobbit13: ^_^ and I appriciate your criticism! It's helped me to improve and shown me what I need to work on! I'm glad you're my critic! Sorry, but puns are a part of writing and there's no escape from it...*wears your same smug look* ^_^ EEK! BUT I HAPPEN TO LIKE CLIFFIES!! Well, at least you won't have to worry about any more for this story...*smirks*
Helbaworshipper: Glad you think so! ^_^
Bunny Aino: I thought it was you! I was going through all the chapters looking for all the ppls that reviewed and I saw both of your names and wondered if they were both you! ^_^ Well, it's true! God luvs U 2! ^_^ That does sound like a lot of fun! I'm glad you got the chance to go! I LOVE those scavenger hunts! They are so much fun! Thanks for reviewing! ^_^
Sorceress Vanessa: You are so funny! ^_^ Thanks! I'm glad that you liked it and think I did such a good job on it! That's a major boost to my self esteem! No, you didn't confuse me with your instructions! You did a great job and thank you for showing me how to do it! Thanks for everything SV! ^^
Subieko: I know! 8 essays is WAY too many!!! I was seriously stressed by the end of the weekend! YES! Exactly! That's the word I was looking for! Grappling hook! I couldn't figure out what it was so I just used a word I remembered from going rock climbing...I feel like such a baka now...=^_^= Thanks for your support!! It really means a lot!
Nicky: Well, if you insist on calling her kool lady I won't stop you, but I didn't seem to like her that much...kinda, but not really. HAHAAHAHAHAHA!! I can just imagine you attacking Marik w/a rolled up newspaper and winning!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!! -^_^- Thanks! Like I told you b4 I did get an idea. I went to the sequel making muse store and bought one, but unfortunately it was one of those you can use one time only...ha ha...not. Actually English is the ONLY challenging class I have...all the other ones are so easy.
Hazel-Beka: I'm glad you didn't think last chapter was too corny and I'm really sorry about your fic! I hope things get better for you Hazel-chan. Thanks for being my friend and giving me your support through this story! ^_^
LilKay13: *screams in delight!* THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I'm glad that you think so highly of me! You're so sweet! *hugs you* ...Cute! cutefulnism!! Coolieolieous word! That was cool! Yup, 'nother cliffy! I hope you like this chapter! *snort* So funny! I love your funny reviews!
Guess who?: I have no idea who you are...*scratches head*
Tsuki Koumori Ryu: Yeah, well, as you can see it's taken me a while to get things done as well...It was my little brother Julin that ate my muse! I'll leave him with you for his punishment. *smirks evilly* I'll try to check it out! ^_^
*sigh* Well, here we are, the last chapter...I hope you all enjoy!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 29
After several confusing turnarounds, many staircases, and much hiding, dodgeing, and running from guards, they finally made it to the throne room. Sitara pused open one of the doors, that led in by the side, a slight crack, only to find the "room of meetings" empty.
That is when they heard it, a high, cold, cruel laughter coming from right behind them.
"MARIK!"
The white/blond, lavender eyed teen behind them laughed sinisterly. His spiky light blonde hair reminded Yugi of a demon as the eyes that were of a softer hue than Yugi's held nothing but malice within their depts. "Who were you expecting?"
"YOU!" Sitara yelled fiercely, thinking back to the day that this madman stabbed her sister.
Marik smirked at the pair of them, eyes narrowed threateningly as he started towards them. Yugi and Sitara backed up, away from the deranged teen, into the throne room, right out onto the middle of the floor when Marik stopped causing them to halt as well.
Yugi had no time to admire the scenery as they three of them stared at each other, waiting for someone to strike first. Marik smirked at them, the sight was bone chilling and did nothing to comfort Yugi's nerves.
"Well, it doesn't look like any of us are gong to drop dead suddenly by this staring contest so why don't we start NOW!"
What happened next was so fast that neither Yugi or Sitara had time to react, Marik had been hiding his hands behind his back during the brief period of stares, forming a globe of dark Shadow Realm energy. As soon as he shouted, he had brought his hands out and threw the globe at Sitara. It hit her full force and sent her crashing into the nearby wall with a thud before she slid down the wall, unconscious.
Yugi was on his own.
//Do something, Yugi!// Yami instructed.
Remembering his fight with the Guardian, Yugi drew out his Dueling Deck immediately. Gripping it in his left hand, he hurriedly tried to grab the top card off the deck with his right hand. Unfortunately, Marik was ready for him and leveled off a blast in his direction. It impacted him directly in the chest and it was almost as if someone had set a bolder on top of his stomach. Yugi tried to keep a hold on his cards, but they all were forced out of his grasp as soon as he impacted with the floor and slid on his back until the friction took away his momentum.
Groaning, he sat up, Marik's insane laughter ringing in his head. He looked around. Cards were scattered all over the floor, feeling heavy and weighed down, Yugi managed to shakily stand. It was hard to breathe for a moment and his vision swam as he swayed on his feet causing Marik to cackle even more sinisterly. From sheer will alone Yugi was able to regain his senses with Yami encouraging him the best he could.
Yugi stared for a moment into Marik's icy gaze, but quickly dodged to the right as Marik aimed another blast at him. Yugi dropped to the floor, rolled, picked up the closest card from the floor and stood upright in a single fluid motion, calling on the Dark Magician. Just as Marik struck again, Yugi's favorite monster manifested in front of him, sustaining the blow.
Marik sneered at him before taking something out of a pocket and to Yugi's immense shock and disbelief a Duel Monster appeared at his side. After a quick command that Yugi could not distinguish, the Summoned Skull lunged at Yugi's Dark Magician, leaving Yugi unshielded as they fought.
Marik smirked at Yugi, believing him to be defenseless as Yugi was now backed up into a corner, there were no other cards laying near enough for him to use, and Sitara was unconscious in a corner of the room against the wall. Panicking, Yugi did the first thing that came to his mind...
A black-violet aura of fire jumped up and swarmed around Yugi as he clasped his hands as if in prayer before throwing them outward towards Marik, palms facing the white-haired teen. Marik looked up, surprised, as the ceiling above them rumbled and falling stars appeared to materialize out of the roof to rain down upon him.
He quickly put up a shield, causing the meteors to bounce harmlessly off and dissipate into thin air. Anger rising, Marik hurled his strongest, most damaging attack at Yugi, intending to be done with the ingenuous youth. Instantly, the ceiling disappeared to be replaced with rolling, dark storm clouds. Lightening zipped around Marik, not touching him, but gathering energy from the very circumference of ground surrounding him.
A sense of foreboding descended upon Yugi as he fought the inner turmoil inside of himself to remain calm. He looked from Marik's lavender gaze to the purple and blue hued thunderstorm billowing above him. In the blink of an eye, a bolt of the lightening that had been gathering energy from around Marik lanced down at Yugi, driving him to his knees as his whole body began to tingle with a feeling of pins and needles.
'Strange, shouldn't I be unconscious by now if I was struck by lightening,' Yugi thought uncertainly. Then he looked down and realized his right hand was grasped around the Enhancer. It was somehow keeping Yugi from passing out, but strangely enough it was also transferring the electrical discharge into energy, rejuvenating Yugi's strength fully.
Marveling at his new power, Yugi stood back up and with a look full of determination told Marik simply, "I will not let you win."
Marik sneered, "As if you could stop me."
Yugi was not deterred, however, and without a conscious thought, the black- violet fire aura sprang up around him again and the scar from the Black Crystal began to glow the same black-violet color before a beam of dark light streaked across the separating distance at Marik and began to disenigrate Marik's body from the bottom up.
His eyes widened in fear as his hands began to fade in front of his face and he screamed out, "What's going on?! What did you do to me?! NO! NO! *NOOOOO!*" before he disappeared completely from sight.
Energy completely depleated from that one attack, Yugi slumped to the ground, barely staying conscious enough to ask his yami what had just happened and hearing the faint reply, as if it was coming from a great distance away.
//You sent him to the Shadow Realm, Yugi...//
Darkness began nibbling at the edges of his vision until everything was hidden from view as Yugi sunk into oblivion.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yami became extremely concerned and anxious about his hikari when he had gotten no response from his aibou for the last thirty minutes that he had tried to reach him.
Yami stood in the hallway that was connected to both of Yugi and Yami's doors. He was standing in front of his partner's door and was trying to get it open, but it seemed to be locked from the inside and no matter what Yami did, it would not come open. At first he had started by knocking on the door and calling Yugi's name. When that attempt failed miserably after several minutes, Yami had thrown himself against the door to force it open.
When Yami still failed to get the response from the door that he wanted, he turned his back to the door and leaned against it, arms and legs crossed, head bent slightly forward in thought and concentration. Therefore, he was startled out of his reverie as the door suddenly opened of it's own accord so that Yami toppled over into the room to land very ungracefully upon the stone floor.
Too worried about Yugi to mortified by this, Yami quickly picked himself off of the floor and rushed over to Yugi's side to be shocked once again as he saw, kneeling next to the unconscious form of Yugi laying in his soul room bed, a girl with aqua-green hair and a slender, athletic body.
"Who are...?" Yami began, but was silenced as the person turned around. It then became apparent who it was...Sitara. It was the girl he had seen many times through Yugi's eyes, the girl that had kept him safe and helped him along after he disappeared into that swirling black vortex from the Shadow Realm.
Turning his gaze back to Yugi, Sitara answered the unspoken question that she knew was burning in his mind. "He'll be fine in a little bit after he's rested. Whatever it was that he did to get rid of Marik really took a lot out of him. I just woke up a few seconds ago and came over to him. I put my hands on his temples to cast a healing spell and somehow I ended up here. Now that you are here, I can leave and try to help Yugi's body heal. Don't worry. He'll be back with you in your realm soon enough."
Yami nodded silently, conveying his thanks as he rested his hand against his hikari's limp arm. Sitara stood up, putting a hand on Yami's shoulder in a comfort gesture and gave a short jerk of the head in acknowledgement before vanishing from the mental plane of existence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yugi slowly climbed out of the abyss of unconsciousness and realized that he had had the strangest dream ever. Pegasus had kidnapped him and his friends, then banished him to the Shadow Realm, where he had been transported to a magical kingdom called Chamera to fight the evil, mind controlling maniac, Marik.
As he opened his eyes, sunlight filtered into the room throwing shadows into the corners and illuminating the bed and dressers. Yugi sighed contently before he realized that he was not in his own bedroom. Yugi groaned, knowing that he had not been dreaming. He sat up with difficulty, arms shaking in exhaustion. Just then a familiar aqua haired girl walked into the room.
"Oh, Yugi! You're awake! I'm so glad you're ok! What happened to Marik?" the young princess asked, curiosity piqued.
"Um..." Yugi thought for a moment. Instead of getting into the messy details of explaining what had happened, Yugi settled on, "I defeated him..."
Sitara stood there for a moment wondering if Yugi was going to say anything else. When it became apparent that he was not going to reveal any more information she said, "Oh," and continued on as if they had never stopped talking. "I've found a way to get you home. Kero-oshi taught me and Inara a spell to transport yourself from one spot to another, even if it's in another dimention."
Yugi's eyes grew wide at the reference. "Then...does that mean...?"
Sitara's eyes lit up and she smiled, "Yeah, Kero-oshi is alive. He transported himself just after he fell and he's been looking after us this entire time. He saved me from the avalanche and even used a bit of his magic to keep us safe as we fell into the river. I can perform the spell on you now," Sitara's voice broke at this point and tears pooled in her eyes. "I'm going to miss you, Yugi. You freed my father and my sister and saved all of us from Marik...and you've been a really good friend too..."
Yugi smiled sadly noting the implications of that statement. "Sukidayo," Yugi whispered back.
Sitara looked puzzled as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"It means I'll miss you in Japanese, Sitara. I'm glad I got the chance to know you." He took the Enhancer from around his neck and held it out to Sitara, "Take this to remember me by. I want you to have it so you'll always remember our friendship. I know I'll never forget you."
Sitara took it into her shaking hands, as soon as she touched it something exploded inside of her and she wrapped her arms around Yugi in a firm embrace, giving him a small peck on the cheek. Realizing what she had done, Sitara pulled back, blushing in embarrassment. Yugi just sat there stunned, a slight tinge creeping up his face as he stared at Sitara in amazement.
"Well," Sitara said, clearing her throat uncomfortably, "I guess we should get going then."
She stepped back and began chanting, her hands moving in odd configurations so that she could transport another person besides herself. As she came to the end of the incantation, she ran a cool finger over the scar from the Black Crystal until it retracted and came to rest in Sitara's palm. A quick, sharp jolt of pain flashed in his head as Yugi was sent home.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"...And then she told me that I shouldn't worry and Yugi would be back in our realm soon enough. That's when...Ugh!"
Yami's story about what happened in Yugi's soul room was interrupted as all of Yugi's friends felt a brief, piercing pain in their forehead before Yugi materialized out of nowhere. Yami caught Yugi as he became unsteady and almost fell to the floor and almost everybody called out Yugi's name in surprise and relief.
Yugi looked up and smiled at everyone as both Yami and Bakura lost their solid bodies and became spirits once more. The two Millennium Items flashed as they drew their respected spirits inside and Yugi told them all in a somewhat odd tone of voice, "Well, that was an interesting was to spend spring break!"
*~*Owari*~*
A/N- Well, that's the end. I hope you all enjoyed it and I want to give a special thank you to all of the following for reviewing! (These are in no particular order)
Sorceress Vanessa
Nicky
Hazel-Beka
Skits
Mech-Gryphon259
fishkisser
Subieko
Una
Casey Katemera
Yugismpuzzle
Mitsuko-chan
Jenna Casey
Bunny Aino
chirusii
Jibbitessa
Towairaito Zoon
AmunRa
Kayrie
LadyDeathStrike1
Caytlyn
hobbit13
Yami's Tenshi
2lazy2login
Ice-Spirit Phoenix
mel
Tsuki Koumori Ryu
Wendy
Karamas_Girl123
Chrono Cross
YamiWestley
starfire
LilKay13
deranged black kitten of doom
sugarpony
Nightlight5
JadedKatrina
Phantom1
Oklina
Meant To Live
It'sHardToBelieve
Sword Master Jeff
kioku4
Helbaworshipper
Guess who?
Sorry if I misspelled anyone's name, forgot someone, or put you on twice. Now I'd like to give another special thank you to all of those that put me on their favorite author's list!
Hazel-Beka
Nicky
Subieko
Sorceress Vanessa
Una
Jibbitessa
Chrono Cross
Sword Master Jeff
LilKay13
Mitsuko-chan
Tsuki Koumori Ryu
Casey Katemera
JadedKatrina
It'sHardToBelieve
DBZ Warrior1
Nightlight5
Mech-Gryphon259
Bunny Aino
stealth16
Thank you all so very much for helping me keep this story going! You guys are the best and I wish all of you good luck in whatever you work on! *hugs everybody* (if you aren't comfortable w/that you can have a handshake! lol!) Thanks for everything minna! ^_^
SEQUEL NOTES: *I HAVE AN IDEA!* I actually was able to come up with something for ROD III, but there are a few kinks I still have to work out before I put it up, which is going to take some thinking about. If you want me to e-mail you the link (or to tell you when I'll be putting it up) just e-mail me and the address on my profile page and tell me that you want to be informed of when I post ROD III: ?