Title: The Way Out

Author: Doubleplusgoodduckspeaker

Summary: The Terrible Monster, the Magician, the hapless clown, the quest in a strange yet familiar land… whatever you do, stay out of the Kuriboh's way…Formershipping KisaraxMana.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Notes: Written for round 8 of Compy's YGO Contest. Set during the Battle City arc, though you would have figured that out soon enough. A huge shout-out and my everlasting thanks to my beta Jess for making this story so much better than I ever thought it could be! //Text// describes canon events.

//The four each stood on a separate pane of glass. It was a typical game of Duel Monsters, but this time, the stakes were far more serious—they were dueling for the safety of their friends and family, not only their own.

"It's impossible to win," Lumis taunted. "With both the Mask of the Accursed and the Mask of Dispel on the field, neither of you can sacrifice monsters. It is only a matter of time before your life points run out and you go to the Shadow Realm!"

Yugi looked at the cards in his hand, a pensive frown on his face. He's right! All I have in my hand are upper-level monsters. He thumbed through the cards in his hand—Curse of Dragon, The Dark Magician Girl—each upper-level monsters. He drew a card from his deck—Card Destruction! The beginnings of a strategy began to form in his mind. With that card, every player would have to discard their hands and draw 5 new cards. But, what if Kaiba has a plan and this card ruins his strategy? Really, what choice do I have…? We can't afford to lose!

"What are you waiting for?" Kaiba scorned. "You couldn't possibly make things worse than you already have, Yugi. The cards we're holding are absolutely useless. In fact, I have a card in my hand that could win this game for us, but I can't summon it to the field. It's better off in the graveyard." He looked down again at the Blue Eyes White Dragon in his hand.

"I reveal Card Destruction!" The card flipped up, the images of cards an obvious tell at what the card made each of them do. "Now each of us must discard our entire hands to the card graveyard." One by one, each card was discarded, fed into the duel disk slot, where they would wait until the duel was ended or they could be summoned again.//

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Mana stood up on shaky legs, which tingled as if the feeling was just returning to them. She had been… honestly, she didn't know quite where she had been before, but she was here now. Everything had happened so suddenly, it was as if she had just woken up from a dream, but it was one of those dreams that you could never remember upon waking."Maybe I'm dreaming now," she wondered, taking a step and then sinking back down to the dusty ground. "Ow! This can't be a dream."

Here was a place best described by the color grey. Everything, from the ground to the rocks to the sparse trees was devoid of any definitive color. It didn't look like anything was alive. Except me… well, I suppose a little exploring wouldn't hurt! Mana set off down the clearing in the trees until she came to a path. Picking a direction at random, she turned right and kept on walking.

The well-traveled path was compacted dirt, surrounded by some clumps of grass and a few wilted flowers before the forest took over the land again. Mana, with her brightly colored blue and pink ensemble, stood out more than she cared to admit. Hopefully, the first person she ran into would be able to give her some answers.

"Hey, you there!" That shadow was definitely a person…right? When the shadow squeaked and took off through the trees, she knew it had to be a person. "Don't run away! I'm not going to hurt you!"

She grabbed the back of its collar and they both fell to the ground. Mana looked at her new friend in shock. "You're a …clown?"

He rose to his feet with a strange sense of dignity, brushing dirt from his brightly colored costume. "My name is Saggi, not clown. Now tell me what it is that you want and I'll be on my way!" Even his voice was oddly high pitched.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She smiled, hoping it would calm him down. "I just wanted to know where I am, or where I can go to get out of here! But let's start with another question: Why are you so anxious to get away?"

"It's terrible, simply terrible!" He wailed, the painted-on frown and teardrop on his face slightly less ridiculous now. "A terrible monster has been terrorizing the Abandoned Village up ahead! It's been forcing us out into the Abandoned Forest!"

Mana made a humming sound, poking a hole into the ground with her staff as she listened. "Why is everything here called 'Abandoned' anyway?"

Saggi looked at her as if she was the strange one now. "You must not be from around here, are you? You don't look like you came from here, anyways."

"Of course not! What do you think gave it away? Maybe the question, 'where are we?!' "

Mana had never been good at controlling her anger, and the outburst seemed to frighten Saggi even more than the terrible monster had. "Ask someone else, just leave me alone!" He ran into the forest, the sound of his footsteps gradually diminishing until Mana was quite sure she was alone again.

"Fraidy-cat," She mumbled, wandering back onto the path. The Abandoned Village must not be too far up ahead, seeing as how the clown came from there anyways…maybe…gah! Why must clowns be so confusing?

She had been walking for several minutes when the ground started to shake. Is this it… the terrible monster? She looked up at where the path disappeared over a hill and suddenly the path became swarmed as hundreds of Kuriboh ran over the hill—directly towards her. They pushed outwards onto the path as well as the surrounding hillside, kicking up clouds of dust in their wake.

"Get away! Get away!" They chorused as they moved down the path. There were too many for Mana to count, so she settled for jumping out of the way, nearly tripping over one of the many monsters. "Help us!" The tiny Kuriboh squealed and then bounded off to join its comrades, who were already along the path and almost out of her line of sight.

Oh… poor little guys. First a clown, then a bunch of panicky little fluffs… I wonder what I'm going to see next? Mana walked up the hill, somehow knowing that the village would be on the other side. A weather-beaten wooden sign read 'Abandoned Village' in scrawled letters, and the dirt path under her feet changed to cobblestones as she passed the first building. There were probably several blocks of wooden clapboard buildings, but the air of neglect certainly made her believe that even if people lived here, they had very different conventions of domestic upkeep than she had always held. Perhaps the Village had been inhabited by the Kuriboh?

The square at the center of the village, usually the busiest part of town, was empty. There was a well rising up from the exact middle, and right in front of her stood a stone clock tower. The minute hand passed over the hour and instead of a bell, a scream sounded from the top. Someone's trapped up there! Maybe the monster's after them! Without a second thought Mana took off, finding a door set into the stone façade and running up the stone stairs which wound around the inside of the tower two at a time.

Each time she went around the circumference of the tower she passed an inset window. Looking through each window she was beginning to get a good feel for the land around her—she could see the Kuriboh continuing down the path, as well as the Abandoned Forest which stretched out for miles. There was even a mountain range on the other side of the village, its peak capped with ice and snow. A part of her wanted to explore it all, but the more sensible part told her to keep on target—if there was a way in to this world, there had to be a way out.

When she reached the top platform, Mana was breathing in gasps. Her realization of just how much endurance she actually possessed was not welcome at this time. She had a monster to slay! The only problem was that the monster was nowhere in sight.

The scream came again, and Mana turned around just in time to avoid getting bludgeoned by a figure carrying a long metal stick that looked like it had come from the clockwork itself. The figure was wearing a dark blue robe, and upon its face was a truly hideous red mask. The lips of the mask were outlined in blue, making the pointed teeth more pronounced. The figure swung again, and Mana ducked, using her own staff to defend herself against another hit.

Is this the monster? It doesn't look that intimidating!

Mana raised her staff too late, the metal stick connecting with her shoulder, sending her flying back several feet until she regained her balance. "Now you've made me mad." Mana raised up her staff. She didn't want to use up a good portion of her magic, but if that's what it took to stop the fight, she'd do it.

"Dark magic attack!" The staff glowed pink for a moment, then a burst of energy flew out, directed towards the mask the figure wore. With a loud crack, it broke right down the middle, and then shattered into smaller and smaller fragments until there was nothing left but dust, which quickly blew away, revealing the person underneath.

"You—you're a girl!" Mana pointed at her accusingly. Realizing her rude and rather hypocritical gesture, she lowered her arm quickly.

"My name is Kisara. Thank you so much for freeing me from that mask," she said, her soft voice failing to fill up the large space. Mana had to lean forward to listen. "I'm not sure how I even got here, but then there was that mask, and I just… lost control." Her face took on a new mask of horror. "Did I hurt anyone?"

"I-I'm not really sure." Mana shrugged. "Actually, I'm kind of like you. I don't know how I got here either. So… you don't remember anything? You just showed up here?"

Her eyes lit up. "Exactly! One minute, I was… somewhere else. Then, I was here."

"So where there's a way in…"

"There's got to be a way out!" They both chorused.

Mana turned again towards the window. "I came from that direction, where the forest is. There didn't seem to be anything in that area… it wasn't called the 'Abandoned Forest' for nothing."

Kisara went over to the window where Mana was standing. "How about we try to find a map? There's got to be some sort of information about where we are… or perhaps we can find someone who knows."

"Let's try the former. The latter… well, let's just say they don't call this the 'Abandoned Village' for nothing either."

They ambled down the stairs of the tower until they were back on the ground and in the town square. "There's nobody around… you weren't kidding about the 'Abandoned Village' thing." Kisara was wandering around the square as if she hadn't seen it before. "By the way, you never told me your name."

Mana rubbed the back of her head with her free hand. "Oh, right! I'm Mana. Now let's find a map… there's got to be one around here somewhere…"

"Was it just me, or did the curtains in that window just move?"

Mana joined Kisara in front of the building in question, whose fading green paint decoration above the door was years beyond legibility. Mana raised her staff and knocked on the door with it. "We know you're in there, so, um… please open the door?"

The door swung open to reveal a large green turtle. "Is it safe?" He whispered, looking around the still-deserted square.

"Of course it is! My name is Mana, and this is Kisara, and we have just saved the Abandoned Village! So let us in."

"Then you're heroes!" The turtle waved them inside with its stubby arms, a slightly darker shade of green than its body. "Welcome to the Catapult Turtle Game Shop!" The inside of the store had probably once been very bright, but now the paint was faded and even chipped in some places. Several shelves lined one wall, stocked with products. "Since you saved our town, you may pick one item for free! Choose wisely, now." He turned and went behind the counter, where more products were placed under glass.

Mana glanced at Kisara. They already knew what they wanted. "Do you have a map of this area?" Kisara asked.

"Of course! Here you go, free of charge like I promised!" The turtle reached under the counter and pulled out a piece of folded parchment. Mana took the map, and the two immediately opened it and began to study the illustration.

"So we're here, in the Abandoned Village," Mana poked her finger at a spot on the map—

"But where do we go next? You said you came from the Forest, so let's not go that way."

"And there's only one other path heading out of this place! It's decided, then! Our next destination is the village of Next Stop!" Mana pointed into the air triumphantly while Kisara took the map and tucked it securely into a pocket in her cloak. They thanked the turtle and went on their way, leaving the village and continuing northward.

The path to Next Stop was fairly level and easily traversable, so it was only a matter of minutes before the map told them they would be approaching their next stop. "Hey, Kisara… what is that up ahead?"

Something loomed up in the middle of their path. They reached the end of the pathway to see bundles of fallen logs strewn about the ground; some bound together, others separate. The path disappeared, only to resume a distance away across from a large river, whose current appeared way too fast to attempt to cross by themselves. "It looks like the bridge is out… why wasn't this on the map?"

"We probably would have had to pay for the updated map," Mana grumbled.

"Watch out!"

"Whaa—" Mana looked forward just in time to see the machine before she walked right into it. "Oww…why do I keep getting hurt?" She rubbed her rose, which had turned a bright shade of red. "Who would leave something right in the middle of the path?"

The machine was a large rectangular contraption several meters high. It was bright yellow, with rivets on the sides where the metal joined together. A bold-lettered caption on the front read 'Need help? Take a fortune.'

"We could certainly use some help," Kisara noted, eyeing the machine. "You should press the button."

"Why don't you do it—if I tried this machine would probably punch me in the face. I don't think this world likes me very much."

"Don't be silly." Kisara reached forward and pressed the round, red button. A whirring noise could be heard and a minute later, a small white slip of paper appeared from a slot below the button. Kisara took the paper and held it up so she could read the printed words.

"Caution: If you seek what's lost and must be found

Look to the highest point of ground

Only a guide you must need

Wish your party to succeed

Name that you require, look to the start."

"I don't get it." Kisara twisted the piece of paper in her hands, but nothing was written on the other side. The ink, even though it was dry, seemed to glitter in the sunlight. "So there is someone who can help us find the way out? Look to the start?"

"I think we have to find that person before we can do anything else." Mana was now scrunching up her nose, as if the action would return it to its normal color.

"Well… here, see what you can make of this."

With the slip in her hand, the reason behind the rhyme became clear to Mana. She felt her eyelid begin to twitch. "I think I know who we have to find."

They found Saggi lying in the middle of the road—more specifically, they heard him before they saw him. His face was turned towards the forest, and his clothes were even more tattered. He didn't try to move, but he was loud. "Oh this is terrible, simply terrible. Leave me here, just let me die with dignity!"

Mana crouched down so she could see his face. "What happened? You look like you got trampled."

Saggi kept on wailing; it surprised Mana how much air he could fit in his lungs while lying on the ground. "It was the Kuriboh, they didn't give me a chance… now, just let me pass on with dignity and respect!"

"Right…" Mana looked up at Kisara, who was eyeing the clown with a mixture of curiosity and alarm. "Kisara, this is Saggi. He's the person we're looking for."

Saggi turned his head and caught sight of the young girl in the cloak. "The terrible monster!"

"You're ridiculous." Mana whacked the unfortunate clown on the head with her staff. "She was under the control of a mask. Everything's fine now." She turned to her companion. "Sorry about him."

Saggi rose unsteadily to his feet, looking from one girl to the other. "The terrible monster… and the magician… you two must be looking for The Way Out." His voice had changed somewhat; even with his face painted bright colors he appeared completely serious.

"Of course we are!" Mana exploded, crossing her arms.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" The clown was back to his usual self, all hints of being worn out gone as he danced around the pathway.

"We did say so!" Mana huffed. "We did, didn't we?"

Kisara giggled. "Please, Saggi? We need a guide, and you seem to know where the way out is."

"Since you asked so nicely." Saggi took her arm and began leading her down the path back towards the Abandoned Village, ignoring Mana completely. "For a terrible monster, you certainly have nice manners."

Mana stood in the center of the path, fuming. How dare he! Stupid clown! Kicking a small pebble out of the way, she stomped down the path after her friends.

The town of Next Stop was by definition more inhabited than the Abandoned Village, and the trio settled in for the night at the local inn, where Saggi begrudgingly paid for their stay. There was a fire burning brightly in the fireplace of the lobby, and the sofa in the common space was well-worn and comfortable. "So, where do go from here?" Mana broke the silence as the three studied the travel map which sat on the wooden coffee table in front of them.

Saggi's finger traced the dark brown squiggle on the map which represented the roads in between each town. "This map is no good at all. Where on earth did you find it?" His painted-on frown seemed even sterner.

"It was a gift." Kisara scolded. "Now, according to the fortune we got, we have to 'look to the highest point of ground.'" Her finger joined Saggi's on the map, hers snaking a path up towards the mountains. "I think it's talking about this."

"The Mountains of Desolate Peril? Sounds perfect." Mana walked her fingers up into the mountains alongside her friends'. "Saggi, what should we do? You're our guide, after all."

"Yes, but it doesn't mean anything if I just give you the answers. You've got to figure it out for yourselves." He winked, the star painted over that eye folding with the skin. "But I must say you've got the right idea."

"The mountains look so close on the map, but they're really so far away." Mana's shoulders slumped.

"Don't lose hope," Kisara smiled. "We can do it. I mean, really… what other option is there?"

Mana fell sideways onto the couch and groaned.

"So… you don't remember anything about your life beforehand?"

Kisara, usually so soft-spoken, was the first to break the silence as the three trudged up the path that led farther north from First Stop. They had woken up early the next morning and there was still dew on the grass around them. The air was crisp and cool.

"I remember that there was something there. You know that feeling, like you know you're forgetting something? It's like that. But, when I concentrate real hard and close my eyes, I can see a face. It's of a man with dark hair." Mana smiled sheepishly. "Guess I'm not too much help, am I?"

"No! You're very helpful." Kisara sighed. "I don't remember either. But the funny thing is that I can see a similar face too. A man with dark hair. But I get a headache if I concentrate too hard, so he can't stay in my mind for too long." Excitedly, she turned to her friend who was meandering down the path behind her, caught up in the scenery as the terrain changed; outcroppings of rock along the path were a now-constant reminder that they were getting closer to the mountains. "You don't suppose it's the same person, do you? Maybe we're really from the same place, and we'll see each other again once we find The Way Out!"

"I hope so." Mana skipped up the path until the three were walking in a horizontal line. "I'm really more concerned with just getting out, and finding my way back home. I've got friends there, I'm sure I do. But here, I've got a friend too—so maybe, if it comes down to it, I'd almost rather stay here, where I know I've got a friend." A smile lit up her face and for a moment Kisara couldn't look away. "Wow, I was really serious for a moment there! I hope I didn't depress anybody!" She wandered towards the side of the path to look at a few morning glories whose petals were just opening up in the mid-morning sunlight.

"How could you depress me? I'm a clown, after all." Saggi, not to be outdone, danced upwards along the pathway, a goofy grin mismatched with his painted-on frown.

"Yeah. A depressing clown," Mana retorted.

Kisara laughed, turning once in a circle to get a glimpse of everything around her. This world felt so real, from the rocks to the clouds, and for a minute she allowed herself to imagine what could happen if she just stayed here. It was too good to be true. That feeling in the back of her mind that something was missing—just out of her reach—would never go away. If only—

"Look out!"

Something had slammed into her side, and as she fell sideways off of the path, Kisara realized it was Mana who had pushed her out of the way. Blocking the sunlight, something huge loomed over them, eyes glinting and menacing—

"Mana, you're hurt!" A red welt ran the length of Mana's forearm. Kisara's head turned frantically back and forth from the giant husk of an insect which was steadily advancing towards them to Mana, who struggled to sit up.

"It's nothing. Now get out of here!" Mana's voice broke as she spoke, as if it was a challenge simply to form the words. Her body twisted in the grass, blocking the line between the monster and Kisara.

"I can't leave you here!"

Thin beads of sweat started to form on Mana's brow. The wound didn't look infected, but it stung. They didn't have much time. "Hand me my staff."

The staff felt heavy in Kisara's hands. She didn't want to think about the weight it carried for Mana right then. With shaking hands Mana raised the staff and closed her eyes. "Dark Magic Attack!" The staff glowed pink and then a burst of light flew from the tip to the giant insect, causing it to explode in the middle of the path. Against her better judgment, Kisara screamed.

For five blissful seconds, everything was quiet. Mana sat up. "Ew." The bug's remains lay splattered all over the path and Mana's shoes.

"Man-eater bug." Saggi's voice was laced with disdain. "Although, apparently it didn't mind the way you both taste."

"You—you saved me." Kisara's eyes shone bright as the sun dipped out from behind the clouds. "First from the bug attack, and then when it exploded—"

"It's no big deal." Mana picked up a fallen tree branch and was scraping insect gunk off of her shoes, her mouth twisted into an almost Saggi-like expression. "I told you, we're friends. Friends watch out for each other."

"Right." Kisara nodded. "Friends."

"How…much farther… do we have to go…" Mana panted, her breaths coming out in gasps. It was afternoon yet it seemed to Mana that they had been traveling for far more than they actually had.

"It's just a little ways up the mountain!" Saggi's voice carried over the air.

"He's been saying that all morning…" Mana's temper had not been improved by their meager lunch of what food they had managed to bring from the inn's kitchens.

"Come on! You can do it!" After the insect incident, Kisara had found it much easier to keep on going up to the mountains. After all, if they could defeat a monster, nothing could stand in their way! Gradually her pace slowed, until her feet dragged on the ground with each step. "What is that up ahead?"

"I dunno…" Mana had made it to Kisara's side and was now peering ahead to where something stretched over the path. "Some sort of gate?"

A massive stone arch spanned the entire path, its ends sunk into the earth on either side of the dirt path. The stone was grey, and smoothly cut. "Cool! Does it say anything?" Mana ran ahead to get a closer look.

"Come on, Saggi! Wow, we're really making good time." Kisara turned and walked underneath the arch; where its shadow touched the ground the temperature was startlingly cooler, but jumped back up once she was on the other side. "Saggi?"

"There is an inscription on the gate, but one that cannot be read by your eyes." Saggi's voice was sad; Kisara even thought she saw a real tear amongst the painted-on one. "It means that we have reached the point where we must separate. You have to have a certain strength threshold to cross this gate. I can pass no further, and you cannot go back."

"No! Saggi, you have to come with us! Who is going to show us the way?" Mana's voice sounded unnaturally loud as she tried to cross back through the gate, only to stop at the point where shadow met earth. He was right. Had he known all along?

"The Way Out is in your hearts. You already know where it is, you just have to find it for yourselves." He bowed low, his final farewell to them both, and as Saggi turned on his heel and began to walk back down the mountain path, lightness returned to his step and he began to sing.

"Goodbye Saggi!" Mana shouted. She sighed and slumped down until she was crouched close to the ground. "Now what are we going to do?"

"We can do this." Kisara's voice rang with determination. "We've come all this way and we can't go back, you've seen so for yourself. Let's make Saggi proud of us."

Somehow, the strange image of the eclectic clown actually feeling proud of anything other than himself made Mana smile, and suddenly things seemed a lot more hopeful. "You're right. We can do this! On to…"

"The Mountains of Desolate Peril?"

They had no tent to pitch so that night they slept underneath the stars. This world had uncommonly bright stars, which moved and danced in the sky as if they were alive, a fact not unnoticed by both.

"Do you think the stars are alive?" Kisara asked, voice quiet in the stillness of the night air.

"Maybe they're people." Mana laughed, and rolled over in the grass. "Maybe we're from the stars, and we fell down here."

"This isn't a bad place to be," Kisara admitted. "Besides the giant carnivorous insects."

"Yeah." Kisara could almost hear the smile in Mana's voice. How strange that she had only known Mana for the span of two days, yet there were such little things that she was sure of. Like the fact that she was inherently a good person. Somehow, the way Mana knew friends, she knew that there was darkness in the world, and it could hurt you if you didn't take steps to distance yourself.

Opening up to Mana, to the wonderful world that surrounded them now, felt…indescribable. Like lying in the grass and watching the stars. Like going to sleep; like waking up. She felt happy.

The sun tinged the sky pink as they woke up and moved onwards and upwards, the terrain becoming more and more mountainous. The trees' leaves were darker green, and their path began to curve as the grade of the mountain increased.

"Saggi didn't tell us what we'd find up here, did he?" Mana asked as they approached another bend in the path.

"No. I suppose that when we find the right thing, we'll know it." Kisara's eyes darted around the pine trees surrounding their path.

"Do you suppose that's it?"

It was another giant archway cut into the face of the mountain. The path continued underneath it into the mountain itself, and as obvious a road sign as it made, its very presence made both companions uneasy. They were getting close. The final question remained often-thought about yet unspoken: How close?

"Guess we don't have any other choice." Mana stopped just short of the shadow of the arch.

"We always have a choice. We can just turn around and go back as far as we can, or live out the rest of our lives on this mountain. Maybe the only option is to walk into that tunnel, but there is a difference between walking in because we have to and choosing to walk through that arch because we want to." Mana had never heard Kisara speak with such conviction. Suddenly, the image of a man with dark hair swam before her vision and her head throbbed.

"Ready to walk in, then?" Mana looked at Kisara and held out her hand.

"Only if you are." Kisara smiled back and took her hand. Step by step they walked into the tunnel.

The path continued deep into the mountain, twisting and turning with hardly any notice just how high up in elevation they actually had climbed. Stalactites were a common sight, and as Mana was constantly running ahead to check out each new formation, the pink pool of light her staff offered left Kisara with little to see by.

"Ah! What's that?"

"You probably just stepped on a rock," Mana ran back down the path towards her, her staff illuminating the area once more. "See? Nothing to be afraid of."

"Don't go running off like that," Kisara crossed her arms and tried to look threatening. "We can't let ourselves get separated."

"Come on then!" Mana hooked her free arm with Kisara's, pulling her along the path. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"It ran away the instant we entered the Mountains of Desolate Peril." In the pink light things didn't look as threatening, yet it made each shadow stick out even more. Something could be lurking around every corner. "I'm surprised we haven't come across anything bad yet. No monsters, no fraying rope bridges, no nothing."

"Maybe that's because we're expecting something bad to happen! It will only happen when we least expect it." Mana tilted her head back and yelled, "Hey scary monsters! We know you're out there, and we're not afraid of you!" In an almost whisper, as if they could be overheard: "We really should hurry along. This light is a drain on my magic, and it can't last forever."

"Right." Kisara quickened her pace. The thought of being trapped in here with no light to see by… she was so grateful that at least she wasn't here alone.

They were greeted by sunlight and a fiercely cold wind. Mana nearly ducked back into the tunnel. "Come on," Kisara urged. "This has got to be it."

They were in a giant clearing paved with stones cut into almost perfectly symmetrical squares; from the feeling in the it seemed like they really were at the top of the mountain. A larger stone in the center was carved with an intricate design which looked like a crystal, and that same design was repeated on the lintel stone over a huge stone passageway cut into the rock on the other side. "That must be it! The Way Out!" Excitedly they dashed across the clearing, stepping right over the center stone.

"You thought it would be this easy?" The voice was gravelly, booming, filling up the space. "You won't be going anywhere!"

Mana's head turned so sharply she should have gotten whiplash. "Show yourself!"

The sound seemed to be coming from the mountain itself. They could only watch, stunned, as a portion of the rocks blasted away, revealing something much more terrifying underneath. Several rocks scattered around the clearing, but most of them slid directly to the side, coming to a stop directly in front of the passageway which was supposed to be their Way Out.

"The Masked Beast…" Mana turned around to see Kisara trembling and even paler than usual.

"Wait, you know this thing?" Mana turned around again, and her staff began to glow a bright pink color. "Because I don't think he's a friend."

"No." Kisara's voice shook. "But I've seen him before, when I first came here. He's the one responsible for how I got taken over by the mask." Her eyes glowed with anger.

"Well, that's certainly a face you'll never forget." The Masked Beast had a total of five faces spread throughout its gargantuan body. Two were on the giant club he carried in his right hand. Every part of him was a different color, as if parts of him had been dipped in varying colors of paint.

"You're big and ugly!" Mana waved her staff and a burst of light was directed towards the head on its stomach. "Dark Magic Attack!"

The energy connected, pushing the monster back until he crashed into the face of the mountain, causing even more rocks to fly off from its face.

"Ew!" Mana grimaced. When the monster staggered to his feet, they could see that where a face had been protruding from his stomach, now there was a hole that appeared to be smoking as if the flesh itself was burning.

"That was a little too close for comfort." The properly placed face intoned.

"Now there are only four of us left!" The face on its chest argued.

"Watch out!"

He deflected Mana's next blast with its club, obliterating one of the faces on the club. The club too began to smoke.

"Time to fight back!" The final face on the club shouted as the monster ran towards them. He struck the ground where Kisara had been standing only a moment earlier before diving out of the way. He whirled and prepared to strike again.

"Not if I can help it!" Mana fired again, the energy blast of her Dark Magic attack destroying the last face on the monster's club and blasting the club to splinters, which faded away as if evaporating into the air.

"You will pay for what you did!" The first head growled, charging towards Mana. She struggled to stand, not being able to hide the toll of using so much of her magic so quickly.

"I've got you now—!"

He reached his arm down to pick her up just as Kisara ran in between them, pushing Mana out of the way. "Kisara, what do you think you're doing?" Mana gasped, standing up and wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

"I'm repaying you." Kisara showed no sign of fear even as the monster brought her closer to his faces so he could see her more clearly.

"I remember you," the face attached to its chest said. "You wandered right into my trap and it was almost too easy to control you with the Mask of Brutality. Tell me, do you want another one? How about the Mask of the Accursed? Tell you what; I'll give you a choice." He laughed, and it sounded inhuman.

He was so focused on Kisara that he didn't see the final energy blast coming, intersecting straight on with the first face on the monster's shoulders. The head disintegrated in the smoke that poured from its neck. In his shock his hand unclenched, dropping Kisara over five feet from its hand to the stone clearing on the ground.

"I got you!" Kisara looked down to see Mana with hands outstretched. Kisara grabbed at the sides of her cloak, using it as a sort of parachute to slow her descent. She crashed into Mana, knocking them both to the ground.

For a moment Kisara stared at Mana. "You saved me. …Again."

Mana shifted her glance sideways. "Seriously, it's no big deal. Just… can you get off me?"

"Oh." Kisara coughed. "Right." Suddenly she had to suppress the urge to grin, a gesture more appropriate to her friend than herself.

"We do have a problem, though." Mana showed Kisara her staff—more precisely, the meter on its side. The light was at the very bottom of the meter, and flickering. "I don't have any more magic left. And we've got one more face to destroy." Her expression turned grave. "Honestly, I don't know what to do."

The monster turned towards them, a mess of smoking limbs. "You should get out of here. I can hold it off—"

"What?!" Kisara couldn't believe the words she was hearing! "I am not leaving here without you! And you aren't in any condition to fight." Mana couldn't argue any more; she could barely stand. She had never been this low on energy and she didn't want to think of what could happen if her reserves depleted…

The monster set his sights on them and began to charge, its rapidly increasing footsteps causing the ground to shake. "You're finished now! Let's see how tough you are now, magician!"

Kisara's eyes glowed blue. "I will not allow you to hurt Mana!" The slight breeze turned into a ferocious wind as her eyes flashed angrily. The wind whipped at her hair and cloak.

"Foolish girl! Do you think this wind will stop me?"

"No." Her eyes flashed again, and Mana thought she could detect a hint of a smile. "But I'm pretty sure he can."

The Masked Beast was moving too fast to slow down as the huge winged monster emerged from behind Kisara. It looked like a dragon, with glistening white scales and angry blue eyes. It looked like a… terrible monster? To Mana it looked beautiful.

The dragon reared its head back and released a beam of pure energy that crackled like lightning during a storm. The blast connected with the Masked Beast, completely incinerating him in a blast of light which was so bright Mana had to look away.

When she could open her eyes again Mana noticed that the clearing was just that, free of any signs of the Masked Beast. Rocks were still piled up around the space, and the wind was only beginning to fade away, but it seemed like everything was going to be alright. "Kisara!"

The dragon was gone, and Kisara was struggling to stay standing. "Kisara, that was amazing! I had no idea…really…are you ok?"

"I think so." Kisara's eyes were back to normal but still retained their startling hue.

"Do you need to rest for a minute? Come on, I'll help you." Mana put her arm around Kisara's shoulder and together they hobbled back to the center of the clearing.

"Thanks." Kisara looked around. Had they really just destroyed the monster? "Do you think that's it?"

"It has to be." Mana smiled. "I mean, if there's anything else I doubt we have the strength to deal with it."

"Of course we can. Working together, we can do anything."

"Yeah…Kisara, your feet!"

"What—?" Kisara looked down at her feet, which were quickly disappearing through the stone in the center of the clearing. The decorative stone had an intricate crystal carving, with curved designs that looked like ribbons. It looked harmless then, but now…? "I can't move my feet! What's happening?"

Slowly, her feet were being pulled through the stone, and now her ankles were disappearing as well. Mana looked on and a part of her knew that this was it. The final part of their journey—and one that Kisara would take alone. "Stay calm, Kisara. It's going to be okay…"

"Mana, I'm not going to leave you!" Kisara reached out her hand and grasped Mana's in her own, as if the action would pull her out of the rock.

"I don't think you have a choice." Mana, who had been so cheerful throughout their entire quest, fought desperately against the urge to cry. She had to be strong for Kisara.

"Of course I do, but I don't have to like it." Kisara was crying, her tears almost glittering in the sunlight. "Mana, I will come back for you. I won't forget." Her hand was shaking and Mana understood that she was afraid that she would forget.

"You won't forget." Mana narrowed her eyes and blinked furiously to ward away the oncoming tears. It could wait, until after—

Kisara's waist was inside the stone now, and Mana had to bend forward to keep their fingers linked. "I promise!" Kisara shouted, as her arms began to sink into the stone. There was a pull on Mana's fingers and then the connection was broken, and Mana fell backwards away from the stone that was stealing away any reason she had for staying in this world. She could only watch, silently, as Kisara's head vanished underneath the stone, and then she was gone.

Mana slammed both fists hard onto the stone surface. It was hard, cool, unflinching. Stone.

Why?

//"I play Monster Reborn to summon Blue Eyes White Dragon to the field!" Kaiba's couldn't contain his victorious smirk. The dragon appeared on the field, roaring as Kaiba ordered it to attack. The dueling platform was bathed in light.

"Your Masked Beast is no match for the might of the Blue Eyes White Dragon." Kaiba's eyes glittered as his opponents' life points decreased. It would only be a matter of time before they won the duel, and then he could save Mokuba.

Two turns later, the monster Des Guardius was summoned to the field by Lumis and with no monsters to defend his life points, it would have been all over for Yugi.

"I was wondering if you'd have to guts to challenge the Blue Eyes White Dragon, but now I know. You're all talk and no action. Only a coward would take the easy way out, instead of flexing his muscles and taking out my monster." Kaiba taunted, knowing that they would take the bait.

"All right, there's been a change in plans. Des Guardius, destroy Kaiba's Blue Eyes!" The monster leaped forward and an instant later his Blue Eyes was back in the card graveyard.

Blue Eyes, Forgive me. Kaiba had a powerful connection with his Blue Eyes that he would never let Yugi become aware of, but in that instant right before his dragon was destroyed, its cry sounded happy, as if it was going home. //

The End

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