Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Children of Shadow ❯ Second Awakening ( Chapter 13 )

Me: Chapter thirteen! I am past the halfway mark! Actually, I passed it a little while ago! But who cares! I like chocolate! ^^

Marik: Ignore the weirdo authoress who lives in her own little world.

Me: Hey, I live in my own little galaxy. Get it straight!

Isis: *sweatdrop*

Me: I didn't get any reviews last chapter! :( *sniffle* Which is the reason why it's taken me so long to get this chapter up. I have zero motivation. Where did my reviewers go? COME BACK!

Marik: Yeah. Weirdo doesn't even come close.

Kaiba: You said it.

Me: *huggling my Bakura muse because he's the only one who will let me huggle him*

Bakura: *blink*

Marik: You know, we should really get her to a therapist one of these days.

Me: You're one to talk. *frown* Let's get on with the fic. Kaiba, do the disclaimer.

Kaiba: No! You tried to kill me!

Me: It's your fault that you didn't check the pack! It said right there- SOUR skittles. Not tropical, not wildberry, sour. Don't blame me for your poor literary skills.

Isis: It doesn't take literary skills to read a bag of skittles…

Kaiba: Whose side are you on?!

Isis: Uh, let's see, nope, not yours.

Me: Kaiba, do the freaking disclaimer before I unleash the incomprehensible power of watermelon Bubblelicious.

Kaiba: *clutches head protectively* You wouldn't.

Me: You know I would.

Kaiba: Grr- AMK owns nothing except Cassie and Chrissy. And Jep.

Me: YOU IDIOT! *sticks gum in his hair* THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT HIM YET! Everyone just forget what this little disease just said… read the fic… *sweatdrop*

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Black… everything was black… getting darker… then- lighter?

Cassie could feel warmth all around her. She was lying on her back, resting on something soft. Not the floor- a bed? Her head was resting on a pillow. Yes. A bed, then. So. That still left her with the inescapable question of 'where the hell was she'.

Only one way to find out. Cassie silently counted to three, then opened her eyes.

A bright light immediately shone on her face. She blinked several times, then turned her head to the left. Ryou was sitting next to her. His usually pleasant face was layered with concern and relief.

"Hey," Cassie said. She expected her voice to be no more than a whisper, but it was fine. She sat up. Nothing was wrong. She felt fine. "Where are we?"

Ryou swallowed. "The hospital."

Hospital? That couldn't be right. Cassie frowned. "Why?"

A transparent figure materialized beside her cousin. Bakura. "Why? You know, that's a good question. Maybe because we came home and found you two lying passed out on the floor, that's why! How stupid are you, anyway?"

Cassie was set to snap back at him when she realized what he had said. Passed out? You two?

She glanced to her right and stared. Lying in another bed next to her, clearly unconscious, was Chrissy.

The recollection of what had happened hit Cassie like a shot from a gun. Memories swarmed into her head all at once. Chrissy had come. They were both wearing their necklaces. Then there was the dark again, all dark, and those eyes-

The door to the room swung open. Five people walked in- Yugi, Jou, Honda, Otogi, and Mai.

"We all came as soon as you called," Mai said to Ryou, out of breath. "Are they-" Her eyes slid to Cassie, then to Chrissy.

"Cassie just woke up," Ryou replied quietly. His voice sounded strange, slightly hoarse. "You all right, Otogi?"

"I'm fine," he replied shortly, a closed expression settling on his face.

"What about Chrissy?" Jou asked.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "What do you think, blondie? She's out cold. Even you should be able to see that."

"Look, you psycho, I'm not in the mood for any of your insults, got it?" Jou shot back. The rest of the group had gathered around Chrissy's bed. Ryou tapped Cassie's arm softly.

"Are you all right?" he asked equally softly. For a minute, Cassie forgot all of her fears and confusion of what had happened and nodded. Ryou's face broke into a small, tired smile.

"I'm glad," he whispered. He leaned forward and hugged her gently. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

"Forget it," Cassie mumbled. "What happened? How long was I out?"

"Just a few hours," Ryou replied. "We were out looking for Chrissy, after-" He broke off, biting his lip. "After she ran off."

Cassie gave a small shiver. The memory of the incident Chrissy had described to her was still fresh in her mind, and only added to her apprehension.

"I came home, thinking she might be there, and the door was unlocked. I went upstairs looking for you, and-" Ryou broke off again. "You were both lying on the floor unconscious."

"Gave us one hell of a scare, I'll tell you that," Bakura snorted. His voice was the slightest bit shaky, and Cassie glimpsed a tiny flicker of worry in his dark brown eyes. She wondered fleetingly whether he was actually concerned about her, or if he was just as freaked out by this night's events as she was. Something had her leaning strongly towards the latter.

"So-" Cassie paused, unsure of what to say. Fortunately, she was interrupted by a noise to her right. She, Ryou, and Bakura all turned their heads to look. Chrissy was sitting up. She blinked several times, then seemed to realize where she was. She looked around at the others.

"Guys…"

"Hey, Chrissy," Honda said. There was an awkward silence. Chrissy finally bit her lip and wiped at her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said in a tiny voice, determinedly not looking anyone in the face.

Mai sighed and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's fine, Chrissy. Really. Otogi's all right."

"Yeah," Jou chimed in. "Besides, weird stuff happens to us all the time."

"Weird stuff," Cassie muttered to herself. Chrissy glanced over at her.

"Cassie!"

"That's my name." The others turned to her tentatively. "What? I'm not going to bite you or anything."

"Cassie-" Yugi began, taking a step towards her.

"Forget it, Yugi." Cassie looked away, clamping her mouth shut. There was yet another silence, punctuated by a gasp. Courtesy of Chrissy.

"Cassie, your-"

"My what?" Cassie turned back to face Chrissy, who was staring at her with wide, timid green eyes. She pointed a quivering finger at Cassie.

"Necklace," she whispered. Cassie immediately looked down. Sure enough, her necklace was still fastened securely around her throat. Looking back at Chrissy, she saw that the other girl was still wearing her necklace too.

"Yeah, yours too." Chrissy did the same as Cassie, examining herself. The others looked blankly from one bed to the other.

"Huh?" Jou was the most confused. "What happened?" Bakura narrowed his eyes as he studied what was around Cassie's neck. That bird…

Cassie reached behind her head to undo the clasp. "This is nuts," she hissed, her fingers struggling with the clasp. Suddenly she felt an electrical charge surge up her fingers.

"Ow!" Cassie jerked her hands away and stared. The tips of her fingers were red. A second later, Chrissy cried out too.

"It- it won't come off!" she said almost fearfully. Cassie stared at her numbly.

"What?"

"All right, I think I can speak for all of us when I ask what is going on here?" Otogi demanded loudly. "And what does it have to do with me passing out?"

Cassie felt a chill run up her spine. The necklace felt warm. Almost- too warm. Whatever was happening, she wasn't about to stick around for an answer. Shaking her head, she threw back the covers and swung her feet over the side of her bed, accidentally going right through Bakura's legs as she did so. Thank Ra she wasn't wearing one of those tacky hospital gowns.

"Cassie, what are you doing?" Ryou grabbed her arm, looking at her concernedly. "You have to stay here. You could be sick."

"Sorry, cous'," Cassie mumbled, tearing her arm out of Ryou's grip. She got up and quickly walked towards the door, taking a deep breath. "I'm going home."

"Hold on!" Honda yelled. Cassie ignored him, grabbing the door handle.

Don't leave.

Cassie could feel her heart go into double-time. She stumbled back, spinning around. "Who said that?" she practically shouted. Everyone stared dumbly at her. "Who said it?" she repeated.

"I-" Cassie turned towards Chrissy, who really looked terrified now. She was clutching her sheets tightly. "I heard it! In my head!"

"Heard WHAT?" Jou said, frustrated. He banged his fist on the wall. Ryou was staring at Cassie, fear beginning to show on his face. Suddenly the voice came again.

I can't let you leave, Protector. I guess I'll have to show myself.

Cassie gasped. The voice that she was hearing now- it was the same voice that had come from the necklace! There was no mistaking it- soft but hard, echoing and resounding inside her head. And it was going to- show itself!

"Where are you!" Cassie really was shouting now. The rest of the gang looked at her like she was crazy. Chrissy, however, looked nothing short of paralyzed. Her face was drained and twitching oddly. Cassie was just waiting for her to have a seizure. All of a sudden Cassie's necklace itself shone brightly for a split second, then faded. The whole room was holding its breath.

"Up here."

Everyone's heads snapped up simultaneously. Cassie's jaw dropped. She heard a thud but didn't bother tearing her eyes away from the figure floating cross-legged above her.

It was a boy. But the strangest looking boy Cassie had ever seen. He had sandy brown hair and dark eyes. He was small and bare-chested, with baggy pants and what appeared to be a cape fastened behind him. But the craziest thing of all was his wings. Two miniature jet-black angelish wings sprouted from his back. They weren't doing any support though- he was just floating! In midair!

"Hello, Protectors," he said. "We meet in person at last."

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Me: I was actually planning on making that longer! But I decided to leave you lovely people with a cliffhanger as payback for absolutely ZERO reviews last chapter. NYAH! *sticks out tongue*

Isis: And you're not going to let them forget it, are you?

Me: Of course not! *sticks out tongue AGAIN* Tabby is excused because her computer is being evil. Everyone else, I expect a two-page essay on why you did not review, why the authoress needs reviews, and the consequences for your not reviewing. Due by Wednesday or I will NEVER HAVE MERCY ON YOUR PATHETIC SOULS!

Marik: She's in the 'school mode'. Don't mind her. It's not like we ever do.

Me: Do not make me unleash the heavy metal frying pan of ultimate doom! Which is copyrighted! By me! *cough* Anyways- Kaiba! Do- oh.

Kaiba: *in the corner weeping piteously over his tortured hair*

Me: Right. Okay then- just review peoples! PLEASE! *grovels* Sorry if this was a little short!