Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Guardians of the Watchtowers ❯ Home At Last ( Chapter 17 )

I know I said I would try to update within the week, but my Internet's been down for the past week or so. Sorry about that. *rolls eyes* Stupid Internet…

Fanfiction reviewers:

Soul Dreamer: LOL, thanks!

Ril: Thanks, you got it!

Shero: Thanks for the review! Here ya go!

Yugi-obsessed: Thanks! Soon enough? (Err…probably not…) ;)

Alina3: LOL, thanks for the review! Uhh…evil cat? YIPES ;)

Mediaminer reviewers:

Med: Thanks for the comments. Don't worry- I'll finish this story (eventually). ;)

Rowan girl: Thanks for the review!

Disclaimer: I'm soooo tired of this thing. Aren't you? Anyways, I don't own Yugioh.

Ok, for some reason, Fanfiction wouldn't upload the marks for the wolf speech last chapter, so I'm using different marks this time.

`Blah': wolf or Slifer talking

"Blah": normal talking

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Chapter 17: Home At Last

The throne room of Castle Istar was absolutely chaotic. In one corner, there was the great god-creature cornering the four Elders, seemingly enjoying itself as the magicks of the Elders were draining fast. In the center of the room, two Spellcaster siblings protected two wolves and two humans with their magickal staffs from hordes of undead things. To one side of the entrance, a yellow-eyed wolf prepared to do battle against a dark-haired vampire. The other side of the entrance showed a red-eyed wolf glaring at an insanely jealous blond vampire. It was unclear which side had the upper advantage: the wolves and their allies or the Elders and theirs.

But things were about to change.

"Alright, Raven," Angus said through clenched teeth. "I had hoped we could have worked out our differences, but if you are so determined to end this now, then so be it." He narrowed his eyes at her angrily.

As Angus talked, Kaiba walked over and quietly picked up the wolf-headed sword from the ground, gripping it with both hands. Good thing Mokuba had such a fascination with vampires. He had countless books about them, and was always sharing any new information that he had found about them. One thing that Kaiba remembered most at the moment was how they were said to be killed: stake in the heart (he had witnessed that first-hand when Yami had staked that crazy blonde vampire), fire, sunlight, or beheading. Seeing as how the first three were not an option, he planned on going for number four.

Behind Angus, Raven saw Kaiba pick up the sword. Their eyes locked briefly, and she gave a slight nod of understanding. She turned her gaze back to Angus. `I hope you've enjoyed your wretched immortal life, Angus. Because it's about to end very shortly.'

The dark-haired vampire laughed. "I won't be the one dying tonight. You'll *never* be able to kill me!"

`Whoever said *I* was going to kill you?'

Angus's eyes widened at this, not understanding what she could possibly mean by that. He was about to reply, when suddenly he felt a blade sink deep into his back. He locked down in shock at the blade now protruding from his chest, dripping with his blood. It was yanked out, and he turned around in surprise, his mouth hanging open slightly. His eyes widened even more when he saw that it was that tall human boy, holding *his* sword, with a smirk on his face.

"You really should take care of your things better," Kaiba said. Blue eyes narrowed as he tightened his grip on the sword. "This is for hurting Raven…" he muttered under his breath. With that, he whipped the sword above his head once, then sliced downward and through the vampire's neck. The head went flying off before the entire body exploded into dust. Kaiba dropped his sword with a clatter, his eyes wide and his breath coming fast at seeing the vampire's body *explode*. He wasn't quite expecting that to happen.

Raven came up to him, looking at the empty place where Angus once stood. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She opened her eyes and looked up, nearly straining her neck to reach the eyes of her seemingly knight in shining armor (well, minus the armor part). `Thank you, Seto,' she said softly. `My family can finally rest in peace, and I can finally move on. Thank you.'

Kaiba knelt down so his face was level with hers. He cracked one of his rare, genuine smiles. "It was my pleasure."

The wolf leaned in and nuzzled her face against his neck. In response, he wrapped his arms around her neck, leaning his head against hers. For the first time in a long while, he actually felt kinda…happy. Now, all that was left was to return home.

Meanwhile, Yugi watched nervously as wolf and vampire stared furiously at one another. He had no idea how Yami would defeat the insane vampire this time. She couldn't be killed by the stake, and Yami no longer had his Fire powers. Suddenly, something clicked in Yugi's mind. He remembered how last time they were in the throne room, Yami had called out something in the language of their magick, and a blinding white light had come and aided in their escape. But that *wasn't* a part of Yami's elemental powers. So maybe…

"Yami!" Yugi called out in an excited voice. The wolf kept his gaze on the vampire, but one ear pricked towards Yugi's direction in response, letting him know he had his attention. "Yami! I know you don't have your Fire powers any more. But you have other magick besides those given to you as a Guardian! Like that blinding light you used to help us escape the last time."

Red eyes widened in realization. Yugi was right! Long ago, even before they were Guardians, Raven had taught him some of the spells that she knew. And when they had summoned Slifer, they had only sacrificed their elemental powers. Any other magick they still retained. Yami smiled inwardly. He always knew this boy was smart. He looked at the vampire with a smirk in his eyes.

Isabella saw the smirk and that angered her even more. "No magick can harm me! I'm protected by the powerful magick of the Elders!"

Yami cocked his head to one side a bit. `Oh really? True, your body may be protected, but your *mind* is most certainly not. And a mind is a terrible thing to lose…'

The vampire faltered a bit. "What-what do you mean my *mind*?"

`Let me explain. The Elders' magick only protects your body from being harmed by other magick. However, your mind is left unprotected. And, unfortunately for you, your mind is rather unstable, seeing as how insane you are and all. So, I think I'll just intensify that unstableness.' He narrowed his eyes. `I'm going to destroy you from the inside out.'

"You-you're bluffing! You don't have the kind of power!"

Yami didn't bother to answer, but closed his eyes and summoned his magick, focusing its power on the demented vampire. He opened his eyes and glared at her. `Pelekta yassen i'handele!!' he shouted with all his might.

An unholy shriek came from Isabella as she suddenly felt immense pain in her head. She shrieked again as she clutched her head, shaking her head back and forth forcefully, trying to rid herself of the pain. But her actions only intensified it.

Yami backed Yugi up against the wall, away from the writhing and shrieking vampire. "What's happening to her?" Yugi asked softly.

`Her mind is collapsing on itself, unable to endure the strain of her madness.'

Isabella let out one final shriek, then her body went still and she collapsed onto the ground. Yami went tentatively up to her, Yugi close behind. Her mouth and eyes were frozen open. Yami waved a paw in front of her eyes, but saw no movement. He sighed. `I don't think she'll be coming back again. I've destroyed her mind. Without it, there's not much left.'

Even though she had spelled him with the wolf ears and tail, as well as trying to kill him on several occasions, Yugi couldn't help feel just a tad bit sorry for her. She was, after all, just in love (though insanely so) with someone she couldn't have. She did everything out of love. He couldn't really blame her for that, now could he?

Myrrddin and Eiru had managed to blast away the last of the dead-of-the-undead things. With the magicks of the Elders running low, thanks to Slifer, the things' power drastically decreased as well. Without the Elders' magick, they could not survive.

Yami and Yugi, as well as Raven and Kaiba, joined the others in the center of the room. `Everyone all in one piece?' Raven questioned.

They all nodded in reply.

`I'm glad.' She looked at the two Spellcaster siblings. `Thank you both, for your help. How did you know to come?'

"We saw the beam of light when Slifer was summoned," Myrrddin answered. "So we figured there was great trouble, and came as quickly as possible."

Eiru glanced at Yugi and Kaiba, and giggled. "The little boy looks *so* adorable with those ears and tail!" Yugi blushed a bit, while everyone else was giving her an incredulous look. She quickly regained her composure. "Can the spell be reversed?"

Raven nodded. `We're going to make the Elders reverse it. Thank you again for your help, but you better go home now. I don't want the Elders taking out any of their anger on you.'

"What will you do, when all of this is over?"

`We're going to live in Yugi's world,' Yami answered. "It's rather…fascinating, actually.'

Myrrddin nodded thoughtfully. "Then perhaps, when things have settled down, we will visit. It's been a long time since we visited the human world."

`We'd like that very much.'

The friends hugged good-bye, Eiru giving Yugi a little peck on the cheek, which made him turn even redder. Then the two siblings were off.

Once they were gone, Raven turned her attention towards the far corner of the room, where the great god-creature had seemingly imprisoned the four Elders. The Elders' robed were tattered and torn, their hair messy and unkempt. Their shoulders drooped with defeat, their breathing heavy. But they were so stubborn, not willing to give up their power and position so easily. They gathered their magick for one last attack and with a shout sent it hurtling towards the dragon-snake. However, Slifer easily countered with a blast of its own magick, which easily overwhelmed theirs. Exhausted and drained, the four Elders collapsed onto their knees, panting heavily, their eyes seething with fury.

Slifer tilted back its head and let out a mighty roar of triumph that shook the very walls of the castle. Yugi had to grab onto Yami's shoulders to keep his balance. He wondered what was going to happen next.

Once Slifer had finished its triumphant roar, it looked back at the four fallen Elders. `Do you admit defeat?' it asked in its rumbling voice.

Pegasus glared up at the great red beast, gritting his teeth as he did so. He then looked passed the beast at the small group standing in the center of the room, and focused his attention on the yellow-eyed wolf. "*You*!" he seethed angrily. "You're the cause of all this!"

The wolf shook her head. `Wrong, Pegasus. You brought this all on yourself. You should have never messed with me and mine.'

But Pegasus did not hear her. "Do you realize what you have done?" he continued furiously. "Do you realize the irreparable damage that you have caused by summoning the god-creature? You have doomed Arawn forever!"

Yugi looked at Yami, confusion written all over his face. "What's he talking about, Yami?"

The red-eyed wolf sighed. `When we sacrificed our elemental powers to summon Slifer, we didn't just sacrifice our powers, but the powers of the Watchtowers as well.'

Yugi gasped, widening his eyes. "You mean the Watchtowers are…"

`Useless,' Yami finished for him.

"Exactly!" Pegasus fumed. "And without the Watchtowers, then the gates between Arawn and other worlds cannot be controlled."

The small boy remembered Yami telling him about the Watchtowers, how they acted as gateways or portals into and out of Arawn, and how it was the Guardians' responsibility to guard the Watchtowers from any unwanted intruders. Without the Watchtowers intact, then anything was free to exit, or enter, Arawn.

Bakurian too realized this, and his ears pricked up with amusement. `Well, Pegasus, looks like your little "prophesy" came true after all.' He chuckled lightly to himself.

The Elder in turn glared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

`You had prophesized that the so-called "Illuminites" would come and destroy Arawn. Well, it was because of *them* that Slifer was summoned. If you hadn't had them brought here in the first place, then there would have been no reason for us to sacrifice the powers of the Watchtowers to summon Slifer.' He tilted his head to one side in amusement, very much enjoying the stunned face of Pegasus. `With the Watchtowers inactive, and your powers drained from the battle, Arawn's open to destruction by invaders. Prophesy fulfilled.'

Pegasus narrowed his emotionless eyes at the group. "You will all PAY dearly for this! The portals are open, so return to your pathetic humans' world. I'll send every demon and vampire to hunt you all down! This…treachery will not go unpunished!"

Yami took a few steps closer to him. `First, you reverse the spells you have cast on Yugi and his friends. Then we'll gladly take our leave.' He knew only the Elders could reverse their own magicks.

The Elder glared at him coldly. "And why should I help you?"

A low rumbling came from the god-creature, and everyone turned to look at it. `Because if you do not, then I'll bite your head off.'

Pegasus considered his options, then suddenly grinned evilly. "Alright, I'll return the humans to their original states. But not without a price of course. After all, nothing comes without a price."

The god-creature nodded. `Indeed. Such is the way of the worlds.'

Yami narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling this was coming. `Name your price then.'

"In return for the humans gaining back their true human form, you former Guardians must give up *your* human forms. Human by day, wolf by night, you will no longer be able to freely change between the two forms. Do we have a deal?"

The four wolves gathered together, talking quietly amongst themselves. `We don't have much of a choice, now do we?' Raven asked.

`Are you serious?' Marius groaned. `We've already given up our positions as Guardians, our powers. Now we have to give up our ability to change as we please?'

Yami nodded. `Unless you want Marik to forever live with that tail of his.'

Marius growled. `Fine, fine. I'll do it.'

`Bakurian?' Raven turned towards the wolf.

He thought for a moment. Personally, he liked the human better with the added feature. But he figured the human didn't like it so much, and wouldn't quite match with his world. The fact that he actually cared about what the human felt surprised him greatly. Grrr…stupid human. Always messing with his feelings and stuff. Finally, he nodded his head. `Yeah yeah, I'm in,' he muttered.

Raven nodded. `Good.' She looked at the Elder. `It's a deal then.'

Pegasus smiled to himself. The former Guardians probably had thought that they would have a wonderful life with their precious humans. Well, now, this will certainly complicate things. And, he had a certain something *extra* planned for the former Guardians as well. Shakily, he rose to his feet, the other Elders following him. "It is agreed then. If you would all stand together then, we can begin the spell, so you can finally leave my sight already."

Once the wolves and humans were standing together, the Elders closed their eyes, and began chanting in a low voice. Dark crystals began to form and surround the group of eight. Yugi shut his eyes tightly, pressing himself slightly against Yami for comfort. He didn't entirely trust Pegasus…

As the Elders casted their spell, Slifer nodded and disappeared out of this world, and back to his own. His work was done, and it was extremely amusing. He should come back more often to cause trouble…

There was a momentary blinding flash of light as the Elders finished their incantation, then it was gone. Yugi opened his eyes, hesitantly reaching up with both hands to his ears. He grinned, delighted, when he felt normal, smooth skin beneath his fingers. He turned a bit to look at his backside, relieved when he found that there was no longer a tail back there as well. He looked at Yami, still grinning.

However, Yami was not as happy as Yugi was. True, Pegasus had for once kept his word, and Yugi and his friends were back to normal. But something did not feel quite right. He turned to Raven, who had a perplexed expression on her face as well. They caught each others' eyes, nodding immediately.

Raven glared at Pegasus. `Pegasus, you bastard, what else have you done to us?'

Yugi's smile faded at her words.

The Elder laughed. "I'm surprised you were able to tell so quickly. Yes, I did add a little extra something into the incantation. Another little consequence for your *love*." He grinned. "I've told you already, love can cause so much damage sometimes. And for love, you four have paid the ultimate price."

A ticked off Kaiba stalked up to the Elder, roughly grabbing him by the collar of his robe and hoisting him into the air a few feet or so. "Pegasus!" he growled menacingly. "Whatever you've done to her, reverse it immediately, before I rip your throat out." He had had about enough of this jerk messing with Raven.

Somehow, even though he was hanging by his collar, Pegasus managed to chuckle slightly. "Sorry, Kaiba-boy. But this curse cannot be lifted, nor can it be reversed. For how do you give back someone's immortality?"

Kaiba widened his eyes in surprised, and he dropped the Elder back onto the floor with a soft thud. "What?" he muttered softly.

Pegasus shrugged, grinning. "Of course, I *could* have one of my vampires change her into one of them. That would restore her immortality. Then again, I doubt she'd be quite the same as before…" He continued grinning.

The tall boy was about to rush over to smash his fist into Pegasus's grinning face, but Raven stepped in between them. `Let it go,' she said softly. `It's better this way anyways.'

Kaiba stared at her blankly, lowering his fist slowly.

`Think about it. Now, I can spend one mortal life with you, instead of an immortal one without.' She looked over at Yami, who was staring, perplexed at her words. `Well Yami, I was wrong. Looks like Pegasus helped us out after all. He solved the problem of our immortality and their mortality.'

Yami nodded in understanding. `Yes, now we don't have to worry about us not aging along with them.' He turned to Yugi, who was smiling gently. `Now we can be together.'

Pegasus was completely outraged at this turn of events. "WHAT?! You mean to tell me you're actually *happy* that I took away your immortality?"

`Yes,' Raven replied. `You've actually done us a favor. After all, only the Elders' magick could give us the mortal life that we desire.' Her eyes sparkled mischievously. `*Thank you* Pegasus for helping us. And now, our business is concluded.' She closed her eyes, summoning her magick to open a portal to the human world.

A dark mass started to form, slowly growing larger until it was big enough for them to go through. Raven opened her eyes, then looked at Kaiba. `Let's go home.'

As the group started to enter the portal, Pegasus thought of something and called out to them. "You haven't won yet, Raven! Now that you are mortal, my vampires and demons will have an easy time killing you off. You won't be able to protect yourselves *or* your precious humans! I will have my revenge after all!" He started to laugh insanely, but was cut short by Raven's words.

`Don't be so certain, Pegasus. We have powers not even *you* know about. Attack if you dare…we'll be ready and waiting.' With that, Raven stepped into the portal, leaving behind a gawking Pegasus.

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