Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Ryou Bakura: Game Master! ❯ Heading up to Mt. Koltz ( Chapter 5 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Final Fantasy 6. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and he doesn't approve of a pharaoh playing video games. SquareSoft owns Final Fantasy, and they don't care if Yami plays video games.

 

“Uh… Yami, you know how to play these, don't you?” Sephira asked, as she and Yami now sat, taking a controller each to try and play, “Like, you know how to use the controls, right?” Yami scowled. He didn't want to tell her that he didn't know how to play, but hell, he'd played table-top RPGs with Ryou before. This couldn't possibly be more nerve-racking than that. Besides, he'd never lost a game before. He had confidence. Sith was counting on that confidence. His scowl turned to an almost smug grin as he turned toward the younger girl.

 

“I'm the King of Games. I think I can figure this out,” he replied, but there was something to his tone that Sephira wasn't quite sure about. He took a breath and led the party out of the dusty bar, and out of town altogether. It had been generally decided that, aside from the main protagonists, no one else in South Figaro would be able to help them. And Yami wanted to be far into Mt. Koltz by the time Sith even got back.

 

“Anything has got to be better than listening to Sith and Bakura argue all day,” Malik stated as they left the city gates, into the overcast plains that sprawled out before them. Ryou silently agreed; anything was probably better than whatever had happened that day period.

 

They walked for what felt like a few moments, and Ryou noticed that the sky was darkening quickly, and that rain was beginning to fall. At first, it was a soft drizzle, hardly worth the complaints Malik was ready to make. But the closer they went toward the northeast, where the range was, the heavier the rain became, and very quickly, they were soaked through their armor. Yugi looked up, his eyes big as he stared at Yami. He was visibly shivering.

 

“Can we rest?” he asked sadly, his hair flopping over from the rain. Yami frowned. He hated having to say no, but they couldn't take long or Falnika would get away from them. Sith would have a conniption fit if that happened. He shook his head.

 

“I'm sorry, Yugi, but I can't,” he replied regretfully, frowning, “If that thing comes back and we're caught off-guard, we're through. How do you think Sith would feel then?”

 

“Sith can deal with it,” Malik muttered under his breath, “We're the ones dealing with rain here.” If Malik expected sympathy, he didn't receive any. Ishtar simply sighed, shaking his head, and both Hana and Sephira simply stared at Malik. Bakura was the only one rude enough to comment, which wasn't surprising for anyone involved.

 

“Oh, boo HOO!” Bakura said mockingly, pretending to wipe his eyes, “It's raining! How terrible for something like weather to affect you all! Well, why don't we just turn the damn game off until you dry up!?” He leaned forward to try and turn off the machine, but Yami slapped his wrist. Both spirits glared angrily at the other, and Ryou's eye twitched as he watched. That was the stupidest thing Bakura could've done, and he was really glad that Yami had stopped him. Though, if he hadn't, Ryou had the comfort of knowing Sith would definitely have killed him. And revived him to kill him again, if he was truly unlucky.

 

“We could just stay at the inn,” Ryou suggested, but one look at Yugi told him that wasn't a good idea. Yugi took out the pouch with their scant savings; it looked like there was barely twenty gold coins there. With such pitiful resources, Ryou was ready to disagree with himself, too.

 

“We don't have the money, Ryou,” Yugi stated gently, zipping the pouch back up and pocketing it, “Sith probably wants to save it for potions and equipment, too.” Ryou guessed he might've been right, and found he was glad no one took his offer. Malik, unfortunately, wasn't as pleased. His eyes widened and he threw up his hands.

 

“But then where can we stay!?” he asked in exasperation, kicking a small rock as it slammed into a tree. Ryou glanced over and sighed. He understood Malik's anger, but it wasn't anyone's fault they had to conserve. Until they had buckets of cash, they'd have to be cautious. Hana glanced down at the guide, and grinned as she turned back to Ryou. That brought hope to the white-haired boy.

 

“There should be a small crest in the foot of the mountains with a house,” she said, reading the guide carefully, “You can rest there. That's good news. You need to level up, anyway. That place should be perfect.” Yami nodded, and with directions from Hana, guided Ryou toward the house mentioned. It was difficult to do, since the rain and dark slowed their progress considerably, but even Malik stopped his complaints at the prospect of rest.

 

“I can't wait to put my feet up,” he sighed, and then remembered the last part of Hana's words, “But I'm not keen on the fighting. I wish Sith got thrown in here instead. She's more into murder than I am.” Ishtar and Bakura snickered, but Malik caught a disapproving glare from Ryou. Any humor he did have was vanquished; Ryou looked angry enough to snuff it out. But he didn't say a thing. He looked the other way, wondering just where the hell Sith was and what she was doing. It seemed like hours passed since she'd been there.

 

“Sith, get down here before she comes and kills us. Please,” he grumbled. He didn't have the heart to tell anyone that he didn't trust their judgment over hers.

 

---

 

Meanwhile, Yaten sat in his room, strapping on old, worn-out army equipment. He sported a tattered vest that he assumed was bullet-proof, old camouflage pants, and big boots. He laced up some shoulder pads, and then put on a large bike helmet, feeling that it made a reasonable substitute for an army helmet. Then he grabbed an old musket, until a crash was heard as his door was thrown open. Sith rushed in, and then abruptly stopped when she saw Yaten. Her brow rose; she didn't know whether to laugh or sigh and just walk away. She took a deep breath and glanced at his entire arsenal. He looked like a reject from Saving Private Ryan. And she hadn't enjoyed that movie.

 

“I was praying you weren't about to do something stupid, but I guess Bahamut hates me,” she mumbled, “Sir, what in the seven levels of frozen hell are you doing?” Yaten looked at her for a minute, and then turned and strapped on a plastic shield from when Ryou was a child. She watched in disbelief. Was he going to war?

 

“I have had it. I can understand going to the store, but it's been nearly five hours and Ryou hasn't even called us! I'm going out there and looking for my son!” Yaten exclaimed, and walked toward the door. But Sith stopped him quickly, putting her hand on the knob. He looked at her incredulously.

 

“Before you go out there and decide to hurt yourself, you should know that I know where Ryou is,” Sith said calmly, and as Yaten stared at her, she continued, “He's inside that video game. I wasn't lying.” She waited for Yaten to say something, but it wasn't what she had expected at all. Yaten frowned. She had expected him to believe her, expected him to maybe ignore her, hell, she even expected him to laugh at her. But a simple frown was almost a disappointment.

 

“That's not possible. Look, my son is missing. I've already called the Department of Missing Persons, but heavens knows those idiots are slow as hell. Now get out of the way,” Yaten said, trying to push Sith aside. She blinked slowly as what he said processed in her mind. When she finally understood, her mind snapped. That really wasn't something she would've expected.

 

“You… YOU DID WHAT!?” Sith screamed, not realizing just how loud she was, “WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!? WHO DID THEY SEND!?” Yaten, who was already just a foot away from Sith, looked behind toward her, wondering why she was getting so upset. To him, he did the right thing.

 

“Said his name was Rex Raptor. He said something about being fired for a pre-limited search, so that's why I'm leaving,” Yaten told her, trying to get out the door. But Sith dashed before him and blocked him once more as he said, “Sith, move!”

 

“You called Rex… you have got to be kidding me! He's a complete imbecile! He won't help you at all!” Sith cried, not even noticing as Yaten snuck over toward the window, “He nearly killed himself the last time I enlisted him! Granted, we were on a moving train, but still, he's not much help! Mr. Bakura, you can't… Y-Yaten?” Sith looked around, finally noticing that Yaten was no longer in the room with her. Her eyes fell onto the open window, and she heard the heavy crack of a tree branch. Hissing, she said, “Damn it, he left!” Angrily, she ran out of the room, storming down the stairs. She nearly knocked Sephira over before she finally stopped.

 

“Sith, what's wrong?” Hana called, looking over as Sith thrust open the door, her ears lowering angrily. She snorted with fury, but didn't bother to turn around. She had maybe a few seconds before all hell broke loose with Yaten.

 

“Mr. Bakura, being the supreme ruler of idiocy, decided to leave because he's certain Ryou's missing,” Sith growled, heading out of the door. Bakura stood up suddenly and ran after her. Soon, Ryou heard her yelling for Bakura to let her go, with the old thief simply dragging her back in with very little effort. Or what Ryou thought was little effort. But Bakura's face was getting red with the strain of keeping an Esper detained.

 

“Forget about that moron! Right now, my dear, we need your help!” Bakura said quickly, leading Sith over into the living room. She looked at him, and then sighed, as they sat down together. Yaten may have been done for, but Bakura was right. Ryou was more important to her than that idiot ever would be. The only thing she wanted to know at that moment, however, was if Ryou was even alive. She had been gone close to ten minutes.

 

“Please don't tell me you got a game over,” she mumbled, as Bakura handed her the controller. She found she hadn't yet been greeted with a game over screen. That was promising. Until, of course, she saw the look on Yami's face. Immediately, she knew they were close to being dead, if anything. She looked at him seriously, and he shrugged his shoulders stiffly.

 

“I'm not the problem. Bakura is. We ran into another pack of birds…” Yami started, but Bakura cut him off, eye twitching with fury.

 

“They're MOCKERS!” Bakura corrected, even though technically he was wrong. Yami snorted and continued on regardless.

 

“Right… We ran into a pack of mockers, and Bakura decided that ranting was better than fighting. As a result, they…” Yami gulped and sputtered with Sith rushed over and grabbed his collar, pulling him so close that he felt her breath. It was warm and there was a hint of brandy on it. He knew he'd be dead if he didn't word his next few answers very carefully. The only problem was, with Sith, there rarely was a right answer.

 

“Tell me they aren't dead,” she growled lowly, “Tell me you bastards didn't kill them while I was gone!” Yami gulped again, wishing Sith just yelled at him instead. Now he knew he was going to die. When he didn't answer, Sith dropped him and unpaused the game. Ryou was the only one standing, and just barely with six health points to his name. And when she saw she had no Phoenix Downs, she screamed, “HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!?” She glared directly at Bakura, knowing he was the cause of this mess. She wanted to throttle him right then.

 

“Right! It's MY fault those bags of crap with wings have critical hits! Blame it ALL on the Game Master!” Bakura cried defensively. Sith looked like she was ready to kill him, but she knew better. Killing him wouldn't solve anything, or at least that's what she told herself as she healed Ryou to the best of her abilities. Running away from the fight, she made Ryou head back toward the cabin, careful to run no matter what enemies they ran into. She couldn't risk Ryou dying. Within three minutes, Ryou made it to the cabin, and rushed in, happy to be greeted with a warm fireplace. He walked over to the beds.

 

“Sith, not that I'm not grateful for you coming back, but will resting actually help us? I'm the only one alive,” Ryou reminded her, carefully setting Malik and Yugi on the beds. Sith nodded. Ryou thought he saw a hint of a smile, but it was so fleeting, he couldn't be sure.

 

“Resting anywhere that's permitted restores the party's health to full,” she reminded him, “Regardless of death. You of anyone should've remembered this, Ryou. You have those on your own little RPGs, don't you?” Ryou blushed in embarrassment. But Sith said nothing more. At least, not until Ryou was sound asleep, which took about three seconds after that. Hana looked at her.

 

“Can you head back to the first town and level up there?” she asked, as the screen faded to show that Ryou was resting. Sith shook her head, her lips thin.

 

“There's a guard blocking passage back to Figaro and Narshe,” the older woman replied grimly, “The only way is forward, and it's clear this is a problem. But with every game, there's a loophole. And I know one.” Just then, the screen came back, and Ryou got out of bed, stretching. He saw Sith was looking at the back pages of the guide, and tilted his head, wondering what she was searching for. Yami asked his questions for him.

 

“So, this loophole… is it a cheat?” the old pharaoh asked. Sith grinned and shook her head. Whatever she was going to do was going to pay off big.

 

“Glitch, my friend,” she answered mischievously, “A lot of games have them. This one's an experience glitch. South of here is a strip of beach with weak monsters, but for whatever reason, their experience modifiers are way out of whack. I'm going to train there and get Ryou's levels raised.” Yami didn't like the idea of a glitch, but he didn't know what to argue with. Not that it would've helped; already, the screen was back up, and both Yugi and Malik were up again. Albeit dizzy, but they were alive.

 

“How do you want to know what extra crispy feels, you sack of shit with wings!?” Malik declared, and then when he realized he was inside a house, he looked up, “…Sith, when the hell did you get back!?” Sith snorted. Clearly, Malik suffered a little bit of amnesia over the past ten minutes. She was almost jealous. But she didn't show it.

 

“Doesn't matter. We're going glitch hunting,” she replied sternly, “So follow my orders or you'll die. Again.” That was enough to convince Malik, for he'd already died twice that day. Leading them out of the cabin, Sith headed south, running from anything that dared to try and hurt them, and came toward the beach in a matter of minutes. It looked like a normal, standard 8-bit beach to her, but to Ryou, it looked drastically different. The rain had ceased since they rested, but the sky was still dark, and the storm still threatened the immediate area. The air was heavy with moisture. For a moment, Ryou stood there, and Sith didn't move to stop him.

 

“What do we do about dad?” he found himself asking the older woman, “Did he believe you?” Sith snorted again. That answer was clear simply from the fact that he ran away.

 

“Of course he didn't. He thinks I'm crazy,” she replied, and shrugged, “If he wants to go and get run over by a truck, I say we let him have his fun.” What she didn't say was how all right she'd be if that actually happened. Ryou just shrugged it off. Technically, he doubted there was much that could be done even if Yaten did believe her. Looking to the left, he saw that there was a horde of monsters already coming toward them; they were nothing more than flies, and at first, he wasn't sure they were even a monster. Then, when the screen suddenly flashed to indicate a fight, he realized with amusement that they were. Malik's mouth dropped.

 

“Are you serious!? Hell, even I can kill these things!” he laughed, and with a malicious grin, he said, “BUM RUSH!” With that, he rushed toward all of the monsters, and in a feat that not even Chuck Norris could compete with, he spun around and slammed every monster with fist and boot alike, taking them out in one blow. And with the experience that they received from such pitiful enemies, they now saw why Sith directed them there. They gained four levels in one battle, bringing them all up to level six.

 

“Oh, holy hell of hells! That's the most insane glitch I've laid eyes on!” Bakura exclaimed in absolute awe, “Fe, fi, fo, fum, watch out, you stupid Mystic. Here we come!” Ryou snorted and shook his head. He had a feeling that, even if they gained a thousand levels, it wouldn't have scared Falnika off in the least. Sith just looked over flatly at Bakura. She considered hitting him over the head again, and then just decided against it. She needed her energy for Ryou; abusing Bakura could be done at a later date.

 

“Bakura, shut up,” she mumbled, “I need to concentrate, and hearing the garbage that dribbles out of your mouth doesn't help me.” Bakura grumbled irritably, but didn't say a thing to her. Taking a quick glance at the guide beside her, Sith read the next passage slowly, as if to make sure she understood what needed to be done, and what she needed to do to prepare. Ryou looked up at her as Yugi began stepping on the corpses of their latest monster to make sure they stayed dead.

 

“Are we strong enough?” Ryou asked her after she kept silent for a minute. Sith read further, and then gave a grin.

 

“Well, the guide says level seven is recommended, but being behind one level probably won't make too much of a difference,” she reasoned, and looked at the television, “As long as the monster roster hasn't changed, we should be fine. There's only one problem I foresee…” She looked at Bakura again as she spoke, and he knew fully what she was referring to. Malik actually laughed, and Yami shook his head, wishing she didn't encourage Bakura to retaliate. Which is exactly what he tried to do.

 

“IT WAS THOSE MOCKERS!” Bakura screamed again, sulking into a chair. Ryou slapped his forehead; sometimes he wondered why Sith didn't hit the thief more than she did.

 

When they finally made it to the foot of the mountain, they had managed to score a few potions from the monsters outside, and Sith seemed to grow more confident of their chances for survival. The caves that dotted the mountain were many, but Ryou wasn't concerned anymore. He learned a Thunder spell during their trip to the base, and found it to be amazingly effective on most of the monsters. But as he walked into the cavern, he smelled something that didn't seem quite right; it smelled of decay. Carefully, they walked through, and found that there was no enemy in the cavern. Heading out into a sunlit path, it was the same story. Ryou looked up now, and saw Sith was equally perplexed. She looked grim.

 

“Something's wrong,” she stated grimly, lips thinning, “The encounter rate's over seventy percent, but we haven't run into a damn thing. Where is everything?” Despite her question, everyone had a good feeling about what was going on. The Mystic had already been here, and it was clear she took out every distraction that would keep Ryou from her. Yugi shivered behind him, his sword dropping to the ground in a mighty clang that sent Ryou's teeth chattering.

 

“What the others said was true…” Yugi whispered, “Sith, I don't want to deal with another Mystic! I want to run!” Sith's expression turned to pity. She couldn't blame Yugi. Not even she really wanted to fight another Mystic, but there wasn't much she could do. If they didn't kill her quickly, she'd destroy them.

 

“We have no choice,” she said gently, “Yugi, I'm sorry. If anyone can kill her, it's me and there's not a damn thing I can do.”

 

“But maybe there's a way for us to get inside,” Sephira suggested, but a quick shake of Sith's head told her the woman did not like that idea, “If they're like you, Sith, you have to be able to do something!” Sith's eyes narrowed, cursing herself for losing her magic. If she'd retained it, she would've been able to do a number of things. Ryou opened his mouth to speak, and then he suddenly stopped. A new idea came to him, one he hadn't thought of before. Yugi noticed this, and Malik caught Ryou as he tripped. Whatever he was thinking, it was bad.

 

“Ryou!!” Yugi exclaimed, as Malik set the pale boy down, “What's wrong? What happened!?”

 

“…when Amber decided to try and kill us, she corrupted other worlds, too,” Ryou whispered, “We don't know who this Mystic is. For all we know, she could be back.” Sith hummed, understanding Ryou's concern. But she knew it was unwarranted. Amber wasn't coming back. Oregshyn made sure of that.

 

“Rest assured it isn't Amber,” Sith told him, “I know this Mystic. Her name is Falnika the Wicked.” Everyone turned quickly to Sith. They didn't know how she had known the woman's name, but until now, they didn't think to ask. Ryou took a deep breath. Knowing the identity of their new enemy was frightening. But before he could actually ask Sith his questions, there was a rustling noise across a small chasm. Malik turned sharply, brows creased before Ryou could even open his mouth.

 

“What was that?!” he demanded quickly, clenching his fists. But by that time, whatever it was had fled; all they saw was a shadow leaping off the side of the cliff.

 

“Another boss, it looks like,” Hana replied, looking down at the guide again, “Named Vargus.” She heard Yugi give a snort, and looked up to find that both he and Ryou were trying to keep their laughter in. Malik had already failed miserably with that, as he fell to the floor in a fit of laughter.

 

“Vargus!? What kind of Ra-forsaken name is that!?” he demanded, roaring with giggles, “Do these assholes sit around and name each other!?” Sith's look went flat again, and with a push of three buttons, had Ryou slamming a lightning bolt into their friend. Malik screeched as he scooted away, and then yelled, “Damn it, do you have to be such a bitch!?” Sith merely grinned smugly as she moved Ryou away from Malik and into a small cave. There, was the first sign of hope Sith had seen. It was a bright light, no bigger than Ryou's fists. Ryou could only stare at it; when Yugi entered, he was similarly affected.

  

“It… it's so beautiful,” the small boy whispered in awe.

 

“It's a save point,” Sith pointed out, “If you die, maybe you'll be revived here.” Ryou ripped his eyes away just enough to give Sith a warning glance.

 

“I don't think we ought to take that risk,” he stated, and Sith ultimately agreed. Nonetheless, she saved the game and, after making sure all of them were healed up, led them out toward the next area of the mountain. But instead of being besieged with a maze of twisting platforms and spiraling paths, the area was barren. Almost as if they had reached the summit. Except that Sith knew they hadn't. Her expression grew grim again as another movie began to play, this time showing Ryou walking toward the center of the ledge.

 

“Where's Vargus?” Yugi asked, looking around. The sky darkened again, and it looked as though the storm would be coming back. Sith didn't like it at all.

 

“Most probably dead now,” she decided, “Most of the game's been altered, no doubt. Falnika must've slaughtered anyone who'd stand in her way.” Putting down the controller, she consulted the guide to see if there was anything she could do. Running away seemed good, but there was nowhere to go. Hana looked at the screen for a moment, and then at Sith.

 

“If the game's different, do we even need the guide now?” she asked, crossing her arms. Sith's lips thinned. She didn't want to even answer that. And she didn't need to. Malik looked up at the sky for a moment, and now he had gotten everyone's attention as he pointed to something. Only Ryou and Yugi could see it right then. It was just a black speck; it was way too far away.

 

“What do you think that is?” Malik asked, but Ryou didn't answer. He knew who it was. So did Sith. And both of them paled considerably. No one was prepared to battle her, even if Sith knew she would show up again. For moments, no one said anything. The wind howled, both in the game and outside the house, but that was the only sound. Lightning flashed in the game, and Ryou could feel Yugi shaking in terror next to him. Malik wasn't doing much better. But the speck didn't grow much at all at first.

 

“Okay, this is creepy,” Sephira whispered, but Sith didn't pay attention. The speck was taking form now; it was a woman. It was Falnika again. Sith's eyes hardened and Ryou saw them turn red now. The woman didn't slow until she landed on the edge of the cliff. Her hood fell away, revealing brown hair falling past her shoulder; her skin was grey, and on her face was an amused smirk as she saw Ryou standing there. She rose a slender brow.

 

“I must admit, I didn't expect you three to get here,” she said calmly, the corners of her mouth turning up, “But this isn't unwelcome, of course. Tell me, Sith, how are you faring watching this?” She looked up at the woman as she spoke, and Sith's eyes were cold and close to flashing.

 

“Shut it!” Sith snapped, “Tell me why you're doing this! Why destroy another world!? Why not face me here!?”

 

“You're in quite a rush to push Ryou to his death,” Falnika said to her, her calm unfading even against Sith's anger, “I'll face you soon enough, Sith. Rest assured.” Sith growled, her ears lowering angrily, but she wasn't about to snap back again. Ryou knew that would just please Falnika more. He turned from Sith, to the Mystic in question, and took a step forward. This may just get him killed, but he needed answers.

 

“Why are you after me?” he asked her, “You said I have nothing to do with this.”

 

“Was it Rath's doing!?” Yami added furiously. Falnika looked down at Ryou calmly, and then sneered when her gaze went to Yami.

 

“This doesn't concern you, pharaoh,” she mocked, “You're useless to me.”

 

“But what of me?” Ryou insisted, and Falnika faced him again. Her expression softened somewhat. But only a fraction as she considered him.

 

“You aren't part of this, that much is true,” Falnika began quietly, “But you're insisting on helping Sith. We cannot allow this. And as I've said before, her magic seated itself in you. You are, right now, the heir to the power of Aeroglyph.” Everyone looked between Ryou and Sith; Ryou looked shocked and Sith seemed both regretful and full of hatred for that fact. Judging by her alone, what Falnika said was true. Bakura frowned.

 

“But then, if Sith has no magic, she's not a threat anymore,” he reasoned. Falnika snorted and shook her head.

 

“She is as much a threat as she was before,” the Mystic replied, “Or have you forgotten Aeon? Or how about that other human? What was his name?” At this, Sith's mouth dropped. She hadn't forgotten them at all. But she had never thought they'd be in danger, either. She took her glasses off; her eyes were much more intimidating without them. They looked darker than they should have.

 

“Leave them out of this!” she yelled, standing up. Falnika's smile returned; it was neither cold nor warm.

 

“As we speak, others among us are looking for them,” the Mystic told her, “You cannot protect both Ryou and either of them.” Sith looked away. Falnika was right. If she left Ryou, he would be killed. But… but Aeon! She couldn't abandon Aeon, and she certainly couldn't leave the blonde man. They were her companions.

 

“Sith, you need to find them,” Bakura said suddenly, and Sith stared at him, “We'll help Ryou, but you need to find Aeon, at least.” Sith nodded, but Falnika laughed hysterically at the notion.

 

“Find Aeon? We already have him,” the Mystic said, but her tone wasn't as mocking as Ryou expected, “Sith, your time's finally running out.”

 

“Just what do you mean!?” Malik asked furiously, brows creasing as Falnika looked from Sith to him, “Are you really going to kill Sith?” Falnika's lips curled into a smile again. She seemed a little too amused with the situation for Ryou's comfort. Airily, she waved her hand.

 

“If she doesn't kill herself, then yes,” she replied simply, turning back to Sith, “It'll be a fun game, Sith Winchester. Don't fail us now.” With that, she turned and flew off, leaving them in silence. Sith's mouth fell open, but no words came out. Slowly, her controller crashed onto the floor, but she scarcely noticed as the reality of the danger finally crashed down on her. Aeon was in peril. The blonde man was next. And it wouldn't take much for her to be lured to help them.

 

“Sith, how screwed are we?” Ishtar asked, but his voice seemed so distant to her. She blinked.

 

“Considering that those bastards have the only person who knows anything about Sith, I'd say she's as good as dead,” Bakura reasoned, and Sith squarely smacked him with her sword. He flew into the table, but she didn't so much as even glance back to see if he was all right. Or dead, depending on her aim. She looked distantly at Ryou.

 

“Aeon is the only one who knows about what happened three thousand years ago,” she said, but somehow Ryou felt it was more to herself than to him, “If he's killed, it'll be the end of my life. Without knowledge of who I am, the Mystics can kill me in an instant. I won't know how to stop them.” She closed her eyes, as if unable to actually grasp that she was in truly serious danger now. Malik glanced at Ryou critically, but Ryou's face told him nothing.

 

“Let's go on and find him, then,” Malik suggested suddenly, and Sith opened her eyes, staring down at him, “Come on, Sith. He's got to be in this world. We'll find him. Trust us.” Sith's brows creased with worry. That'd be just like throwing them to the wolves. But what choice did she have? If they didn't find Aeon, she'd be killed anyway. But it was Malik's decision, and he was dead set on helping her. And she did trust them, in her own way. She sighed heavily.

 

“I don't like where this is leading,” she warned them calmly, “But we do need to find him. Who knows where she's taken him.” Malik nodded firmly, and then looked forward. There was no clear path to go on, but he had a quick solution to that. He grinned, turned back, and saluted to Sith.

 

“Last one to Falnika gets to die first,” he joked, and then ran and jumped the cliff. Ryou and Yugi screamed, but Sith just snorted; he fell maybe ten feet below, safely on a ledge leading to a hidden path. Either he knew about it, or he was just lucky. Yugi peeked over, and exchanged a skeptical glance with Ryou. Both seemed unable to believe how lucky Malik had just been. But then Yugi shrugged. They had a new path to go on. That was enough for him.

 

“Full speed ahead!” he declared, mimicking Malik's advancement. Ryou sighed with exasperation, and Sith laughed. For once, it was nice to see her friends were willing to throw themselves into a pit of spikes. She just wished she didn't have to be the one leading them to it.

 

-----------------------------(End Chapter)

 

After making it through the corrupted range of Mt. Koltz, Ryou and his friends meet with Falnika again, who explains that this time, she's attacking Sith directly by kidnapping Aeon. Hurt, confused, and determined to save her friend, Sith now leads Ryou onward through the game. But where will that take him? Where was Aeon sent to? And will Ryou ever get another party member? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!