Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Ryou Bakura: Game Master! ❯ The horrors of a 1993 Dungeon ( Chapter 11 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Final Fantasy 6. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and he doesn't approve of messy basements, even for Ryou's father. SquareSoft owns Final Fantasy, and they don't care how messy Yaten's basement is as long as someone buys their games.

 

The sub-basement was a place Ryou feared to go. The lack of light was the first turn-off, but when he finally reached the bottom step, the dungeon was even bigger than he had expected. The stairs had opened up to a raised ledge that overlooked what seemed to be a vast maze of ledges, drained trenches, and dead ends; it could take days just figuring out where to even go, let alone find what happened to the machine. And it wasn't like they knew what the machine looked like. The only tipoff would be if Mello was there, and Ryou prayed to whatever god he could that the man just wasn't. Malik went ahead of him and looked around. The place was dark, foreboding… it was strangely just like the tombs of Egypt.

 

“Think we'll luck out and find the problem quickly?” he asked, raising an amused brow. He wasn't exactly concerned with the twists and turns involved in this basement; the heat was what really caused his worry. If they were near the furnaces, even he had to be careful. There was only so high a temperature human skin could handle. Even Sith had to be somewhat concerned.

 

“…anyone notice the smell?” Yugi commented, and Sith sniffed the air. She had, and she looked down toward the floor below. That was where it was coming from.

 

“Sulfur, rot, musk, death,” she said casually, almost shrugging, “Standard for a dungeon. Let's go.” Yugi and Malik exchanged worried glances, but neither argued with her as she went down a smaller flight of steps toward the lower level. Ryou brought a torch and followed last, raising the torch high to spread the light far enough for Sith to see. He needn't have bothered; she and Malik already stopped, but what for, Ryou didn't see yet.

 

“S-Sith!” Malik screeched quietly, and they both backed up, “Was that what I think it was!?” Sith nodded grimly, and Ryou came close to see what it was. The body of an unnamed soldier lay there; gray, stiff, and decomposing. Right in the middle of the floor, no less. Sith looked at the man's face. There was almost no expression left, and the eyes had been rotted out long before.

 

“Death…” she whispered, and knelt down. She found a bullet shell on the step, “And Mello's here, too…” Ryou felt his fists clench at that. She was worried about Mello. She pocketed the shell, shaking her head. Had Mello killed the guard? If so… why?

 

“Think that guy's insane or something?” Ishtar asked Yami, and Ryou knew Sith heard him, “I mean, come on. Shooting a stiff? What, did it get up and dance or something?”

 

“Considering that you're undead, I wouldn't laugh,” Sith said calmly, but her frown was enough for Ishtar to listen, “I don't think Mello did this… but whatever did was close. There are more bullet shells ahead.” With that, Sith stepped over the corpse and picked up another bullet, and then a third. Continuing past her range, Ryou saw that there were a lot of bullets. Mello must've brought a lot of ammo.

 

“Any other stiffs?” Ishtar asked, and this time Bakura nudged him. Sith shook her head. Whether it was in disapproval or answer, Ryou didn't know.

 

“I'm sure there are,” she said, and continued ahead, picking more shells up on the way. And as she had said, more bodies slowly came into view. All of them rotting and decomposing, all of them killed the say way: strangulation at one point, bullet shots at another. But why had Mello done this? Sith bent down to examine a body. It reeked of death, and she backed away, shivering. This was very disturbing to her. Something had to have killed them all in one shot. But what could have done this?

 

“They're… they're all dead,” Malik whispered, and Sith nodded as they stood together, looking down at the corpse. She took a deep breath. This was just too gruesome for her. And she had seen a lot of gruesome scenes before.

 

“Every single one of them was killed by something, and then shot again,” she pointed out quietly, crossing her arms, “Every single soldier. Just what the hell was here?” More importantly, she thought, was Mello fighting this monster as they spoke? She didn't bother asking that. She wanted nothing to infuriate Ryou again. Malik patted her back, and her wings flapped.

 

“We should tell the old man about this,” Yugi suggested, but Sith shook her head. Even if they did, what good would that do? They had to go and fix the broken mechanism. They had to stop whatever was jamming it. And they had to save… Mello…

 

“If you're that concerned, I'll go on ahead,” she offered, but Malik quickly refused that notion. Even for Sith, this was going to be fatal.

 

“We just spotted thirty or forty corpses in ten minutes, and you're actually going to go deal with this yourself,” he stated flatly, and laughed, “Sith, you're crazy. I'm not letting you go there. Not alone.” Sith almost said she wouldn't be alone, but she stopped herself. She and Ryou were on bad enough terms right then. Ryou didn't deserve to have to deal with that, no matter how true it was. She turned, looking at a corpse that was lying in a corner some distance away.

 

“Then know you have my sincerest thanks,” she replied calmly, and glanced back again, “Whatever did this kills by strangulation. How odd that no one has seen it, and that it wasn't reported. Only because we tried to get to Tzen…” She stopped suddenly, and her eyes widened. Slowly, she said, “Mello knew…”

 

“Wait, so there is something down there!?” Riz asked her. She looked up, and Ryou saw she seemed to almost be crying. Now he felt horrible for yelling at her; it was clear she cared about Mello.

 

“Isn't there always?” Sith countered, “The question is, what is it? Turn to whatever section the basement of Figaro Castle is on. That should give us a good answer.” Riz nodded, and she poured over the manual with Ishtar. It took less than a minute to find, but when they did, Ishtar suddenly burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. Sith blinked, looking up to see what was so funny. To her, this just wasn't. Not only was she in danger, but so was Ryou, Malik, Yugi, and Mello. Malik glanced at her for a second, and then turned toward the screen.

 

“Why're you laughing?” he asked warily, raising a brow, “Ishtar, what's so damn funny?”

 

“Either Ultros came back or you're fighting another octopus,” Ishtar commented, finally calming himself so people could understand him, “All I see are two pairs of tentacles.” Malik's confusion only worsened. He remembered that fight well; Sith ended it in one shot. If it was Ultros, then why was she so afraid? Another 9999 damage count and he'd be roasted seafood.

 

“Let me see it,” he demanded, and Ishtar laughed again, showing him the picture in the bestiary. Malik stared at it. It literally was four tentacles popping up from a writhing sea of golden snakes. Or at least, that was the best comparison he could make. Snorting, he said, “Where the hell is its head!?”

  

“It looks pretty harmless to me,” Yugi commented, smiling, “With Sith back here, she can just hit it and kill it in one blow, right?” But something told Ryou it wasn't that simple. He looked over at Sith. Now she seemed very concerned. He bit his lip, and then put a hand on her shoulder. For once, she didn't push him away.

 

“Sith, what's wrong?” he asked her. She hesitated, and then she took a deep breath.

 

“From what I remember, the recommended level for the game is around forty,” she replied calmly, but her worry did seep into her words, “I'm on level fifty; Mello's on level fifty two. But you three… you aren't even on level twenty. Those things will kill you, and even worse off, they can drain life force from us. Killing them won't be easy.” Ryou nodded, expecting as much. If she had access to her magic, that was a different story. But now they had to play fair. Fairness always came with a price.

 

“The main question is, how did they thrive down here?” Yami asked her, and Sith looked up, “They're plant-based in origin, it looks like. Something has to kill them off.”

 

“They've been mutated for some time, though,” Sith replied grimly, crossing her arms, “My guess is, overexposure to heat has caused immunity where it should have destroyed them. Magic may not work, and I know for a fact swords certainly won't. They regroup faster than I can slash them down, especially with their food source.” Malik blinked, wondering what she was saying. She directed him to the dead body they had passed. His eyes widened, realizing what she was saying.

 

“They…they eat… corpses…” he concluded. Sith nodded, and then she looked away.

 

“Mello is in a lot of danger by going down there. He thought… he could stop them alone,” she whispered, and Ryou felt her tremble, “I have to go and help him. The only way to stop them is to kill the main tentacles that come up. We slay them, the rest of the plant host will die accordingly.” She didn't add that it would save Mello's life, but she didn't need to. Ryou nodded, knowing now that they didn't have a choice. Either way, defeating the monster would free up the castle, and they had to get to Tzen. Malik patted Sith's back.

 

“Well, my friend, we'd better go and save Mello,” he said, and grinned, “I'm not fond of corpses, despite growing up near them.” Yugi laughed, and left the corridor with Malik, turning out toward another intersection. Ryou let go of Sith and walked forward a few feet. Then he turned to see her. She looked shaken now. The realization that she would lose her two dearest friends made Ryou feel guilt for exploding on her as he had.

 

“Sith… will you be okay?” he asked her, and she looked up at him, “I… Sith, I'm sorry. I didn't know… he meant so much to you.”

 

“Believe it or not, Ryou, I had a life before I came to your world,” she replied gently, calmly, “I don't know what relation Mello and I had, but it hasn't vanished. Forgive me, but don't take it out on him.” Ryou frowned. If anything, Mello was the one constantly engaging the fights. But he didn't say that. He understood what Sith meant. He nodded, but without words, they continued on.

 

Malik and Yugi didn't get far ahead. The maze of ledges and trenches seemed to end abruptly and start up in bizarre patterns that no one could keep track of, and before long, they had been forced to stop. Sith and Ryou caught up quickly, and found Malik looking over the balcony leading into a trench. From what they saw, there was nothing of interest.

 

“Is something down there?” she asked calmly. Malik's expression grew grim. Something was down there. A door, and one he knew led to what might be the boss. He turned to her.

 

“That door's the only way to go,” he told her, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

 

“We ready for this?” Yugi asked, and Ryou gulped. In all honesty, they weren't. But they couldn't go back; there was nowhere to go unless they wanted to see Kefka again. None of them did. Sith swallowed hard, then nodded and stepped forward.

 

“The fact that it was so easy scares me, but I think we can do this,” she replied. That was enough for Malik. He climbed down to a shorter ledge and was about to leap off, but Sith's sharp hand quickly stopped him, pulling him back up. He blinked. Didn't she just say to go off?

 

“Uh… Sith? What the hell?” he asked her.

 

“You would've landed on a spear rack, you idiot,” she replied simply, and her look went flat, “Next time, if you want, I'll let you die.” Then she dropped him and he landed with a thud next to her. He sighed. Sometimes, Sith was an absolute bitch. She walked toward a door on the right, and pushed on it; it didn't budge. Ears lowered, she tried again, this time with more force. Again, it didn't move.

 

“Is it locked?” Yami asked, as Sith attempted to smash it with her tail. When that failed, she turned and nodded curtly, her brows furrowed in anger. Of course there'd be a locked door at this time. It was utterly convenient on Kefka's part. Bakura sighed, shaking his head with sympathy.

 

“It's a damn shame I can't pick the lock,” he mumbled. Sith looked at him, and then an idea came. She smiled. And instantly, he didn't like her smile.

 

“Perhaps you can? Is there a way to manipulate the Shadow Realm and warp directly here?” she asked him, hope tinting her voice, “I've seen you do so. From my understanding, it isn't unlike Oblivion, which can also be manipulated.” Unfortunately, none of the three spirits looked as hopeful. And that brought her mood down. Ishtar bit his lip; even he didn't want to dissuade her at that point.

 

“He can't,” the youngest spirit told her regretfully, “We've never been to that world before. Like Time, we need coordinates to manipulate the Shadow Realm. We can't just warp any damn place we please.” Sith looked down, expecting as much. It was a universal thing, then, because Espers had to know such information as well. Otherwise, they would simply end up in a void of Space if they tried without that knowledge.

 

“Magic's hard,” Yugi commented, and then yelped when Sith growled and stormed up to the door again. Ryou watched her eyes harden as she glared furiously at the door. But something was different now. He felt something stir. No… he felt something rise, something he hadn't felt in weeks. Sith's energy.

 

“Locked door, my ass,” Sith said, and thrust out her left hand. Her eyes blazed, and for a second, her wings went red. Then, she screamed, `SEIRFREUG!' Fire erupted from her open palm, slamming right into the door. It crumbled apart into a spray of ash, whipping around the woman, flying into random directions as the stone frame began to creak, and then to crack and split until nothing of the door remained. And Sith, all the while, stood in its midst until it all died down. And when it did, everyone's mouths dropped. That was magic! Pure, destructive magic!

 

“My Ra! What… what POWER!” Bakura exclaimed, smiling proudly. Ishtar simply stared, his mind blown at the sheer volume of energy he felt from the spell. Even before, Sith had never generated so much energy, so much anger before. She could have destroyed the entire castle with a spell so powerful. How could she have even controlled it?

 

“Sith… your power!” Ryou exclaimed, running over, “It was sealed! How did you… how did you do that!?”

 

“Magic works in different ways, Ryou,” she said calmly, a sly grin on her face, “Anger… hatred… love… sorrow… all of that can power it up, can conduct it into a pure force. The anger I felt, the horror of being too late to save Mello, to save Aeon, allowed me to tap into the voids and destroy the obstacle.” Ryou nodded absently, silently wondering if she would have been able to receive that power, should he have been the one in danger. But he didn't dare ask. Malik just whistled lowly.

 

“Damn, I'm almost jealous. All our items rely on are old enchantments and memories,” Malik told her, and laughed, “So does this mean you can just blow Rath up in two seconds? I mean, come on, we all hate her, right?” Sith snorted, shaking her head. Malik was just trying to be funny. But battling the Mystics wasn't that simple. Her expression sobered.

 

“There is a reason my power can't kill her in a single blow,” Sith said grimly, and Malik stopped, tilting his head, “I'll explain it to you all. Someday. But now isn't the time. There's too much at stake that we have to save.” Ryou nodded, and Sith started forward. Then she stopped and turned toward him, “Ryou, I promise that one day I'll explain everything. It just… has never been the right time.” Ryou could understand that. Every time they had gotten to a relatively safe point, the Mystics struck continuously. Sith couldn't explain, not without sacrificing something important to do so. And she refused to sacrifice her own friends.

 

“So then let's get to saving,” Malik stated, and turned to Sith, “Okay, Sith. You know more about this place than we do. How do we get down there?” Sith tapped her chin. That was a good question; jumping wasn't an option. Not even she might survive that sort of fall, and the trench was constructed of crude stone. The landing wouldn't be soft, to say the least. Yugi frowned; with the walls of the trench smoothed, any holds had been taken away.

 

“Climbing's no option,” he said. Sith hummed, looking at the railing. If she could bend it, perhaps manipulate its fibers magically, she might be able to get a way down there. Taking a breath, she tried just that. Only a few spells would allow her to actually manipulate something that ordinarily couldn't be controlled, but she knew at least one of them. Unfortunately, when she unleashed it, an explosion erupted on the surface of the metal. Her face hardened.

 

“Reflective metal,” she stated grimly, crossing her arms again, “Someone prepared this well.” Malik groaned in frustration, but Ryou wasn't inclined to let them give up. He walked toward the railing and looked around. To the left was a dead end; to the right was another dead end. But just before the right wing ended, there was a slope that seemed to drop into the trench. The only problem was that the drop was over twenty feet high. Only Sith could survive that, with her inhuman strength.

 

“Come on,” Ryou said, and led the other three toward the slope. It was old, unused, and rickety. And dusty; obviously, Mello hadn't used that to get ahead. Sith wouldn't have been surprised if he actually jumped the banister. He was that crazy. But she did note the drop as well. She certainly wasn't going to go down there alone.

 

“Well, then how do we get down there!?” Bakura asked her, when she said that. Sith just rose a slightly insulted brow. She didn't appreciate being screamed at, especially for something she felt was warranted. Why should she go down there, anyway? Well, aside from the fact that Mello was probably getting his ass kicked. Ryou just snorted. He heard that thought clearly, and patted her shoulder.

 

“Unless we jump, you have to head down there,” he said to her, and Sith's expression turned to a furious glare. Now she was just angry. Was this punishment because she didn't choose him? She crossed her arms defiantly, holding her chin up as she regarded him. He was, unfortunately, being sincere.

 

“And how do you expect me to get back up here!?” she demanded furiously, though she was keeping her temper under relative control. She wasn't drawing her sword yet. Ryou bit his lip. This would require some quick thinking if she wasn't going to stab him. He glanced to his left; there were a few crates they could probably stack.

 

“What if you stack those crates and use them like a stairway?” he suggested. Sith looked over at the crates he was talking about. They looked about as unsafe as the slope, and they smelled bad to her. Whatever was in them was probably rotting. Or dead.

 

“That'd work if I wanted to die,” she mumbled, and waved her hand, “Fine. But if you drop one on my head, I'll crack your skull apart.” Ryou shivered, turning quickly. That was a threat he didn't want to see fulfilled. He walked to the first crate as Sith slid down the slope. He heard it rumble under her weight, and then heard a loud thud as she slammed right into the ground. And he risked looking over. She had landed right on her stomach.

 

“You okay, Sith!?” Malik called, looking over the railing. He heard Sith moan miserably, her wings flapping angrily as she picked herself up. She looked up and nodded stiffly.

 

“Right now I wish I were dead!” came the furious reply, and Malik just laughed. Sometimes, Sith was just ridiculous. He took one crate and pushed it down the slope after her. He heard a yelp, a curse, and then a thud as the crate was pushed in place, and he let another fall. For several minutes, this repeated until a crude, but somewhat serviceable staircase was made. Malik looked down at it, and then slid down the slope. When he landed, he actually kicked the crates. They didn't budge.

 

“Well, it holds up!” he exclaimed proudly, and then turned to Sith, “Now what?” Sith's eyes narrowed flatly. To her, that was a stupid question. There was only one way to go now. She pointed to the door, and Yugi coughed as he landed next, followed by Ryou. They all could feel more than hear the `how about we follow the one damn road we're on' going through Sith's mind.

 

“Before we go kill ourselves, let's make sure we're equipped,” the older woman said with a sign, “Surely, you managed to pick something up before letting yourselves be ambushed, right?” Ryou and Malik exchanged worried glances, and their skin paled immediately.

 

“Uh…” Yugi said, and that was enough for Sith. She shook her head in absolute bewilderment and just walked forward. But rather than open the door, she went a step further; just to show how truly pissed off she was, she slammed a fireball into the door and broke it apart. Ryou's mouth dropped at the power of her spell, and watched in silence as she stormed right in, Zealacht in her hand.

 

What awaited them sent even Sith speechless. The entire floor slithered and writhed as millions of vine-like tentacles wavered, and four particularly large ones sprang up, shivering wildly as they `saw' their new food. Though technically impossible coming from such a creature, Malik swore he heard something hissing at him, too.

 

“Yeah, well, we don't want to be here, either, you mangy houseplant!” he yelled at them. That only appeared to piss them off more; one immediately slammed into him, throwing him against a wall. As he slid down, Riz saw his health go into the critical point already. Sith was already casting a healing spell on him, thankfully.

 

“If Sith does the healing, how the hell are they going to fight that thing!?” Bakura demanded furiously, brows creased, “She's the only one with enough power to fry them into submission!” Never mind the fact that she'd just been attacked herself. Another tentacle had slammed her right across the head, sending the older woman reeling as she staggered backwards. She shook her head; she nearly saw stars.

 

“Sith, you okay!?” Yugi called to her. She growled, clutching her forearm. He saw blood was trickling down a bit.

 

“I'll live, as long as it doesn't do that again,” she growled, “We need a new tactic. I have to attack!” But the problem was, every time she wasn't targeted, her friends were nearly dead. She had to keep them healed, too. So, for three turns, it went on with Sith constantly healing the party, while the other three did no damage at all. Even Malik's Bum Rush proved ineffective; he was just too low level.

 

“What the hell do we do!?” Malik finally screamed, looking at Sith, “We can't kill it!”

 

“It's not like I'm sitting here doing nothing!” she yelled back angrily, her wings shaking, “I'm trying to keep you three from being slaughtered!” Malik just sighed. No matter which job Sith took, someone somewhere was suffering. But when another tentacle moved to slash Sith, three gunshots stopped it. The battle abruptly halted. Sith and Ryou turned quickly to see what had caused such a delay. Mello stood there, gun aimed.

 

“Mello!” Sith exclaimed, as Ryou's mouth dropped as he asked, “What is he doing here!?”

 

“Saving your sorry asses,” Mello replied calmly, and smirked, “Duuuuck.” Three more gunshots went off, and Ryou ducked as he was told. All three pummeled the same tentacle as before, and it reeled this time. A quick number flashed above it to show Mello did damage; he did nearly two thousand points to it.

 

“Holy shit!” Ishtar exclaimed. And his excitement only rose when Sith immediately followed Mello's assault with a blast of `Seirfreug.' That alone reached that beloved 9999 damage mark. And one tentacle went down. Malik's eye twitched as he watched it all happen.

 

“I don't even want to know how much damage she could do without that 9999 limit,” he commented, and laughed, “Cult of the Tomb Keepers, you may weep. For once, we've found someone stronger than the pharaoh.” Ishtar snorted. That was an understatement; Sith could've easily killed Yami, and anyone else he'd try to summon with him. And now with her magic back…

 

“HELP!” Yugi screamed, just as Ishtar thought that. Everyone turned and saw that Yugi had been snatched by another tentacle; his health was now depleting by the second, and he began to grow pale. Bakura's mouth dropped.

 

“What in hell!?” he demanded, looking from Sith to Mello. Both seemed equally as angry now, but Mello was faster. He tried to aim his gun, but found that unless he wanted to kill Yugi, he couldn't hit his target. And he didn't want to kill Yugi. He growled.

 

“Damn bastards are trying to suck the life out of us!” the blonde exclaimed, and when a tentacle wrapped around his wrist, he screamed, “GET OFF!” And promptly kicked the tentacle. Sith's turn came again, her agility doubling Ryou's, and she unleashed a terrible blast of blue lightning at the tentacle holding Yugi. It writhed, and released its grip on the boy. Then it fell to the ground, dead. But that still left two more.

 

“How strong are those things!?” Riz asked, when the third tentacle slashed Sith, and poisoned her. She fell to the ground, and Mello shot at it three more times. Yami risked a look at the guide; perhaps it wouldn't be as bad as he thought. But when he did see, he regretted it. The health meter was over twenty two thousand. His eyes shrank and his skin went white.

 

“…perhaps you shouldn't know,” he said quietly. But Sith wasn't scared, and neither was Mello. They nodded to each other, and this time Sith took out her sword. Mello was already aiming by the time Sith leapt into the air. And when she landed, she wasn't even hit with any of Mello's bullets as she let loose a whirl of devastating slashes against both tentacles. The result was beautiful: explosion upon explosion from Mello's gun, and the wind from Sith's cuts only added to it. Together, they did nearly thirty thousand points of damage. And together, the last two tentacles died.

 

“YES!” Malik roared, raising both arms as Ryou and Yugi high-fived. Sith could only smile; in about one minute, all of the writhing tentacles around them were withering and dying away. And across the room, they saw a doorway open up. Sith took a deep breath, and then saw Mello walking forward without so much as a word to her. She frowned, and followed him, both beginning to run when they heard rumbling from the room beyond. Yugi and Ryou turned, seeing them. And to the others in the `real' world, an FMV began, depicting just this.

 

“W-where are they going?” Yugi asked Ryou in worry, as the rumbling grew until the basement shook. They could hear stone crunching, and knew that something somewhere was collapsing. Whatever Sith and Mello were doing, they had better do it quickly; this place was falling apart.

 

“Sith!” Ryou called, and Malik grabbed his arm, dragging him out. He didn't even struggle; the room was caving even as they ran out. Malik continued on, with Yugi right by him, and only when they reached where the stacked crates were did they stop and turn to see the destruction.

 

The room had already fallen in, and the rumbling was incredible; it drowned out every other sound. Every gasp, every scream, every creak of the stones were lost in the roar of the collapse, and soon Ryou could see smoke billowing out of the doorway. The tremors slowly began to die down, but he could see nothing through the smoke. Just as quickly as it happened, the collapse stopped as well. And in that instance, he realized that perhaps neither Sith nor Mello survived at all.

 

“S-Sith?” Yugi whispered, and Ryou heard his voice quiver. He knew the unspoken question, but he couldn't answer it. He couldn't say Sith was dead. But how could she have possibly survived? How could Mello have?

 

Ryou felt ready to accept the fact that perhaps they had died after all. He looked down. That felt… so empty to think. Just not long ago, Sith had thrown them out of the castle, and it hadn't even been resolved. Whatever happened between her and Mello, between her and Ryou, none of it could ever be discussed. And before he could even truly apologize, she was gone. He couldn't believe that his last memory of her was her throwing him out of the castle, out of her life. And what hurt most was that her last memory was the same as well. But then he realized something more important than both of those. Neither Yugi nor Malik were upset. He glanced at them. They were staring into the smoke.

 

“Do you see it?” Yugi asked.

 

“Look!” Malik said, and pointed into the smoke. Ryou looked up, squinting his eyes. Something was rippling in the heavy veil. It was moving towards them, and as it came closer… it was Mello! He had lived! And in his arms was none other than Sith herself. She was unconscious. Ryou's mouth dropped. They both lived! But… how?

 

“You two okay!?” Yugi called, running over. Mello stopped at his approach, and nodded grimly. Now out of the concealing smoke, Ryou saw that Mello was bleeding a bit, and Sith was faring no better. Mello looked down at her, and then gently laid her on the ground. Then, he turned to Ryou. And for once, he didn't look ready to kill him just yet.

 

“She needs to rest. Getting the machine running took more out of her than we thought,” Mello told him, and began to walk away, “Don't let her die, Ryou. I'll really kill you then.” Ryou's mind was slow to process what was said to him, but when he finally did hear it, he turned sharply and grabbed Mello's arm. Mello halted again. And this time, he did glare.

 

“Where are you going!? What about Sith!?” the younger boy demanded.

 

“Sith, eh? You sure seem eager to have me take her away, when you were so quick to marry her last time, eh?” Mello reminded him, and Ryou looked away, “What's it gonna be, Ryou?” Ryou felt his shoulders tense. This man was just being cruel now. If he didn't have a gun, Ryou would've considered slapping him.

 

“You're really going to leave Sith?” the white-haired boy slowly whispered, and Mello's brow rose, “Don't you love her?”

 

“Of course I do, you idiot,” Mello replied shortly, and then sighed and shook his head, “Look. Falnika has Aeon, and I have to go and help him. Sith's not safe; not with me. Just… just watch her for a bit, okay?” Before Ryou could even stop him, Mello shook him off and left them. Ryou's fury subsided; for once, he began to understand now why Mello wasn't around more. He had to keep Sith safe. And that meant staying away from her sometimes. But then…

 

“What the hell's his problem?” Malik asked, snapping Ryou out of his thoughts, “Does he love Sith or doesn't he!?” Ryou's look went flat. Considering the fact that he was still Sith's fiancé, it was pretty bold of Malik to state that so plainly. But Ryou shook it away. Right then, they had to help Sith. He bent down.

 

“He does. That's why he left her with us,” he replied calmly, picking the older woman up, “Let's go. Once we get to Tzen, we might find something to help us get out of here.” Then, he too walked forward, away from the ruins of what had once been the engine room. Yugi and Malik exchanged worried glances. Then, they followed Ryou.

 

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

 

And so, with the overgrown monster in the basement defeated, it looks like Ryou will finally be able to head to the Vector continent. But first, Sith needs to wake up and join them again. And then they need to figure out where Mello is heading. Why has he decided to leave Sith with Ryou? Does he know a way to Falnika's dungeon? And has Sith really regained her magic? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!