Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Ryou Bakura: Game Master! ❯ Sith vs Falnika: Round One ( Chapter 16 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Final Fantasy 6, Castlevania, or Death Note. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and he told me to not kill Ryou. SquareSoft owns Final Fantasy, and they told me to kill him because he's weak. Ohba owns Death Note, and he doesn't want Matt to die. Konami owns Castlevania, and they don't care.

 

It had been some time since anyone had been able to see just what was happening to Ryou and his friends. It had been some time since they had been able to speak with Sith on the matter, as well. And though they couldn't see anything, Bakura and Yami both knew something very bad had happened. As if in forewarning, the sky had taken a dark turn, the thick, black clouds of evil blotting out the pale sunlight they had gotten just hours earlier. And though both spirits had battled evil before, this was no comforting sign.

 

Yami himself sat on the windowsill, watching the outside world silently. If he couldn't reach Sith, he had to at least keep watch over the household for her. Not that there was much he could do; Sith's absence in their world was taking its toll, and Yami was beginning to fade a bit. He turned to Bakura and said, “Anything?”

 

“Not a damn signal in the entire city!” Bakura exclaimed in frustration, crawling out from behind the television, “Whoever this Mystic is, she's destroyed the connection.” He shuffled back to continue trying - what else was there to do? - as Ishtar came out with three beers for the spirits, and some soda for Riz. He set the tray down on the table and sat next to her, watching Bakura.

 

“No doubt that she's going to kill one of our friends,” the youngest spirit growled in annoyance, “Question is, which one?”

 

“That's easy,” Yami said with a wave of his hand, “It's either Sith or Ryou. They have no use for Yugi or Malik. But Ryou? He has some of her power.” Bakura nodded, seeming to not have heard him. But on the inside, he was worried. Ryou did have Sith's power, even if it was just a small part of it. And he shouldn't have lived through its initial implant into his body. Even Sith had said this. If the Mystics wanted a way to control Sith, they'd use Ryou to do it.

 

“They won't hurt him,” Bakura said, trying to sound confident, “Sith's too protective. She won't let them.” Yami was inclined to agree, but Ishtar wasn't as convinced. As loyal as Sith was, she had her flaws. And when it came to her own survival, she had a tendency to forget about everyone else.

 

“I'm still worried,” the blonde spirit stated, and took out the Millennium Rod, looking down at it, “We might be able to connect to Ryou. He still has the ring.” Yami waved at him to tell him to try it. Bakura, however, came out and stopped Ishtar.

 

“Don't bother. I have the ring, not Ryou,” the old thief told him, and growled, “I wish Sith had just kept that damned crystal. Right now, we need a fake item to talk to her with.” Ishtar nodded sadly. This meant they had no idea how well their counterparts were doing, or if they were even alive. No, scratch that. If they were dead, the spirits would know it. Mainly because they'd fade into dust. He cursed. This was just too hard.

 

“Why don't I just crash through the shadow realm until I find her?” Ishtar suggested. Unfortunately, that was deemed a horrible idea for two reasons; if it worked, he might crash his way off a cliff or into a monster, and if it didn't, he'd trap himself for eternity. Even he had to admit that was a risk not worth it.

 

“Why don't we just wait for them to come back?” Riz suggested, and when Ishtar stared, she said, “Come on. Sith's an Esper. How bad can it possibly be?” The idea was crazy, but circumstances said they had no other choice. So without another word, the three spirits went back to their tasks. It felt so mundane, and entirely useless.

 

---

 

“Why did you follow me?” Sith asked him, as they stopped walking long enough for Mello to get his bearings straight. He looked back at her, his good eye gleaming pale blue in the red light. She continued with, “You understand you could die, right?”

 

“Death doesn't scare me, Sith. Besides, I'm not going back to my world again, so it's not like it's a huge loss,” he replied, and smiled at her, “Besides, I said I love you. I'm going to make sure you get through this without too much damage.” Sith looked down. She knew he'd keep that word. But what about Ryou?

 

“And what of Ryou?” she asked him. He understood the undertone of her question. He twirled his pistol and sheathed it.

 

“That's his decision. I'm not leaving until I win, though,” he said confidently, and looked at her squarely, “Even if I have to crash his life to do it.” Sith's eyes widened. She took the cracked ring out of her pocket, and he nodded at it. She understood perfectly.

 

“You plan to stop the wedding,” she concluded, and when he grinned, she said, “A nice move. I'd never have thought of it. But what if I stop you?”

 

“Think you could do that?” he retorted. Sith stared at him for a long, hard moment. She couldn't answer that. Truthfully, she didn't want to stop him. She didn't want to marry. She had said yes for Ryou's sake. That was her fault, though.

 

Without another word, she went past Mello and continued down the hall. The path they had taken seemed to loop around the locked chamber and then head south. Perhaps that was another way inside. It no longer mattered to her. Falnika, she sensed, was coming closer with each step. Falnika was ready to battle her. Falnika was going to die.

 

Another door came to greet Sith, but this one was unlocked. Sith slowed her pace to a step, and snuck toward the frame. Unlocked doors were never a good sign, and with Falnika close, any corner could hide an ambush. So she stuck to the shadows and peered inside. Indeed, the path had looped back around. But this time, Ryou had managed to take a wrong turn, somehow. For she saw him there. But he wasn't conscious. He had been hit with a spell, she knew. And Falnika was in the room as well. But she wasn't attacking him. This felt wrong.

 

“I grow tired of waiting like this,” she said, seeming to speak to Ryou even though he wasn't awake, “To think that the only way to kill her is to destroy her timeline. To take such measures. It angers me. The little whelp deserves far less effort for what she's done.” Sith growled. She had never hated a Mystic so much before. She barely felt Mello sneak up behind her. He was inches from her ear.

 

“What's going on?” he whispered. Sith smacked him, and he backed off, knowing he hadn't done a smart thing. Taking a breath, Sith let her power rise up, and then in a brilliant flash, she transformed. Mello watched with only adoration; he had seen this form only twice, and fell in love with it as much as he had with Sith's semi-human form. Now in her full Esper form, she was a terror to behold. She looked more werecat than human: fur had replaced her clothing, and her hair had turned stark white, hanging in spiky threads down her back. Her equally white fur was splashed with blue stripes, though her face remained human, as did her shoulders and chest. But now, well, Ryou wouldn't have recognized her.

 

With the speed of the creature she mocked, she sprang into the room. If Falnika wanted a fight, she would wage a bloody war with the wench.

  

“Good evening, little pest,” Sith growled, landing in front of Falnika, and grinning like a madman all the while as she stood, brushing the dirt off her arms, “Let's see how much effort you'll exude right now.” Falnika backed up a step. In all her years of knowing Sith, she had never seen this form before. Now, she was scared.

 

“Sith Winchester!?” she gasped, and smiled, “By the gods, you're in your second form. Your mother…”

 

“My mother is of no concern to this,” Sith replied, her voice deepening, “Fight me as you would Bahamut. Or are you a coward amidst my actual heritage?” Falnika didn't dare to say that she was. She stepped back again. Even now, she could feel Sith's power ready to overwhelm her. Now she understood Rath's true worry. Sith wasn't just an Esper trapped in human form. She kept that part of herself purposely.

 

“I…” Sith gave Falnika no time to respond. Insulted by her previous words, as well as the remembrance of her own mother, Sith leapt up, covering the gap they had made in one swoop. Using her new bulk, she collided with Falnika in a body slam, and the Mystic was sent sprawling. Sith had landed gracefully, as a cat should.

 

“Come and fight me!” Sith challenged, charging again. Falnika rolled away, and Sith's charge went too strong. She flew across the room and barely stopped herself before blowing through the wall, exposing the outside of the base. It was raining heavily, but it was not the fresh water Sith was used to. It was ash. Falnika's fear began to grow.

 

“You've… you've let in the ash storm!!” she cried in anguish, and screamed as Sith lunged again, barely missing when Falnika rolled, “Stop!! You're going to kill everyone!”

 

“Are you afraid?” Sith asked, and positioned herself before Aeon. Right then, he was the only one who needed protection. Ryou still had some time. Falnika tried to get up; Sith smashed her back down with her tail.

 

“Damn it… I've pushed this too far,” the Mystic mumbled, “The storm will kill us if I don't move this fight.” She heard a chuckle in her mind. It wasn't her, and it wasn't Rath. It was Sith.

 

“With the way things are heading, I'd be a fool to let you escape,” Sith said reasonably, and bared her fangs, “I guard the front, and Mello is waiting in the rear. The only place to go is in that storm, or in my claws.” Falnika's skin paled. She wanted to kill Sith as quickly as she felled Ryou. But she wasn't up against a naïve human. She was up against a very vengeful, very insane Esper.

 

“You're willing to kill Ryou?” she asked, and Sith tilted her head, “If I don't move, the storm will come in and kill the humans far before it kills us, Aeon included. Can you let that happen?” Sith's eyes turned to slits. For once, she was at a stalemate. But if she left Aeon unprotected… She shook her head. She had to prioritize.

 

“You are out of options,” Sith reasoned, and her tail flicked, “Mello!” Mello wasted no time. He came in, pistol branded, and shot every bullet he had, all aimed for Falnika. But the old Mystic was far faster; one snap of her fingers and all the bullets stopped. And then they turned, aiming back for Mello, but not quite moving just yet. She smiled.

 

“Do it, and I will kill your beloved,” Falnika said. Sith planned for that, and sprung instantly. She didn't plan, however, for Falnika to reach behind her cloak and pull something out. And Sith was going too fast to stop herself.

 

“S-STOP! FALNIKA!!” Sith screamed, eyes widened in terror. Falnika looked up; a sinister grin spread across her grey face.

 

“You will recognize this,” she said. And in that instant, she exploded.

 

The explosion was shocking, and it blew Sith back, where she crashed out the stained glass windows. But she did not scream. She didn't have that chance. In that instance, she had been blown apart, her soul fleeing for the safety of another world. Her own blood, blue like her coat, pooled underneath her. Falnika had done it. Sith Winchester was defeated.

 

But Mello was not. He had survived the blast, just as he had done twenty years previously. And this time, he couldn't be killed, not with an explosion. As soon as the smoke cleared, he flew into the room, gun at the ready. But Falnika was gone, as was Sith. All that was left were Aeon and Matt. And the three idiots he didn't care for off to the side. He growled. Ryou was already stirring. Why couldn't the attack take him out?

 

“Ryou, get up,” Mello said grimly, walking over with his eyes narrowed in frustration. Ryou moaned miserably, and then realized he could move. He sat up slowly, his eyes blurry from the storm as well as being knocked around. He blinked the ash and blur away.

 

“Where are we?” he asked quietly, unable to completely get his bearings straight. Mello wasn't one to show him sympathy. He shifted a bit.

 

“Sith's gone,” the blonde replied, not actually answering Ryou. Nor did he want to. But that snapped Ryou out of his daze and back to reality. He quickly looked around to make sure Mello was right. And surely enough, Sith wasn't there. Perhaps the howling wind outside dragged her over the edge. Ryou frowned, turning back to Mello.

 

“Where is she?” Ryou asked sadly, and when Mello closed his eyes, he exclaimed, “Is she alive!?”

 

“I don't know,” Mello replied solemnly, fists clenching, “Falnika blew herself up just to hurt Sith.” Ryou tilted his head. That might have explained the broken walls. But there were other ways to harm Sith; why go to such an extreme measure?

 

“To hurt Sith?” Ryou repeated. Mello nodded, and looked out into the storm. The sky was red, the rain crimson from the burning ash around Vector. If Sith was alive, she wouldn't be for very long. The ash would poison her quickly.

 

“It was about twenty years ago that it happened,” Mello began, his voice growing distant, “At least, twenty years in this world's time. It was a bad time for me, and Kira… he's a bad guy Sith and I were hunting at the time… was on my tail. I had to cover my tracks, and I… I…” He couldn't get the rest out. Not because of himself, but because of what it did to Sith. It took all he had just to find her again, and when he did, Sith was forced to leave him. His eyes narrowed bitterly as he recollected the tale. Ryou understood, even without the words.

 

“You killed yourself,” Ryou concluded. A harsh smirk formed on Mello's face.

 

“In a sense, I did,” he replied, “But not entirely. I survived the explosion. But it hurt Sith. She wasn't the same when I found her again. I… I'm not so sure I even blame her.” Ryou couldn't help but feel bad. Mello was just as wounded by his own actions as Sith had been. Maybe that was why he couldn't let go of her. Maybe he was afraid that if he did, she'd never recover. Maybe his actions were noble.

 

“But… but Sith wasn't herself when Falnika exploded,” Ryou argued, his brain still fuzzy with that detail, “I mean, she was her, but she wasn't… I mean, she looked…” Mello chuckled and stopped Ryou. He already knew what the boy was trying to get at.

 

“That's Sith's divine form,” Mello explained with an odd smile, “Something to do with her mother's heritage. She's actually thrice as powerful in that form.”

 

“T-thrice?!” Ryou exclaimed, eyes widened. Sith was already powerful to begin with. To be three times as strong!

 

“She can still be killed,” Mello added, and Ryou's amazement faded instantly. At that, she probably had been. It had been some time, and they hadn't seen ear or tail of her. Sith never stayed down for too long. Ryou finally stood up. His legs felt weak and his arms were numb, but he could still walk. Calmly, slowly, he edged toward the broken cracks and the jagged walls. Stained glass had been shattered around there, and he saw patches of white fur. As well as strands of long, black hair.

 

“She went right through the window,” Ryou whispered, and crept toward the opening, “Sith!!” Sith didn't respond. He had a feeling she wouldn't have, but it took a lot to stop her, let alone kill her. Behind him, he felt Mello run up as well. He also felt annoyance coming from the man.

 

“Damn it, quiet down!” Mello hissed angrily, “Falnika might still be here!” Ryou stared back at him for a moment, and then his look went flat. That one, he couldn't believe.

 

“Are you saying an explosion will kill Sith, but will leave a Mystic perfectly capable of attacking us?” he asked blandly. Mello normally would've laughed; nothing survived such a blast. But Rath and her cronies were a different bunch. He had learned that one a while ago.

 

“I'm saying to not be an idiot,” the blonde responded, and looked outside, “Right now, we don't have proof that Falnika's alive, but we certainly don't know if Sith is, either. It's better to be cautious than to be dead.” Ryou found he had to agree. As mean and cruel as Mello could be, he did understand this battle better than Ryou.

 

After making sure Matt and Aeon were safe, Mello went through the opening with Ryou by his side. The ash storm seemed to have subsided, but the winds hadn't, and the sky was still a bloody red as they descended the slopes and crests. The jagged outcroppings made it difficult for even Mello, but Ryou decided now was a good time to see how much of Sith's power he inherited. He found that he was able to crush some of the rock with a telekinetic force by clenching his fists, but not much more. That power, however, was useful nonetheless. He cleared a small path for them to descend.

 

The lower portion of Vector was more shielded from the ash, thanks in part to the many ruined walls and crumbled buildings that served as the city's proper. Ryou shivered as they came to this part; not only was it cold from the shadows thrown by the intimidating fortress, the ash had also gathered here, providing further barrages as they kicked it all up. It was also where Sith had landed, and her outstretched arm told them she had tried to keep herself from going over the crags. The bloody fingers told them she had failed, as well.

 

“Damn it,” Mello said, bending down and picking her up, “God damn it all!”

 

“Is she alive?” Ryou asked, sliding down to about his level. Mello laid her across his lap and pressed against her neck. She was cold, but he felt a light pulse as well. She was alive. He nodded, but never took his eyes off of Sith.

 

“I think she'll survive if we get her out of this storm,” the older man said, and he began to smile weakly as he watched her. Sith's nose scrunched a bit in irritation, but the movement was so slight that Ryou didn't even see it. He looked around for a promising place to keep her. But in a town like Vector, there was none. Not with a chance of Falnika still being there.

 

“Where can we go?” Ryou asked worriedly, as Mello picked Sith up again and slung her over one of his shoulders. Ryou turned, and his mouth dropped. In his mind, that looked too natural for Mello for his comfort. The damn asshole was even grinning, too.

 

“Well, Kefka's tower might be where Falnika's hiding right now. Certainly seems a good place if she wants to kill us,” Mello reasoned with a chuckle, “But if we're looking to get our friends to safety, we might just want to stay put for a bit.”

 

“What about Falnika?!” Ryou demanded in bewilderment. He was sure Mello had just said she might still be around. And now he was contradicting himself. If this was how he usually operated, it was no wonder he had to self-destruct to catch Kira, or Kyra, or whatever the hell its name was.

 

“Look, she might or might not be here, but we can't kill everyone else waiting for her,” Mello said sharply, and looked down, “I'm trying to do the best I can. Why don't you try helping me for once.” Ryou felt his anger rise. The insinuation that he was actually getting in the way made him want to hit Mello. Mello was the one who always tried to kill him. Why did he suddenly get to be the hero now? Ryou turned back where they had come. With the crags still somewhat sharp, it was dangerous to carry Sith all the way back up there.

 

“How bad do you think the city is?” he asked. Judging by Mello's knowing glance, he had thought of the same thing. He gave a cynical smile. 

 

“Dusty, but unless we shovel dirt in Sith's mouth, I think she'll make it,” was the joking reply. Ryou snorted. Even unconscious, Sith would still put up a fight. But Mello had a good point. The city wouldn't have gotten hit too badly with ash.

 

“I'll take Sith down there, and you can go help the others,” Ryou suggested. Unfortunately, Mello was too possessive. He glanced at Ryou flatly, as if that were the stupidest trick in the book. In his mind, it truly was.

 

“I'll take Sith,” Mello corrected, and pointed his chin to the cliffs above, “You go and get your little playmates and meet me in the center sector.” With that, Mello walked off, picking a nice path amidst the rocks. Ryou just growled. He wanted to crush Mello's skull with one of those rocks.

 

Ryou hated having to listen to Mello. He hated that Sith wasn't up to stop him, and he hated that Falnika might still have been alive. Hell, he hated life in general, as he clambered over whatever remained of the rocks he had previously crushed. If he hadn't loved Sith at all, he'd have just left her; in that moment, he hated her, too. But in the end, the bonds he felt for his friends were what forced him to go up each and every one of those damned crags, to have his nails snap at a wrong grasp or miscalculated climb.

 

His efforts paid off in less time than he thought. Grasping the especially jagged edge of a collapsed column, Ryou pulled himself up and was awarded with the sight of the crumbled, broken wall he and Mello had run through a little less than an hour ago. Nothing had really changed, either. Everyone else was still unconscious, though Ryou was happy to see that Aeon was looking a bit more colored; his skin wasn't gray anymore.

 

For the moment, though, Ryou chose to ignore them. He had to find a way to get them all out of the fortress and down to the city, where Mello would hopefully be waiting. Walking into the hall, he found a rusted cart that had been previously overlooked. It was old, cracked from years of disuse, but it looked big enough to carry a few people in, provided that they were stashed just right. Personally, Ryou wasn't quite sure what scared him more: the fact that a cart just happened to be there, or the fact that he had no problems stuffing his friends into one. Deciding that both equally terrified him, Ryou wheeled the cart back into the room, and began pulling Yugi into it.

 

The trip back down the crags, however, proved to be much worse than the trip up. And while Ryou no longer cut his fingers on the spiky edges or the chipped surfaces, he was forced to go around many large rocks or craters created from his little dip into magic. It simply made the process that much slower. He couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Mello had taken Sith just to torment him. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time he'd done that, now that Ryou considered it.

 

“Why couldn't he just push them around? He's stronger than me!” Ryou complained, grunting with the effort needed to push the cart over a small lump in the ground. With four people lying in the cart, Ryou was surprised he could actually push it at all. But knowing he had that strength didn't make the trip any easier for him as he continued on with, “What the hell is he doing, anyway? It's not like Sith's going to wake up anytime soon.”

 

That's when a new thought crossed Ryou's mind, one he hadn't considered before. Maybe Mello wasn't on Sith's side, after all. For all Ryou knew, the damn bastard might be killing her in her sleep! Or… maybe he was doing much, much worse. Ryou's blood froze. If that was the case, then maybe it was best he wasn't there to see it. No! He shouldn't have been glad! What the hell was he thinking!?

 

“OH MY GOD, SITH!!” Ryou screamed, realizing that he may have ended her life by trusting in someone like Mello. In his mind, he wanted to be heroic, burst into the house Mello hid in, and kill Mello right then and there, thusly saving Sith from her would-be harm. But the cart, as well as its four-hundred-something cargo, slowed him down considerably so that he was forced to walk very slowly to where Sith could've been. Deciding that he couldn't let it end like that, he challenged Mello verbally, “DON'T LAY A HAND ON HER OR I'LL SHOVE MATT OFF A CLIFF!”

 

“Would you stop your yelling!? Falnika is going to hear you,” Mello's furious hiss came, and he stepped out from behind a boulder, “Relax. I came back up because Sith was worried.” Ryou's expression changed and he leaned on the cart to keep it from rolling off.

 

“She's… awake?” Ryou asked quietly. Mello nodded, twirling his pistol.

 

“She's perfectly fine. A few scratches and some blood loss, but she's all right,” the blonde replied, and looked at the cart; Matt, Aeon, Malik, and Yugi had been shoved in, and all haphazardly as well. His brow rose in amusement. “Are you serious?”

 

“What else should I have done? Rolled them down the hills!?” Ryou demanded defensively. Mello couldn't help but laugh now. Ryou must've been in some rush to take such little care of their friends. He shook his head.

 

“If Sith saw this, she'd throw a fit,” he replied, “Come on. She's already got an idea on where to go next.” Ryou blinked a bit, wondering just how much damage Sith could take before she fell. Silently, he followed Mello, the cart rumbling as he pushed it along the rocky path.

 

It was past midnight by the time they reached the house Mello had hidden Sith in. A soft, cold drizzle began to fall, making Vector a slippery, stinking, muddy hole out of the pits of hell. The flickering streetlamps threw dangerous shadows across every road, and Mello began to run ahead, oftentimes leaving Ryou behind and wondering where to turn next. In a city like Vector, one wrong turn could get you killed. Ryou knew this just from Atma's appearance.

 

“Ryou, what the hell's taking you!?” Mello yelled above the rain, when Ryou had a particularly hard time turning a sharp corner to squeeze into an alley. The cart just barely fit, and as he heard a crunch, he realized Aeon's monocle had fallen off and had been crushed under one of the wheels.

 

“Why don't you push this thing around for once!?” Ryou yelled back, as Mello slipped into one of the doors off to the side. He grunted, and when he came to the door, he practically broke the frame trying to fit the cart in.

 

The inside of the house surprised Ryou, when he finally managed to shove the cart through the door. The floor was well-kempt and nearly dirt free, and there were candles in the room. As far as he could see, however, the entire first floor was comprised of that single room; it was a large chamber with a staircase leading up in the center of the room. But aside from the stairs, there was very little to decorate the house. There were a few cabinets and an old table in the back, but aside from a mat on the floor, there was nothing else. And on the mat was Sith Winchester.

 

“Sith!” Ryou called, and let go of the cart, walking over. She looked up at him and smiled gently. In her hands was a cup of tea. Mello most probably brewed it for her.

 

“Hey, Ryou,” she replied calmly, and coughed a bit, “Glad to see you survived.” Ryou sat down next to her, concerned that her health might have been dropping since she'd woken up. Something in her voice sounded weaker. Maybe it was the ash storm.

 

“Yeah. All of us did,” he replied, and frowned, “Sith, what happened!? Did we win?” Sith snorted and looked away for a moment, setting her tea down. Her ears lowered a little bit.

 

“No. Not yet, but we did significant damage to her,” came the frustrated reply, “Or more, she did it to herself. But we'll have to face her once more before we can truly kill her for good.” Ryou blinked, and the silence dragged for a few seconds. He glanced at Mello; he remembered what Mello said about Kefka's tower. Falnika must have fled there, if Sith was mentioning a final encounter.

 

“In Kefka's tower?” Ryou asked. He wasn't surprised when Sith nodded.

 

“In the game, the final battle is waged atop the tower. I wouldn't be surprised if it'll still be held there,” she told him seriously, “The problem will be getting there, though. It's secluded, far from any city, and the only way to enter it is through the top.”

 

“Which means we'll need an airship,” Mello finished, and frowned, “If Aeon was up, we could ask him to head back to his place and grab one.” Ryou pretended to ignore that. He couldn't see how that'd help them anyway. He turned back to Sith.

 

“Where do we go to get the airship?” he asked her. She hummed, trying to remember where. But airships were rare, even in a world where it was the prime travel arrangement. Not even she had flown in more than two of them in her life, and she was over four thousand. The best place to look would be a city with a lot of traffic across that world. And she knew where that would be, at least.

 

“The city of Nikeah is to the north. If we're going to get any information on airships, it'd be there,” she replied at length, “At the very least, someone may know where to ask about one. Many ships come to port there.” Ryou wasn't so sure he liked that. There was no city toward the north, at least none where they would be welcome right now, and the ocean separated them from one continent to the other. Figaro castle was the only way to get back. And that was a long way away.

 

“Are you up for the journey?” he asked her, acutely aware that she was still in critical condition. She snorted, and gave a cynical smirk.

 

“The only way I wouldn't be was if I was dead,” she told him, and stood, “Come on. We'd better find a way to the coast before the others wake up.” At this, she turned to Mello, “Watch them.” He nodded, and leaned against the wall. As Sith walked toward the door, Ryou took one last glance around the house. He found he was concerned now; despite hating Mello, he didn't like the idea of leaving the man alone there. But Sith needed his help. With a nod from Mello, Ryou left. And without looking back at the house, he and Sith headed for the northern section of the city.

 

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

 

After forcing Falnika to damage herself severely, Mello enlists Ryou's help to getting Sith and the others to safety while they find a way to escape the corrupted capital. When Ryou heads back to the base to bring Malik and Yugi, Mello returns to tell him Sith is awake, and better yet, she's already figured out where to go next. But can Sith help bring them across an ocean? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!