Fiore: *ticked* {No, not you Ying. Me. Me and Elyssa. Because we're the oldest of her muses.}

Ying-Yang: Tsk. Whatever. Here reader people! SJ wanted me to put this on! *sticks a CD in the stereo*

WSJ: *recorded voice* First off, I just want to reinforce the fact that I love you guys so much! I got a review last night, from a wonderful soul who (very unfortunatly) didn't leave an e-mail address. She (or he, I guess) left it under the name of Anonomus Wanona. It moved me to tears! If you're reading this A.W.-sama, I just want to say thank you.

It's so easy to just correspond with the ones who make an effort to reach me. Brood, Li, ShadowWolf, all of them took the initiative and e-mailed me first. I usually don't take time to e-mail reviewers, mostly because there's just too many, but if they e-mail me, then it's cool.

But A.W.-sama's review just kicked me in the head and showed me that I have silent fans too. Those who may not leave reviews, may not even e-mail me because they deem me "untouchable". But I wanna say something guys, I'm not. I'm not some huge writing goddess, up on a throne, unable to carry on any coherant conversation.

I'm a teenager for cryin' out loud! I'm fourteen! I've been reading and writing almost constantly since I was five! It's what I do! But that doesn't mean I don't have time for those who love me. And, anyone who loves me, especially you readers, even if I never talk to you, never know you exist, God I love you! Just knowing that I have readers and fans, well, that's what keeps me writing!

It makes me think of my favorite author, whom I won't mention by name, since I live in mortal fear of copywrite laws. She's close to seventy, has spun out almost thirty books, almost all of which have been best-sellers. I've always looked at her and said 'Aw man, I wish I could be like her.'

And I've just realised that I am. You guys really love me, and I'm proud of that. I'm proud that I've built up a following, and that I actually get fan-mail every now and then. And I want to say something more before I go:

E-mail me dangedit!!!!!!!!!!! I wanna hear from you guys!!! It might take me awhile to get back to you, but I always try to reply to my mail!

My only regret is that AW-sama didn't leave her e-mail. I'd really like to talk to her. One sentence of her review hit me harder than all the rest of it. She said that my stories have helped her rebase her Christianity. That's what moved me to tears. I'm tellin' you guys now, I'm a Christian, a born-again, goin'-to-heaven believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm proud of it. I try to reflect that in my writing, but it doesn't always come out clear. For her to say that...

That's what it's really all about, for me. Not just to impact, I guess, as I said a couple chapters ago, but to show others the love of Christ when they need it most. If I drop dead tonight, never write another word, that single line in AW-sama's review has made it all worth it for me.

I pray for you guys. I really do. I pray for my readers and reviewers every day. I want you guys to learn to love me, so that through that I can show you Christ. At the risk of sounding like a fanatic, I hope you can see Christ in me, because that's my main purpose in life.

To be brutally honest, I've been drifting away from my walk with God lately. And I think my writings been suffering for it. Sure, I may write dark things, but it's unnecissary for it to be as dark and utterly demonic as it's been getting. I hope you guys'll forgive me for that. But once again, AW-sama's review shook me down to the very core, and I think I'm ready, now, to go crawling back to my Jesus, as we've all gotta do in some point in time.

Yes, I write about demons, about telepathic powers, about other such things that would be considered "non-Christian". But what I write does not make up who I am. Everything I write is strictly fiction. I believe in none of it. If telepathic and psycic powers exist, then I believe that they do come from the devil. I'm not afraid to say that. I don't care if you flame me, ban me, whatever. I will not denounce my beliefs.

Someone once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, commited citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." But don't those thoughtful, commited citizens first have to take a stand for their beliefs?

It starts here. It starts with teens like us. And I don't know about you, but I don't plan on backing down any time soon.

And now, I'm beginning to wonder how many readers I'll actually still have after this, so I'll cut it. But since I know some of you are out for my blood over killing Bakura, I'll just say one thing. I am absolutely not in a small cabin in northern Scotland. Nope! *end tape*

Fiore: *sweatdrop* {Went overboard, didn't she?}

Ying-Yang: *double sweatdrop* Yep. But that's our SJ!

Elyssa: *grins* Standard disclaimers apply! Roll fic!

()()()()()

Sacrifice of Shadows

Chapter 10 -- Song of Mourning

Everyone was nervous. Things were beginning to get critical. Shaadi was upstairs, making various rounds and checking up on everyone every few minutes. Tea and Tristan were sitting close together on the couch in the livingroom, watching as Shen paced endlessly back and forth. Isis was in the kitchen, banging pots and pans around. She'd convinced Shen to let her clean up, just to let out nervous energy.

"Something's wrong..." Tea whimpered. "Last time everything was over within twenty-four hours!"

"Unless you count the thing with Kaiba's 'murder'." Tristan said.

Shen nearly missed a step. "What?"

Tea and Tristan smacked their palms to their foreheads simotaniously. They'd forgotten that Shen had been caught in the false memories of the incident that Ryou had prejected. "Never mind."

Indeed. It had been almost thirty-six hours since Serenity, Yugi, Malik, and Kaiba had first passed out. The sun was just beginning to peek over the edges of the horrizon outside, but no one could see it, for Domino City was covering in a thick, depressing fog. Not uncommon for this time of year, but depressing all the same. None of them had slept at all the last two nights, and all five of them were running purely from the coffee that Isis kept brewing.

Upstairs, Shaadi had almost dozed off leaning against the wall in Ryou's room, when an almost feminine wail ran through his mind. He jerked awake and staired down at the Ankh around his neck, which was glowing a sickly green colour. "Ankh?" he asked, curious.

Shaadi's mind drifted to the young man he'd encountered in the Shadow Realm some months back. He'd been drawn to him because he looked so much like the Spirit of the Ring, save around his eyes. He'd also been, at that time, in the company of Maxamillion Pegasus, who was a friend of Shaadi's, and who he often visited in the Shadow Realm.

He'd felt the Ankh tug toward the boy, and on a whim had given it to him, instructing him that he would return for it when his need for it had passed. Shaadi had learned just a few hours ago from Isis that the boy, Jonathon, had used the Ankh as a vital sheild to protect Bakura and Ryou while they were in the Shadow Realm for the first set of Locking Rituals. A few scant days ago, Shaadi had returned to the Shadow Realm and reclaimed his Item.

The Ankh squealed again, sounding almost human in Shaadi's mind, and he frowned slightly. "What is it?" The Ankh bucked under his hands, and Shaadi realized that it had inadvertantly formed a connection tot he boy Jonathon, one which was being severed now. The boy's soul was being pushed on to the next realm and the afterlife, which would be a blessing after spending uncountable years in the Shadow Realm. Shaadi sent a silent prayer to Anubis for the young one's soul.

The Ankh quieted after a minute or so, and Shaadi was just about to resume his napping. At the moment, he was, as noted, in Ryou's room, looking after Malik and Yugi.

Without prior warning, four things happened at once. The four Millenium Items in the room (The Ankh, Scales, Puzzle, and Rod) gave a tremendous burst of green and silver light as the curse was thrown aside, and then began to glow steadily gold. Malik sat bolt upright, Yugi rolled off the bed with a yelp, and both the yamis appeared in mid-air, falling several feet to the ground with no lack of Egyptian profanities.

Shaadi stared with his mouth open, and then yelled for Isis and the others as he ran tot he next room, shouting for joy all the way, something he never thought he'd do.

Malik, Yugi, and the yamis watched him go with puzzled faces, until Ishtar ventured to ask, "That was Shaadi, right? I wasn't seeing things?" Malik, Yugi, and Yami nodded their affirmatives that they'd seen it too. They had no time for any other talk, however, when Isis and Tea burst into the room.

Both women instantly burst into releived tears at seeing they were none the worse for wear. Isis latched onto Malik's waist and began to cry into his shirt, while Tea flung herself at both Yami and Yugi and tried to hug them both at once.

The four boys looked at each other and shrugged minutely. Silence reigned for the moment, save Isis's and Tea's sobs, until Ishtar, the only one not being cried upon, again ventured to open his mouth.

"Er... I do not mean to be rude, but... What the hell just happened?"

In the next room down the hall, Serenity and Joey were sitting as close as possible on the bed without being in each others' arms. Tristan was giving them the third degree about what had happened, and Joey and Serenity took turns filling him in.

Kaiba, Seto for the moment, awoke very irate on the bathroom floor with a crick in his neck and demanded loudly to know what was going on. Serenity laughingly called him into their room, and she and Joey proceeded to start the story over again.

The last room, however, to which everyone eventually gravitated, was the saddest. Shen was standing next to the bed, not exactly sure what to do, with Shaadi a little behind him and to his right. Everyone else eventually gathered around the bed as well, silent witnesses to a tragity.

Ryou was asleep on the bed, dead to the world due to exhausion. He had his arms around Bakura, who was obviously no longer in the realm of life, and the Blind One had his face burried in his aibou's chest. Every now and then he'd sob or hiccup, even in his sleep. The mortals exchanged glances, unsure of what to do, but Yami and Ishtar stepped forward.

To the surprise of those gathered, save for Malik and Yugi, both of the immortals had tears on their cheeks as they looked at their dead comerade and his poor little hikari. Gently Yami disentangled Ryou's arms from around Bakura's waist, as Ishtar pulled the sheets back so that they could lift Bakura from the bed. As they did, they began to sing quietly in Egyptian, their own private way of mourning one of the last three Egyptians still alive anywhere in the Shadow Realm or on Earth.

Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more

Yami took Bakura's head and upper portions, and Ishtar took his feet. They lifted him from the bed with seemingly no effort at all. Without speaking at all, Shen motioned toward Bakura's room. Ishtar and Yami took him in there, and firmly closed and locked the door, prefering to grieve for their own in their own way.

In the bed, Ryou whimpered and curled into a ball, hugging himself grimly. Another silent tear made its way down his cheek.

"Let him sleep," Shen whispered, his eyes sad for his son's loss. "And let Yami and Ishtar alone." Everyone else agreed, and they went back downstairs.

Don't say- goodbye
Don't say- I didn't try...
These tears we cry
Are falling rain
For all the lies
You told us
The hurt, the blame!

Yami and Ishtar put Bakura onto his bed, crossing his arms over his chest in the way of the pharoahs. He had more then earned it. Then they sat together against the wall, tears making silent paths down their cheeks as they suddenly realised just how enstranged they were from their home.

And we will weep
To be so alone
We are lost!
We can never go home

Here, in this twentieth century, they could not do as they had been raised to do, what their customs and religion and breeding told them to do. They could not mummify their friend, for that is what he had been. They could not erect a great stone monument to his courage and bravery. They could not bury him where his heart lie, beside his bloved Anjil in the sands of Egypt. The closest they could come would be Angeline Bakura, his beloved reincarnate, but even then it would not be the same.

So in the end
I will be- what I will be
No loyal friend
Was ever there for me

"[Ishtar,]" Yami said in Egyptian, his voice utterly hopeless. "[We are strangers here.]"

"[We are,]" Ishtar agreed. "[Our hikaris try to help but... It is not the same. We love them, to be sure, but our hearts still lie in Egypt, as Bakura's does too.]"

"[And the Egypt today is not the one we love,]" Yami said mournfully, hugging his knees up to his chest. "[Ishtar, this world is so dirty. No one stops anymore to care, to look, to listen to what the gods gave us.]"

Ishtar agreed. "[Sometimes I do not remember why I came here.]"

"[Sometimes,]" Yami added sadly, "[I do not remember why I saved this world.]"

Now we say- goodbye
We say- you didn't try...
These tears you cry
Have come too late
Take back the lies
The hurt, the blame!

Together for once in heart, body and soul, both yamis again began to sing quietly, a plea to Anubis to be merciful on Bakura's soul, as ancient as the pyramids. As ancient as they themselves were. In that one moment, as the last note faded, if Malik and Yugi had been there, they would have seen something amazing.

They would have seen their others with their masks down, their false fronts shed. Ishtar and Yami huddled together like the scared children they were at heart, just wishing they could go home. Their eyes showed an infinate wisdom, a great sadness and longing that came with living many many years.

And you will weep
When you face the end alone
You are lost!
You can never go home

Suddenly Ishtar sat up strait to stare at Yami. "[Your Puzzle,]" he said. "[It controls time! We could go back! Like when you used it to back up time and heal Ryou's arm! Yami, we could go back!]"

Yami clutched at the Puzzle, the longing clear in his eyes. "[Back... Back home... Oh if only... But you know we cannot Ishtar. We cannot leave our hikaris, even if we wanted.]"

Ishtar sighed, defeated once more. "[You are right my friend. We are needed.]"

Yami stared dejectedly, looking at Bakura's pale form but not really seeing, until suddenly he sat up with a jolt, still clutching the Puzzle. "[We may not be able to go home,]" he said slowly, and then smiled and switched back to Japanese. "But we can bring a bit of home back here."

()()()()()

Elyssa: *giggles* Song-ficcy-ness! That was "Gollum's Song", from the Two Towers soundtrack. We don't own it.

Alex: *grunts* We don't own ourselves either. SJ's got us in bond-slavery...

Ying-Yang: Isn't that illegal in the USA?

Alex: *rolls eyes* Yes, but does she care?

Fiore: {WSJ would just like to point out, highlighting her earlier fic-length rant, that she does not believe in Ra, or Anubis, or any other Egyptian gods mentioned. She merely writes them to stick with the historical context and Egyptian background of the yamis.}

Ying-Yang: Riiiiiight... What you just said...

Alex: Well, it's like, 11 here, and SJ's got a paper to turn in tomorrow, so we'd better wrap this thing up.

Elyssa: Righty then! Ciao!

Chapter 11: Ryou sinks into a deep depression without his yami there. He won't eat, he can't sleep, and he either can't or won't speak to anybody. Can Shen get him to come out of this self-imposed shell? Meanwhile, what are Ishtar and Yami planning with the Puzzle?

WSJ: *tape recorder again* God bless minna-san!