Bakura: O.O;; Call in the newspapers! She actually has a crush on someone who ISN'T an anime character! Who is it? *looks over her shoulder, then stands back, scowling* Ah, I should have known...

Ryou: What? Who is it?

Bakura: *scowls more* Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom.

WSJ: *eyes glazed over* Orlando Bloom... *has a sickening grin on her face*

Bakura: *rolls his eyes* Bah... Anyway, she finally finished and posted that monster fic, The Child Who Suffers. It's 100KB even. So now she'll stop ranting about it, thank Ra! *grimaces* On to chapter 5!

WSJ: *drool* Orlando...

Ryou: -.-;; Well, at least she isn't drooling over me... She doesn't own YGO.

()()()()()

Sacrifice of Shadows

Chapter 5 -- The Strain of Darkness

As soon as the three would-be heros arrived in the Shadow Realm, Ryou had to bite down on a cry of pain. He was already beginning to feel his powers drain, as he sheilded himself, Bakura, and Joey from the ill effects of the Shadow Realm. "What's it look like?" he managed to hiss from between clenched teeth. Thankfully neither of his companions seemed to notice his discomfort.

Ryou was casting enough glow for them to see a few feet on all sides, so Joey and Bakura did so. "A long dark corridor," Bakura said dryly. "As usual."

"Eh," said Joey, over near the left wall. "What're these markings? C'mere Ryou, lemme use that aura of yours."

Ryou raised an eyebrow as he stepped closer to Joey. Bakura smiled wryly. "You're glowing aibou." Ryou cocked his head slightly. He wasn't going to say anything, but the two of them were glowing too. Sort of. That's how Ryou knew which direction to turn when someone spoke to him.

His mind was mostly one dark void, even more so now that they were in the Shadow Realm. But if a person was near enough, Ryou was able to sence them in the form of a vaguely human-shaped aura. The color and brightness depended on the person. Joey was a sunny orange-yellow, a little brighter then average, while Bakura was a deep blue, a little less-bright then average.

As Bakura and Joey exclaimed over the strange markings on the wall, Ryou let his sences stretch out. He could sense several presences, most of them non-threatening lost souls, and none of them very near. He thought he caught, just for a second on the edge of his perseption, a flash of two vaguely famliar auras, one silver and one sky blue. But it was only for a second, before Bakura calling his name brought him back to the here and now. "Ryou!"

Ryou snapped his head up and blinked. "Nani?"

"Gimme your hand and I'll show you where the markings are. They're carved into the wall, so you should be able to feel them. Joey can't make heads or tails of them. They look remotly familiar to me, but I can't think from where. Maybe you'll remember."

Ryou shrugged and held out his left arm. "It's worth a shot."

Bakura and Joey both nodded, and Bakura grasped his hikari gently by the wrist. Then he froze, staring down at Ryou's arm. Ryou, especially since Bakura was in physical contact with him at the moment, easily picked up his emotions. "What?"

"Your arm... There's scars..."

Memory kicked them both in the head.

A knife slashing across his pale skin, right after the blow to the temple that knocked him blind...

"Yugi's doodles," Ryou said, blinking. "You carved them into my skin. I'd forgotten all about that until now."

Bakura frowned. "I know. But I have a question mou hitori no ore. How'd they heal? If I remember correctly, Ishtar was positive you'd die of blood loss. Then you got trapped in the Shadow Realm, I went after you, and we promptly forgot all about it."

Joey scratched his head. "We're talkin' the Locking Rituals again here, aren't we?"

Ryou nodded. "Hai. I just can't seem to remember..."

"'Ey!" Joey said suddenly. "The scars on yer arm are the same as the markings on the walls! That rose especially is really big!"

Bakura stared at the blond, and then looked back and forth from Ryou's arm to the wall. "He's right! But... How?"

Suddenly Ryou's eyes widened in horror, staring blankly at nothing. He let out a scream and collapsed against Bakura, who quickly and easily caught him, hugging Ryou protectivly against his chest. "Aibou, what is it?!"

"Something's coming," Ryou said softly, a couple tears leaking out of the corners of his eyes. "Even its aura... It's so powerful! Bakura, it's pitch black, we have to get out of here!" His mind was in chaos. The aura he felt was huge, and very, very black. It almost seemed to suck up all light, licking at the edges of Joey's yellow and Bakura's blue, and even Ryou's own pure white.

Joey was standing a couple steps away from the two white-haired partners, staring into the black mist that drifted beyond where the light of Ryou's aura reached. There was definatly something out there. "Can ya' tell what it is Ryou? Other then it's powerful?"

Ryou nodded, leaning weakly against the wall while Bakura moved protectivly in front of him. "It's a Man-Eater Bug."

Tea sighed, pacing again across the livingroom to stare out the window. It was beginning to get dark, and Ryou's dad would probably be home soon. Tea, Isis, and Tristan had agreed to tell him what had happened, since it probably wouldn't freak him out too bad. He was used to things like this. Mr Moto however...

Earlier Tea had called around to all their parents and told them that they were all spending the night at Ryou's house. She just hadn't specified why. She hadn't even attempted to explain things to Yugi's Granpa. She and Tristan had agreed that if Yugi wanted him to know, then Yugi could tell him when this was all over.

The three souled people in the house refused to think about the fact that it might never be over, or that when it was Yugi might not be capable of telling his Grandfather anything.

"Stop pacing!" Tristan snapped from the couch. "You're making me nervous!"

"Gomenasai," Tea sighed, turning away from the window. "I can't help it!"

Isis came down the stairs just then, her face grave. Tea couldn't help but notice that she was wearing the Tauk again. "How are they?"

The whole upstairs floor was, as grusome as it sounded, now devoted to the storage and care of soulless bodies. Bakura and Ryou were in Ryou's dad's room, Yugi (and Yami, of course) were in Ryou's. Serenity and Joey were together in Bakura's room, since they'd figured the two Wheelers would want it that way. Malik (and Ishtar) were on blankets on the floor of Ryou's room, so that both cursed Item Holders would be in the same room. Kaiba was on blankets in the bathroom, for lack of a better place to put them.

Isis shook her head and rubber her temples. "I can't tell. This sort of thing isn't my forte! They look all right to me, but that could mean they're dying," she held up a hand before Tea or Tristan could say anything. "But they are all still very much alive. All of them breathing, all their hearts beating." she frowned. "Although Serenity's is a little shallower then I'd like."

Tea sighed in releif. "I'll go watch them for a bit Isis." The Egyption nodded, and Tea mounted the stairs. She paused at the only door on the left (besides a closet) and peeked in on Ryou and Bakura. Ryou had a rather pained expression on his face, and Bakura had an arm slung protectivly over his aibou. For an instant Tea considered finding a camera, but eventually desided against it.

The first door on the right side of the hall led to Bakura's room, where Serenity and Joey lay. Serenity was in the bed, her breath shallow and her body limp. Joey was on the floor on a spare matress, and, dispite even his body's soulless state, a soft snore erupted from him every now and then.

The next door led into the bathroom, where Kaiba (Mokuba's body) lay on top of several layers of blankets. He was pale and unmoving (and thankfully un-snoring), and Tea bit her lip before moving on.

The final door on the right led into Ryou's room. Tea always had liked his room, the few times she'd been in it. A portrait of the Change of Heart hung on one wall, and a painting of a pretty blond woman (Ryou's mother, although Tea didn't know that) hung on another.

But as she entered his room this time, Tea took no notice of the decor. Malik lay unmoving on another spare matress, his face pale and sweaty under his tan. The Rod was clutched protectivly against his chest, so hard that his knuckles were turning white. On the bed was Yugi, paler even then Kaiba or Serenity.

Tea stopped short at the door and stared in shock, her eyes fixxed on Yugi. The Eye of Horus was glowing on his forehead, and for an instant Tea thought she was seeing things. For a moment, it was Yami lying on the bed. But just an instant, and then it was Yugi. Tea stood stock-still, to see if it would happen again, and it did. Yami, then Yugi, then, for an instant, Yami again.

Tea swallowed hard, and gingerly made her way over to the bed. Not knowing what would happen, Tea hesitantly reached out to lay a hand on Yugi's arm. She yelped and jumped backward. Even through his shirt, he was freezing cold! She swallowed again,a nd moved this time for the Puzzle. Maybe if she took it off...

"D**n!!!" Tea cursed uncharacteristicly as her fingers came in contact witht eh gold artifact. She jerked them back, and stared at them as they began to blister. Instinctivly she popped them in her mouth to soothe the burn. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Yugi. Okay, so his Item was hot enough to burn her, and yet Yugi himself was freezing cold.

The Holder of Time flickered again, Yami then Yugi, and snapped Tea out of her trance. She pounded down the stairs, yelling for Isis at the top of her lungs.

"Pipe down!" Tristan ordered, coming to his feet as she burst into the livingroom. "Do you want to wake the dead?!"

Tea gave him a sardonic look and asked where Isis was.

"Right here Tea,"

Tea turned around and came face to face with Shaadi, Isis behind him. "Who-who are you?"

"My name is Shaadi. I am the Guardian of the Millenium Items," Shaadi said, bowing slightly to her. "I hear you're having some problems."

Isis frowned, her forehead creasing. "I told you already Shaadi, they are not enough to risk having all seven Items in the same house! All hell could break loose!"

Shaadi rubbed the Scales, which hung from his belt, absently as he regarded her. "Perhaps." he turned to Tea. "But I believe things have just become even more dire."

()()()()()

WSJ: *snaps out of her Orlando-induced stupor* Heeheehee! How's that Elanor? Good enough? Someone requested that Shaadi show up in Domino, so here he is! ^_^ Poor Ryou, Bakura, and Joey... What are they going to do with a Man-Eater Bug?

Ishtar: *ponders* Be eaten?

WSJ: ^__^ Good answer! ...But the wrong one. Ah well. *goes back to drooling over Orlando Bloom*

Ishtar, Bakura, & Ryou: *sigh*

Chapter 6: Shaadi and Isis attempt to figure out the exact nature of the curse, in order to undo it. Shen Bakura arrives home, and Tea and Tristan attempt to expalin everything to him.

Meanwhile, in the Shadow Realm, Joey and Bakura fight against the Man Eater Bug, with little success. Ryou has an idea, but Bakura is unwilling to take the risk. What if it back-fires?

God Bless Minna-san!