To Lose the Light

*Demi walks past, stops, then looks around.*

Hey, I’m the only one here. Cool. That means I get to introduce this chapter. *He looks quite pleased with himself for a moment, then he frowns and sweatdrops.* Umm, I don’t know what to say.

*Lady D’Ceandre walks in, lugging a duffle bag off laundry. She drops it on the floor.*

D’Ceandre: I need a washing machine. What are you doing?

Demi: Nothing.

D’Ceandre: Right.

Okay, a note for this. I’m not sure whether the mind crush is temporary or permanent, but I’m going to assume it’s only temporary, cause it’d cause a lot of problems otherwise.

******

“Bakura!”

Kaiba opened the door of his office, to see what the trouble was. A vase flew at him, and he managed to catch it awkwardly.

“Hey, nice catch, Moneybags.”

“Shut up, dog. What the hell’s going on?”

“Bakura and Marik have agreed to help us get Yugi and the others back.”

“Only they’re not getting along too well.”

“When I get my hands on you…” Marik skidded past, trying to keep his feet under him on the slippery floor. Bakura followed after.

“Dammit!” They heard from the end of the hall, then a guard appeared with the two.

“Sir, I found these two…” Kaiba waved.

“Just leave them here.” He told the guard. The man gave him an odd look, but obeyed.

“Mr Kaiba?” The secretary said, trying hard to ignore the unusualness of the other people standing in the room. “The translation’s in.”

“Translation?” Yami queried.

“Of course. It’s easy to find someone to translate Spanish. It’s not like it’s a dead language.”

Kaiba picked up the paper the woman handed him.

“Spirit Island?” He said. “I’ve never heard of it.” Yami looked over his shoulder.

“Well, it’s a start at least. I wonder who the Ancient One is.”

“Probably that bitch who got us into this trouble.” Bakura spoke up.

“You got us into this trouble.” Marik corrected him.

“Shut up, Ass.”

“How about I shut you up, permanently.”

“Knock it off.” Yami glared at the both of them. His eyes were starting to glow slightly. The pair exchanged glances.

“Make us.” Marik shot back. Bakura’s expression turned to fear.

“Mind Crush!” Marik’s eyes rolled up and he crumpled to the ground. Bakura took a hasty step back as Yami turned to him.

“Anything to add?” Yami asked, the puzzle still glowing.

“The island.” He squeaked, then took another step back and cleared his voice. “I- I might know where it is, roughly.” The puzzle faded.

“Where?” Bakura looked around. The woman had shown him once, on a map.

“I need a map.” He said, still nervous. Kaiba led them back into the office, where he produced a number of them. Bakura found the one he needed, and pointed at a spot.

“There.”

“Kaiba?” Yami queried.

“On it.”

“Oh, my head.” Marik stood leaning against the doorway. The others walked out past him. Bakura was last, and paused to help Marik.

“That really was stupid.” He whispered. Yami pretended not to hear.

******

Malik yelped as a club whistled past him. Someone else jabbed at him, and he fended it off awkwardly with his own knives. Then suddenly thunder crashed and something pushed against him, bowling him over. He sat up with a wince and looked around, noticing that everyone else had been affected as well.

“Fools!” Sagira stood in the middle of the clearing, looking around angrily. “I did not go to the trouble of bringing you here so that you could kill each other off.” She paused and looked around again. “Where is the Little Pharaoh?” Her gaze settled on Malik. He blinked.

“Little Pharaoh? Yugi? We got separated.” He answered, leaning back from those cold eyes.
Sagira sighed in annoyance and stalked away from the clearing.

******

Yugi was surprised when Taryn suddenly disappeared. He looked around and noticed a vine ladder hanging from one of the trees. Taryn stood at the top of it.

“Hurry up, Princeling. We’re being followed.” Yugi began to climb the ladder with a sigh.

“My name is Yugi.” He said when he got to the top. Then something struck him as odd, and he looked at her again. She seemed the same as before, the piece of material that she wore in lieu of a proper dress had a hole cut through it for the head, and was tied at the waist, so that the sides overlapped. It was stained and ragged at the hem. Then he realized what the oddity was.

“You’re not a spirit.” He accused, as she pulled the ladder up. Beneath them, Sagira stomped past. They watched until she was out of sight.

“No, I’m physical.” She agreed. “I was here when the spell was first put on the island, twelve years ago. My family was shipwrecked, and I was the only survivor. Sagira knows there’s someone here, but she’s never caught me.” She moved along the branch, to where it intersected another, and continued on. Yugi stared at the ground below, took a deep breath and followed.

******

Yami stood in the bow of Kaiba’s yacht, staring out at the open water. Where was it? He leaned against the rail.

“If you were lying to me, Bakura, a Mind Crush will be the least of your worries.” He called back. Marik leaned close to Bakura to whisper to him.

“Is it just me, or does he seem a bit…” Marik searched for the right word.

“Psychotic, as in worse then us.” Bakura nodded. “Oh yeah.” There was only the three of them. Everyone else had retreated as far away from Yami as they could manage, after he had exploded at Jounouchi for an innocent joke. The only reason the two were still there was that Yami had told them to sit there and shut up when they had first came aboard and had threatened to Mind Crush them again if they didn’t obey.

The Pharaoh turned to glare at them, and Malik gave him a sickly smile. He turned away again.

Suddenly he straightened up, as he sensed something. It almost felt like spider webs across his arm.

“Stop the boat.” He called to Kaiba. They came to a halt.

“What is it?” Marik asked. Yami ignored him, studied the odd feeling. A barrier? He tore through it easily.

The air shimmered, and a small island appeared. Yami felt a touch, but even as he reached out to Yugi, it faded away.

“He’s there.” He whispered. The boat turned toward the island. Yami stared at it as they approached, searching for something, anything. Idly he noticed that Bakura and Marik were standing at the rail as well, but ignored them.

“Hang on, Little One.” He whispered. “I’m coming.”

******

Yugi was completely worn out when Taryn finally stopped. He stared when he saw their destination.

Vines had been woven between the branches of three trees. They created an enclosure that was nearly indistinguishable from the greenery around it. Taryn motioned him in an opening.

Inside, he realized that more vines had been woven together to form a floor, held up here and there by more branches.

“Wow.” Taryn smiled at him.

“You know, you remind me of someone.” She said, fingering one of his bangs. Yugi frowned at her. “Someone I met in a dream.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Want to hear about it.” Yugi gulped, figuring out where this was leading. He took a step back.

“I’ve never…” She laughed.

“A virgin. How cute.” She moved closer. “But then everything about you is cute. Prepare to be treated like royalty, Princeling.”

******

Yami leapt out of the boat and raced up the beach.

“Yami, wait.” Anzu called. He stopped to look back at her. “You don’t know what’s in there.” Yami glared at the trees, trying to cool his temper.

“Aibou.” He called, then cupped his hands around his mouth.

“Yugi!” He paused to listen for an answer. None came.

“Ryou!” Bakura called out, and Marik added his own calls for Malik, but there was still no answer.

“Guys,” Anzu called, “come help get this stuff sorted out.” Kaiba had made sure they all had water bottles, food, and other necessities. After all, he had pointed out, who knew what was on the island.

“Well!” Yami snapped when the other two didn’t move for a moment. “Get to work.” Bakura made a face when he turned away again. He followed Marik back towards the boat.

“Now I really remember why I never liked him.” Marik muttered. Bakura nodded.

“Mr. I’m-the-incarnation-of-a-god.” After a moment more, Yami turned and headed back to help as well.

******

Yugi sat up suddenly. He could have sworn…

“Ryou!”

“Malik!” The cries were faint, but clear.

“They’re here. Yami!” He bolted up, reaching for his shorts. Taryn sat up to watch him calmly.

“They won’t be able to see or hear you.” He ignored her, running out of the hut and dropping a loose vine to get to the ground.

With a sigh, Taryn reached for her wrap.

******

D’Ceandre: *Starts humming ‘Together Again’ from the old Teddy Ruxpin cartoon.*

Trouble: You need help.

D’Ceandre: Well, duh!