Let Go

MUWAHAHAHAAH!!!! I’m back with one of my fav chapters of this story! And we all know I really enjoy writing my characters being tortured. °grins° Hope you all enjoy the chapter as much as I did writing it and R&R!

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--: 08 :--
Fading

As the sucking feeling ceased, Yuugi slowly opened his eyes, not even remembering when exactly he had closed them. The place he was in felt somewhat colder than what he was used to, and the enviroment definitely felt more hostile, but otherwise he detected no immediate danger.

Glancing around, Yuugi frowned at his surroundings. He was standing in a large hall with stairs leading everywhere, though the logic seemed far from what Yuugi was used to. Some stairs lead to higher planes while others seemed upside-down or just angled strangely. Doors were everywhere, all identical to each other, and Yuugi didn’t doubt that if he went further into the maze, his surroundings would look the same.

Behind one of the doors, he supposed, was Yami. The beings had somehow cancelled out his power to sense life-forms and spirits completely, so Yuugi couldn’t rely on that ability at all. The angel felt strangely like the time when he had just given up his power and was still adapting to mortal life; useless and unsure of what to do.

Remembering that he had a time-limit to find Yami, Yuugi stepped forward, noticing only now that even his wings seemed to have left him. He resisted the urge to curse the two guardians for taking everything he could’ve used as a slight advantage away from him, before concentrating back on what he had to do.

He climbed the stairs leading to the first plane of doors. Hesitantly he opened the first door, not knowing exactly what to expect and being cautious of traps he was sure the two guardians had planted there. The minute the door opened and Yuugi carefully stepped forward to check the room, a large stone fell from the ceiling to cover the opening and deny entrance to all who dared step forward. Yuugi’s eyes widened as he was just in time to draw back the foot that would’ve been crushed otherwise.

“Okay, I’m going to assume that was the wrong room.” Yuugi stepped back from the door and nervously stared at the large stone now blocking his view of the room. If his suspicions were right this wouldn’t even be the worst of the traps the two guardians had planned for him, and this had already almost cost him a foot.

Shaking his head and taking a deep breath to calm himself, Yuugi drew back the determination and courage he’d had before he’d entered the puzzle, and continued along his way, opening every door in his path as cautiously as possible.

Some doors held no traps, allowing him to enter without any problems, while other’s shot spears if he entered too far. Multiple times Yuugi had had to jump backwards as the stone under his feet crumbled to leave large holes in the rooms he’d been looking at, and his hand had once been hit by a falling stone. Although the stone had merely hit the hand and not crushed it in any way, the hand hurt painfully whenever he made a wrong move with it.

Hall after hall passed and Yuugi was starting to wonder how far his time had passed by now. He couldn’t find any source of time whatsoever to tell him how much time he had left, and the angel was starting to worry that he had missed something and his time was maybe already running low. He didn’t evne know how long exactly he had been stuck in the maze, his sense of time completely off and his mind not even paying the slightest bit of attention anyway since it was too foccused on staying safe fromt he traps.

Although Yuugi at first didn’t notice, he noted after some time that the temperature within the maze seemed to be dropping, and that the lights were dimming. After paying attention to this fact for a while, he realized it wasn’t just in his head and it really was becoming darker and colder. With a slight scowl Yuugi reasoned that this was what was supposed to tell him how time passed. The closer he got to the end of his time-limit, the darker and colder it would become.

After almost being scewered by yet another spear, and after that stepping into a room filled with poisonous snakes which he had had to slam the door on as fast as he could, Yuugi was starting to get cold as he passed through yet another hallway. He felt a gust of air brush by him but paid no attention to it until the ceiling right above him started to crack. Hearing the sound Yuugi looked up to see small pieces of stone already coming down on him.

Quickly lauching himself forward in an attempt to get out of the way of the falling rubble, Yuugi heard a loud crash behind him. A semi-large piece of stone fell onto his right leg and Yuugi winced in pain. It wasn’t until he heard a cold feminine giggle that he realized who had caused the ceiling to collapse.

“You! You nearly squashed me!” Yuugi glared up into the air above him, knowing he would not be able to see the female guardian but wanting to point his look at something at least.

“Well at least you have fast reflexes, that’s for sure.” Yuugi could easily picture a woman hovering above him, her arms crossed as she stared down at him in amusement.

Yuugi bit his tongue in order not to snap at the guardian any further. Angering either of them would only lead to more traps and more near-death experiences. He’d had more than enough of those for a lot of lifetimes already.

Ignoring the mental picture of the guardian still looking down at him, Yuugi carefully lifted the piece of rock that was on his leg and tried to stand. He winced and hissed at the pain as he put pressure on his injured leg and bit his lip to prevent further signs of pain to escape him. He would not give the guardians the full pleasure of seeing him suffer at their hands, and walked further, a slight limp in his step now.

His sense of time returned somewhat as he tried to focus on how much time it took for the temperature to drop and the light to dim. After what he guessed was about an hour of walking around, the light had nearly completely died and Yuugi was shivering from the cold. He wrapped his arms around himself to try and warm himself up somewhat, but the cold was getting too strong.

In the hour that had passed he had come across more of the usual traps, a guilotine trying to cut him in half, more poisonous creature coming from seemingly nowhere ,not only in the rooms but also in the halls now – though Yuugi could’ve sworn he heard a deep chuckle which made him suspect the male guardian had had something to do with that – and knifes being lauched from ceilings in both rooms and hallways. Yuugi’s reflexes had slowed down more, and more bruises covered the angel’s body as blood even trickled down some of the gashes marring his skin.

“Care to give up yet?” Yuugi glared into the air above him where he thought the female voice had come from. The guardians had both been taunting him because he kept walking into traps and was now getting hit by more and more. Obviously the female guardian thought he’d quit just because he had gained some wounds and was nearly freezing to death in a place he could now barely see in.

“No way, I told you I’d find Yami and I will.” His voice was weaker than it had been at the beginning of the test, the defiance dying somewhat, but the belief in what he said was still there. Both guardians shared a look of amusement before looking back at Yuugi.

They had to admit that Yuugi was better than they’d expected. Some of their other victims had died at this point, others had given up, and only a handful had continued on to the very end. It seemed Yuugi was one of those stubborn ones.

Another thing was that, whether he knew it or not, Yuugi had been taking the shortest route to the centre of the puzzle where his lover resided in a room. No one had ever managed to do such a thing, and no matter what kind of obstacles they threw in the angel’s way, he kept taking the right hallways.

To say the least, they were stunned by this fact. Somehow Yuugi was taking the exact route he should without knowing the way. Neither guardian was a believer of true love and so they refused to believe that was the answer to this phenomonon, yet there seemed to be no other way to explain it. There had been too many twists and turns for it to be pure luck.

//He’s going to start getting weaker soon. Do you think he’ll manage to get to his lover before he can’t walk anymore, Arianne?// The male guardian glanced at his companion, speaking so only she would be able to hear him and not Yuugi.

//I don’t know, but if he continues on like this, I think he will. Only two others before him have managed to get to that point. Though I hate to admit it, he’s impressive.// Arianne stared down at her toy with a thoughtful look. The two others who had managed to complete this test had been on the verge of fading into nothingness when they found the room they were looking for. If Yuugi continued on like this, he would be tired yes, but definitely not on the verge of fading.

//Shall we try to stall him some more?// Arianne shook her head, her eyes staying focused on Yuugi.

//No, leave him be Arian. If he manages to get there he’ll still need to get rhrough his second test, and no one has ever managed that. He’s nearly there so it would be pointless to try to divert him now.// Both guardians focused back on Yuugi, converting back to their taunting ways.

“Time’s almost up.” Yuugi glared once more but didn’t bother to answer. He knew his time was nearly up, and his body felt more and more tired by the minute. He wondered if he was even remotely close to the room where he had to be, but refused to give the guardians the pleasure of knowing he was doubting himself.

“Tic tac, tic tac.” The female guardian giggled and Yuugi grit his teeth. He would find Yami, if it were only to prove he wasn’t as useless as the two beings thought he was.

Taking a deep breath and shaking his head to clear it of all negative thoughts, Yuugi focused back on Yami. He momentarily closed his eyes, noting that it barely made any difference whether he kept the open or closed by now, before sensing a strange wave of warmth emanating from the corridor he was in, though it seemed the source was still far away.

Yuugi snapped his eyes back open and stared into the darkness, the feeling of warmth fading away again as if it had never been there. Yuugi hesitated for a second, before closing his eyes and concentrating once more on the source of the heat he had just felt. The small wave immediately came back to his senses, and without opening his eyes again, Yuugi began to walk. He kept his arms stretched out in front of him so he wouldn’t collide with any walls while he let his senses guide him.

He had once more lost all sense of time and to him it felt like ages were passing as he walked. The heat was slowly getting stronger and although his arms had hit many walls already, he knew he was getting closer.

The strength in his body was fading more and more and Yuugi had the distinct feeling that this was the last phase of his time-limit. If he’d lose his energy completely, he’d fade away into the nothingness that awaited all who failed this test.

Amethyst eyes opened as Yuugi felt a door right in front of him, the metal warm and inviting unlike all the other doors he had touched so far. Glancing around the hallway he was in nervously even though he could no longer see anything, Yuugi pushed the door open, his body tense so it could respond to a possible trap as soon as it was activated.

No traps came as a sharp light burst from the room as if it had been contained there and was now finally free. Yuugi immediately jumped back, shielding his eyes from the blinding light he was no longer used to. After a moment Yuugi slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the amount of brightness before stepping into the room cautiously.

Before he had completely looked over the room, his eyes fell on the bed right in front of him, a curled up figure lying on the sheets. The form was shaking slightly and whimpers were escaping the other’s lips every once in a while as if going through some sort of pain. Yuugi was painfully reminded of all the times Yami had broken down after Yoru had beaten him up.

Not even noticing as heat entered his body and energy flooded his system once more, Yuugi crossed the room without a word and sat down on the bed, checking over his lover’s body – or was that soul? – before biting his lip. Yami seemed to fine except for the fact that he was shaking uncontrollably and fear and pain was etched onto his face. Yuugi didn’t need to see the eyes that were clenched shut to know the book that had described Tsumi’s attack was right; this really was worse than Hell for the souls trapped in the limbo.

“Well, well, well, I guess our little toy does have some talent after all.” Yuugi ignored the female taunting voice as he let his eyes wander over his lover’s body. He didn’t want let either of the guardians to ruin the fact that he had found Yami.

“Tsk, he’s ignoring us. How rude, not to mention stupid considering the fact that we can influence this test as much as we want.” Yuugi gritted his teeth before turning to glare into nothingness. His eyes widened as he saw two transparent forms before him: one male, one female.

Both were the epitome of beauty and grace, which was, Yuugi supposed, to be expected from beings with powers this strong. Even so, Yuugi could not find any attraction to either of them; the looks both wore on their faces instantly killed anything that might have attracted him to the two. Both had amused and arrogant smirks on their faces. The woman was looking at him mockingly as the male had a hint of supperiority in his eyes.

Although Yuugi hadn’t known it was possible, these two were definitely more arrogant than Seto, and he swore that was a very hard thing to beat.

The female merely smirked at his shocked expression of being able to see them, “I think you should be focusing on lover-boy there, your time for this test has already started.”

Yuugi instantly snapped his attention back to the shaking form next to him on the bed. He brushed the shock that he felt at seeing the two guardians all of a sudden to the back of his head, determined to not let it distract him in any way. He needed to focus on Yami, not two spirits that would love to see him fade into oblivion.

Gently he lay his hand on Yami’s shoulder, the action only resulting in the other’s form shaking more, trying to pull away from his touch, and whimpers to escape the other’s lips.

“Aw, I think he hates you.” Yuugi shot a brief glare at the male guardian at those words. The man smirked back at him, an air of mockery filling the room as he did.

“Can you two just shut up or go away? Trying to kill me is one thing as I’m going to fade away anyway if I fail, but don’t say something like that.” Yuugi could easily read the surprise off the man’s face and turned back to Yami, determined to ignore anything the two said from now on.

The male guardian raised an eyebrow and glanced at his female partner. //Interesting relationship these two have if that statement got a reaction like that from him.//

//True.// Arianne looked from their playtoy to the trapped soul, //Though he is an angel and the soul was a soul trapped in a demon’s body. I suppose that does come with some complications.//

Arian nodded before looking back at the two forms on the bed. Yuugi had pulled his lover into his arms, completely ignoring the increase of fear, shaking and whimpering coming from the older, and was now rambling about... well he supposed they were memories.

His interest somewhat piqued he listened in, hearing Yuugi talk about the time they’d only just met. He raised his eyebrow many times at certain events and the information he heard and had to wonder why Yuugi was even bothering to bring someone back that had brought so many troubles along with him.

Time passed and still Yami showed not even a slight sign of improvement. He was still trying to subconsciously get away from Yuugi at every chance he thought he had. Yuugi was desperately trying to get through the force that was keeping Yami’s mind in the trance it was, but nothing he said seemed to do anything. Arian and Arianne looked on, by now somewhat bored again. Although they had been amused to hear Yuugi try and get Yami back by repeating their history together at first, Yuugi had finished that and was now repeating things he had already said before and plainly begging the other to wake up.

Both guardians could clearly feel Yuugi getting weaker with each passing moment. The time he had to snap Yami out of his trance was far shorter than the time he’d had to find the room, and Yuugi had long since started to weaken. His body was shaking with the cold that penartated the room and they were sure he could no longer even see his lover. Arianne sighed in boredom, deciding it was time to have some more fun.

“You know, you’re nearly freezing already and I bet you can only barely keep sitting. Why not just give up?” She looked over her nails to empezise her boredom but she doubted Yuugi could actually see what she was doing.

“I bet he’s just hoping for a miracle. Guess no one told him those don’t exist anymore.” Arian chuckled as he could clearly see Yuugi stiffening at their words. No matter how much he tried to ignore the facts, Arian knew Yuugi knew the truth behind them.

“Why did you even bother getting him back?” Arian couldn’t help but let some curiosity slip into his voice. Others had tried to get loved ones back from this place before, but none of them had had such a troublesome history before. He couldn’t help but wonder why Yuugi was trying so much.

“Why do you care?” Yuugi turned to the guardians, his form slumped somwhat, his eyes showing how tired he was and his body shaking with both cold and lack of energy.

“Oh come on, he’s brought nothing but trouble to you, why bother getting someone like that back?” Although Yuugi couldn’t see the male guardian, he sensed the other shrugging. “You could’ve listened to your god and fought his demon self, killed him and be done with it. Would’ve most likely been easier.”

Yuugi glared, feeling more energy drain from him from that simple action and he was tempted to give in to the urge to lie down next to Yami and sleep. He knew, however, that if he were to do that he could never get Yami and himself out of the limbo, and if that failed everything he had done would’ve been in vain.

“Because I love him.” Yuugi’s voice sounded far more fierce than he himself thought he had the energy for. He sensed the surprise from both guardians at the conviction with which he spoke, before they quickly hid it behind barriers. He was so focused on the two guardians that he didn’t feel the form still in his arms stiffen.

Both guardians on the other hand noticed the change immediately. Yami was stiff, no longer shaking in any way or trything to get away. They glanced in wonderment at each other but kept it carefully from their aura, unsure if Yuugi could still sense emotions.

//No way, he’s said those words over a million times already! Why would they make such an impact now?// Arianne frowned, glancing from Yuugi, to Yami, and then back to Arian.

//I don’t know, but I’m curious to see what happens if we keep pushing the buttons just the right way now.// Arian smirked and turned his attention back to Yuugi.

“You would give your life just for an impossible chance of getting that guy back? You knew before you came here that no one had ever passed our tests so you knew it was fairly impossible.”

Yuugi shook his head to clear all the dizziness from it, only resulting in increasing it. He groaned before steadying himself and focusing back on what had just been said.

“I’d rather fade away into nothingness than let any chance of getting Yami back slip.” He shook his head again but it still only worsened the growing cloudiness in it. He swayed a little before realizing he had no choice but to lie down if he didn’t want to fall off the bed.

He gently lay down, drawing Yami close to him. He dimly noted that Yami had stopped shaking and was actually clinging to him now, but he was too far gone by now to fully process what that could mean.

Arian and Arianne watched in curiosity. Unlike Yuugi, they where fully capable to understand what was happening. Instead of trying to get away from Yuugi, Yami was clinging to him as the life-line he really was. On one hand they knew Yuugi would soon pass out and fade away if they didn’t say another thing, but they were both curious to find out if Yuugi could bring his look-alike back if he simple kept talking with the determination and conviction in his voice with which he had been speaking to them.

“So his life actually means more to you than your own?” Above all of their reasoning, they were just plainly stunned to find someone like Yuugi and were trully impressed by him; something that had never happened.

Yuugi glanced in their general direction through half-lidded eyes, no longer able to sense where exactly they were standing, before closing his eyes and snuggling closer to Yami. “Yes, it does.” He felt too tired to keep talking and left his answer at that, drifting away to the darkness that had been trying to claim him all this time.

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And… I think that’s pretty much the worst cliffhanger I’ve ever made °sweatdrop° which is another reason why I really like this chapter but you will most likely disagree with me on that. °shrugs° oh well. Review everyone!