A Shadow of Destiny

[phantomstar21]

She wriggled and struggled against her bonds, it felt like the wire that held her bound got tighter and tighter, but she assumed that meant she was almost free.

After several minutes, she finally stopped, her wrists were beginning to bleed and she couldn't feel anything past her forearm.

"Keep struggling." a voice suddenly said, "the bonds get tighter and tighter the more you struggle." Kay looked up alarmed and saw a figure leaning against a wall,

[kikiv]

Recognizing the voice, she scowled. "You're some sick sadist, aren't you? Come anywhere near me, and you'll regret it."

[phantomstar21]

the figure chuckled and stepped more into the dim lightof the room.
"I'd really like to see that now," he said, "However, I'm much more stronger than you are."

"Why don't you prove it?" Kay said "Undo this wire and we can have a duel!"

[kikiv]

"Hm, as tempting as that sounds, I have more pressing matters to tend to," He said malevolently. "Such as what I plan to do when your darling husband comes to your rescue."

[phantomstar21]

Kay paused, she wanted to tell Bakura his plan wouldn't work, but she knew Seto. He would come for her."

"I hope you plan to beg for your life." she hissed. "Because when he does come you'll be sorry you had the two of us together." she smirked "Need I remind you the battles we have won when we both work together?"

Bakura scoffed.
"what? you call those battles? those were just warm up games for me." he smirked "I actually got a pretty good idea of how powerful my daughter will be when she's matured."

"your...daughter?"

"Oh yes, the one you condemned to death, because of who her parents were? And the one who's mother you stole." Bakura reminded her. "Half of those things you called battles, my daughter assisted me in." he smirked some more at Kay's facial expression. She looked shocked,and even disturbed.

"There's no way your daughter is that powerful." she argued. "She must still be but a child."

Bakura just smirked down at her in his vexing way.
"you made a grave mistake your majesty." he said darkly. "your dear husband took a lot from me and my kin. Now, it's his turn. I'm going to take his land, his kingdom, and you from him."

without warning, he drew out a knife and plunged it through her abdomen, making kay cry out in shock and pain. Causing him to laugh maniacally.
"And then, just to be sure your filthy bloodline can't come back for me, my dear Aaralyn will end your daughter."

[kikiv]

Kay grit her teeth to keep from screaming out in pain. There was no way this was happening! She refused to die here while her husband and child were still in danger! Angrily, she grit out, "I swear... When Seto and Kristen get here-"

She suddenly let out another pained cry as Bakura twisted the dagger even more. "Trust me, you shall be dead by the time they arrive."

[phantomstar21]

"Y-you bastard." she managed to grunt out "I'll be sure that we end you. You won't burden our kingdom with your dark magic ever again."

Bakura just laughed at her, as if she told him an amusing joke.

"that's cute." he said pulling out the knife. "I'm going to enjoy this immensely. I can not wait to tell your dear husband all about your last moments here."

With that, he plunged the knife into her back, narrowly missing her heart, but piercing her lung.

==

Seto and Kristen crept quietly to the castle. Much to their surprise, no creatures had bothered to stop them. Which had Seto on edge. Surely, Bakura didn't want them to gain access to his castle so quickly? He knew deep down that he was walking into a trap, But with Kay and potentially Yugi being held in there, he was willing to risk it.

He had some of his bravest soldiers hiding, around the castle, just waiting for his return.
"Kristen, you should wait out here. I cannot guarantee you your safety." he said softly to her. Kristen shook her head no,

"I'm sorry, but I cannot follow that order. I'm going with you, besides, maybe you'll need a healer."

Ordinarily, Seto would have been annoyed, but she brought up a valid point, so shooting her a semblance of a smile, they stood up, and crept into the castle.

the door opened, with a loud creak, and Seto drew his sword, just waiting for an attack.
However, the room was empty, and the only sound was the echo of their footsteps.

He beckoned Kristen to come in, and lightly treaded the floor.
Kristen looked around curiously, trying to find any clues about what Bakura had come to. The room was completely empty though. Dust and cobwebs were gathered here and there in the corners. No doubt, Bakura wasn't concerned about keeping a clean estate.

Seto slowly began to climb a staircase, with Kristen following after him. AS they were halfway up, a staircase suddenly shifted beneath Kristen's feet. She gasped in shock and seto whirled around, just in time to see her frightened expression before she plummeted down the hole.
"Seto!" she screamed as she fell, Seto looked down, calling her name, and watching helplessly as she disappeared into the darkness. Before he had a chance to jump in after her, the hole closed up. Leaving him alone.

[Lady Kaya]

He grit his teeth, feeling a cold sweat at the nape of his neck. For the first time, he truly felt a sense of impending doom, and like their chances of getting out of this nightmare were impossible.

steadying himself with a deep breath, he pressed onward, praying he wasn't too late to do something, anything to turn this around.

[phantomstar21]

He continued on, for what felt like hours. The place was eerily quiet, the only sound offering company were his own footsteps.

Finally though, he heard ragged breathing and turned sharply, he heard it down the hall.Fearing the worst, he picked up his pace and practically ran to the room the breathing came from.

To his horror, he saw Kay, lying in a pool of blood, struggling to breathe. Blood dripped from her mouth, and her body only offered involuntary twitches.
"Kay!" he gasped. She weakly looked up and gave him a small smile.

"seto-" she managed to whisper, before her body was violently seized by an unknown force. she was lifted up, and a figure in dark robes stepped into his line of sight.

"Its about time you showed up Seto." Bakura's voice said beneath the hood.

[Lady Kaya]

"Bakura..." he growled, clenching his fists.

"In the flesh!"

"Release her to me and end this nonsense, now!"

"Oh-ho, aren't you a cheeky one! You have some nerve making demands to me when, a short while ago, I was in your shoes." His face darkened. "Only I didn't get the chance to say good bye." A cruel smile twisted onto his lips. "Does it hurt, Kaiba? To see the woman you love most dying? Even though she has done nothing to deserve it...other than love you."

[phantomstar21]

Seto grit his teeth,
"your battle lies with me Bakura. Release her now, and we can have a proper duel."

"well, as you wish." Bakura said with a shrug, before Seto could comprehend Bakura's words, the dark sorcerer plunged the knife through Kay's heart.

Kay managed to give out a shocked gasp, before she slumped over, her eyes closed and she fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"Kay!" Seto cried as he stared in horror as he watched her fall.

[Lady Kaya]

Bakura wrenched his knife from her and wiped the blood off on her clothes. "Well, that takes care of that," he said, tucking the knife away before looking at Seto. "Kindly tell me...how did Kim look when she died? Were you merciful enough to grant her a quick death too? Or did you draw out her suffering?" he growled.

[phantomstar21]

Seto stood frozen in shock, his fists clenched and he glared at Bakura murderously.

"Oh, I drew her death out alright. Not only did she betray her kingdom, she betrayed me. Her king. so, I found a punishment that was suitable for her."

Bakura's glare hardened and Seto found himself enjoying the feeling of having this much levitation over Bakura.
"Do you want to know?" he asked. "Or is it something I should take to my grave?"

"tell me everything." Bakura said lowly, his voice almost inhuman. Seto ignored the little voice inside his head, telling him to just stop.

"I forced a potion down her throat, so she couldn't use her magic against me." he drew out his sword, "and then, I pulled her nails, her fingers, jabbed a needle of that potion into her eyes. she was helpless and a crying mess. At least, my sweet Kay died with dignity."

[kikiv]

"Then I'll see to it you don't!" Bakura growled out furiously before lunging at Seto, who in turn took a battle stance to intercept the attack.

[phantomstar21]

Bakura managed to dodge a swipe of Seto's sword.
the two kept up their battle. With Seto taking offence after a few rounds, Bakura had no weapon on him (save for a small dagger)But, even though Seto had the advantage of his sword, he was also weak from his previous battles.

Bakura laughed at him when Seto stumbled in trying to run him through with his sword.
"So, this is the great king, already stumbling about in his fatal battle with me."

"shut up!" Seto growled standing back up.

"I'm going to enjoy telling your daughter how weak you were in your final moments."

[kikiv]

"You will come no where near my daughter, you demon!" Seto rushed at him, intending to impale his opponent. However, Bakura seemed to instantly vanish into the darkness. Seto whirled around, trying to spot the dark mage. 'Damn! Where did he run off to now?!'

[phantomstar21]

He continued to turn in his spot, his blue eyes narrowed, squinting into the darkness.
"Behind you." a voice whispered in his ear, and he turned around abruptly. HIs sword slashing in the air.

However, with his arms raised, he felt a piercing pain in his chest and looked down in numb shock as he saw a dagger in his chest.
"go to hell," Bakura's voiced hissed in front of him. Seto looked down at the dark mage, his knees buckling from under him. "Tell your darling wife hello for me."
Gritting his teeth, and summoning every last bit of energy he had, Seto swiped at Bakura with his sword, nicking the mage in the chest. Bakura hissed with displeasure, and wrenched the knife away.

Seto took a couple steps back, before falling to the ground, lying on his back. He heaved in deep breaths, and turned his head to look at Kay. He wanted her to be his last sight.
"Aelita, I'm so sorry." he thought to himself in despair. Seto stared at Kay's white horror struck face for a moment more, but soon felt a hand on his face.

Bakura knelt down to Seto, gripping his face with his bloodied hand and tilting it back to look at him.
"I won't grant you the pleasure of seeing your dearly beloved." he growled "I will be the last thing you ever see."

Seto growled, trying to form saliva in his mouth, but all that seemed to fill it was his own blood.
"Any messages you'd like me to pass to your daughter?" Bakura smiled eerily.

"My daughter will take great pleasure in destroying you." Seto hissed, choking on his blood. "And then, I'll have the last laugh when I see you in hell." and with those final words, Seto closed his eyes, and went limp on the floor.

Bakura stood, staring at him coldly.
"we'll see." he said darkly.

==

Meanwhile, Kristen had managed to find some stairs. When she had fallen through the trap door, she had been in a dungeon of sorts. Hoping to find Kay or Yugi, she looked around, but eventually came up empty handed, and that's when she discovered the stairs.

slowly, and a lot more cautiously, she climbed them. Hoping to not find any more surprises.

It seemed to take her hours, but eventually, there were no more stairs to climb and she went through a hallway. Listening carefully.
as she passed a room, she suddenly heard a weak groan and turned her head to the left, before giving a loud gasp of horror.

Yugi laid on the floor, covered in blood. He was still though. the only thing that he moved was his head, which he turned from side to side in agony.
"Yugi!" Kristen cried, tears of relief stining at her eyes as she ruab towards him, kneeling down, and picking him up in her arms. "Yugi, what happened?"

[kikiv]

"K-Kristen? Thank goodness, you're okay..."

"Y-Yeah..." Kristen continued taking in Yugi's ragged appearance. He looked as if he had been run through a meat-grinder, and it made her blood go cold. Did Bakura do all of this?

Soon, her attention was grabbed by her beloved asking, "Wh-Where are Kay and S-Seto? They're in danger."

Kristen bit her lip before replying, "Kay was kidnapped... by the dark sorcerer... Seto made a plan for us to come here and rescue her. But, we were separated. I-I don't know where he is."

[phantomstar21]

Yugi let his head fall to the ground.
"Go find him." he whispered desperately. "Seto matters more than me. Please..."

"No, I can't leave you," Kristen held him tightly against her "we'll find him together."

"I-I can't move." he moaned, feeling his eyes water. "I'll just be a burden."

"you can't move...like..."

"I can't feel anything" he whispered to her. "Please, go on and help Seto and Kay. I'm a lost cause."

"No!" she laid him down and her hands began to wander along his body. Yugi didn't jerk or thrash or even respond to her touches. "Yugi!"

"I told you." he said, despair crawling into his tone, though he tried to be strong. for her. "Please..."

Kristen's hands began to glow a soft blue as she focused on Yugi's body. Feeling his heart thump against her hand. Soon, Yugi felt a tingle in his finger tips, and he moved them weakly.