In a time where so much is unknown to mankind,

it is hard to believe that places beyond the here and now exist,

but they do,

places where wars are raged and battles are fought,

and people are killed,

they do exist, and I will tell you their stories...

Death is upon them,

Death and destruction.

All hope for peace is gone,

Darkness is all tha remains...

-B-l-a-c-k-e-d- -O-u-t-

Chapter Eighteen

((Prelude to disaster.))

The room looked to be completely empty, the only life was the shadow of a demon - and the figure the shadow was connected to. She threw back the blankets on the bed to find an assortment of personal belongings pilled up to create the appearance of a sleeping body.

"Damn it, Bakura! I will find you!" ToraYuri hissed, the warrior had evaded her for now. She stepped out onto the balcony and flexed her wings. They were so badly damaged that she was unable to fly, but she could use them to glide to the ground, which is exactly what she did. "You can't hide from me for long, I'll find you, and when I do…" The demon queen trailed of and chuckled softly as she felt her feet hit the ground.

Bakura,

By the time you receive this I will have already departed for our realm, I'll be spending the next few months away. I wish you all the best, I hope that Isis has not poisoned you against me, I know she gave you a prophecy months ago that she believes to be warning you of me. You must believe me when I tell you she is wrong. Isis has her own motives, I don't know if you have noticed, but she has always been very fond of you, and recently that fondness seems to have grown to be a passionate attraction aimed in your direction. I would implore you not to act on this, I can't tell you anymore at the moment than this, wait for me to return to court, I will explain everything.

I can honestly say I regret having ever enlisted you in the elite forces, I've put you in a horrible situation. While the last thing I ask is forgiveness, I do want you receive me well when I return to court, do not cast me away as I well deserve.

((Part I - Order.))

"Hold your positions." Malik instructed as he watched the Prince closely, one false move and they'd hit him rather than their target. Idealistically they'd wait until they had a clear shot but if they didn't act soon they'd miss their chance all together. An alliance between the two races would be disastrous, and Malik couldn't allow that to happen - he was risking his life, yet again, for someone else.

"Malik, who exactly gave us these orders?" Marik uttered almost silently as he watched the Prince, grimacing at the sight before him.

The former kept his eyes on their target as he answered, equally silent, "Who do you think?"

"Well, I know… But this… This just doesn't seem like something she'd want done… Particularly by someone else…" Marik winced as he felt a twig jab him in the side. He was hidden among the overgrown forestry just outside the angel's head quarters with a small group from the elite forces lead by Malik, who raised an eyebrow at his brother's statement.

"Why would she not want us to take out the biggest threat to our way of life?"

Rearranging himself as quietly as possible so that he wasn't the victim of an onslaught from the sticks they had so conveniently decided to hide among Marik presented his argument with an eloquence so astounding the rest of the hunting party were left dumbfounded.

"If we complete this task then the demonic party will have to evacuate the realm immediately and the war will continue as it had been going. However the Demon Queen will be the prime suspect in it all, and will probably suffer the same fate as Akunadin, and she must know this, there is no way she couldn't, she has so carefully thought through every plan to date, why would she suddenly overlook such an obvious detail? So if the Demon Queen didn't give this order then someone else did, which means that the elite forces is going beyond it's call of duty by taking down this target. That, in turn, means that it could be argued that the Demon Queen is no longer in command of the elite forces, and if she's not in command, who is?" Marik looked questioningly at Malik, who after a moment of defeat quickly picked up where he had left off.

"I only know what I'm told, and what I was told was to take out the target and then get the hell out of here."

Seeming to revert back to his former self Marik sighed as he pinched his leg, which had developed a nasty case of pins and needles, and shifted his position again.

"Malik… What's going on? When did the Demon Queen give those orders?"

"Right before dinner." Malik responded coolly, "She got up to make sure the charge was okay, and then sat back down again, you must've seen her do that? She told me as she was returning to her seat, she made up some excuse about stretching her legs."

The second in command sighed again, louder this time, it was true that the Demon Queen had done exactly what his brother had recalled. But it was so unlike her to make such an unwise and rash decision.

"THERE!" Malik shouted. There was a cracking noise, and then silence.

((Part II - Anger.))

Bakura walked silently through the forest outside the head quarters, his mind was heavy with thoughts, most of them negative. He stopped and leaned against a tree, he could feel the bark irritating his pale skin, but he didn't really care at this point. The Demon Queen was after him, again. Not that it was really surprising, he had spent his whole life being hunted, first by the people he stole from while he lived in a poor village on the outskirts of the demonic realm, then by Akunamkanon's soldiers during the civil wars, and now by the Demon Queen.

He couldn't help but let out an agonised laugh at the irony of the whole situation. It was during the civil wars that he had first encountered the Demon Queen, as Akunadin's champion, Akunadin had hired him as a mercenary and was discussing his wages, as had become ritual for them, the Demon Queen was by his side. She had performed the function of an attack dog for him, bitting anyone who looked like they wished him harm. The title was rather fitting 'attack dog', as she still performed that function, she just had nothing to protect…

If she found him there was a distinct possibility that she would kill him, Bakura felt an odd sensation about his situation, peace. He was at peace with the fact that he could be taking his last breaths alone in the angelic realm. It was an odd feeling, never before had he felt quite this comfortable with impending doom, something he had encountered frequently throughout his life.

He had lived a long life, he had made many accomplishments, he had never had children, but that didn't really bother him now. His family line would die with him. His brother was far too weak to have ever produced offspring to carry on the family, so the task had been left to Bakura. Who had evidently failed, but more than made up for it with his lengthy list of achievements during his centuries spent terrorising anyone that stood to oppose him.

He pushed off the tree on spotting a pair of beings enjoying a rather intimate moment. At first he thought it a fine time to wreak havoc upon their fairytale encounter, but after a moments deliberation he concluded that wreaking havoc was not the best option here, because one of the beings was the Prince, and the other was Solomon's granddaughter.

The white haired demon stood, dumbfounded and disgusted at the scene before him. What irony had he lived to witness?

A familiar scent drifted past, the Demon Queen had found him. The legendary warrior had a decision to make - he could stand and die, or retreat and live to see the two races united. Bakura chose to face his fate.

The Demon Queen emerged from among the dense forestry, the pair stood for what seemed to be an eternity, neither one moving, their eyes locked.

In an instant Bakura felt himself forced backwards into the tree, the Demon Queen's claws pressing on his throat, threatening to tear open his flesh. Again the pair froze, neither one initiating any movement, instead the both demons gazed with intensity into the other's eyes, searching for an answer questions that never left their lips.

They were both still covered in wounds from their earlier fight, on impact some of the injuries had begun to bleed again, badly. The demons remained frozen, covered in blood, each silently demanding a response of the other.

"Why?" Tora Yuri finally spat. "Why did you just wait? You knew I'd find you. Why?"

"Why, indeed." Bakura retorted, wincing slightly as the female demon pushed him harder against the tree.

"Do not fuck with me." She hissed, her words penetrating the core of his being.

Bakura spoke, his voice free of any trace of anger or venom, "Now is hardly the time to fight." He motioned with his head towards the Prince.

"I know," she replied, almost ruefully, "I didn't come here to fight. You'll also notice the presence of the elite forces and their possession of a gun."

"But guns are forbidden…" It dawned on the warrior what was about to take place. "You… You ordered this?" He fought the urge to strangle the other demon then and there.

Tora Yuri sighed, releasing Bakura from her grip, "No… I didn't…"

He cradled his wounded shoulder as he continued to push for a straight answer, "So what the hell is going on then? What is all this crap about?"

"THERE!"

Crack.

"NO!" Tora Yuri shouted, she shoved a small piece of paper into Bakura's hand, she kissed him lightly on the cheek and they shared one last fleeting glance as she raced off towards the noise.

((Part III - Betrayal.))

Yami and Anzu parted lips to breathe, both of them blushing furiously as their eyes met. They stood in the middle of a serene garden, the sky was an awe inspiring sight, a divine combination of blue, green and purple which cast a gentle glow over the entirety of the realm.

Anzu deftly brushed her hair out of her face, "What if someone catches us?"

"What if someone doesn't?" Yami smirked confidently, caressing the brunet beauty's cheek and watching contentedly as she sighed and leaned into his touch. He couldn't help but feel that he held in his arms the only being that had ever made him truly happy, his expression became downcast at the thought of losing his new found salvation.

"What's wrong? I didn't mean that I don't want to spend time with you, I do!" She exclaimed a little to loudly and quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, waiting to see if anyone stirred.

When nothing changed the pair relaxed, "I… I've never felt this happy… That's not to say I've never been happy, I have. I mean, I was quite happy as a child and- well, what I meant was that I've never been this kind of happy before…" Yami stuttered ineloquently and turned away to hide his embarrassment.

Anzu smiled gently, understanding the Prince in spite of his inarticulate explanation, "Let's just enjoy tonight."

The angel took a step backwards to admire her lover. She had never been one to fall head over hells in love, but she and Yami and instantly connected. It was as though they were bonded by some invisible thread.

"THERE!"

Yami felt a sudden impact to his stomach and was winded as the weight of another being pushed him to the ground.

Crack.

It took him a few seconds to return to reality from his dazed state, when he did the Prince found himself covered in blood. He panicked for a moment, "What's going on?" He demanded.

"I'll explain it all later. Get out of here." He looked up to find the Demon Queen lifting herself off of him, she was covered in blood as well, what was going on?

"What's going on? Anzu?"

"Get out of here Prince." Tora Yuri demanded.

Something was definitely not right, "Anzu? ANZU!" He shouted, no response.

"I'm sorry Prince," the Demon Queen paused, "Get him out of here! And keep him quiet." Instantly elite forces emerged from the forest and grabbed Yami, he was out numbered, his struggles were in vain, and his agonised cries were muffled by a demon's hand.

"Malik." The summoned demon sheepishly approached his commander. "We'll talk later, get her out of here. I'll leave further instructions for you when I'm ready." With that the Demon Queen fled the scene, disappearing into the darkness.

Marik stood behind his brother and looked back at the girl. She looked like a broken porcelain doll, her face frozen in it's last mortal expression, that of shock and betrayal. He wondered what her final thoughts were, whether somewhere in her innocent head she blamed the Prince for this. Out of respect he gently closed her eyelids to shield her fragile blue eyes from the harsh reality they had left behind. There was no point trying to save her, she was already gone. Anzu was dead.

I cannot say anymore than this without putting both our lives in serious danger. I will explain everything when I return. You have my word.

Tora Yuri.

-B-l-a-c-k-e-d- -O-u-t-

TK: So... That only took... FOREVER to post... Sorry, I started uni this year and have finally got all my stuff sorted out, in rather exciting news, I'm doing a major in writing! Which makes me feel a little guilty, because I don't think the standard of this story is the best at times... Ah well... I hear it's against the rules to respond to reviews in chapters now, which saddens me GREATLY, so I'll reply on my profile page instead, it would please me greatly if you went and read them, as I do love communicating with reviewees! And just to clarify, this story will not be discontinued, for so long as I continue to get reviews, I may be tardy with posting chapters, but I WILL finish this story... One day... I think this chapter was a little shorter than usual, hope no one was too devistated with the outcome XD

SK: R'n'R

TK: Later!