Shadows spread over the heavens as the black of nothingness streamed in through every nook and cranny provided. Winged angels and the heavenly gods themselves were trying everything in their power to stop the evil from spreading and ruining their home, but it seemed as though the cloudy haven was to be destroyed for good this time. Though they knew the source of its power, there was nothing that could be done except hope and pray. The evil itself came from the hearts of humans on earth who knew no happiness or joy; only pain and hurt. So the angels prayed, prayed for those who needed them and hope that it reached their pain-filled hearts and minds.

“There has to be a better way,” one of the goddesses gasped as she watched hopelessly. Not even the powers of the gods had managed to slow the shadows down.

A white-haired angel sitting beside her was piling over ancient texts from years ago when the shadow was first discovered. Why couldn’t things be as simple as they were back then? More people were happy hundreds of years ago and the shadow was much smaller and easier to stop then. “I’m still looking! Give me time,” he said as he tossed another book that failed to mention anything helpful.

“Hurry up, Ryou! It’s getting closer by the second and we’ve already lost ten more angels,” a sandy-haired teenager-looking angel announced, flying overhead with his hands clasped tightly together. He was looking over the horrific scene below. The shadow was coming from every direction and it was headed towards the Mountain of Ages, the safest point at the time but not for much longer. If the mountain was swallowed the heavens would be no more. “It’s getting closer!”

Sweat was beginning to break out on the albino’s forehead and he tossed another book over his shoulder carelessly, his respect for the books having left almost half an hour ago when things truly started getting bad. No one thought it would carry on for this long. “I’m trying!”

“Try harder!!” It was his first attack from the shadows and he had already long ago given up on human hearts. This only proved to him that the mortals weren’t worth looking after if this is how they treated their afterlife sanctuary. Ryou, too, was quickly losing his faith in the people and that hit him harder than he thought. It was his second attack but this one was clearly worse than the first. His first time he was still new and hadn’t been held responsible for not fighting.

“What’s happening,” a sleep-filled voice called from the doorway, the entrance to the main chamber of prayer on the mountain. His cheeks were tinged pink and hair drooped tiredly, much like the wings protruding from his shoulders.

Malik and Ryou gasped, hurrying to help the swaying angel as he almost dropped to the floor. “You shouldn’t be out of bed, Yugi. Yesterday you were still having hallucinations,” the sandy-haired angel exclaimed. “Go back to bed.” It was a desperate order and he hurriedly tried to push the youth back into the temple where he’d be safe. It was too late.

Violet eyes strayed to the corners of heaven and he couldn’t help the tears that leaked from his eyes. If there was any angel that still had the faith of the humans with them, it was Yugi. He cried for those in pain and hurting enough for the Griefing Shadows coming leaking in and his heart went out to those who were so lost in their own misery. “The shadows,” he whispered, not bothering to wipe his tears.

Ryou sighed and collapsed next to his huge pile of books he had yet to go through. “It came out of nowhere sometime last night. It just kept growing and even the ten Gods can’t stop it now.”

“We’ve been trying to figure out how to slow it down, but Ryou can’t find anything on it,” Malik explained, folding his wings around himself in an attempt to keep himself steady as he felt his hands begin to shake. I hate humans.

Closing his eyes, Yugi could feel his heart reach out to those in pain, who voices whispered in the darkness of the shadows that crawled throughout the heavenly city. “Why didn’t anyone wake me?”

Malik and Ryou glanced at each other, holding their breaths. Yugi would know what to do. He’d fought this thing before, they heard him mention it but he never seemed to want to explain. Now, he would have no choice. It seemed the way Yugi talked about, someone got hurt; really hurt.

“You can’t,” the goddess cried. “Yugi, you aren’t well! Your strength is nowhere near what it should be. There has to be someone else.” Crystal tears poured from her eyes and she held onto the youth’s arm tightly, refusing to let him go as he stretched his wings out behind him.

Violet eyes looked back at the stressed goddess. Her hair was a long brown and honey-sweet eyes stared back into his desperately. She was the goddess of water and was usually so calm and swift, like the waves of the ocean themselves though was always a force to be reckoned with when angry, just like during a storm. However, towards Yugi she could never raise her voice. “Serenity, I have to do this. I’m sorry.” He pulled his grip from hers and she watched hopeless as he flew at a reckless speed down the mountain.”

Malik watched him go before hounding on the girl-like deity. “What the hell is going on,” he swore, grabbing the straps of the goddess’ blue dress tightly.

“Only the oldest of angels like Yugi know how to stop it and now the knowledge is passed to you. Without him, there is no hope of this place.”

Shaking her, Malik demanded once more what she was talking about. Ryou stood up also, holding a thick text tightly to his chest with tears. He feared the worse and he knew his best friend felt it too.

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, she let her eyes stare at Yugi who was facing the thing alone now. She wanted to cry. To go to him and try to convince him there was another way, but she knew as a god herself there was none. “One with absolute faith in the mortals can overcome the pain that destroys the heavens,” she recited watching once more as one of her dearest friends fought for the humans. Her attention was brought back to the angry stare of her captor, though she could easily escape if she wanted. “Yugi is the only who can do this. He’s the only one who hasn’t lost any faith in the people that we protect.”

His cheeks tinted pink with anger and he waved his hand angrily behind him, “You’re telling me that those idiots of humans beings are causing all this mayhem and the only one who can stop it is someone who actually has complete love for them,” Malik shouted loudly. At the nod, Malik fumed silently, glancing behind him as he watched Yugi pray in front of the shadow. “You said,” he ground out through his teeth in an effort to try to calm down to understand what’s going on, “that he wasn’t strong enough because he’s been sick. What’s going to happen?”

Serenity could feel her tears fall down her cheeks once more and she couldn’t help heartbreak she felt in her chest at the thought of one of her closet friends and what was going to happen. “Malik, Ryou, please,” she begged, “he’s too sick to be able to survive.” Malik’s eyes narrowed and the albino gasped beside him. Both turned quickly and watched as the echo of Yugi’s prayer began to sing in all their heads. “He’s cleansing them,” she answered.

Both of the angels knew what that meant. Such a prayer for a creature so big, that would take the cleansing of hearts on thousands of people and only one angel who could do it. Just as their best friend began to glow with an aura of gold the shadow gave a cry of anger and pain and devoured their friend. Malik and Ryou went to charge forward immediately but were forced to stop as an explosion of gold rained down on the heavens and they realized they could still hear Yugi’s prayer.

The gold rain glittered throughout the skies, repairing the damages and cleansing the heavenly city of the shadows. Angels that had been devoured were revealed where they disappeared, as if waking up from a nightmare as they looked around themselves, confused. It was obvious the evil was gone but where was Yugi, Malik and Ryou wondered as their eyes looked everywhere to find a spot of their friend. Serenity joined them and looked carefully in every direction for the cause of the cleansing rain.

Just as the last of the shadows disappeared where Yugi had been eaten Ryou spotted him, falling through the clouds and towards the mortal land, unconscious and powerless. Both angels jumped from the mountain side, forcing themselves to fall quickly to catch up to their friend. Serenity stood where she was, holding onto the railing made of clouds tightly as she bawled for her friend, holding herself tightly as she found herself unable to speak the truth before the true angels jumped. “Yugi….”

Ryou noticed it first and he stared, opening his wings and catching the wind as he stared with disbelief. “Malik,” he whispered, who stopped shortly after he did. The wings around Yugi shimmered in the light, slowly fading in the glitter of the gold rain. They flew towards the falling angel faster than they had ever flown before and outstretched their fingers. The white-haired angel’s fingers skimmed his white and silver robes first, drawing him closer and holding him against his body tightly as he willed himself to slow down. Malik wasn’t far behind him and together they both held their unconscious friend tightly, calling for him to wake up. Neither wanted to think about what Yugi’s wings disappearing meant.

“Yugi, wake up,” Malik shouted, shaking his friend’s shoulders desperately. “Please, Yugi!”

Ryou cried, his tears falling on the pale skin. “You saved everybody, Yugi! You have to open your eyes and see!”

They noticed as they held their friend that his skin began to lighten and they gasped as his body slowly became transparent and they no longer had to hold him to keep him from falling. Malik held onto Ryou tightly as they both cried. “Angels can’t die a second time,” he whispered to himself. He repeated it much louder, cursing the heavens themselves as their friend faded. “He didn’t do anything wrong,” Malik shouted, feeling his lungs give out on him as he did.

Just in that same moment a silver glitter swished through the air and formed in the life of a small, snake-like white dragon with large wings spread out from its back. From its mouth it dropped a gold envelope before the creature slipped quickly out of view again. The angels could only stare at the floating envelope with a stamp of a gold with silver-lining cloud imprinted on the seal.

“It’s from the God of both worlds,” Serenity whispered, clutching her dress tightly as she mentioned the God of Gods. He never gets involved…

At the mention of the head God Ryou and Malik both straightened up and stared in silence as the envelope unsealed itself and floated over to Serenity. The two angels waited respectably as they waited for the Goddess of Waters to read the ink-written letter.

“The Great One congratulates Yugi on his greatest achievement as an angel, even in his sickness and his long life as an angel he never once lost faith in mortals. The Great One is saddened that his angels can’t find the faith that Yugi still carries within him after hundreds of years. As those who witnessed his fading, Malik and Ryou are issued with the duty of recovering the lost angel after his fifteen years of human life after he’s recovered his angelic soul.”

Malik stared long after she finished reading, having watched the letter disappear when it ended. “What does that mean,” he asked.

“An angel with his power drained fades to earth and his reborn in a human host body, taking the soul of a child that hasn’t yet been born. After the allotted time on Earth to recover, guardians are sent to recover his memories and help him when his power has been fully recovered so he can fly back to the heavens and resume his duties as though he never left. Yugi died as a human when he was fifteen and now he must recover the body he lost in order to come back. After those years you two must go retrieve him,” Serenity explained, collapsing against a small cloud that was floating by.

Malik and Ryou stared sadly down through the cracks in the clouds that showed Earth below. Yugi wasn’t gone, they both thought happily. He’ll be coming back good as new. “What do we do until then,” Ryou asked.

“I suppose just get on with life until that time comes,” Malik answered, looking to Serenity as she nodded.

“It’s the only thing you can do, but wait. If you went any sooner the body would be overcome and Yugi’s soul would truly be destroyed.”

Both angels thought it, but shuddered at the thought. Ryou was the one who voiced it. “What’ll happen if we’re too late?”

Serenity turned away and prayed that it wouldn’t come to that. “If you’re too late and Yugi’s angelic powers begin to show and you haven’t found him the Gods will be forced to react when humans see him. His halo would glow gold on his forehead and his wings would grow past his human flesh as his mortal soul leaves him to become an angel once again and he would have no memory of the heavens or you. As an angel the Gods will have to punish him even without him every knowing. They…we….would have to destroy him and wipe the witnesses memories clear.”

Malik glared and Ryou wanted to cry helplessly. The tanned angel swore, “We’ll be on time for sure.”