Author's Note:
No Yaoi or Yuri
None. I swear it. EVEN if you think it is...it ain't.
Only Teana's name will be the same as that one game, Joey will be Joseph and Tristan will be Tiberius.
It's been a long while since I posted anything. Surprisingly enough, I've been writing this things up to 4 chapters already. I needed to post this.
Also, the first and second chapter are the only two that don't have some kind of adventure in it. It's just kinda the start.
Author's Note End~
... means time skip
"." Words. Italics are thoughts
"To Atem! And the anniversary of our trip to Egypt! "Joey called out, raising his glass of coke for a group toast.
"I'll toast to that!" Tristan answered the call, knocking his glass with his best friend's.
"Hey! Don't leave us out! Right Yugi?" Tea laughed, raising hers as Yugi lifted his up his more slowly.
Having an anniversary party for Atem had been Joey's idea. They had all been so willing to do it because they all wanted to cheer themselves up on the day that they had lost Atem. The Pharaoh had finally found peace in his own time, but that didn't stop the crushing sadness that came from him leaving. Yugi in particular had it hard. He had thought that he had been ready to help the Pharaoh's spirit find peace, but each day, he found himself more and more detached from reality. Nothing felt real to him anymore. He felt like he had lost more than a friend, a piece of himself maybe. And the others knew it too.
"A whole year, eh?" Joey slouched on Yugi's couch after taking a swig. "Hard to believe it. It sure has been boring without him. Even rich-boy has been quiet." He sighed. Tristan elbowed him in the chest.
"Hey! What was that for?!" Tristan looked in Yugi's direction. "Oh… Sorry Yug." Joey looked embarrassed.
"I-It's no problem, Joey. You're right though. Kaiba hasn't been coming up with any tournaments."
"I heard that he's been making plans to start a dueling school." Tea piped in too quickly.
"Why would he do that? A dueling school? Doesn't sound like him to do something good for anyone." Joey rolled his eyes, growling. Yugi had a sneaking suspicion that he was a little bit jealous.
"Well whatever he does it for, I think it's a pretty neat idea. Duel Monsters sure is changing a lot. From stone tablets to the most famous card game around. I wonder what it will be like by the time we are adults." Yugi brightened up a little bit. That gave Joey his opportunity.
"Hey Yug! How about a duel? Just like old times! Though this time it will be without life threateningly high stakes." Joey chuckled.
Yugi smiled. "Sure, but tomorrow, okay? It's a little late for a card game. Grandpa is already asleep. He only allowed me to be up this late because he knew how important of a day today is."
"Your Grandpa is awesome, Yugi." Tristan glanced up the stairs where Yugi and his Grandpa slept above the store.
"He never lets me forget it with his stories…hey! That reminds me, I never told you the story of how Grandpa even found the Millennium Puzzle!"
"Really?! Tell us!" Tea asked.
"Well, he was guided to the Valley of the Kings by two guides…." Yugi started with more drama than he normally would. Talking about good events from the past always seemed to cheer him up a little.
…
The whole gang was soon fast asleep, after spending three more hours awake and telling stories, they had finally gone to sleep.
But Yugi was tossing and turning on the couch; his dreams were dark and gave him a cold sweat.
Ancient Egypt was burning to the ground. The city was just as it had been in the visions of the past, but it brought new horrors to Yugi. The monsters he knew from the card game had come alive and were slaughtering the civilians. He made a dash for the palace. To see Atem and find some way to explain this nightmare. "Atem!" He called, dashing into the throne room. He stopped in his tracks at what he saw.
Atem and his entire court were nothing but stone statues, frozen with looks of shock and fear.
"No! What happened here?! This never happened in the past so what is this?!" Yugi cried, looking around for anyone still alive.
"Yugi…"
Yugi turned to see Shadi appear from behind a curtain. "Shadi! I thought you and Atem had moved on! Why is this happening?!" He asked him. The normally stoic man was frowning with many mixed emotions on his face.
"… … …" Shadi's lips began to move in a hurried fashion as he approached Yugi in an equally hurried pace.
"I…I can't hear you…What are you saying?" Yugioh felt like his ears had gone deaf suddenly. He knew Shadi was talking by the way his throat moved, but he just couldn't hear him. He took a step back as Shadi was walking right into him with no sense of stopping. But he just went right through him as if Yugi was the ghost this time.
He whipped around to try to grab his shoulder when he stopped. Shadi had turned to him and was looking down at Yugi.
"Yugi…there is great evil that plagues the past that will affect the future. The Pharaoh won't be able to stop it this time. I fear no one can." His voice rang out clearly this time. But there was something else echoed oddly with it.
"What evil is it? Surely Bakura can't be-"
"It is far worse than Bakura. But thanks to events, Bakura has allowed a spirit from the deepest corners of the Shadow Realm to be set free. The Millennium Items are needed once again to defeat this final enemy."
"But they were lost when the temple collapsed!"
"They are still there. Resting in the darkness. They will be the key." Shadi began to fade before his eyes.
"Shadi! Tell me! What is this darkness?"
"Yug…Yugi!"
A pair of hands jolted Yugi out of his dream. Joey was shaking his shoulders to wake him up.
"J-Joey?"
"You okay, man? You were crying out in your sleep. Something about Shadi…" Joey looked really concerned for him.
"I…I did." Yugi gathered his thoughts back together. He was home. Not in Egypt. He touched his forehead to find it covered in a cold sweat. He looked around the room to see everyone stare at him with concern. Even Grandpa was up.
"Yugi…You dreamt of Shadi?" Tea asked, looking very worried. "Is it about Atem?"
"…Yeah…" Yugi answered. "It was a horrible dream. Ancient Egypt is in grave danger if I don't help Atem. I'm not sure what is going on, but I think I have to go back to the Valley of the Kings."
"You mean 'WE' have to go, right?" Joey placed a hand on his shoulder. "If something's happened that's freaked you out this much, then we have to go together. We went together last time, didn't we?" He gave him a thumbs'-up.
"Joey's right. We'd never let you go alone." Tea added.
"Well I'm not sticking around here if you guys aren't." Tristan added.
"Guys…" Yugi was glad his friends were coming. He didn't think that he could do this alone. What made him scared the most was not facing this new enemy, but doing it all alone.
"I suppose this was bound to happen. The Pharaoh was such a big part in our lives, I'd be surprised if something didn't happen even after he was gone." Grandpa chortled, getting breakfast ready.
"Grandpa…You thought this would happen?" Yugi looked stunned.
"I had hoped all this 'dark and terrible evils' stuff was all over, but it is possible that the past isn't quite as done with us as we'd like to think. We need to get to Egypt as soon as possible."
"I know just who to call for this." Tea picked up her cell phone and began to dial up a number in seconds.
"Who?" Joey asked, dumbfounded.
END
