Diclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! That's ascribed to Mister Kazuki Takahashi!
Author's Note: Surely this is all in good fun. To tell all of you the truth, I'm kind of winging this story, improvising. The first chapter is a little taste, and if people like it, I might just add more. If not, I may just keep this story open anyway, in case an amazing thought comes to my head. So! I hope you guys enjoy this story. It's very much related to the main plot of Yu-Gi-Oh but includes scenes that could have probably occured which coincides with Atemu's journey. So it's kind of like a "what if" thing, which is typically what a fanfiction is all about. Tell me what you think. :)
If he's not out dueling with destiny, he's residing in the ancient Sennen Puzzle, allowing his good friend Yuugi Mutou to continue on with his normal life. The many stages on his path towards the fulfillment of his destiny are sporadic; one can never predict when the next set of trials will come about. It was a rather difficult ordeal to endure, for by whatever means, the ancient spirit had to be ready for anything. Meanwhile, during times of peace and normality, he does not interfere with Yuugi's life and have him presume back to usual routine. See, when Yuugi solved the Sennen Puzzle three years ago (the ancient Egyptian artifact was given to him as a gift by his Egyptologist grandfather, Sugoroku Mutou), he practically kissed his ordinary life goodbye when he realized the awesome power he unlocked as well as bringing back an ancient Pharaoh (the Great Pharaoh) of 3,000 years past. Ever since, both Yuugi and the Pharaoh encountered many dangers together, the very dangers that the Pharaoh realized he had to stop in order to save the world from the ominous Shadow Magic. Ultimately, he realized that this was his destiny: to be bought back to seal the Shadow Magic...permanently.
What were these Shadow Magic, one would ask? They were simply a power to uphold a Ka, an Egyptian term for monster spirits that each individual can conjure from their being. In Ancient Egypt, they played a game called a Shadow Game which is a duel between individuals of their Ka, much like the modern game of Duel Monsters Maximillion Pegasus invented in modern Japan (which is actually where Pegasus derived the idea from). Not only as a game, but the Shadow Magic was also a way to stabilize the Egyptian kingdom back in the day, protecting against opposing forces that threaten the kingdom. Unfortunately, the usage of the Shadow Magic went horribly wrong when it became abused. It bought more turmoil within the realm, such as using the Shadow Magic for wrong purposes. Another factor was that the individual's Ka reflects the person's state: a person full of light and goodness or one that is consumed by darkness and evil. Those with darkness in their hearts develop a Ka that is of that nature as well, causing a creation of perilous Ka that added on to the dilemma. To top it off, problems did not arise entirely from the abuse of Shadow Magic or the creation of evil Ka, but also from before the usage of Shadow Magic.
One Pharaoh named King Akunumkanon was the creator of the Seven Sennen items. They were the Sennen Puzzle, the Sennen Eye, the Sennen Rod, the Sennen Necklace, the Sennen Ring, the Sennen Scale, and the Sennen Key. In order to create the seven items, 99 lives had to be sacrificed. Akunumkanon ordered his associate, Akunadin, to perform whatever process he needed to create the seven items, unaware that it required human sacrifice to do so. Thus, Akunadin led his troops to the village of Kuruelna and slaughtered the 99 lives there. However, as a result of this event, one survivor named Bakura grew resentment towards the Pharaoh Akunumkanon and vows to take his vengeance on him. However, the throne was given to the son of Akunumkanon which redirected the vengeance from him to the son. (The son of Akunumkanon is the Great Pharaoh that was bought back to fulfill his destiny, the spirit of the Sennen Puzzle).
Fulfilling his destiny was one thing, but understanding why he had to do this was another. It would be much easier to carry on in his journey if he had remembered being Pharaoh. Sadly, this was not the case. When Yuugi solved the Sennen Puzzle and unlocked the Great Pharaoh's spirit, he had no recollection of his memory. He knew nothing of his past, of himself, not even his own name! He was not even aware of his existence until later on, when the journey officially began in Duelist Kingdom. So not only did the Pharaoh needed to obtain the seven Sennen items and the three Egyptian Gods, he had to unlock the mysteries of his past as well. Still, destiny did not have to be the obligation to unlocking his past; he had wanted to do this since the very beginning. It left the male so frustrated it often made him spend most of his time contemplating over it. So many thoughts filled up in his ironically memoryless head.
"What's on your mind?" the young Yuugi Mutou would ask the Pharaoh. Often, this would occur on a quiet day in the Game Shop (Yuugi's home), a conversation between the young tri-colored teenager and the ancient tri-colored Pharaoh. Yuugi would work on his homework or lie on his bed, staring straight up at the ceiling with his large, innocent violet orbs and the Pharaoh stood by, leaning on the wall in his apparition form. Indeed, as mentioned before, many things were on the Pharaoh's mind and Yuugi would worry. It was the last thing the ancient spirit would want to do to Yuugi: make him worry and his friends worry. Unfortunately, since the two of them were bind by one body, their mind is shared and it's hard for Yuugi to ignore the Pharaoh being so troubled.
Despite the severity of this journey the Pharaoh imposed upon the average teenage Yuugi, it bought the two of them closer than they were in the beginning, becoming really good friends. Throughout the journey, the ancient tri-colored male befriended Yuugi's friends: Jounouchi Katsuya, Honda Hiroto, and Anzu Mazaki. Never in his life had he met such committed and loyal friends like Yuugi's friends. He praises Yuugi for having such great friends that can back him up whenever he needed it. Well, for the Pharaoh, it was most certainly a must to have support. This destiny took a toll on his composure and it's always a big aid to have words of encouragement to continue moving forward even when the odds are largely against you. Many times in his journey, from Duelist Kingdom to Battle City to the Atlantis King Dartz's plan to bring about another war, there were many blows that inflicted on his mentality, like chains that bought him down to the brink of complete submission to defeat. Somehow he did not let those chains halt his determination to overcome the struggle, even though lives were at stake and lives were thought to be lost, even though it appeared so positive that he'd lose, even though he was completely alone...nothing stopped him. He made it this far, and he was determined to finalize his destiny once and for all.
However, he still had the many occulting mysteries that continue to stump the Pharaoh from further advancement of his journey. Inside the Sennen Puzzle he often inhabits, especially when there's no need to take over the one body Yuugi and himself share. The very inner workings of the Sennen Puzzle were mysterious indeed. The structure inside of the puzzle is like what the name suggested: intricate, perplex, and baffling. The structure reflected the Pharaoh's mind; the memory being a mystery to himself, the inner puzzle took form of a maze-like labyrinth. When one stands in the middle of the confusion, there are stairways and doors that can be seen everywhere and anywhere. Stairways can lead up, down, to the side, at an angle, even upside down. Doors are much the same, for stairways lead to doors. The whole labyrinth is just an off-white stoned wall and floors, making the labyrinth appear vacant. It was the epitome of the Pharaoh's loss of memory; the doors and stairways can lead anywhere and each door leads to even more confusing labyrinths. Sometimes it leads to even empty rooms. No one could predict what each door held behind it, implying the many mysteries of the Pharaoh's memories that are hidden away in the depths of his mind.
If he's not dueling with destiny, he's residing within the Sennen Puzzle.
Again, just being in the Sennen Puzzle constantly reminds him of the mind-bobbling frustration of not knowing his past. Wandering around the labyrinth of his mind certainly leaves him stressed. Still, whenever he had the energy to, he would search around the labyrinth, hoping that he could reach the deepest parts of his mind to uncovering some fraction of his memory. Now standing atop a staircase looking straight ahead at a door before him, a sigh escaped his parted lips, his hand on the doorknob twisting it open. As he opened it, he did not hesitate to let himself through the door, anxious to see what this 100 millionth door thus far would bring him to. Suddenly, his feet felt no ground and his entire body became weightless. By reaction, he extended out his hand, the thought of security impulsed him to grab ahold of something quick. He grabbed the doorknob. Looking down, his eyes widened with shock as he saw the floor below him at a great distance, a rather fatal distance. Because the doors and stairways are located anywhere, this doorway led to a different angle than expected. Here he was hanging from an open door gripping the doorknob and looking down at what appears to be the floor, meaning he's at the ceiling of this room. As he hung there, he let out a heavy sigh, his heart beating from behind his chest.
"Great." he said out loud to himself as he struggled to get out of this dangerous position. He bought his legs up, still holding on tightly to the doorknob, and with all of his strength he attempted to bring his legs up and back into the previous room he stumbled out of. This was a difficult feat especially that since this was a ceiling, it appeared to be defying gravity. Gritting his teeth, he finally got his feet solid to the ground on the previous room and with one swing, he pushed himself back into the room and closed the door quickly, closing his eyes with another sigh of relief. "That could have been very bad." he commented. It was not often he got himself into perilous situations such as that. He probably would have to be more careful. Each day, he was bewildered to notice that the structure of the labyrinth was becoming more complex, though it made sense that it would be changing for it did reflect his mind, which was constantly changing.
Averting his glance elsewhere, the tri-colored male decided to take a different route, walking towards the opposite direction to another door. Approaching a door that was horizontally-angled, he had to open it as if opening a large trunk or a wide-length bedroom window. Peering inside, he saw that the room was at a 90 degree angle compared to the room he currently inhabited. "Wait a minute..." he softly spoke as he peered closer into the room. He saw something move in the darkness of the room. Strange, he never saw anything within the puzzle. Letting curiosity take the best of him, he crawled through the door, tumbling into the ground with the irritable sudden changes in angles, and abruptly stood on his feet. He had to squint his eyes to focus on the darkness of the room. 'Okay...I know I saw something in here...'
Suddenly, the whole room lit up with great luminosity that he had to shield his eyes from the blinding light. His knees bent a bit as he continued covering his eyes from the light, though he attempted to take a peek so that he may catch a glimpse at the source. It was a strange power, he detected a presence of something heavy, not at all a pleasant vibe. But it did activate the ancient power within the male, taking shape of a glowing eye on his forehead. That meant...that an ancient power pertaining to him was at work here!
Could this be? Could this mean that he may have found something after all?
Then the light faded, the male lowered his arm back to his side and began looking around the room. At first, he saw nothing, which greatly baffled him. Then there it was beginning to take form, outlining its shape upon the off-white stoned wall. Slowly, it began filling itself in, coloring himself with its skin tone and features. Gradually, the form of the figure was clear and its height sharply increased, hovering over the merely petite five foot tri-colored Pharaoh. Widened eyes could not stray away from the conjuring force before him. "It's...It's a Ka." he finally said after a long silence, staring up at one of the most powerful Ka he ever faced. The overwhelming presence filled the room, as if a magnetic field weighed him down to the ground, indicative of how heavy the darkness of this Ka was. Now comes the question of who is this Ka and where did it come from? Surely, this monster was of the utmost importance if it was hidden in the deepest parts of his memory. Now he knows that this Ka had very much to do with his past 3,000 years ago. But how...?
"Hehehehe...oh Pharaoh...you repulsive thing." That voice! He knows that voice most certainly. Looking around quickly, he could not spot the individual anywhere, but the interloper before him cut him off by launching its large body forward to the male, ready to attack. The tri-colored male's adrenaline raced and attempted to leap out of the way, out of reach from the Ka. But precipitately, the Ka transformed into a mist of black and began encumbering the Pharaoh, shrouding around his area. It began a bloodcurdling infestation of his entire body, weighing him down and inflicting painful blows all over his system. Then he heard laughter coming from the same voice he heard just moments earlier. He struggled to fight with the shrouding mist but nothing worked, it continued attacking him, futile it was to attack the mist because it was just like attacking air.
"Nooo!!!!!" he screamed out a piercing scream, drowned out by the excessive laughter coming from the ominous voice. "Your blood will be in my hands...Great Pharaoh!" Gritting his teeth, he threw a last desperate swoop towards the mist and cried out, "Show yourself, coward!!" then suddenly, he crashed, as if suddenly all the heavy weight just suddenly hit rock bottom and presumed to normal. The tri-colored male opened his eyes, meeting the slanted ceiling of Yuugi's bedroom. Blinking in utter confusion, he quickly shot up into a sitting position and looked around the room. He felt perspiration trickle down the sides of his face; he released the grip he had on his now-crinkled shirt and sighed in relief, looking down at his lap still in confusion. Here he was, in Yuugi's bedroom, not in the Sennen Puzzle no longer. Wait, did this mean he had control of the body...and Yuugi was in the puzzle now?
No, he wasn't. To his right, Yuugi lie on his bed sound asleep undisturbed. Instead, he (still in his apparition form) was lying on the new couch Yuugi had bought just a week ago (Yuugi had thought that it would be a useful extra piece to the room, considering that he always had guests in the house). He felt tension from his eyes, indicative that they were still strickened wide. He tried relaxing himself, massaging his temples with his hands and began thinking back on the situation. "So...was that all just a dream?" he asked himself, not really sure what that was he experienced back there. A premonition? Prophetic dream? Revelation? Whatever it was, it definitely was not a good sign. That voice...and that Ka. They were connected. And he was too. Looking back at Yuugi, still sleeping, more worries flooded his mind. What is the next set of danger going to bring now--on him and his friends?