"Jeez, how long is this going to take?" Yugi muttered under his breath as he looked at the many people in front of him waiting in line. "Ra Almighty! Are you really that impatient?" Mana asked, hands up on the back of her head. "Do you even know the stress that the priests are under right now?! Thousands of people die every day, and it's their job to reunite them with their families and friends. Not to mention all of the complications that have been going on," she added.
Yugi cocked his head to the side. "Complications?" he asked. "Mm," Mana nodded. "Lately, people have been disappearing, and we haven't been able to find them…"
Yugi was confused. "But ah, they're dead. There's only two places that they could be…" Mana turned around to meet him with fire in her eyes. "YOU IDIOT! This isn't as simple as you think!" Mana's hands were off of her head, and Yugi was afraid that he would soon find them around his neck. Mana seemed to realize what she was about to do and blinked. "Uwaa...that's the only thing that's wrong about the afterlife. I can't effectively use my death threats anymore," she moaned.
Yugi took a breath of relief. Yeah, I guess if you're already dead, you've got nothing to lose! Oh, that reminds me… he thought. "Um, Mana, I've been meaning to tell you that-"
"That's Mana-senpai to you! You obviously didn't pay attention to the orientation video that they were supposed to show you. I'll have to deal with those guys later, but for now, you will address me as your senpai! I will show you around and answer your questions, but, if you become annoying," Mana clapped her hands on Yugi's shoulders. "I WILL PERSONALLY THROW YOU INTO THE SANDS OF MEMORY!"
Yugi trembled in fear. Even his thoughts were in a panic. The Sands of Memory sounds like a dark, lonely place, I don't want to go there! "Please don't send me there Mana-senpai, please don't!" he pleaded, close to tears. Jeez, the afterlife really messes with your emotions. "Oh, look! We're almost at the front of the line!" Mana replied happily. "Uhh…" Yugi slumped to the ground in exasperation. His senpai was bipolar. Most definitely. After his little meltdown, it only took a few more minutes to reach the front of the line. A man wearing reflective glasses and a toga was sitting in front of them behind a white stone table.
The table was covered with rolls upon rolls of parchment and lots of quill pens and bottles of squid ink to write with. The man didn't even look up as he asked monotonously, "Name?" Mana nudged Yugi. "Uh, Yugi Mutou, sir." The man shuffled through a pile of scrolls and finding a certain one, ran his finger down the list, seemingly looking for Yugi's name. He had looked through five scrolls until he looked up at Yugi and removed his glasses. Yugi shivered. The man had no eyes, just gaping black holes. Still, it seemed like his nonexistent eyes were staring into Yugi's soul. The man spoke, "You aren't on this list."
"Oh, come on Abasi, you tell that to everyone!" Mana said. "He has to be on the list, otherwise he wouldn't be here." Mana spoke like she knew way more than she did, and it was clear that it was annoying the man, Abasi. He looked right at Yugi and inspected him. "You do not belong here. Leave now." He motioned for him and Mana to leave and went back to his scrolls.
"Wait sir! You're right, I don't belong here. I came in place of my friend," Yugi exclaimed. This made Abasi sit straight up in his stone chair. "You came in place of your friend?" he asked.
"Yes, he was meant to come here, but I pushed him aside and entered the doors myself," Yugi explained. "You entered the doors to the afterlife? The Eye of Wdjat let you in?" Abasi seemed confused. Yugi just nodded thinking, I'm not sure if this guy will understand me even if I explain more…
Abasi frantically looked through some scrolls that were on the top of a stack labeled IMPORTANT. Abasi gulped and a bead of sweat rolled down his bald head. "Mutou. You need to come with me, you as well Miss Mana," Abasi said, taking a small "Closed" sign and placing it on his desk. Many people in line saw this and groaned loudly. "Just wait! It's not like you have any time to waste!" Abasi shouted. The people all threw angry remarks his way, but Abasi didn't even pay them any attention.
"Sheesh Abasi, living up to your name much*?" Mana asked sarcastically. "Come with me please," he said, showing Yugi and Mana down a hallway that was hidden behind the throne. This hallway was much less decorated, as if it wasn't meant for public eyes. They came to a doorway outlined in brown stone with steps leading down to a dim room. Yugi could hear snippets of conversation. "…when? He has to be coming soon…" "…can't be sure…" "Give him time…" Abasi cautiously descended the steps and motioned for Yugi and Mana to stay where they were.
"Abasi…? What are you doing down here?" someone asked. Abasi's reply went unheard by Yugi, but the people hidden in the dim light were exclaiming loudly, asking "What!?" among many other things. Abasi looked back up the stairs and motioned for the two teens to come and join him.
After Yugi's eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, he was able to tell that the room was not very large, in fact, it contained only a fire pit rimmed with white stone and a few columns to support the ceiling. There appeared to be about five people in the room minus Abasi. One looked like a female, but other than that, Yugi's eyes weren't adjusted enough to notice anything else.
"So," a tenor voice sounded from the darkness. "This is him? The one that we have been waiting for?"
"It must be him, he looks just as we remember him! Do you not think so Mahado?" a raspy voice called out. "Can you be sure? The lighting in here isn't top notch," a deep voice asked.
"You dare to question the facts? Isis has foreseen that our king will arrive, and he himself set in stone a fail-proof plan to one day return to us!" a smooth voice argued.
"No, your lordship, you misunderstand me," Abasi's low voice penetrated the echoes in the room. "I am merely saying that while this boy bears a striking resemblance to the pharaoh, he says that his name is Yugi Mutou. The real reason I came to you is that he is nowhere to be found on our scrolls, and he claims to have come here by accident, by pushing his friend out of the way when trying to enter the afterlife."
The voices in the room were silent. The dim fire in the center of the room lit up slightly as the raspy voice spoke again. "Isis, what can you see?" A small glimmer of light appeared in front of Yugi, and a woman's voice said, "This boy before us has strong ties to our ancient lands, but I can sense a deeper connection with the modern world. He has the spirit of a martyr, protecting the one he loves most by taking his place." The woman spoke with a chilling voice, calming yet haunting. Yugi gulped at her words.
"Well, if you are a martyr, you cannot be that bad. And if you are an impostor, your deeds were not unrighteous enough to be punished. I suppose we can trust your words and let you stay here. For now," the first voice said.
"Thank you sir," Yugi mumbled gratefully, bowing low. "Mm," the man nodded. "Mana can show you around, I can see that you are already acquainted. You are dismissed." Abasi thanked the man for this audience then shoved Mana and Yugi up the stairs and out of the hallway.
"They will have an eye trained on you sir, so it might be in your best interest to keep low. I need to be getting back to work, but I would like to say that it was interesting meeting you. Goodbye." Abasi left them at the edge of the throne platform and returned to his desk where many impatient people were hunting through his scrolls trying to find their names.
"So ah," Mana bounced on the balls of her feet. "You're not dead?" Yugi chuckled. "No, at least the last time I checked I was still living."
Mana shrugged, apparently just going with it. "Well, that would explain why I don't remember ever meeting you. I am excited! I haven't talked to someone living for quite some time!"
"Really?" he asked. "Well I could tell you all about it, if you want."
"I would love that!" Mana exclaimed, taking Yugi's hands into her own.
Yugi smiled. "All right then. Where do I start?"
XXX
* Abasi means stern in Egyptian.
Ah, an extra long chapter for all of those people who have been diligently following this story for months now without any updates. I'm soooooo sorry! I've been kinda a phantom author right now, because I haven't been getting as many writing ideas as I used to. Oh well. I really hope you guys liked this, it was fun to write! Hopefully new chapters will be coming soon! Until we meet again!