KT: And we're back. Review responses will be in my bio soon. In case you missed the last ones, they're still there.
Taku: Happy Thanksgiving, mortals. Maruka-san thanks Atemu Yugi Lover34, dragonlady222, frogger666, GRose522, DarkandDaisuke, yamiishot, anon, yamiyugi23, Crystal F. Flowright, Anime WarriorSkye, moonlit-leaf, Yami-Yugi3, child star, cheeky-eyes, and Serzie for reviewing.
Juni: And just when I thought the fluff was going to commence...How sad.
KT: That's just my style.
Taku: Don't we know it. Here's the next chapter, which does absolutely nothing to dissolve the cliffhanger.
KT: Stop spoiling.
9: The Book Of Many Pathways
"What is this?" Atemu said to himself as he pulled one scroll down. He rolled it open partway. "The...Book...Of...Ma-nee Pa-thuh-ways. This looks interesting." He unrolled it further and had just started in on the first words when the door flew open.
"Atemu!" Atemu started in surprise, throwing the scroll into the air. He turned around, feeling and looking very guilty, and saw his mother at the door.
"Atemu," his mother said again, in her warning tone, "what did I tell you about playing around in the great library? You're not supposed to come in here until you turn twelve!"
Atemu looked down. "Sorry, Mother," he sighed. He watched his mother pick up the scroll, roll it back up, and slide it into its space.
"Now," she said, "go outside and play. Your cousin's been looking for you."
"The Book of Many Pathways?" Seto scoffed, settling himself back in his reclined position and closing his eyes. "What do you know of it, kiddo? You're only six."
"So?" Atemu demanded. "I want to know about it!"
"You're not privy to that kind of information until you turn twelve, like me," Seto answered.
Atemu pushed Seto's feet off of the bench they were propped up on to get his attention. "Please, Seto? Just once and I'll never ever ask you for anything ever again."
Seto ignored him.
Atemu took a deep breath. This would be harder than he thought. "Puh-leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee--"
"All right! Just stop it!" Seto snapped, opening his eyes and up. "What on earth have you been doing to your lungs to stretch them so, you pest?"
Atemu grinned triumphantly, refusing to give up his secrets.
"Fine." Seto sighed and crossed his legs. Atemu eagerly sat down in front of his cousin in a similar position. "Now," Seto began, "the Book of Many Pathways is a legendary book that can house the mind, body, and soul of a single individual for an indefinite period of time--"
"Like forever?" Atemu jumped in.
"You wanna hear about it or not?" Seto demanded irritably.
Atemu quieted down.
"Thank you. Now, like I was saying, it holds a single soul for an indefinite period of time. Not forever. If it were forever, the soul could never escape."
Atemu opened his mouth to comment but was silenced by a stony look from Seto. "Now, not just anyone can use this book. It was originally created to be used against any of the Pharaoh's foes, in case their deeds were too evil for them to be simply executed. But no one's really fallen under that category yet. It was created like hundreds of years ago, when the earth was still young or some such nonsense. Not a lot of people believe it really exists anymore."
"Is there any proof it does?" Atemu asked.
For once Seto didn't reprimand him for interrupting. "Yes, there's plenty of proof. I don't happen to have any of it on hand, but it has to be somewhere, wouldn't you agree?"
"Does Father have it?"
Seto looked surprised. "That's a good question. Actually, I don't know. I would guess that it had been passed down from pharaoh to pharaoh, so it would probably make sense that he have it, but I can't be sure."
"We could ask," Atemu piped up.
"You think he would just tell us?" Seto said skeptically. "That's stupid. Why would even acknowledge the existence, let alone his possession, of such a valuable thing to two kids like us?"
"Oh," Atemu said disappointedly.
fourteen years later
"Atemu, I must speak with you for a moment."
Atemu looked up and saw Seto in the doorway. His fancy High Priest headdress barely fit through the door, and Atemu had to fight the urge to laugh. "Certainly," he managed instead, standing to his feet.
"I believe there is dissension among our ranks."
Atemu raised an eyebrow. "A traitor? That's ridiculous. I weeded out all the traitors and skeptics when I ascended to the throne."
"I think you missed one."
Atemu's eyes narrowed. "And what gives you that idea?"
"Last night The Book was stolen."
"What?" Atemu could hardly believe his ears. "Someone took it? That can't be true. It's protected by some of the strongest magics we know, plus it's under lock and key. Perhaps someone placed it elsewhere."
"Yes, like into the hands of a traitor," Seto said. "I'm not trying to alarm you, but you should be wary of who you let get close to you."
Atemu swallowed hard. If someone had stolen it, what did they plan to do with it? Would it be used against him? Seto? Someone else? He had to find that book before it fell into the wrong hands. And if it had already fallen into the wrong hands, he had to find the owner of those hands before anything happened.
"High Priest."
Seto stopped and turned. Isis stood before him. "Have you seen the Pharaoh? He said he wished to meet with me over a half hour ago."
"That's not like Atemu to forget a meeting," Seto said. He remembered what he had warned Atemu about only a week before. "We had better find out where he went."
Isis nodded in agreement. "I have tried to find out myself, but I am seeing nothing. It is as if someone is blocking my view of the future."
"Not good at all," Seto said as they started down the hall. "Someone could be plotting something against the Pharaoh, and we have no knowledge of it." He suddenly spotted a servant girl he had seen delivering something to Atemu around a half hour ago. "You!" he called out.
The girl turned and bowed. "Yes, High Priest?"
"Do you know where the Pharaoh has gone?"
The girl seemed to consider. "The message I delivered to him was from one of his advisors. I don't know what it contained, but he left very quickly and said he would be in the great library if anyone needed him."
"Thank you," Seto said. He turned to Isis. "Let's go." They hurried down the hallway.
The great library was all the way on the other side of the palace from where Seto and Isis were, but they did not slow at all. They both knew that something had to be going on, and they couldn't waste any time. A single second spent catching their breath could be the one second between saving Atemu's life and letting him die, if he really was in danger. Seto shouted to several guards along the way, and soon it became a procession hurrying to the great library.
When they came within a few feet of the doors Isis suddenly stopped, a look of shock on her face. "Someone inside is using a great magic I have never witnessed before," she said.
"Into the library!" Seto commanded the guards. They tried to open the doors, but they were locked. So the guards had to spend several minutes breaking the doors down. Seto was the first one through when the doors finally popped open.
The library was filled with a light so white and blinding Seto almost fell to his knees. There was also a strange wind that was pulling at his clothes. Fighting at his instincts, which were screaming at him to go back, Seto took careful steps forward, keeping his arms over his face to shield his eyes. He couldn't see how the guards or Isis were faring at the moment.
As Seto took more measured steps, he realized he was beginning to hear something. It sounded like someone crying. And not just simple crying over an injury, but a loud, raucous sobbing, as if all of their limbs had been torn off. Seto forced himself to continue, hoping the crying wasn't over his cousin.
"It's mine! It's mine!" a voice yelled, and the crying resumed. Only it didn't sound like crying now. As Seto got closer, he realized that it wasn't loud crying but loud laughter. Someone laughing very loudly and rather evilly.
Suddenly Seto burst through what felt like an invisible wall. It was still bright, but he could see enough. He saw an advisor, his head back, laughing maniacally. He saw an open book in the man's hands. But the most important thing he saw was the Pharaoh, Atemu, his cousin, standing stock-still, seemingly fading away.
Atemu turned and saw him, and Seto could see the fear in his eyes. Atemu seemed to shout something, but his voice was gone. Seto ran forward and tried to grab him, to pull him out of the way, anything, but his hand went right through Atemu's arm.
Then, suddenly, Atemu was gone. The light faded, the wind diminished, and the now doomed advisor was still laughing as though he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Arrest him!" Seto roared, and the guards quickly ganged up on the still-laughing advisor and dragged him away. Seto knelt down and picked up the book the man had dropped, and it was as he had feared.
It was The Book.
"High Priest!" Isis hurried up to him, looking worried. Her worry changed to dread when she saw The Book. "He is in there, isn't he," she said, but it was more of a statement than a question.
Seto nodded gravely. "Yes, he is." With the last of his strength he closed the book, failing to see the red words at the back.
Taku: Why did you have to do that?
KT: Do what?
Taku: Make them think you were going to dissolve the cliffhanger, and then not dissolve the cliffhanger.
KT: Oh. It's all part of my plan, Tak-kun.
Taku: (eye twitches)
Juni: See you all next time.
