The Lost Egyptian Empire

by FallTigerKisa

Atlantis The Lost Empire from Disney meets Yu-Gi-Oh! Storyline is Atlantis but characters and events are based off of Yu-Gi-Oh. This has M/M yaoi themes so please do not get offended. Pairings YxYY, AtemuxHeba, SetoxJou, BxR, MxYM, and implied SethxKisara, MokubaxShizuka, ManaxMahado, and HondaxOtogi. Yes this has lemons and I'm contemplating adding MPreg. Better summary inside.

10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I, FallTigerKisa, do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Neither it's characters, themes, nor plots (no matter how much I would have loved to make it into a yaoi). Nor do I, FallTigerKisa, own Atlantis The Lost Empire.

I have since decided that all dialogue will be in Japanese but automatically translated in English, but when the conversations are in English the words will be in English in all "Bold", with none of the translated word in parenthesis of course. However, a word written in "Bold"with the English translation in (Parenthesis) is in a different language. ~Italicized~with little squiggly lines are mind-to-mind conversations. And to really mess with you all I might just put them both together in which they are mind-to-mind in a different language. I assume you all do not need an example. I'm also adding Italicized as regular thoughts.

From now on, I have decided that 'the crew' will describe Mai and Keith and the surviving crew on their side; while 'the group' will be the characters you know and love.

WARNING: Every chapter from here on out has offensive language; thank you Yami Bakura. Also has some sexual references. I will warn you all when it is time for lemons.

I just got fed up with all my page space being monopolized by crap you all should know by now; if you're still reading my story you should already know all the other stuff from previous chapters anyway.

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Several Miles from the Atlantis Expedition Crew

Child-like, amethyst-colored eyes gazed out from the small rock cave situated near the exit of a raging waterfall. The roar of the falling water was amplified throughout the small cave, but the pale young man with the purple eyes had long since grown used to the sound and merely ignored it in favor of waiting for his companions to sneak away from their responsibilities in order to join him in his secret cave. The cave was very high up, and his vantage point allowed him to see very far off in the distance. From here he was able to see the entire isolated city, including the forbidden submerged areas, and the caverns' stone walls. This underground cavern, while big enough to hold a city and give the illusion of having its own sky, was surrounded by impenetrable stone walls on all sides. From their highest possible vantage point, sad amethyst eyes could see through the deceptions of the minds' eye to the horrible truth. They were trapped. They were ALWAYS trapped.

The sky that many swore they could see, was, in actuality, a phosphorus moss that had grown at the top of the cavern that gave them the illusion of the sun; it even bloomed for twelve hours before settling back into itself for another twelve hours, much like day and night. The unending water supply that flowed off of waterfalls on the raised city into the lava-filled 'moat', created a constant steam effect that enshrouded the city. The steam made the surrounding, uneven walls of the cavern appear to be far-off mountain ranges in the distance. Most in the city had been able to deceive themselves into thinking that they were still up above, still free; that if they were to but reach for those mountain ranges they would eventually reach somewhere else.

But no one ever tried. They were all afraid, because deep in their hearts, they knew. Even if some denied it and spoke otherwise, they all knew. Those far off distances would never take them anywhere. They could walk until their feet bled, until they were nearly dead from exhaustion, but they would always return; because there was nowhere to go. They were trapped, like small fish in a crystal bowl; the surroundings seemed as they should be, but there was really no choice on where to go. A silent tear slid down a pale, cherubic cheek as the young man mused sorrowfully on the fate of his people.

The pale one shook his tri-colored head vigorously as he reminded himself of why he was there; hope had been renewed to his heart and it wouldn't help anyone to think on things that he couldn't change. The only thing he could do was bring his hope to his people. But in order to do that, he first needed to find his hope; if that made any sense. And to do that, he needed his friends' help; and they were going with him to find their own 'hopes'. After all, he was one of the few seven who knew the secret passage ways, with all their twists and turns and blocked off dead-ends. But to navigate them quickly, he needed either his cousin, wife or their sons, his two cousins; luckily, both of the sons were coming along. Speaking of which, the short, pale young man could see them both coming up the winding path to his cave. Both of them were pale, much like the young man at the cave's entrance, marking them as one of the few Pale Ones of their culture.

His icy older cousin was easily discernable by his neat chestnut hair and glowing sapphire eyes as he regally ascended the rock path. Stately robes of deep blue and black snuggly encased his body, accentuating his lithe build, as his customary dark blue cloak billowed out behind him. His face was emotionless except for the slight softening of his eyes as he regarded his enthusiastic younger brother.

The younger of the two was running excitedly up the path trying to keep up with his tall, older brother's longer strides. Unruly, long black hair flew behind him in the wind as he ran, and charcoal-colored eyes danced happily while a smile a mile wide stretched across his young face. His tan and white shenti was much more appropriate for the upcoming adventure than his older brother's robes, but the enthusiastic teen had always been much less formal than his ostentatious brother. Still, he couldn't help but have a little bit of flair to his wardrobe, as evidenced by his bright orange cloak and the light blue bandana around his throat.

The amethyst-eyed young man at the cave entrance smiled towards his cousins in welcome, to which the older nodded slightly in response and the younger grinned happily. The tall, sapphire-eyed man reached the cave entrance first and swept his gaze inside, obviously searching for more of their companions. If he was disappointed that no one but his purple-eyed cousin was there yet, he gave no sign of it. The gray-eyed teen bounded inside a second after his brother and smiled at his shorter, but older, cousin as he exuberantly asked, "Are we the first ones here, Yugi?"

Yugi, the amethyst-eyed young man, nodded brightly as he replied, "Yep, you and Seto are the only two here yet, Mokuba!"

Before young Mokuba could say anything, his older brother questioned in his usual emotionless tenor, "I can understand how difficult it is for Hahty'ah (Prince) Atemu to sneak away, but how in the world is it possible for us to have arrived before that psychotic Hwt-s'khpr (Tomb-Builder) and Ssh (Scribe) Ryou?"Seto's upper lip curled in a condescending sneer when he spoke of the 'psychotic Tomb-Builder', before settling back into grudging respect when he spoke of Ryou. Mokuba rolled his expressive eyes behind his brother's back at his brother's rather elitist personality before quickly blinking in wide-eyed innocence when said brother glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. Mokuba feigned innocence and Seto turned back to Yugi with his own small eye roll, disbelieving the obvious ploy of his younger brother but not caring enough to comment further.

Yugi smiled at the subtle show of brotherly affection as he cheerily replied, "Ryou was looking up everything he could in the Known Archives about kah'gs (soul-halves) and he told me that he might end up running late." Seto nodded at this explanation; Ryou made a good scribe and his dedication was something that Seto couldn't help but approve of. Yugi hesitated a moment as he reluctantly said, "I have no idea where Marik is though."

At the name of the Tomb-Builder, Seto's lip curled once more as he derisively sneered, "Well, he had better get here before Ssh Ryou and Hahty'ah Atemu arrive, or else I'm leaving him here."

Mokuba pouted cutely as he whined, "Aw, Nii-sama (older brother)! But Marik would make everything much more interesting!" Seto snorted in disgust; he couldn't understand his younger brother's apparent friendship with the psychopath and refused to comment on it further. Mokuba, realizing that line of reasoning wouldn't get him anywhere, decided to use the pleading pity route. Skillfully filling his eyes with sorrowful pity, Mokuba lowered his gaze in practiced affectation as he softly stated, "Marik felt the kah (soul) warmth as well, which means his kah'gs has arrived too. Wouldn't it be so sad if he wasn't able to meet his destined mate just because we left him behind?"

Seto rolled his eyes once again. He almost wanted to applaud his brother on his performance. Almost. But instead, he merely folded his arms across his broad chest and stated unconcernedly, "In that case, it would be entirely his own fault for being late. If he wanted to meet his mate so badly, then he should arrive on time." Mokuba looked up in irritation at his brother's easy discernment of his skillful deception and callous response to Marik's 'plight'. He wanted to stomp his foot in childish aggravation, but Mokuba felt that he was too old for that; especially since he was going to gain his own mate in a short amount of time.

The reminder brought the sparkle back to his eyes as he tried to imagine what his mate would be like. Would it be a girl or a boy? Were they older than him or younger? What would they look like? Act like? Would the two of them be mates formed by a Mystic-bond or a Physical-bond? His parents were Physically-bonded, but his father's paternal family came from a long line of Mystically-bonded mate-bonds; so he and Seto had a pretty fair chance of having their bondings go either way. He couldn't help but wish for a Physical-bond like his parents, and he knew that Seto secretly wished for the same.

Caught up in his musings, Mokuba hadn't noticed that his brother and cousin Yugi had continued on with their conversation. He decided that what they were talking about had no relevance to him, so he continued with his line of thinking as he speculated about his other soon-to-be-mated companions. Mokuba watched Yugi as he wondered about what his soul bonding would be. A Mystic-bond for his purple-eyed cousin, most likely. The same went for their other companions since they all, except for Yugi, had a bonded item which indicated that they would most likely have a Mystic-bond with their destined mate; although this was not always an indicator. After all, their father, Hm'ntr (Priest) Seth, had bonded to a sacred item only to have it abandon him when he Physically-bonded with their mother Kisara.

A good five minutes passed in his musings when Mokuba was startled out of his thoughts by an evil cackle that resounded through the cave causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up in fear. Mokuba rubbed his neck to try to settle the sensation as he turned towards the cave entrance to see the cause of his discomfort. Seto and Yugi also turned towards the newcomer, the former with an annoyed sneer, and the latter with a nervous but friendly smile of greeting towards the tall man.

Kohl accentuated lavender-colored eyes as they swept through the cave with barely leashed madness while a maniacal grin stretched across Marik's bronzed face. Dark insanity seemed to seep through his very pores, giving him an aura of evil intensity. His black shenti and dark purple cloak didn't help with his bestial appearance, nor did his long, sandy-blonde hair that was spiked sinisterly in every direction. Not even his gold bracers, arm bands, or earrings were able to give him an illusion of warmth; the warm gold seemed to instead give the effect of glittering malice and icy disassociation. He was nearly as tall as Seto, but he was more powerfully built; instead of athletically built like Seto, he had a more muscular build with broad shoulders, a powerful chest, defined abs, slim waist, and arms and legs corded with muscle. He gave off the impression of a stealthy jungle cat that had no problem with eating you. But only if he got to play with you first. Tucked in his shenti's belt was a medium-sized rod, made entirely out of gold, with a spherical head with two geometrically triangular 'wings' and the Eye of Ra encompassing the front of the sphere.

If Seto's eyes tightened a bit at the sight of the golden rod no one noticed it, and he himself didn't even register it. Seto ignored the new arrival in the icy manner that he always did with those he saw as beneath him; like he was nothing more than a slightly annoying bug, perhaps even less. Yugi and Mokuba however greeted the tanned newcomer with genuine, if somewhat cautious, welcome. Marik grinned evilly as he licked his lips with his somewhat overly long tongue before hissing maliciously, "Aw, what's wrong little Hm'ntr? Were you hoping that I might not join you? Or perhaps you're so overcome with joy at my appearance that you can't even look in my direction without having tears spring to your eyes. Is that it, little Hm'ntr?" Seto didn't even acknowledge the other man as Marik began cackling to himself before pulling a complete one-eighty and angrily growled, "I hope that you impale yourself on a stalagmite!"

This was why Seto had absolutely nothing to do with Marik whenever he could help it. His insane mind, while filled with a cunning that rivaled even Seto's own in strategic genius, also caused him strange bouts of bipolar moments, and that made him unbalanced and unpredictable. Cold, methodical Seto made his decisions based off of fact and logic; to him everything was categorized and piled into neat little files in his subconscious. Marik was the opposite. He was destructive, unpredictable, and all around messy to be around psychologically. He made decisions based off of emotional whimsy that could run hot or cold hourly. This made the two of them like oil and water, they had no common ground and they were both the antithesis of the others' mindset, making them very bitter enemies that could not agree on anything. Seto merely ignored him when he was in Marik's presence while Marik did everything from flirt evilly with him to almost killing him outright; it always depended on his mood and for however long that mood may last.

Thus, it was to no one's surprise that he ignored Marik in favor of watching the rock path for anymore of their companions. Marik's face flushed in insult and reached behind him to finger his knife sheath before the emotion abruptly left him and he turned to Yugi and Mokuba in as much friendliness as a psychopath like Marik could muster. Yugi and Mokuba were slightly put off by the abruptness of Marik's mood swings, but they got over it relatively quickly; they were used to it, somewhat. "Hello small ones, Yugi and Mokuba." Mokuba pouted at the comment while Yugi narrowed his amethyst eyes at Marik, regardless of how it caused them both to look even younger.

Marik cackled at their expressions and was about to tease them further, but before he had the chance, Seto growled, "Finally." Mokuba, Marik, and Yugi turned to look outside to see two vague shapes coming up the path. Yugi's eyes lit up at the shadows of his beloved older cousin and close friend.

Mokuba raised his arms above his head to enthusiastically wave them at their remaining companions as he happily shouted down to them, "Atemu! Ryou!" Marik contemplated getting angry at having his thunder stolen away by the two arrivals, but then he was distracted by the sight of an obscure shape formed by the cave walls' definitions that vaguely reminded him of a pair of hooks; this got him to thinking of his little 'fun room' that he used for either his sexual partners or those few traitors of Atemu's crown. He then blissfully zoned out as he reminisced about the resulting blood and screams; Seto caught Marik's look and subtly grimaced at the disturbing sight, not even wanting to know what the cause was. Probably for the best.

Yugi joined Mokuba in the arm waving as they excitedly waited for their friends. The two on the path appeared to be conversing about something as they ascended the rocky path. The smaller and leaner of the two, gentle Ryou, had a scroll unwound in his hand as he showed it to the taller and more muscular man beside him. They took their own time as they continued up to the top, much more patient then the black-haired teen and the optimistic, second hahty'ah.

Ryou, the most timid and soft-spoken of the group, was a Pale One like Yugi, Seto, and Mokuba. He was slender and skinny as a reed, giving him the impression of being taller than he actually was. His shoulder-length hair was of the purest white and complimented his porcelain skin very nicely. His ever-helpful face was just as earnest and soft as his personality, while his chocolate-brown eyes gave the impression of a genuinely gentle soul. His pure white shenti had little decorations, save for a few splashes of sky-blue color on the embroidery. The only jewelry he had was a talisman made entirely out of gold on a necklace around his neck; it was a triangular piece carved with the Eye of Ra encircled by a band of gold with five hanging spear-like appendages that made chinking sounds together as he walked.

Hahty'ah Atemu, next in line for the throne as soon as he found his 'queen', was the opposite of sweet and unassuming Ryou. Power and authority clung to his form as ruby-red eyes assessed the scroll held in Ryou's pale hands. Gravity-defying spikes of ebony tipped with deep maroon, he had naturally blond bangs; however, unlike Yugi, he also had three additional lightning-bolt spikes jolting up into his hair. His maroon colored tips also contrasted greatly with Yugi's amethyst-colored tips. And while Atemu's bronzed face was filled with a powerful charisma, his ruby-red eyes were always filled with a tightly-leashed passion and intense intelligence. His face was angularly sculpted compared to Yugi's softly cherubic face. Meanwhile, Yugi's pale face and crystal-clear eyes were dominated with youthful optimism and charming innocence. Despite all their differences, it was obvious that they were related to one another. Atemu could have been Yugi's brother; unsurprising considering their mothers had been twin sisters.

Atemu had been trained in the arts of weapons and self-defense, giving his body a nicely toned definition that filled out his broad shoulders, defined chest and abs, and supple arms and legs rather nicely. He moved with perfect grace and complete control; so much so, that most would sometimes forget that he was slightly shorter than average. As he ascended the rock path, it was obvious that he was a male who was used to being in charge and carried the weight of responsibility on his shoulders rather seriously. His white shenti was made of obviously superior material for all that it was made plainly with a blue cloth that was tied at his waist from his golden belt. His royal purple cloak danced behind him as he walked, the color denoting his station as royalty. Golden arm bracers, leg bracers, arm bands, earrings, and pectoral all adorned his holy body; but it was the golden Eye of Ra that lay as a circlet upon his forehead that truly gave away his presence as the next-in-line ruler.

None of this mattered to him however, as he listened to everything that Ryou had to say about his research on kah'gs; that was to say, not very much that he didn't already know. Still, all knowledge was worth having, and he listened patiently as Ryou concluded his report; both were highly dissatisfied with how little they really knew. Not that Atemu could complain about it being Ryou's fault; it's just that no one remembered that much about the subject and all of the old archives were filled with inaccessible information. All things considering, they were lucky even to have this much information. Looking at the illustrative hieroglyphs that the 'ancient' Egyptians adopted from them, the young soon-to-be-King wished, for perhaps the millionth time, that they could read the intricately flowing script that dominated the unreadable scrolls and texts in their ancient libraries; instead, they had to make due with the not-as-informative pantomimed illustrations for descriptions for the information they needed. He often wondered if they had gleaned all the information that they could from the pictures as the illustrator had no doubt intended to be found; most likely not, considering that back-story descriptions shaded with nuances could be much more meaningful for informational purposes than a stand-still picture that had lost all meaning during translation.

Atemu heaved a mental sigh of anguish at the waste of history, lore, medicine, magic, literature, culture, indeed even their own language had been rendered completely forgotten, save the texts that had been written with physical renditions to explain their purpose. Thus, their entire collection of what might have been completely informative texts regarding kah'gs,have become unreadable; which did not help their current cause.

It also did not help that no one had formed a mate bond since the Wr Aatb (Great Flood) so there was no one to give them advice on what to expect; and it was even more infuriating that those in the city with mate-bonds of their owns could not remember the exact mechanics of how it worked either. That too had been forgotten. The only shreds of knowledge that the other mated pairs could impart were general descriptions based off of emotional feelings and vague remembrances; nothing solid that they could use as a basis.

Atemu mentally sighed yet again, though this one was caused more by aggravation than sorrow, as his eyes glowed with his determination to not fuck up his chances. He considered himself lucky that he was one of the six to have been blessed with a soul mate after all this time of utter loneliness. Finally, after all this time of having to share everything of himself for his people, he would have something that was purely his. Someone with whom to share the burden of his responsibilities and hardships; at least, he fervently hoped so. According to the other mated pairs, they said that their mate was everything that they needed and wanted for themselves; but when he had pressed them on what they had wanted before their mating, they had admitted to not remembering what they had assumed they wanted for the mating. It had seemed more like they had not known what they wanted until the other person was directly before them. This made Atemu somewhat uneasy, as though the mating bond was nothing more than a spell that controlled the recipients' perceptions, but maybe that was him just being paranoid. He certainly didn't feel any emotional manipulations from the warmth in his chest, nor did he sense any influences upon his subconscious personality.

He had debated this with Ryou and both had decided that the only course of action was to be patient and proceed with caution; caution came easily to Atemu, being the next in line for the throne, but patience was not one of his strong points. Still, he and Ryou had decided to warn Yugi and Mokuba to at least try for doing the same; not Marik or Seto because, one, Seto was always patient and cautious, two, Seto and Marik had probably already figured this out anyway from their own researching of the subject, and three, Marik was insane and liable to do the exact opposite of what he said if he was caught in a contrary mood. His younger cousins were much more likely to rush along headfirst into their destinies without thinking of the possible ramifications if it turned out to be a trap.

Speaking of his companions, he and Ryou could see the other four at the summit of the cliff path they were walking at the mouth of a cave. Atemu couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of his optimistic younger cousins waving at him and Ryou while Seto lounged against the wall, arms folded across his chest while his cold eyes swept over them with his characteristically unemotional gaze before turning his head to unconcernedly scan the horizon. Atemu could see Marik behind them, but he appeared to be gazing at nothing in particular with that blissed out look on his face that Atemu knew meant he was imagining something bleeding and in pain.

Beside him, Ryou shivered at the look that he too recognized; Ryou sometimes volunteered to help Isis in the infirmary and he had helped nurse many of Marik's 'victims' back to health. He knew they were technically traitors to Atemu and the crown, but having sewed enough of their wounds shut he couldn't help but feel a deep-seated sympathy for the men and women. But then, he had always been a little too kind-hearted.

They were reaching the summit to the path, still retaining their progressive walk of neither rushing ahead nor slowing down. Instead, Yugi and Mokuba ran down the path towards them, shouting in excitement all the way. Ryou smiled as he was hugged enthusiastically by Yugi and returned the friendly embrace. Mokuba was having his hair ruffled by the monarch beside him in affectionate nettling. Mokuba pouted as he escaped Atemu's bronze hands and Yugi released Ryou to maul his older cousin with his signature hug of welcome. Atemu smiled ruefully at his younger cousin; it didn't matter that Atemu was considered a holy vessel and that most in the city refused to even look him in the eyes in fear of offending him. Yugi genuinely cared for Atemu, regardless of rank, and hugged him in the same friendly manner that he did his other friends. But that was one of the reasons that Atemu loved his younger cousin so dearly. Only a few people gave him the gift of genuine friendship without minding the sticky web of his lineage, and he prayed extensively that his destined mate would act in the same way. It was so tiring to endure all the scraping and bowing, as though he was crystal wrapped in silk. Atemu would have much preferred to live the life of a regular citizen; but that was not in the cards of his life, and he had long ago relegated himself to serving his people in any way he could, even if that meant having to grudgingly accept their profuse worship.

Atemu's smile widened when Yugi released him with an exuberant shout of, "Atemu! I missed you!" Atemu arched a brow at this; he counted backwards in his mind and realized that it had been about three weeks since he and his cousin had talked to each other outside of the meeting rooms and meal times. This made him feel a little sad since he and his cousin had always been rather close; but it couldn't be helped. His time was oftentimes consumed by the demands of his people which left him very little time to himself and his friends.

Atemu ruefully conceded the point and made a silent promise to himself to take time out of his schedule to spend with his little cousin. "Indeed, as have I little cousin. At least we get to spend the entire day together much like we used to when we were small children." Atemu glanced around at his cousins and friends and amended, "With a few add-ons, of course." Any day spent fully in the presence of his blue-eyed cousin and bipolar tomb-builder was sure to be exhausting, but he refrained from saying so aloud; it wouldn't do to gain Marik's attention when he had that particular look in his eye. Ryou went over to stand by Seto since he was done giving Hahty'ah Atemu his report and wanted to stay out of the line of fire in case Marik decided to take notice of his surroundings.

Seto snorted in derision as he caught onto his cousins' unspoken thought process but didn't say anything; which was fine since his younger brother filled in that void with his youthful chatter. Practically bouncing in his eagerness to be off and on their way, Mokuba excitedly shouted, "What are we waiting for?! Can we go now? Please, please, please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Atemu smiled and shook his head ruefully at his energetic younger cousin while Yugi laughed at the often-used slang that Mokuba had acquired from the surface languages; that particular American phrase being one of his favorites since it involved a certain favored sweet. Atemu didn't even get a chance to acquiescent before Mokuba had already turned to his older brother to give him his "puppy-dog" eyes. Seto sighed in disgust as he turned to his ruby-eyed cousin and said, "Oh for the love of Ra, just tell him he can so he can stop giving me that damn look!" Mokuba grinned to himself at the never-fail maneuver while Ryou and Yugi giggled.

Atemu hid his smile as he addressed Mokuba, "Yes Mokuba, we can begin now that everyone is here." Mokuba punched the air as he spun on his heel with a shouted "YAHOO!" and sprinted deeper into the cave. Seto cursed under his breath and glided hurriedly after his brother, concerned that the teen might get himself injured by any number of things inside the cave. Ryou looked between the spiky-haired monarchs and the quickly departing back of the priest in a moments indecision before glancing at the blonde tomb-builder and made up his mind. Nodding to his two friends he quickly bolted down the passageway to catch up to the brothers in a blur of white. Atemu was unsurprised as he sighed a little at the task of having to bring Marik out of his trance and shared a wry look with his favorite cousin. Amethyst eyes regarded him sympathetically and Atemu rolled his own ruby-red eyes at his cousin.

Atemu walked over to the wall Marik was staring at so intensely and put his right hand in front of the section that was being monopolized. He then did something no sane person would ever consider doing. He put his hand in Marik's direct line of sight and snapped his fingers. Lavender eyes blinked at the tanned hand for a second before turning to glare at the owner in outrage. Yugi quickly leaped forward to put himself between the two tanned men and said hurriedly, "Mokuba, Seto, and Ryou are already ready to go, Marik. We just need you to come along too if we want to get to our soul-mates and Atemu was just making sure that you weren't left behind." Yugi prayed this was the correct approach to use with Marik. Atemu almost started to tell Yugi to not fight his battles for him but was interrupted mid-thought as Marik began cackling.

Yugi shuddered in uncertainty at the bone-chilling sound and Atemu side-stepped around his cousin to shield the smaller man with his own body as ruby eyes narrowed at the psychopath in front of him. Atemu needn't have bothered though as Marik continued cackling to himself at some unknown joke as he swaggered down the passageway, deeper into the cave. Yugi and Atemu gave each other identical looks before both shrugged and stated, "Marik." And really, that was all that needed to be said. Both of them followed the blonde man at a cautious distance, neither one comfortable with how easily Marik gave up his offense. The two cousins stayed silent as they walked along, not wanting to be distracted in case Marik took advantage and attacked them.

They walked along for a couple minutes until the passageway opened into an enormous cavern. The room was relatively simple in design; it was a rounded room with a very high ceiling that led to a tunnel. The tunnel continued onward, as large around as the cavern itself, but was inaccessible to anything ground-based due to the large drop-off that occurred in the middle of the cavern. Yugi knew that if they followed that tunnel then it would lead them to a series of tunnels that could lead them to the rest of the underground network of highways. He had traveled down all of them and had memorized their layouts as a teenager so that he could try to escape and make his way to the surface; he had discovered that there was no way out, much to his despair. Near the drop-off were his two cousins and pale friend, Seto impassive as ever, Ryou studying the smooth walls of the cavern, and Mokuba bouncing impatiently for his remaining cousins to hurry up. Marik sneered at Seto which Seto disdainfully reciprocated as Yugi and Atemu smiled at the energetic Mokuba.

Atemu glanced around to make sure everyone was here and nodded to Mokuba, to which the teen grinned and Seto snorted. Both took it as their cue, and in a split second they were surrounded in a white mist that gradually grew larger. A few seconds later, the mist dissipated to show two white dragons. The first was very large and was so white that it had a few bluish undertones and looked vaguely metallic, its scales almost seeming to shine rather than glitter. It was at least thirty feet tall and would undoubtedly have a wingspan of twice that as evidenced by the sweeping wind that occurred when it readjusted its wings to rest more comfortably on its sides. The second one was much smaller and more grayish in color compared to the larger one. It was only eighteen feet tall and only had a wingspan of thirty-five feet which it showed as it fluttered itself off the ground.

The silent audience was unsurprised by the amazing transformation of the two brothers, but all four blinked in surprise when the white dragons flinched noticeably. Two sets of sapphire-colored dragon eyes widened a split second before they suddenly flashed to crimson-red. Yugi and Ryou gasped at the sight as Marik and Atemu narrowed their eyes at the two dragons; none of them had ever seen Seto or Mokuba's dragon eyes turn red before. Even when the red eyes turned back to their normal deep blue a few seconds later, none of them moved from where they were.

It was Mokuba of course who filled the silence. Mokuba rumbled a wary dragonish sound as he spoke on the common magical telepathy that most sentient creatures shared. ~Holy Ra! What was that Nii-sama?!~ The smaller of the two dragons had turned his head to stare at the larger dragon in wide-eyed uncertainty as he made his inquiry. Everyone heard the question in their mind and turned to look at the older of the two dragons for the answer.

Icy, deep-blue eyes narrowed in thought as the great white head shook in puzzlement. The larger dragon hissed in the dragonish show of disgust as he replied, ~Much as I hate to admit it Mokuba, I have no idea.~ At Yugi, Ryou, and Mokuba's looks of astonishment at the admission of the all-knowledgeable Seto not having an answer, Seto narrowed his eyes to slits to show his displeasure.

It was Marik who burst out laughing at the delicious irony of the situation. Sniggering evilly, Marik grinned maliciously up at the towering white dragon and spitefully said, "Look who has nothing to say. Mister All-knowing-smart-ass has finally admitted to not knowing something like us plebeians. How utterly delightful for me and how utterly humiliating this must be for you." Razor-sharp teeth flashed lethally as Seto curled his lips up to snarl menacingly at the crazy asshole; Marik only laughed harder.

Atemu, not wanting Seto to kill the obviously crazy man, stepped forward and addressed Seto, "What was it that you know did happen? Not the cause, but the sensation?" The giant white head swiveled around to stare at the tanned monarch as Yugi used his cousins' distraction to hurriedly tug the lavender-eyed man out of dragon-biting distance; though he knew that Marik couldn't be taken far enough anywhere in this room to be out of dragon-lightning distance. Still, he figured it would probably be better to keep Marik at least out of a semblance of Seto's irritation range. Marik was too busy still laughing his head off to notice that he was being moved away, as Ryou and Mokuba watched the byplay with wary eyes.

Seto allowed his cousin to distract him as he explained, ~All I can say is that it felt as though my chest went up in flames for a few seconds and my Ka felt something else inside of me. Something that wasn't supposed to be there.~

Atemu regarded his transformed cousin thoughtfully before glancing to his other dragon cousin to see the smaller reptilian head bobbing up and down in confirmation. He then turned back to the larger dragon and questioned, "Did it feel threatening to you?"

Seto closed his eyes for a few moments as he concentrated on the remembered feel of the other whatever-it-was before wearily opening his eyes to slowly shake his head. ~No. If anything it felt surprised. Whatever it was hadn't expected me any more than I had expected it.~ Again the other white dragon nodded in agreement.

Atemu narrowed his eyes as he asked, "Did it come with a visual or was it just an impression?" Yugi's head unconsciously perked up at the question and turned to listen to the conversation more closely. Only Ryou noticed the sudden interest in the purple-eyed Pale One, but stayed silent; he had long ago learned that waiting patiently was more rewarding than questioning.

Seto stayed silent, not wanting to give anything away, but Mokuba pitched in, ~I didn't see anything, but I did feel something brush up against my Ka. It was almost as if my transformation made it wake up and it was letting me know it was there. It felt kinda nice to be honest.~ Seto looked away to stare towards the tunnel; Atemu wasn't fooled for an instant. His stubborn, emotionally-repressive cousin didn't want to admit that something had actually made him feel good.

Atemu folded his arms over his chest as he regarded the two dragons, one trying very hard to appear nonchalant, and the other so caught up in his own musings that he failed to realize that his older brother was dearly wishing for the topic of conversation to be dropped. Atemu then said, "Were either of you aware that your eyes flashed red for a few seconds?"

Seto's head whipped around and Mokuba blinked his deep-blue dragon eyes at Atemu in astonishment. Atemu gleaned from their dragonish expressions that that would be a big fat no. His suspicion was confirmed when Seto narrowed his eyes and growled lowly, ~That's impossible. We are Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Our eye colors are only ever blue when we're in this form; nothing else.~ Mokuba had been struck speechless at the mere thought.

Atemu raised an eyebrow as he stated, "Be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact that all four of us watched both of your eyes change from blue to red for a few seconds before reverting back to their original blue." Seto and Mokuba glanced at Yugi and Ryou to see the light of confirmation in their eyes before glancing at each other in silent puzzlement.

Seto then shook his head, a little more vigorously than he probably should have, and turned back to Atemu with his normal stoicism and stated emotionlessly, ~As much as this has given me something to ponder for upcoming rainy days, we are getting nowhere when we need to be on our way before the Council comes looking for us. Especially when they discover you missing.~

Atemu narrowed his ruby eyes at his cousin's deft side-step in the conversation but acknowledged that he was right. With a sigh of acquiescence, Atemu allowed the conversation to be dropped. He then glared up into icy sapphire-colored eyes and sent on a private wave of telepathy, ~You win this round, but don't think this conversation is over cousin.~ Deep-blue eyes narrowed nearly imperceptivity at the tanned prince before glancing away in the direction of his younger brother, not even deigning to give his cousin a reply.

Mokuba, not having noticed the silent communication between his older brother and cousin, had turned towards Marik and was urging him to climb on him so they could hurry on their journey. Seto reached out a clawed dragon hand and dragged his little brother away from the lavender-eyed psychopath. Mokuba squeaked in dragonish indignity and affront at being manhandled, but was silenced as his brother gave him an impenetrable glare and got down on all fours between his brother and Marik. Marik rolled his eyes before climbing onto the withers of the larger white dragon as Seto told his brother along their own private thread of telepathy, ~The psycho is not to ride on you. You might get infected.~ When Mokuba unconsciously opened his mouth to dispute his brother's claim, Seto continued, ~Besides, if we're to be travelling for multiple hours you will be much less tired if you ride with someone lighter, like Yugi or Ryou.~ Mokuba shut his mouth as he grudgingly accepted the wisdom of his brother's words and turned towards the two in question. He then also squatted down on all fours so they could board him as Atemu made his way up Seto's side to perch comfortably above his wings.

Ryou and Yugi both climbed unto Mokuba and made themselves comfortable. Atemu glanced worriedly at his younger cousin, concerned that he was riding the easily excitable younger dragon, but unable to say anything without possibly hurting his little dragon cousin's feelings. Mokuba almost launched himself off the drop-off but was stopped by a white wing flapping directly into his face to halt his progress. Mokuba squinted up at his brother peevishly at the delay but Seto merely stared at him drolly as Ryou began chanting a spell aloud. Marik soon joined in and soon both dragons were covered in a fine mesh of golden harnesses that fit the contours of their bodies perfectly and kept their riders safely attached to them. Mokuba made a dragonish sound of sheepish consternation as he waited for his brother to remove his wing, which he did a few seconds later. Seto assumed a familiar pose with his four legs braced out from his body that signaled to Atemu and Marik to brace themselves, before vigorously shaking himself to make sure the harness was safely in place and wouldn't slip during flight or become uncomfortable. When he ascertained that everything laid smoothly, he settled back down and gave his brother a pointed stare; Marik cursing in Egyptian all the while at the rough shaking. Mokuba imitated his brother and shook himself vigorously as Yugi and Ryou tightened their hold on the younger dragon. Deciding that the harness was fine, Mokuba then stared expectantly up at his older brother for the next instruction.

Seto replied by diving off the drop-off and made a swooping ascent as he turned his serpentine head backwards to watch his younger brother. Mokuba happily jumped off as well but was slightly disconcerted at the extra weight of Yugi and Ryou on his back; he had never flown with passengers before, and he suddenly understood what his brother meant about the extra weight. Instinctually knowing that he had to pace himself, Mokuba used a heated air vent to propel his ascent rather than waste his much needed energy on flapping his wings. Brother flew alongside brother and Seto kept his pace slow and steady so that it wouldn't tax his brother. Only the occasional sweep of white wings was needed to keep the giant bodies airborne while tails acted as rudders for their flight directions. Seto would occasionally glance over at his brother from time to time to check his progress as they flew along to the guide of Yugi's directions.

They travelled like this for a few hours and Mokuba was thoroughly bored; normally he would have been making large loops and sudden drops in altitude only to make a swooping ascent at the last possible second, but he had passengers to think of. Conversation had sprung up of course, but nothing that would keep him interested, since it was mostly just political stuff and spells. As shape-shifters, he and his brother were unable to do most spells, so the magic talk wasn't very interesting to him. Finally, when he couldn't keep quiet anymore, he burst out, ~Can we talk about something else, please?!~

Seto had been honestly surprised that his brother had lasted this long and was more than happy to reward his patience. ~What would you like to talk about, Mokuba?~ Everyone but Marik turned to look at him for his answer; Marik was too busy staring up at the stalactites up above and picturing the sharp spikes impaled with blood-soaked corpses. Mokuba thought for a moment and easily replied, ~What does everyone want in their mate?~

Seto hid his dismay behind his normal mask of stoicism as he silently wished his brother had chosen a different topic of conversation. Ryou and Yugi both blinked in surprise as they glanced at each other. Atemu just raised a brow as he regarded the question. Seto sighed and said while still looking ahead of him, ~Why don't you go first since you asked the question.~

Mokuba contemplated his answer for a few seconds before saying, ~I don't particularly care whether they're a boy or girl just so long as they're fun to be around. I want my mate to be nice and be someone Mwt (Mother) and At (Father) will get along with. I was also hoping that we would be Physically-bonded. But that's about it.~

Seto raised a scaly eyebrow at how vague his little brother was. He prompted, ~No preferences on what they look like or what their personality is? Or their intellectual and magical ability?~

Mokuba tilted his white head in dragonish innocence as he replied back, ~Not really. They are who they are regardless of any of that kind of stuff. Just so long as they're nice, fun, and they get along with my family, then none of that stuff really matters. After all, I'm half dragon but that doesn't define the whole of me. Why would I wish for things that might very well be the exact opposite of what they are, which they're unable to change? Like if I wish they have black hair and they wound up a blonde, it wouldn't be very fair of me to say they're incapable of being my perfect mate just because of something they were born with. So I decided to be less specific and focus on only a few things that I know that I absolutely require. Like niceness and getting along with our parents.~ Atemu, Yugi, and Ryou were all impressed with Mokuba's maturity regarding the topic and found themselves rather proud of his straightforward selflessness. Mokuba turned his head to look at his brother curiously, ~What about you Nii-sama? What's your ideal in a mate?~

Seto startled for a moment before ignoring his brother's inquiry and asking, ~So Hahty'ah, what is it you would prefer for your hem-t nesu (queen)?~

Atemu and Mokuba both glared at Seto for shifting the question off of himself, but when Seto ignored both of them, Atemu relented with an exasperated sigh. "I suppose like Mokuba I don't really care whether they're male of female. I only wish that they are a good 'queen' to our people and that they are just and kind. I also hope that they are interested in our culture and history." He paused for a moment as he hesitated to form his last wish, a little uncomfortable with how exposed it would make him feel. "I guess it would be too much to ask that they not mind that I have no Life Partner." He added the last in with a bit of wistfulness and regret. Mokuba, Yugi, and Ryou all glanced over at him sympathetically, they honestly hadn't thought of that; they were too used to seeing Atemu without one that it hadn't even occurred to them that his mate might find exception to him not having a Life Partner.

Yugi cleared his throat as he admitted aloud, "No more unreasonable than me hoping for one that doesn't mind a mate with no Symbol." Atemu whipped his head around to stare at his cousin guiltily; he too had forgotten that his cousin was missing something as well to make him a suitable mate. Yugi smiled tremulously at his cousin as Atemu smiled wryly, thinking, My, what a pair we two make. Some royalty we are.

A dragonish snort sounded from Mokuba as he rolled his eyes, ~Relax Atemu. Neither Seto nor I have Life Partners either.~

Ruby-red eyes stared drolly at the white dragon as he replied, "It's not quite the same thing and you know it. Shape-shifters don't have Life Partners because they become their own Life Partners." Mokuba grimaced as his attempted reassurance plan backfired.

The two dragons finally burst out of the tunnel into an enormous cavern with many different holes in the walls. What Mokuba gleefully noticed however was the smooth, cobble-stoned path below them that signaled the end of his flying. Turning to face Yugi he pleaded, ~Oh please tell me that this is where we land and walk the rest of the way.~ Yugi had barely nodded at his younger cousin before the young dragon let out a shriek of delight and dived towards the bottom of the cavern, causing Yugi and Ryou to hang on for dear life as the floor seemed to rush up at them. Seto followed the descent at a more stately pace while Atemu watched his younger cousins in a mixture of amusement and worry. Mokuba pulled up at the perfect moment and glided parallel to the floor as he slowed his approach, before landing gracefully. Seto, only a little bit behind him, swerved out of the way and landed beside him in a flutter of white scales.

Ryou and Marik began chanting the disengagement spell in unison while Mokuba waited impatiently for his two riders to get off. The golden harnesses dissolved in a shower of sparks and the four riders slid down the sides of the dragons as soon as they were able, each taking a moment to accustom their legs to the sensation of being on ground again after the past few hours in the air. Twin mists of white enveloped the dragons and, a few seconds later, dissolved to show a stretching black-haired teenager with his blue-robed older brother beside him with his arms folded over his chest.

Atemu was about to continue the previous conversation and even got so far as opening his mouth to address his brunet cousin, when Ryou suddenly exclaimed, causing all heads to turn in his direction. Ryou was squatted down on a bended knee as he regarded something on the ground with a look of intense curiosity on his face. Everyone congregated around the white-haired man, even Marik, to see what had grabbed his attention.

Imprinted onto the cobble-stoned path was the unfamiliar tread of a defined, black, dirt streak with patterned grooves. Everyone knew what it was though they had never personally seen one before. It was a tire track imprint on a light layering of dirt on the path. Everyone except Mokuba and Marik blinked in astonishment at the possible ramifications of there being vehicles down here. Questions flitted through the four minds as they wondered the why's and how's of the newest puzzle before them before a snort of disgust sounded to their left.

Everyone looked towards the sound to see Marik glaring at the tire track as he growled irritatedly, "Great. This means they're even farther ahead than we expected." Ruby and sapphire eyes blinked at the realization as Yugi, Ryou, and Mokuba all groaned in disappointment that meeting their mates would take even longer.

Seto sneered at the blonde man as he derisively said, "Do you mind? We're trying to ascertain how there are modern-day vehicles down her."

To which Marik caustically replied, with a derisive roll of his madness-filled eyes, "Obviously our mates brought them here. And if we don't get going soon then they might end up reaching the city before we have a chance to meet them and get all of our questions answered anyway." Mokuba, Ryou , and Yugi all startled at the quick thinking of Marik's mind, while Atemu choked back a laugh at the sight of his older cousin's face scrunching up at having been so completely out-maneuvered. Marik was right of course, but Seto had the pride of ten people and he refused to allow the tomb-builder to get the better of him.

Seeing the unholy flare of temperament in sapphire eyes, Yugi quickly intervened between the two geniuses and said in a falsely jovial voice, "Look! The tracks lead to this passageway." Everyone followed his pointed finger as he walked over to his much taller cousin to grab his arm and begin dragging him down the passageway while chattering all the way to keep the brunet off balance. Atemu almost burst into hysterical laughter at the look on his older cousin's face. If he had thought his previous expression was hilarious…

Mokuba, too caught up in his excitement over finding his mate, seemed to not notice the undercurrents of politics between the two men, or chose to ignore them as he happily raced after his two older cousins. Ryou remained next to the tanned monarch while Atemu tried to regain his composure, and was thus able to watch as Marik began swaggering after the three down the passageway whilst humming a rather creepy tune. He knew the tune to be a Ukrainian war song and shuddered at the remembered lyrics; let's just say the song depicted certain atrocities that were right up Marik's alley. Atemu finally straightened to his full height and allowed his 'Pharaoh mask' to slide into place. He then nodded to Ryou and the two began making their way down the passageway after the other four, though at a much more sedate pace. It wasn't until they heard a horrified shout a few minutes later that they sped up their pace.

The two raced along the path following after the sound, terrified that something had happened to their friends, to finally reach a large room. The two easily caught sight of the other four, but it was the sight of Yugi on his knees, his back to them, in a sight of such utter desolation that caused Atemu and Ryou to sprint to their side. Atemu's ruby eyes swept the surrounding for any hint of a threat, his hands automatically reaching for the swords strapped to his back underneath his cloak.

What he saw though puzzled them greatly. Before them was an enormous trench that stretched from one side of the room to the next with no discernable way to get around it. The ancient ruins of a stone bridge could be seen off to their right but it had obviously collapsed inwards centuries ago. Instead, there seemed to be a freshly downed column of stone that had been demolished to form a false, but utterly functional, type of bridge.

It was that which Yugi was staring at with such utter horror and despair, his normally pale face noticeably paler. Atemu, obviously puzzled by his cousin's reaction to the unthreatening sight, glanced around at his other companions to glean their reactions to this situation. Seto was staring at the makeshift bridge in disdain, obviously more insulted that a perfectly good decoration had been destroyed for the sole purpose to be tread upon than any sense of affront to said bridges' destruction. Mokuba didn't appear concerned about the downed column any more than Seto was and was too busy trying to ascertain what was wrong with Yugi, his gray eyes filled with worry as he tried to shake Yugi out of his horrified stupor. Marik was the exact opposite of Yugi and appeared to be having fun as he gleefully examined the black scorch marks at the base of the 'bridge'. Beside him, Ryou was staring at the 'bridge' in obvious puzzlement as his concerned gaze flitted from Yugi to the 'bridge' and back, trying to understand the correlation between the two.

Atemu, having realized that there was no danger, slowly retracted his hands from his sword hilts and stepped closer to the downed column. Squatting next to his desolate cousin he glanced warily at the makeshift bridge and realized that it had originally been a monolith. His well-trained eyes also discerned that it had only been destroyed less than five hours ago. Glancing at his purple-eyed cousin, he noticed that neither Mokuba's repeated shaking nor concerned words were reaching him. Using his confident 'Pharaoh voice', he sternly said, "Yugi." He didn't shout it or whisper it, he merely said it, but it seemed to get a reaction out of him.

Glazed purple eyes blinked slowly, a sluggish fanning of long lashes, before clearing slightly as they turned to look at the owner of the authorative voice. Amethyst merged with crimson and the glaze lifted from them only to be replaced by unshed tears. A quick inhale of breath and Yugi held it, afraid that if he exhaled it would come out as a sob. Teary purple eyes seemed to grow larger in their sorrow which was only enhanced when Yugi refused to blink, terrified that if he did then the tears would fall.

Atemu grew alarmed at this; his cousin was optimistic and happy by his very nature. An unhappy Yugi was like a dusty jewel; a horrible waste of utter potential and beauty. In fact, he only saw his cousin this distressed if it had to do with his mother or the city's loss of freedom. Greatly concerned, though neatly hiding it under his 'Pharaoh mask', Atemu continued in the same tone of voice, "Why is this monolith causing you such sadness?"

Mokuba and Ryou watched Yugi worriedly as he sniffled delicately, quickly reaching up to wipe his tears away with the back of his hand. Taking a couple breaths to steady himself, Yugi recollected himself as he explained, a bit shakily, "This monolith wasn't just a decoration. It was our beginning." At everyone's confused look Yugi continued, "This monolith was a complete depiction of our entire story. How Atlantis was made, how it came to be, our entire civilization, the explanation of our magics and technology, every war we fought, our every triumph and loss, every King and Queen, our very culture. It was our complete record of everything from our creation story to right up until we sank beneath the ocean. It was our entire history. And now it's gone." Yugi looked on the verge of desolation again while Ryou and Mokuba both stared down at the thing at their feet in utter astonishment. Atemu was too busy staring at his cousin. He knew there was something else, something Yugi wasn't telling him but it seemed to be of a more personal thing.

Deciding to let his cousin have his privacy in the matter, he gained his feet to get a better vantage point to study the downed monolith. He had never heard of this thing before and he wondered how his cousin had; but since he had never been through any of these tunnels before, he guessed that that was how his cousin knew of it. Still, he couldn't help but feel a hint of uneasiness. He felt a little disconcerted that his little cousin knew of something this important when he, as soon-to-be-King, didn't. He knew Yugi had no intentions upon the throne but he was honestly puzzled why Yugi had never brought up something of this much importance; neither had anyone else for that matter. Did anyone else even know? They had to; it wasn't as though it was in an inconspicuous place, and besides, someone had to have built it.

Deciding to bring up the matter to the council at a later date, Atemu was interrupted out of his thoughts by a rather rude snort of annoyance. Seto was staring at the three kneeling in front of the downed monolith in obvious annoyance. He then walked directly past them and began walking across the piece of destroyed history. Yugi gave a startled yelp as he quickly pushed to his feet to frantically shout at the brunet, "What are you DOING?!" Mokuba and Ryou also gained to their feet as they stared after Seto incredulously.

Seto, without even turning around to address them, continued onward as he unconcernedly said back to them, "Piece of history or not, we have to keep going and this is the only way to the other side."

Ryou shouted back at him in utter confusion, "But what if we damage it beyond our ability to fix it? Then pieces of our entire civilization would be lost to us forever." The smallest three in the group were staring after the unconcerned shape-shifter with wide eyes. Marik laughed as he began making his way across the 'bridge' as well.

Atemu was about to call out to them when Seto reached the other side and turned around to address them impatiently, "So what if it becomes too damaged to ever read again. Can any of you read it even now?" When the three dropped their gazes to look at the swirling symbols engraved into the downed monolith they realized that the symbols were Atlantean. Realization crossed their faces at the same time Seto continued, "We wouldn't have been able to read it even if it hadn't been destroyed; what makes any of you think that by trying our best to preserve it will suddenly make it easier to read now?" They had no answer to that, but they were still hesitant to walk across such a huge piece of their culture.

Atemu looked to them as he started walking across it as well; he stopped about half-way on it to look back at the still-hesitating trio. Ruby eyes bored into uncertain amethyst, doe-brown, and charcoal-gray eyes as he tried to reassure them, "I'm sure that the Archives have all the information in them anyway. Even if this was still standing, I'm sure our ancestors were smart enough to record everything else into the archives as a contingency. Just because we can't read it here doesn't mean the knowledge isn't somewhere else."

The trio glanced between each other and Mokuba hesitantly stepped unto the makeshift bridge. Walking quickly across, he passed Atemu at the half-way point to reach his brother on the other side. Ryou was the next to follow though he kept sending worried glances back towards Yugi. Atemu waited patiently for his cousin to come across as well and was rewarded when Yugi took a deep breath and slowly made his way towards him. When he reached Atemu, they walked side by side to reach the other side together. Though Yugi still had a bit of moisture in his eyes, he managed to bravely swallow them and continue on. Nobody glanced back at the downed monolith.

They continued down the path, each lost in their own thoughts, before Mokuba broke the silence. "So, back to our original conversation." Everyone looked at him as he clarified, "About our expectations in our mates." Seto briefly closed his eyes while Yugi and Ryou blushed.

Everyone was shocked when Marik suddenly laughed. Heartily. Everyone stared at the purple-eyed psycho as his laughter trailed off into chuckles. He then glanced around at the five staring at him and amusedly asked, "When did we start talking about this?"

Mokuba warily answered, "Towards the end of our flight. Me and Atemu already answered what we wanted in our mates and then we landed."

Marik snickered as he replied, "So I'm next?"

Ryou and Yugi slightly gaped at him while Mokuba blinked in surprise. Seto and Atemu glanced apprehensively at each other as Ryou timidly replied, "If you'd like?" It seemed more like a question which only made Marik even more amused.

Lavender eyes darkened as Marik seemed to contemplate the question seriously. A few seconds of silence later and he replied, "I definitely want my mate to be a male; women are just too fragile. And while that might be fun for a little while, I want someone with more endurance." Mokuba and Yugi appeared puzzled by this while Ryou, Atemu, and Seto were wondering if Marik meant that in a sexual context or a torturous one. Ryou shuddered, Seto curled his lip up in disgust, and Atemu blanked his face as they all thought, probably both.

Uncaring about their thoughts on the matter, Marik continued, "He has to be sexy of course, and he has to be able to take a lot of pain. I want him to be a good little slave." Marik grinned maliciously as his serpentine tongue licked his lips. Yugi and Mokuba glanced at the silent trio in apprehension as the three stared blankly ahead. Unperturbed by their responses, Marik kept describing someone that began to sound more and more like a torture victim.

A good ten minutes passed of Marik talking about what he wanted in a mate. Marik seemed to be taking a sadistic amount of pleasure in recounting all of the gruesome details. Atemu and Seto had long since blanked their faces at the descriptions, while Yugi and Mokuba had both put their hands over their ears. Ryou was the worst off, his face having gone almost bone white, his expression utterly haunted as he plugged his ears and whimpered quietly; dark memories coming to the surface. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and pleadingly looked to his friends, begging them with liquid-brown eyes to make him stop.

Yugi and Mokuba had squeezed their eyes shut a while ago, trusting their brother and cousins to keep them from bumping into something or going a wrong way, so they weren't able to see Ryou's plea. Atemu opened his mouth to cut Marik off but was interrupted himself by a quiet curse. Seto rudely butted into Marik's monologue with an irritated, "Will you shut up so I can tell what it is that I want in a mate?"

Atemu almost lost control of his 'mask' but quickly regained his composure as Marik turned to glare at the brunet. Ryou looked like he was about to faint in shock and Yugi and Mokuba still had their eyes and ears covered; which was easily remedied when Atemu tapped their shoulders. The two looked at him and uncovered their ears as Marik suddenly laughed, "Of course you can little Hm'ntr. I was getting bored with the conversation anyway." Atemu raised an eyebrow at this but remained silent.

Everyone listened in curiosity as Seto stared straight ahead and emotionlessly said, "My mate will be a female, sophisticated, intelligent, magically proficient, and of perfect stature. She will be quiet, gentle, and utterly compliant. Perfect in every way and every bit my equal." Yugi, Ryou, and Mokuba blinked at his confident tone as Marik appeared bored.

It was Atemu that lost control of his composure as he openly gaped at his older cousin before bursting into laughter. Atemu laughed so hard that tears sprung to his eyes and Yugi, Ryou, and Mokuba unconsciously joined in. Seto turned his head to glare at his cousin as he snapped, "What? What's so funny?"

They were all still walking and it took a good five minutes before Atemu could finally speak without being interrupted by his laughter. By that time, his stomach was hurting and he was walking forward slightly curled over it, and Seto was glaring at him full out in narrow-eyed anger. When Atemu could finally speak, he replied, "You just seemed so serious." He snorted in suppressed amusement while Seto's sapphire eyes just seemed to get angrier.

"And?" The tall brunet snapped.

Atemu met his cousin's glare and replied, "Are you kidding me? That's what you want?"

Seto's glare went frigid as he icily replied, "I said that that's what I wanted didn't I?"

Atemu's face lost all amusement as he rolled his eyes in exasperation at his cousin and replied, "Oh please. You'd be bored to death with a mate like that." Ruby eyes turned to clash with sapphire as he lifted an eyebrow and said, "For your sake, I hope your mate is a fighter and refuses to put up with any of your shit. Someone who will at least give you a challenge and isn't nearly as stuffy as you are. Basically, I hope your mate is the exact opposite of everything you just said."

Seto's lip curled in a sneer as he replied, "Don't just assume you know what I want or need. Only I know what I need; it's my life, after all."

Atemu waved the words away as he replied back, "Whatever you say cousin. After all, we'll get to meet our mates soon enough."

Seto opened his mouth to reply back but then shut it. Deciding that he didn't want to talk about it anymore he shifted the conversation over to the one who owed him. "You're next Ryou."

Ryou startled and his face grew paler. Mokuba tilted his head in confusion as Yugi and Atemu watched Ryou in concern. Marik had zoned out several minutes ago. Ryou seemed to be thinking overly hard about something before he took a shuddering breath and said quietly, "I want a girl; someone soft and sweet. Someone I want to protect and grow old with." Atemu and Yugi shared a glance between them as Ryou's eyes took on a look of utter longing. Mokuba smiled at the image and Seto stared at Ryou for a moment before flicking his glances between Yugi and Atemu.

Ryou caught the looks between the two monarchs and quickly glanced down at the ground, know the cause for them. Still staring at the ground as they walked along, Ryou cleared his throat and timidly said, "Your turn Yugi."

Yugi couldn't catch himself in time to stop his blush as he remembered his impression companion; he couldn't help but wonder if the male presence he had felt was just some coincidence. Somehow, he didn't think so. Everyone caught the sudden redness in his cheeks of course; he was a Pale One, his face became like a tomato when he blushed, there was no hiding that.

Ryou and Seto remained silent as they wondered what had happened, while Atemu and Mokuba blinked at the unexpected reaction. Marik looked too bored to bother caring. Mokuba, being who he was, curiously asked, "What's wrong?" Yugi blushed even brighter as he wondered how to explain to the phenomenon to them.

Atemu opened his mouth to ask his cousin about the strange reaction, but cut himself off as a draft of cold air caused him to shiver, and he heard Mokuba, Yugi, and Ryou all exclaim at the sudden drop in temperature. Marik began cursing heavily as he pulled his cloak around him more tightly. Seto narrowed his eyes in annoyance and Ryou began chanting a thermal spell to encompass the four non-shape shifters. A reddish tint encompassed the four, much like a see-through shroud, and they all sighed at the heated air enveloping their bodies. Seto and Mokuba had been caught off guard by the colder air but they remedied that by allowing their inner dragon fire to heat them. Heat radiated off their skin and Mokuba's eyes gained a bluish tint as he used a bit of his inner dragon, while Seto's was always his dragon's blue. They all took a moment to adjust themselves before Atemu wryly stated, "Well, that was unexpected."

The path began descending and Ryou stared worriedly ahead as he said, "I hope our mates are okay in such cold weather." He then grimaced at the sensation of the thermal spells' heated air flowing into his mouth; it didn't taste very good, like sucking on a heated rock, and it had the unfortunate effect of drying out his mouth relatively quickly.

The other two innocents looked ahead in concern at Ryou's words while Marik snorted, "If my mate can't survive through this little bit of cold then he's not worthy of being my mate." Atemu rolled his eyes while Seto just ignored the tanned blonde. In an unspoken agreement they all decided to not continue talking until they no longer needed the thermal spells; they had been warned at how unpleasant it was to talk while one was in use, and they understood why now.

They continued along the descending path in relative silence as they grew aware that the air grew even colder; not through any sensation of cold but through the fact that the air around their bodies began to steam. Continuing along, the path slowly straightened out and grew obviously colder before they finally emerged into an enormous room covered in white stuff.

Seto glared at the pile of white in wary distrust and Marik poked it with a booted foot. Atemu shielded the innocent three with his body as he tried to ascertain if the stuff was dangerous. When the whiteness merely shifted beneath their feet and did nothing but make slight crunching sounds underfoot, Atemu decided that the stuff was safe to interact with.

Mokuba and Yugi were cautious as they regarded the stuff before them before discovering that it was very soft. Ryou crouched down to pick a handful of it up and exclaimed in surprise when it began melting. Soon, all he had in his hand was a handful of water; it was then that something clicked in his mind as he guessed what the stuff was. Shaking his hand to get the now-warm water off of his hand, Ryou stood back up and hazarded to say, "I think that this stuff is snow."

Yugi and Mokuba looked up from their curious regard of the stuff to look at Ryou. Atemu and Seto both blinked before their eyes lit up in recognition of the term; they had heard of snow but had never actually seen it before. Marik growled in disgust as he complained, "Wonderful. That means it's so cold that water is becoming solid. Great, just fucking great."

Mokuba looked over at his brother, he had never heard of snow before, and asked, "Is it safe?"

Yugi was the one who answered by throwing a ball of snow directly into Mokuba's face. Mokuba blinked the stuff out of his eyes to see a grinning Yugi and Ryou before enthusiastically retaliating by throwing armfuls of the quickly melting snow at his smaller companions. Ryou and Yugi laughed as they ran away, shielding their faces from the cold shower of white as Mokuba chased after them. Atemu and Seto strolled after them, each staying well out of snowball and snowshower range. Marik was complaining under his breath the whole ways as they followed the tire tracks in the snow.

Atemu and Seto were indulgently watching their younger cousins and brother when a sudden shriek sounded at the end of the cavern in the direction they were going. There were two openings that led out of the cavern of snow they were in: the left had a statue of the Ice Master above the opening, and the right had a statue of the Ice Queen above the opening, through which the vehicle tracks went through. However, it was the other opening, the one with the Ice Master, that the sound had emanated.

Yugi, Mokuba, and Ryou froze what they were doing to stare wide-eyed at the opening as several giant, ice-encrusted caterpillars came after them. There were four of them and all of them were easily twice Yugi's size in height. They were the light shade of blue that came from ice, and indeed their outer skin appeared to be made of ice, with several spikes coming out of them. The four bugs charged at the trio and they could see that their undersides and legs were bright green, a split second before Seto and Atemu blocked their views. The older two of the four cousins shielded the smaller men and teen with their bodies as Seto was enveloped in a fine white mist and Atemu pulled his blades. A moment later and Seto emerged from the mist in his dragon form and roared furiously at the bugs, hoping to scare them away.

Mokuba took his brother's initiative and also transformed, though his shifting wasn't nearly as quick. Ryou was wracking his brain on offensive and defensive spells that he could use, while Yugi pulled a two-foot piece of wood from a sheath behind his back, before pressing a small button which enlarged the staff to it's full six feet and took a fighting position.

Behind them all, Marik grinned evilly as he pulled out a wickedly curved knife and rushed headlong into the fight. Rushing past Seto in dragon form, he slashed out with the blade, catching the outer shell of the first caterpillar thing. A metallic scraping could be heard, like nails against steel, before the blade abruptly froze over and shattered. The caterpillar remained undamaged as Marik cursed at the sight of his now-broken knife.

Three of the giant ice caterpillars charged past Marik to engage the others. The one in front of Marik screeched out in outrage as it flung it's ice-spiked tail at Marik. Marik barely managed to dodge out of the way but was caught right at the top of the tail, above the spikes, and was flung to the side to hit the wall. Marik was momentarily winded but quickly regained his feet as he unsheathed his second knife.

One angry bug tried to attacked Mokuba which Seto intercepted with a vicious swipe of his tail; it let out a screech of fury and pain as it was flung several feet away from the teenage dragon and his protective older brother. Mokuba rolled his eyes a bit at his brother in exasperation; in this form, he could take on pretty much any monster, but his brother wasn't letting him play. Seto ignored the dragonish pout as he glared at his downed caterpillar, hoping it would get the message and leave.

The third bug had unfortunately chosen Atemu as it's prey and was getting thoroughly thrashed. Even though his blades weren't cutting it, the spells inscribed into the metal wasn't allowing the natural freezing abilities of the bug to freeze and shatter the blades either. The whirling blades were causing cracks to form in the ice of its shell and Atemu nimbly leaped and swerved out of the ranges of the icy spikes. Atemu wasn't trying to kill the thing, but he was not putting up with any of it's shit either.

The fourth went after a chanting Ryou but was intercepted by a whack on it's sensitive head by Yugi's staff. Yugi shielded Ryou as the albino continued chanting, trusting his childhood friend to keep the bug occupied until his spell was finished; since the spell would be negated if the spell-caster was unable to complete the spell. Yugi cracked his staff against the softer head of the caterpillar as he tried to herd it away from his white-haired friend. Amethyst eyes were narrowed in concentration as he watched the reactions of the caterpillar and was able to discern when it would attack, thus making him able to dodge quickly out of the way. What he might have lacked in strength he made up for in quickness and strategic aim.

The Atlanteans all had the upper hand and could have easily killed any of the bugs, but none of them, except Marik, wanted to kill them. Creatures from the Shadow Realm, like these ones, were rare in this realm and to kill one went against everything they believed in. Indeed, creatures from the Shadow Realm were considered to be special because they could form magical soul-bonding with Atlanteans. To kill a soul-bonded creature would kill the Atlantean to which it was bonded; thus making them the equivalent of a murderer. And though these ones were obviously un-bonded and wild, they were still creatures of their culture, which made them hesitant to kill them.

Ryou's spell finally ended and he prayed that it would work. Seto's bug had gotten back to it's feet to try to impale Seto on one of it's spikes, but Seto lifted it with a taloned hand on the un-spiked area above it's tail and flung the bug away, where it slumped to the ground with a piteous sound. Atemu had managed to break apart a good-sized chunk out of the ice-shell to show the light green flesh underneath. Mokuba was assisting Marik with his bug. Marik's second blade was a dagger and in order for him to do some damage he would have needed to get really close, which he was hesitant to do when it was his last weapon with no guarantee of not breaking when he went in for the kill. So, Mokuba had developed a system of reaching out for the ice-spikes when Marik kept the thing occupied and, using his dragon strength, snapped the tips off so that they were little more than stumps on the shell; the trick was to reach for them deftly enough without impaling his own clawed hands.

Yugi had managed to herd the pain-maddened caterpillar back towards the entrance of the opening. So only he had the opportunity to see the pair of glowing blue eyes from the opening a second before a deep-throated roar sounded. All of the bugs flinched at the sound and shrank into themselves as Ryou sighed a huge sigh of relief; his spell had worked. Yugi backed up quickly from the opening as everyone moved cautiously away from the cowering caterpillars.

When Yugi was standing side by side with his tanned cousin, both with their weapons raised in wary defense, a creature emerged from the tunnel opening from the left. The creature was a big cat that looked very reminiscent of a tiger, except for the fact that it was striped in white and ice-blue colors. And, unlike normal tigers, this one was seven feet tall from paw-pad to ear-tip and had black and gold armor on it's chest, shoulders, ankles, and wrists. The ruffles of what would have been normal fur on a regular tiger, were icicles on this one's fur along it's mane, tail-tip, shoulders, and outer arms and legs. It glanced in the direction of the six Atlanteans and, ascertaining that they weren't attacking it, growled at the cowering bugs. The four caterpillars slinked towards it warily and seemed to submissively shrink away from it as they passed the tiger by to reach the left opening. When the last bug had gone past it, the tiger glanced towards Ryou and chuffed out a sound before turning to Atemu and dipped it's head down in acknowledgment. It then spun around and leaped away, loping on silent paws through the left opening, back from whence it came.

Everyone blinked a bit in astonishment before two white mists enveloped Seto and Mokuba as they reverted back to their human forms. Yugi turned to Ryou and incredulously asked, "What did you cast?"

Everyone had turned to Rou for the answer to the bizarre phenomenon as Ryou blushed in embarrassment at the attention. Timidly, he replied, "Well, all I casted was an assistance spell. I specified it to summoning anything in the area that could help us peacefully send the Numbing Grubs away from us. I didn't want something that would kill them, we could have done that, but I wanted something that could maybe scare them or entice them away."

Atemu grinned and walked over to clap Ryou on the back for his good idea while Seto inclined his head towards the scribe at his quick thinking; better than any compliment that the shape-shifter could have given, which only caused Ryou to blush more. Marik snorted as he whined about not getting to make anything bleed, but that was easily remedied with remembrances of the Numbing Grub's screeches of pain. Mokuba grinned at Ryou even though he kinda wished he could have continued fighting a bit more; it wasn't often he got to do anything even remotely dangerous, and fighting those bugs had been a thrill for the teen. Yugi smiled up at his friend, but he couldn't help but ask, "Numbing Grubs? Is that what they were called?"

They all vaguely remembered the name, but since there were a lot of Shadow Realm creatures, the name was just one more in several thousand; it wasn't even all that powerful of a monster, nor did it have any attributes that could be utilized during a duel, so it was normally used as more of a grunt. Everyone there, except Mokuba, knew the name and illustration of every Shadow Realm creature but it had taken them Ryou's description for their memories to be jogged. Ryou nodded as he stated, "Yes. I remembered it because I had been going through a book of spell components and I remembered one of them referring to the 'Ice-shell of a Numbing Grub in the Ice Barrier'. I probably wouldn't have remembered what it was if not for the fact that the book was relatively fresh in my mind." Seto, Atemu, and Yugi nodded at this explanation; they too had had sudden recollections regarding obscure Shadow Realm creatures while reading. Mokuba didn't much care since he wasn't interested in dueling or Shadow Realm creature biology, he was more interested in other forms of games, like races and guessing-games. Marik simply didn't care because that type of monster wasn't something he would choose for a dueling monster; he was more interested in ones with special attributes.

Yugi tilted his head in puzzlement for a moment before his amethyst-colored eyes cleared as he said, "And that tiger-looking one was Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier."

Memories were jogged and the conclusion was reached that he was correct. Ryou nodded as he thoughtfully said, "I had no idea one was down here though. There are multiple Tiger Kings but I figured that they were all in the Shadow Realm."

Atemu spoke, "If I recall correctly, there was one that had been tamed by an Ice Master that was soul-bonded to a traitor. Since Life Partners of traitors are encased in stone before their Atlantean counter-part is executed, I have to assume that that statue of an Ice Master over there is his former master. He probably won't ever leave this place." Mokuba, Yugi, and Ryou's faces fell at the sad fate but Marik just shrugged indifferently. Seto tugged his brother's shenti sleeve to gain his attention before walking off through the right opening. Mokuba raced after his brother to keep up and the remaining four walked after them silently; Ryou and Yugi still saddened, Marik in obvious boredom, and Atemu deep in thought.

They continued on in silence for several minutes, when the path began ascending. As they sloped upwards, the spell around them indicated that the air was getting noticeably warmer until the reddish tint surrounding them abruptly vanished; indicating that the air surrounding them was the same temperature that the thermal spell had been. With the thermal spell naturally negated, and thus the subsequent unpleasant taste that accompanied talking, everyone was now able to continue talking comfortably.

With a boatload of curiosity regarding the last topic of conversation before the thermal spell was engaged, Atemu glanced at his tri-colored cousin and prompted, "It's still your turn Yugi. What was with the strange reaction you had before we got too cold to listen to your explanation?"

Yugi blushed rather brightly as he wondered how to explain the phenomenon to them. Finally, he just decided to be upfront about it and hesitantly said, "Well…I think I might have a slight advantage over this topic."

That got everyone's attention as they all looked suspiciously at the ducked head of the Pale One. Atemu and Seto narrowed their eyes at him twin looks of stubbornness, Ryou and Mokuba showed great curiosity but remained silent, and Marik looked closely at the madly blushing young man before smirking. It was Atemu who broke the ice by asking, "And just what do you mean by that?"

Yugi hesitated a moment before lifting his gaze to meet everyone's eyes before settling them on his closest cousin and embarrassedly stated, "Well, I was planning on telling everyone at the council meeting but then the whole thing with the kah'gs came up and I got a bit distracted, so…" He trailed off as his two older cousins gazes seemed to grow sharper in their intensity.

Atemu regarded his younger cousin and authoratively prompted, "Go on." Mokuba and Ryou were watching the whole process in wide-eyed silence as Seto folded his arms across his chest as he continued regarding the amethyst-eyed man.

Yugi took a deep breath and rushed in, "Well, you see, I kind of- might have already sort of…" he paused and seemed to blush brighter, before he slowed himself and looked down at the floor as he continued, "I think I might have already met my mate."

To say Mokuba and Rou were shocked was an understatement while Atemu and Seto were lost in their own thoughts as they soaked that in. Mokuba hurriedly pitched in, "But if you've already met your mate, then why haven't you claimed them yet? Why did you say that you felt the kah'gs like the rest of us?"

Yugi glanced up at them all as he sheepishly amended, "Well I didn't actually meet him per se, I just-"

He was cut off by Mokuba interjecting, "So it was a guy?"

Yugi blushed heavier as he nodded a bit. Mokuba opened his mouth to ask something else but was waved into silence by his older brother as Seto prompted, "Continue Yugi."

Yugi took a deep breath and replied, "As I said, I didn't actually meet him. When I was out hunting earlier I suddenly felt this… impression, of a guy." Everyone stayed silent as they waited for Yugi to continue; Atemu almost interrupted him but refrained himself. When no one said anything, Yugi continued in a stronger voice, "I'm not quite sure what caused it, and it had been before I found out about the whole soul-mate issue with everyone else, so I wondered if it was just some new form of spell that someone had cast. It was only feelings really, no words at all, but we could send each other impressions, like an eye roll or a shrug. It was a little strange but not unpleasant." Here he paused again as everyone soaked in his words.

Atemu had looked away to gather his thoughts as he processed this and then turned his back to his cousin and nodded at him to continue. Yugi inhaled deeply as continued, "We were just kind of talking to each other- well, not really talking to each other- but we were sending each other impressions on our feelings. It felt really nice to have the connection; it felt almost as though our souls were connecting to each other, though I didn't make the connection until later when the kah'gs talk came up. If I had, then I wouldn't have asked him to turn off the connection." He added that last bit with a bit of sheepish remorse.

Mokuba was the one who asked, "Turn off the connection? Why'd you ask that? And why did you ask him to do it? Couldn't you have done it?" He was immensely curious about the subject; after all, Yugi was the first Atlantean for several millennia to have actually began a mate-bond courtship. Everyone else was just as fascinated, though they were all wondering for different reasons; Seto was suspicious, Atemu was protective, Ryou was worried, and Marik was… well, he wasn't listening to the conversation at all, he was chanting over his broken blade fixing the metal.

Yugi blushed a bit at his remembered clumsiness and explained embarrassedly, "Well, I was technically out hunting when the connecting was made. We were 'talking' to each other for a few minutes and I forgot that I was hunting. So when a waterfowl suddenly flew from its hiding spot near me, it startled me into accidentally dropping my harpoon causing it to scrape against my leg. He felt my pain and was very worried for me, but I wanted to get home without getting further distracted so I asked him to talk to me later. It took a bit of reassuring him that I was alright before I felt it was okay to sever the connection; it feels almost like closing a door. But the reason I had to get him to sever the connecting was because I think the connection could only be established on his side, so I had to ask him for it to be completely closed. He did, but it's been several hours since then; I can't feel the 'door' anymore, so whatever it was that was allowing our connection isn't active. I don't think I'd be able to reestablish it even if I tried." Here, his face unconsciously saddened at the admission.

Atemu opened his mouth to make an inquiry about Yugi's injury when he was interrupted by Mokuba, "So what was he like? What did he 'feel' like, what did he look like?"

Yugi blushed as he hesitantly replied, "I didn't get a visual with the connection, so I have no idea what he looks like; I only know he's a guy because his mental 'voice' was masculine. He was very curious about our connection but he seemed to enjoy 'talking' to me as much I did him. But he was very dark, almost shadowed, and underneath all the emotions he consciously sent me, I could feel a deep wellspring of sorrow, grief, and betrayal underscoring all of that. He had been deeply wounded and he seemed to soak in my lighter emotions, like parched earth does rain. When I was injured, he was deeply concerned for me and wanted to make sure that I was safe; I felt him wondering if there were enemies around and I could feel his sudden aggressive protectiveness at the thought. That was when I felt his sorrow and I wanted so badly to be near him so that I could make him feel better, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to anytime soon so I asked the connection to be cut off." Yugi's amethyst eyes had gained a passionate gleam as he talked about his mate, before he suddenly blushed and looked down in embarrassment as he quietly added, "Plus there was, you know, that."

Atemu, Seto, and Ryou all raised their brows in silent bemusement as Mokuba confusedly asked, "That?" Marik began to snicker as Yugi's face became strawberry-red.

Yugi squirmed uncomfortably as he blushed and replied awkwardly, "You know, that. The… attraction."

Marik smirked gleefully as he remarked, "The attraction to jump his bones and ride him into the next millennia? That attraction?" Mokuba and Ryou blushed a little at the thought and Yugi was somehow able to become even redder. As he buried his head in his hands to hide his face and groaned in embarrassment.

Seto and Atemu weren't nearly as amused with the tomb-builder as Atemu snapped, "Knock it off, Marik. So what if Yugi found his mate to be attractive? That's kind of the point of a mate-bond." Mark glared at the monarch and opened his mouth to make a come-back, but Seto beat him to it.

Seto sneered, "Besides, it's not as though you didn't burn our ears off for fifteen minutes about all the disgusting things you wanted to do with your mate." Marik glared at the taller man, to that he had no had no reply. Yugi glanced up from between his fingers and quietly thanked his two older cousins.

They had been talking for a good half an hour before they reached a bridge. But the bridge itself wasn't what startled them all, it was the giant piece of stone wall that had collapsed from the ceiling to form a roadblock in the bridge. In the center of the stone road block was a perfectly spherical tunnel that had been recently dug out from the road block, one that was easily big enough for a dragon-sized Mokuba to slip through; though, a dragon-sized Seto would have had to squeeze through.

Marik ran ahead to inspect the damage and sighed in bliss at the perfect destruction of rock. Atemu and Seto regarded the thing in puzzlement, nothing of their culture had the capability to carve its' way though the stone so perfectly in so little time. Ryou was admiring the pretty spiral designs in the rock tunnel as they all continued through it while Yugi and Mokuba ran their hands along the texture as they went along, smiling at the sensations.

They exited the rock tunnel relatively quickly and once again continued along the path. Seto and Atemu conversed about the strange sight and debated what could have caused it while Marik zoned out once again, trying to picture whatever had made the splendid hole and what damage it could do to other things. Ryou, Yugi, and Mokuba talked about other things, random things, just to make conversation. Everyone could see that they were getting closer to their mates, the signs were getting fresher, and the trio were filling in their nervous excitement with superficial chatter.

Another half hour continued like this before they suddenly reached a giant room, circular in nature with an enormous stone bridge in the middle of it, spanning across to the other side. Hanging from the greatly arched ceiling was a cone-shaped lantern that glowed a dimly lit greenish color. But that wasn't what caught all of their attentions. It was the shadowed shapes of several parked vehicles and two much bigger vehicles. Situated around the vehicles were many familiarly-shaped objects; tents. The room was silent save for the sound of sleepy movements, snoring, and slight breathing. The Atlanteans hearts pounded in excitement. They had reached their destination.

---

OMG I'm done with this freakin' chapter! I am SO sorry to everyone for the long wait, but I could not, for the life of me, have finished sooner than today.

March was when a book that I'd been waiting for two years to come out was finally released and I just had to reread the entire series before that book to get caught up on what was happening; three weeks had passed with that before I could even begin to focus on this again. (Lover At Last by J.R Ward, excellent book by the way; sexy vampires and the two main characters were both males, can I just say SEXY! Twelfth book in the series, but each one is over four-hundred pages long. QhuinnxBlaylock Forever!)

From mid-April to now has been me catching up on all my school credits so that I can graduate. The graduation ceremony is tomorrow and I get my diploma! I'm not really apologizing for the fact that I was working in my studies and didn't have the time, I was mostly apologizing for the March lollygagging regarding the BDB series (Black Dagger Brotherhood), but I couldn't help myself TT_TT. Two years of waiting and gay vampires (not the sparkling kind either), that's all I have to say.

Now that I no longer have any of that stuff to deal with and I now have a lot more time on my hands with me graduating, I was able to finish this twenty-eight page chapter (twenty-eight pages! I kid you not!). Now I get to focus more time for the upcoming chapters as well and I hope to never again get as preoccupied as I was with this chapter for other chapters. Again, I am deeply sorry for the long wait TT_TT.

I had fun channeling Marik (I could feel my inner sadist raise it's evil little head whenever he was mentioned) though I feel like I kinda flopped with him towards the end ^-^'. Anyway, I felt like I was revolving mostly around Yugi and Atemu which was not my intention and I tried to include the other characters as much as I could.

I really liked adding in the references to other Duel Monsters; especially Seto and Mokuba as Blue Eyes White Dragons (I hope I threw you guys for a loop there). I hadn't been planning with the Numbing Grubs but I felt like they just had to fight something in that snow room.

Obscure references regarding the surface-world will be explained later, so don't worry about it.

Well, I'm going to sleep (Big day tomorrow ^O^) and I'll get back to writing on Thursday. Thanks for your patience to all my viewers and please review! Goodnight!