Chapter 10: Sephora's Challenge: The Unlikely Team
The long night seemed to drag on for Yugi and the others. They stayed in Egypt while studying the ancient text Ryou saved. The feeling of defeat wavered around Yugi, he had failed to protect the tomb and the secrets that could have remained within.
The small lamplight was the only source of light Yugi had as he read through each scroll sprawled on Ryou's desk. Each one became more puzzling than the next, and Yugi was frustrated by the hieroglyphs. Like Ishizu stated, the texts were similar to a puzzle, a piece was missing in each one. Yugi rummaged through the scrolls the whole night, his anxiety was the least to worry, but the lack of sleep would get to him.
Morning dawned as everyone stirred from their slumber inside the tents. Despite the time of day in New York, which should be nighttime, Yugi and his friends thought it was best to relax after what occurred yesterday.
Téa went into Yugi's tent where she found him sleeping on the scrolls. She quietly snuck in, glancing at the pieces of writing. She had no clue what each said and she carefully lifted a scroll. Téa nearly toppled back as she heard Yugi yawning.
His sleepy eyes looked around as he caught Téa staring at him. Yugi stretched out his arms and got off his chair. "Morning, Téa." He greeted with a smile.
"Morning." Téa replied, placing the scroll back on the table. She didn't know how Yugi felt, but she hoped he was fine. "Are you okay?"
"Slightly." Yugi answered in a bitter tone. He gathered each scroll and began to leave the tent. Téa followed him to make sure he was giving them back to Ryou.
All their friends were awake; the hot sun beat down on them as they lounged in the shade of the tents. Yugi located Ryou along with Bakura and Marik, packing the last of their equipment in a jeep. Ryou noticed Yugi coming towards them, he glared at Bakura as the Tomb Robber was upset at Yugi for having failed to protect the ancient tomb.
"You're returning the scrolls?" Ryou asked.
Yugi handed them to him before turning away. "Maybe you will have better luck deciphering them than me." He immediately walked away, leaving Ryou, Bakura and Marik bemused.
"What's wrong with this picture?" Marik commented.
"That's not the Yugi we know." Ryou stated.
"Let him heal the bitter scars of defeat," Bakura said. He earned unusual gazes from Ryou and Marik. "You want me to be supportive or not? He just seems down."
"It's not every day you will get a victory," Marik began. "Before I accepted you all as friends, my failed goals were crushed due to the fact I was blind. I should have acknowledged my destiny instead of betraying it. Yugi is preventing that same mistake."
"Unlike some people." Ryou glowered at Bakura.
"What? I'm no longer seeking the Millennium Items since they have lost their power." Bakura assured. He stared up at the sky, oblivious of an approaching figure in the distance.
Darkness lingered in wait for the sun to go down in Animus. The wisps of shadows prowled about, satisfied of their latest attack and breaking Yugi's spirit. If they could keep diminishing what was left of him, then maybe they could succeed in destroying him.
Slowly, the shadows formed itself in the shape of three beings. Their location was unknown, but it seemed no one could dwell within wherever they were.
"With the tomb gone, Yugi won't be able to know more about his forgotten past." The woman said.
"Because I was the one to destroy it!" The man spat.
"His morale is down, and this time we cannot fail," the second man replied. He leaned his back to the wall. "His mortal friends keep him away from the darkness but…"
"Manipulating a mindless doll is all we need to devastate him." The first man finished. "We must be wise to which we choose."
The woman smirked. "The perfect subject was within my grasps." She muttered angrily. "Are you certain about this?"
"There is a certain item that may help us with that. Of course it's locked away, but I have an idea when I'll be retrieving it." He stated.
The woman shifted her gaze to a random corner. The shadows were moving, responding to an unknown source. "We have other tasks to do." She said. The two beings looked at her curiously. "We must remain scarce or else Yugi will find out who we are. He must not know yet, and it appears someone has arrived to help him."
"Who?" The first man asked. The woman stared back at him, silent to answer. He narrowed his eyes, interpreting what she didn't want to tell him. "I see…"
The second man began to meld with the shadows, alerting his companions. "I have my own things to do," was his response before vanishing. The two beings glanced at each other and then disappeared into the shadows.
The morning came and went, the afternoon weather turned hot, the scorching desert seemed hazy to Yugi's eyes as he headed to his tent. He went inside it, collapsing to his makeshift bad and shutting his eyes completely. Yugi wanted to be alone and it caused great concern to his friends.
Joey walked into the tent, hoping he could cheer Yugi up. He found him lying on his back; Yugi noticed Joey and turned to rest on his left side.
"Go away." Yugi whimpered, already starting to close his eyes.
"Yugi…" Joey said sadly. He strode to Yugi's bed and attempted to flip him on his back. Joey placed his hands on Yugi's sides, trying to pull him and he realized how hard the task was.
Yeesh, for a little guy, Yugi sure has a strong hold, Joey thought. He grinned mischievously, removing his hands away from Yugi and instead, tickled him.
Yugi squirmed about in his bed, he couldn't even suppress the laughter built inside him. "Joey… Stop! I'm going to die from laughing!"
Joey moved his hands away as Yugi sat upright on his bed. "You looked depress, so I thought tickling would help."
"I know." Yugi said. "Is there something you need to tell me?"
Joey sat on a chair, resting his chest on its back. "Although the Beasts of Chaos destroyed the tomb, you shouldn't let that hurt you," Joey began. "We've been through tough situations before and we'll pull through this one. We just need faith."
"Or a sudden miracle." Yugi remarked. Joey stared at him strangely, and Yugi turned around to see a huge shadow approaching them.
They both jumped to the ground as a figure crashed into the tent. Everyone heard the sound and rushed over to Yugi's tent. To their amazement, they found Sephora lying on top of Yugi and Joey.
"It's nice to see you, but get off me!" Joey yelled. He unfortunately was the one on the bottom.
"You two were my soft landing." Sephora said, stepping off them. She brushed sand off her robes as Yugi and Joey stood up.
"Did you lose your eyesight or somethin' while you were flying?" Joey asked.
Sephora's face turned pale. "You see, the sun was in my eyes and I couldn't find where to land, so this is what happened." She explained nervously. Sephora quickly glanced at Téa, and shrugged.
"What's wrong?" Téa queried.
"Nothing." Sephora mumbled. "I've barely been home, that I almost forgot about you. I need to spend less time with May and the others in the Pokemon World."
"What brings you here?" Horus questioned profusely.
"Well, I came to check on you all." Sephora answered. She noticed how sad Yugi looked; there was a reason she came, but she wasn't sure if she arrived at an inopportune time.
Yugi raised an eyebrow, wondering what Sephora was thinking. He realized she kept staring at both Joey and Kaiba the whole time and she definitely had something in mind for them. "Sephora," Yugi said. Sephora smiled happily to him. "Do you know any information about the Beasts of Chaos?"
"Don't tell me the tomb in Egypt is destroyed." Sephora replied.
"How do you know about that?"
"Yukai told me, that is before he vanished." Sephora answered. She headed out of the tent, scanning the camping area and she made her way to the top of a dune, which faced the direction of the tomb. Her eyes widened once she saw what became of it.
Yugi and the others watched on, bewildered by her expression. Sephora came down the dune, shocked to see that the news was true. She confronted Ryou, sensing he kept what was inside the tomb.
Ryou leaned back, almost falling to the ground. "What do you want?" he said feebly.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Sephora promised, keeping her hands behind her back in an attempt to appear harmless. "I just wanted to know if the scrolls are safe."
"They are."
"Perfect." Sephora responded contentedly. "I have a certain mission that only Joey and Kaiba can do."
Joey stood frozen as Kaiba turned away. Yugi and his friends thought Sephora had to be kidding, but she was serious. Out of all the people she could have picked, Sephora had chosen Joey and Kaiba instead. Horus knew what she was up to and didn't comment at all.
"Listen, I'm not working with rich boy!" Joey protested.
"Use someone else to do the task for you." Kaiba bickered.
Sephora smirked. "Where there is always Light, Darkness follows."
"I don't understand." Yugi said. He looked at Atem as the Pharaoh shook his head.
"It means darkness plagues every world, the battle of good versus evil continues throughout the centuries to no end," Horus stated. "Light is always by our side but also Darkness resides in us all. Neither will never cease until one of them wins the war."
"Like now." Yugi agreed. "Sephora, is there another world the Beasts of Chaos are liable to attack?"
"Elysium, it used to be part of the Underworld before it became separated." Sephora said. "Sorcerers have told tales that a priestess used her magic to divide the worlds so they could live peacefully, away from the demons. There's also a high concentration of spiritual energy now with the spirits having taken residence, and they come and go as they please."
"Is that where we are going?" Kaiba inquired.
"Yes," Sephora replied. "You and Joey will take the scrolls and find the other tomb linked to it."
"You mean there's anotha'?" Joey shouted. Sephora nodded to him. "But I'm not going with him!" He still refused to be accompanied by Kaiba despite Sephora's request.
Sephora faced Joey and Kaiba, her expression had changed to a more stricter appearance. "I see, the world's top duelists are too chicken to go," she sneered. "I may as well send Yugi while the Beasts of Chaos decide to attack the Mortal World, and then you two will really regret it. Repetitively speaking, the both of you are bonkotsus."
"Who are you calling weak?" Kaiba immediately felt the need to lash out at her. "Don't compare me to the mutt, I'm much more stronger than him!"
"I'm not a bonkotsu!" Joey yelled, anger building in his voice.
They noticed Sephora smirking at them. Sephora expected them to resist and she had no choice but to insult them. Now she had to snare them into her trap. "Well, if you two aren't bonkostus…" Sephora mused. "Are you willing to accept my challenge?"
"What are your requirements?" Kaiba demanded.
"Simple, work together to find the remaining pieces of history that these scrolls do not contain." Sephora explained. She grabbed Ryou's bag lying on the ground, searched through and took the scrolls. A map materialized in her hands and she gave them to Kaiba and Joey. "Do you accept the proposal?"
"We'll go if you just stop tryin' to convince us." Joey said. "But…" He opened the map to see it depicted the world of Elysium. "Where are we to start?"
"Ask those around you," Sephora replied. "If you ask for Khepri, she may help you on your journey."
Suddenly a warp tunnel appeared, signaling that Kaiba and Joey can enter. Sephora urged them to jump in, but the two duelists had more to question. Without warning, Sephora pushed them in as the vortex closed on its own.
Horus stood wide-eyed at her, his eyes twitched irritably. "Sephora…" he mumbled.
"What?"
"You should have not activated the warp tunnel anywhere near the tomb…" As Horus spoke, the wind picked up, blowing sand around them.
"It's a sandstorm, but how?" Ryou yelled.
Everyone shielded their eyes as Horus said, "The warp tunnel has so much magical properties, that it can never be used anywhere near a source that emanates powerful magic."
"How are we supposed to get out of the sandstorm?" Yugi shouted. The sand pelted heavily as he tried his best to not get pushed down. He was unable to see his friends, and his eyes spotted a strange light in the distance.
"HORUS!" Yugi heard Selene's voice.
The light grew stronger, as Yugi felt a warm glow around his body. He kept his eyes half-shut to see that Selene and Horus were together, the sandstorm was being repelled by a powerful barrier they created. Everything began to calm down; Yugi fell to the sand, nearly exhausted by the sudden change in weather. He found his friends lying on the sand, just as tired as he was.
Yugi quickly stood up and looked at the surroundings. He noticed a certain sand pile nearby which began to move. Yugi was taken aback as Sephora emerged from the sand, coughing debris.
"Are you all right?" Yugi asked.
"I'm fine." Sephora answered, shaking off sand from her hair. "I've been through worse years ago when Yukai, our friends and I fought against Neptune's guard in his castle. Try preventing yourself from being frozen alive in a blizzard attack."
Bakura opened his eyes and glared at Sephora. He got up and ran to her. "You stupid Guardian! You could have killed us!"
"If I hadn't come at the right moment, you would have been buried alive." Selene said as she and Horus walked over to them.
Yugi's friends woke up, realizing the sandstorm subsided. They were relieved to have survived it and at the same time were upset at Sephora. The Guardian simply didn't know that a sandstorm would occur, even Guardians could make mistakes as she put it.
Meanwhile in an off world area, Joey and Kaiba came out of the warp tunnel, falling on their backs to soft ground. They got on their feet, staring at the beautiful scenery. Lush grass and blooming flowers covered the landscape they were in. The rushing sound of water could be heard in the distance as the environment itself seemed peaceful.
"So, where do we begin?" Joey asked, staring up at the blue sky.
"We need to find someone named Khepri." Kaiba said, starting to walk away.
Joey realized Kaiba had the map and chased after him. "Come back, rich boy! I don't know where to go!"
Author's Notes: I guess I can consider Joey and Kaiba's adventure as a side-story, and what Sephora called them in Japanese Bonkotsu I really don't remember what it meant exactly, for I know it was used by Kaiba to describe Joey in a mean way. Also, if this chapter didn't seem interesting, know that my final exams really have been hard on me mostly the entire , here's the next synopsis:
Joey and Kaiba have embarked on their journey through Elysium, where they will encounter new allies, and their first task: find Khepri. Back on the Mortal World, Yugi and his friends leave Egypt, as getting back will only attract his enemies. This time they're not after him, but there's something behind their motives. On the next Struggle of Chaos - Chapter 11: The Realm of Magic: The Past Returns!