Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi
Enjoy!
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Chapter Ten – Continuing Obsession
Yugi strolled through the corridors without a care in the world, he was so happy. He was going to stay here and never have to go back to the way of life he had led. His happiness was so overwhelming that he wanted to dance and scream. Yugi was about to round another corner but he stopped. Peering round he could see the Pharaoh and the members of the secret court making their way into the throne room. As the doors to the throne room shut Yugi came round the corner and stared at the doorway. There had to be something important going on in there and Yugi wanted to know what was being said.
So he followed the wall looking for a way in. Half way up the corridor Yugi saw a large vase. Narrowing his eyes and tilting his head, he examined the wall behind the vase. Then he glanced up and down the corridor making sure that the coast was clear. It was, so Yugi pulled the vase very gently and quietly which revealed a secret passage way but it was a small space which required whoever entered to crawl. Yugi crawled in and somehow managed to turn around to pull the vase back in place. He crawled up the tunnel which was wider then he had first thought. The passage came out on the balcony of the throne room, crawling over to one of the pillars and hide behind it. He had to be careful not to be seen because the Millennium Items might pick up on his presence.
Little did Yugi know that one of the Items had already picked up on his presence. Down below sitting in the throne the Pharaoh was gazing at the far wall it was not that he was bored, his mind was taken up with something else. Well.. more than one thing. Atem tried to latch onto what was being said but he just couldn't his mind would not concentrate. He knew that the topic that was being hotly debated was levels of crime. Once more the pharaoh tried to listen in but this time it was not Yugi nor how much is head was pounding. It was the Millennium Puzzle; it seemed to be trying to attract his attention. The Pharaoh let the Puzzle guide his eyes over to what it was trying to show him.
Atem looked up at the balcony but first he saw nothing then a movement caught his eyes. Behind one of the pillars was Yugi, the Pharaoh sighed inwardly. Not wanting to cause attention to what he was staring at, Atem turned back to his court. The last thing he needed was to have Yugi thrown into the dungeons. He was going to have to wait until he got out of here before he talked to Yugi. So once again Atem tried to listen to his court or rather make it look it he was listening, but his mind was still on Yugi.
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As the meeting drew to a close and the people began to leave, Yugi quietly crawled back through the tunnel which he had come through. As he got to his feet and replaced the vase he tried to look natural, like he had not just snuck into to a confidential meeting. He had just begun to walk away when a voice stopped him.
"Wait, Yugi."
Yugi looked around and saw the Pharaoh standing before him. He didn't look at the Pharaoh well not directly at him; he chose a spot just above the Pharaoh's ear.
"What were you doing listening in on the meeting?"
"I was learning."
The Pharaoh eyed Yugi but still Yugi did not meet the Pharaoh's eyes.
"Learning what?"
"Learning about everything to do with Egyptian life, it is so interesting and I am going to find it all out."
There was a short silence then Yugi asked;
"How did you even know I got in through there?"
"Yugi, I grew up here I know this place inside out."
Finally their eyes meet the excited boy's and the solemn, bleary pharaoh's. But this moment said nothing, no words, no meaning.. nothing. There was something off about the Pharaoh was could be detected in his eyes as well as could be physically seen. Of course the normal Yugi would have picked this up but the Yugi standing in front of the Pharaoh did not pick up on it. So their eye contact broke, as Yugi looked away.
"I have to go now." Yugi said.
"Why?"
"Because I have so much more to see!"
Without waiting for a reply Yugi ran off leaving an utterly confused Pharaoh behind him. The Pharaoh stared after him before sighing heavily and walking in the other direction.
He walked to a balcony similar to the one he and Mana had been standing on the other night. Down below Atem could see Joey, Tristan and Tea sitting under a tree with Shimon. Atem narrowed his eyes. What was Shimon doing there? But before he could do anything someone had bear hugged him from behind.
"Hi Mana." Atem said, without even turning round.
A frustrated sign followed.
"How do you always know it's me?" Mana moaned, standing beside the pharaoh.
"Because I have known you too long."
Mana laughed, looking at the Pharaoh. She saw that he was gazing at something so she followed his gaze. She too saw Shimon talking to three, out of the four, strangers.
"Mana, What is Shimon doing?" The Pharaoh inquired.
"I think he is telling them about the rules and stuff, you know so they don't offend you or the Gods."
The Pharaoh sighed again.
"I am sure that they will not do so."
Mana smiled. She gazed out over the sand again; it didn't look as pretty during the day. Only when the sun was setting did it look pretty, by having the red colour on it. Mana gazed intently but a noise made her look round. The Pharaoh was coughing a painful, dry one. The Pharaoh felt her gaze and looked at her. It was then that Mana saw that the Pharaoh looked quite worn out, the normal colour of his skin was missing slightly.
"Are you alright, Pharaoh?"
The Pharaoh did not seem to be able to speak as he nodded. Atem leant against the balcony wall and closed his eyes feeling the soft breeze of the wind. He was trying to ignore that burning sensation which had resulted from his cough. Slowly during the day Atem's chest pain and headache had been getting worse along with the fact that Atem now had no appetite. But he had no clue what was going on and was not going to think about it. He had more important things to deal with then his own health.
"You know, I think I recognise those people." Mana thought aloud.
The Pharaoh opened his eyes and looked at Mana.
"What makes you say that?"
Mana tilted her head and stared at the strangers.
"They seem so familiar. Like we have met before."
The Pharaoh stared at her but she said no more. Atem was not sure whether she would remember that she had met Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Tea when they had fought Zorc, but it seemed irrelevant to mention this.
They stood in silence for a while Mana watching Shimon and the Pharaoh staring into space. He was trying to organise this thoughts but he could not. It was impossible to think clearly as his head would not sort through his thoughts. He let out a soft moan and rubbed his temple.
"Pharaoh, Are you ok?"
Mana waited but she got no response from the Pharaoh. She looked at him, he wasn't looking too good.
"You need to rest."
The Pharaoh shook his head. But Mana wasn't going to take his stubbornness at this point in time, the Pharaoh was not well.
"Please go and rest." She insisted.
Finally, the Pharaoh agreed and Mana watched him walk away. Something was not right with the Pharaoh but she did not know what. She sent a pray to the Gods to keep her closest friend safe.
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter :D
The ending was hard to write, I really stuck on an idea about how to end it :/
Please review with your thoughts, I love hearing what you think.
Any questions? If you do review and I will answer your questions :)
Thanks for reading, see you next time
And, Happy Easter!