That night, I did research on my laptop sitting under my covers. After doing some comparing to the map Jet found, I discovered that the Shrine of the Millennium Stone was located on a land separated by a large body of water, over on the west of town in a place historically called the Valley of the Kings. So I guess the only real way to reach the shrine is by boat. All the more difficult the task will be.
'Great. Just great.'
And to make matters worse, it seems that the entire shrine had collapsed over a decade ago. It's long gone now, but we still have to get there. No matter what!
"You and Jet are still proceeding with your plan of escape?" asked my Magician Valkyria's spirit.
I nodded in reply, glancing to my right. "It's the only lead we have." My tone of voice was serious, overlapping my invisible and transparent nervousness. I clutched my hands together. "I guess it's a good thing I brought the Millennium Items with us. Sounds like we'll be needing them. And my deck."
"Then I suggest resting before tomorrow," Valkyria advised. "You and Jet will want to leave as early as possible before any of the adults figure out your scheme."
"Right," I nodded, closing my laptop, along with the only light in the completely dark room.
--
The next morning, having woken up early, I packed my small duffel bag with some snacks for the trip. All seven of the Millennium Items were inside, along with my duel disk. Once I zipped the bag closed, I looked at my deck sitting on the side table beside my bed. I picked it up. The top card on the deck was that Unity magic card.
'Looks like this is it. No turning back now.' A frown appeared upon my soft lips. 'I just wish I was able to talk to Atem last night while I slept. It'd help to get his advice about this.'
Oh well. Not like I could do anything about it now. With that in mind I also kept my parents thoughts with me. Im actually gonna find them. I slung my bag over my shoulder and quietly exited the room, careful not to wake the still sleeping Kayla. It was only sunrise, afterall. I carefully shut the door so it made only a small barely hearable click. When I turned around, I saw Jet had done just the same thing.
"You ready?" he asked.
"Always have been," I remarked back. With that we ran down the carpeted halls of the hotel floor. The map was tucked away safety in my jacket pocket, to guide us on our journey. I know my parents are watching over me, wherever they are. They're here to protect us, as we are here to save them.
"They're leaving already," Marik said as he and his sister Ishizu watched from the hotel balcony. Their eyes gazed upon out running figures as we drove away in a cab to escape the city's boundaries.
"They're very smart for their age," Izhizu commented, hugging her arms. "Brother, can you not help but worry about them?"
"I'm not worried," Marik said with a grin, folding his arms behind his white hair. "They're good kids. They can take care of themselves just fine out here." They felt a brush of wind go past them. "Besides, it's what they came here to do, according to Bakura."
"That's right," Ishizu remembered. "Fate takes people on such surprising roads."
A sound came from Marik's nose. "All when I thought we'd seen the last of the pharaoh."
"The pharaoh is communicating with Yugi's daughter," Ishizu stated, remembering what Bakura had told them at the beginning of their visit. "Only fate can tell what lies in store for us."
--
After many hours of traveling around Egypt, Jet and I found ourselves holding up pretty well for a couple of 14-year olds. We ran into strange obstacles, some scary, some funny, but all in the end just a part of the venture to our destination. And to think we cold be doing school work right now back at Domino.
As of now we were both sitting by the docks, waiting for the ferry that would take us through our final road to our finish line.
"Today has been pretty sweet," I said with a smile, relaxing and sitting on the ground near the edge of the docks, Jet sitting beside me. "A lot less restricting than home."
"That's because no one knows us here," Jet chuckled. Back home everyone would be so protective and restrictive of us because we were kids.
"Here. We can have these while we wait," I said, looking into my bag and taking out two full red apples.
"Awesome! You brought food!" Jet shouted excitingly, taking his apple.
"Don't choke now," I joked, biting into my piece after rubbing it on my shirt. We sat there a few seconds, watching the humid sea waves bounce back and forth. For once I could smell the salt from the seas as it floated secretly amist the air; rather relaxing when you look at it. I glanced at Jet, who seemed to be deep in thought about something. Kind of unusual, considering he was even holding a piece of food in his hand. Back home he would have finished the entire fruit by now. "Something on your mind, Jet?"
"Huh?" he asked, looking at me suddenly. A hint of surprise was evident in his eyes. "Oh, sorry. It's nothing."
"And you say I doze off," I said, biting the apple again. "Something bothering your back home?"
"Well duh. My parents are always bothering me at home," Jet remarked. "But that's not really it."
"So what is it? Come on you can tell me."
A blush appeared on the teen's face, unknown to me. In reality he was thinking about what his parents had told him a while ago, about him and his best friend falling for each other. Realizing where he was Jet tried to forget the entire ordeal at the moment.
"H-Hey there's our ferry!" Jet announced, standing up and seeing a boat riding over the ocean in a distance, right by the blue-red horizon. It looked pretty far but it won't be long now.
Once the ferry came we took our two bags and boarded the small ship. This ferry would be making a stop over by that west island.
"Yugi's daughter will be coming soon," said a mysterious beige wearing figure from atop the ferry. He then disappeared into thin air once the ferry began to move once more.
Riding a ferry was much more relaxing to the state of mind compared to a plane. That night I was up at the deck. The cooling wind was cold against my face, but I didn't mind. The feeling coursing through me at the moment reminded me of how I'd sit atop the school roof. guess it wasn't all that different even all the way out here. Jet came up from behind me.
"Still out here, I see," he said. "Why don't you come inside? It's pretty cold up here."
I shook my head. "I'm alright." A grin appeared on my face. "Just think. We're getting closer and closer to finding my parents."
"If we can find those God Cards first," Jet remarked. "Remember not only are we heading to the Shrine of the Millennium Stone, but we also have to look for those cards."
He had a point. I got so caught up with following the map I forgot about the Egyptian God Cards and my locket. Remembering the little trinket I picked it up in my hand, looking at its cover and resemblance to a duel monsters card. "Looking at this locket, it makes me wonder about Kaiba."
"Kaiba?"
"Yeah," I said, sounding a little weary and distant. "I've lived with Kaiba just about all my life. Makes me wonder what'll happen when I do find my parents."
"Ohh. You're wondering where you'll end up," Jet realized before looking over the railing and down into the dark ocean waters. "I never thought of the situation that way."
I gazed down at the locket once more before dropping it back to dangle from my neck. "Oh well. That's a matter for the future. Right now I'll have to focus if we want to get to the bottom of this."
"I'm sure you will," Jet smiled, placing an arm around me. It gave me warmth from the cold and I leaned my head on his shoulder tiredly, smiling faintly. I'm glad to have someone like Jet around. Not a lot of people would go through this much trouble for me, especially in this type of situation. Then again not a lot of kids have this type of adventure, traveling the world, no strict adults, knowing there's always going to be a new page of excitement every day of your life.
'I think I'm beginning to understand what Atem meant by not keeping anymore secrets.'
And for the rest of the night we stayed like that in the same position. It would be a while until we reached the island, anyhow.
--
The next morning, the ferry had made a stop on the docks of a strange island. It looked like an entire desert of canyons and rocks.
"This is where the shrine is?" Jet asked in disbelief as we got off the boat.
"Guess so," I replied, taking out the old map. This was an uncharted area, so there's no telling what's here. "We'll have to travel on foot straight ahead west. The shrine is all the way at the other end of the place."
"If we can get there," said Jet with slight worry.
Beginning to walk, we followed he path on the map as best we could. This included crossing broken rope bridges, side-climbing large rock-formations, and always dying of thirst. It wouldn't be long until our canteens would be empty.
"Ah who am I kidding, we're lost," I said depressingly as Jet and I dragged ourselves through a steep canyon. "This map's useless. How long have we been wandering this place, anyhow?"
Jet looked at his watch. "About an hour or so."
"Ugh." I hung my head low, my arms dangling downward like a zombie. I practically feel like one at this point. However, when I brought my head up I saw something in the distance; a man in a long white robe and white cloth around his head.
"Who's that?" I muttered under my breath.
"You're probably getting some desert hallucination, Amet. Forget about it," Jet said next to me.
Hallucination or not I still could see a man far off.
"Follow that man,"said my Magician's Valkyria. "Trust me."
I nodded and brought my neck back into an upright position, starting to run as if I had just drank a gallon of water. Jet looked up as well, a bewildered expression appearing. "Amet where're you going?!"
"Come on! We're almost at the shrine!" I shouted, still running to catch up to the white-robbed man. Jet groaned and held his head back before running after me. Although I couldn't help but feel the connection. We were close, and there's no denying it.
By the time we caught up to the place where I saw that stranger, he was gone, as if the sand of the desert ground below us had whisked him away. "Where'd he go?" I said to myself, Jet arriving behind me and out of breath.
"Amet I think you should rest. You're delusional," Jet said with his hands on his knees.
"Am not!" I shouted back. But it was way too hot for me to yell at any high volume right now. Suddenly a calming expression appeared on my face as I noticed something beside us. It was a huge pile of rocks and boulders. Was this it?
"Amet?" Jet asked, standing up straight amd waving his hand in front of my face.
"This is it," I said, starring at the desert rocks. "This is the shrine."
The boy beside me arched an eyebrow. "Like I said before, you're delusional. This is junk."
"No you dolt. I read online that the shrine was caved in over a decade ago. The shrine must be under all this," I explained, bending down to get a few small boulders out of the way.
"You're kidding me."
"Would I be doing this if I were kidding?" I argued, looking up. Jet sighed and threw his bag, helping me. Soon enough we found an entrance on the ground. A hole. Taking a rope I brought I tied it to a larger boulder.
"Now what's the plan?" Jet asked with slight anxiety as he tried to catch his breath.
"We're going down," I replied, pulling to the rope to make sure its secure. "What else do you expect us to do from here on out? Leave this consicuous hole lying around fro graverobbers?" If there were are graverobbers anymore.
Jet's eyes cracked. "Okay. I've walked through a desert. I've acted as a human bulldozer. But I am not jumping down a hole."
"Want me to go alone?" I said back, getting ready to jump.
He blinked his eyes. "Ladies first?"
I sighed and rolled my eyes. Well here goes. I jumped off the ledge and down into the darkness, holding onto the rope strapped around my hands. Soon enough I reached the ground, which seemed as solid as stone. Some grains of sand were present from when they fell through the edges of the hole above. Looking up I noticed it was like gazing at the sun, seeing how dark it was down here. "Alright Jet! It's safe!"
As Jet took his turn to go down the hole, I lit up an oil lantern from my bag to light up the place. Once Jet was settled and I adjusted my eyes, we gazed at the sight. It was like an Egyptian tomb of some sort. Hieroglyphics on the wall, a platform stone altar, and on the platform alter was another hole leading down into deeper darkness. Some fallen pillars were present around the room, showing that this wasn't the stablest of places to be in.
"Let's make this quick. I have a feeling this place could cave in at any minute," I said, shinning the lanturn in all directions.
Jet made a scoffing sound. "It's a 5000-year old shrine. What were you expecting? A mall?"
"Oh quit it," I said, throwing him a flashlight from my bag. As we investigated the room, I went up the three small steps and looked at the hole by the alter. It made me wonder where it lead. Taking a coin from my pocket I flipped it off my thumb and watched it drop it down, then listened to hear it drop to the bottom. I never did, for it never came.
Jet whistled. "Deep hole."
"Clearly," I said, standing back up. "You think that's where you enter the realm of shadows?"
Jet looked down it one more time. "I don't think I really wanna find out unless I have some parachute or something."
"You have finally arrived," said a strange man's voice, making us jump and turn around, pointing out lights in the same direction. Our of the shadows emerged the white-robed man.
"It's you," I gaped, walking a step closer. "You're that man I saw before up on the surface."
"That is correct," said the man. "My name is Shadi, protector of the Millennium Items."
"Weeiird," Jet mumbled. I ignored him.
"So you know about the Millennium Items?" I asked unclear. Just because the guy looked all mysterious and expertise on Egyptian artifacts didn't mean I could trust him as one of the good guys just yet.
"Yes. And I believe you know about these," Shadi continued, holding up three cards from his long sleeve.
Jet and I gasped. "The Egyptian God Cards," we both said. Obelisk the Tormentor. Slifer the Sky Dragon. And the Winged Dragon of Ra.
Shadi nodded. "You are Amunet Mutou, daughter of Yugi Mutou."
"Y-Yes," I answered. Maybe we really had no choice but to trust this guy. He has what we want.
"How did you get those cards?" Jet interrogated.
"Did my father leave those cards with you?" I added.
He nodded. "Many years ago your father came to this very place with the pharaoh for the ceremonial duel. And much later as of recently he returned, seeking the same force that had once endangered the world."
"So this was the last place my parents were before they disappeared," I realized, staring at Shadi. Jet turned around and towards the hole. Could Yugi and Tea have jumped down that hole somehow?
"And your father left me with these," Shadi continued. "For reasons I can not reveal your parents have traveled to the shadow realm."
"The shadow realm," I repeated in a gasp. Have they been trapped there this entire time? "Why would they want to go there? How did they get there?"
"Through the pleads with the Egyptian Gods your parents were granted access to this dark world," Shadi told. "According to the Millennium Stone, its ancient inscribing foretold 'To the spirit world thou may proceed, but though must first complete this deed. Return the items wence they came, and speak aloud the pharoah's name.' Apparently this procedure no longer takes you to the spirit world, but to the shadow realm."
"And that's what happened to my parents," I finished in realization. That horrible place? The Shadow Realm? That's where my parents have been stuck in all these years...? "Please, what do we have to do to bring them back?"
"Wait a minute, hold up!" Jet shouted, running up to my side. "Are you saying you want to go to the placce where they've been stuck in for almost a decade?"
"Its what we came here to do, isn't it?" I pointed out.
"The Millennium Stone has disappeared down the hole when they were first returned. But now that the Millennium Items had been resurrected to our world, you must return them."
"Seems simple enough," I said, looking at my bag where the seven Millennium Items were held.
Shadi narrowed his eyes. "But the powers of the items have been sealed away, have they not?"
"Your locket," Jet remembered as I opened it, taking out the card with the eye on it.
"I believe you'll be needing these," Shadi said, handing me the three legendary Egyptian God Cards. "Now, return the Millennium Items to their former resting place then hold the four cards up to the Eye of Oja."
Nodding, I turned myself around, clutching onto the strap of my bag. I can not believe I'm doing something like this. No turning back now.
IN THE NEXT CHAPTER...
"This is for you, Dad," I whispered, kissing the puzzle before dropping it down the hole. I closed my eyes, making a silent prayer that I'd be able to find him and Mom.
--
'This feeling...' I said inside my mind. 'It feels so scary... But I know I'll be alright.' I gripped Jet's hand tighter. 'I know it.'
--
"Then, you must be my mom," said the little girl, Jet and I widening our eyes.
Well, here's another chapter. Yup....
Sorry. I'm just so bored at the moment. I wanted to have a reunion with my old middle school friends again on Saturday, but it never happened because it rained, hard.
Besides that I need advice from whoever's willing to say something. My best friend likes this girl, and she likes my best friend back. And everyone, including me, says they should just get together already. But they're both REALLY shy. Seriously.
And thus, leading here, my best friend is asking me for advice. Though I have no idea what to say to that. He's been trying to 'officially' ask her out, but is always interrupted by SOMETHING. If you know how to help him, please tell me.
In motivation of, whoever, I won't publish the next chapter until I get at least 8 more reviews. Whether it goes for the story or for the advice thing, whatever.
Happy Sunday everyone!