Okay, here is the next chapter...
This one is dedicate to SincerelyChristina, 'cause she made me happy and like always to Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san, just because. I hope that you will like this chapter, but of course, I hope that all of you will like what you read... I'm not so sure^^"
Jonouchi broke down on his back, fighting for every breath like Mana, both for different reasons. But he wasn't focused on them. His focus was on Yuugi, examining every inch of his body for any injuries. Until now he only could find a few scratches and forming callosities on his palms.
Yuugi had a strange expression between a pout, a glare, guilt and concern. "Yami, I'm fine," he whispered barely audible, "You're the one that needs treatment." He gestured to his countless cuts all over his body and the burns on his upper arms that reached the backs of his hands.
"It looks worse than it is." Yami replied stubbornly.
Now Yuugi just glared. "Don't give me that! You wouldn't even have half of those..." His voice broke away. "If you wouldn't have to carry me." Tears formed in his eyes.
Yami brushed the tears away lovingly, trying to smile, ignoring his aching muscles together with the pain, which wasn't a simple task since his whole arms seemed to consist of nothing but pain. "Please, don't cry."
"Let me take a look." Mana, who was in her form as Dark Magician Girl, was suddenly next to them. "Master Mahad taught me a few healing spells." A handful of seconds later a light green glow enveloped his arms. "And it isn't your fault, Yuugi, if it is anyone's fault that Atemu is hurt than it is mine." She said regretfully.
"No, it's mine." Came Jonouchi's groan from the background.
Yami sighed, replaying the last events. The first obstruction they had to overcome in this round had been some kind of ropes course, with the addition of arrows that had flown their way, tons of water that occasionally had poured down on them, gust of wind out of nowhere and the nice walls of flames that had loved to stand in their way after a downpour, they weren't constantly maintained, though, giving the chance to pass them if you had been fast enough.
Mana had been the only one who hadn't needed to follow the course because of obvious reason; instead she had protected them with her magic to her best ability, also making sure that they wouldn't fall down into the bottomless depth.
After three-quarters of balancing over and clinging onto robes Yuugi hadn't had enough strength left to continue on his own, his body shaking through his aching muscles. Yami had carried him on his back from that point on.
Jonouchi, although having the most strength and stamina of the three males, had a hard task keeping his balance due to which the robes under their feet started to vibrate uncontrollable, making moving onwards hard for all of them. Sometimes Mana had needed to neglect her task of protection to catch him when he had started to fall.
"It's no one's fault. And all that matters is that we have reached this side safely." Yami finally said, just happy that all of them were alive and not hurt too badly.
Jonouchi sat up, his arms still shaking a little, "You're right." He scratched his head and then looked like he was hit by an idea. "Hey, you never told us how you figured that we had to go to this place. You just showed up and told so. Well, it obviously is the right place. I'm just curious. I mean you didn't know Yuugi when..." He trailed of sheepishly, probably feeling bad for bringing up his 3000 years of imprisonment in the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, his soul ripped apart.
Yami lowered his gaze.
~Approximately two days ago~
"Well, you better hurry it up and remember, your highness. It can't be that hard." Bakura's words rang painfully in his ears. Yami felt like punching something or sending someone to the shadow realm, especially two smug ex-villains, that had nothing better to do than to tease him merciless.
No, he shouldn't let his anger out on them. It wasn't their fault and Mariku's theory, his gut feeling was a really good one, making a lot of sense. He was sure that his friend was right, even without a proof, something inside him simply knew it was true and his instincts seldom had been wrong.
No, it definitely wasn't their fault that he couldn't remember such a little fact and that they had no problem at all. In their own mocking way they even had tried to help him.
Still, Yami had needed to get away from it all. He had waited until the others have been fast asleep, not wanting that anyone of them would follow him and constantly voice their opinions, thinking that it would be helpful, which it wasn't. Don't get him wrong, he appreciated their attempts to make him remember, but it only had the effect that he became more and more frustrated with himself. Yuugi was the only one who knew that he had left Kaiba Corp. for a night walk to get a clear head, like always understanding him the most.
Yuugi. He counted on him and here he was sulking because he wasn't able to recall one simple event. He ruffled his hair in frustration. It was kind of humiliating that both Bakura and Mariku knew exactly when they both started to care for their lights and he just couldn't. But really, he couldn't remember a time when he hadn't cared about his little one. He always had and always will, even if for some reason Yuugi should start to hate him again. Yami shook his head. He would rather forget that part of this game forever, not that he could escape it. Yuugi's eyes full of hate for him still plagued his mind. He never wanted to see that look again.
He really shouldn't think about this. One, he had no time for it and two, it still hurt, even if he knew that his little one hadn't been able to do anything about it.
Before he knew it his feet had carried him to the park. His eyes caught sight of a vending machine. Feeling a little thirsty he walked up to it. It was filled with water and the typical soft drinks but there were also cans of green tee. 'Tea helps against the stress...' Well, he was stressed out. It couldn't hurt to follow such an advice, so he bought it and sat down on the bench next to the vending machine.
Yami heaved a sigh and looked at the waning moon, wishing and praying that he would be hit by enlightenment. No such luck.
A lurking figure blocked his view. "He would love to help you, but sadly he isn't able to at this very moment." Yami could only blink at the man, whose voice was deep and serious but with a light undertone that made him sound mischievous.
The man reached out a hand and snatched away his can, shaking his head. "Green Tee. One of my favorites. But you really shouldn't drink it cold. It just hasn't the same flavor." Now his voice was full of disdain. Again Yami could do nothing but blink. What was going on? And why...?
The stranger sat down next to him and Yami could make out his sharp face, since his front was now illuminated by the pale moonlight. His lips were pulled into a smirk, his eyes seemed playful but there was unmistakable wisdom and a kind of seriousness that told him that he couldn't take this man lightly. They suited his powerful aura that demanded respect. But his loose white shirt, that brought out his tan, together with his shorts, simple sandals and his shades, that sat on his unruly hair like a crown, made him look so completely... normal.
Suddenly there was a steaming cup under his nose. "You seem restless. For such an occasion I suggest lavender tea. It will calm your nerves." He didn't take it. "Geez, Pharaoh Atemu, you should trust a little. I haven't poisoned it. Tea is too good to be wasted like that."
Reluctantly he finally took it, not wanting to insult the god that seemingly had a strange obsession with tea, and sipped the hot liquid, eyeing him with hidden interest. He wondered what the god was up to. Ra was the only one who ever had had really talked with them and that only to inform them of their situation. Yami couldn't help but feel suspicious.
"And? How do you like it?"
The friendly question ended Yami's silence. "It is quite delicious... Thank you. Please, excuse my former impoliteness." If there was a slim possibility that this god wasn't one of his enemies then he didn't want to make him one.
He received warm laugher. "Don't apologize Pharaoh Atemu. My sudden appearance must have been a shocker." That was saying it mildly. "But I'm glad that you like the tea. It's sad that my family can't appreciate it." He definitely had an obsession with it. Yami didn't know what he should make out of this. This situation was so strange and surreal. Had he fallen asleep or something without noticing? "Ah, excuse me, I forgot, I'm not here to talk about that."
The former Pharaoh cleared his throat. "May I ask why you're here?"
As an answer he nodded in the direction of the moon. "Thot won't be able to help you with your search. My brother is giving him a lecture about his constant meddling."
Slowly, his brain processed this information. "I was right? But why would he?" He whispered disbelieving but the god understood him perfectly clear.
"Thot has a very soft spot for the three hikaris, sees them as his children, which is kind of cute." The god explained as if this would be information everyone knew and nothing special, and changed his posture to a more relaxed one. "For this simple reason he helps whenever he can. Like helping your friend Ryou to get his memories back."
"Isn't that against the rules?" He had to ask. Sure, once he had answered Bakura's same question with 'nature is nature', but that was because he had believed that the god of the moon was unable to escape his own nature, not that he had helped actively. That had to be against the rules, hadn't it? Okay, he had no information whatsoever about what roles the individual gods were playing or what rules they had to follow, which was kind of unfair. But he had been more than sure that none of the gods were on their side. Apparently he had been wrong with that if this conversation truly wasn't a figment of his imagination. He could feel a headache coming. Everything was just confusing.
"Hm, it was a risk and still is, but you gave him a very good excuse for that time." His mischievous smirk returned full force. "It was amusing to see the god of wisdom and knowledge acting on impulse and how he wanted to hug you for thinking for him."
Yami starred at him. Okay, there was no way his fantasy could come up with something so ridiculous, which meant that he truly wasn't dreaming. Maybe Jonouchi hadn't been that wrong with his conclusion... At least the Egyptian gods seemed to be nothing like the stories about them suggest. Or did they just go crazy over the centuries? He shook his head, scolding himself for thinking like that. He cleared his throat. "What did you mean with 'it still is'?"
"Well, for example, he gave that insane friend of yours a little push in the right direction."
He perked up, being sure that he had heard wrong. "He did what?"
"It only was fair after that cheating stunt of my brother." His eyes flashed dangerously and for the first time a shiver of fear run down Yami's spine and he could swear that the ground was shaking. The god took a deep breath and just like that everything was calm again. "Besides, your friend already knew the answer; he just needed that little push."
"So, Mariku really is right?" He knew he should be happy about it but... "We need to go to the places where we first cared for our hikaris? Why?"
He received a blank look."That's what I just said and I'm sure you will find the answer for the why soon enough." He heaved a sigh. "Why are you so upset about it, Pharaoh Atemu?"
Yami didn't want to but felt that it would be impolite to refuse to answer. "Because I don't know when I started to care for Yuugi." He felt like stabbing himself. "It feels like I always did."
The god raised a brow but his voice was warm and empathic when he asked, "You don't know? Is that the reason you're so restless, depressed and feel so useless that I had to come down here? And here I thought that something had happened between you and your little hikari that finally gave you the rest and I had missed."
Yami blinked uncomprehending. "What are you talking about?"
He waved his hand. "Forget it. I was just a little surprised. It's not like you to be stopped from such a simple problem you already know the solution to. But then again, you humans are like that. Whenever you think you found the answer too easily you automatically think that it is wrong due to your insecurities."
Yami open his mouth to voice one of his raging thoughts but he had no chance to. "But let me spell it out for you. You just said it yourself, you always have cared for little Yuugi, since the moment your old advisor found the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, most probably even years before that. It's just not possible for you not to care. If you have forgotten: You sacrificed your own soul for your people without having to know them personally.
"Sure, back then it wasn't the same kind of care you hold for Yuugi now, but the same kind your two friends held for their counterparts all those years ago.
"Oh my, if my brother wouldn't have cheated we wouldn't need to discuss this problem that isn't one. Not that there is anything to discuss about."
Yami starred at the god after he had finished his long monologue. "Did you just tell me where to go?"
The god looked peeved. "I did no such thing. I simply stated my opinion." He got to his feet and stretched. "Well, I better take my leave."
"Why?" He didn't get any reaction. "That note was also your doing, wasn't it?"
The god turned around his expression confused. "A note? I really have to wonder what you're talking about. It nearly sounds as if you would be under the impression that I want to help you. Why ever would I do that? Couldn't there be the simple possibility that I owe it to someone? To Thot, for example?"
Yami thought about it and nodded. The god smirked and started to move away. "You should return to Yuugi. He must be worried by now. Oh and before I forget, Pharaoh Atemu," His voice dropped to a deadly tone, "If you tell anyone of our little meeting I'll declare you all as the losers of this game." Yami's eyes widened as he watched the god disappear into the night.
~Present time~
He hadn't told anyone of this strange meeting. He had wanted to share it with Yuugi but had feared the consequences. That god hadn't been kidding and everything else he had said was true. At least he believed that the odd god, which had appeared in the middle of their first task to give them his warning, had been Thot. He wasn't too sure.
He wished he would know which god it had been that night. Perhaps that would help him to understand his behavior.
Yami looked up at the curious gazes of his friends. "I'll tell you some other time." They weren't happy with the answer but let it go. "Alright, let's see what other changes they made to my tomb." It was strange to be back here in particular under these circumstances. His friends nodded, feeling that they had no time to relax.
They didn't come far.
Jonouchi was the first to hear it. "Uhm... What's that?"
"Sounds like... growling?" Yuugi answered unsure.
It was growling. They found out when they turned around and came face to face with strange creatures having similar shaped bodies as humans but heads of jackals, crocodiles, hippos and falcons. And they had deadly weapons in their hands.
Only his instincts made Yami react fast enough to pull Yuugi out of the way when one of the creatures with a falcon head swung his axe at his head.
There wasn't time to think but they all knew that they were too exhausted to try to run away. So they attacked.
"Dark Magic Attack!" Mana screamed and hit three of the creatures. They stumbled backwards, one of them losing an arm, but nothing else happened. Mana wasn't stopped by that, already planning her next move.
Jonouchi used his fist. He punched one of the jackal heads in his snout, delivering a kick to the gut right afterwards. The impact was strong enough to make the creature bend forward. With his elbow Jonouchi hit its neck hoping that it would break down like a human, which it surprisingly did.
He looked up with a smirk to look right in the throat of a hippo. Mana, who had seen it coming used that same head as trampoline and gave some more of their attackers a taste of her magic.
Jonouchi used the confusion of the hippo thing to take its arm and throw it over his shoulder. Like Mana he continued his fight. This time with a 'crocodile'.
Yami had tried to use his mind crush, but it hadn't shown any effect and he also had been unable to send them to the shadow realm, which meant that they had no soul and were somehow safely bounded to this world. Typical. Everything else would have been too easy. Yuugi, who stood right behind him, had used the time to fetch a few of his monster cards from his deck box, which Yami summoned now.
"Gaia the Fierce Knight! Queen's Knight! King's Knight! Jack's Knight!" They didn't need any orders to attack.
Focusing on their Duel Monsters and their attacks neither Yami nor Yuugi did notice how the jackal head Jonouchi had knocked out earlier started to move again. All Yami heard was Yuugi's strangled scream.
He turned sharply on his heels and couldn't believe his eyes. The creature had Yuugi at his throat, pressing him against a wall, the tip of a sword against his chest.
Without thinking Yami started to run and threw himself at the creature, strengthening his body with shadow magic. He barely was fast enough to get the thing off of Yuugi. A small stain of blood already became visible on his shirt.
Yuugi slid down the wall, clutching his chest. He took a deep breath to calm himself before he tried to get to his feet, wanting to help Yami, who wrestled with his attacker on the ground, fighting for the sword. But a movement he saw from the corner of his eyes made him stop.
Yuugi gulped. Somehow five of the creatures had managed to get passed his friends and Duel Monsters. And they were all ready to attack him.
He rolled out of the way when a spear of a 'falcon' wanted to pierce through his body. Yuugi used the same movement to get to his feet. The next moment he had to dodge two blows of a 'hippo' and 'crocodile' that both tried to bite a piece out of him.
Yami was now lying under the 'jackal' and was the new owner of the sword, which wasn't really helping him since he creature hold him down without giving him a chance to move.
Yami was pissed off. He hadn't time for this. He could feel that his aibou was in danger. He had to help him and some creature like this wouldn't be able to stop him. Never.
He could feel the 'Eye of Horus' burning on his forehead, the rising anger of the shadows and the pulsating energy that filled his whole body. He let the shadows pull him into the shadow realm. The 'jackal' fell flat on its snout. A second later Yami appeared right over it and with one swift moment beheaded the creature.
By the time he saw how Yuugi was surrounded he was downright livid. No one, no one hurt his Yuugi or even try such a thing and got away with it. Those things wouldn't know what would hit them.
I would love to get feedback but of course you don't have to if you don't want to.
I'm just curious what you think. The only thoughts I know for sure are those of my best friends that stalked me (Ihr wisst, dass ich euch liebe und das es stimmt.) and they always ask me: "Have you killed them all yet?" They would love such an ending -.-". Well, I suppose it would be kinda hilarious depending on the point of view and it was one of the three possible endings of this story I had in mind when I started it...
But, yeah... not gonna happen...
I wish you all a good week!