Hey all, I just wanted to point out that though I've had this story on my hard drive for many years, I'm still tweaking and improving it (like, the first chapter originally was continuously switching the POV and it was really bad so I changed that lol). So if you see mistakes or if something doesn't make sense...please let me know.
Onward to Necropolis!
Chapter 1
The town was bustling, full of people going about their day without seemingly a care in the world. A mother and her son were browsing for fruits at a nearby stand, and a couple of kids were trying to steal a scrap of meat from a vendor next to that. The man behind the counter would catch them, chase away the laughing children and then walk back to his shop, grumbling as if it happened every day. Everything seemed as it should…and it made Yami uneasy.
He, Yugi, Solomon, Tea, Tristan and Joey were all sent to this strange world by accident. He and Yugi were separated from the rest of the group which made their first day here quite…stressful. So, seeing everyone else in this town walk around seemingly without a care in the world felt as out of place as they were.
"What did she say, Yami?" a voice asked.
Yami looked to see Yugi, waiting for him where he said that he would. Yami had gone inside this woman's house…Hamah she said her name was. She offered to give them advice on the town an even a map, for which Yami was grateful. Yugi offered to stay outside so when Yami emerged, naturally Yugi would be curious.
However, they were getting strange looks wherever they went, probably by the clothing that they wore. Whoever passed him would give him strange looks and walked by at the far end of the walkway, as if they were afraid that they would catch their weirdness. Yami could only guess that it was because of the clothing that they wore. He and Yugi were still wearing the blue school uniforms of Domino High. Seeing this made Yami anxious to get out of town before discussing what he had learned.
"I'll tell you in a minute. Did you see any of them?"
"No…" Yugi sighed dejectedly. "They must not be in this town. I'm sure I would have heard Joey's voice by now if they were near by."
Yami nodded. He expected as much but it was still saddening. They needed to get out of this world as soon as possible and they couldn't do that if they were separated.
"Let's get out of this town and I'll tell you what she told me."
"Yeah, good idea…"
If only a few people were looking before, that paled in comparison to now since Yami emerged from the house. Everyone was still going about their daily business but it was as if they were unable to look at anything else, and mostly everyone was doing it. A man walked into another man because he wasn't watching where he was going. A woman knocked over a fruit display, scattering the strange melons all over the ground. It was almost as if they never saw two strange people look so similar before.
"It's like they've never seen a school uniform before…" Yugi said as they walked down the road. A couple of children pointed and laughed as they passed.
"They probably haven't," Yami said leading the way. Luckily the exit to the town was only a few blocks down, and they didn't have to go past too many people. Just as they got past the exit, they passed the town guard who greeted them on their way in.
"Hold on a minute boys," the guard said. He seemed to be a little older with a couple of scars running down his face but looked good natured all around. Still, Yami felt looked nervous when they turned to look at him. "I know you're new to these parts, but if you two are going to be traveling around, just make sure to stay clear of that building right there."
The guard pointed to a building that looked to be a couple miles away. The entire town was surrounded by green hills and mountains in the distance, and the mountains stood out. However, the building that the guard pointed out stood out even more. It was larger than your average house for the town but smaller than it seemed. It was made of stone and seemed to have one or two rooms to it. However, what made it look eerie was the spiked pillars that stood up from each of its corners. Even from as far away as they were, a mixture of Crows and Ravens could be seen perched on the roof near the doorway, as if waiting for something. To top it all off, a single dead tree stood next to it to make it look like the most uninviting building they had ever laid eyes on. Even from the front gates of town, a chill could be felt emanating from the building.
"What is that place?" Yami asked. The guard grunted.
"A hideout for bandits mostly, but the building's called, 'The House of the Dead.' A long time ago people used to worship the goddess of the dead, Meridia. But now no one goes there that much seeing as how there's rumors of malevolent workings going on in that place. It's just best to stay clear, alright?"
Yugi and Yami looked at each other and then back to the guard and nodded.
"We will, thank you!" Yugi said and he and Yami walked off to a more secluded location.
There weren't too many trees out near that side of town, but they did manage to find one not too far away where no one was at. They settled underneath the shade of the large tree. It was nice to get away from the staring onlookers of town.
"Alright, so what did she say?" Yugi said looking at Yami expectantly. Yami started looking nervous.
"Apparently we're in a land called, 'Necropolis.'"
"Necropolis? Isn't that a name for a kind of graveyard or something?" Yugi said with a raised eyebrow. "It doesn't exactly sound inviting…"
"No, it doesn't." Yami said. The House of the Dead seemed to loom over them in the distance. "She is also familiar with other people who are from our…dimension and she said that some of them know of a way we can get back home."
"There are other people from back home here?"
"Apparently."
"Awesome! So…did she say where they are?"
Yami sighed. "No, but she advised us to avoid the castle on top of the mountain. That's where the King lives and apparently he doesn't like foreigners."
"Okay, and where is that?"
Yami pointed to one of the mountains in the distance. At the very top loomed a palace that seemed to grow from the rock itself, and take shape. Fog twisted around the building like a cloak. It was almost as large as the mountain that it grew on and from this far away, they wondered how large it looked up close.
"Did she say why?" Yugi sighed. Yami shook his head.
"She wasn't clear, but apparently there's a war going on between the King and from people from our dimension."
Silence reigned for a minute as they both thought about it.
"Do you want to try and find Grandpa and the others first? They might still be around somewhere...as long as no more freak storms happen again." said Yugi.
"That's true," Yami nodded thinking back to earlier that day. The six of them were traveling together, new to the dimension when a tornado came out of nowhere. One minute they were together and the next, everyone had disappeared. As soon as the tornado came, it disappeared, and Yami wondered if it really was a tornado, or someone's way of splitting them up. Thinking of how they got here in the first place, Yami figured that it was entirely possible. "We can stay in this town for another day, gather provisions and maybe ask the townsfolk if they saw any of our friends. Maybe everyone else will have wandered into to town like we did."
"Hopefully no one is too afraid to talk to us." Yugi rolled his eyes, obviously thinking back when everyone in the market was staring at them. Yami smiled in remembrance.
"Hey, maybe we can-"
He cut himself off as the sound of rumbling cut across the hillside. The two teens looked behind them to see about ten men dressed in a type of garb that hid their faces except for their eyes. All of them were on horses galloping straight for them. Yami and Yugi stood in alarm.
Before they knew it, all ten of them were on them at once. Five stayed on their horses and circled them like a flock of vultures. The other five hopped on the ground and circled Yami and Yugi.
"Who are you?" Yami yelled out, trying to sound intimidating, but all the men just laughed. The outfits they were wearing were all black and the only thing they could see of their features were their eyes, which looked cruel and unwavering.
One of the men on a horse yelled, "Take them!"
At once, all five men came down upon them, and before they could do anything, Yugi and Yami were bound tightly with rope, and thrown to the ground.
"W-what is the meaning of this?!" Yami yelled but his question fell to deaf ears. Instead of answering, he felt himself be lifted and placed on top of one of the horses. He heard Yugi protest so Yami could safely assume the did the same to him.
It a couple of minutes, they were galloping away from the town, to where Yami had no idea. He couldn't see where they were going but they were riding very quickly. What was going on? Why were they being taken against their will?
It took about five minutes but the men slowed down their steeds, and Yami was able to look up to see where they were.
It was the House of the Dead.
The place didn't look any more inviting up close than it did back in the town. In fact, it looked worse. Human skulls were littered around the front of the entrance and Yami saw out of the corner of his eye the beginnings of a cemetery on the side of the building. The grave markers were a mixture of old and new looking ones, and most of them were either standing sideways or crumbled in certain places.
Yugi exchanged a nervous glance with Yami as the men got dismounted and pulled them down from the horses.
"Hey, why are you doing this?" Yugi asked. His question was ignored as well.
One of the men in the front started talking with the others. His voice was prideful as if he knew exactly where he fit in the food chain and planned to exploit it.
"Now you are sure you counted properly? These two will make one thousand?"
"Positive Chief. Once this is over, you'll have whatever you need."
The Chief sighed and looked towards the ominous building. "I'd better."
"Hey hello?! What do you plan on doing with us?" Yugi dared to ask. All he got as a response were glares from all the men, which Yami figured was an improvement. At least they could hear them.
"Let's go," the Chief yelled, and he led the way into the House of the Dead. Yami felt himself get pushed towards the entrance and there was little they could do to resist.
The building was made up of white and grey stone that was seemingly melded together. The stones stood up for almost two stories until the stone took on the pillar shapes at the very top. There were no windows and only one door in the front, which is what they walked through to get in, while trying to avoid stepping on any skulls.
Once inside, Yami and Yugi saw that the main room was a large chamber filled with torches hanging either on the wall or on the ceiling. On the walls, glyphs and runes were seemingly carved into the stone. In some spots, there were only a few, but in others, it looked as if though someone had tried to write their entire life's story upon the building. Pictures of people dying in various ways were drawn around the writing, almost like a grotesque storybook. There was one picture of a child hanging from a tree, and another of an old man being dropped into a grave. There were pictures of skeletons in cages and people being set on fire.
However, that wasn't as scary as the floor. It was made up of what looked like polished granite, but it looked far from clean. Splatters of dried blood covered it, and a lot went up the walls, and went into some of the glyphs and pictures. It was as if a child had gone too far with their finger-painting.
In the far corner of the room, next to what looked like a doorway into another room, sat a pile of human bones about three feet high and five feet in diameter. A few more skulls could be seen mixed in with the other bones, their empty eye sockets staring into the void. The entire place smelled of death, and impending doom fell upon the two teens as the door they came through closed behind them. The sound echoed throughout the place with loud finality, as if the building knew that they were about to die.
Yugi and Yami were pushed to the ground, and Yami felt his bindings being undone.
"W-what are you doing?" Yugi said loudly. However, a quickly glance with Yami told each other what they already knew. Yugi decided to rephrase his question as all the ropes were undone and he and Yami were free to move around. "Why are you doing this?"
The Chief walked up to them as the other nine men took a step back. Apparently, the Chief had a lot of respect with his men.
"Don't fret boys," he said bringing out a knife from inside his pocket. Its polished metal glittered in the firelight almost threateningly. "The two of you will be sacrificed to Lady Meridia for a noble purpose. This Kingdom has gone under frightening transformations over the years thanks to our new King, and so I plan to fix the problem."
"And how does killing us allow you to do that?" Yami said. He kept an eye on the wooden door they came through in case the need for a quick escape arose. Until then, he wanted to distract the Chief for as long as possible.
It was almost as if the Chief smiled at that. "With the energy of all of her sacrifices, she will bestow upon the worthy, an army. And not just any old army, but an army of that of the dead."
"…A dead army?"
The chief started to polish his knife with his robes. "Imagine all of the people in the world who have died and cannot die again…because they are already ghosts. They are returned as phantoms, able to be summoned whenever the person chooses to carry out his will. Those specters can slaughter anything in their path, and add the slain to their ranks…and I will be their sole commander."
Yami and Yugi started to back up slowly as the chief started to advance on them. Strangely, the other nine men stayed behind.
"You're insane," Yami said. He was hoping to find more to distract the chief with, but his panic was overriding his thought process. Their odds didn't look good. If this man wanted to attack them, nothing was going to save them here, not to mention, there were nine others waiting by the door. Yami looked behind him and saw the other doorway leading into a dark room. Hopefully there was a way out there.
"You'll see just how insane this Kingdom has become once I'm done with it. On second thought, no you won't. You'll both be dead."
Just as the Chief finished speaking, Yami grabbed Yugi by the wrist and almost dragged him along, running towards that doorway.
"Woah, Yami-"
"Let's go!"
They ran into the room, and it looked almost exactly as the room before it did, except for two major factors. Only two torches lit this room, making it much darker than the last. In the dim lighting he could see the runes on the floor swirled in a certain pattern, all reaching the very middle of the room. It wasn't full of splatters of dried blood like the other room, but the room itself held a stronger scent of death for some reason. The room curved like a circle, but there was no other exit.
Unfortunately for Yugi and Yami, it was a dead end. They both backed up until they were in the middle of the room.
All ten men rushed inside, blocking the exit as the chief came walking up to them.
"This room's forbidden boys," the Chief said, his voice dangerously low. "You shouldn't be in here."
"Then let us go!" Yugi yelled. In an undertone, he said to Yami, "I'll distract him, you come in from behind."
Yami blinked to show he understood. The man in front of them spoke.
"Oh, don't worry. I plan to."
Suddenly, the Chief ran up to them, with the dagger pointed in their direction. Yami stepped to the side while Yugi backed up, but the Chief seemed to know their plan a head of time. Instead of being distracted by Yugi, he went after Yami, trying to stab him in any place he could. Luckily Yami was able to get out of the way in time, but the Chief was persistent in backing Yami into a corner. Yugi, seeing that Yami was in danger, ran up to help.
"Stop this!" Yugi held the Chief's arm to hold him back, which only made the man angry.
"Get…off…boy!" he yelled, trying to shake Yugi off. In the meantime, Yami manages to find his footing.
"Take, this!" Yami curled his hand into a fist and punched the Chief in the jaw. There were several ooooooooh's from the men standing at the doorway. Yami paid them no heed as he advanced on the chief again.
Yami's punch didn't knock down the Chief like he had hoped, and it only seemed to have made him angrier. With renewed strength, the Chief knocked Yami backwards with a swift kick. Without missing a beat, he then was able to shake Yugi off of his arm and knock him to the ground as well. The Chief then hovered over Yugi.
"Send my regards to Meridia for me," The Chief said. In one swift movement, he adjusted the knife in his hand and then thrust it downwards sending the blade through Yugi's chest.
"Aaarrghh-" Yugi cried out for a second before coming silent, his voice echoing throughout the entire building. As he fell fully to the floor, the Chief stood back to admire his handiwork, appearing satisfied.
"No, Yugi!" Yami yelled, fearing the worst. In his desperation and fear, he recklessly ran up to the man and once again punched him squarely in the face.
This time, the act knocked the Chief onto the floor, and he even slid a couple of feet. There were a couple of groans from the other nine men in the back but Yami paid no attention to them. He instead kneeled down next to his fallen partner, unsure of what to do.
"Yugi?" Yami said, his voice wavering. He eased Yugi onto his back and looked at the wound. The blade was sticking out from the left side of his chest, and blood was quickly spreading from the wound. Yami looked at Yugi's face, and saw that he had his eyes shut tight, as if trying to ward off the pain. He was getting paler every second, and his breath was coming out in short bursts. Yami knew he had to help him fast.
"Yugi, listen." he said quickly, ignoring the fact that the Chief was getting to his feet. "I'm going to pull this out of you, alright?"
Yugi didn't answer, so Yami decided against wasting any time. He grabbed the handle and tried to pull it out. Yugi gasped and opened his eyes wide. The Chief chuckled a few feet away.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said snidely.
Yami ignored him and tried to keep his voice even. "Sorry Yugi, but I need to get this out of you!"
He pulled harder on the knife, and slowly, it came loose and Yami was able to pull it out completely. What Yami didn't count on was that Yugi started to bleed more once the knife was pulled out. He dropped the knife and quickly put pressure on the wound as Yugi started to breathe faster.
"Hold on Yugi," Yami said quietly. "We're going to get out of here, alright?"
"It's hopeless actually," the Chief said. Yami looked up at him quickly anger flaring up inside him.
"Why you-"
"I'm good at what I do, and once I hit my target, there's never much hope."
Yami was going to yell something at him but then Yugi started coughing, and that diverted his attention away from the man.
"Yugi-" Yami started but Yugi cut him off.
"Y-yami…" he coughed. Yami could see the light leaving his eyes and his breathing was starting to become more ragged.
"No, stay with me alright?"
"I'm s-sorry…" he said quietly. A small amount of blood came from the side of his mouth. Suddenly, Yami could feel the life leaving his friend.
"No, No!"
But it was too late. Yugi's body relaxed and his breathing stopped, and then Yami realized that he was gone for good. He rested Yugi in the crook of his arm and shook him.
"No Yugi, you can't do this! Wake up!" Yami's voice wavered again and he could feel the weight of the situation crushing down on him. His best friend…his partner…the one who was practically his brother…was gone, and nothing could bring him back. Frozen in shock, tears ran down his face as he absorbed the information. "Please…"
"Yes, let your anguish feed Meridia," The Chief laughed. "Your energy will be exactly what she needs for her to grant me my army."
There was laughter from the Chief's men that echoed around the walls of the room yet Yami ignored them. Either a few seconds passed or ten minutes. Yami really didn't pay any attention to time because even that was pointless now. The Chief's whole idea seemed pointless, the building was pointless, even his own life didn't seem to have meaning now as he sat there in front of Yugi's body. What would he do now since he was alone? He couldn't even imagine it.
Yami thought about it and in a second, decided that it would probably be best if this man killed him after all. He couldn't bear coming out of this alive and having to live the rest of his life without Yugi. It just didn't seem right. This would be one duel he did not win. He gently set Yugi down and slowly stood up to face the Chief, tears in his eyes.
"Fine, you win…Kill me."
The chief laughed as did all nine of the men who followed him. They started to walk closer, sensing that the end of the fight was near.
"It's that bad, eh boy?" he said picking up the knife that Yami pulled out of Yugi. He looked at it, as if admiring the blood that ran along the blade. "Fine. Allow me to relieve you of your anguish."
The Chief walked right up to him, and raised the dagger. Yami looked away, fully intending to die just as Yugi had…
Suddenly, all of the runes and glyphs that lined the walls and floor started glowing a bright green light. The Chief paused and looked around in alarm, then relaxed. He turned back towards Yami.
"It seems that Meridia is anxious for me to kill you." he raised the knife again. "Allow me to make this quick."
Before he could land the blow, the light started glowing brighter until it reached a blinding state. A spectral wind picked up confusing all the men and causing everyone's clothing to ripple in response. The light was so blinding that the Chief stopped what he was doing and shielded his eyes from the glare.
"W-what is the meaning of this Meridia?" the Chief looked angry and alarmed at the same time.
The nine other men started to panic, unsure of what was going on. Yami looked on with half interest, sort of angry that the light had interrupted the Chief from killing him.
Suddenly, the light started to coalesce into a ball right above them, swirling almost like a vortex and growing bigger. It only took a few seconds to grow exponentially. Once it got to the size of a car, it then came down hard right next to where Yami and the Chief were standing. The force was so strong, that it made a blast wave that knocked both Yami and the Chief several feet away. Yami got up quickly at the same time to see what was going on, as did the Chief.
"What?" Yami looked at the bright green light in confusion. The blast shook him out of his depressed state and he was suddenly alert. The light stayed where it was, pulsating right next to where they were standing just seconds ago. Then he realized. "Wait…Yugi's there!"
Even though he knew that Yugi was dead, the sight of the light encompassing his body unnerved him. He tried to walk over to where the light was to see if the light would dissipate, but whenever he got to a certain point, a strong burst of energy would push him back to where he was. He looked over to the Chief.
"What's going on?" he asked him. However, the man in question wasn't paying attention to anything else but the light. If looks could kill, the light would have faded into nothingness within a second, because the Chief was glaring at it with utter loathing.
"Meridia!" he yelled. "What are you doing?! The army is mine!"
Suddenly, arcs of green lightening started to shoot through the ceiling. None of them would touch the ground, but it made the air feeling electrified. The light around Yugi suddenly started to grow larger and brighter until it encompassed everything and everyone inside that room. Yami covered his eyes from the blinding light and the sounds of all ten men screaming filled the air…
Then, as soon as it started, it stopped. Yami opened his eyes to see that green light had vanished. Even the runes on the floor and walls were as dull as ever and glow-less. Once his eyes adjusted back to the darkness of the room, Yami looked over to the Chief to ask him what that was all about. However, he then realized that the Chief was on the ground. In fact, all ten men lay on the cold stone floor as still as the grave.
"W-what happened?!" Yami looked around to see if anyone would stir. No one did. He walked over to the Chief and shook him but there was no response. Yami braved himself and checked his pulse. There was none. The Chief's eyes were wide and his mouth open as if in shock. "Hey…. anyone alive?" His voiced echoed off the walls in an eerie finality. Nobody moved.
Looking around, Yami guessed that the same fate came upon all ten men. But why? What was that green light, and how did these men die? The Chief had said that it was the Goddess of Death, Meridia. Was it true?
And how was he still alive? Everyone else was dead but him. Why didn't the light affect him? Yami almost wish that it had. The crushing guilt was starting to overcome his emotions and it was all he could do to not break down right then and there.
A small amount of movement caught Yami's eye and he realized that it came from Yugi's body, which was in the same position he left it before the light came. Not thinking anything of it, he slowly walked over, sadness overwhelming him.
"No…No!" Yami kneeled back down, still not fully able to cope with what just happened. Everyone was dead…he would be the sole survivor. Maybe he could give Yugi a burial worthy of a king…and then what? Did he even want to bother trying to find their friends anymore? Could he even face them? What about getting home? Yami wasn't even sure if he wanted to go back. Everyone would associate him as the guy who failed Yugi and got him killed. Yami wasn't sure if he could live with that.
It was then that Yami noticed the movement again. It was subtle yet Yami was positive that he saw it. With his breath caught in his throat, he stared at Yugi wondering what he saw, and then he realized that his chest was rising and falling steadily…almost as if he was breathing.
Wait…
He's breathing…
Yugi's alive?!
"W-what?!" Yami felt his pulse to be certain, and sure enough it was there albeit it was weak.
But it was there.
"But the knife…"
Yami shakily lifted up Yugi's shirt to see what the stab wound looked like. His eyes widened when he couldn't see the wound. There was a lot of blood still on him but he felt the area and realized that the wound had disappeared completely.
The wound was gone…
"H-how?" Yami thought back to the green light that had engulfed everybody and wondered if that was to blame. "Maybe…magic?"
Yami shook his head. He couldn't believe that Yugi was alive. Relief and gratitude swelled up inside him like an over inflated balloon. All of those negative thoughts were swept away in a quick second. Although saddened by the other men who died, he was also happy that he and Yugi could continue living life together. He once again laid Yugi's head on the crook of his arm and gently shook him.
"Yugi, wake up!"
However, Yugi did not stir.
"Yugi!" he called again but there was just no response. Yami started to get nervous again.
"Yugi, please don't die on me again. I can't…" Yami's words died as he thought of the possibilities again but tried to keep the negative thoughts from his mind. He checked Yugi's pulse again and it was still there as the same as it was. Yami looked at him for any other signs of life but didn't see any.
Yami tried for another few minutes but was unable to get him to wake up. He started to get worried that there was something still wrong with him. Would being dead for a short while make him sick? What did that light do?
With those thoughts in mind, Yami cradled Yugi in his arms and walked out of the room intent on finding medical care for him as soon as possible. He had to be careful not to step on the bodies of all the men littered around the doorway. Though slightly guilty that he was going to leave them there, Yami was able to get over this quickly. It was either this or get sacrificed…
Going through the next room was difficult too, as Yami tried not to think of all the people that died in there so that the Chief could obtain an army that he would never actually get.
And what was this army anyway? How could a God give that sort of power? Why would it want to?
Once outside, Yami ran as fast as he could away from the House of the Dead and back towards the town. He now realized why it was called such and had no desire to return there. When Yami was half way towards the town, he stopped to catch his breath and looked back towards the building. Vultures replaced the Ravens and Crows, and they circled over the building with slow grace. It looked even more menacing now that he knew what was inside, and of all the people that died inside its borders. He suddenly realized how close they were to becoming part of those numbers…
A half an hour later, Yami reached the entrance to the town. Quite a few hours had passed since they were first there and the sun was starting to set in the horizon. Despite that, the same guard that had warned them of the House of the Dead in the first place was still standing at his post. He looked alarmed when Yami came up with Yugi in his arms.
"What's going on here?"
"Quickly, can you tell me where I might find a doctor?" Yami panted and shifting Yugi in his arms. He didn't realize until now that there was a lot of Yugi's blood on the both of them. It had started to dry but that didn't make it look any better. The man looked down at Yugi and back up at Yami.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but you should take your friend to our Healer. He doesn't look so good."
"Yes, that. Tell me, where can I find that?"
"Why, that's the old woman you were visiting before. Her name's Hamah, remember? Didn't she tell you what she did?" the guard looked at him with a curious look.
"Ah…no she did not."
"Well, now you know where our healer is, eh?" the guard waved him off. "Get going."
"Yes," Yami said starting to walk away. "Thank you."
As he was walking, Yami thought back to the lady they had visited earlier and told them what they needed to do to get back to their world. She had found him and Yugi right after they were separated from everyone else and brought them back to town to get them acquainted with the area. She even gave them a map of Necropolis, which he didn't even get to show to Yugi yet.
He looked down at Yugi and was growing more worried. Yami was afraid that Yugi would suddenly die again without notice, so he was checking on him every few minutes. However, nothing had changed. While Yugi wasn't getting any worse, he wasn't getting better, and Yami was glad that he was on his way to the healer.
It only took another five minutes to get back to the house and he knocked on the door. The door opened within a couple of minutes and an old lady stepped out. She was short and plump and had a slightly hunched back. Her white braided hair grew past her waist and her bangs only went to her eyebrows. She adjusted the small blanket that she had draped over her shoulders and looked up at Yami as if waiting for an explanation.
"Hamah-"
"Come in," she said suddenly, stepping aside. "Quickly."
Yami didn't argue and did as he was told. He walked into her small house and took a sweeping glance of the room. It looked the same as it did earlier that day. Fresh herbs were on a table in front of a cot that was half as tall as he was. Shelves were littered with varying different types of stones and rocks that seemed to glitter in the lighting of the room. In the next room was the kitchen which was littered with more herbs. A small fire was burning in a fireplace in that space, and inside it was a pot with steam shooting out from the cracks in the lid. While Yami saw all of this earlier, he never made the connection that Hamah could be a healer of sorts. While at the time, he did have a lot on his mind, Yami was now glad that he met Hamah for at least this very reason.
Once the Hamah closed the door, she turned and looked at Yami with an accusing stare.
"What happened?" she said.
Yami blinked. He had the feeling that she had an idea of what happened, but he told her the story anyway. When he was finished, he had put Yugi up on the cot and she was looking him over.
"Well, you're right," Hamah said. "His wound is completely gone. There's no trace of it anywhere."
"Then what's wrong with him?" Yami said. "Would his condition have something to do with that light?"
Hamah seemed thoughtful and then looked up at him.
"It's very possible. I know where you two are from, and I know that magic in your dimension isn't like the magic here. In Necropolis…it's very real, powerful and used very often. The Veil here is different. You'll come to know that soon enough. So really, there is no other explanation as to Yugi's condition."
"Is there anything you can do?"
Hamah looked at him and smirked confidently. "That's what I do. I know you're not used to the way I do things so I'll tell you first."
Hamah sighed and looked down at Yugi. "I'm going to first use my energy to find out the problem or source of his condition. If I can find it, then I will use healing energies to make the symptoms disappear. Does that make sense?"
Yami nodded. "I think so."
"Good. Now be still for a moment…"
Hamah closed her eyes, lifted her hands and put her palms down on Yugi's chest. A yellow aura appeared around her, and Yami was surprised as to how warm it felt, even from a couple of feet away. Suddenly, it shifted and slowly crawled its way onto Yugi, covering him like a sheet. She sat there for a few minutes before the yellow aura disappeared. When she opened her eyes, she appeared troubled.
"What's wrong?" Yami asked.
"His energy is…different somehow. I've never felt anything like that before."
Yami started to get nervous. "Is it bad?"
"I'm not certain. One thing's for sure though: His body underwent some sort of transformation that robbed him of most of his energy. I can give him an Elixir that will restore some of it, but he will need to be given time to recover on his own."
"…So, he will be okay?"
Hamah smiled slightly, giving her face more wrinkles. "For the most part, yes. While this energy I feel is disturbing, I am sure he will make a full recovery."
Yami sighed in relief. He couldn't believe that only a little while ago, Yugi lay dead at his feet, and now here was a healer telling him that everything was going to be okay. This whole day was full of twist and turns to last a lifetime…or two.
"Yami…" Hamah said. "You're sure Yugi was dead? Are you positive of what you saw?"
Yami looked up at her and realized how nervous she looked all of a sudden. He nodded at her question.
"Yes. But is there any magic that you know of that can bring the dead back to life?"
"…No." she said. "It worries me that such a magic can exist at all. There is a reason why this land is named, 'Necropolis.'"
"But wait, the men that captured us said that the House of the Dead was for the Goddess of the Dead. What if a goddess has that kind of power?"
Hamah looked thoughtful. "I doubt that. I was taught that nothing, even a god, was capable of that sort of power."
"But the Goddess of the Dead…"
"Yes, of the dead. Not life. They are complete opposites." Hamah said, turning towards the kitchen. "Wait a moment while I get that Elixir…"
She walked into the kitchen and went through her pantry. While she did so, Yami thought about what she said. Nothing seemed to make sense. If the goddess of death could take life away, wouldn't it be true that the same goddess could give it back? How else could Yugi have come back to life?
In a minute Hamah came back with a small bottle full of golden liquid inside. The bottle was no taller or thicker than her pinkie finger. Yami looked at it in confusion.
"Is that all?" he said. Hamah nodded.
"Yes, and I can only give him a drop. Too much can be poisonous."
Yami raised an eyebrow. "What is it made out of?"
"That's a trade secret." she winked and uncorked the bottle. "Just know that it took a long time to make. Hold his head up for me so I don't spill any, will you?"
Yami complied, and she was able to drop a small amount of the golden liquid into Yugi's mouth. Within a couple of seconds, Yugi shivered, and his breathing leveled out to being normal. As Hamah put the cork back on the bottle, Yami sighed in relief. Yugi was really going to be alright…
"You two are close," Hamah said. Yami looked up at her in surprise, and noticed she was giving him a warm smile. She almost looked like a typical grandmother, except that instead of making chocolate chip cookies, she made potions and elixirs.
"Uh…Well-" Yami said feeling a little embarrassed that it was that obvious.
"It's okay. Be glad for the people in your life because one day, they might not be around anymore." she said. Her eyes looked a little distant as if remembering an age gone by. Yami nodded.
"Believe me… after today, I'm more aware of that than ever."
So I have a lot of music to be paired with certain scenes in this story. The first one will be in this chapter if anyone cares to look up the song. It's called "Final Chapter" by Immediate Music (fully instrumental). It works so well with the scene when the Chief is about to kill Yami up until all of the men died. I think about the scene every time I hear the song. I just need someone to animate it lol
Anyway, RxR
Yugisrose