Walking past the large window in their hotel suite, Atem takes the time to gaze out to the full moon. After catching up with Joey over a few drinks, he and Mana turned in for the night to have alone time with each other. He actually managed to briefly slip into a deep, peaceful slumber after their passionate session and surprisingly no bad dreams occurred. It's the most he's felt at peace since the dreams started. He's starting to think time away is all he really needed to begin with. If he had known that a vacation would stop his stress, he would have done it immediately after the very first dream. There's no way this night will end on a bad note, right?
Looking toward the bed, he sees Mana lying on her stomach. The white sheet covers the bottom half of her bare body, leaving her back exposed. Her arms are tucked underneath the fluffy pillow that her head currently rests on. He can thank the drinks they had for them getting physical. Typically he wouldn't drink, being deemed as a 'lightweight' by Mana. But seeing as they are nearing the end of their short vacation, he figured, why not?
Feeling the bed move, Mana groans lightly, shuffling a bit in bed before attempting to go back to sleep. But it isn't long until she can feel Atem hovering over her, gently planting a trail of kisses up her back until he reaches her neck, lingering there for a moment before placing a light peck on her cheek to wake her up.
"Stop it before you start something back up," she says flirtatiously, a small smirk appearing on her lips.
"I wouldn't mind," he whispers huskily in her ear, moving his lips up to the bottom of her chin.
She shuffles in bed a little to get on her hand and knees, intentionally brushing against his groin with her butt. "I don't think you can handle another round," she says teasingly, beginning to move away. But he swiftly grabs her by the waist, bringing her back up against him, causing her cheeks to turn red from the feeling of his lower body pressed against hers.
He leans forward, turning his head so that his lips press against her cheek and she bites her bottom lip, trying to hold back a moan. "Is that a challenge?"
"Perhaps," she replies, maneuvering her body to face Atem, wrapping her arms around his neck as they fall back onto the bed. After kissing briefly, they pull away for air, staring passionately into each other's eyes, both yearning for more.
'Maybe this small vacation is just what the doctor ordered,' Atem says in his head, slowly starting to feel like himself again. He hasn't felt so in sync with Mana for the past week and it seemed like they were butting heads often in the more recent days. But now, all seems to be well. He almost hates that they have to go back home soon.
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A dark desert with sand that spans for miles surrounds Atem on all sides with no trace of life anywhere. The wind blows gently as he takes in his surroundings, wondering why he is there. That is until a blinding bright light causes him to partially shield his eyes and he gazes upwards.
Hovering above him are the Egyptian gods: Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon and The Winged Dragon of Ra in all their glory. He then looks down to his neck where the Millennium Puzzle appears suddenly, dangling around his neck via a chain. "What is the meaning of this?" he asks himself. He doesn't remember summoning the gods and it's not something he would do quite often. Only in dire situations has he ever had to summon them with the power of the Millennium Puzzle.
Distressed roars come from all three monsters and his head shoots up with alarm as beams of light pierce through their bodies. The wind around him suddenly becomes more violent and he grunts, shielding his face. "What is going on?!" As he manages to squint through the blowing sand, he looks toward the sky once more, seeing the eye of Wdjat hovering above him. It is the same eye that is on his Millennium Puzzle, but this one in the sky differs, having a more menacing red color in the middle.
One by one, people begin to appear around him, only standing momentarily before crying out as they feel their life force being sucked away, floating upwards into the eye of Wdjat.
"Hang on, Cairo!" he hears a familiar voice yells and his head whips over to see none other than Mana and his daughter standing nearby, holding onto each other. He watches with horror as his daughter collapses to her knees, seeing a blue light emit from her body and rise into the eye of Wdjat.
"I feel strange…" Cairo groans weakly, collapsing into her mother's arms.
Atem can feel his heart sink. He takes off in the direction of his family, running as fast as he can to reach them. Soon, Mana is the next to collapse and he grits his teeth at the sight of them laying lifelessly side by side. "I'm coming!" he yells, outstretching his hand. But the more he runs, the further they become until he can no longer see them. "No!"
Dropping to his knees, he looks up to the eye once more, then down to his puzzle. Is he somehow the cause of this? He couldn't possibly do this, could he? But that symbol is the same as his puzzle. It seems like the only logical explanation.
He punches his fist into the ground and screams from the top of his lungs. "WHAT IS GOING ON?!"
Shooting up in bed with pearls of sweat on his face, he breathes heavily after having yet another nightmare. He quickly looks over to see Mana still sleeping and then reaches for his phone, wanting to call Cairo to make sure she is alright. Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath to get himself together. It was only a dream, he keeps telling himself. And yet, it seemed so real.
Feeling distressed by what he saw, he hops out of bed, grabbing the Millennium Puzzle off the nightstand. A slam from the door closing causes Mana to wake up and she slowly sits up, rubbing her eye. When she looks to her right, she notices that Atem is gone.
"Atem?" she calls out groggily. Seeing that it is still well into the night and previously hearing the door shut, she gasps. Did he have an awful dream? Throwing on some clothes, she darts out of the room in search of him.
Looking out toward the dark waters of the beach, Atem clenches the puzzle in his hand. He desperately wants those dreams to go away. It feels like he is slowly losing his mind due to not getting an adequate amount of rest and the disturbing things he has to dream about each night. He is at his wits end. He just wants to have a full night's sleep.
Raising his hand that contains the puzzle, he narrows his eyes, wanting to test a theory. He grunts, throwing the puzzle as far as it will go and he pants heavily, watching it drop into the water. But it isn't long before a golden glow appears around his chest area and he looks down, only to see that the puzzle has somehow made its way back to him. He does it again, only for it to have the same result. Then again. And again. Until he becomes too exhausted to the point where he drops down to his knees in defeat.
Not everyone is able to use the powers of the Millennium Puzzle, let alone solve it. But he was successful in doing so. Clearly he got the puzzle for a reason. And although he wouldn't wish this on his brother or anyone else, he wishes he wasn't the wielder of it anymore.
"Atem?"
He quickly looks over his shoulder, seeing Mana approach him with a look of concern. "I'm fine," he says without her even having to ask. But telling by his distraught expression and his tendency of holding things in, Mana isn't convinced.
In her mind, enough is enough. He can't continue to go on like this. And she can't bear to see him like this either. She drops down to one knee in front of him and looks down at the puzzle. "I understand it may be hard for you to describe in words…" She reaches her hand out and he inches back.
"What are you doing?" he asks as her hand begins to glow a dark purple, differing from its normal pink hue, making him wonder if she's using some sort of dark magic.
"…So allow me to see what you've been experiencing. First hand."
He gasps and attempts to move back so her hand doesn't make contact with the puzzle. "Mana, wait!"
The moment her hand grabs hold of the puzzle, her head abruptly jerks back and she feels herself entering into a place surrounded by darkness.
At first, she is unable to breathe and her face feels like it is covered by a grainy texture. The more she tries to move, the more the weighted texture attempts to sink her even further. Running out of air, she claws her way out as fast as she can until her hand breaks through the sand's surface. When she is finally able to fully emerge, she gasps for air, coughing occasionally until she is able to bring her heart rate back to a normal pace.
Lifting her eyes, they soon grow big when it appears that she is in a dark and empty desert. The sky is cloudy with occasional lightning flashes here and there. The wind is strong enough to blow her hair consistently as well as sand in her eyes, causing her to squint.
Just as she is about to stand to her feet, she feels something grab hold of her ankle and she quickly gazes down, seeing a dark colored hand coming out of the sand.
"You think you can intrude upon this space and be able to roam freely?"
"As a matter of fact…yes." She blasts the hand with one of her magical attacks before proceeding forward. "I gotta figure out what's going on with Atem. And I'm not going anywhere until I have some kind of answers."
"Are you sure about that?"
She stops, seeing dark figures beginning to surround her on all sides. She clenches her fists defensively and spaces out her legs as her eyes glow pink. Their menacing laughs echo around her to the point where it's almost hard for her to hear her own thoughts, but she stays focused and calm.
"A sorcerer has no business here. You are intruding. And if you stay here, death will be inevitable."
"Don't be so dramatic. In all honesty, this was a last resort," Mana shrugs her shoulders. "I only want to uncover the secrets of the puzzle and why it seeks to torment the owner all of a sudden."
"Only those who are worthy of the puzzle are allowed to wield it."
"And he is not?"
"Mana!" a voice echoes through the air with the owner nowhere in sight. But Mana already knows the voice belongs to Atem, although he isn't there initially. She looks from left to right, then twirls around with an eyebrow raised.
"Uh…Atem?" In a flash of golden light, a silhouette of Atem appears beside her until the light disappears, revealing himself fully. "Nice entrance."
"What are you doing here?" he asks, narrowing his eyes at her.
"What does it look like? I'm trying to get some answers," she replies, unfazed by his current expression.
He pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a long exhale before looking at her once more. "How did you even get here? Was that dark magic you used?"
"You mean this?" Mana raises her hand and it begins to glow the same purple aura from before. In an instant, the shadow figures negatively reacts to it, letting out a blood curdling howl before its arms stretch like rubber, taking her in its grasp and pinning her against an invisible wall. She grunts, letting out a weak chuckle. "Looks like I made it mad."
Atem immediately tries to run to her aid, but another shadow blocks his path. He stops, staring into those red menacing eyes. They are the same shadows that torture him in his dreams. The same shadows that always leave him to the brink of death whenever he has those dreams. Somehow he has always managed to survive or wake up in time. But who knows what would happen if he didn't.
"Well now that I have your attention…" Mana continues.
"Do not upset them, Mana," Atem cautions her.
"...You said something along the lines of only those who are worthy of the puzzle are allowed to wield it. Are you saying Atem is not?"
"He isn't capable of honing its power."
"You sure?" Mana tilts her head, confused by that statement. She feels the shadow's grasp get stronger and she gags, shutting one eye as she tries to fight through the pain in order to get the answer she seeks. "How is that possible when he can summon the gods and penalties at will? Well until recently even…" she mutters the last sentence in regards to him seemingly losing control with the penalties.
Atem dims his eyes briefly, overhearing her. "Thanks…"
"Enough talk!"
Mana frowns. "Aw come on. I wasn't through asking all my questions yet," she pouts before crying out from the feeling of her ribs being crushed within the shadow's grasp. A trickle of blood slides down from mouth, trailing down her chin and Atem attempts to run to her again before remembering his own barrier in front of him.
The shadow laughs. "Look at how he quivers with fear. Unable to save what's near and dear to him. You truly are unworthy."
"He can totally save me if he wanted to!" Mana says defensively before coughing. "Right Atem?" She looks to him and gasps lightly, seeing his eyes widened and his body beginning to tremble. It is a side of him that she hasn't seen from him. And the more he's frozen with fear, the more shadows that start to appear around them.
Feeling light headed, Mana's head begins to droop and the strength she once had starts to fade. 'Can I really die here?' Then the shadows recent words hit her. 'Fear…unworthy…that's it!'
Mustering up any remaining strength she has, her body glows purple and she lets out a loud scream, blinding the whole area in light.
Falling to the bed after leaving the beach, Mana gasps for air, patting down her ribs for the third time to make sure no pain has crossed over into the real world. But it felt like she was so close to death just a few minutes ago. Rolling to her back, she is met with Atem glaring down at her and she responds with an innocent grin.
"Do you have any idea how much danger you were in?"
"Not until that thing started crushing my ribs," she says somewhat jokingly. "You really left me hanging there."
Atem only lowers his eyes, truing his head way in shame and Mana quickly sits up, regretting that she even said that.
"I'm sorry," she apologizes.
"No. You're right. I failed to protect you in that moment. I should be the one apologizing."
Mana crosses her legs, placing her hands on her knees as she levitates up to his eye level. To his surprise, she is smiling. Or maybe he shouldn't be so surprised at her current attitude. Leave it to her to still be smiling after such a harrowing experience. Nevermind the fact that she could've died. He still hasn't figured out if that is possible, though he isn't particularly trying to find out either.
"I've figured out the issue," she says and he raises an eyebrow.
"How? It's not like the shadows were particularly clear. And they've never been in my past dreams."
"When you showed hesitation and fear, you were deemed unworthy."
"What…?"
"Atem…you've always had some sort of reluctance when it comes to using the puzzle," she recalls from their conversations in the past.
"The more I use it, the more the power seems to grow," he lowers his eyes, clenching his fists at his sides. "My biggest fear is not being able to handle it and losing control." He gasps and looks up at her, seeing her smile knowingly. "Wait…you're not suggesting—"
"I am!" she chirps, raising her hand. "There's no other way around it. Your fear, your doubt, all of that has an effect on the puzzle. You may have been able to hide it well in the past, though as you said, the more you use it, the more power grows, making you feel more anxious."
"It makes sense…" He has somewhat suspected the reason could be due to his hidden doubts and fears. And the fact that Mana has come to that same conclusion certainly says a lot. "It could definitely be the reason behind those shadows chanting that I am not worthy. But…I don't know what to do. It's not like there's some manual to—"
"Hellooo?" Mana points to herself with a grin and he looks at her with confusion before continuing on.
"…As I was saying…there's no manual out there on how to master the powers of the Millennium Puzzle."
"You don't need one!" Mana chirps, levitating in front of him once more. "It's simple really."
"And how would you know that?"
She looks away and pokes at her chin. "Oh I don't know. It's not like your wife's a magician or anything. She's never had to master any skills or keep her emotions in check in order to perform such skills in her life," she mutters sarcastically.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Atem says, not seeing how Mana would be able to help. Her magic doesn't compare to that of the puzzle. Besides, if she could somehow help him, it would probably be in some sort of unconventional way. "I think I'll take Yugi's previous advice and talk to grandpa about it. Maybe there's something he knows that I don't."
"Suit yourself," she says, crawling back in bed. "But the offer's still on the table if you change your mind."
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In a hot desert, an excavation takes place at an archaeological site in Egypt. Approximately six-hundred feet below the sandy surface lies a large pyramid. A small group of archaeologists make their way into its entrance, immediately being fascinated with what they see inside.
"We've found it! The lost tomb of Anubis!" one of them says as they go in deeper, eventually coming to a door. The next thing they see once inside shocks them even more. Leaning against a wall is a sarcophagus that has a dog shaped head and it is wrapped in chains, which isn't the norm.
"Professor! What do you make of this?"
"It's amazing! What possessed them to put the sarcofacus in chains?" the professor asks as he shines a flashlight on the dog like tomb. Right next to it is a carving on the wall with the eye of Wdjat. "Now what have we here?" The professor places his hand on it that causes a secret passage to open to their surprise.
Sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the room is a blue pyramid with a red sphere in the middle. As they look on with fascination, the sphere suddenly activates and a demon like laugh echoes throughout the tomb to their horror. The secret passageway they entered through abruptly slams and the screams of the archaeologists can be heard from the outside.
"THE TOMB IS CURSED!" is the last thing that can be heard from the professor as a dark aura shoots through the roof of the pyramid.
On the outside of the pyramid, an old man wearing white overalls with a red button up shirt underneath, gazes up to the sky as the weird light beams into the clouds. The fierce wind that surrounds him is enough to blow off his favorite bandana and he shields his eyes from the sand.
"What is the meaning of this…?"
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AN: And that ends another chapter! Hope you all are enjoying this story so far! Leave a review!