Content warning(s): blood and death of background characters
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Chapter start!
Submersion
By: The Half-Blood Guardian
Previously:
Jounouchi cast a faintly suspicious glare at the puzzle, barely stopping himself from wrinkling his nose in distaste. The artifact may not have cursed anyone (at least, not as far as he knew), but he would bet both of his legs that the thing itself was cursed. Jounouchi looked back at the other teen.
For now, it appeared that there was nothing going on except Yuugi still being really happy that he had finally managed to solve the puzzle he'd spent more than half his life working on. But that might change at any moment. Unfortunately, he knew that he'd never be able to separate the other teen from his most prized possession, and he couldn't think of anything that would completely ensure the other's safety. While he was quite good at thinking on his feet, strategizing and coming up with sound, permanent solutions were definitely not his strong points. For a few moments, a feeling of helplessness fell over him. Before it could start weighing him down any further, he angrily grabbed the emotion, crumpled it into a ball and hurled it away.
He came to a decision then: screw strategy. He was doing things his way. If anything tried hurting his friend, he'd face it head on like he did with anything else. He nodded his head in conviction.
Jounouchi would make sure to watch Yuugi carefully, and if that hunk of metal even thought about putting a curse on his little buddy, he'd find a way to make it wish it had never been created.
Chapter 13: The Museum
The three boys, joined by Yuugi's grandfather, stood outside the double doors to Domino Museum the next day. Sugoroku glanced at his watch. It read 1:14 in the afternoon. The corners of his mouth turned downward in a small frown.
"Hmm… my friend was supposed to meet us here," he muttered, as much to himself as to the teens. "Let's wait a bit longer."
Jounouchi, bored and distracted, was apparently looking for anything to keep him occupied. He noticed what Yuugi was wearing and asked, "Yuugi, why are you wearing your school uniform on the weekend?"
Yuugi glanced down at his clothes, then over at Jounouchi's jeans and t-shirt, and seemed to ponder the question. "…Well… why not?"
"Because it's not a school day?"
Yuugi opened his mouth to respond.
"Mutou-san!" A voice shouted, and Yuugi looked around, trying to spot who had said it.
"Ah, here he comes now!" Sugoroku exclaimed happily.
Yuugi turned to follow his grandfather's line of sight and saw a relatively tall man with gray-streaked brown hair, brown eyes, and a neatly-trimmed beard walking towards the group with a small smile.
"It's been a while, friend. Good to see you," the man said as he approached. "Sorry I'm late; something came up that I couldn't avoid. Thanks for coming." He shook Sugoroku's hand warmly.
"No, thank you for inviting us," Sugoroku countered, giving the taller man a friendly pat on the back. "Let me introduce you. Boys, this is Professor Yoshimori."
The man, Yoshimori, dipped his head politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Same here," Honda told him.
"Hey, I recognize you," said Jounouchi. "You're the guy who found the pharaoh's tomb, right?"
The man nodded. "That's me."
Sugoroku finally noticed the stout man standing to Yoshimori's left, slightly farther back from the group. "Ah, and who might this be?" Sugoroku asked.
"Oh, that's right!" Yoshimori said, glancing back. "This is the owner of the Domino City Museum. He provided the grant for the excavation and is sponsoring this exhibit." The man stepped forward.
"Kanekura's the name. Yoshimori here has spoken quite highly of you and your prowess in the field of archaeology, Mutou-san. As such, it's an honor to welcome you to my museum." Sugoroku couldn't help but laugh.
"An honor, you say? It sounds like Yoshimori-kun's been exaggerating my supposed 'prowess', then, Kanekura-san!" He said, amusement coloring his voice. "And there's no need to address me so formally. Please, call me Sugoroku." Kanekura chuckled lightly.
"Alright then, Sugoroku. Likewise, you needn't address me as Kanekura-san. Just Kanekura is fine."
Yuugi's focus was suddenly drawn away from the conversing men, their voices fading into white noise. There was a tug in his chest, and he could both hear and feel his heartbeat, slightly faster than usual, pounding in his ears and further muffling other sounds. The air seemed to crackle with something like static electricity, and the Puzzle nearly pulsed, resonating with something nearby. He felt a shift at the edge of his consciousness, a faint prickle in his mind that caused the fine hairs on the back of his neck to rise. It felt like someone was watching him.
"-is Yuugi, my grandson. He's the one who solved it."
"Huh?" Yuugi said, brought back to the conversation upon hearing his name.
Yoshimori looked to him. "Ah, so you're the grandson I've heard so much about."
Kanekura suddenly became focused on Yuugi. Or rather, he became focused on what was around Yuugi's neck.
"My word…" the man breathed. "This is it? This is truly the legendary Millennium Puzzle? You must show it to me!" Without waiting for permission, he grabbed the artifact, too preoccupied to notice the cord tugging at Yuugi's throat. "T-this is wonderful! Such an important piece of history… and it's hanging around your neck!" Yuugi gagged and stepped closer to the man to keep himself from being strangled.
"Kanekura-san here makes his living in the art business; he has an eye for antiquities," Yoshimori explained. Yuugi suddenly forgot about the troublesome situation he was in, shocked. Sure, he'd known that the Millennium Puzzle was valuable, being made of gold and all, not to mention the sentimental value that made it priceless to him, but the way Kanekura-san had described the golden pendant, and the way he was now staring at it in awe, told Yuugi that it was probably much more valuable in a monetary sense than he'd thought.
He finally took hold of the Puzzle, letting out a nervous laugh. His grip was abnormally firm as he took the pendant back from Kanekura.
"Yuugi-kun, I beg you!" Kanekura pleaded. "People have got to see this! Let me display it at the exhibit!"
Yuugi took a step back, alarmed. "Wh-what?"
"Please!" The man literally dropped to his knees, and Yuugi was torn. He couldn't let go of his Puzzle for that long. His mind violently rebelled against the very idea.
What should I do?
After several moments of indecision, he finally answered, "W-well… how about just for one day?"
"Oh, that's completely fine. One day is plenty! Thank you, Yuugi-kun!" Kanekura said, eyes fixed on the Puzzle as he carefully lifted the cord from around Yuugi's neck. If he noticed the boy shiver at the loss of contact with the item, he didn't show it.
"Whoa…" Honda whispered as he gaped at the treasure surrounding him.
Jounouchi was similarly awestruck. "So all this belongs to the person who dug it up?" He asked, near breathless. His fingertips lightly brushed a glass display case that held an intricate gold necklace inlaid with rubies the size of his own wide eyes.
"Wouldn't that be nice?" Yoshimori laughed. "Until 1921, the excavator could keep up to half of the artifacts he found, but now they belong to the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. It's cultural property – illegal to sell, because it's so precious. The man who discovered the famous treasures of Tutankhamun didn't get to keep even one of the artifacts he found."
"Oh," Yuugi said, surprised. "I, um… please don't take this the wrong way, but… I thought most archaeologists were just treasure hunters wanting to make money off their finds…"
Sugoroku, overhearing this, squawked with outrage, but Yoshimori only chuckled.
"No, that's just in the movies. Archaeology is actually one of the worst paid professions. But when, after months or even years of searching, you open the door to a piece of history that no one has seen before, there's an excitement that you can't begin to describe. That's what I'm in for."
"That's Yoshimori-kun for you: his passion has always been adventure over profit." Sugoroku said, grinning.
"You're one to talk," Yoshimori retorted with a grin of his own. "If I recall correctly, you used to purposely seek out the more dangerous sites just for fun back in the day!" The two shared a laugh.
Kanekura chuckled. "Well, you'll have to excuse me, everyone. I'm going to go put the Millennium Puzzle on display. Please, take your time and enjoy yourselves."
Yuugi shivered slightly, resisting the urge to tug his school jacket more tightly around him. The temperature in the museum was just fine, if the apparent comfort of those around him was any indication. As if he wasn't feeling silly enough about being unreasonably cold, his chest had also begun to ache with a pervading sense of hollowness, and he felt oddly incomplete.
He absently reached for the fiftieth time to stroke the Puzzle, and for the fiftieth time was surprised when his fingers met with air instead of smooth gold, lightly warmed from resting against his chest. The empty ache in Yuugi's heart throbbed, and he shivered again.
A boisterous laugh startled him and pulled him from his thoughts. Jounouchi was suddenly standing in front of him, a wide smile splitting his face.
"This is awesome, Yuugi! Your treasure's gonna be famous!"
Yuugi forced a smile, chuckling weakly and asking, "You think so?"
"Yeah! Hey, I know! We should take a picture of all of us in front of it!" The blond said, somehow becoming even more excited. He reached into his pockets as if he could magically procure a camera he didn't have. He frowned, deflating when he had no such luck.
While Jounouchi sulked, Yoshimori came up to the shorter of the teens with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Yuugi. I could see you didn't want to lend it to him." Yuugi shook his head.
"That's alright," he said. He shoved down the little voice in his head telling him that no, it wasn't alright at all, and continued, "It's only for one day."
Yoshimori seemed to sense his discontent and gave him a sympathetic smile. "The expedition we found all of this on wouldn't have happened without Kanekura, so I'm not in a position to complain, but… he can be somewhat self-centered." There was a hint of something in his eyes while he told Yuugi this; a spark of warning. Yuugi shifted uncomfortably.
"O-Oh," he stuttered, not sure how to respond.
"Hey, what's this?"
Both Yuugi and Yoshimori turned at Jounouchi's voice, and saw him looking at one of the displays.
"I can't read what it says." He squinted at the foreign writing as though it would cause the symbols to make sense to him.
"Of course you can't, idiot. It's in ancient Egyptian," Honda muttered, and Yuugi quickly glanced at Jounouchi. Thankfully, the blond didn't react, so Yuugi knew he hadn't heard.
Yoshimori stepped up to the display case. "This is a scene drawn on papyrus, showing the 'weighing of the heart', or the judgement of the dead." He pointed at one of the figures. "The judge here is the god Osiris, and that's Anubis on the left. He weighs the deeds of the dead man on this scale here," he said, moving his finger to indicate each figure or item. "If the scale falls on the side of the good deeds, they pass on into the afterlife. But if the scale falls on the side of the bad deeds, they are fed to Ammit, 'The Devourer.'" He pointed to a creature with the head of a crocodile, the mane and front half of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippo.
"Ugh, I can't get that image out of my head!" Jounouchi grimaced. Yuugi couldn't help but agree with him. Getting eaten by a chimeric monster didn't sound at all like a pleasant experience.
Yoshimori was pleased to see that two of the teens were interested, but noticed Honda's gaze starting to wander and decided to move on with the tour.
"And over here, we have the mummy," he said, leading them to another section of the room.
Jounouchi dragged his feet, staying at the back of the group. "Do we have to see the mummy?" He asked. Honda looked back at him with a smirk.
"What's wrong? You scared, Jounouchi?"
The blond looked about ready to retaliate when they arrived in front of the exhibit. Jounouchi took one look at the shriveled body a few feet from him and promptly freaked out.
"Ack! Let's go! If we keep staring we're gonna get cursed!" He was already retreating, and Yoshimori and Honda immediately gave chase, Yoshimori to calm him down and Honda to needle him about his superstition.
"There's no such thing as curses," Yoshimori said calmly, though there was a hint of amusement in his voice that he couldn't quite hide.
Knowing the other two could take care of things, Yuugi opted not to follow them. He looked at the mummy, and was surprised when instead of the fascination and faint disgust he'd been expecting to have, there was a feeling of respect he couldn't understand.
Light footsteps, almost inaudible, came from behind him, and the feeling of static he'd felt in the air outside the museum returned. Yuugi turned his head to look. Where there had been no one mere moments ago, there now stood a man. He was perhaps in his mid to late twenties with deeply tanned skin, a white turban, and exotic, ancient-style attire.
An Egyptian? Yuugi guessed. Not many people in Domino had those sort of features, and no one – that he'd seen, at least – dressed the way this man did. And seeing as they were in an Egyptian exhibit, it wasn't really that strange to see someone looking as he did.
The man, who Yuugi was pretty sure was an Egyptian, paid him no mind, simply staring down at the mummy. His kohl-lined eyes, Yuugi noted, were an odd sort of brown, just one shade away from orange. Tears formed in those eyes and began to roll down his cheeks, and Yuugi felt concern.
"Um, excuse me sir, are you okay? Why are you crying?" He asked, and immediately winced. Why had he said that? He didn't know the man, the man didn't know him, and here he was asking personal questions. What was wrong with him?
The Egyptian glanced down at him, and the teen prepared to be reprimanded. So it came as a surprise when he never received that reprimand.
"These tears are not mine…" the man quietly murmured, turning his gaze back to the mummy behind the glass. "This shriveled form… it has withered into a doll of dust, but the spirit of a great king lives on within it. He has been stolen from his tomb and denied his eternal sleep. The lamentation of his soul has become the tears that now flow down my cheeks…"
Yuugi didn't know if the man's words were true, or how that would work if they were. Maybe he meant it figuratively? Whatever the case, Yuugi was still a little concerned about the other. What finally distracted him enough to rid him of his concern was when he spotted a golden object in one of the man's hands. Oddly enough, Yuugi recognized what the item was quickly; it looked remarkably similar to the scales he'd seen on the slab depicting Anubis' and Osiris' judgment of the dead.
The Egyptian suddenly turned to him, all evidence of tears having somehow vanished. His eyes had softened slightly and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. The change was a subtle one, but it was the most expressive Yuugi had seen him. The man reached out with the hand not holding the scales, and Yuugi froze with shock when the other patted him on the head, gently ruffling his hair.
"Your concern is touching. You're a nice little boy." The man said. Yuugi nearly sputtered, blushing furiously.
"Li-!" he managed to force past the embarrassment that had rendered him speechless, but the man was already walking away.
Little boy?! Why do people always have to assume I'm so young? Yuugi thought with an indignant pout. Then he realized what expression he was making and quickly wiped it from his face, blushing in embarrassment once again.
Though he was surrounded by many shiny artifacts, one glint of gold in particular caught Jounouchi's attention. He smiled and pointed. "Hey, look over there! Yuugi's puzzle is on display!"
Yuugi followed his finger, and as soon as he laid eyes on the artifact, he found himself itching to remove it from the display case and return it to its rightful place around his neck. He was too preoccupied to notice that others were admiring the Puzzle as well.
"Magnificent!" Proclaimed a gray-haired man in a suit, eyes wide behind large bifocals.
Kanekura quickly shushed him, glancing over at Yuugi to make sure the man's exclamation hadn't drawn the boy's attention. "Let's finalize the sale in my office ten minutes before the museum closes," he said.
"Kanekura-san… The Millennium Puzzle is spectacular! I'll pay anything! Just name your price!"
Kanekura smiled and chuckled uneasily. "Yes, well, let's talk about this later, yes?" He ushered the man away from the case as the teens walked toward it.
"It looks really cool in there," Honda said, admiring its shine behind the strong, clear glass. He wasn't big into jewelry or decorations, but he could appreciate the aesthetics of such a clean, well-kept display.
Although he disagreed, Yuugi nodded, trying not to focus on the faint buzzing in his ears and the pull to just reach out and take his treasure. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
A couple more hours. Just a couple more hours, and I'll have the Puzzle back.
"That was actually pretty fun," Honda said, standing outside the museum after the tour was over. Jounouchi nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Well, except for the part with the mummy."
Honda snickered at him. Jounouchi scowled, but before he could do anything else, Sugoroku was speaking.
"Thank you so much for today, Yoshimori-kun. I think I speak for everyone when I say this was a wonderful outing." Three voices of affirmation confirmed that he was right.
"Think nothing of it," Yoshimori said with a smile. "Again, the pleasure was all mine. Take care, now, Mutou-san."
After the man had walked off, Yuugi looked at Sugoroku.
"Jii-chan? Is it alright if I stay after until the museum closes? I want to be here to get the Puzzle back."
Sugoroku paused, then agreed. "That's fine. Just be sure to come home directly after." Yuugi nodded vigorously.
"Okay, Jii-chan. I promise."
Kanekura couldn't believe his luck! Not only had his investment funded the discovery of the tomb, but now he was minutes away from making quite a pretty penny off of the Millennium Puzzle.
That artifact was going to make him a fortune. First he had to successfully sell it without arousing suspicion. What was the phrase? Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission? Except he wouldn't be doing either of them if everything went smoothly. Thankfully, he the man he'd spoken with earlier was motivated, obsessed, and rich enough that there was virtually no chance he wouldn't go through with the deal. And since the man was paying him in cash, there would be nothing to trace it back to him after it was sold.
Of course, the Mutou kid would probably suspect, and if he really pressed, Kanekura would have to give him some of the money to shut him up, and maybe a picture if he was the sentimental type. But he wouldn't actually be able to prove anything.
The man held the artifact in his palms, marveling at it. It seemed to weigh his hands down, feeling remarkably heavy even for an object made of pure gold. And that foreboding chill it gave off was just as the rumors had described! Something inside him thrilled at the sense of danger it radiated, even as he nearly shuddered from the feeling. If it weren't for the hefty sum he could get for it, he would've been tempted to keep the pendant.
A knock at his office door brought him out of his musings. He quickly hid the Puzzle in his lap under the desk, though he couldn't bring himself to let go of it completely.
"Kanekura-san?" Came a slightly muffled voice. He relaxed his shoulders.
Ah, there was his buyer. He looked at the clock on the wall. 4:50 exactly. Right on schedule.
"Yes, please come in!"
The door creaked open, and Kanekura's smile dropped almost as soon as it did. The potential buyer slumped to the ground just past the doorway, limp. His mouth hung open in shock, and the dilated pupils and whites of his eyes that showed all around his irises revealed utter terror.
Behind him stood a caramel-skinned man in a white robe and turban, staring at him with unnervingly bright burnt orange eyes. Kanekura almost jumped in his seat.
"Wh-who are you?!"
The man studied him for a moment, as though weighing whether or not it was worth his time to answer. Eventually he said, "My bloodline has guarded the tombs for three thousand years. I am a servant of Anubis."
"Anubis?" Kanekura gawked. He may not have been a history nut like those who found the tombs, but one didn't fund over two dozen of these types of expeditions without picking up a bit of knowledge on the subject.
Anubis. The Egyptian god of death.
"Because of your greed, another tomb in the Valley of the Kings has been defiled. You have trespassed in the territory of the gods. For that you will be placed on trial."
For a second, Kanekura could do nothing but gape. Then one word snapped him out of his confusion: trial.
"I get it; you're from the Egyptian government." He said. "Listen, I don't know what brought you here, but I'm not doing anything illegal. I don't sell antiquities on the black market."
The Egyptian raised an eyebrow. How dense could this man be? He was literally telling him exactly what his crime was. He didn't bother with a response. Instead, he pulled something from the folds of his clothing and set it down on top of Kanekura's desk. The older man blinked in surprise at the set of golden scales in front of him.
"I presume you know the scene of the Final Judgment in the 125th chapter of what you call the Book of the Dead." The Egyptian said, pulling a straight, white feather from his turban. Kanekura nodded his head numbly. The other man went on. "These are the Scales of Truth."
The Final Judgment? The Scales of Truth? What was this man talking about? Those things were just myths! He was just someone sent by the Egyptian government! Wasn't he?
"And now we will begin the trial…"
Kanekura gulped.
"On this side of the scales I place the feather of Ma'at." As stated, the Egyptian placed the white feather on one of the scale's plates. They wobbled slightly before returning to their starting position.
"As you can see, the scales are balanced. I will now ask you a series of questions. If you do not tell the truth, the other side will grow heavy with the weight of your crimes." The Egyptian looked him calmly in the eyes. "If that side of the scales should touch the ground, the penalty of death awaits you. Now, the first question." Under the desk, Kanekura's hands trembled.
"A young girl falls into a deep well. You're the only one to see it happen. However, at your feet lies a golden ring the girl was wearing. What do you do?"
"I save her!" Kanekura blurted. "I save the little girl!"
The scales shifted. The plate with the feather rose a few millimeters, leaving the other to sink by the same amount.
"Wh-what?" He spluttered. "But I'm telling the truth!"
The younger man just looked at him impassively. "Next question."
Yuugi clenched his shaking hands into fists, taking deep breaths. There was no reason to be so nervous. The Millennium Puzzle was in good hands. It would be safe in its temporary display case until he came to pick it up.
He glanced down at his watch again. 4:58. A sigh of relief. Finally, it was time to get his Puzzle back. He hopped to his feet and jogged for the museum doors.
Several questions later, the "empty" side of the scales hung dangerously low, and beads of sweat had begun to trickle down Kanekura's face.
"I'm not lying! How is the plate sinking without anything in it? This has to be some kind of trick! What's going on?"
"You wish to know what your fate is?" The Egyptian asked, his expression considering. "Very well. Before the last question, I'll tell you about the penalty. It awaits within your own heart."
Suddenly the armrests of his chair started to bubble, quickly changing shape and wrapping around his wrists. Within seconds, his plush chair had morphed into something hard, rigid and spiked, with bony, claw-tipped fingers trapping his lower arms. The back of the chair writhed and stretched. The man tilted his head back, and was met with the sight of a twisted, reptilian face with wild, rolling eyes and massive jaws that opened to expose a set of dagger-like teeth hovering just over his head. The creature snarled. Kanekura shrieked.
"That is Ammit, a monster that has taken up residence in the room of your soul." The Egyptian remarked calmly while the other man struggled and whined. "Now for the last question." For the first time, a hint of emotion seeped into his voice, and his eyes narrowed coldly as he asked, "Have you defiled the territory of the gods and sold their treasure to fatten your own pockets?"
The monster growled and opened its jaws wider, its claws digging into his skin and mouth now almost enveloping the man's head. Kanekura slapped his hands uselessly against the armrests and squealed, "S-stop! Stop! I'll pay anything! Name a price, just don't let this thing eat me!"
The clink of metal on wood signaled Kanekura's side of the scales hitting the top of the desk. He desperately shook his head, sobbing hysterically, and Shadi's back straightened minutely.
"There is no truth in the room of your soul. There is only greed." Strings of sticky saliva dribbled from Ammit's jowls as it rumbled hungrily.
"N-no! No! NO!"
Ammit's mouth closed fully around Kanekura's head, and the man's cries were cut short as its jaws snapped shut, serrated teeth slicing through soft flesh and bone alike, completely severing his head from his body with a gurgle and a gush of hot blood. The monster faded with his death, leaving his head to roll to the ground and the rest of his corpse to slump gracelessly in the chair. The Millennium Puzzle slipped off his lap and landed on the floor.
Shadi stared blankly for a moment before addressing the corpse. "Though your mortal body has passed away, the Scales have kept your soul from moving on." He paused. "Everyone has a room of the soul. My Millennium Key can open the door, but this time I only needed the Scales to pass judgment; your Soul Room was practically oozing with the decaying stench of money and greed. A monster like Ammit will enjoy making her home there. Your soul will be devoured by the illusion born of your own crimes."
Shadi placed the feather back in his turban and retrieved the Scales. Just as he was about to turn and leave, a glint of light caught his eye. He turned towards it curiously.
And nearly stumbled in shock when he felt a tingling in his spine and tug in his chest that indicated his Items being drawn to another of their kind. The gold artifact he was looking at was another Millennium Item.
There were seven Items total, he knew: the Eye, the Ring, the Rod, the Tauk, the Scales, the Key, and the Puzzle. It was obviously not the Eye, nor was it the Ring or the Rod. It was not the Tauk, and he possessed both the Scales and the Key. That left only the Millennium Puzzle. But like its name implied, the Puzzle should have been broken into pieces. Never, in all its three thousand year history, had it been in its completed form. Until now.
And how had it ended up here, in Japan of all places? Did this mean that someone in this country had solved the Puzzle?
He reached for the Item and gingerly lifted it, relieved when he felt no rejection. The Items were notoriously critical about who they allowed to touch them. While the Puzzle did not resonate with him like the Key and Scales did, it tolerated his touch.
He tucked it into one of the many layers in his robes, stepping easily over the other body on the floor. His job was far from over. There was still work to be done.
This museum was like a maze!
Yuugi looked around himself, utterly lost. During the tour, he had just followed Professor Yoshimori wherever he took them, not paying any particular attention to where that was. Now he was regretting it. He was about to give up on looking for the Puzzle for the moment (though his chest tightened at the thought) and instead focus on finding someone to ask for directions, when he finally recognized the area he was in. The Millennium Puzzle was close! He turned a corner.
There was the glass case. But nothing was inside it. His heart jumped into his throat, and he forced himself not to panic.
The Puzzle isn't in the case, so Kanekura-san must have it, he reasoned. The man was probably just waiting for Yuugi to come and retrieve his treasure. He turned away from the glass case, resigning himself to wandering aimlessly around until he found the museum director. Then he caught the reflection of another person in the glass of another display case and stopped abruptly.
It was that man from before; the Egyptian. He likely wouldn't know where the Millennium Puzzle was, but there was a possibility he knew where to find Kanekura-san. Yuugi all but ran towards him. The man looked up at the sound of footsteps, blinking as he recognized the boy who'd asked after his well-being earlier.
"Um, excuse me… you haven't seen Kanekura-san anywhere have you?" Yuugi asked. The Egyptian looked at him curiously, and he continued, "I-it's just, he promised to return my puzzle. It's shaped like this," he held his hands in front of his chest at about the level the Puzzle would hang, his fingers forming an upside down triangle.
Shadi's eyebrows shot up. This boy not only knew of the Millennium Puzzle, but apparently had the Item in his possession! Had he also been the one to solve it?
Yuugi shifted uncomfortably when the man just stared at him, and took the silence as a negative. "I guess you don't know after all…" He murmured. Shadi, meanwhile, was too caught up in thought to notice that the boy had spoken.
It was said that the one who solved the Millennium Puzzle would gain great power; possibly the same power as Shadi's bloodline, though perhaps another variation of it. No two Millennium Items were the same, after all. If it was true, and this child really had solved the impossible puzzle and gained its powers, then he had to use the Millennium Key to look into the boy's Soul Room.
Normally he would only use it on criminals, but he needed to know if this boy had the same power as him and his family.
To be continued…