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Content warning(s): nothing I can think of
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Chapter start!
Submersion
By: The Half-Blood Guardian
Previously:
The sunny warmth that he had gotten used to feeling since Yuugi had solved the Puzzle was growing dimmer and cooler, and he feared the reason behind the change. Was Shadi somehow breaking his link to his Light? Was he actually separating them?
Desperation forced from him the usual boundaries he would have when searching for a solution, and with nothing within his mind or his immediate surroundings providing relief, he cast his eyes further.
His gaze landed on blond hair. Then he caught sight of Jounouchi's blank expression. The fear gnawing at his mind slowed. The warmth of his Light's presence returned. The sputtering embers of his determination flared back to life, and he was finally able to force himself to focus on the man's words.
What creeps on the ground and clings to the pillars?
He looked back down, watched his servants hiss and thrash, attempting to free him. Thought of their actions in his labyrinth. The reminder of what he was fighting for shielded his mind from encroaching terror, and suddenly the answer was clear.
"A shadow!" He snapped, scowling at Shadi. "'What creeps on the ground and clings to the pillars?' The answer is a shadow." Rotting hands loosened and retreated. The mass of corpses slowly dispersed, leaving cracked and jagged concrete in their wake.
"…That is correct." Shadi replied. His gaze revealed mild analytical interest but was otherwise inscrutable as he watched the spirit. "You have passed the first test. Now it is time for the second."
Chapter 17: Shadow Game Part 2
Yuugi was floating in a dark, silent abyss. Or at least, he thought he was. It was difficult to tell. He couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't feel. He couldn't even taste or smell anything. So maybe he wasn't floating. Maybe he was surrounded by bright lights and loud noises, and he was simply unable to perceive them. Or maybe his first assumption about his surroundings and actions (or lack thereof) actually was correct.
Either option should have terrified him, but he felt oddly unconcerned about… anything, really. Disconnected, as though he was merely hearing about some mundane event in someone else's life. Any thought that managed to form in his mind quickly became fuzzy before being blown away as if on a breeze.
So instead of panicking and trying to get his senses to respond, he allowed himself to continue to float.
A tremor ran through the rooftop and the floor in front of the spirit fractured and crumbled, chunks of concrete falling away into a newly created hole. He quickly stumbled back, and when the ground stopped caving in and stilled, he peered cautiously into the pit. Twin glowing lights shone back at him, and there was a series of sharp, grinding rasps, like knives dragging against stone. The lights grew bigger – no, closer – and the beginnings of a large form began to take shape in the dark. There was a noise, a low, rumbling bass, that the air reverberated with, and he felt the vibrations of it through the soles of his shoes. He warily backed away.
Something was down there, under the floor. Something huge, trying to crawl its way up.
The upper half of the form emerged, revealing an enormous beast with a lion's mane and the head of a crocodile. Not much was visible past that point, but what he could see looked just like the depiction of Ammit from one of the displays at the museum. And somehow, he felt he knew this beast. There was movement in his peripheral, and he glanced over as Shadi lifted his arm to point at the spirit.
"Seize him," the Egyptian commanded.
With frightening speed, the creature lunged from the pit, clawed, scaly hands clamping down on the spirit in a steel grip before he could do more than turn to run. Each hand encircled the entire length of an arm, holding him in place. He yanked against the restraining grasp and twisted his neck to look at the creature. Hooked, razor talons as long as his forearms tipped its bony fingers and jagged teeth nearly as big as his head loomed over him, jutting out past its lips even with its mouth closed.
The spirit felt only the briefest flash of fear before it was overrun by something else: a pang in his chest of what he could only guess was "betrayal".[1] He tilted his head back further to glare at the beast. It did not look at him, but he could feel it shudder momentarily before falling still again.
"This is the second stage of our game." Shadi said. "Hear me, spirit creature. There is only one way to escape this beast's clutches, and that is to win."
The spirit's Shadows lashed out, but just as with the corpses, as soon as they tried to harm the beast, their forms slipped right through.
"The creature that holds you, Ammit, is not 'real' in the way one would normally use the word. But real or illusion, when you feel the bite of her teeth, Ammit will devour your soul. Her last meal was the soul of the museum owner, not long ago, but her appetite is insatiable and she will still be ravenous." The spirit's Shadows tried harder to free him, shrieking in frustration. Shadi ignored them and continued, "Fortunately for your host, Ammit does not need to consume or even kill the body to harvest the soul. She barely needs to nick the flesh. One cut and the boy will be rid of you. Free of your influence, of your insidious corruption."
The spirit's mouth twisted to release a scathing retort, but Shadi evidently had no desire to listen to it, as he waved his hand and a short platform with a group of nine square stone tiles laid out on top appeared in front of the spirit.
"I have based the second trial of this Shadow Game on 'concentration'." Shadi said.
"Concentration." The spirit repeated, recalling the many times Yuugi had played it to pass the time. "A game where the player spreads out a deck of playing cards and attempts to turn over matching pairs."
"I see you are familiar with the game." Shadi commented. "This version is a bit different. Allow me to explain the rules." He nodded to the tablets. "These stone tiles have pairs of pictures etched onto the reverse side."
"There are nine of them." The spirit interrupted, glowering. "Do you think me so shortsighted I wouldn't notice the odd number? There is no way to match each into a pair without an even number."
"That is correct. There is one extra tile in the middle. In this adaptation, you must name the picture etched on that middle tile. If you can solve that puzzle, Ammit will disappear. However, unlike the conventional version, you will not be permitted to turn over even one of the nine tiles before you answer the question."
A spike of dread shot through the spirit's chest. How was he supposed to win this game without seeing any of the tiles' pictures?
Shadi held up a small stopwatch that matched the aesthetic of Professor Yoshimori's office. "There is a time limit. You have three minutes to answer. When that time is up, Ammit will take your soul. The key to the puzzle is this: those stone tiles are a mirror of Ammit. Your time starts now."
Three minutes. Three minutes to solve a puzzle he wasn't allowed to look at.
A "mirror of Ammit". What did that mean?
There had to be a clue. But he needed to be careful of the "key to the puzzle" Shadi had given him. The man's words could be a trap lying in wait to ensnare him. The spirit had used the tactic himself in their previous encounter. The words could be factually true but meant to convey something other than their literal meaning. Although, considering the tiles were rough stone and not at all reflective, the opposite was much more likely to be the case. The words' meaning could also be abstract. Or maybe they were just a distraction? So maybe the answer wasn't in the words, but in the game's physical setup? His eyes roved over it. Nine tiles, four pairs of two and one singular tile. If there was a meaning behind the setup, what could it be?
The spirit quickly ran through the numbers again. Nine tiles, four pairs of two and one singular tile. Nine, four of two and one. Was it the numbers? He didn't think so.
"You have one minute left, spirit creature."
A "mirror of Ammit", was that really the key? The last test had been a riddle; something fluid and abstract. Was this perhaps the opposite? When Shadi said the tiles were a mirror, did that mean that their contents actually mirrored Ammit? He craned his neck to look at the beast again, this time focusing on what pairs would be visible in a mirror if one were placed where the tiles were.
The enormous hands clasping his arms were the most immediately obvious pair. One. Looking up higher, he saw a slit yellow eye and a ragged ear. Two, three. He ran his gaze over the beast, searching for the fourth pair. Hot breath ruffled his hair, and he followed the sensation with his eyes to Ammit's flaring nostril. Four.
And directly behind him, gaping open wide and leaning forward in preparation to destroy him, was-
"I know the answer!" He shouted, and Ammit froze. "The matching pairs of tiles are eyes, ears, nostrils and hands! The single remaining tile is the mouth!"
The tiles flipped, revealing the images to be exactly what he'd said they were. Then they and the platform faded into nothing. Ammit groaned and shuddered, releasing the spirit's arms and sinking back into the pit, where the beast dissipated into wisps of darkness. The rooftop reassembled itself, crumbling in reverse.
"Good work," Shadi responded evenly, and the spirit felt his insides curdle at the words of praise from this man. "You have passed the second test, as well as my own anticipations. It is now time for the final trial. This one will be different from the first two. In each of those, you faced a game with yourself as the only active participant. Allow me to introduce your new opponent."
Suddenly, something was tugging sharply on the cord around the spirit's neck, and he had just enough time to register the sensation before the cord snapped. He spun around, and his eyes widened. There, standing where no one had been moments ago and holding the Millennium Puzzle in hand, was one of the last people he had expected to see.
"Honda-kun…?"
To be continued…
Notes:
[1]: I reckoned that since in ancient Egypt both the Pharaoh and Ammit served to carry out justice in their own ways, one of them "turning" on the other would probably be seen as a serious betrayal or a taboo, and even if the Ammit that Shadi uses in his shadow games may or may not be the "real" one, I figure that they would still be connected in some way.