Hi everyone. Thank you all for the reviews and love. Seriously, with my terrible updating skills, seeing your support makes me so happy. Though, I am sorry for this super big wait. I don't know what's wrong with me. My writing these days just aren't satisfying me. I've started this chapter weeks, no, months ago, and still don't feel that I've written it the way I want it to be written. Things are just… missing. Ah, you'll read and tell me what you think.

REVIEWS~

i – Thank you many times! I seriously can't get enough of it. Your reviews always helped me write better and understand my errors, and I'm truly grateful for that. However, I was so happy to see that your recent review had no major critiques at all! It made me overjoyed to think that I finally one right. I'm improving, I think, though I highly doubt this chapter would be the same…

Enjoy!

Secrets Underground

Chapter 14

As I walked down the sandy road, my feet slowly, but finally getting used to the heat and the feeling of the rough grains brushing against my toes, I smiled at the sight of Merimose who bounded ahead, picking up random rocks and chucking them as far as he could. I grinned as the rock smacked against the wall of a house, dropping to the ground behind a stall just a short second after.

"Nice one!" I called, and he turned around to shoot me a playful grin before scouring the ground, especially the spots around the stalls and narrow streets, to find another decent sized rock. Spotting one, his eyes widened with relief and he rushed over to get it.

"Your turn," he said after picking it up, and turning to look at me, he threw the rock in my direction. I caught it easily and held it, and without saying anything I just stopped and threw as hard as I could. Watching with anticipation, I let out a cheer as it landed on the roof of a house two buildings down, and turned back to Merimose to see him pouting, muttering with annoyance.

"Okay, so I beat you… ten times out of the ten games. What's my prize?" I asked, and I twisted my lips to hide the grin as he shot me a not-so-threatening glare.

"You already got your prize. You're living in my house, no?" he snapped, and I pursed my lips tightly, trying to hide my laughter that wanted to spill from my mouth as I watched him storm away. I ended up laughing though, and with a shake of my head I followed quickly behind him.

With the Sed Festival approaching right before my eyes, which still seemed quite unreal, the chores I found were never ending. We were constantly being sent out to buy groceries, pots to store more food in, and whatever little supplies Ramose and Senisonbe needed to get the food stocked and ready to be sent to the palace. Since we had spent most of our time throughout the week fetching things, it wasn't long until we started getting bored of the continuous trek from the marketplace and home. Merimose would create many games for us to play on our walks, and this rock throwing game was one of them. Whoever could throw the farthest, won. So, since I was bigger, thus longer arms, it wasn't hard for me to out throw him.

When we weren't working, I could say that Merimose and I grew a lot more comfortable with each other. With everyone else busy, we would sit down and play several games of Dogs and Jackals. Other times, he would take me out to the village, showing me all of his favourite spots and introduce me to his friends who I had also spent some time with, all of them warming up to me quite nicely. And during the night, instead of sleeping he would retell the troubles one of his friends had gotten them into, both of us laughing and just talking until he fell asleep between sentences.

Looking up, I stopped suddenly when I realised that he was no longer at my side, so immediately I had to stop. I spun my head around to start searching for him in the crowd since he would disappear often on me, only to catch him standing on the sides, scanning the stalls across the road.

"What is it?" I asked, and I walked up to him, also looking around at the people and the many stalls that surrounded us on the street, a clear view of the palace straight down the road. It was only the half day and everyone already seemed tired, their skins shiny from sweat and fatigue lacing them thickly even though they wore bright smiles. Merimose bit his lip, and following his eyes I stared at what he was supposedly looking at. It was a pottery shop that sat right in the middle of two jewellery stands.

"I'm trying to see if she has big pots. Mother said that she needs a big one to put the wheat in," he mumbled, and I just had to face-palm. Oh Merimose…

At the end of the day, Merimose's people skills were very low. He was severely shy, and I learned that when it came to people, staying as far away from them as he could was what he was going to do. For example, right now. Approaching the woman at the stall and simply asking if she had bigger pots was not an option.

"Merimose, just ask," I exclaimed, and when he didn't move, looking even more frightened by the mere thought, he let out a fearful yelp as I grabbed his arm and started to pull him towards the stall. "You can't hide from people forever. You need to speak to them. Communicating is something important that you need to do to survive. Stop straining your eyes and just go over to her."

"But, Timaeus," he started, and shooting him a glare, he fell quiet. I let go of his hand as we neared, and immediately the boy's fear vanished and he was stammering infront of the woman who glanced at us with hope in her eyes. Perhaps today had been a slow day for her.

"Um, um, my mom needs a big pot. What are the sizes you have?" he asked, eyes comically wide, and a small smile made its way on to my face. I looked at him as the woman checked the pots that were stacked on one another behind her, and Merimose spared no second to punch me playfully for pulling him. I grinned at him in return, but both of us stilled our foolish actions just as the woman turned back around.

"Ah, this is the biggest I got," she said happily. "Is this okay for your Mother?" and taking a look at it, Merimose thought and nodded after a short moment.

"Yes, I think this should be alright."

"Okay, good," she said, and while Merimose paid, I glanced behind us aimlessly to look at the street, only to have my eyes widen with surprise as I spotted the three boys who were making their way towards us. An amused smile crossed my face after seeing the familiar scowl and tiny frown that two of the boys wore, while the one in the middle grinned ear to ear, waving happily upon seeing me. I tapped Merimose on the shoulder, and after turning around and looking to where I pointed, his face lit up upon noticing them as well.

"Sabra, Nour, Gamal, hey," Merimose exclaimed, and he took a step forward as the three boys stopped before us.

"Merimose!" Nour shouted, and he stepped away from between the other two boys to drape an arm around Merimose's shoulder. Merimose chuckled in return, flicking the boy away who proceeded to rub his tanned face and glare playfully at Merimose with his big, grey eyes.

"Hi, Timaeus," Sabra said softly, and turning away from those two, I smiled at the young boy who was surely no more than eight years old, clutching his pouch at his side. When our eyes met, his blue irises went up to his older brother, Gamal, whose arms were crossed and lips pursed tightly, making his face seem grim.

"Gamal, what's the matter?" I asked, trying to snap him out of his thoughts, and it worked for he jumped a bit and let out a sheepish smile after realising that he had zoned out again.

"Oh, hi, Timaeus," he said, and his eyes met with Sabra who laughed at his state. That got the little one a light punch on the arm.

"What are you all doing here?" Merimose asked, looking at them, and at that Nour was quick to respond in that same, overly cheerful tone that I always heard, quite endlessly I might add, whenever I saw him.

"Oh!" the boy began, but he was immediately shut down by Gamal who stepped forward, glowering darkly at him, the annoyance appearing once more.

"Sabra and I were running errands for our uncle, only to run into this joker who has nothing to do but fool around. He's been dragging us around for almost twenty minutes."

"Hey!" Nour shouted back at the comments thrown his way, and as he got under Gamal's cold gaze to intimidate him, he nervously laughed and backed away when Gamal's precise, cold blue eyes pierced his, causing the rest of us to burst out into a set of laughter ourselves.

As much as I found it hard to believe at first, Merimose spent some time convincing me that they were all really good friends despite the huge differences between their personalities, especially with the way Nour and Gamal fought about almost everything. In the end, I guess they balanced each other out. Sabra was shy and quiet, bring peace to the group and someone they all cared for unconditionally, while Gamal –Sabra's older brother- was a bit on the proud and cold side, the smart one of the group, preferring to use his head over emotions. Nour was the one who constantly made every day and every moment entertaining, while Merimose was the one who mediated, leading them. Every time I looked at them, it would remind me of my friends back home. Sabra was a lot like Ryou, Gamal like Seto, Nour a bit like Joey, and Merimose reminding me much of myself. It brought back quite a bit of memories, and made the little gap in my heart that missed home even bigger.

"So, how long have you been out?" I heard Merimose asked after the laughter died down, and bringing myself out of my thoughts, I looked up just in time to see Merimose shake his head to himself after seeing that Gamal and Nour continued to shoot each other dirty looks. Without drawing much attention to himself, he stepped between the two and went on with the conversation.

"We came outside only a short time ago," Sabra answered, and at that my eyes widened, my jaw slackening.

"Really?" I asked with disbelief, unable to understand why everyone wasn't out since morning preparing for the celebration, and Sabra took a step back at seeing our reactions.

"Yeah, why?"

"We've been out all morning!" Merimose exclaimed, and his hands went to his hips with exaggerated annoyance.

"Obviously," Gamal stated, and our eyes turned towards him. His arms crossed once more into the pose I've seen many times. "At our place we don't have much to do other than cleaning and such, while your family has one of the biggest jobs. You're feeding the palace, so surely you both would have a lot of work to get done."

Ah… he did have a point there.

"Wait," Nour suddenly said, and once more our attention turned to him out of curiosity. It wasn't every day he used a serious tone like that. He glanced at Gamal and Sabra. "I did have something to do today," he explained, and at that Gamal scoffed.

"Oh yeah? What would that be?"

"It concerns the two of you," and ignoring Gamal, Nour turned towards Merimose and me. Our brows both raised in confusion.

"Us?" Merimose wondered, and he flashed me a quick look before returning to Nour who nodded.

"Yeah, I can't believe I forgot. Your mother told me to tell you that she has to send the flour to the palace as soon as possible, so you need to get back home when you're done."

"Oh, okay. Thanks. We will," Merimose said, and he bobbed his head twice in understanding. "If you pass by my house, do drop in and tell her we'll be there. We're almost done."

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Nour assured, and he grinned widely, rushing up to Sabra and Gamal and latching on to them again. "You get to your chores, we'll be off now!"

"No, you're going elsewhere. Sabra and I are going to get our chores done," Gamal scolded, and he pulled Nour off of them who in turn pouted, mustering up a sad look.

"You're abandoning me?"

"Yes," Gamal said, and giving a curt nod in Merimose's and my direction, he marched off, pulling Sabra off with him. Sabra smiled sadly at Nour who was left standing in shock.

"Go home for now, Nour. We'll meet up later. Promise," Sabra called, and at that Nour sighed in defeat.

"Okay, fine," and watching as Sabra waved at us before disappearing within the crowd with Gamal, I turned to see Merimose picking up the vase that was still sitting next to the woman.

"Are you going to go home, Nour?" I asked, turning to look at him, and at that the boy shrugged. He was scratching his arm, gazing around at the flock of people.

"Nah. My mom sent me out because she said I was being a bother at home. I'll probably just go find my cousins instead," and as he said those words, I watched uncertainly as he stopped and slowly grinned mischievously, a finger coming up to tap his chin. What could possibly be going through the boy's head?

"Okay, we're off," Merimose said, and I stared with wonder as the boy completely ignored the expression that graced his friends face, along with the smirk that made its appearance as he turned around.

"Yeah, okay. I'm going to go too then," and he started to walk away, leaving me still feeling dumbfounded. "Bye!" and like that he was gone.

"Bye," Merimose called, and I noticed that he gave a little wave. He then turned to me, smiling reassuringly after seeing my look.

"He'll be fine," he told me, and nudging me once with his shoulder, I pushed Nour to the back of my mind and stepped out from under the canopy and into the sun which returned to putting our skin ablaze. Instinctively my eyes squinted, and using my free hand to give me shade, I watched as Merimose walked quickly ahead of me, clutching the pot tightly to his chest with both of his arms.

"Do you need some help holding that?" I asked him, and I loosened my grip on the basket I held just in case he wanted to trade loads. Merimose however stilled his walking and flashed me a bright smile before shaking his head.

"I got it," he assured, and he continued to wait until I had caught up to him. Thank goodness he did too, or surely I would have lost him in the crowd. I took notice of the yawn he tried to hide and the slight widening of his eyes. "I'm a bit tired, but that's just from walking. All I want to do now is get home," he said, and he let out a weary breath.

"Yeah, me too," I replied, and I refrained from forcing the pot out of his hands to lessen the weight. A repeat of last time was not something I wanted. Merimose was more than capable enough to handle things on his own when they got tough, and he made sure to prove that to me several times over the week. That didn't stop the little pangs in my chest that got me concerned though. I let out a sigh, and returned the comforting smile. "Let's get a move on then."

Just as we took a few steps, a loud shriek suddenly passed over our heads. Merimose and I froze instantly, and so did everyone in the bazaar because the area had abruptly fallen quiet. Everyone stopped talking, and as I looked around, very much confused, I could see others rushing out from underneath their tents as well to see the source of the sound. The cry wasn't the only thing that grabbed everyone's attention though. The shadow of a bird shaped, human, creature kind of shadow, moving across the sand had all eyes turning towards the sky, and what I saw… my own purple ones widened in disbelief.

Bright, white wings like that of an angel was opened wide on her back. Long blue hair was evident, her purple and black dress flowing behind her as the breeze whooshed by softly. Her skin, if it was skin, was green, and her eyes, the ones that scanned the market carefully, were ocean blue. Even more astonishing, I immediately took notice that she wasn't alone. Flying just a short distance away was another creature. If I hadn't known any better I would have thought it was the Dark Magician, one of my favourite duel monster cards back home, but it wasn't. Despite the striking similarities, his face was just black mist under his hat, and glowing blue eyes were ghost-like instead of the stern, purple ones I was so used to seeing on my card. Closing my mouth that had opened slightly from shock, I kept watching as they circled above once more before flying off in the direction they were heading in.

As they disappeared from sight, the silence around me disappeared as well. I was brought back to reality as the noise started up again, but I couldn't help but gawk in confusion as everyone seemingly resumed what they were doing, minus the sudden rise in conversation. Why were they acting as if they saw this kind of thing often? Do they see this often?! I had to stop and remind myself that this era was filled with magic, so those were probably real magical beings. They had to be! So, the question now was who summoned them and for what reason?

While I got so absorbed in my thoughts, the crazy look of glee no doubt appearing on my face, one that had creeped Grandpa out on more than one occasion, I felt another small nudge against my arm. Startled, I rubbed my face to lose the excitement of my findings to focus on Merimose who was looking at me with a tint of amusement on his features. A tiny smile tugged at his lips, and a brow rose up as our eyes met.

"You've never seen anything like that before, have you?" he asked, and I nodded, my heart thudding away in my chest as my mind returned to earth.

"No," I breathed, my voice shaky. "I have never seen that before. It's incredible. I've heard that your country uses magic, but it's the first time I've seen it." Merimose smiled, nodding in agreement.

"They are pretty amazing. I never get tired of seeing them. No one does," he explained, and we quickly retreated under a large canopy to hide from the sun. I stood just on the edge though, my eyes on the lookout in hopes of seeing them again. "The two you just saw were Spiria and Illusion Magician. They are the Ka's of two Priests in the palace," Merimose went on. "We don't see them regularly, but once every week or two they show up."

"Why?" I couldn't help asking, turning towards him, but hearing the shrieks again, I quickly stepped out to look at them. They had indeed returned, and yet again they circled the village slowly, eyes searching. What were they searching for? I returned my attention back to Merimose who continued to speak, and hearing the sad tone in his voice, I looked at him carefully.

"The sight of the Priest's Ka's, Spiria and Illusion Magician especially, usually means that they were summoned to search for the Prince," Merimose said, and he sighed, giving a little shake of his head. "Looks like he disappeared, again, and Mana is no doubt going to be taking the brunt of his actions, as usual."

"Wait, what do you mean?" I asked quickly, seeing the depressed expression on his face. It was then when Merimose bit his lip and shut his eyes for a few seconds, and with another shake of his head, he reopened them to gaze at me with a frown, his voice soft, almost a whisper, as he went on.

"The Prince does this quite often. He disappears to do Ra knows what without telling anyone, and Mana gets in trouble. Once, the Prince vanished during the night and throughout the following day and didn't return until late. The royals locked her away without any food until the Prince returned because they thought she was lying when she said she didn't know where he went. He never tells her so how could she know?" Merimose huffed, and I watched as his face turned sour.

"How do you know that?" I asked quietly.

"Mana told me," Merimose said, and I let go of his shoulder from surprise after hearing the sharp tone. "When Mana comes over every month, whenever she has time anyways, she confides in my mother about everything that's happening since there's not much people she can depend on at the palace. I would listen in on the conversations they would have when Father isn't there, and I would try my best to cheer her up, but I can always see that she's worried."

"Okay, okay, calm down, Merimose," I tried to soothe. "Don't worry. I'm sure Mana will be fine," and I smiled as reassuringly as I could. He was so upset about this, and I couldn't really say he's just overthinking anything because his words weren't hard for me to believe. When I had met Mana myself the first day I came here, she had said something quite similar.

"This is normal in the palace. The Prince disappears every so often, exploring the village and the deserts when he's supposed to be doing his lessons. He's the next one in line for the throne after his father, and it worries people to see that he's not taking it as seriously as he should. And, although we don't talk a lot or even see each other most of the time, I am the first to be asked as to where he could be. Sometimes blamed as well…"

"I know, I'm sorry," Merimose said quickly, and I helped him put the large pot down as he wiped his sweat away and took a few deep breaths. "I'm- I just get so mad when the Prince ups and leaves without atleast offering an explanation or notifying someone. I know it's none of my business, but Mana is like a sister to me and I'm tired of seeing her so upset every time she comes over."

"Do you know why he might be leaving the palace all the time?" I asked quietly, and at this Merimose shook his head and shrugged, looking around at the vegetables that sat behind him.

"I don't know him, I've never even met him. Mana thinks that he doesn't like the palace, but…" Merimose sighed once more. "I just don't know. There must be a reason Mana forgives him every time though. They are friends after all."

"Yeah…" and I trailed off into thought.

Another shriek of the creatures ahead caught everyone's attention, and I was once more pulled out of my thoughts to see them finally heading back towards the palace. My heart raced with curiosity as I stared at them. Just as the creatures disappeared from sight however, another shout had people turning their heads to the middle of the market. When I glanced over, my brows furrowed upon seeing a man standing in the center, arms flailing, clothes ragged and dirty, head messily shaven, and his eyes wild and accusing. He was glaring at the Ka spirits, seemingly on the verge of chasing them as well.

"Go away! Shoo, you blasted demons!" he suddenly screamed, and my heart leapt at the ferocity in his voice, the anger he displayed. I instinctively started to take steps forward to see what the matter was, only to freeze when his crazy gaze was then turned towards everyone around him. He sauntered crookedly towards them, muttering and ranting to himself. I had to strain my ears to listen until he started shouting again. I jumped slightly when I felt Merimose tugging gently on my tunic for us to go, but somehow my head turned away from his begging eyes and my feet stayed rooted to the ground, listening attentively to every word that the strange man was saying.

"Those creatures, why don't you understand that they're cursed!" he yelled into the faces of people, and some shot him a disgusted look before walking away with a wave of their hand. He eyed them, but continued on to the other spectators. "The magic will kill us all! Those royals are feeding something evil in there, you have to believe me," he went on, and the screech in his voice sent chills down my spine. What did he mean by feeding? Clenching my now clammy hands, I looked around, goosebumps appearing on my skin. More looks of disdain appeared on faces, some were even muttering under their breaths before eventually leaving as well.

"Crazy man..."

"Why haven't the guards locked him up yet?"

"Stupid old coot."

Those were the words I caught coming from those who walked by, but my eyes stayed locked on the disheveled looking man. He was walking up to others as they tried to ignore him since everyone had dispersed, and was looking at them intently. Pursing my lips tightly, I tried to push back the fear that swelled within me. Here I was trying to get into the palace, when this man is shouting that only horrors await. Is this the evil Shadi was talking about?

"We have to stop the magic. It will only get worse," he said, his voice raspy, and my breath caught in my throat when his russet eyes locked on me. "Darkness is going to envelop Egypt and destroy us all if it isn't stopped," and he swore loudly, resulting is people shouting back at him, telling him to get lost, until he finally did. Cursing at everyone he turned around and limped away, and with a few more scowls here and there, slowly the bazaar returned to normal. I however couldn't get his words out of my head.

"Darkness is going to envelop Egypt and destroy us all is it isn't stopped."

The more the line ran through my head, swirling with the words that Shadi practically drilled into my brain, my body started to feel light. My stomach was churning so badly that I just knew I was going to be sick, but before I could drop, Merimose's final, urgent tug had me turning around to glance at him. Concern was written all over his face, and that only intensified when he held my arm tightly, no doubt seeing the pale look that had taken over my face.

"Timaeus, are you okay?" he asked, and he walked me over to a small, mud made seat where he sat me down.

"You're sweating, and your face is cold," he said, and he felt my forehead and cheeks as he spoke. I struggled to regain the focus in my eyes. When I did, my eyes finally being able to see the strand of hair hanging over his eyebrow, I spoke.

"Merimose…" I started, and his breath hitched at the suddenness of the moment. I brushed him off and sat straighter, to show that I was going to be okay. The dizziness was leaving, but my mind was still shocked. "What just happened?" I whispered, and staring at me for a few more seconds, Merimose's eyes dropped to his lap before answering.

"Don't worry about it. That was just Ameneman. He's crazy, so don't get too worked up about what he said." He quickly changed the topic. "C'mon. I think you've been out in the sun too long. You're not used to it, so I should have expected as much. Let's go home for now. I'll come back out and get the rest of the stuff."

I grabbed Merimose's arm when he tried to stand, and sat him back down next to me. I couldn't understand why he didn't want to explain further, but as of now I just assumed that he was worried more about my health than some local that he seemed used to seeing often. However, crazy or not, I needed to know. I only had feelings like that when I had flashbacks, so going through something similar at a time like that concerned me.

"What is it?" he wondered, and I took a breath before pressing more on the matter.

"Merimose, tell me. I want to know. Why did, Ameneman say those things. What was he referring to?" Seeing the determination I held to find answers, once more Merimose studied me silently before giving in, releasing a sigh and glancing downwards.

"Ameneman… Well, for as long as I can remember, he always rants about this supposed evil that lives within the palace. He's blaming it on the magic, and no one understands why. I mean, the magic is the one that protected us and kept our country peaceful for such a long time. So obviously he must be deluded somehow." Merimose sighed once more before looking back at me. "He's been to prison several times already for his behaviour. He would attack and disrupts palace guards, when the Priests would come into the village, he was the first one to cause trouble, and even though he's received many warnings, each time he got even crazier. No one understands it."

I mulled quietly to myself. "It still doesn't make sense to me. Has he always been like this?" and Merimose rubbed his face with both hands, wiping away the sweat. I did the same after realising that my own skin was damp as well.

"Well, Father told me that he was never like this. At one time, Ameneman was the smartest man in the kingdom, and that was how he got to work for the Pharaoh as a Scribe of some sort within the palace. Ameneman was excited to work with the royal family. It was his dream, apparently."

"What changed?"

"No one really knows for sure, but days later he ran away, appearing before everyone like the way you just saw him now. He made no sense. Many people, as you saw, don't believe him. However, those who knew him personally, did. Trusting Ameneman's words, his followers only went on to cause trouble for the palace. It's another reason why Mana gets so frightened when the Prince leaves the palace."

I pursed my lips tightly, that fear within myself sparking once again. Something was definitely wrong here. Ameneman… I couldn't stop myself from thinking that there may be some truth to the words he was saying. I was sent here with the purpose of getting into the palace, to save something. That meant I had to stop something, and so far, when it came to the things I knew, Ameneman was the only one who said anything close to my thoughts out loud. Just my luck though, to have everyone else think he's insane.

"Do you think the Prince has anything to do with it?" I then hesitantly asked, and Merimose gave me a bewildered look.

"I doubt it," Merimose said after a while. "Ameneman was a Scribe, stuck at the Pharaoh's side throughout the day. Besides, this was years ago. The Prince was around my age when Ameneman worked there, so how could he have anything to do with it?"

I hummed. Well, any thoughts I had to linking him to the Prince was out. But, my eyes widened fractionally when I recalled one of my earlier flashbacks. The one of the Prince as a child, much younger than Merimose, with a shadow, a darkness, lurking around him. Was that it? Is that the evil Ameneman was talking about? As a piece of the puzzle suddenly clicked together, instead of feeling confident, I felt even more worried. What have I gotten myself into?

"C'mon, Timaeus. Let's go," Merimose said, and he picked up the vase and held it in his arms tightly once more. I stood up, feeling my feet walking behind him.

My entire being however was solely focused on Ameneman who was poking around a vegetable stall, scratching his leg while he loitered for moments before being chased away. As Ameneman's retreating form meandered its way down a tiny street, filled with old crates and wet mud, I couldn't help but feel assured that Ameneman was part of my journey. He held some answers to my questions, and maybe, just maybe, he might be able to give me a clue as to what this thing is that the Prince needed saving from.

And that brings us to the end of the chapter! I hope you all liked it. I got to say that it was a real trouble maker, this chapter. So many things were happening one after another, and I'm wondering if it was too much, or too close together. The transition, then, between the friends and then the appearance of Spiria and Illusion Magician, and then Ameneman's entrance. It feels that I could have had more of Yugi's thoughts on everything, but then I took the scenes into account and thought that there might have not even been time for him to think logically about each part. That's why I kind of tried to gather his thoughts on all the events at the end of the chapter.

Also, what do you think of the scene with Merimose's friends? To be honest, it was kind of a filler, just to get the plot moving along, but then again I reasoned that it would also be good to have Yugi be more familiar with the people around him, especially those that Merimose knows because it has been a week and the two were together for most of it. My other reasoning.

As you already must have known, there are no doubt some repeats in there, odd lines, the ending it starting to seem too abrupt now, and… perhaps OOCness on Merimose's part. By gosh, that's another thing I'm concerned about now. Ugh. So bothersome. However, don't worry. I shall NEVER give up working on this story. I have lots of exciting things planned once Yugi meets Atem, and I can't wait to get there. I know the waiting is tedious, and I'm awful at updating consistently, but I shall try my best especially since summer is approaching.

Thank you all for reading! Your support and kind words means so much to me and is part of the reason why I try my best.

Please review. :)

Until next time… Bye~