So, are you impatient of waiting? Worried about Akei? Is he gonna live....die? Well....let's just see. But not right away. Heh, heh, this chapter is VERY informative, so pay attention ^^
******
"Bakura....do you think they're ok....?" Yugi whispered, sitting on his blankets with legs pulled into his chest.
"I really don't know Yugi....most likely Kaiba is with them....so they have three duel disks....they should be....ok...." Bakura said hanging his legs over the side of his bed and staring down at the Millennium Ring. "I really hope they're safe, I couldn't live otherwise."
"I know what you mean..."
"So what do we do...?" Chocolate brown eyes met to look into that of Yugi's crimson. They sat there in silence, trying to figure out an answer to Bakura's question. What _would_ they do? What would anyone expect two lights to do while their dark halves are somewhere.
But the two, and Seto were still in the palace. Only the room they were in was concealed by a magic, hiding their presences.
"We go find them."
"....Yugi?"
"We have to try! Maybe they ARE still in the palace! Come on Bakura!" Yugi bolted upwards, leaving the room quickly....Bakura slowly being almost dragged along.
******
Akei attempted moving from his position on the ground against the wall, but a force still held him against it. The two women were a mere foot from him, smirking down at the former tomb-robber, as if looking forward to this. Akei cringed and closed his eyes, there was no escaping a final death now. He felt as a magic irrupted around both of them, ready to strike him with the command of the third.
"Now! Kill h-"
"STOP!" A commanding tone broke the woman's voice to silence. Everyone, including Akei looked to the source of it. Yami. A very pissed former Pharaoh at that. "I demand to know who you three are!!"
The two turned away from Akei and looked to the "leader" of the three, who spoke up. "My name is Ayane, one of the three Shinsei sisters, and the oldest."
A second one spoke up, drawing attention to her. "I am Tayla Shinsei."
"And I am Rekanna Shinsei."
Yami stared at them blankly, and the oldest of the sisters took this to command the death of Akei. "NOW finish him!"
"Yes my sister." The two said together, turning to face Akei once again.
"I SAID STOP!!" Yami stormed, surprising Kaiba. "You will NOT harm anyone in this room whilst I am around!"
"He is a tomb-robber. He must be killed," Ayane objected, folding her arms over her chest.
"He WAS a tomb-robber! This is not five-thousand years ago! This is our present time!"
"You will not decide this man's fate. Sisters atta-"
"You want me to save this city?! And yet here you are not even listening to a word I freaking say! If you kill him, you can bet I find a chair to recline in and watch this city be overtaken by darkness!!"
"Yami...maybe you should calm down...." Seto began, only to receive a dark hate filled look from narrowed ruby eyes.
"Shut up, Kaiba!"
The CEO backed off. Even in a duel, he has NEVER seen Yami yell that bad. He was beyond enraged....was this how he was as Pharaoh...?
The three sisters stared in shock at the Pharaoh. Here he was, risking the whole city of Cairo if they killed Akei. AKEI was staring in shock. Ayane seemed to growl as she lifted a hand and the silver-haired fell forward, roughly broken from the spell that held him painfully against the wall. Without even looking from Ayane, Yami called out loudly, but not as harsh as he was before. "You ok, Akei?"
"I've....been better....."
Yami smirked and began walking towards Ayane while Kaiba helped Akei off the ground, following the former Pharaoh. He was ready to walk past the sister to the door when she grabbed his arm, looking into his eyes with pain in her own.
"How long.....has it been since.....since you were Pharaoh....?"
Yami stared confusingly, didn't she know? "A millennia...."
"T-that long....?" Ayane sank to her knees, hand still lingering on Yami's arm. She stared at the floor in sadness, her other two sisters (equal in age) stared at Ayane, similar pain and sorrow in those forest green eyes.
"Didn't you know....?"
"We were trapped into this room, when the Shadow Games were sealed away....we had no idea....it's been....so long........and still....we cannot leave."
Akei turned his head slightly, arm around Kaiba supporting him from tipping over, body still sore from being slammed into the wall at such speed. "But...that doesn't mean we can't leave...right?"
The three Shinsei sisters fell silent.
Seto's eyes widened. "You mean we can't leave?!"
Rekanna spoke up, stepping forward with Tayla matching the pace. "No one has ever been able to open the doors in the first place. Once the door is opened though, the people outside of it are pulled in by the magic of the room, and when they are all in....the door seals closed. It can only be opened by the outside."
Akei hung his head and fell over to the ground. So much for Seto's support. "So our only hopes of getting out of here...."
"....are Yugi and Bakura." Yami finished.
******
"Bakura....where the heck are we going?" Yugi complained, trudging down a dark hall behind his light haired friend.
"I don't know...but the ring is pulling me this way..." He whispered, and then suddenly stopped walking.
"What is it?"
Bakura raised an arm and pointed to two large doors, illuminating with a soft golden gold. "That's where the ring points."
"Let's open it and see if our yamis are there!" Yugi perked up, running at the door and attempting to shove it open. "It won't budge!"
"Hey...look....that looks like that Egyptian writing....uh....hieroglyphics.." Bakura murmured, voice indicating to the door as Yugi looked up at it.
"Can you read it.......?"
"Sort of.."
Yugi blinked at him, Bakura only shrugged. "I've been reading a book that says what the symbols stand for. I thought it would be cool."
"Does your yami know?"
"Eh...no...kind of a surprise, ne?"
"Right....so what's it say?"
He stepped forward, lifting his head to stare his eyes over the writing, judging it almost. What surprised BOTH of the two, was when Bakura started reading it...he was speaking Egyptian.
"Uh...Bakura...? When did you learn that....?"
Bakura shook his head and fell to his knees, leaning against the door. "I don't know, Yugi...I don't know...." The mentioned boy stepped over and helped Bakura to stand again. "It said something about like.... 'behind these doors is trapped a secret, three mages caught by a spell...to enter two are needed, chant the ancient language and let the doors flow open.'"
"That's really freaky."
"Yeah, I know....but that means both of us have to read it! From what happened a minute ago, I should be fine...but can you read it?"
"I-I don't know...I don't think I can..."
"It just entered my mind and flowed out when I was about to translate for you, you have to try Yugi!"
"YUGI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Crimson eyes lurched up to stare at the door, Yugi's mouth dropping open as he pushed himself against it. "Yami! Yami is that you? Are you all in there?!"
******
Yami smirked from leaning against the door. "Told you it would work."
"Oh shut up..." Akei cursed, still sitting against the floor.
"Yugi! We're trapped in here! The doors can only be opened from the outside!"
"Hey oh great one! Ever think this? They need to know the ancient tongue to open the doors...they don't know it!"
"I know it!"
Akei looked up towards the doors, hearing his aibou's voice call through it. "I know it! I don't know how....it just flowed to me when I was translating over the hieroglyphics!"
Yami blinked over at a surprised Akei before facing the door again and speaking just loud enough for the two outsiders to hear. "Bakura, repeat it over and over again until Yugi gets it word for word."
"Alright!"
Yami turned and leaned his back against the doors.
"They won't succeed."
The former Pharaoh looked in anger to Rekanna, eyes narrowing. "You don't know these two. They CAN do it!"
******
"Alright, you heard your yami, Yugi. Let's see...I'll try to say it slowly..." Yugi stared at the doors as did Bakura, who had began chanting the words on the door in the Egyptian language. He would finish and begin it again, and so on...until Yugi began to chant along with the lingo. He couldn't believe he was doing this, it was kind of exciting....the yamis had saved them earlier, and now they get to save the yamis....plus Seto.
Bakura's ring began to glow as half the double doors did as well....and Yugi stared down at his chest where the puzzle rested, seeing it do the same with reacting to the other half of the two doors. He winced when he heard a rumbling sound and grabbed Bakura's arm, pulling him backwards. "Yugi! What are you-"
"The doors are opening! Let's NOT get hit by them!"
"Oh...right..." Bakura blushed at the fact he didn't notice.
******
Akei groaned when he realized the doors opening toward the outside. That meant he had to stand, and that was a very challenging feat at the moment. First, it's getting burnt by fire, then it was being slammed in who knows what speed into a stone wall. His back still was in pained from that.
Kaiba took the first chance and slid through and out the tiny narrowed space of the doors (they were slow at opening). Yami looked back at the three sisters.
"We must leave. And I will not let darkness overthrow this city, Pharaoh or not. But now, we must leave, before that happens."
The oldest nodded before speaking up, walking backwards to step between her sisters. "Thank you, we give you our blessings....in succeeding."
Yami started walking for the door when he realized....Akei was still sitting pained.
"Come on Yami!" Bakura yelled to his darkness from the outside, being held by Yugi in not running in to fetch him. Yami rolled his eyes and walked to the former tomb-robber, grabbing his arm and DRAGGING him across the floor and out the doors, just as they were closing behind. Yami pulled at the arm and shoved Akei roughly to his feet, who didn't quite stay that way and found a pillar to lean against.
"Hmph." Yami folded his arms, shaking his head. "Not even a bit of gratitude, I should have left you with those sisters."
"I'm too tired for gratitude..."
"I'm going to sleep." Everyone looked to Bakura, who had his ring glowing as he vanished into Akei's body, aka, his soul room.
[Why...?]
{You all talk too loud...I'm sleeping here, that way you can use some of my strength or whatever....Ow...it's sore in your mind...what happened in there..?}
[Oh nothing much just being thrown into one of these lovely stone walls at some speed that no one can figure out. Nothing I can't handle.]
{Sure doesn't seem like you handled it...}
[.....]
"Helloooooo? Akei? Anyone home?" Akei flinched at Yami's hand being wavered infront of his face.
"What..?"
"Man you really do need rest."
Akei glared at him. "I was talking to Bakura."
"Speaking of which....he IS the ONLY reason we got out of there..."
The light besides Yami nodded (Seto leaned against a wall away from them). "Yami's right, I couldn't read the...hieroglyphics...but Bakura could sort of and we he was able to read it in Egyptian in some...weird way...."
[How could you read the hieroglyphics?]
{You always said I read too much..}
Akei smirked slightly.
"Can we _please_ get some sleep now....? All three of your disappearances threw a perfectly good sleep out of whack." Yugi complained, staring over at his dark half wearily. But Yami simply smiled and nodded, giving an odd look to Kaiba before him, Akei, Yugi and reluctantly Kaiba went down the hall back to where they were to sleep. Yami slipped into his soul room whilst his aibou took a bed, surprisingly Akei in the other and Kaiba....on the floor.
******
The sun peeked into the room, waking Akei first who stood stretching, allowing Bakura to take form back. {Everyone else is still asleep...but it is early by the looks of it...Are you staying in your soul room?}
[For now at least...until everyone else wakes up...] Bakura nodded at his yami's responds and looked at Kaiba who was leaning against the corner of the wall. He would be sore from that.
{I wish there were something I could do...I feel so helpless....} Bakura thought through his mental link. Only...he didn't realize that it had slipped through the link, he thought it was simply to himself...not openly to his yami.
[You're not helpless.]
{What...?} Bakura's eyes widened as he sat on the edge of his bed.
[You didn't want me to hear that....did you?]
{I.....no...}
Akei shook his head from his soul room and materialized infront of his hikari, arms folded over his chest and eyes slightly narrowed but a glint in them that Bakura could see sympathy. "Bakura. You are not helpless. For one thing it was because of _you_ Kaiba, Yami, and I got out of that room last night. Do not let what I have said in the past haunt you now. Don't let it get to you no matter how harmful it sounded..." Akei tilted his head up slightly and turned it to stare out the window, before returning to the ring...thus his soul room.
Bakura simply sat there, running his yami's words through his mind. Yugi stirred slightly, but not enough to wake fully. 'I hope my yami isn't offended or something...when I thought that I wasn't thinking of the past...painful as thoughs times were, they don't matter now...He's starting to really try and help....' The silver-haired boy raised his glance to two sacks by the window and a smile rippled over his lips to cheekbones. One word: Food.
The boy stood, walking only a few inches before kneeling and opened the sack closest to him. 'I wonder what Yugi's and my yamis foraged from the kitchen...? I haven't eaten in awhile...good thing we brought food....' The first thing his hand grabbed was something very....mushy. He pulled up and out a bulk of brown, which were supposed to be yellow. Silently, Bakura cursed, then opened up the link as he threw the bulk in the sack. {YAMI!!!!!}
Akei literally jumped from the floor of his soul room. Here he was, sitting half comfortable, fiddling idly with his ring when Bakura decided to voice himself very loudly through the mental link.
[W-what....?!]
{You. Packed. BANANAS?!}
[I think that was Yami...]
{........This is really gross......} The boy ignored the brown bananas he put back in the sack and reached in to pull out an orange. Instinct took over, or maybe not instinct....more like darkness...had him peeling the orange...and throwing the peels at the one and only Seto Kaiba. Of course that didn't wake him, but Bakura actually found it quite humorous. {If you wanted control, even a little bit, you could of just said something...}
[Eh....sorry.]
******
At long last, everyone was awake. They had each gotten past eating, Seto's minor tantrum over the orange peels (he had tried attacking Bakura only to have the dark half appear and hit him back), and were already on the steps of the palace.
"Alright...how I hate to lay this on you Bakura...but we need you to find where your dad was...." Yami said staring at the boy who stared back almost...angrily. The former Pharaoh folded his arms and waited, but didn't get the answer he was looking for.
"What do you mean 'how I hate to lay this on you'? What, do you think I can't do it or something?! Why can't you believe me?!" Bakura hissed, causing the four others to stare. Yami seemed empty of a responds, and that made Bakura even madder. "Come on....answer me!!" He was about to continue when he fell to his knees, landing awkwardly because of the steps. Akei kneeled besides him and shook him, calling out his name with no success of snapping the glazed boy out of it. Bakura stared forward, not at anyone or anything in particular.
[Faiteir nasai.....faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai...]
Bakura cringed and half came back to reality, curling as best he could as the two haunting words struck over through his mental link. His voice cried out, tears breaking the barrier that held them in his eyes. "Yami stop it! PLEASE STOP!!"
Yami's eyes flashed up at a confused Akei who was shaking his head at the accusing words.
"Bakura...I-I'm not doing anything....!"
[Faiteir nasai.....faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai...]
"MAKE IT STOP!"
Akei forced the ring to draw his body within Bakura's soul room. At least it was a normal room now, not like the storage place it used to be. Just a bed room kind of thing, his bed and such.
But he didn't expect to hear what was heard when he arrived. The paining echo of 'faiteir nasai' bouncing through the walls, entering his mind through Bakura's mental link. He couldn't hold himself up any longer, falling to the floor on his knees of his hikari's soul room. 'This must be it...Bakura must think I'm saying this over his mental link...' He cringed painfully, it was like some kind of spell, almost. The pain doubled over and he held back the urge to scream, using the power and energy he had left to take over Bakura's form, setting the boy in his soul room so he was in control. But that's when he let loose a loud, ear aching scream of pain, making everyone realize it was Akei, not Bakura. He shook violently for a few minutes, unable to hold himself together as the words pushed and pulled at all angles of his mind.
Yami knelt down and tried aiding the former tomb-robber to no success. But he did manage to notice the ring glowing with a flamed gold and one arrow pointing out to a certain part of the desert beyond the city.
They would go there later. First thing though was to snap BOTH Bakura's from whatever pain they were experiencing.
"Akei! AKEI! Dammit snap out of it! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Yami called out, watching the other yami curl in defense and pain. "AKEI!!"
"Yami....it's no use.....something is really hurting them......"
"I know aibou, I know....but why is it always them as the targets...?"
******
Bakura stood breathing in gasps within his soul room, looking down at the floor. The pain had decreased, most likely because his yami took over. 'I really don't think he's ok.....'
{Yami? Can you hear me....? Please Yami listen to my voice!!}
******
Akei was indeed within his soul room, half of him at least. He was out in the city of Cairo on the palace steps, and yet in some black void almost. More dark then the Shadow Realm...more painful....resurfacing past memories....
His many tombs being victims of his cruel antics.
Being locked in the ring.
The Shadow Realm.
Being banished to the Graveyard, thus the Shadow Realm.
Dansei.
The Shadow Realm.
Egypt.
This stupid black void.
One memory caught his eye though and he paused it with all the power he could to play it through. It was the one thing that may prove useful from all this pain.
***Flashback***
Two figures hid in the shadows of an alley way, noise from a near market very faint at the time of day they were in. Both were cloaked, head to toe and deep brown robes, even in the heat plus the robes they didn't feel too hot. At a long silence, one man broke it, talking in a low monotone voice. "You may be good kid....but you are not good enough for where you wish to go." He paused and thought something over a moment. "You know the Shadow Games, you know the Shadow Realm. Well. This tomb...is worse then you can ever imagine. Filled with pain and creatures neither feline or canine. Creatures stronger then wolves, teeth and slyness of cats...and yet...smarter then us. But the darkness in that tomb, could overthrow us in a few simple tactics, bringing pain to the family of whoever was the first to go near the spell.....then it will feast...on everyone and everything else..." Again the figure paused and raised his head slightly. "Of all the things you can do. Do NOT ever enter that tomb!"
"......." The second figure looked away slightly, only to have his face roughly grabbed to look at the main speaker.
"You understand, Bakura?!"
"Yes..." Came the slow and reluctant responds.
***End Flashback***
Akei winced in pain again, but then he couldn't feel it...
Because his body went numb.
******
A crude remark came from Seto Kaiba who's seemed to be staying away from the others, but it was a true fact he stated. "He's unconscious."
Yami looked down with a worried expression when Akei had falling motionlessly against the steps. The former check for a pulse and sighed with relief that he was till alive. "He's not dead at least, but I have no idea what is going on with him.
******
Bakura stood within the small "hall" of space between soul room doors. Something dark seemed to be seeping from the doors of his yami's room, it was frightening and yet Bakura pushed forward nevertheless. The door took most of his effort to open and once he did, all he saw was blackness.
No...wait....that's not all he saw. Within the center of the darkness floated an unconscious form, curled tightly and shaking rapidly. The voice had left both of their minds, but it seemed it did more damage to Akei then Bakura. "That would probably be me in there if he hadn't taken control...and if it were me....he'd probably find some way to cut me lose of the darkness...." Bakura paused in thought, hands curling into fists as he stared down at his ring the best he could in the room of never ending black. "...And I have to do that same..."
'Let me see now....my yami can control the ring easily without thinking....but so far it's responding off my emotions. All I need is enough light to chase out the darkness....I'm a hikari for gods sake! It should be easy!' Bakura slammed his eyes closed and ignored the dark feeling around him and focused on his yami's form. He wasn't about to let his yami be taken by his worst nightmare...darkness.
That's the one thing he knew Akei feared. Being locked in eternal darkness....and he would not fail his yami, when he needed help the most. Voice raising to cut through the void, Bakura shouted at the top of his lungs in almost a commanding voice...to the ring. "Come on! Fill the room with a golden light!! Chase away the darkness!!!"
And the ring responded.
******
Akei felt the pain around him lessen, though he couldn't awaken...
But the power around him, it wasn't the darkness entangling him anymore. There was light...a lot of it too. How he wished to see what was going on, but he couldn't....the only thing he could realize was that he was fully back in his body on the steps of Cairo, unconsciousness now taken over of his mind as well.
******
Bakura separated from his yami and immediately sat by him, grabbing his dark half's shoulders and shaking him to wake up. "Come on Yami! Please you have to wake up! Yami, brother, whatever you want to be called please WAKE UP!"
******
Squee! That was long! Twelve pages, Microsoft Works...man....first Akei nearly gets killed and now he's unconscious?! How fun to be him. And Bakura is getting more involved with the ring, if it can erase minds...why can't it burst out of light? Eh...whatever. Aha! Return of those beloved words "faiteir nasai" ain't they everyone's best friends?
Akei: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!
Bakura: You nearly killed us with your "friends"!
Oh pipe down you two! So hard to handle...not sure when I'll get the next chapter out, reviews can help inspiration too ya know...heh heh.....Please live with errors, I just skimmed through...I really just wanted to get this posted up....... (Ok so I only looked over the first five pages). One last thing, you may notice the summary changed....
******
"Bakura....do you think they're ok....?" Yugi whispered, sitting on his blankets with legs pulled into his chest.
"I really don't know Yugi....most likely Kaiba is with them....so they have three duel disks....they should be....ok...." Bakura said hanging his legs over the side of his bed and staring down at the Millennium Ring. "I really hope they're safe, I couldn't live otherwise."
"I know what you mean..."
"So what do we do...?" Chocolate brown eyes met to look into that of Yugi's crimson. They sat there in silence, trying to figure out an answer to Bakura's question. What _would_ they do? What would anyone expect two lights to do while their dark halves are somewhere.
But the two, and Seto were still in the palace. Only the room they were in was concealed by a magic, hiding their presences.
"We go find them."
"....Yugi?"
"We have to try! Maybe they ARE still in the palace! Come on Bakura!" Yugi bolted upwards, leaving the room quickly....Bakura slowly being almost dragged along.
******
Akei attempted moving from his position on the ground against the wall, but a force still held him against it. The two women were a mere foot from him, smirking down at the former tomb-robber, as if looking forward to this. Akei cringed and closed his eyes, there was no escaping a final death now. He felt as a magic irrupted around both of them, ready to strike him with the command of the third.
"Now! Kill h-"
"STOP!" A commanding tone broke the woman's voice to silence. Everyone, including Akei looked to the source of it. Yami. A very pissed former Pharaoh at that. "I demand to know who you three are!!"
The two turned away from Akei and looked to the "leader" of the three, who spoke up. "My name is Ayane, one of the three Shinsei sisters, and the oldest."
A second one spoke up, drawing attention to her. "I am Tayla Shinsei."
"And I am Rekanna Shinsei."
Yami stared at them blankly, and the oldest of the sisters took this to command the death of Akei. "NOW finish him!"
"Yes my sister." The two said together, turning to face Akei once again.
"I SAID STOP!!" Yami stormed, surprising Kaiba. "You will NOT harm anyone in this room whilst I am around!"
"He is a tomb-robber. He must be killed," Ayane objected, folding her arms over her chest.
"He WAS a tomb-robber! This is not five-thousand years ago! This is our present time!"
"You will not decide this man's fate. Sisters atta-"
"You want me to save this city?! And yet here you are not even listening to a word I freaking say! If you kill him, you can bet I find a chair to recline in and watch this city be overtaken by darkness!!"
"Yami...maybe you should calm down...." Seto began, only to receive a dark hate filled look from narrowed ruby eyes.
"Shut up, Kaiba!"
The CEO backed off. Even in a duel, he has NEVER seen Yami yell that bad. He was beyond enraged....was this how he was as Pharaoh...?
The three sisters stared in shock at the Pharaoh. Here he was, risking the whole city of Cairo if they killed Akei. AKEI was staring in shock. Ayane seemed to growl as she lifted a hand and the silver-haired fell forward, roughly broken from the spell that held him painfully against the wall. Without even looking from Ayane, Yami called out loudly, but not as harsh as he was before. "You ok, Akei?"
"I've....been better....."
Yami smirked and began walking towards Ayane while Kaiba helped Akei off the ground, following the former Pharaoh. He was ready to walk past the sister to the door when she grabbed his arm, looking into his eyes with pain in her own.
"How long.....has it been since.....since you were Pharaoh....?"
Yami stared confusingly, didn't she know? "A millennia...."
"T-that long....?" Ayane sank to her knees, hand still lingering on Yami's arm. She stared at the floor in sadness, her other two sisters (equal in age) stared at Ayane, similar pain and sorrow in those forest green eyes.
"Didn't you know....?"
"We were trapped into this room, when the Shadow Games were sealed away....we had no idea....it's been....so long........and still....we cannot leave."
Akei turned his head slightly, arm around Kaiba supporting him from tipping over, body still sore from being slammed into the wall at such speed. "But...that doesn't mean we can't leave...right?"
The three Shinsei sisters fell silent.
Seto's eyes widened. "You mean we can't leave?!"
Rekanna spoke up, stepping forward with Tayla matching the pace. "No one has ever been able to open the doors in the first place. Once the door is opened though, the people outside of it are pulled in by the magic of the room, and when they are all in....the door seals closed. It can only be opened by the outside."
Akei hung his head and fell over to the ground. So much for Seto's support. "So our only hopes of getting out of here...."
"....are Yugi and Bakura." Yami finished.
******
"Bakura....where the heck are we going?" Yugi complained, trudging down a dark hall behind his light haired friend.
"I don't know...but the ring is pulling me this way..." He whispered, and then suddenly stopped walking.
"What is it?"
Bakura raised an arm and pointed to two large doors, illuminating with a soft golden gold. "That's where the ring points."
"Let's open it and see if our yamis are there!" Yugi perked up, running at the door and attempting to shove it open. "It won't budge!"
"Hey...look....that looks like that Egyptian writing....uh....hieroglyphics.." Bakura murmured, voice indicating to the door as Yugi looked up at it.
"Can you read it.......?"
"Sort of.."
Yugi blinked at him, Bakura only shrugged. "I've been reading a book that says what the symbols stand for. I thought it would be cool."
"Does your yami know?"
"Eh...no...kind of a surprise, ne?"
"Right....so what's it say?"
He stepped forward, lifting his head to stare his eyes over the writing, judging it almost. What surprised BOTH of the two, was when Bakura started reading it...he was speaking Egyptian.
"Uh...Bakura...? When did you learn that....?"
Bakura shook his head and fell to his knees, leaning against the door. "I don't know, Yugi...I don't know...." The mentioned boy stepped over and helped Bakura to stand again. "It said something about like.... 'behind these doors is trapped a secret, three mages caught by a spell...to enter two are needed, chant the ancient language and let the doors flow open.'"
"That's really freaky."
"Yeah, I know....but that means both of us have to read it! From what happened a minute ago, I should be fine...but can you read it?"
"I-I don't know...I don't think I can..."
"It just entered my mind and flowed out when I was about to translate for you, you have to try Yugi!"
"YUGI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Crimson eyes lurched up to stare at the door, Yugi's mouth dropping open as he pushed himself against it. "Yami! Yami is that you? Are you all in there?!"
******
Yami smirked from leaning against the door. "Told you it would work."
"Oh shut up..." Akei cursed, still sitting against the floor.
"Yugi! We're trapped in here! The doors can only be opened from the outside!"
"Hey oh great one! Ever think this? They need to know the ancient tongue to open the doors...they don't know it!"
"I know it!"
Akei looked up towards the doors, hearing his aibou's voice call through it. "I know it! I don't know how....it just flowed to me when I was translating over the hieroglyphics!"
Yami blinked over at a surprised Akei before facing the door again and speaking just loud enough for the two outsiders to hear. "Bakura, repeat it over and over again until Yugi gets it word for word."
"Alright!"
Yami turned and leaned his back against the doors.
"They won't succeed."
The former Pharaoh looked in anger to Rekanna, eyes narrowing. "You don't know these two. They CAN do it!"
******
"Alright, you heard your yami, Yugi. Let's see...I'll try to say it slowly..." Yugi stared at the doors as did Bakura, who had began chanting the words on the door in the Egyptian language. He would finish and begin it again, and so on...until Yugi began to chant along with the lingo. He couldn't believe he was doing this, it was kind of exciting....the yamis had saved them earlier, and now they get to save the yamis....plus Seto.
Bakura's ring began to glow as half the double doors did as well....and Yugi stared down at his chest where the puzzle rested, seeing it do the same with reacting to the other half of the two doors. He winced when he heard a rumbling sound and grabbed Bakura's arm, pulling him backwards. "Yugi! What are you-"
"The doors are opening! Let's NOT get hit by them!"
"Oh...right..." Bakura blushed at the fact he didn't notice.
******
Akei groaned when he realized the doors opening toward the outside. That meant he had to stand, and that was a very challenging feat at the moment. First, it's getting burnt by fire, then it was being slammed in who knows what speed into a stone wall. His back still was in pained from that.
Kaiba took the first chance and slid through and out the tiny narrowed space of the doors (they were slow at opening). Yami looked back at the three sisters.
"We must leave. And I will not let darkness overthrow this city, Pharaoh or not. But now, we must leave, before that happens."
The oldest nodded before speaking up, walking backwards to step between her sisters. "Thank you, we give you our blessings....in succeeding."
Yami started walking for the door when he realized....Akei was still sitting pained.
"Come on Yami!" Bakura yelled to his darkness from the outside, being held by Yugi in not running in to fetch him. Yami rolled his eyes and walked to the former tomb-robber, grabbing his arm and DRAGGING him across the floor and out the doors, just as they were closing behind. Yami pulled at the arm and shoved Akei roughly to his feet, who didn't quite stay that way and found a pillar to lean against.
"Hmph." Yami folded his arms, shaking his head. "Not even a bit of gratitude, I should have left you with those sisters."
"I'm too tired for gratitude..."
"I'm going to sleep." Everyone looked to Bakura, who had his ring glowing as he vanished into Akei's body, aka, his soul room.
[Why...?]
{You all talk too loud...I'm sleeping here, that way you can use some of my strength or whatever....Ow...it's sore in your mind...what happened in there..?}
[Oh nothing much just being thrown into one of these lovely stone walls at some speed that no one can figure out. Nothing I can't handle.]
{Sure doesn't seem like you handled it...}
[.....]
"Helloooooo? Akei? Anyone home?" Akei flinched at Yami's hand being wavered infront of his face.
"What..?"
"Man you really do need rest."
Akei glared at him. "I was talking to Bakura."
"Speaking of which....he IS the ONLY reason we got out of there..."
The light besides Yami nodded (Seto leaned against a wall away from them). "Yami's right, I couldn't read the...hieroglyphics...but Bakura could sort of and we he was able to read it in Egyptian in some...weird way...."
[How could you read the hieroglyphics?]
{You always said I read too much..}
Akei smirked slightly.
"Can we _please_ get some sleep now....? All three of your disappearances threw a perfectly good sleep out of whack." Yugi complained, staring over at his dark half wearily. But Yami simply smiled and nodded, giving an odd look to Kaiba before him, Akei, Yugi and reluctantly Kaiba went down the hall back to where they were to sleep. Yami slipped into his soul room whilst his aibou took a bed, surprisingly Akei in the other and Kaiba....on the floor.
******
The sun peeked into the room, waking Akei first who stood stretching, allowing Bakura to take form back. {Everyone else is still asleep...but it is early by the looks of it...Are you staying in your soul room?}
[For now at least...until everyone else wakes up...] Bakura nodded at his yami's responds and looked at Kaiba who was leaning against the corner of the wall. He would be sore from that.
{I wish there were something I could do...I feel so helpless....} Bakura thought through his mental link. Only...he didn't realize that it had slipped through the link, he thought it was simply to himself...not openly to his yami.
[You're not helpless.]
{What...?} Bakura's eyes widened as he sat on the edge of his bed.
[You didn't want me to hear that....did you?]
{I.....no...}
Akei shook his head from his soul room and materialized infront of his hikari, arms folded over his chest and eyes slightly narrowed but a glint in them that Bakura could see sympathy. "Bakura. You are not helpless. For one thing it was because of _you_ Kaiba, Yami, and I got out of that room last night. Do not let what I have said in the past haunt you now. Don't let it get to you no matter how harmful it sounded..." Akei tilted his head up slightly and turned it to stare out the window, before returning to the ring...thus his soul room.
Bakura simply sat there, running his yami's words through his mind. Yugi stirred slightly, but not enough to wake fully. 'I hope my yami isn't offended or something...when I thought that I wasn't thinking of the past...painful as thoughs times were, they don't matter now...He's starting to really try and help....' The silver-haired boy raised his glance to two sacks by the window and a smile rippled over his lips to cheekbones. One word: Food.
The boy stood, walking only a few inches before kneeling and opened the sack closest to him. 'I wonder what Yugi's and my yamis foraged from the kitchen...? I haven't eaten in awhile...good thing we brought food....' The first thing his hand grabbed was something very....mushy. He pulled up and out a bulk of brown, which were supposed to be yellow. Silently, Bakura cursed, then opened up the link as he threw the bulk in the sack. {YAMI!!!!!}
Akei literally jumped from the floor of his soul room. Here he was, sitting half comfortable, fiddling idly with his ring when Bakura decided to voice himself very loudly through the mental link.
[W-what....?!]
{You. Packed. BANANAS?!}
[I think that was Yami...]
{........This is really gross......} The boy ignored the brown bananas he put back in the sack and reached in to pull out an orange. Instinct took over, or maybe not instinct....more like darkness...had him peeling the orange...and throwing the peels at the one and only Seto Kaiba. Of course that didn't wake him, but Bakura actually found it quite humorous. {If you wanted control, even a little bit, you could of just said something...}
[Eh....sorry.]
******
At long last, everyone was awake. They had each gotten past eating, Seto's minor tantrum over the orange peels (he had tried attacking Bakura only to have the dark half appear and hit him back), and were already on the steps of the palace.
"Alright...how I hate to lay this on you Bakura...but we need you to find where your dad was...." Yami said staring at the boy who stared back almost...angrily. The former Pharaoh folded his arms and waited, but didn't get the answer he was looking for.
"What do you mean 'how I hate to lay this on you'? What, do you think I can't do it or something?! Why can't you believe me?!" Bakura hissed, causing the four others to stare. Yami seemed empty of a responds, and that made Bakura even madder. "Come on....answer me!!" He was about to continue when he fell to his knees, landing awkwardly because of the steps. Akei kneeled besides him and shook him, calling out his name with no success of snapping the glazed boy out of it. Bakura stared forward, not at anyone or anything in particular.
[Faiteir nasai.....faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai...]
Bakura cringed and half came back to reality, curling as best he could as the two haunting words struck over through his mental link. His voice cried out, tears breaking the barrier that held them in his eyes. "Yami stop it! PLEASE STOP!!"
Yami's eyes flashed up at a confused Akei who was shaking his head at the accusing words.
"Bakura...I-I'm not doing anything....!"
[Faiteir nasai.....faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai...]
"MAKE IT STOP!"
Akei forced the ring to draw his body within Bakura's soul room. At least it was a normal room now, not like the storage place it used to be. Just a bed room kind of thing, his bed and such.
But he didn't expect to hear what was heard when he arrived. The paining echo of 'faiteir nasai' bouncing through the walls, entering his mind through Bakura's mental link. He couldn't hold himself up any longer, falling to the floor on his knees of his hikari's soul room. 'This must be it...Bakura must think I'm saying this over his mental link...' He cringed painfully, it was like some kind of spell, almost. The pain doubled over and he held back the urge to scream, using the power and energy he had left to take over Bakura's form, setting the boy in his soul room so he was in control. But that's when he let loose a loud, ear aching scream of pain, making everyone realize it was Akei, not Bakura. He shook violently for a few minutes, unable to hold himself together as the words pushed and pulled at all angles of his mind.
Yami knelt down and tried aiding the former tomb-robber to no success. But he did manage to notice the ring glowing with a flamed gold and one arrow pointing out to a certain part of the desert beyond the city.
They would go there later. First thing though was to snap BOTH Bakura's from whatever pain they were experiencing.
"Akei! AKEI! Dammit snap out of it! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Yami called out, watching the other yami curl in defense and pain. "AKEI!!"
"Yami....it's no use.....something is really hurting them......"
"I know aibou, I know....but why is it always them as the targets...?"
******
Bakura stood breathing in gasps within his soul room, looking down at the floor. The pain had decreased, most likely because his yami took over. 'I really don't think he's ok.....'
{Yami? Can you hear me....? Please Yami listen to my voice!!}
******
Akei was indeed within his soul room, half of him at least. He was out in the city of Cairo on the palace steps, and yet in some black void almost. More dark then the Shadow Realm...more painful....resurfacing past memories....
His many tombs being victims of his cruel antics.
Being locked in the ring.
The Shadow Realm.
Being banished to the Graveyard, thus the Shadow Realm.
Dansei.
The Shadow Realm.
Egypt.
This stupid black void.
One memory caught his eye though and he paused it with all the power he could to play it through. It was the one thing that may prove useful from all this pain.
***Flashback***
Two figures hid in the shadows of an alley way, noise from a near market very faint at the time of day they were in. Both were cloaked, head to toe and deep brown robes, even in the heat plus the robes they didn't feel too hot. At a long silence, one man broke it, talking in a low monotone voice. "You may be good kid....but you are not good enough for where you wish to go." He paused and thought something over a moment. "You know the Shadow Games, you know the Shadow Realm. Well. This tomb...is worse then you can ever imagine. Filled with pain and creatures neither feline or canine. Creatures stronger then wolves, teeth and slyness of cats...and yet...smarter then us. But the darkness in that tomb, could overthrow us in a few simple tactics, bringing pain to the family of whoever was the first to go near the spell.....then it will feast...on everyone and everything else..." Again the figure paused and raised his head slightly. "Of all the things you can do. Do NOT ever enter that tomb!"
"......." The second figure looked away slightly, only to have his face roughly grabbed to look at the main speaker.
"You understand, Bakura?!"
"Yes..." Came the slow and reluctant responds.
***End Flashback***
Akei winced in pain again, but then he couldn't feel it...
Because his body went numb.
******
A crude remark came from Seto Kaiba who's seemed to be staying away from the others, but it was a true fact he stated. "He's unconscious."
Yami looked down with a worried expression when Akei had falling motionlessly against the steps. The former check for a pulse and sighed with relief that he was till alive. "He's not dead at least, but I have no idea what is going on with him.
******
Bakura stood within the small "hall" of space between soul room doors. Something dark seemed to be seeping from the doors of his yami's room, it was frightening and yet Bakura pushed forward nevertheless. The door took most of his effort to open and once he did, all he saw was blackness.
No...wait....that's not all he saw. Within the center of the darkness floated an unconscious form, curled tightly and shaking rapidly. The voice had left both of their minds, but it seemed it did more damage to Akei then Bakura. "That would probably be me in there if he hadn't taken control...and if it were me....he'd probably find some way to cut me lose of the darkness...." Bakura paused in thought, hands curling into fists as he stared down at his ring the best he could in the room of never ending black. "...And I have to do that same..."
'Let me see now....my yami can control the ring easily without thinking....but so far it's responding off my emotions. All I need is enough light to chase out the darkness....I'm a hikari for gods sake! It should be easy!' Bakura slammed his eyes closed and ignored the dark feeling around him and focused on his yami's form. He wasn't about to let his yami be taken by his worst nightmare...darkness.
That's the one thing he knew Akei feared. Being locked in eternal darkness....and he would not fail his yami, when he needed help the most. Voice raising to cut through the void, Bakura shouted at the top of his lungs in almost a commanding voice...to the ring. "Come on! Fill the room with a golden light!! Chase away the darkness!!!"
And the ring responded.
******
Akei felt the pain around him lessen, though he couldn't awaken...
But the power around him, it wasn't the darkness entangling him anymore. There was light...a lot of it too. How he wished to see what was going on, but he couldn't....the only thing he could realize was that he was fully back in his body on the steps of Cairo, unconsciousness now taken over of his mind as well.
******
Bakura separated from his yami and immediately sat by him, grabbing his dark half's shoulders and shaking him to wake up. "Come on Yami! Please you have to wake up! Yami, brother, whatever you want to be called please WAKE UP!"
******
Squee! That was long! Twelve pages, Microsoft Works...man....first Akei nearly gets killed and now he's unconscious?! How fun to be him. And Bakura is getting more involved with the ring, if it can erase minds...why can't it burst out of light? Eh...whatever. Aha! Return of those beloved words "faiteir nasai" ain't they everyone's best friends?
Akei: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!
Bakura: You nearly killed us with your "friends"!
Oh pipe down you two! So hard to handle...not sure when I'll get the next chapter out, reviews can help inspiration too ya know...heh heh.....Please live with errors, I just skimmed through...I really just wanted to get this posted up....... (Ok so I only looked over the first five pages). One last thing, you may notice the summary changed....