A/N: Hello again everyone! ^_^
Zesha: Glad you liked the Mystical Elf. Was kinda' nervous about using her. XD Thanks for the review. ^_^
Wingleader Sora Jade: ^_^ Glad you liked. Sankyuu for the review!
Lady Silver Dragon I: Fanfiction.net hates me. XD So it ate your review. I'm glad I checked, since I had a feeling it had done something like that. @_@
^_^ Sankyuu. I like how the manga does the stuff, so I'm trying to keep it along the lines and still add my own version of events. Glad you're liking it. ^_^
*Pokes* I wanna read oneshot with kitty! XD Kitties are so much fun. I love having Mafdet in the fic, but she constantly is forgotten, unfortunately. *Whacks self* Happy you like her. ^_^
Yay! Glad you like my ficcy. ^_^ (Yeah, you're right that the plot is simple. @_@ I had originally written a few chapters of this story a long time ago, but later scrapped them and redid the fic, which is why the first few chapters are so boring by the way. I tried to spice it with all the other weird stuff such as Yami being sick, but the main plot is rather simple. XD) And yesyes, I have updated soon. *Smiles proudly*
Yesyes... The OOCness has always been a problem of mine. XD Glad it's not too horrible. *Coughs* Yes, you're also right about ignoring the others. XD There are 19 characters as of now, including Mafdet. I'm seeing why another author I used to read's fics always had their characters split into groups somehow. XD About Nebenkharu, yep, hopefully. I have a reason and such... Whether or not it's any good is something else entirely. XD More information'll be told about him in the sequel. *Nodnod*
Yay! Spelling for me sucks though, so my spellchecker is to thank. XD I shall take the grammar praise, however. Mwee... Shall look over and try to fix Their/There/They're and To/Two/Too problems. *Nodnod* Being the lazy ditz I am, I don't read over my chapter again before I post (mostly because it would never get posted if I did... I'd cringe at every sentence. XD), though I suppose I should start. XD *Punts spellchecker* You're supposed to tell me when there are double words!
Glad you liked Ahondra, since she'll be showing again in the sequel (waaaaaaay into it). I was nervous everyone would freak out when I added her. XD
Mahaado and Mana are the best. ^_^
Thanks a bunch for the review, and I'm sorry I didn't notice it before I posted the first draft of the chapter. @_@ But thanks again. ^_^
Borath: *Giggles* I had to heal him. I needed him. XD Glad you liked the way he was healed, with the Mystical Elf. Scarily enough, both you and Zesha said, exactly 'Mystical Elf was a nice touch'. ^_^ I'm happy, though, 'cause I was worried she'd be too cliché. *Sweatdrop* And yesyes... Still got plenty of time to torture Yami some more. After all, there's the end of this story, the sequel, and the (what I'm calling) triquel. Plus sidestories and a fourth installment should I decide to add one. XD These stories will never end...
*Giggles again* You're welcome on the sharing a horse. XD
Mwee, yesyes, it would be funny to kill Yami. XD Unfortunately, I need him. So he's not the one who's going to die. You'll find out who it is this chapter.
Yesyes, you're right. Death comes soon. *Rubs hands together evily*
Thanks for the review, and glad you liked. ^_^
ShadowSpirits: Yeah, kinda' odd. *Sweatdrops* I'm shocked by the length of this fic. O.o My original goal had been 70-100 pages. *Pokes the 170 some-odd pages so far*
*Grins* Yeah, blame it on Borath's fic. XD Tis alright though. Is why I include summaries so hopefully you can refresh your memory. Kinda' was lazy though and didn't to a very detailed one in the last chapter. XD
^_^ Glad you liked the commentary between Sugoroku and Bekhura. And the violence in Yami's name. XD
Yesyes, Bekhura and Yami are gonna... Um... Well, they'll eventually kick some arse. Someday. XD
*Strikes pose* I updated soon. ^_^ Oh, and I reviewed your ficcy. *Nodnod* Was a ditz and didn't notice it until you reviewed. XD Yesyes.... Add more. *Pokes*
Yay! Cookie! XD Thanks for the review. ^_^
YamiAra: Yay for new computers! *Waves pompoms* And that you're back. ^_^
Sankyuu for the compliments on the tomb. It's not all mine; some of it was designed by Kazkui Takahashi in manga 32, but everything but the first hall and small room and the statue room are mine. Which means... The marble room from the last chapter and all the new stuff in this one are mine.
Yeah, I coulda' tortured him a little more... But I was running out of ideas and didn't want to get too repetitive. I've have plenty of time to harass him later with different things. XD Glad you liked the Mystical Elf, too. She went over with everyone better than I'd expected.
I think it's a running joke about people hitting each other, now. XD They've been doing it all story.
Thanks for the review, and I think this counts as a fast update. ^_^
Starlit Hope: Sankyuu! *Gives thumbs up as well*
Sidestories are fun... But they're being evil and won't be written. *Smacks fics* Glad you liked the whacking and Bekhura riding with Yami. ^_^ Yeah, now that I think about it, you're right. O.o Ah, well, let's just assume Yami taught Yuugi to ride a horse sometime and Yuugi just applied that to the camel. XD Hey... That gives me an idea for another sidestory. *Grins*
Thanks for the review! ^_^
Ryuujin Dragon King: *Gives thumbs up* Glad you liked, and thanks for the review. ^_^
Other Notes: First, 'sarcophagi' is the hardest word in the whole damn world to spell.
Alrighty, now that that's overwith... Eien should only have another two or three chapters after this one, plus an extra thank-you chapter. So it's almost done. ^_^
I'm working on the first chapter of Itsumo as well, so I'll have it up quickly after Eien ends. *Nodnod* With that said, onto the disclaimers and such so we can start the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, etc. Whatever.
Warnings: Violence and cursing. I'm killing someone this chapter, alright? *Looks the people (if there are any) that didn't know this was coming and waves her hands back and forth* Don't worry, really. Just keep reading.
Summary of Last time: The group entered Yami's tomb, and found another room. The Mystical Elf there was able to heal Yami, so the king of fern heads is back in the action. XD
Preview of this time: The group finds more sarcophagi, and the battle with Nebenkharu starts. Someone also dies. *Does shifty eyes*
Japanese:
None
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eien; part 25
by: Amiasha
Yami glanced around the room, looking for another pathway. Sure enough, there were three. One was on the left side of the room, on was on the right, and one was on the wall opposite the entrance. The two side passages were in marble, like the one they were standing in, and the other was the sandy color of the first hall.
"So Pharaoh, which way?" Bekhura asked, looking at the newly healed spirit.
Yami looked back over at him. "Let's do this systematically, and start with the room on the right." He suggested calmly.
"Can do, Pharaoh." Bekhura answered, stalking off immediately in that direction. The rest of the group chased after him; the Mystical Elf staying in the main room.
The white haired thief slowly stepped into the hallway, looking around for traps as Yami hovered just behind him. Taking a few more steps into the hall, Bekhura seemed satisfied that it wasn't trapped. Apparently, anyone who got into the main marble chamber was cleared for entrance into the rest of it.
The group entered exited the hall, coming into a room that looked much like the previous, only smaller. The most shocking this about it were the six sarcophaguses side by side.
"Hm..." Bekhura said. "Dead people." Looking around his made a disappointed face. "And with no junk to take into the afterlife? What are they doing, trying to put us thieves out of business?"
"Maybe they were thinking about that." Malik commented, looking at the hieroglyphs inscribed on the lids. "Considering this one has your name on it."
"It has WHAT!?" Bekhura asked in shock, darting to look over his friend's shoulder. "... You're right..."
Yami stepped up next to them, feeling frustrated he couldn't read the pictures the other Egyptian's could. "Why is his body in my tomb?" He asked quietly.
"Beats me." Malik said, moving on to the next sarcophagi. Inspecting the hieroglyphs, he commented, "This one has the name 'Honda'."
Isis, at the next over, read the name. "Jouno." She said, looking at them before turning to the next sarcophagi. "This one says 'Shizuka'."
Shaadii glanced over the inscriptions on the next one. "The next name is... 'Mai.'"
Mai looked understandably shocked. "What?" She asked. "How could that be?"
Pegasus looked over at her. "Well, it's quite possible you had a past life in ancient Egypt, just like Kaiba-boy." He said, shrugging elegantly. "It would be fitting."
Malik, uncaring of Mai's uneasiness, turned to the sarcophagi after hers. "The name is 'Anzu'." He said. "The next is 'Simon'."
Sugoroku looked slightly surprised, but didn't comment.
"And the last one is inscribed 'Ryuuji'." Malik finished.
"Oh." Ryuuji commented flatly. "That's nice..."
"It's most certainly interesting." Bekhura said, looking at Yami. "I'm just surprised you have so many people in your tomb, and all in such expensive sarcophagi. People who weren't royalty or very high class were usually just buried in a grave of somesort, not something this elaborate."
Yami shrugged. "If Ryuuji and Mai had past lives, then they were most likely connected to me so that would explain them. As for you, Nebenkharu did say that you used to live in the palace."
"Right..." Bekhura agreed, nodding. "That would make sense. But then who are all these other people?"
Yami looked over the sarcophagi, considering. "Is it possible that they were the rest of the group? One would be left out, but could they be Tea, Joey, Tristan, and Serenity?"
"We could open them and find out." Bekhura suggested, rubbing his hands together diabolically.
The younger spirit gave him a glare. "Don't even consider it."
"Fine, fine." The tomb robber responded, rolling his eyes. "Though I think you're right. It would make sense."
Sugoroku nodded. "And I think I know who Simon is." He said.
The others looked at him, interested.
Sugoroku glanced around at them all. "Well, remember that I entered this tomb once before, when I found the Millennium Puzzle?" With nods from the group, he continued, "Well, my guides weren't taking my advice, and so the younger of the two brothers was skewered on the sword of one of the statues. The other wasn't too happy, and ended up shooting me in the shoulder. I fell off the walkway, but grabbed onto the edge. The guide was devoured by a duel monster." Sugoroku looked somewhat satisfied by that fact.
"So... Here I was, thinking my adventuring was over, when I saw a young man wearing white, with long exotic hair that was three colors." Sugoroku continued, turning his gaze toward his oldest grandson. "He knelt down in front of me and held his hand out, and said 'I've been waiting, Simon.'" Pausing slightly in his story, Sugoroku smiled at Yami. "Next thing I knew, I was back up on the pathway, healed. That was when I collected the Millennium Puzzle."
"Wow..." Yuugi said, shocked. "You never told me this before..."
"Me either." Yami added, equally shocked. "I just... Appeared?"
"You have a way of doing that." Sugoroku commented, amused. "You shouldn't be so surprised." Grinning, he continued. "I think that Simon was the name I had in ancient Egypt."
Bekhura nodded. "That would fit."
"So lemme' get 'dis straight..." Joey muttered, looking around. "'Dese are us, only from a long time ago, and dead?"
"That about sums it up." Bekhura confirmed cheerfully.
"... Ew."
Yuugi giggled. "Joey, that of all things bothers you? We just walked through a room full of corpses a few minutes ago."
"Yeah, well..." Joey said, realizing that was sort of a good point. "But 'day weren't us."
Bekhura chuckled, before looking around the room and realizing that there were no more exits. "As interesting as this all is... I don't think there's anything here besides us. In multiple forms."
"'Dat's it, I'm going back to the other room." Joey said, hightailing it out of the room, back through the small hallway, and back toward the chamber they had met the Mystical Elf in."
"You can't escape dead people!" Bekhura called after him, before running out of the room as well.
The rest of the group just sweatdropped.
//They're very odd.//
/Yeah. Really./ Yuugi agreed. The boy looked up at his dark, and gave him a spontaneous hug. /I'm glad you're okay.../
Yami smiled at him. //I'm glad too.// He looked over his shoulder at the others. "Come on, let's go after them. We still have a job to do."
The spirit walked out of the room and back into the other, where Joey was looking at the hieroglyphs on the walls as Bekhura inspected the ones on the altar.
The white haired thief looked up at Yami as the former Pharaoh entered. "Oi, Pharaoh. I wonder who wrote such nice things about you. Someone who didn't know you well, obviously." He said, smirking.
"You're amusing." Yami replied, smirking as well as he leaned against a wall. "More than you know."
"So, next room then?" Pegasus asked, bouncing somewhat hyperly from foot to foot. "I want to find more dead people."
Everyone stared at him. The silver haired man sweatdropped. "What? What'd I say?" He asked.
Bekhura rolled his eyes. "Room on the left, Pharaoh?" He asked, looking at the younger spirit.
Yami nodded once. "Yes." He said, standing back up straight.
The group repeated their actions with the room on the left, Bekhura testing the hallway carefully for any traps and finding none. They all entered, and found, unsurprisingly, more sarcophagi.
There were 9, this time, all in a row like in the other room. Besides the room being slightly larger to accommodate all the sarcophagi, it was identical to the other.
"Shall we see who's dead?" Malik asked mischievously, trotting over to the first sarcophagi. Without waiting for an answer, he rubbed the dust off and read the name. "Seth."
"That would be you." Shaadii said, looking at Seto. The brown haired boy scowled but didn't comment.
"Next up..." Malik said, moving to the sarcophagi beside Seth's. "Mokuba."
"Finding the entire crew, are we?" Bekhura asked in amusement.
"Apparently." Isis agreed. "I'm not all that surprised, however... If everyone did exist in ancient Egypt together, more than the people we all knew were there, then I wouldn't be surprised that they were all entombed together."
Malik nodded, moving to the next .sarcophagi "This one says..." Malik blinked, and stared at the name. "It says 'Malik'." He stared a few more seconds, then chuckled. "I should have expected it."
"Considering everyone else on the planet seems to be here, yes, you should have." Bekhura commented, smirking.
Shaking his head, Malik continued. "The next name is Rishido, followed by Aishizu." Looking at his siblings, Malik spoke again. "I think there's a good bet that they're you two."
"I think so as well." Isis replied, as Rishid nodded. "'Rishido' is certainly close enough to 'Rishid', and 'Aishizu' isn't too far from the Japanese way to pronounce my name, 'Ishizu.'"
Yami blinked, looking down as he remembered something Mahaado had told him just after he'd been attacked the first time. He'd said the name 'Aishizu'.
Shaadii, reading the hieroglyphs as well, smiled humorlessly. "This one bears my name." He said. "Shaadii."
Pegasus poked him in the shoulder. "Ooh, then Mahaado, Mana, and I are the only people left. And there are three more sarcophagi." He raised his eyebrows up and down. "I think that's not coincidence."
"You're right." Malik agreed, looking over the last three names. "Pegasus, Mahaado, Mana."
"That's sort of creepy." Tea commented. "All of us are who are entombed are in here right now. But why don't Yuugi and Bakura have sarcophagi?"
"Because they're our reincarnations." Bekhura explained. "It's a quirk of reincarnation. The body can be reincarnated while the soul isn't, or is partially. That's what happened with the Pharaoh and I, and our others. The two of them were never in ancient Egypt, because they were US."
"Oh, I get it." Mokuba said first. "That makes sense."
Most of the group just stared blankly, at the boy.
"You're waaaay too smart for a kid." Joey commented annoyedly. He put his hands on his hips, and looked at Yami. "What next?"
Yami, who had been sitting in the corner with Yuugi, taking a break, looked up. "We head for the last room, I suppose." He said, trying to think of the thing his mind had brought to his attention: That they were underground. He'd been too sick to notice earlier, but now it was really starting to bother him. That, and an uneasy feeling that wasn't related to claustrophobia was making itself known.
"We can do that." Joey agreed, nodding. He looked at the others.
The group gathered up, and Yami and Yuugi stood and joined them.
"But we need to be prepared." Yami said softly, looking around at his friends. "If we do run into that corrupt adviser, we need to know what to do." He laughed lightly as he realized what he'd just said, and that they really had no idea what to do. "Alright, scratch that. Everyone besides the tomb robber and I, get back. That should work well enough."
Joey frowned, and so did Sugoroku. "Yami, 'dat ain't gonna go over. You can't just tell us to stay in the back while you go out and fight with 'dis dude."
"Besides." Sugoroku continued. "If you cast your spell wrong and it connects with his, you'll most likely be poisoned again."
Yami went quiet, having not thought of that. After a few seconds of thought, he spoke again. "I think we'll have to take the chance. We have no real choice, since the tomb robber and I are really the only ones who can do anything."
Mahaado tapped Yami gently on the shoulder. "I'm here."
"And me too!" Mana chirped. "Maybe we can do something."
Yami sighed. "Let's hope." He muttered, the uneasy feeling growing stronger.
Bekhura smiled reassuringly. "That bastard had better watch himself." He smirked and began walking back into the first room, the others following.
A moment later, they had reached the room.
/... Just how much do you think he's here?/ Yuugi asked tentatively, touching his dark's arm.
//Very.// Yami replied, his eyes focused unwaveringly on the new entrance, which was devoid of torchlight and simply pitch black. //I don't know how, but I can feel something.//
Yuugi nodded, staring into the dark hallway as well. /Well, let's go get this overwith and go home./
Yami smiled mentally. //Yes.//
Bekhura, as if sensing was Yami had said, started forward. Yami followed, taking a few quick steps to catch up to him, and the rest tagged along.
Mahaado and Mana's staffs began to glow again, and they stuck close to the two spirit's in the front. Ryou and Yuugi did as well, refusing to leave within three feet of their others.
Yami meanwhile was walking with his eyes closed, trusting his magic to tell him when there was a wall. The combination of darkness and the enclosment was making him somewhat dizzy, and the hostile magic that was beginning to wash over him in waves wasn't helping.
Bekhura made a face. "Ugh, the least he could do would be to control his magic." He commented.
"You'd think." Yami muttered, opening his eyes again as he felt the end of the tunnel approaching.
Bekhura rested his hand against the door in front of them, that Mahaado and Mana rose the staffs to better light. The door itself was black with gold hieroglyphs, and very large and heavy looking.
"Odd, to find a door like this in a tomb." Bekhura commented, inspecting it. He looked over at Yami. "Ready, Pharaoh?"
"As I'll ever be."
Bekhura nodded, and opened the door. Immediately, they were greeted with the same voice they'd heard a few times earlier.
"Hello Pharaoh; tomb robber. And all the rest of you who aren't important enough to remember." Nebenkharu greeted, sitting on the steps of a huge round platform. The platform was only five feet off the ground, but it was at least 50ft in diameter and a midnight blue. The steps went up on one side, but the rest of the way around the platform was smooth.
The room itself was huge. It made the statue room and the marble room they had been in look small. The ceiling was almost so high it couldn't be seen, and the floor along the walls were lined with tall brass torches. The floors were sandy colored, and the walls were a violet so dark it was nearly black.
Yami frowned at Nebenkharu. "You've been waiting for us." He realized by the other's words.
"Of course I have. Better you to come to me and let me crush your hope of winning than me have to go find you." The man said, smirking devilishly.
Mafdet hissed loudly, her fur standing up. She narrowed her eyes and hovered by Yami's feet, spitting at the man.
"How could I forget you?" Nebenkharu asked mockingly, looking down at the cat as he stood up. "You're that little runt of a cat. If you hadn't jumped on my HEAD, I would have gotten my hands around that brat's throat and this would've been over with a lot sooner."
Frowning even more darkly at that, Yami stepped around to in front of his kitten. "Enough. I have a question."
Nebenkharu just stared at him. "You what?" He asked. A few seconds later and he started chuckling. "Funny that a little boy thinks he can just ask someone like me something."
Yami was not amused. "Oh? I shouldn't talk to someone like you? Pharaohs shouldn't talk to traitorous advisers?"
"Shut your mouth, brat." Nebenkharu snarled, stalking a few steps forward.
Undaunted, Yami just glared. "As I was saying. I was somewhat perplexed by your desire to attack us. After all, I had no idea who you were. You could have just lived in peace."
"Because. What's the fun in that?" Nebenkharu asked, shrugging. "Really, that would bore me to tears. It's much more fun to take revenge."
Yami rolled his eyes. "Why is it that everyone takes revenge on me when it was your fault in the first place?" He asked, sighing as he felt exhausted by the whole ordeal.
"Because a little boy doesn't deserve to be in a position of power. And eight year old is not fit to be a king."
Yami quirked an eyebrow, a little surprised by those words. 'Eight?' He thought. 'I didn't know I became Pharaoh that young...' Shrugging mentally and filing the information for later, Yami returned to the conversation. "I was certainly more fit than you." He commented. "Considering you're a traitorous homicidal maniac."
Nebenkharu growled dangerously. "Choose your words more carefully, brat. I won't stand for a child to speak to me so disrespectfully."
Bekhura crinkled his nose at those words. 'What does this bastard have against teenagers anyway? Sure the Pharaoh's no adult, but he's not immature or inexperienced by any degree...' Bekhura thought for a second until a smirk grew on his face. "Aw, jealous are we?" He asked, smiling and showing his pointed teeth.
"Jealous?" Nebenkharu snorted. "Not by a long shot. I just want him dead." He grinned, turning toward Yami and lunging for the boy.
A moment later he was knocked back a few yards, a very annoyed looking Mana floating in front of Yami with he staff held threateningly, having just swung it at the man. "You come near him again and I'll make sure to hit hard." She warned, scowling darkly at the man.
Nebenkharu, to everyone's dismay, just laughed. "Aw, the little blond girl has grown up. Mana, your name was?"
Mana narrowed her eyes. "That's right." She confirmed, nodding her head once.
"Good." Nebenkharu said, laughing again. "Wanted to make sure I had that right. Since spells work so much better when you have your target's name."
Mahaado snarled and pointed his staff at the man. "You try anything and I'll blast you before you can get say the first word."
"Aw, how cute." The former adviser commented in a fake adoring voice. "Too bad you'll be dead along with all the others without getting to do a thing."
"We'll see about that." Mahaado responded, the end of his staff glowing.
"Everyone, back into the hallway." Yami said in a hushed voice to the group behind him, knowing that a full magical fight was going to start soon and wanted everyone out of harm's way.
Most obeyed him, excluding Ryou, Yuugi, and Joey who stubbornly refused to move. Ryou stayed directly behind his dark, and Yuugi did the same with Yami. Joey stayed to Yami's left, eyes focused on Nebenkharu.
Yami took a deep breath and spoke again. "Is there any way that we can resolve this?" He asked, hoping that by some chance there would be. He wasn't surprised, though, when Nebenkharu started laughing.
"Yeah, right." He said, wiping fake tears of amusement from his face. "You're hilarious, kid. The only thing that'll be funnier than that will be watching you die."
"Obsessed, isn't he?" Bekhura commented quietly, rolling his eyes and taking a subtle step towards Yami to shield the other spirit.
"I think we've done enough talking." Nebenkharu decided, grinning. "Say anything you want to before you die; I'll be generous and give you a moment.
Bekhura looked at Yami, who frowned. The white haired thief looked back up at Nebenkharu. "There's no need. We're not going to die."
"Very well." The man said, shrugging carelessly. He smiled at them, and without another word raised his staff.
Yami, Joey, Yuugi, Ryou, and Bekhura scattered different directions, none of them wanting to be hit with whatever spell he was going to cast. Mahaado and Mana floated up towards the ceiling, out of the way.
"You all run from me." Nebenkharu said in amusement, laughing. "How pathetic. Brat, you're supposed to be the most powerful magician ever. Get out here and fight me like the man you proclaim to be."
Yami frowned from the other side of the platform where he was, turning around and pulling himself up slightly so he could peek over the edge of the platform.
Nebenkharu was apparently preoccupied with directing the duel monsters he had just summoned to attack, his back to Yami. So the spirit slowly and quietly climbed onto the platform, crouching and readying a spell of his own.
Suddenly Nebenkharu turned around, startling Yami into dropping his spell. The man smirked and a moment later Yami felt something heavy hit him in the chest, knocking him backwards off the platform and winding him.
The spirit coughed, curling onto his side with his arms around his chest. "Damn..." He muttered.
/Yami, are you okay!?/ Yuugi asked worriedly, his mental voice filed with concern.
Yami panicked for a moment, thinking Yuugi was going to do something stupid like come out of hiding to try to get to him. //Yes, Yuugi, I'm fine. Stay down.// He managed to tell the younger boy, ignoring his own advice and sitting up.
The spirit coughed again, looking up as he began to stand, and was met with a very unwelcome sight. Nebenkharu was standing over him, staff pointed down at the boy's face.
"Well, that was easier than last time." The man remarked, chuckling as the staff began glowing and fired a burst of energy at Yami.
Yami shut his eyes, being too close to try to dodge. He reopened his eyes, however, as he heard the spell and crashing into the wall behind and over him. Snapping his attention back towards Nebenkharu, he noticed that Joey was holding onto the staff, and that was why the spell had missed him.
Shooting to his feet, Yami took a few steps forward to grab onto the staff as well, he and Joey trying to wrestle it away from Nebenkharu and failing miserably. Both boys were sent sprawling across the floor as their enemy knocked them back.
Yami scrambled to stand back up, and Joey did the same. Nebenkharu smirked and shot another spell at Yami just as Joey stepped protectively in front of the smaller boy.
The beam of greenish light struck Joey in the lower chest, staying continuos for a moment, and then disappearing. Joey slowly fell, Yami catching him and getting sent to the floor yet again.
Violet eyes wide in shock, Yami stared down at the unmoving blond. "Joey!?"
"He's dead boy; that was a death spell." Nebenkharu said, smiling the whole time. At Yami's horrified expression, the advisor's smile turned into a malicious smirk. "And you're next." Nebenkharu lunged at the former Pharaoh, knocking him down onto his back and placing his staff across his throat. Straddling the boy's hips and pressing his weight down against the staff, he grinned.
Yami desperately tried to remove the pressure against his neck, eyes shut tightly and hands clasped over Nebenkharu's, but he knew that wouldn't do anything to help. Doing the only thing he could think of, Yami swiped at Nebenkharu's eyes with his left hand.
Instinctively, Nebenkharu pulled back, giving the spirit a chance to scramble backwards. The man recovered momentarily and reached for Yami again, that was, until a boot connected with his face.
Yami staggered up to his feet, one hand pressed over his throat, and hurriedly stepped back to where Joey was. Desperately, the boy tried to get the blond over his shoulder so he could carry him, but the spirit quickly realized he was fighting a loosing battle. There was no way he could carry Joey, especially not weak from being ill and hurt.
Salvation came in the form of Bekhura, racing up in breakneck speed. He didn't seem hurt from his fight with a monster and knelt down next to Joey, placing the him over his shoulder easily. "Pharaoh, we're losing." Bekhura said breathlessly, as the two spirits backed skitterishly away from Nebenkharu who was still clutching his apparently broken nose.
"I-I noticed." Yami choked out, his eyes darting to Joey's still form. "Tomb robber, I-I think Joey-"
The roar from behind him cut the former Pharaoh off, startling both spirits into turning around. A giant purple and black creature that resembled a panda bear was behind them, holding a large bamboo stick.
"Damn." Bekhura commented.
"Please let this work..." A soft and familiar voice came from the other side of the Frenzied Panda. "Please work... Change of heart!"
Suddenly, the Frenzied Panda stopped advancing on the spirits. Taking the opportunity, Bekhura grabbed Yami's arm and dragged the other Egyptian away from the monster, meeting with Yuugi and Ryou, who had called the magic of the Change of heart.
"What happened to Joey!?" Yuugi asked, his large eyes wide as he spotted his blond friend draped over Bekhura's shoulder. Catching sight of his dark, Yuugi's expression of shock didn't change. "And you!?"
"No time, Yuugi, we have to regroup." Bekhura said, taking Yami's arm again and heading for the entrance of the room. The others who weren't involved in the fight, including Mafdet, had already retreated back to the room with the Mystical Elf.
Mahaado and Mana spotted the small group, and broke off from the monster they were fighting to fly after them. As everyone got into the hall, Bekhura stopped and turned around. "Mana, Mahaado, put up some sort of spell. You need to block the door as long as you can."
Mana and Mahaado nodded, slamming the door shut and starting a shielding spell to hold it for awhile. It only took a few seconds, and then the group was running back down the hallway to the marble room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: *Sweatdrops* Hope that wasn't too bad. O.o
Anyway, please review and tell me how weird I am. XD
Zesha: Glad you liked the Mystical Elf. Was kinda' nervous about using her. XD Thanks for the review. ^_^
Wingleader Sora Jade: ^_^ Glad you liked. Sankyuu for the review!
Lady Silver Dragon I: Fanfiction.net hates me. XD So it ate your review. I'm glad I checked, since I had a feeling it had done something like that. @_@
^_^ Sankyuu. I like how the manga does the stuff, so I'm trying to keep it along the lines and still add my own version of events. Glad you're liking it. ^_^
*Pokes* I wanna read oneshot with kitty! XD Kitties are so much fun. I love having Mafdet in the fic, but she constantly is forgotten, unfortunately. *Whacks self* Happy you like her. ^_^
Yay! Glad you like my ficcy. ^_^ (Yeah, you're right that the plot is simple. @_@ I had originally written a few chapters of this story a long time ago, but later scrapped them and redid the fic, which is why the first few chapters are so boring by the way. I tried to spice it with all the other weird stuff such as Yami being sick, but the main plot is rather simple. XD) And yesyes, I have updated soon. *Smiles proudly*
Yesyes... The OOCness has always been a problem of mine. XD Glad it's not too horrible. *Coughs* Yes, you're also right about ignoring the others. XD There are 19 characters as of now, including Mafdet. I'm seeing why another author I used to read's fics always had their characters split into groups somehow. XD About Nebenkharu, yep, hopefully. I have a reason and such... Whether or not it's any good is something else entirely. XD More information'll be told about him in the sequel. *Nodnod*
Yay! Spelling for me sucks though, so my spellchecker is to thank. XD I shall take the grammar praise, however. Mwee... Shall look over and try to fix Their/There/They're and To/Two/Too problems. *Nodnod* Being the lazy ditz I am, I don't read over my chapter again before I post (mostly because it would never get posted if I did... I'd cringe at every sentence. XD), though I suppose I should start. XD *Punts spellchecker* You're supposed to tell me when there are double words!
Glad you liked Ahondra, since she'll be showing again in the sequel (waaaaaaay into it). I was nervous everyone would freak out when I added her. XD
Mahaado and Mana are the best. ^_^
Thanks a bunch for the review, and I'm sorry I didn't notice it before I posted the first draft of the chapter. @_@ But thanks again. ^_^
Borath: *Giggles* I had to heal him. I needed him. XD Glad you liked the way he was healed, with the Mystical Elf. Scarily enough, both you and Zesha said, exactly 'Mystical Elf was a nice touch'. ^_^ I'm happy, though, 'cause I was worried she'd be too cliché. *Sweatdrop* And yesyes... Still got plenty of time to torture Yami some more. After all, there's the end of this story, the sequel, and the (what I'm calling) triquel. Plus sidestories and a fourth installment should I decide to add one. XD These stories will never end...
*Giggles again* You're welcome on the sharing a horse. XD
Mwee, yesyes, it would be funny to kill Yami. XD Unfortunately, I need him. So he's not the one who's going to die. You'll find out who it is this chapter.
Yesyes, you're right. Death comes soon. *Rubs hands together evily*
Thanks for the review, and glad you liked. ^_^
ShadowSpirits: Yeah, kinda' odd. *Sweatdrops* I'm shocked by the length of this fic. O.o My original goal had been 70-100 pages. *Pokes the 170 some-odd pages so far*
*Grins* Yeah, blame it on Borath's fic. XD Tis alright though. Is why I include summaries so hopefully you can refresh your memory. Kinda' was lazy though and didn't to a very detailed one in the last chapter. XD
^_^ Glad you liked the commentary between Sugoroku and Bekhura. And the violence in Yami's name. XD
Yesyes, Bekhura and Yami are gonna... Um... Well, they'll eventually kick some arse. Someday. XD
*Strikes pose* I updated soon. ^_^ Oh, and I reviewed your ficcy. *Nodnod* Was a ditz and didn't notice it until you reviewed. XD Yesyes.... Add more. *Pokes*
Yay! Cookie! XD Thanks for the review. ^_^
YamiAra: Yay for new computers! *Waves pompoms* And that you're back. ^_^
Sankyuu for the compliments on the tomb. It's not all mine; some of it was designed by Kazkui Takahashi in manga 32, but everything but the first hall and small room and the statue room are mine. Which means... The marble room from the last chapter and all the new stuff in this one are mine.
Yeah, I coulda' tortured him a little more... But I was running out of ideas and didn't want to get too repetitive. I've have plenty of time to harass him later with different things. XD Glad you liked the Mystical Elf, too. She went over with everyone better than I'd expected.
I think it's a running joke about people hitting each other, now. XD They've been doing it all story.
Thanks for the review, and I think this counts as a fast update. ^_^
Starlit Hope: Sankyuu! *Gives thumbs up as well*
Sidestories are fun... But they're being evil and won't be written. *Smacks fics* Glad you liked the whacking and Bekhura riding with Yami. ^_^ Yeah, now that I think about it, you're right. O.o Ah, well, let's just assume Yami taught Yuugi to ride a horse sometime and Yuugi just applied that to the camel. XD Hey... That gives me an idea for another sidestory. *Grins*
Thanks for the review! ^_^
Ryuujin Dragon King: *Gives thumbs up* Glad you liked, and thanks for the review. ^_^
Other Notes: First, 'sarcophagi' is the hardest word in the whole damn world to spell.
Alrighty, now that that's overwith... Eien should only have another two or three chapters after this one, plus an extra thank-you chapter. So it's almost done. ^_^
I'm working on the first chapter of Itsumo as well, so I'll have it up quickly after Eien ends. *Nodnod* With that said, onto the disclaimers and such so we can start the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, etc. Whatever.
Warnings: Violence and cursing. I'm killing someone this chapter, alright? *Looks the people (if there are any) that didn't know this was coming and waves her hands back and forth* Don't worry, really. Just keep reading.
Summary of Last time: The group entered Yami's tomb, and found another room. The Mystical Elf there was able to heal Yami, so the king of fern heads is back in the action. XD
Preview of this time: The group finds more sarcophagi, and the battle with Nebenkharu starts. Someone also dies. *Does shifty eyes*
Japanese:
None
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eien; part 25
by: Amiasha
Yami glanced around the room, looking for another pathway. Sure enough, there were three. One was on the left side of the room, on was on the right, and one was on the wall opposite the entrance. The two side passages were in marble, like the one they were standing in, and the other was the sandy color of the first hall.
"So Pharaoh, which way?" Bekhura asked, looking at the newly healed spirit.
Yami looked back over at him. "Let's do this systematically, and start with the room on the right." He suggested calmly.
"Can do, Pharaoh." Bekhura answered, stalking off immediately in that direction. The rest of the group chased after him; the Mystical Elf staying in the main room.
The white haired thief slowly stepped into the hallway, looking around for traps as Yami hovered just behind him. Taking a few more steps into the hall, Bekhura seemed satisfied that it wasn't trapped. Apparently, anyone who got into the main marble chamber was cleared for entrance into the rest of it.
The group entered exited the hall, coming into a room that looked much like the previous, only smaller. The most shocking this about it were the six sarcophaguses side by side.
"Hm..." Bekhura said. "Dead people." Looking around his made a disappointed face. "And with no junk to take into the afterlife? What are they doing, trying to put us thieves out of business?"
"Maybe they were thinking about that." Malik commented, looking at the hieroglyphs inscribed on the lids. "Considering this one has your name on it."
"It has WHAT!?" Bekhura asked in shock, darting to look over his friend's shoulder. "... You're right..."
Yami stepped up next to them, feeling frustrated he couldn't read the pictures the other Egyptian's could. "Why is his body in my tomb?" He asked quietly.
"Beats me." Malik said, moving on to the next sarcophagi. Inspecting the hieroglyphs, he commented, "This one has the name 'Honda'."
Isis, at the next over, read the name. "Jouno." She said, looking at them before turning to the next sarcophagi. "This one says 'Shizuka'."
Shaadii glanced over the inscriptions on the next one. "The next name is... 'Mai.'"
Mai looked understandably shocked. "What?" She asked. "How could that be?"
Pegasus looked over at her. "Well, it's quite possible you had a past life in ancient Egypt, just like Kaiba-boy." He said, shrugging elegantly. "It would be fitting."
Malik, uncaring of Mai's uneasiness, turned to the sarcophagi after hers. "The name is 'Anzu'." He said. "The next is 'Simon'."
Sugoroku looked slightly surprised, but didn't comment.
"And the last one is inscribed 'Ryuuji'." Malik finished.
"Oh." Ryuuji commented flatly. "That's nice..."
"It's most certainly interesting." Bekhura said, looking at Yami. "I'm just surprised you have so many people in your tomb, and all in such expensive sarcophagi. People who weren't royalty or very high class were usually just buried in a grave of somesort, not something this elaborate."
Yami shrugged. "If Ryuuji and Mai had past lives, then they were most likely connected to me so that would explain them. As for you, Nebenkharu did say that you used to live in the palace."
"Right..." Bekhura agreed, nodding. "That would make sense. But then who are all these other people?"
Yami looked over the sarcophagi, considering. "Is it possible that they were the rest of the group? One would be left out, but could they be Tea, Joey, Tristan, and Serenity?"
"We could open them and find out." Bekhura suggested, rubbing his hands together diabolically.
The younger spirit gave him a glare. "Don't even consider it."
"Fine, fine." The tomb robber responded, rolling his eyes. "Though I think you're right. It would make sense."
Sugoroku nodded. "And I think I know who Simon is." He said.
The others looked at him, interested.
Sugoroku glanced around at them all. "Well, remember that I entered this tomb once before, when I found the Millennium Puzzle?" With nods from the group, he continued, "Well, my guides weren't taking my advice, and so the younger of the two brothers was skewered on the sword of one of the statues. The other wasn't too happy, and ended up shooting me in the shoulder. I fell off the walkway, but grabbed onto the edge. The guide was devoured by a duel monster." Sugoroku looked somewhat satisfied by that fact.
"So... Here I was, thinking my adventuring was over, when I saw a young man wearing white, with long exotic hair that was three colors." Sugoroku continued, turning his gaze toward his oldest grandson. "He knelt down in front of me and held his hand out, and said 'I've been waiting, Simon.'" Pausing slightly in his story, Sugoroku smiled at Yami. "Next thing I knew, I was back up on the pathway, healed. That was when I collected the Millennium Puzzle."
"Wow..." Yuugi said, shocked. "You never told me this before..."
"Me either." Yami added, equally shocked. "I just... Appeared?"
"You have a way of doing that." Sugoroku commented, amused. "You shouldn't be so surprised." Grinning, he continued. "I think that Simon was the name I had in ancient Egypt."
Bekhura nodded. "That would fit."
"So lemme' get 'dis straight..." Joey muttered, looking around. "'Dese are us, only from a long time ago, and dead?"
"That about sums it up." Bekhura confirmed cheerfully.
"... Ew."
Yuugi giggled. "Joey, that of all things bothers you? We just walked through a room full of corpses a few minutes ago."
"Yeah, well..." Joey said, realizing that was sort of a good point. "But 'day weren't us."
Bekhura chuckled, before looking around the room and realizing that there were no more exits. "As interesting as this all is... I don't think there's anything here besides us. In multiple forms."
"'Dat's it, I'm going back to the other room." Joey said, hightailing it out of the room, back through the small hallway, and back toward the chamber they had met the Mystical Elf in."
"You can't escape dead people!" Bekhura called after him, before running out of the room as well.
The rest of the group just sweatdropped.
//They're very odd.//
/Yeah. Really./ Yuugi agreed. The boy looked up at his dark, and gave him a spontaneous hug. /I'm glad you're okay.../
Yami smiled at him. //I'm glad too.// He looked over his shoulder at the others. "Come on, let's go after them. We still have a job to do."
The spirit walked out of the room and back into the other, where Joey was looking at the hieroglyphs on the walls as Bekhura inspected the ones on the altar.
The white haired thief looked up at Yami as the former Pharaoh entered. "Oi, Pharaoh. I wonder who wrote such nice things about you. Someone who didn't know you well, obviously." He said, smirking.
"You're amusing." Yami replied, smirking as well as he leaned against a wall. "More than you know."
"So, next room then?" Pegasus asked, bouncing somewhat hyperly from foot to foot. "I want to find more dead people."
Everyone stared at him. The silver haired man sweatdropped. "What? What'd I say?" He asked.
Bekhura rolled his eyes. "Room on the left, Pharaoh?" He asked, looking at the younger spirit.
Yami nodded once. "Yes." He said, standing back up straight.
The group repeated their actions with the room on the left, Bekhura testing the hallway carefully for any traps and finding none. They all entered, and found, unsurprisingly, more sarcophagi.
There were 9, this time, all in a row like in the other room. Besides the room being slightly larger to accommodate all the sarcophagi, it was identical to the other.
"Shall we see who's dead?" Malik asked mischievously, trotting over to the first sarcophagi. Without waiting for an answer, he rubbed the dust off and read the name. "Seth."
"That would be you." Shaadii said, looking at Seto. The brown haired boy scowled but didn't comment.
"Next up..." Malik said, moving to the sarcophagi beside Seth's. "Mokuba."
"Finding the entire crew, are we?" Bekhura asked in amusement.
"Apparently." Isis agreed. "I'm not all that surprised, however... If everyone did exist in ancient Egypt together, more than the people we all knew were there, then I wouldn't be surprised that they were all entombed together."
Malik nodded, moving to the next .sarcophagi "This one says..." Malik blinked, and stared at the name. "It says 'Malik'." He stared a few more seconds, then chuckled. "I should have expected it."
"Considering everyone else on the planet seems to be here, yes, you should have." Bekhura commented, smirking.
Shaking his head, Malik continued. "The next name is Rishido, followed by Aishizu." Looking at his siblings, Malik spoke again. "I think there's a good bet that they're you two."
"I think so as well." Isis replied, as Rishid nodded. "'Rishido' is certainly close enough to 'Rishid', and 'Aishizu' isn't too far from the Japanese way to pronounce my name, 'Ishizu.'"
Yami blinked, looking down as he remembered something Mahaado had told him just after he'd been attacked the first time. He'd said the name 'Aishizu'.
Shaadii, reading the hieroglyphs as well, smiled humorlessly. "This one bears my name." He said. "Shaadii."
Pegasus poked him in the shoulder. "Ooh, then Mahaado, Mana, and I are the only people left. And there are three more sarcophagi." He raised his eyebrows up and down. "I think that's not coincidence."
"You're right." Malik agreed, looking over the last three names. "Pegasus, Mahaado, Mana."
"That's sort of creepy." Tea commented. "All of us are who are entombed are in here right now. But why don't Yuugi and Bakura have sarcophagi?"
"Because they're our reincarnations." Bekhura explained. "It's a quirk of reincarnation. The body can be reincarnated while the soul isn't, or is partially. That's what happened with the Pharaoh and I, and our others. The two of them were never in ancient Egypt, because they were US."
"Oh, I get it." Mokuba said first. "That makes sense."
Most of the group just stared blankly, at the boy.
"You're waaaay too smart for a kid." Joey commented annoyedly. He put his hands on his hips, and looked at Yami. "What next?"
Yami, who had been sitting in the corner with Yuugi, taking a break, looked up. "We head for the last room, I suppose." He said, trying to think of the thing his mind had brought to his attention: That they were underground. He'd been too sick to notice earlier, but now it was really starting to bother him. That, and an uneasy feeling that wasn't related to claustrophobia was making itself known.
"We can do that." Joey agreed, nodding. He looked at the others.
The group gathered up, and Yami and Yuugi stood and joined them.
"But we need to be prepared." Yami said softly, looking around at his friends. "If we do run into that corrupt adviser, we need to know what to do." He laughed lightly as he realized what he'd just said, and that they really had no idea what to do. "Alright, scratch that. Everyone besides the tomb robber and I, get back. That should work well enough."
Joey frowned, and so did Sugoroku. "Yami, 'dat ain't gonna go over. You can't just tell us to stay in the back while you go out and fight with 'dis dude."
"Besides." Sugoroku continued. "If you cast your spell wrong and it connects with his, you'll most likely be poisoned again."
Yami went quiet, having not thought of that. After a few seconds of thought, he spoke again. "I think we'll have to take the chance. We have no real choice, since the tomb robber and I are really the only ones who can do anything."
Mahaado tapped Yami gently on the shoulder. "I'm here."
"And me too!" Mana chirped. "Maybe we can do something."
Yami sighed. "Let's hope." He muttered, the uneasy feeling growing stronger.
Bekhura smiled reassuringly. "That bastard had better watch himself." He smirked and began walking back into the first room, the others following.
A moment later, they had reached the room.
/... Just how much do you think he's here?/ Yuugi asked tentatively, touching his dark's arm.
//Very.// Yami replied, his eyes focused unwaveringly on the new entrance, which was devoid of torchlight and simply pitch black. //I don't know how, but I can feel something.//
Yuugi nodded, staring into the dark hallway as well. /Well, let's go get this overwith and go home./
Yami smiled mentally. //Yes.//
Bekhura, as if sensing was Yami had said, started forward. Yami followed, taking a few quick steps to catch up to him, and the rest tagged along.
Mahaado and Mana's staffs began to glow again, and they stuck close to the two spirit's in the front. Ryou and Yuugi did as well, refusing to leave within three feet of their others.
Yami meanwhile was walking with his eyes closed, trusting his magic to tell him when there was a wall. The combination of darkness and the enclosment was making him somewhat dizzy, and the hostile magic that was beginning to wash over him in waves wasn't helping.
Bekhura made a face. "Ugh, the least he could do would be to control his magic." He commented.
"You'd think." Yami muttered, opening his eyes again as he felt the end of the tunnel approaching.
Bekhura rested his hand against the door in front of them, that Mahaado and Mana rose the staffs to better light. The door itself was black with gold hieroglyphs, and very large and heavy looking.
"Odd, to find a door like this in a tomb." Bekhura commented, inspecting it. He looked over at Yami. "Ready, Pharaoh?"
"As I'll ever be."
Bekhura nodded, and opened the door. Immediately, they were greeted with the same voice they'd heard a few times earlier.
"Hello Pharaoh; tomb robber. And all the rest of you who aren't important enough to remember." Nebenkharu greeted, sitting on the steps of a huge round platform. The platform was only five feet off the ground, but it was at least 50ft in diameter and a midnight blue. The steps went up on one side, but the rest of the way around the platform was smooth.
The room itself was huge. It made the statue room and the marble room they had been in look small. The ceiling was almost so high it couldn't be seen, and the floor along the walls were lined with tall brass torches. The floors were sandy colored, and the walls were a violet so dark it was nearly black.
Yami frowned at Nebenkharu. "You've been waiting for us." He realized by the other's words.
"Of course I have. Better you to come to me and let me crush your hope of winning than me have to go find you." The man said, smirking devilishly.
Mafdet hissed loudly, her fur standing up. She narrowed her eyes and hovered by Yami's feet, spitting at the man.
"How could I forget you?" Nebenkharu asked mockingly, looking down at the cat as he stood up. "You're that little runt of a cat. If you hadn't jumped on my HEAD, I would have gotten my hands around that brat's throat and this would've been over with a lot sooner."
Frowning even more darkly at that, Yami stepped around to in front of his kitten. "Enough. I have a question."
Nebenkharu just stared at him. "You what?" He asked. A few seconds later and he started chuckling. "Funny that a little boy thinks he can just ask someone like me something."
Yami was not amused. "Oh? I shouldn't talk to someone like you? Pharaohs shouldn't talk to traitorous advisers?"
"Shut your mouth, brat." Nebenkharu snarled, stalking a few steps forward.
Undaunted, Yami just glared. "As I was saying. I was somewhat perplexed by your desire to attack us. After all, I had no idea who you were. You could have just lived in peace."
"Because. What's the fun in that?" Nebenkharu asked, shrugging. "Really, that would bore me to tears. It's much more fun to take revenge."
Yami rolled his eyes. "Why is it that everyone takes revenge on me when it was your fault in the first place?" He asked, sighing as he felt exhausted by the whole ordeal.
"Because a little boy doesn't deserve to be in a position of power. And eight year old is not fit to be a king."
Yami quirked an eyebrow, a little surprised by those words. 'Eight?' He thought. 'I didn't know I became Pharaoh that young...' Shrugging mentally and filing the information for later, Yami returned to the conversation. "I was certainly more fit than you." He commented. "Considering you're a traitorous homicidal maniac."
Nebenkharu growled dangerously. "Choose your words more carefully, brat. I won't stand for a child to speak to me so disrespectfully."
Bekhura crinkled his nose at those words. 'What does this bastard have against teenagers anyway? Sure the Pharaoh's no adult, but he's not immature or inexperienced by any degree...' Bekhura thought for a second until a smirk grew on his face. "Aw, jealous are we?" He asked, smiling and showing his pointed teeth.
"Jealous?" Nebenkharu snorted. "Not by a long shot. I just want him dead." He grinned, turning toward Yami and lunging for the boy.
A moment later he was knocked back a few yards, a very annoyed looking Mana floating in front of Yami with he staff held threateningly, having just swung it at the man. "You come near him again and I'll make sure to hit hard." She warned, scowling darkly at the man.
Nebenkharu, to everyone's dismay, just laughed. "Aw, the little blond girl has grown up. Mana, your name was?"
Mana narrowed her eyes. "That's right." She confirmed, nodding her head once.
"Good." Nebenkharu said, laughing again. "Wanted to make sure I had that right. Since spells work so much better when you have your target's name."
Mahaado snarled and pointed his staff at the man. "You try anything and I'll blast you before you can get say the first word."
"Aw, how cute." The former adviser commented in a fake adoring voice. "Too bad you'll be dead along with all the others without getting to do a thing."
"We'll see about that." Mahaado responded, the end of his staff glowing.
"Everyone, back into the hallway." Yami said in a hushed voice to the group behind him, knowing that a full magical fight was going to start soon and wanted everyone out of harm's way.
Most obeyed him, excluding Ryou, Yuugi, and Joey who stubbornly refused to move. Ryou stayed directly behind his dark, and Yuugi did the same with Yami. Joey stayed to Yami's left, eyes focused on Nebenkharu.
Yami took a deep breath and spoke again. "Is there any way that we can resolve this?" He asked, hoping that by some chance there would be. He wasn't surprised, though, when Nebenkharu started laughing.
"Yeah, right." He said, wiping fake tears of amusement from his face. "You're hilarious, kid. The only thing that'll be funnier than that will be watching you die."
"Obsessed, isn't he?" Bekhura commented quietly, rolling his eyes and taking a subtle step towards Yami to shield the other spirit.
"I think we've done enough talking." Nebenkharu decided, grinning. "Say anything you want to before you die; I'll be generous and give you a moment.
Bekhura looked at Yami, who frowned. The white haired thief looked back up at Nebenkharu. "There's no need. We're not going to die."
"Very well." The man said, shrugging carelessly. He smiled at them, and without another word raised his staff.
Yami, Joey, Yuugi, Ryou, and Bekhura scattered different directions, none of them wanting to be hit with whatever spell he was going to cast. Mahaado and Mana floated up towards the ceiling, out of the way.
"You all run from me." Nebenkharu said in amusement, laughing. "How pathetic. Brat, you're supposed to be the most powerful magician ever. Get out here and fight me like the man you proclaim to be."
Yami frowned from the other side of the platform where he was, turning around and pulling himself up slightly so he could peek over the edge of the platform.
Nebenkharu was apparently preoccupied with directing the duel monsters he had just summoned to attack, his back to Yami. So the spirit slowly and quietly climbed onto the platform, crouching and readying a spell of his own.
Suddenly Nebenkharu turned around, startling Yami into dropping his spell. The man smirked and a moment later Yami felt something heavy hit him in the chest, knocking him backwards off the platform and winding him.
The spirit coughed, curling onto his side with his arms around his chest. "Damn..." He muttered.
/Yami, are you okay!?/ Yuugi asked worriedly, his mental voice filed with concern.
Yami panicked for a moment, thinking Yuugi was going to do something stupid like come out of hiding to try to get to him. //Yes, Yuugi, I'm fine. Stay down.// He managed to tell the younger boy, ignoring his own advice and sitting up.
The spirit coughed again, looking up as he began to stand, and was met with a very unwelcome sight. Nebenkharu was standing over him, staff pointed down at the boy's face.
"Well, that was easier than last time." The man remarked, chuckling as the staff began glowing and fired a burst of energy at Yami.
Yami shut his eyes, being too close to try to dodge. He reopened his eyes, however, as he heard the spell and crashing into the wall behind and over him. Snapping his attention back towards Nebenkharu, he noticed that Joey was holding onto the staff, and that was why the spell had missed him.
Shooting to his feet, Yami took a few steps forward to grab onto the staff as well, he and Joey trying to wrestle it away from Nebenkharu and failing miserably. Both boys were sent sprawling across the floor as their enemy knocked them back.
Yami scrambled to stand back up, and Joey did the same. Nebenkharu smirked and shot another spell at Yami just as Joey stepped protectively in front of the smaller boy.
The beam of greenish light struck Joey in the lower chest, staying continuos for a moment, and then disappearing. Joey slowly fell, Yami catching him and getting sent to the floor yet again.
Violet eyes wide in shock, Yami stared down at the unmoving blond. "Joey!?"
"He's dead boy; that was a death spell." Nebenkharu said, smiling the whole time. At Yami's horrified expression, the advisor's smile turned into a malicious smirk. "And you're next." Nebenkharu lunged at the former Pharaoh, knocking him down onto his back and placing his staff across his throat. Straddling the boy's hips and pressing his weight down against the staff, he grinned.
Yami desperately tried to remove the pressure against his neck, eyes shut tightly and hands clasped over Nebenkharu's, but he knew that wouldn't do anything to help. Doing the only thing he could think of, Yami swiped at Nebenkharu's eyes with his left hand.
Instinctively, Nebenkharu pulled back, giving the spirit a chance to scramble backwards. The man recovered momentarily and reached for Yami again, that was, until a boot connected with his face.
Yami staggered up to his feet, one hand pressed over his throat, and hurriedly stepped back to where Joey was. Desperately, the boy tried to get the blond over his shoulder so he could carry him, but the spirit quickly realized he was fighting a loosing battle. There was no way he could carry Joey, especially not weak from being ill and hurt.
Salvation came in the form of Bekhura, racing up in breakneck speed. He didn't seem hurt from his fight with a monster and knelt down next to Joey, placing the him over his shoulder easily. "Pharaoh, we're losing." Bekhura said breathlessly, as the two spirits backed skitterishly away from Nebenkharu who was still clutching his apparently broken nose.
"I-I noticed." Yami choked out, his eyes darting to Joey's still form. "Tomb robber, I-I think Joey-"
The roar from behind him cut the former Pharaoh off, startling both spirits into turning around. A giant purple and black creature that resembled a panda bear was behind them, holding a large bamboo stick.
"Damn." Bekhura commented.
"Please let this work..." A soft and familiar voice came from the other side of the Frenzied Panda. "Please work... Change of heart!"
Suddenly, the Frenzied Panda stopped advancing on the spirits. Taking the opportunity, Bekhura grabbed Yami's arm and dragged the other Egyptian away from the monster, meeting with Yuugi and Ryou, who had called the magic of the Change of heart.
"What happened to Joey!?" Yuugi asked, his large eyes wide as he spotted his blond friend draped over Bekhura's shoulder. Catching sight of his dark, Yuugi's expression of shock didn't change. "And you!?"
"No time, Yuugi, we have to regroup." Bekhura said, taking Yami's arm again and heading for the entrance of the room. The others who weren't involved in the fight, including Mafdet, had already retreated back to the room with the Mystical Elf.
Mahaado and Mana spotted the small group, and broke off from the monster they were fighting to fly after them. As everyone got into the hall, Bekhura stopped and turned around. "Mana, Mahaado, put up some sort of spell. You need to block the door as long as you can."
Mana and Mahaado nodded, slamming the door shut and starting a shielding spell to hold it for awhile. It only took a few seconds, and then the group was running back down the hallway to the marble room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: *Sweatdrops* Hope that wasn't too bad. O.o
Anyway, please review and tell me how weird I am. XD