THE ENCOUNTER OF LOST SOULS
Chapter Eleven: Gone
The other Yugi and Emrys fell deeper and deeper in the seemingly bottomless abyss within the Shadow Realm. They fell head first deep within the bowels of the abyss that they could no longer see anything. All the senses they have left were feeling and hearing.
Down deeper into the abyss they went….
Their bodies then crashed against the rocky bottom of the abyss full-force – feeling the shooting and crushing pain within every fiber of their torn bodies until they were unconscious.
Shortly thereafter, their eyes opened wide as they woke up in their respective bedrooms. Both gasped for breath and stared at the ceiling for minutes as they slowly try to regain their lost sensations.
It was only four in the morning.
"God, what a bad dream..." Yugi moaned aloud as he remained stupefied.
Emrys, still unable to move, kept praying, "Good Lord, please keep Jii-san safe." She then heard running feet abruptly stop at front of her bedroom door.
Yugi frantically and repeatedly banged on the door with the side of his fist. "Are you all right? Say something!" Using all his might, he eventually forced his way inside the bedroom.
Emrys lay motionless on the bed, still disoriented and unable to respond.
"Jii-chan's gone!" Yugi exclaimed with tear-filled eyes.
Emrys groaned as she struggled to sit up. She was soaking wet, shivering, and in great pain just as she was in her dream during her duel against the robed woman. She stared at her raw hands. Her wet pajamas had slight tearing on the knee and were torn at the left upper thigh.
The Spirit of the Puzzle invisibly observed, also wondering what just happened.
Still not believing that her dream was real, Emrys struggled as she touched her left knee. She closed her eyes and winced in pain. After combing through her soaked hair with her fingers, she rested her forehead against the palm of her left hand. Her headache mercilessly pounded. She inaudibly moaned, "I'll get even with that bitch one of these days. I just can't wait until I get my hands on her."
Because of Emrys' torn pajamas, Yugi noticed a very conspicuous series of keloid scars concentrated on her left upper thigh. His forehead further wrinkled as he stared at her long enough to notice her wincing in pain whenever she tried to move. "Why are you wet? Are you okay?"
Noticing that Yugi had his glance concentrated on her scars, Emrys inconspicuously covered her lower body with the damp blanket. "Whatever that was, it definitely wasn't a dream. It was pouring rain when I dueled against that hooded woman. She kept telling me to come with her or she'll take Jii-san."
Yugi's eyes widened with fear. "Then that means Jonouchi, Bakura, Honda, and Anzu are really missing too! The robed man told my other self that either he'd give him the three God Cards and the Puzzle, or he'd take one friend in exchange for each item."
Emrys stood up from the bed, used the heavy blanket to keep warm, and pointed at the pile of clothing that the other Yugi left for her on the dresser last night. "I'll go ahead and help myself with those clothes of yours."
"I'll call the guys and see if they're okay," Yugi said as he ran back in his bedroom.
Emrys then marched in the bathroom, removed her soaking pajamas, and took a quick shower.
After fifteen minutes, the two reconvened at Yugi's bedroom.
Emrys had a towel wrapped around her head. She now wore Yugi's nightshirt and sweatpants. Seeing his drawn expression, she gazed at him and wondered if she could do something more than just console a worried friend.
Yugi repeatedly said with sorrowful eyes, "They're gone. Every single one of them is gone." Minutes later, he wept. He was afraid of the uncertain fate that awaited his grandfather and friends.
Yugi woke up from his light and empty sleep – his head heavily filled with thoughts of Sugoroku and his friends. Glancing at his clock, he noted that it was around six-thirty in the morning. He quickly got up from bed and took a quick shower. After getting dressed, he softly knocked at Emrys' bedroom door. After getting no response, he went downstairs and followed his nose.
She was in Yugi's kitchen preparing pancakes and chopping some fruit. Without stopping from her chore, she acknowledged his presence by saying, "You're up…."
Yugi was still stretching and yawning. "Are you feeling better now?"
"The headache would eventually go away," Emrys reassured Yugi with a gentle smile. "Did you get some sleep?"
"Not much," Yugi replied as they sat down together for breakfast.
As to Yugi, he would have eaten more if he had not assessed that the pancakes tasted weird. Unable to tolerate the taste, he silently concentrated on the chopped fruit to satisfy his hunger.
Breaking their silence, Emrys placed her fork down and stated while sticking out her tongue in dissatisfaction, "I can't even eat this God-forsaken thing. It tastes awful!" She then pushed her plate of pancakes away and drank more juice, trying to neutralize the terrible taste of her own cooking.
Yugi pushed his plate away from him and asked Emrys with a sly and teasing smile, "Do you even know how to cook?"
"May kept teaching me throughout the years, but I'm quite a hopeless case."
"Quite?" Yugi echoed back Emrys' words. "I think the word 'quite' doesn't really cover it. I couldn't imagine anyone botching pre-mixed pancakes as badly as you just did. You just need to do put water in the batter. What did you put in it?"
"Hey," Emrys feignedly complained with a defensive smile. After letting out a resigned sigh, she shook her head in amusement and raised her hands, "All right…I promise to permanently leave the cooking to someone else."
"Yeah, I think you should," Yugi agreed as he poured and downed another glass of milk to wash the nasty aftertaste from the botched pancakes.
They looked at each other, laughed, and then resumed breakfast by enjoying more fruit.
Minutes later, Yugi said, "By the way, you haven't answered my question from last night." He then took the Puzzle off from his neck and handed it to her.
Carefully holding the Puzzle with both hands, slightly leaning back on her chair, and intently examining the Item at all angles, she noted, "Before, I thought the story about the Millennium Items was only an Egyptian folklore passed down from generation to generation. Seeing that you have the Puzzle just confirms that the folklore is real. I guess that these Items were well-guarded from tomb-robbers and thieves."
She then glanced at Yugi. "There are supposed to be seven Millennium Items. Each Item was reputed to hold great power. Together, these seven Items provide access to unimaginably vast mystical energy. However, legends say that the heart of that power is your Puzzle – with the Nameless Pharaoh being the only one privileged and capable of wielding the Puzzle and its power. Each of the remaining six Items was respectively entrusted to the Pharaoh's six high priests."
Lifting the Puzzle with both hands and inverting it – now with its tip pointing upwards – she explained, "To the Ancient Egyptians, the pyramid had been the symbol of light, great mystical energy, and the power and grandeur of the reigning Pharaoh. With its tip pointing upwards to the sun, the pyramid was supposed to draw its divine light and power. During those fateful days, the land was divided into two: those who worshipped the sun as their deity, and an underground sect that worshipped the darkness."
She then flipped back the Puzzle to its original, inverted position. "Just as the pyramid draws power by pointing upward towards the sun, the inverted pyramid points downward – harnessing the powers of darkness."
"So you're saying that the Puzzle is evil?" Yugi incredulously asked, as he looked at her for more answers.
Taking a drink from her glass of milk, she responded, "I'm not just going to refer to the Puzzle. I'm going to refer to all the seven Millennium Items. Each Item is neither good nor evil. It's more of a neutral, but potent power residing in each Item. How each Item is used depends entirely and solely to the wielder. If the wielder has a good heart, the powers can be harnessed for peace and justice. However, if the wielder's evil, then the powers can be used to wreak havoc."
"Incredible," he muttered.
The other Yugi quietly stood behind his spirit vessel with arms comfortably crossed in front of his chest, as he carefully listened to her information.
She deeply sighed, and said, "There's still plenty of ground to cover. Some of what I just told you might change, depending on what other archeological findings might surface. What's bothering me, though, is who were those hooded freaks? Who sent them? Do you – or Jii-san – have any enemies that would be this bold to do something like last night, and now this?"
"I wish I knew," he replied. "The closest one that I can think of is the Rare Hunters, but the robes that they wore were different from the ones that we saw in our nightmares."
"So that leaves us back to square one," she grimly and regretfully stated. She drummed her fingers on the breakfast table during the brief silence between them, then stopped and said, "I have no doubt that these clowns know about the importance of the God Cards and your Puzzle – much more than what we know at the moment. However, something bigger than those three robed nuts would be behind all of this."
"So what's the game plan?" he asked her.
"I already called Professor Hopkins hours ago, and I finalized arrangements for his impromptu trip here. He'll be here by tomorrow afternoon."
"Professor Hopkins! Uncle Arthur!"
The elderly professor looked at the far left of the private-plane tarmac of Domino Airport. He saw Emrys and Yugi running towards him.
Emrys enthusiastically and endearingly exclaimed while giving Professor Hopkins a warm hug, "I missed you, Uncle Arthur..."
"We should start seeing each other more often on happier occasions," the professor commented, as he embraced her and patted her on the back.
The elderly professor became a professional and personal advisor, as well as confidante to Emrys - most especially after her parents died. For the first five years after she was orphaned, he became her legal guardian. Even though they rarely see each other, their bond of friendship remained intact throughout the years. Their close friendship even extended to include Rebecca, the professor's precocious granddaughter.
Upon arriving at the Mutou household, the professor was further filled in about everyone's disappearance. Eventually, he rested from his exhausting trip, as Yugi and Emrys worked together in preparing dinner – with Yugi taking full charge of cooking.
The early evening dinner – as well as the clean up – was the opportunity for the three of them to catch up on old times. After tidying up, they sat down at the living room.
Yugi and Emrys' undivided attention were now focused on Arthur Hopkins.
"What do you know about Atlantis, Emrys?" Arthur hinted.
Emrys pursed her lips and combed her hair with her fingers. "It was an island kingdom that was said to be created by Poseidon himself – the Greek god of the seas. The kingdom was divided under the rule of ten kings – all sons of Poseidon."
"According to legend, all the embodiment of knowledge, were held by the Atlanteans. Their civilization had heavy ties with Egypt. The Atlanteans shared their knowledge with the Egyptians, thus catapulting Egypt's fame and power. Once a kindhearted race, the Atlanteans became greedy and power-hungry, and sought to destroy the civilizations that they helped before. They started a bloody war against the Athenians. The Greek gods poured their displeasure and wrath on them by sending a ten-day cataclysm composed of earthquakes, floods, cyclones, and other calamities. Atlantis then sank in the ocean – never to be seen again."
Professor Hopkins nodded in approval. "Now, as much as I hate to bring this up, what can you tell us about Thera?"
Emrys rested her back on the couch. "Thera's a small island located about seventy miles from the isle of Cnossus on Crete. It was said to be the home to the ancient Minoan empire. Minos was speculated to be one of the possible locations of Atlantis. That was the last excavation that my parents worked on. They also believed that the origin of duel monsters, although invented by the Egyptians, had roots stemming from Atlantis."
Yugi, as well as the other Yugi – who was invisibly seated beside his young spirit vessel – were stunned.
After a momentary pause, she then said, "My parents were on the verge of a breakthrough, until the cave-in claimed their lives. The work being left undone, and with me believing that time is of the essence, I gave my parents' notes and research materials on Atlantis to Uncle Arthur. He followed my parents' lead. Adding facts that he uncovered on previous excavations, he was able to uncover tangible proof."
Arthur picked up where she left off by interjecting, "The tangible proof that Emrys was referring to was the petroglyphs that I uncovered. After authentication and carbon dating, I'll return to Japan and show you the petroglyphs when they become available for display at Domino Museum. However, in my most recent excavation, I uncovered an ancient scroll written in hieroglyphics."
The professor pulled out an ancient papyrus scroll that was protected within a rectangular and airtight resin container. He carefully gave the resin tablet to her. "Alexa, would you kindly read this for us?"
She quickly examined the tablet. She frowned a little, and then gave the professor a probing gaze. "This scroll isn't complete. Is this all that you have, Uncle Arthur?"
The professor affirmatively nodded.
With second-nature skill, she translated the hieroglyphics within the protected papyrus scroll, as she read line per line aloud.
The ancient scroll contained part of this narrative:
The Princess was left to grieve for the loss of her one true love,
Hoping to be reunited with him,
She vowed never to rest until his return.
Emrys looked at Professor Hopkins before she finished reading. "What do these have to do with everything?"
"Continue reading the next lines…" Arthur advised, as he pointed at the scroll.
She paid heed, and followed the elderly professor's direction.
Along with the eternal love between the Atlantean Princess and the Nameless Pharaoh,
Her crest will forever remain in her possession.
The crest,
The eternal symbol of the Atlantean kingdom under her rule as Queen,
Represents the powers within and without her.
The battle to reclaim her rightful throne shall wage on
Paving way for all that must come to pass.
The dark forces shall spew out its potent malevolence,
Once again threatening mankind and existence.
Darkness and death shall embrace her
And everything she touches
Contingent upon the powers within and without her – and them.
An illustration of the crest was etched at the bottom of the ancient narrative. She closely examined the papyrus, and then eventually turned white as sheet with her revelation.
The crest and the emblem depicted ornately by her pendant and ring was the same.
Still shocked, she absentmindedly gave back the resin-protected papyrus to Professor Hopkins. Leaning forward, she buried her face in her hands for a couple of minutes and tried to recover from the impact of this new revelation.
This prompted Yugi to switch into his other self. After the transformation, he requested the papyrus from Arthur and scanned the artifact. Much to his surprise, both he and Yugi fluently understood hieroglyphics.
She deeply breathed and intently said, "Uncle Arthur, I believe in what that scroll says. What I'm finding hard to believe is that this has something to do with me. Why am I involved in this?"
The elderly professor did not remove his thoughtful gaze on her. "It doesn't boil down to why the crest picked you. You are what that crest represents, just as the Millennium Puzzle chooses Yugi to be its elected champion. Only you and Yugi can answer that question."
"I believe in destiny, but only to a certain extent," she stated with a quivering voice. "There comes a point wherein you decide whether destiny would control you, or you would control your own destiny." As Professor Hopkins empathetically gazed at her, she buried her face with her hands again. Still trying to shake off the disbelief and shock, she was slowly but surely losing grip of her certainty.
Two hours had passed since Arthur Hopkins retired in Sugoroku's room.
Emrys chose to spend a few moments by the window of her room. As she looked out into the night sky as a last resort to ease her mind, a million questions and thoughts flooded back within her and brought tears in her eyes.
She wondered if all of the events in her life had something to do with the scroll and its contents. She lost her parents at such an early age. As long as she could remember, she easily grasped knowledge – especially if it pertained to ancient cultures and languages. Much overwhelming was the fact that she possessed certain ancient and arcane knowledge that she did not know how she obtained.
Last, but not the least, she fell deeply and madly in love with the other Yugi in such a short span of time although it was uncustomary for her to open her emotional doors to anyone.
Once again, after two years of barely holding on, she felt as if she lost control of her life and its direction. She still refused to believe the possibility that the scroll was telling the truth about her – thinking that maybe the fountain of knowledge that helped her move faster in education and life were solely thanks to the secrets behind the scroll, instead of the hard work that she had driven herself to do.
The more that she hesitantly welcomed this possibility, the more fear and apprehension filled her heart. She was willing to do anything to help Yugi save Sugoroku, but every thing changed when this new revelation about her was uncovered.
"Power," she sarcastically mumbled while shaking her head. "Fucking shit! I trained to become an archaeologist and a singer, not a superhero…."
Yugi knocked on her open bedroom door. "May I join you?" he asked, interrupting her train of thought and quietly sitting by the foot of her bed.
"Oh…hi," she said, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm just getting some air."
"Quite a shock, huh?" he stated, referring about the ancient scrolls.
"I guess that I'm initiated in your club now," she quietly stated in jest, with some teardrops slowly streaming down her cheeks.
Yugi approached her and rested his hand on her back, hoping that he could give her some comfort, "We're friends, Emrys. You don't have to hide what you're feeling from me."
After a few minutes of silence passed, he then determined that the best person to console her would be the other Yugi.
When he was about to switch to the other Yugi, she said, "Wait –"
He stopped.
She then turned around to face him. "Before you do that, I'd like to thank you, Yugi. You're a true friend to both of us. The three of us will work together. We'll do everything we can to get everyone back safely. I promise."
He gave her a consoling and faith-filled smile, and then switched to the other Yugi.
The other Yugi gave her a moment of silence, as she turned to face the night sky. He tenderly lifted her chin to see her eyes, and then gently wiped some of her tears away. "You don't have to bear this alone."
She deeply sighed and slightly bowed her head. "I can't help but ask that maybe – just maybe – we're together because we are destined to be. If that wasn't the case and everything was normal, would we have fallen for each other so quickly and so deeply?"
"Destiny or not, I'm thankful that we're together."
She covered her face with both her hands and wept, as she heard his reply.
Walking back and sitting by the foot of her bed, he deemed it best to leave her alone and remain quiet until she was ready.
For many minutes, she stared at the night sky and breathed in. Once she achieved a slight feeling of calm, she sat beside him and leaned on his shoulder.
Holding her hand, he reassured her, "Aibou located Jonouchi once before when he tapped into the Millennium Puzzle's power. We've done it before, and we can do it again..."
End of Chapter Eleven
Author's Note
If you want to find out more about Emrys' parents, how they die, and how she takes it, read my short story There Will Come Soft Rain – a prequel set two years before the events narrated in The Encounter of Lost Souls.
Normal Disclaimer
Yu-Gi-Oh is the copyrighted property of Kazuki Takahashi. Alexa, Yoshiko, Koji, as well as this fan fiction, is the property of the author. This fan fiction is written for entertainment purposes only – thereby releasing the author from any liabilities.