Okay, here we go. Next chapter in the saga J
Please R&R! You can even flame me if you want; I've got asbestos undies.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yugioh or any of the related characters.
Note - :blah: is mindspeaking and {blah} is Ancient Egyptian.
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Chapter 3 - Pharaoh Reborn.
"Atem-kun would never do that." Yugi protested in a shocked voice. "He's mou hitori no boku, my other self. He would never…kill me."
The robed man looked down at Yugi with a condescending smile. "Have you ever heard the saying 'Love and hate are two sides of the same coin'? Love is the easiest emotion to turn into hate, Yugi-chan. It just needs the right…incentive." He looked at the two hulking men who had dragged Yugi out of his cell. "Put it on him." he ordered curtly, then strode off to stand beside the sarcophagus. The silent one of the pair produced an amulet, formed from two snakes around a red disc, which he slipped over the teenager's head. It hung heavily around his neck; Yugi found his strength sapping away. He didn't have the strength to stand now if he wanted to, and some rather unsavoury thoughts were running through his mind.
:Atem will try to kill you. He hates you now - he will kill you or destroy your mind, leaving you in gibbering insanity for the rest of your miserable existence…:
Yugi shook his head, trying to shake off the foreign voices.
:You should fight him, Yugi. He's the enemy, but you can beat him. You are strong enough, if you have a little help from me…:
"No." With a little moan, he collapsed against the pillar. He had no strength left, the amulet was sucking it all out.
A grinding noise distracted the young man from his inner turmoil. Four men had just lifted the lid off the sarcophagus. Overhead the Millennium Puzzle glowed with reflected moonlight. The robed man began to chant in a language that Yugi didn't recognize, neither Japanese nor English.
The canopic jars glowed with multi-coloured light - blue, green red and yellow. Beams shot out from each jar, exploding the lids off and converging on the Puzzle.
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As the liquid rose over his head, Atem was engulfed in black despair. He could feel his lungs straining, his mind growing numb. Finally he could stand it no longer - he had to breathe. Icy liquid poured down his throat when he opened his mouth, filling his lungs. The chains on his wrist loosened; he sank further into the blank expanse, too numb to bother saving himself. His awareness flickered like a candle and went out.
…cold…
…empty…
…peaceful…
Suddenly the darkness was rent apart by four beams of light. They attached themselves to his limbs and pulled. With a cry of denial, Atem flew from the dark waters and into the light.
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Yugi watched dumbstruck as the Sennen Eye on the puzzle erupted into life. A multi-coloured beam slammed into the remains of the Pharaoh. The sarcophagus exploded outwards, revealing the shrouded mummy within. The mark of Horus, the Sennen Eye, was glowing like a new sun on the forehead of the mummy. Fire burst from the 3000 year old bandages and vanished. Like a phoenix from the ashes, Atem's naked body emerged from the flames, young and vibrant. He gasped once, like a drowning man who finds air - them his eyes flew open.
Atem gasped and opened his eyes - he was naked on a stone slab covered in bits of debris. He took another, deep breath.
A voice spoke to him, in the dialect of his ancient homeland.
{Greetings, Mighty Pharaoh, Embodiment of Horus, son of Ra and Osirius. I welcome you to the land of the living.} Atem looked down at the source, one of twenty people wrapped in robes of the old style. A man, he guessed the one closest to his bier.
{What has happened here?} he asked in the same tongue, still a little confused as to where he was.
{We have performed the Rite of Resurrection on you, Great One.} the man answered. His accent, the Pharaoh noted with a flash of humour, was atrocious. {We rescued you before the false Pharaoh could destroy your mind.}
{False…Pharaoh?} Atem shook his head. His mind was still a little fuzzy. He realized that the man was no longer kneeling - he and his compatriots has risen, holding out various items of clothing; replicas of his regalia.
{These are your accoutrements, Great One, recovered from your tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The clothing of course is new, and of the finest linen.}
Well, it wasn't silk and leather, but it would do. He slid off the stone bier and took the linen tunic, wrapping it around himself; the rest of the attendants moved forward. Moved my impulse, he closed his eyes, doing something he only remembered from long ago - he held out his arms, fingers spread, and let himself be dressed.
Only when the heavy weight of the crown had settled on his forehead did he open his eyes again, taking a deep breath. Even more than in the memory world, he *felt* like the Pharaoh again.
The dressing complete, Atem looked again at the man who had spoken. {You said you brought me back to life. How?}
{An ancient ritual, Great One. Your spirit was still in the world, trapped in the Millennium Puzzle, so it was possible to reunite it with your remains.} The man dropped again to his knees. {It has taken us this long to find the repository of your spirit, Great Pharaoh. I apologize for taking so long to free you.}
Looking around the room, Atem found the Millennium Puzzle still suspended above the bier. He unhooked the chain and pulled it around his neck before a thought hit him. {What of my partner?} he demanded.
{He is here, Great One. We brought him to witness your rebirth and to receive your judgement.} With that ominous statement, the man gestured to a column on the far side of the room. Two hulking men in acolyte's robes stood guard over a third figure, this one small and kneeling on the stone. He was dressed…
Atem gasped in shock and horror as the vision he'd had came back to him. It was Yugi, dressed in the same clothes, eyes glazed in shock.
"Aibou…" he whispered. "Aibou, this can't be. What have you done?"
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Yugi marshalled the strength to look up as Atem addressed him, his tone one of pity and horror. He opened his mouth, but what came out was not the plea for help he intended.
"You managed to escape me, I see." he heard his own voice say, in a cruel tone he would never dream of using, especially not to Atem. "Will you kill me now, Pharaoh, as I killed Anzu? Will you savour my screams as I did to Jounouchi and Honda?"
As his voice continued to taunt Atem, Yugi saw the other teen's expression go from pity and horror to rage and settle at last in a cold, bitter hatred.
Atem suddenly roared wordlessly, backhanding him. Yugi's head snapped around with the force of the blow; he fell to the floor, only his hands held up by the chains on the pillar. He hung there helplessly, blow dripping from a cut lip. He'd been hit before, by bullies and thugs, but this blow hurt more than any other. Tears welled up in his eyes, but not from physical pain.
"You think your tears will move me, *Motou-san*? Atem snarled. He reached down and pulled Yugi upright in one hand. He was surprisingly strong for such a slender person. "You *dare* to think that after what you did, a few tears will win forgiveness?"
Motou-san? Yugi bit his bleeding lips, trying to hold back the voice that issued from his mouth unwillingly. He would rather Atem had hit him again rather than refer to him in such a formal, loathing manner. He wanted to protest, but didn't dare lest whatever was twisting his words struck again.
:Mou hitori no boku?: he tried the mind-link they had shared. Even though they were in different bodies now, perhaps the power of the Millennium Puzzle still connected them somehow.
If anything, the look of hatred on Atem's face deepened, He drew back from Yugi, letting him fall, and absently wiping his hand on his linen shift as though he had touched something unclean. "Do not call me that." the Pharaoh ordered, drawing up to his full height. He gathered his dignity and his power around him like a cloak. The Sennen Eye under his crown began to glow, as did the Millennium Puzzle.
The robed man who had been talking with Yugi earlier sidled up to Atem now - he addressed the Pharaoh in a language Yugi didn't understand, showing him a bloody dagger entwined with serpents.
'He will kill you…" Yugi remembered the words of the robed man. He had to stop this madness before Atem killed him, before these evil people corrupted his friend. Beneath the heavy, draining weight of the amulet, Yugi searched for the strength to save both himself and the Pharaoh.
:Wait!: he cried through the link as Atem raised the dagger, murder in his purple-crimson eyes. :Pharaoh Atem, I challenge you! I challenge you to a yami no game!:
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That's it for this chapter. I hope to hear from anybody reading this! Good, bad, whatever…Please? *bats big brown cow eyes*
Anyway, I hope to have the next chapter up in the a couple days. Hopefully.
As a note, in the manga they actually use the loan-word 'game' to refer to the yami-no-game, or Shadow Games.