Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh...but I might own the cards soon...if I manage to get enough money to actually buy them...then – I'll challenge Kaiba! Muahahahaha! *cough* either way, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh...yeah...
A/N
Well...I've got nothing to add here, actually...can you believe that? Okay, maybe a huge 'thank you' to all my reviewers! *huggles her reviewers*
The legend of the Three Souls
Chapter XIV – Inevitability
-by Alena S. Anigor
***
The air was unusually chilly for a summer night and Mai shivered slightly, clasping her hands around her shoulders protectively. She was getting a tad irritated by a verbal clash Bakura and Kaiba were currently occupied with and not to mention scared of the upcoming battle with cloaked monsters that seemed to be inevitable.
Not so far away from her, Tea and Yuugi were trying to reason the two bickering men to stop fighting, although Kaiba paid no attention to Yuugi's pleas and Bakura would simply push Tea away every time she tried to grab a hold of his hand and pull him aside.
Tristan and Joey, together with a frightened Serenity were becoming impatient and edgy, turning around every once in a while to see if someone or something dared to open the backdoors and come out to threat them. Ishizu was the only one who was silent, her head lowered. She was staring numbly at the pebbly covered alley, clutching the wooden box to her chest tightly. She winced and instantly raised her head to look at the doors of the museum when she heard a crashing sound coming from the inside. She almost reacted and jumped towards the doors to get inside and help Shadi, but her feet seemed glued to the solid rock beneath her. She closed her eyes and her ears caught the bits of a fight between Kaiba and the thief at that moment.
"How the hell are we all going to fit into a helicopter?" Bakura shouted angrily, when Kaiba wanted to call for one of his private choppers. Yuugi and Tea stared at them, perplexed and helpless. They exchanged glances before Yuugi commented that Bakura had a point. Tea had to agree. Kaiba threw them a cold glare before glancing at the white haired thief again.
"Who said I would take you all with me?" He asked them coolly, observing the shocked expression on Yuugi and Tea's face. Bakura growled and clenched his fists in fury. "You are not of mine concern," he added, observing them all with a sharp, mocking eyes. "You will have to manage on your own."
"But, Kaiba-" Yuugi was ready to protest, when Bakura lost his patience and before Tea could stop him, grabbed the CEO by the collar of his shirt and whipped him down to meet his glare. Serenity gasped and Mai unclasped her hands from her shoulders. Joey and Tristan already took their stances, ready to get into a fistfight if necessary.
"Bakura, please, don't!" Tea was heard, her hands around thief's shoulders to pry him off Kaiba. The two reincarnations of the legendary Souls glared silently at each other, none of them uttering a word. Ishizu seemed to be the only one aware of the fact that they didn't have the time or the luxury to get involved into a glaring match. She let out an exasperated sigh, leaning the wooden box with the bust on her left shoulder. She had enough of everything; enough of the cloaked monsters, enough of the people around her and she even had enough of the legend and the busts. She growled, loosing her last bit of patience and reasoning.
"Stop it already!" she yelled, making everyone except Bakura and Kaiba turn around to look at her. Joey and Tristan gawked while Mai stepped away from her warily; already familiar with the way she behaved when she was mad. Tea and Yuugi stopped with their tries to pull the two apart. Ishizu glared at them angrily, pointing at the backdoor of the museum. Another crashing sound came from the inside; this one seemed to come from the near distance.
"Shadi is in there, risking his life for us, and you are fighting again! If you don't come up with a plan and fast, we won't have the time to run away from here! And Shadi's sacrifice will be for nothing!" She shouted, angry tears streaming down her tanned face. "Now, if you don't mind, show some decency and THINK of something to get us OUT of here! We've been standing here long enough!"
After that, no one dared to protest or object her. Turning their head slowly to look at the two who were still in a stale position, they agreed silently, watching them with interest. Tea clasped her hands in front of Bakura, pleading cerulean eyes begging him to stop. Bakura seemed lost for a moment, seeing her like that, before he turned his previous attention to Kaiba who was looking at him blankly now.
"She has a point," he agreed, glaring up at him, "We don't have much time and waiting for your chopper would take a lot of that." With his final word, he released him, letting him straighten himself and fix his collar. Being the tallest of them all, Kaiba had a great view at their eager and anticipating faces. He scanned every one of them, Ishizu especially whose determined and stern expression could freeze the fires of hell. After gaining his equilibrium again, he let his eyes fall to the thief. Bakura's serious expression mirrored his own.
"And what do you suggest then?"
Bakura raised one eyebrow quizzically before smirking at the CEO's question.
"I have one place in mind." He replied, mysterious eyes glistening with mischief. Kaiba's jaw tightened and he crossed his hands impatiently.
"Well, where is that place you're talking about?" Yuugi asked timidly, the expression on the thief's face awakening strange, wary feeling in his stomach.
Bakura grabbed Tea by the hand unexpectedly and she stared at him in wonder for a moment, wondering why he did that again before he pulled her slightly to him, glancing at her almost possessively before answering Yuugi's question.
"In the desert."
***
Shadi was starting to feel the firsts signs of exasperation; beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. The dark corridor was around him, lights coming on and turning off every now and then. But the most frightening thing was the presence of the cloaked creatures around him, still now giving up and still trying to pass him by. He was breathing heavily, and almost winced when he felt the wound on his shoulder stinging. The white color of his sleeve was now drenched with a red stain, the material clinging to his arm.
One skeletal nail that managed to graze his cheek left a small cut there, blood trickling down his face slowly in a thin streak.
He was becoming helpless and weak and that frightened him the most. Never until now had he lost to them...not in the visions of his past, not in the night before he met the Souls and told them about their future. But now...he was afraid that the only vision he thought was impossible would come true in the end...the vision of his own future, of his own destiny. The vision in which he was dying by the hand of that same, cloaked creature that was standing somewhere in the army of them, right in front of him.
He was backed against the wall now, blood leaving marks on the white paint behind him. It was cold and it made him shiver slightly, but it was soothing, the way the cold wall made his wound hurt less. He took one deep breath, exhaling slowly to try and collect his strength back, to calm his raging heart and clear his thoughts a bit.
In front of him, the herd of the cloaked creatures stood still, not moving a thing. An almost dead silence filled the corridor now, and he wondered for a moment if his friends have made to escape by now. His only remaining goal was to stop the creatures, to protect them and the Souls. He only hoped he would have the power to do that, but...his vision haunted him; the same in which he died and he closed his eyes briefly, trying to get the image out of his head, trying to spite the destiny.
When he was ready to stand straight again, to stand up and fight again, a sudden breeze of chilly air filled the corridor and made him shudder. He breathed in sharply, blue eyes straining to see what came and caused the sudden rush of air.
He didn't have to wait long for the answer to come. The crowd of cloaked creatures suddenly spread apart, leaving space in the middle for the two figures. One of them was tall and slender, shadowed behind the cloak, although a clang of his shoes was telling that he was different from the others who were hovering a few feet above the marble tiles. The other figure was walking steadily behind the first one, keeping a solid pace.
When the taller figure stopped finally, reaching the end of the small path between the cloaked minions, it stepped out firmly, the darkness beneath the hood threatening and ominous.
The figure let out a blood curling chuckle and Shadi's eyes widened when he realized who the figure was. His suspicions were confirmed when the figure lowered his hood and revealed his face.
It was a young, dark – haired man, dressed in what seemed to be a business suit, the white shirt and a silky tie evident beneath the rest of the cloak. The most striking thing about him were his eyes: emerald, sharp and filled with sheer malice, and undying desire for a revenge.
The faux smile on his lips, combined with his vicious eyes and powerful, threatening demeanor told Shadi that, that was the man who once set chaos loose, and who finally managed to come back to do the same thing again.
"Amukh..." Shadi breathed, suddenly feeling his blood running cold, his body trembling. The aura of the ancient priest was so powerful, so engulfing that it threatened to swallow him alive. The smile on his lips still didn't disappear.
"Shadi," he said smoothly, his voice full of fake kindness, "long time no see."
The smaller figure behind him stepped closer to him, and took his hood off. A pair of violet orbs, now tinted with a shade of gray stared at him. Amukh's smile grew wider when he introduced the young man.
"This is Marik," he coaxed, pointing at the sandy – haired Egyptian behind him, "but knowing you, I presume you already know who he is."
Shadi's stare was hard and fixated on the powerful priest, not letting him out of his sight. "Yes, yes I know who the young, poor man in." He spoke through gritted teeth. Amukh smiled once again and craned his head aside a bit, observing him questioningly.
"What is the matter with you Shadi?" He asked, faking a surprise. "You seem to be...out of breath."
Shadi's eyes were still on him, serious and stern. His face revealed a grim expression, although his face was pale due to the blood loss he was going through. He managed to get up, still using the wall as a back up and ignoring the throbbing pain in his shoulder. Amukh seemed to be amused.
"You know," he said almost happily, "you used to be quite a prophet back then...what happened to you now?" he mocked, making Marik smirk with an evil satisfaction.
Shadi growled silently, clutching his shoulder tightly. "You came here to reminisce, Amukh?"
The emerald – eyed man chuckled, closing his eyes for a second to laugh, showing a row of perfectly white teeth.
"You know very well why I am here, Shadi, old friend."
Shadi's eyes narrowed and he took a fighting stance, as weak as he looked like. Amukh's smile vanished from his face now, replaced by a stoic expression. Emerald eyes narrowed as well. Behind him, the cloaks of a few minions made a ruffling sound.
"You will not harm them!" Shadi shouted warningly which made no effect on the priest. He only raised an eyebrow and then turned to Marik whose blank eyes revealed malice as well. Marik turned to the army of cloaked creatures behind him and Shadi had to back away a bit when they all got back to life suddenly, cloaks billowing beneath them furiously. The cold wall and no way out meant no good news to Shadi and he had to admit that it was useless to try and avoid his destiny, to outsmart his own fate. But, he promised himself he wouldn't go down without a fight and collecting his last shreds of energy he got left, he got up, ready to fight with his hands, legs, nails and teeth when he felt a sharp pain crossing through his chest, stopping him immediately and making him gasp.
When he raised his eyes to see what happened, he could only see dark fabric of a cloaked creature. Everywhere he looked, he saw black cloaks, surrounding him, making a dangerous trap. Somewhere behind the sea of dark cloaks, he could hear Amukh laughing victoriously.
When he lowered his head to see what caused such pain his eyes widened in horror and he fell down on his knees, making a loud thumping noise when his knees hit the floor of the corridor. His robes were already soaked with his own blood, one skeletal hand still buried in his chest, cold, sharp nails threatening to rip him apart. He took one last breath of air before his vision became blurry, the world around him started to spin vigorously and he could feel himself falling...until the complete darkness engulfed him, consumed him completely and he fell down, closing his eyes.
It was my destiny, he repeated in his head until he could no longer feel or see anything.
When the cloaked creature pulled his hand out of his chest and let out a creepy, cackling sound, Amukh approached the still body of a Prophet and smiled sadistically.
"You won't be an obstacle to me now, Shadi...not anymore." With that, he turned around, ordering his minions to go and find the others. Marik took one final look at the motionless body of a man lying on the floor before his eyes flashed with silver and he went after Amukh.
"They are heading towards the desert!" Amukh barked, marching through the corridors of the museum. All around, pieces of destroyed artifacts lay, scattered and broken.
"But I think we could manage to get to them first." The priest added, as he turned to look at Marik who only smirked at his master's remark and nodded.
Ordering the cloaked minions to move, he vanished down the hall, leaving Amukh alone in the museum.
He sat on one of the chairs in the main hall and opened the briefcase, retrieving the bust of the First Soul. He admired the clay statue for a while, before he placed it back inside the briefcase, shutting it carefully again.
After that, he got up and smiled evilly, strolling down the hall steadily, laughing maniacally.
"One more to find, and one more to take away."
