Yami had searched through all the scrolls in the library and found nothing to help. The young one was getting worse and Yami was getting more frustrated.
"There must be something in this Ra-forsaken library to help." He swore and the Dark Magician looked up from the last scroll he had been looking at and frowned.
"Master, let me see if I can find out anything from others in the Shadow Realm." He offered and Yami nodded.
"Hai that would be helpful but please hurry. Something tells me this young one is of great importance, though I do not know what for as yet."
The Dark Magician nodded and vanished into the Shadow Realm. Yami paced back and forth across the room while he waited.
It was not long before the dark Magician returned and looked hopeful.
"There is a chance that a healer who lives out on the desert may be able to help us my pharaoh." He said and Yami's face lit up.
"Where is she? I will seek her out immediately!"
"She lives near the great Sphinx." This was quite a distance from the city but Yami didn't care. He left the library and almost ran to the room where Yugi was.
He went in to find the boy was deathly pale and Ishizu wiping his brow with a damp cloth.
"My pharaoh did you find anything?" she asked looking hopeful but her face fell when he shook his head.
"Then there is no hope?" She asked a tremor to her voice.
"There is a chance though it is a slim one. I have heard there is a healer who lives near the Sphinx and she may be able to help us. I am leaving immediately."
"Very well my pharaoh. Ra speed you on your journey."
The Dark magician Girl looked up from where she had been watching the small one closely for any change.
"Please hurry master, he is getting weaker."
"I will succeed." Vowed Yami and strode out of the room.
"Saddle my horse." He commanded to his guards who scuttled away to do his bidding sensing an urgency in their pharaoh's voice.
Yami rode fast across the barren land that was the desert. Ra beat his intense rays down on the lone figure as he rode. Sand kicked up behind him making clouds of dust. He urged his steed onwards. He had to hurry, time was against him he knew. Ahead of him a cloud of dust was beginning to work it's way towards him. A sandstorm.
'Oh no.' he thought. Sandstorms were very dangerous. One could be choked to death by the swirling sand. He reigned in his horse and looked round. Where could he shelter? There was nowhere and if he stayed so exposed when the storm hit then his chances of survival were slim to say the least. The only thing he could think of was to dismount and use his horse and cloak as a shelter and hope for the best. The storm was very close now and Yami could feel his cloak beginning to billow round him as the wind picked up. He had to survive this not just to save the young one, but also for his country. What would happen if he died out here? The country would be in turmoil as he had no heir as yet having been unable to find a wife. Though if he was honest with himself, the princesses who had been brought from the surrounding countries to be offered to him as wives, did not really interest him though he was not really sure why. His thoughts wondered back to the small one. This one seemed to have had a strange effect on him. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, all he knew was that he must succeed in his mission at costs.
He leaned against his horse's flanks and threw his cloak over his head and prayed to every god he knew to protect him when the storm hit.
And hit it did. Yami clutched his cloak round him as the sand whipped round him and the wind howled threatening to snatch away his very soul from his body.
'Please help me.' His mind cried out and something heard him. Suddenly his Millennium Puzzle began to glow and vibrate with sheer power.
Yami opened his eyes and looked down at the Puzzle as a ring of light came forth from it and surrounded him. It grew bigger and bigger as it went out and Yami noticed that it seemed to be pushing the swirling sands away from him and his horse who had been struggling to breathe.
The ring of light grew and then split into two. One went upwards and the other down. The one that went upwards, grew smaller until it had created a dome above Yami's head sealing him inside the safety of it's powerful light. Yami knew his Puzzle had powers he had been unable to unleash so far and he realized that he probably wouldn't be able to unleash it's full power until he really needed it.
"Thank you." He whispered to the Puzzle as he and his horse were safe and protected inside the barrier of light.
Yami reached into his pack and pulled out some food. He gave some to his horse who was breathing normally again and gave his master a grateful nuzzle. Yami smiled and settled down to eat and wait for the storm to pass.
His thoughts once again drifted to the sick one back at the palace. What was it about him that affected him so? He had no idea but he was sure that the reasons would be revealed to him soon enough.
He drifted off to sleep a short while later and dreamed of a young boy with tri-coloured hair smiling up at him from the bed where he lay and his mouth shaped the words.
"I believe in you."
Yami woke with a start. Was that a dream? It has felt more real than any dream he had ever had and he wondered about it.
He looked round to see that the storm had passed and the ring of protective light was gone. After taking a drink from the jar of water he had brought and giving some to his horse, Yami mounted him and set off over the dessert once again.
It was not too much longer until he saw the great Sphinx looming up ahead and he knew he was almost there. The Dark Magician had told him that the healer lived in caves under the sand and that the entrance would not be easy to find.
Yami reached the base of the Sphinx and began his search for the underground dwelling. He hunted for a good hour as Ra beat down on his back and the sweat ran down his face making streaks in the dirt that had gathered there and plastering his bangs to his face but he could find nothing.
Frustrated, he went to where his horse was waiting for him in the shade the Sphinx was giving. He poured some of his water into a dish for the horse to refresh him and drank some himself.
Where was the entrance to this healer's dwelling? He looked around hoping for some clue or something he may have missed earlier. He closed his eyes and remembering the ring of light his puzzle had given him, he asked his Puzzle to help him again.
He opened his eyes and nearly fell over backwards in his surprise as in front of him was the ghostly image of the small one.
"What the…." Yami wondered as the spectre in front of him smiled and beckoned to him with a finger. Yami looked at his puzzle and then back at the image. Was this to guide him? He figured he had nothing to lose and so he began to follow the figure as it led him to a group of rocks.
"But I have already searched here." Yami protested and the figure held up his hand to indicate to Yami that he should trust him. Yami followed curious as to how he could have missed any sort of entrance. He was renowned for finding hidden ways into things.
The spirit led him round the rocks to where there was a small gap at the base in between two rocks. The spirit pointed downwards and Yami looked down to notice something he hadn't seen before. There was a chain almost buried under the sand bar a few links, which were just visible. Yami looked up to thank the spirit but he had vanished.
Yami thanked the Puzzle and grabbing the chain, he pulled and a trap door was lifted to reveal a set of steps going down. Filled with new hope. Yami descended the stairs and found himself in a vast underground cave with doors leading off in every direction. There were shelves along the walls and bottles were on the shelves containing all sorts of colourful liquids. They glowed with some secret power of their own and Yami hoped that one of them would cure the young one.
"So pharaoh, you have arrived to seek my aid." A voice challenged him fro a corner of the cave and Yami looked to see a figure he hadn't noticed before. The figure was hunched and covered in black rags.
"How did you know?" he wondered.
"I saw your impending arrival and also your friend the Dark Magician came to inform me of your coming." Said the figure with a chuckle.
"The Dark Magician came?"
"Yes, the Shadow Creatures and I go back a long way but don't concern yourself with that now, I believe a slave of yours is in need of a cure for the sickness in his lungs."
Yami nodded and wondered why he flinched at the healer's use of the term 'slave' when referring to the young one. He was a slave but Yami found himself wishing he wasn't and then feeling puzzled as to why he should feel this way. He hoped the answers to all his questions would manifest themselves soon.
As he was thinking on these things, the healer had been rooting round on her shelves for something and now she approached Yami with a bottle of shimmering blue liquid and a bottle of red liquid.
"The blue liquid is for the slave," again Yami flinched inwardly, "and the red one is for you." She went on.
Yami looked surprised.
"For me? But I am not sick."
"No pharaoh you are not, however in order for the blue liquid to work and the disease to be beaten, the red liquid must be drunk by one who holds a Millennium Item while holding the hand of the one who drinks the blue liquid."
Yami nodded and took both bottles.
"How can I repay you healer?"
"I do not require payment at this time however I will let you know when I have decided on that."
There was a tone to her voice that Yami did not altogether like but he was so grateful for the precious cure that he chose not to let it bother him at this time. When she did finally ask, he was sure it would be in his power to grant whatever she should request and he would face that when the time came. For now all he was interested in was getting back to the palace and administering the life giving medicine to the small one.
Thanking the healer again he left the cave and covered up the entrance. Returning to where his horse was, they both had some more water before Yami mounted and spurred his steed into a gallop.
As Yami had left the cave, he had not noticed the smirk that played over the lips of the healer.
"Yes pharaoh I will be collecting payment soon." She muttered before making her way to the back of the cave again.
Yami rode fast and hard back over the dessert again and this time met with no incident. He arrived back at the palace and literally ran through the halls to the room where the young one still lay hanging onto life by the thinnest of threads.
"I have a cure for the young one! Ishizu help me to sit him up."
Yami ran over to the bed as Ishizu was trying to sit the small one up. Yami sat on the bed and slid his arm round the small one's shoulders and held him close to himself.
"Come on little one I need you to wake up and drink this, it will make you better."
The small one in his arms coughed in response and more blood dribbled from his mouth. Ishizu was there with a cloth to mop it up and Yami passed her the bottle of shimmering blue liquid.
"He needs to drink this and I need to drink this one while holding his hand." Said Yami pulling out the red liquid filled bottle and uncorking it.
"The healer said this was the only way to cure him."
Ishizu held the bottle to the small one's lips and tipped it up letting a small amount run into his mouth while Yami took a drink from his own bottle and swallowed.
He felt the liquid run down his throat and into his stomach. It felt incredibly cold, freezing in fact and Yami shivered.
"Is everything alright my pharaoh?" Ishizu asked looked with concern at Yami who seemed to have gone very pale under his dark skin.
"Yes I think so, this liquid I have to drink is very cold. How is the young one?"
"His breathing seems to be improving," she said as she gave him some more of the liquid. This time the young one managed to swallow a good mouthful and Yami had some more of his trying to ignore the intense freezing feeling it was giving his body. It seemed to be creeping right the way through him, permeating every part of his being with icy fingers. Yami began to shiver uncontrollably and found that he couldn't hold onto the young one anymore.
"I-Ishizu, w-what is h-happen-ning to m-me?" he managed before sliding off the bed and falling to the ground.
"PHARAOH!" Ishizu shouted and immediately the Dark Magician was at his master's side having felt his distress from the Shadow Realm and as a result of a call from the Dark Magician Girl.
"Master!" he gasped when he saw the unmoving form of his beloved master and friend. He scooped Yami up in his arms and carried him to the couch just as the young one's eyes flickered and opened.
"W-where am I?" he mumbled and Ishizu hugged his tiny form to her.
"Thank goodness you are awake." She said clearly relieved and looked across to where the Dark Magician was gently shaking Yami trying to rouse him.
Suddenly there was a flash of light and a figure appeared before them.
"Greetings." the figure said and the light faded to reveal a beautiful maiden. "The pharaoh visited me and I gave him something to cure the lung sickness, ah I see it has worked." She said and smiled at the boy on the bed who for some reason found this beautiful maiden's smile scared him and he snuggled further into Ishizu's embrace.
"And now the time has come." Said the maiden and suddenly her beautiful face took on a very ugly look. "To claim my payment." So saying she took from within her robes a bottle and uncorked it. She strode over to where Yami was lying but was stopped before she could reach him by the Dark Magician who stood up and glared at the one who dared to go near his master.
"You will get no further healer." He snarled but the look on his face was replaced by one of shock as the healer gathered energy to her hand and fired it at the Dark Magician who was blown backwards across the room and crashed into the wall. Being too dazed and weakened to maintain his form in the physical world, the Dark Magician faded away into the Shadow Realm where he sat dazed and confused for a moment before recovering himself and standing up the snarl returning to his face. He was too weak to return to the physical world so he had to be satisfied with watching what was going on.
The woman was advancing on Yami's unconscious body again but this time she was stopped by the Dark Magician Girl who leapt in front of her and tried to use her Black Magic Bomb attack but it had no effect on the healer who merely deflected it into a wall where it made a large hole. Then she made another energy blast, which blew the Dark Magician girl into wall and she too faded into the Shadow Realm where she and the Dark Magician watched helplessly as the healer advanced on the pharaoh.
She held the uncorked bottle near the pharaoh's mouth and a blue stream of energy began to flow from his mouth and into the bottle. Ishizu and the young one watched in horror as the last of the energy left the pharaoh and went into the bottle and the healer corked it up.
"And now you have paid my price pharaoh – with your soul!" and she laughed maniacally before vanishing in a blinding flash of light…..