Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh though the plot belongs to me
Chapter 10
Yami entered the Shadow Realm and Yugi came out of the Puzzle to stand beside his brother.
"Okay we have the Ring." Said Yami and held it out.
"Millennium Ring, please guide us to where our friends are."
Yugi and Yami watched as the Ring glowed and the points rose to show the way they should go.
"Come on," said Yami, "they're this way."
The two of them set off at a fast pace following the directions the Ring was giving them.
It was pointing them straight ahead and they walked forwards. Suddenly they ran into an invisible wall and ended up sprawled on the floor with Yugi landing on top of Yami.
"Ow…" mumbled the eldest pharaoh as Yugi scrambled off him and giggled.
"Oh sorry Yami," he chuckled and then frowned "what was that?"
"I don't know." Yami said and began to walk forwards with his hands stretched out in front of him. He felt something solid and stopped.
"It's an invisible barrier of some sort."
"The Ring is pointing right at it which means we have to break it down somehow." Said Yugi and began to feel all over the barrier. He knocked on it to see if it sounded hollow but it was a very dull sound.
"Hmm it sounds very solid Yami, I wonder if the power of the Millennium items can break it?"
"I don't know but it's worth a try. Let's see if the Puzzle will break it."
"Okay as long as it doesn't break the puzzle." Yugi said looking worried.
"Don't worry Aibou, the Puzzle won't break apart unless I will it."
Yugi nodded and Yami raised the puzzle above his head. He brought it down and hit the barrier with the point of it.
Nothing happened.
"Now what?" said Yami and Yugi shook his head.
"I have no idea." He said and looked dejected.
"Let's not give up yet," said Yami, "there must be a way."
Both of them concentrated for a few minutes. Then Yami suddenly hit on an idea.
"I know! We both have power right? Well what if we join forces and try and break the barrier ourselves? It's worth a try anyway."
Yugi nodded looking much more hopeful.
"Hai I agree we can try, maybe if he ask the Puzzle and the ring they too will lend power."
Yami grinned and gave Yugi the Ring to hold while he held the Puzzle.
"Now hold my hand." He said and Yugi grabbed hold of his brother's hand and held the Ring out while Yami held the puzzle.
"Okay now concentrate Yugi, send your power out through our hands."
Yugi closed his eyes and concentrated hard. He once again felt his power surging through him and down his arm where it joined with Yami's own power, which was flowing down the elder's arm. The Ring and the Puzzle glowed and added their own power to the gathering energies in the boy's hands. Yami and Yugi could feel it growing ever stronger as they struggled to hold onto it.
"NOW!" shouted Yami and they directed the full force of all the gathered energy right at the barrier. At first nothing happened but after a few moments a hole appeared and grew in size as the combined powers of the two pharaohs and the Millennium items.
"Hold on Yugi." Gasped Yami as they struggled to keep the flow of power going. Yugi nodded the strain clear on his face.
Yugi and Yami sent one last burst of energy against the barrier before they both collapsed to the floor unconscious from the strain.
Yami was the first to come to, sitting up he looked through the hole they had made.
"Yugi." He said prodding his brother to rouse him.
"Mmm?" mumbled Yugi and then he remembered where he was and sat up. "It worked?"
"Hai Aibou we are successful."
Yugi looked through the hole, to see a very dark and foreboding place. It was much darker than the normal Shadow Realm looked but it still maintained the look of the Shadow Realm.
"Well the Ring is pointing this way so I guess we should follow its lead." Said Yami wondering idly for a moment why Nephiris' minions had not stopped them.
"Aibou we must be careful. We haven't been stopped by any of Nephiris' monsters so they may just be waiting for us in there." Said Yami.
"I'm ready for them Yami, let's go our friends are waiting."
Yami agreed and grasped Yugi's hand before they stepped through the hole together.
The place they stepped into was much darker and more oppressive than the one they had just left. Both of them immediately felt weaker and Yami frowned.
"This place seems to drain more than the regular Shadow Realm. We must rely on the Puzzle and the Ring to give us the energy we need to sustain us."
Yugi nodded and grasped the Ring tightly. He felt its energy flowing into him, giving him strength.
"Let's go." He said and held the Ring out on front. The points rose and showed them the way. They followed the direction that it was showing them allowing its glow to give them light.
"Maybe we should try calling out to the Dark Magician." Said Yugi but Yami shook his head.
"We don't want to attract unwanted attention to ourselves." He said, "Nephiris' Monsters could be lying in wait for us."
"Good point." Yugi agreed and they carried on in silence. Suddenly Yami stopped and grabbed Yugi's arm to stop him.
"Look." He said and Yugi looked to where Yami was pointing straight ahead.
There ahead of them were a group of monsters and they could see the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl moving round. They were floating round randomly and the two pharaohs noticed that they seemed lost and dejected.
"This place is affecting them badly it seems." Yami said, "we must hurry and get them out of here and back to where they belong."
"Let's go." Said Yugi and they began to walk towards the Monsters.
They were within a few yards of them before the Dark magician Girl spotted them.
"Master!" she exclaimed her face lighting up at the sight of Yugi. Then she frowned.
"Be careful, the traitors are still around somewhere though we haven't seen them for a while." As she said this laughter could be heard from round them. Yugi and Yami looked round them as the Dark magician called.
"Look out!"
Suddenly the brothers found they couldn't move as invisible bonds bound their arms. They struggled against them but they couldn't move at all.
The dark Magician and the rest of the monsters tried to get to the trapped brothers but found their way blocked by the appearance of Nephiris' group of monsters, which outnumbered them by a considerable amount.
"We walked right in on a trap." Yami said angry that they hadn't been more careful. A woman's laugh made him turn and he narrowed his eyes. "Nephiris." He growled and looked at Yugi. She was his mother, how was he going to react to her? He was relieved to see that Yugi was also looking angry and gripping the Millennium Ring very tightly.
"Hello my son." Said Nephiris as she came into view smiling sweetly at Yugi. She approached him with her arms outstretched. She clicked her fingers and the bonds holding Yugi fell away.
He found himself surrounded on three sides by her monsters while the Dark Magician Girl and the others looked on helplessly.
Nephiris walked towards Yugi with her arms outstretched.
"Yugi my son, thanks to you I have the pharaoh right where I want him. Trapped in this realm where he belongs. Come now and rule in your rightful place as the pharaoh." She was very close to Yugi now. Yami looked horrified, 'She used her own son to help trap me? Did Yugi know?' he thought. One look at Yugi's face told him that his brother definitely did not know about this. He was looking as if he wanted to kill Nephiris and his hands were clenched round the Ring so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.
"I am not your son." He spoke slowly and clearly and with fury plain in his voice and fire blazing in his violet eyes. Nephiris' smile didn't leave her face and her voice didn't lose it's sickly sweetness.
"Of course you are my son. Come on now your throne is waiting for you."
"I already have a throne, my brother has seen to that for me already, not that it bothers me mother I would have been quite happy playing a background role in the palace or even remaining a slave but my brother made the decision to treat me as an equal and for that I will always be grateful to him." With these words he turned and smiled at Yami.
Nephiris' voice changed and became low and dangerous.
"You will come to the palace with me and be the pharaoh and your brother will remain here or you will suffer the consequences of defying me." She said.
"Then I will suffer the consequences mother, I will not betray my brother. I would sooner die than leave him here in this place. He took me in not knowing who I was and as soon as he did know he treated me like an equal even though I do not deserve it. It was him who saved my life at the cost of his own soul, which you stole and imprisoned in a horrible endless maze. I can't do what you want me to mother. I hate you."
"What did you say?" Nephiris was looking shocked at Yugi's words.
"I said I….am….not…your….son." Yugi said speaking slowly and clearly so Nephiris caught every word. Nephiris quickly recovered and smiled sweetly.
"Come on now you don't mean that." She said her voice sickly sweet again.
"I do mean it, you are not my mother anymore. You may have given birth to me but that's all you did. Now you just want to use me for your own ends well your not going to use me for anything. Now I want you to release my brother and let us go."
Nephiris' face changed and became ugly.
"No you will do as I say or I swear the pharaoh will suffer."
"if you harm him, I swear by Ra you will pay."
"Oh? and how are you going to do that, With your power? Ha ha ha! Don't make me laugh! You are nothing without the pharaoh and you will find my son that he can do nothing while trapped in my bonds."
"I said release him!" said Yugi taking a step towards Nephiris. The Sennen eye appeared on Yugi's forehead and he pointed his finger at his mother who looked surprised.
"The Sennen eye?" she said clearly shaken, "but I had no idea you had this much power." She took a step back away from Yugi who began to walk towards her still pointing his finger which began to glow as did the Ring which he had hung round his neck.
"Do it Nephiris, release my brother now unless you wish to be trapped here yourself."
Nephiris nodded but there was still a malicious glint in her eye.
"You win this round my son." She said and snapped her fingers. The bonds round Yami vanished and he flexed his arms.
"You may have won this round my son but there will come a time when I will win and the both of you will succumb and bow to me!"
Yugi took another step towards Nephiris but she shouted a string of words that yami and Yugi didn't understand and suddenly they were staring into blackness where she had been. Her monsters had also vanished with her and the brothers were left alone with their own monsters who were looking very relieved and happy to see their young masters.
Yami walked up to Yugi who had calmed down enough for the Sennen Eye to disappear and his finger to stop glowing. Yami drew Yugi into a tight embrace.
"Arigato." He whispered and Yugi hugged him back.
"Arigato Yami." He said and Yami broke the embrace to look questioningly at his brother.
"Well you took me in and found a cure for my lungs and treated me as an equal and I can never repay that." Yugi explained and Yami hugged him again.
"Oh Aibou, you have already repaid me more than enough simply by being loyal and standing up to Nephiris, few would show the courage you did in the face of someone who could have killed you or at the least caused you great pain."
"Hai maybe Yami but I wasn't scared all that I could think about was saving you and the monsters. There is no way I could ever betray you. Now let's go home."
"We have to prepare ourselves Aibou, Nephiris is still lurking somewhere and we will need to find her and stop her before it is too late. No doubt she will try and take the palace by force next time and we do not really know the extent of her true powers yet as I think she is not showing all she can do maybe to lure us into a false sense of security. We must be on our guard. Now let's get out of here."
Yugi and Yami walked back to where the barrier was which still had a hole in it, and with the monsters following, they went through and emerged on the other side.
"We should do something to seal the hole." Yugi said and Yami nodded.
"Hai, I think we can close it up in the same way as we opened it by asking the Ring and the Puzzle to help us."
The two pharaohs concentrated again and felt their power flowing through their hands. Silently they asked the Ring and puzzle to help them seal the hole and gradually the hole closed up and was sealed with a barrier that even the strongest magic would be unable to penetrate.
"Now Aibou allow yourself to be absorbed into the puzzle again so we can leave the Shadow Realm and return home."
Yugi nodded and started to take the Ring off from round his neck.
"Keep it on," Yami said "it will stay with you."
Yugi closed his eyes and allowed himself to be drawn into the puzzle as Yami held it out. When Yugi was safe inside, Yami took himself out of the Shadow Realm and appeared inside of his bedroom. Yugi came back out of the puzzle and returned to his body opening his eyes and smiling up at his brother.
"I'm glad that's over." He said and Yami wholeheartedly agreed. They would have to deal with Nephiris when the time came but for now, he was going to enjoy showing Yugi all the benefits of being a pharaoh.
Yugi: Ra damn that woman! Are we ever going to stop her?
Yami: Aibou watch your mouth!
Yugi: Sorry Yami.
Yami Seirei: well I hope you two enjoyed your hug – to the readers that was a BROTHERLY hug! This is not going to be a slash in spite of the title saying Yugi/Yami heh so sorry to disappoint all those yaoi fangirls. Did you two enjoy your hug?
Yami & Yugi: Hai we did (hugs madly)
Yami: who wouldn't enjoy hugging my Aibou?
Yugi: (blushing furiously) aww…
Marik/Malik/Bakura/Ryou: (Making throwing up noises) Blergh don't make us sick with your gross fluffyness!
Yugi: well I like fluffy so I don't care what you lot say!
Yami: so do I Yugi (pokes tongue out at the others) never mind them.
Yami KITG: Okay okay! Enough! Get on with the next chapter Hikari!
Yami Seirei: Yes my Yami…(settles down to work feverishly on chapter 11) happy now?
Everyone: Hai!