Chapter 13: Riddles

Yugi had trouble sleeping that night. He kept tossing and turning. When he did sleep, he saw visions, or maybe it was parts of a dream. He wasn't sure. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Mokuba. He looked like he'd been beaten severely and was unconscious. He was lying on a black leather couch. Yugi wasn't sure if it was the future, or if it was Mokuba right now. Eventually, he decided to just lie on his back for a while, and try to clear his head. Then, Yugi started having doubts about whether they'd find the Book of Light. He also wondered what would happen if they failed. Yugi shook the thoughts from his mind. That was the last thing he needed to worry about right now. They had to find it for Mokuba. He sensed that Yami was worried too.

"You have doubts too," Yugi said to him.

"Yes," he answered, "but I'm also trying to remember places my father took me. I want to be more of a help."

"We all want to be more of a help in this situation, but we can only let this play out. We'll find it."

"I hope so."

"We will. Don't lose faith."

"We'll have to try harder today while we're searching. Let's go now."

Yugi sat up, "Are you crazy? We can't go now!"

"Please."

"I don't think it's such a good idea to just run off without anybody else."

"I used to live here."

Yugi looked away from Yami. It wouldn't matter what Yugi said, Yami could just take over if he wanted to. Finally, Yugi looked back.

"Fine. Let's go."

Yami nodded and took control of his body. He made his way past everyone quietly to get outside, and ran down the streets.

Back in Domino, Natalie was getting her entertainment. She smirked. She had ordered Mokuba to cut himself. At first, he refused. Then, she struck him with her whip many times, and he eventually started. After she watched every trickle of blood, she would whip him again, making him cry out in more pain. She wondered why she hadn't stormed in sooner so she could do this to Seto. Either way, it was torturing Mokuba.

Noah watched in silence through the small crack in the door. He looked away every time she struck him. He wanted to barge in there, but he couldn't! He had to stay out. Finally, it was over. She ordered Mokuba to leave. Noah got up and quickly ran down the halls to the lounge. Not too long after, Mokuba entered. He was shocked to find Noah still in the building.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Mokuba asked.

"I...thought...you may need someone once you got back from your brother's old office," answered Noah.

"Why are you still here? You're supposed to be gone."

"Mokuba, quit running away from help..."

"I'm not running away from it."

"You have been ever since Seto died!"

Mokuba gasped.

"You know it's true," said Noah.

"No," Mokuba shook his head.

"Let the rest of us help."

Mokuba looked into Noah's eyes and felt horrible. Was he running away from everyone?

"We all know you miss Seto, but you have to understand that you're not alone. You still have me, and you still have your friends. We all want to help you, but you don't want it because it's not the help you got from your older brother."

"Stop," said Mokuba, falling to his knees. "I don't need this."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad."

"You don't have to. It's my fault he's dead."

Noah didn't know how to answer him. He felt bad for him. Everyone else felt bad for him too. Maybe that was the point. Maybe Mokuba was sick of that. Noah would be. But he could be wrong.

"I want to tell him I'm sorry," said Mokuba.

"You can't apologize to him because of his death."

"I'M NOT APOLOGIZING BECAUSE OF THAT!" yelled Mokuba.

Then, they both gasped and held their breath. Natalie more than likely heard Mokuba's outburst, and sure enough she appeared within the room.

"What's going on in here?" she asked Mokuba.

He cowered in front of her. He didn't want to get Noah into trouble.

"I asked you a question!" she cried.

She raised her whip into the air. Before she could strike, Noah jumped on her and they both landed on the floor. He began to punch her repeatedly. After a couple of hits, she punched him back and he went flying to the other side of the room. She stood up and glared at her younger brother.

"How dare you touch me," she hissed at him.

"No, don't hurt him," begged Mokuba, grabbing onto her leg.

She looked down at him, then used her powers to seize him and have him float in front of her.

"Don't touch me ever again or you'll feel pain that is so unimaginable that everyone else in the world will feel it too."

She threw him against a wall and advanced on Noah. She snapped her fingers and he was instantly shackled. She snapped her fingers again and he was thrown against a wall. Next, a cage appeared, and Noah was dropped inside of it. He hit his head on the metal bars on the bottom, knocking him unconscious. Mokuba was finally able to look up. He crawled towards the cage that held his step-brother, but Natalie blocked his way. She used her magic to pick him up once again.

"What are you going to do to him?" asked Mokuba.

"Something far less painful than what I'll be doing to you for speaking with him," she snapped at him. "You are never to leave my sight again. You are never to speak to my brother again. Got it?"

Mokuba nodded.

"Good. Now let's go."

She transported them back to her office, leaving Noah in the lounge. She threw Mokuba onto one of the couches and ordered him to stay there for the rest of the night.

In Egypt, Yami and Yugi were sensing something wrong. They weren't sure what though. They looked in all directions, but saw nothing but the darkness that consumed the surroundings. Yami decided to keep going. The Millennium Puzzle still wasn't reacting. He was starting to wonder if his puzzle really did react when they were near the Book of Light when Yami was suddenly pulled in some direction.

"Are you sure we should be going this far away from the village?" asked Yugi.

"Don't worry," said Yami.

Yugi found that hard to do at the moment. Yami kept going until there was nothing around them but the high piles of sand. He looked around and started running into another direction. Yugi wanted to know what his friend was doing. Finally, Yami stopped. He looked down as the Millennium Puzzle started to dimly glow.

"Awesome," Yugi smiled. "We must be getting close!"

Yami nodded. He walked on ahead. The Millennium Puzzle started to shine brighter and brighter. Finally, Yami stopped near the Nile.

"What's wrong?" asked Yugi.

"There's something dark here," Yami answered.

They both stood, looking at the ground just before the river. They didn't dare to take one step closer.

"Maybe it's nothing," said Yugi, a slight quiver of fear in his voice.

Yami didn't answer him. He just kept staring at the ground. Suddenly, they heard a low rumble underneath them.

"What was that?" Yugi asked nervously.

"I don't know," answered Yami.

The rumbling continued to get louder and louder. Yami started taking some steps backwards. It was a good thing too. Suddenly, a wall of sand shot up from the ground. Yugi and Yami watched intently. When the wall of sand disappeared, a giant shadow creature stood in its place. It was in the form of a giant black cat with glowing green eyes.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Yugi.

"I don't know."

"We can't just wait and see!"

The shadow cat looked Yami over, "I sense ancient powers inside you."

"I was once the pharaoh of Egypt," Yami told it.

"I know you! You are my master's son."

"Your master?"

"Yes. He put me here to guard something. He chose me because he knew the dark lord Anubis would not be able to get past me."

"So he's guarding the Book of Light," said Yugi.

"May we have what you are guarding?" asked Yami.

"I was instructed to ask two riddles. You need to answer both correctly. If you don't, you'll be sent to the Shadow Realm. If you do succeed, I will judge you. If you pass my judgment, I will give you the book."

"And if we fail your judgment?"

"I will destroy you. You will have twenty-four hours to respond to my riddles."

Yami nodded.

"My first riddle is: What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?"

"I know this one!" cried Yugi.

"A human," answered Yami.

"Explain."

"A human child crawls on all fours, an adult walks on two, and when a human gets old they use a cane to help them walk."

"Your answer and explanation is correct."

"What is your second riddle?"

"My second riddle is: What can't you see that is always in front of you?"

Yugi and Yami looked to one another. They weren't sure. There could be many different answers to this riddle, but they didn't know if the shadow cat was looking for a certain one or if it wanted all. They weren't going to answer it just yet. They decided to wait on it. They would talk it over with the others when they got back to the village.

"Do you have an answer?"

"We'd like to wait," said Yami. "We'll be back later."

The creature nodded its head to him and disappeared beneath the sands once again. Yugi then looked to Yami.

"Now what do we do?" he asked.

"We'll consult the others. Let's see what they have to say about this."

"Do you think it is actually guarding the Book of Light? Maybe your father put this here as a trick."

"Though it is a possibility, let's not shatter the small bit of hope we have now."

Yugi nodded. Then, Yami set course back to the village.

Everyone was waiting around for something to happen. Joey woke them all up. He'd noticed that his best bud wasn't there. Joey had checked the entire place before waking the others. He didn't know what else to do. They all sat around worried. They didn't know where to look for Yugi. He could be anywhere and there was no way to track him!

"I'm tired of waiting around for something to happen!" cried Joey, breaking the silence within the small home. "We have to do something!"

"Joey, we will," said Marik calmly. "Just relax."

"How can I relax when my friend is out there wandering the desert! What if he's dying of thirst!"

"Joey, chill out," said Tristan. "We all know how you feel."

"I'm apparently the only one who thinks we should be doing something too!"

"We have to wait it out for a short while," said Odion. "We need to see if he turns up."

Suddenly, Yami walked through the door. Everyone sighed in relief that he was all right.

"Where were you?" asked Joey.

"Yeah, we were all worried," said Téa.

"I went to search for the book," answered Yami.

"Alone? You know that isn't safe," said Marik.

"I used to live here," said Yami.

"Did you have any luck?" asked Odion.

"Actually, I did," smiled Yami.

"Awesome!" cried Téa. "So you have it with you?"

"Not exactly."

"Huh? What do you mean, pal?" asked Joey.

"Is there something guarding it?" asked Marik.

Yami nodded.

"Did you battle?"

Yami shook his head.

"What was it?"

"It was a shadow cat. He told me he was put there by my father, and in order to obtain the book we need to answer two riddles. We already answered one of them."

"Why didn't you answer the other one?" asked Tristan.

"We weren't sure how to answer it. We have twenty-four hours to respond to him."

"Well, what is it?" asked Marik.

"What can't you see that is always in front of you."

"Why don't you know how to answer that?"

"Different answers for it. We weren't sure whether it wanted one and only one, and that it had to be the one it wanted or if it wanted both. We decided to come here and consult you before we answered."

"Very good call," said Odion.

"Mmhmm," agreed Marik. "We'll all discuss it now and go back later to check."