The sun was just brimming on the horizon and the whole house was quiet as he ventured down the stairs. He turned into the dinning room to see her sitting at the table, pouring over the book. A steaming mug of coffee sat beside her and dark bags were under her eyes. As he came forwards she rubbed her eyes, then turned to him with a weak smile.
"Didn't you get any sleep?" Joey asked as he leaned on the back of one of the chairs.
Nina yawned. "I couldn't. I needed to find something more in the book."
Joey nodded, then left her as he went into the kitchen to fix something to eat. From the stairs more figures appeared in a state between sleep and wakefulness. Yami, Yugi and Ryou were stunned to see Nina at the spot they had left her at the night before.
"Nina-" Yami began, but she lifted her hand to silence him.
"I know, I know, I should've slept." She told him. "But, just like I told Joey, I couldn't, not before I found something we could use."
"Joey's up?" Ryou asked, and almost as if on cue the blonde reentered with a bowl of cereal in his hand, a plate of butter in his other, and a bag of buns hanging from his teeth.
"Whah?" He questioned as he sat down, his speech obscured by the bag of buns in his mouth.
Yugi gaped at him. "Joey… you're awake… early… for once!"
Joey placed the buns down and grinned. "Even I couldn't sleep with all this tension in the air." He stuck a spoonful of cereal in his mouth then started buttering a bun.
"Yet the tension doesn't seem to be affecting your appetite." Ryou said with a smile. Joey just shrugged and continued eating.
They all began to get their own food. Yugi sat down beside Joey with a bowl of cereal, Ryou heated a pair of frozen waffles, Yami made himself toast and placed a second plate beside Nina, who took no notice of it as she continued to read the page before her.
It was Yugi who noticed Nina's frozen state as everyone began to clean up after their own meals. The blonde girl's toast still sat beside her, untouched, and her coffee had gone cold. She hadn't even turned the page of the book.
"Um, Nina?" He asked timidly. The others stopped what they were doing and looked at her as well. She didn't answer. "Nina?"
When she didn't answer again Yami placed a hand on her shoulder. Nina squeaked and jumped, then looked up at them. "Hmm?"
"You looked like you were in another world." Yugi muttered.
"Oh, no, I wasn't." Nina said with a bashful smile. "I was trying to make sense of this." She held up the book and turned it around for them to see. On the page was what appeared to be scribbles.
"Uh… what is it?" Joey asked.
"It's an Inuit dialect." Nina explained, facing the page back to her. "There are many different kinds of Inuit languages, none of them exactly the same but similar enough for people from different areas to understand. This is one of them that my father taught Sanders and I."
"Your father?" Yugi questioned.
Nina nodded. "He was an explorer, and traveled in the North for a few years. When he came back he taught us his favorite of the dialects. It was through our father that we learned about the "Creatures of Shadow" that once roamed the earth."
"Explains why Sanders sought so long to find a way to control them." Ryou mumbled.
"Why do you keep reading it over and over?" Yugi asked Nina, gesturing to the page.
"Because it doesn't make any sense." Nina told them. "I think it's suppose to a spoken map to the location of the Chaos Gate, but it sounds more like a riddle. There's no direction at all."
Yami looked over her shoulder at the page. "What does it say?"
"I'll translate it onto paper." Nina said. She got up and went into the living room, then came back with a pen and a piece of paper. She sat back down and began to rewrite what was on the page so they could understand.
When she was finished she pushed the paper into the middle of the table for the others to see. On it read:
From where the ice left, up to the gathering Stone, break haste and sing a lively tune of ebony.
Where mountains of sycamore Stone, to valleys of honey Stone, the happy tune sing gaily ever.
Evermore, happy songs. Singing of landmass and seabed, of life long and sleep short. Evermore.
Traveling to the outmost Stone, hear the echo of the riddling silly Stone, and be happy once more.
Hear again the singing springs and winter's chill, flowing bond by eternity to follow the circle now.
Waiting, here lies a Stone, asleep near the Entrance of evermore, where a Stone may rest on and on.
Hear the lark fly above, white wings fanned out. Never again will we sleep in the land of dreams. Go.
Go and leave to with the Stone, breaking onto the tide where no one, not Stone nor man, will walk.
Leave behind a garland of flowers, to be eaten by the hunger, of the raging, sleepless nights that wait.
Carry on, for on and on this Path does go. On and on, far from the Stone where you first came from.
But will you find what the Path wants you to find. The Stone of travel wishes generously, evermore.
Can you find your own Path in this odd and wide world. Skip through meadows when you can, if only.
But this I wish to your Path. I wish you find worthiness in those you find. I wish many hopes to you.
Dreams will make a Path worth walking. Only you can decide. Sing a song, a lively tune of ebony.
Will you go on a Path to evermore? Taken away from dreams and rest, only to sleep eternally? Go.
Everyone stared blankly at the page. It was more than just a riddle, it was pure gibberish!
Nina sighed as she looked at it. "I don't understand it at all…"
"I don't think it's meant to be understood." Joey muttered.
"And that's why it caught my attention." Nina said, making the others turn from the page to look at her. "It makes no sense, but the rest of the book makes perfect sense. So it has to have a special meaning. It keeps talking about paths and stones, so it must mean something."
"It mentions an entrance…" Ryou said absently. "The Entrance of Evermore. What could that be?"
"But "Evermore" isn't personified." The girl told him. "Yet "Entrance" is. And it continues that way, personifying "Stone" over and over again, as well as "Path"." She pointed to a place on the last line. "This has "a Path to evermore", but once again "Evermore" isn't personified, though it sounds like it should be."
"Hold on…" Yami muttered. He pulled the page closer to him and took the pen from Nina. "I think the reason "Path", "Entrance", and "Stone" keep being personified while nothing else does is so that they stand out…" He began circling every mention of those three words. Then he stepped back so the others could see. "And it makes a map…"
"I don't see it." Joey said as he stared blankly at the piece of paper.
"Look at it this way." Yami told him, and he grabbed another piece of paper and started writing on it. When he finished, on the paper was:
……………………………………………. Stone………………………………………………..
…………………………… Stone……………………... Stone…………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………… Stone…………………………………… Stone…………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………… Stone………………… Entrance ……………..Stone………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………… Stone……………………………………... Stone ……………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………….. Path ………………………………… Stone ……………………….…
…………………………. Path …………………… Stone ……………………………………….
……………………….. Path ……………………………………………………………………...
……………………… Path. ……………………………………………………………………….
……………………. Path ………………………………………………………………………….
………………….. Path ……………………………………………………………………………
Again, everyone stared at the paper that Yami had written on.
Yugi took a deep breath. "It is a map…"
"Not a very good one, though." Yami added. "Still, it's the best thing we got."
"No," Nina said, looking back at the original page in the book. "We have better."
Yami looked at her blankly. "What?"
"We can tell where this-" She pointed to the "map". "-is." Slowly she got up and headed into the sitting room to a small bookshelf and stared rummaging through it.
"How?" Yami asked as he and the others followed Nina and watched her actions with interest.
The blonde pulled out a book and brought it over to the coffee table where she dropped it, then opened the cover. She began to flip through the pages. "I said before that there are different kinds of Inuit languages, yes?"
"I do believe she did." Ryou said as he sat down across from her.
"And that each Inuit dialect comes from a different area? Well, you find the right dialect," She looked up at them and smiled. "You find the right area."
"What's the area?" Yami asked.
"It's in Greenland…" Nina muttered, looking at the map in the book before her.
"Kaiba was looking into stuff about Greenland." Yugi piped as he glanced at Ryou. "Last night we looked into the last things he was doing on the computer. Not a lot of it made sense, but there was several mentions about Greenland."
"Where in Greenland?" Yami demanded.
"Settle down." Nina warned, glancing up at him, then turned back to the new book. "The Avanersuaq District. One city in particular."
"What?"
She looked up at the former Pharaoh. "The city of Thule."
"Sounds like Thule's our place then." Joey said. "Think Kaiba, Bree, Marik and Bakura are there?"
"There's one way to find out." Yugi told him. The others looked at him questioningly. He said nothing, only reached for the phone and began to punch in a phone number. He placed it to his ear, waited for awhile, then said "Hello, Kaiba Corp.? Yes, I need the cell phone number for Seto Kaiba… This is Yugi Motou, and it's an emergency."
The ringing broke through the silence. The room was dark, though sunlight poked through the blinds on the window. The ringing continued, until finally he lifted his hand and grabbed it. Mumbling, he flipped the cell phone open and placed it against his ear.
"This is Kaiba. What do you want?" Though it was early, his voice was already sharp instead of groggy.
'Mornin', sunshine!' A familiar voice blared from the other end. Kaiba winced. 'Hope we didn't wake you up.' The other person laughed.
The brunette frowned as he sat up and turned on the light beside his bed. "Wheeler?"
'The one and only, here giving you your wake up call.'
This has got to be a dream. Kaiba thought as he rubbed his forehead. The worst nightmare ever.
"How the hell did you get the number of my cell phone?"
'Funny story- true story, actually.' Joey told him on the other end. 'See, we were all just sitting around here in Greece, trying to figure out what to do with our time. So we thought, "Hey, why not try to help those losers who decided to ditch?" So, we started digging through that book Sanders left here, and we came across some interesting stuff. Then Yugi made a short long distance phone call back to Japan, to your company, and got your cell phone number. We called you up, and that brings us to the moment you answered the phone.'
"And I regret doing that already." Kaiba mumbled. "You said you found something interesting?"
'Uh, yeah. One question, first.'
Kaiba's frown deepened. "What is it?"
'You wouldn't happen to be in Thule, would you?' He could tell Joey was smiling by the sound of his voice.
"Yes." He told the other teen. "How the hell did you know that?"
'Oh, no reason. Here's Yugi.'
There was a few muffled noises as the phone switched hands, then another voice said, 'Kaiba?'
"What is it Yugi?" Kaiba demanded. "You better have a good reason for this phone call."
'Trust me, we do.' Yugi told him. 'We know where the Chaos Gate is.'
Kaiba's eyes widened. Yugi now had his full attention. "Go on…"
'We don't know exactly where it is.' Yugi corrected himself. 'But we know that you're looking for. The entrance to the underground Chaos Gate is outside of Thule. There should be an old road or path leading there, and the doorway is in the center of a circle of stones.'
"Are you sure?"
'Completely, the book said so.'
"Is there anything else?"
'No. Only, are the others with you?'
"Bree is." Kaiba said, a bit reluctantly. "Marik and Bakura are in Egypt getting the last Gem."
'Alright.' Yugi mumbled. 'We're going to be on our way.'
"Way to where?"
'To Thule.' Yugi replied. 'You're going to need help.'
Kaiba almost growled at this. "I don't think so, Yugi."
'You don't know what could be down there.' Yugi told him. 'We don't even know what's down there. It would be safer for all of us to go together. Safety in numbers.'
"I don't need your help on this." Kaiba told him, his tone low. "Bree and I will be fine." Before Yugi could say anymore he snapped the cell phone shut.
Slowly he got out of bed and began to dress. This is it. He thought. Mokuba, I'm coming to get you…
"What did he say?" Yami asked. He stood beside Yugi as the smaller boy stared blankly at the phone in his hand.
"He said he didn't need our help." Yugi told him. "And then he hung up."
"Kaiba's such an ass." Joey stated from the dining room. Again he was eating. "He's so stuck up. Why should we even bother helping him?"
"Because there are innocent people on the line." Ryou muttered. He sat across from Joey and nibbled on a muffin.
Joey looked at him, then sighed. "Oh yeah…"
"We still need to get the Thule." Nina noted. "I'll start packing."
"Wait." Yami told her, grabbing her arm. The girl turned to him. "I think you should stay here."
"What?" She asked, confusion on her face. "Why?"
"It'll be dangerous there." Yami continued. "You just got your life back, you shouldn't be risking it."
"You got your life back, too." Nina retorted. "I don't see you sitting on the sidelines."
"Please, Nina." He said, his eyes pleading.
She continued to look at him, then shook her head. "No." Was her firm reply. "I want to see the look on Sanders' face when his plans fall apart and he has no where to run. He took away my life, I want to ruin his."
"She has a point, you know." Joey said.
Yami sighed. "But who's going to look after Ishizu?"
"What do you mean?" Ryou questioned, sitting up in his chair.
"She's not in the best of ways right now…" Yami stated. "She shouldn't be traveling, so someone has to stay with her."
"No one has to stay with me." A voice from the doorway said. They turned to see Ishizu standing there. Though her eyes were red from crying her face was still strong with determination. "I'm coming as well."
She didn't have to say the reason why. The look in her eyes matched that of Nina's. These were two young women betrayed by a man they thought they could trust, and they wanted to see him put to an end.
Yami sighed, giving in. "Fine. Let's all pack, we'll leave in half and hour."
He stood before a mirror, fixing a feathered headdress on his head. Gold bands adorned his arms and the skin of a jaguar was draped across his back. He was like a present day Mayan priest.
Quietly the small girl crept into the room and gazed at him. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it just wouldn't go. No matter what, she could find her voice. Finally, he saw her reflection in the mirror and turned around.
"What is it, Chiquita?" Antonio asked his younger sister.
"Antonio…" Chiquita whispered, not being able to meet his gaze. Was she really ready to destroy all of Antonio's hopes and dreams of making a better world?
"Go on." He said as he began to apply traditional makeup to his face.
"Do you really think the world will saved when the Chaos is released?" She asked timidly.
Her brother let out a hearty laugh. "Oh course! Sanders keeps telling us so. Why do you suddenly have doubts?"
Chiquita looked away from him. "No reason…"
"Well, it's good that you're here." Antonio told her as he turned back to the mirror.
"It is?"
"Yes. Sanders has told me the greatest news." He continued, glancing at her from the surface of the mirror. "He has the last Shadow Gem, and he's on his way here."
The girl's eyes grew wide. Time was running out! She had to do something, and soon.
"Um… Antonio, where are the hostages now?" She asked, trying to pretend like nothing was different.
"I sent some of the helpers to start preparing them for the ritual." Antonio explained. "They are all off on their own."
"Oh…" Chiquita whispered. "I think I'll go look in on how that's going." She told him, then left the room.
The small Mexican quickly made her way through the underground passages. She came to a large wooden door and pushed it open. Torches flickered within. Quickly, and without hesitation, she grabbed a key ring and went over to the cell on the far side of the cavern. The girl within the cell looked on questioningly as Chiquita began to fiddle with the keys.
"What are you doing here?" Takoda asked as she gazed at Chiquita through the bars.
"Getting you out of here." The other girl replied. She found the key she was looking for and inserted it into the lock, twisted it, then opened the cell door wide.
Takoda still had a confused look on her face. "Why?"
"There's not a lot of time left." Chiquita explained, her breath quickening at the adrenaline of her own reaction. "Sanders is on his way here with the last Shadow Gem. We have to get the others out of and far away from here."
"The last Gem is coming…" The news seem to take the other girl's breath away.
"Yes." Chiquita said. Before she knew what she was doing, she reached out and grabbed Takoda's hand. "Please, I need your help."
Takoda continued to stare at her, then nodded. "Let's do this." Chiquita smiled, then led Takoda to the door and out into the passage beyond, leaving the room empty.