I did the first thing that came to mind: I panicked. I blindly stumbled around, searching for the door and tripping over things that I couldn't see due to the darkness. Then I hit the wall hard and struggled to maintain my balance, but didn't do well. I toppled completely over and landed on my back. I coughed as all the oxygen left my lungs, and trying to get up only made the pain in my back worse, and my lungs began to burn as they attempted to regain the lost air.
Yugi, calm down! Yami demanded. If you aren't calm, I can't help you. Let me take over from here.
Find the door! I want out!
I understand.
I relaxed my entire body, and felt my spirit slip away from my body and enter the resting place of Yami, the Millennium Puzzle. I could feel nothing while the spirit of the Egyptian pharaoh inhabited my body and stood up easily. Yami groped along the wall slowly, continuing my frantic search for the door, and came across the light switches. He seemed to know what they were, and moved his hand away from them.
Just turn the lights on! I cried, scared out of my wits. I don't care what's in here, I just want out!
"Don't panic, Yugi," Yami said aloud, "I'll get us out of here."
A ray of light shone near the wall opposite of our current position. I began to calm down a bit at the sight of light and encouraged Yami to approach it, or at least to try and use what little light it provided to find the door. Yami stood still, firmly planted to the floor. I tried to figure out what he was thinking about, but his thoughts were scrambled, and impossible to read.
Yami?
"Don't panic, Yugi, don't panic," he responded. "Don't panic."
Yami?
As if he were being drawn to the light by invisible strings, Yami approached the lighted spot on the wall. From the distance, it was an ordinary wall. But as we drew closer, something appeared on the wall. They were hieroglyphics of some sort. Yami ran his hands over the symbols and slowly scanned them, reading the words aloud softly.
"'He who can see past the façade is destined for darkness. He who accepts the façade is destined for light. The time has come to make the decision.'"
What does it mean? I asked, utterly bewildered.
I'm not sure.
How are we supposed to find out?
Yami didn't say anything. We watched the hieroglyphics fade away into the wall, and the lights in front of us disappeared. Behind us, the lights around the portrait of the dark man lit themselves again. Yami rotated around in a half circle and stared at the portrait.
"It's trying to tell us something…" he mumbled. "It's calling us, Yugi. We have to go to it."
Yami, no! I protested. We can't!
"If we don't, we'll never know what it wants."
He began to approach the center of the room again. I knew he was anxious, maybe even afraid, but he was determined to figure out just what was happening in the city. Despite my protests, he continued on his way, like a moth drawn to a flame, and its death. He made his way around the portrait to its front. He drew in a sharp and startled breath. The dark-eyed man depicted had vanished.
The lights vanished, and darkness encircled us again.
Yami?
Yes?
I…I'm afraid.
So am I.