.:. Alyssa stirred as she felt the Pharaoh slip past, her dreams uneasy until she finally awoke a few minutes later. Seeing the room of sleeping people, she laid back down. She sat up then, realizing that the Pharaoh wasn't there.
"I'll be waiting for you at Heaven's Circle, Pharaoh, at sunrise. Don't be late, or you'll never see the Professor again." She thought, remembering what it had said on the card Rebecca found "I'll bet he's going there." She whispered to herself. "But, he can't, or else…"
"Or else what?" her mind screamed at her. There was something, something…she couldn't place what it was. Something was going to happen at Heaven's Circle…something bad…and it involved the Pharaoh. She had to stop it. She had to remember what it was.
She silently got up and made her way to the door. She heard one of the horses whinny a little as it began galloping off. Through the window in the door she could see the Pharaoh riding away. She looked toward the horizon, at the moon. "No wonder, he's only got a little bit of time before the sun rises."
"Which means I've only got a little bit of time too." She thought. She went out back; yes, there was the other horse. "Oh man, I am glad we have you." She thought. She went over, looking for a saddle, but couldn't find one. "Darn it!" she whispered. "Well, I'll just have to ride without." She thought.
She climbed on the horse and spoke in it's ear. "Don't let me down. I need you to catch up with that other one." She told it. She was not an experienced rider, at least, she didn't think so, but even an idiot knows you kick a horse in the side to make it go. She gave it a swift kick in the ribs and the horse took off. She was surprised, but riding the horse seemed easy to her. She laughed "Maybe I was a chariot racer in Egypt. Or whatever they were called." She says as she gives it another nudge and the horse speeds up.
She could see the Pharaoh's horse up ahead, but it was still a long way off. She guessed he couldn't hear her on her own horse, or else he might have sped up, slowed down, but done something. "He's probably pacing it, so that it doesn't tire out." She thought. "But still…that's gonna be hard for a horse."
There Pharaoh rode onward. He'd asked Duke where Heaven's Circle was earlier, so he knew which way to go. Yugi was sitting on the back of the horse, hanging on to him. "HoRsEs ArE kInD oF bUmPy!" he remarked to the pharaoh as he bobbled up and down behind him. "HoW cOmE yOu RiDe So SmOoThLy?" he asked him. "I've done it before." He remarked to Yugi. "In Egypt." He was startled as he heard himself speak. "WaS iT fUn?" Yugi asked him. "I don't know." Yami says, his sliver of memory disappearing.
"How much longer until we are there?" Yugi asked, climbing onto the Pharaoh's shoulders to escape the bouncing of the horse. "Not much longer." Yami said. "Maybe ten minutes, I think." He says. "Good, 'cause it's rather tiring sitting up here." Yugi joked. "Try being the one carrying you." Yami replied in jest, as the pair laughed.
They came to the top of a cliff and could see the circle plateau underneath. Doing a few fancy pulls of the reins, Yami maneuvered the horse down the cliff and to the safety of the ledge. He then jumped onto the lower ledge, walking across the small bridge suspended by ropes over the pit surrounding the circle.
"Hello, Pharaoh." The Blonde haired one said to him. "I'd address you by your name, but I'm afraid we've never introduced ourselves." The Pharaoh replies. "Fair enough." The man says. "I'm Raphael." "Pleasure." Yami says dryly. "I'd ask you your name, but I don't think you know it either."
"That isn't the subject of this little visit." The Pharaoh says. "A little tense, Pharaoh?" Raphael taunts him. "Enough." Yami says. "Where is the Professor?" he asks. "I'm here as you asked, now tell me that." "Oh, he's fine." Raphael says with a grin. "We let him free an hour ago. I do believe he's walking back to where his daughter is. We did him the courtesy of pointing him in the right direction. He should get there a little after dawn if he's lucky."
"Thank you." The Pharaoh says, turning to leave. "I see you brought your duel disk with you." Raphael remarks to him. "I didn't assume we'd only be chatting, since you seem so eager to take my soul. But I'm afraid that I've no reason to stay if you've already set the Professor free. I should be looking for him instead."
"Not so fast, Pharaoh" the blonde man says, as he pulls a few knives out from his coat and tosses them so that they cut the bridge. Yami watches the bridge begin to fall towards their side angrily, but pauses as he hears something.
"Pharaoh!" Alyssa shouts, having reached the peak five minutes after him. She does similar measures with her own horse, which trots over to Copernicus. "Stay back! The bridge is cut." He tells her. "Be careful not to fall." He sees her take a few steps backwards. "What are you doing?" he says as he recognizes the look in long jumpers and pole vaulters, a look that measures the distance they need to travel. "You aren't going to…No!" he shouts as she takes a running start and jumps the distance, grabbing onto the bottom of the broken ladder, she begins pulling herself up towards the top.
"You're positively crazy!" The Pharaoh tells her as he reaches an arm down to help her up as she nears the top. Taking it, she pulls herself up and onto the ledge. Standing she dusts herself off. "You don't think I'd let you do something like this on your own, do you?" she asks him. "After all, we've never had that little chat about Egypt" she says, still slightly out of breath.
Shaking his head the Pharaoh just smiles. "You are one of a kind." He tells her. "I could say the same for you." She mirrors him. "I'm so glad we're enjoying this happy little reunion, but I'll remind you what we are here for." Raphael states, extending the arm of his duel disk. "I will have your soul, Pharaoh, if it's the last thing I do."
The Pharaoh activates his own duel disk as she takes a step back. "Dueling will be the last thing you do, if you play what I'm expecting you to." he says. "I'm not going to lose this, Pharaoh." Raphael tells him. "And neither am I." The Pharaoh says evenly, as their Life Point counters read four thousand.
"Let's Duel!"
Both pulled out their hands and began, each turn strengthening defense, attacking, placing cards face down, revealing them. "And now I will play this card, which wallows me to bring my guardian back from the graveyard, so long as I give up five hundred life points." Raphael says and braces against the pain that comes with the loss of life points. "I see you respect your cards very much." The Pharaoh tells him. "Why then do you insist on fighting on the wrong side, the side of darkness? Why not aid us in this war?" he asks him. "Do you see these cards, Pharaoh?" he asks, removing them from his disk and holding them up so that he can see. They are badly worn and it is evident that they are many years old and many times played. "When I was younger, I had a family. They gave to me some of these cards as presents for my birthday. I had the good life then, you see." Raphael begins as he reverts into his past, telling his story to our listeners. "We were on a cruise then, my parents and younger siblings were with me. But then a tidal wave came up, and I tried to hold on to them. I couldn't however. They were lost in the waters. Hours later I awoke to find myself on an island in the middle of the ocean, and all I had with me were my cards."
"They watched over me." He continues on. "And I looked out for them. They became my family. And I never turn my back on my family." He says. "Finally, after being alone, isolated for years a ship came. I hailed it and it came ashore. They brought me back and I was disgusted by what I saw.
"People with no hearts, people who didn't care. Lie, cheat, and steal was all they did. I looked upon what was supposed to be better and wished that I could go back to that island, away from all this pettiness. That's when I met Master Dartz. He explained to me what was going on, took me in as his own. Together we prepared for this war, this war to end all unhappiness. The Orycalcos shows the true nature of a person, and all those with evil and darkness in their hearts will perish."
"You tell me that I'm on the side of darkness? Well I beg to differ Pharaoh. I've heard about you and the evil deeds of your past. You used your magic to control people weaker than you."
The Pharaoh gasped. "That's a lie and I know it. I may not know much about my past, but I do know that I saved the world." "You can think that if you want, but the Orycalcos here might tell us something different. The only reason why you are here is to offer your soul in amends to the Great Beast, so that we might purge this world of darkness."
"You're imagining things." The Pharaoh says. "Oh really now?" he says. "Well then, I think it's time for me to play this." He says, replacing his active cards back onto their places on his duel disk and revealing a face down card. "This card means we both have to give one card to the other player, and since we each only hold one card in our hands, we just switch."
"Very well." Yami says, walking to the middle f the field. "Skull Servant." Raphael remarks as he looks at his card. "I know what you've been thinking. I think you'll be pleased at the card I gave you." He says to the Pharaoh, as they each walk to their respective sides of the field.
As he reaches his own side, the Pharaoh looks down at the card he holds in his hand and gasps. "Why did you give me this?" he says, gritting his teeth angrily as the Seal of Orycalcos glares up at him from his hand.
"You will see your true darkness, Pharaoh." Raphael says as he draws another card. "Whatever happens, we can't play that card." Yugi says to him. "Right." Yami nods at him. "Whatever happens, I promise we won't use it." Raphael attacks from the other side of the field, destroying one of his monsters that had been in defense mode.
"I call upon the five Kuriboh brothers!" Yami says, holding out a hand as the five Kuribohs come onto the playing field in assorted colors. "Wow. Five hairballs." Raphael smirks from the other side. "I'm really scared."
"You should be, because when they combine they create KuriBabylon!" the Pharaoh tells him, sending it out to attack and destroying one of his opponents monsters. "I'll just bring that back by sacrificing more life points." Raphael says as he donates a few hundred more to his Gaurdian's welfare, returning it to the field.
"I see you are very dedicated to your monsters." The Pharaoh tells him once more. "It is unfortunate so skillful a duelist should be lost to such a cause." "And what is that supposed to mean?" Raphael snorts." "You will see." The Pharaoh answers.
"For now I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards." He says as he does so. "Heart of the Cards." He tells himself. "Don't let me down now." He withdraws the two triumphantly. "Well, I believe it is the beginning of your end, Raphael." He tells him. "Oh? And what makes you so sure?" he asks warily, knowing what card lies in the Pharaoh's deck.
"I play The Eye of Timeaus and combine it with my Dark Magician Girl, to create Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!" And as he does so a giant dragon bursts forth from the cards and a small girl dressed in armor sits upon it. "Attack!" The Pharaoh tells them, as they head for one of Raphael's monsters. "Not so fast! Swords of Ice! And this has a special effect on your dragon." He says. Suddenly a sword appears and pierces Timeaus in the same place the sword had been in the statue of him in their dream. The dragon freezes up, Dark Magician girl still on his back, as he once more becomes an ice sculpture.
"Timeaus, no!" Yami shouts. "Yes, Pharaoh. And isn't it funny, that all you need to get him out is five hundred additional attack points?" Raphael jeers. "I will not play that card." The Pharaoh says, gritting his teeth once more. "Suit yourself. But I'm sure you'll find it gets harder every turn." He says.
"Now my guardian, go! Attack his KuriBabylon!"
.:. Alyssa wakes as the sun lifts its face over the horizon. At first she is confused, attempting to stand up so that she could grasp the water jugs and make the morning river run before work. How strange the ground feels beneath her feet though…
She remembers then what had happened. They'd come to stay at the palace since they no longer had a house. There were no jugs that needed to be filled and there wasn't a need for a river run. Sighing happily she flopped back down onto the bed and snuggled into one of the pillows.
She lay there for a while longer before getting up, figuring that she ought to get ready for work. She walked out into the hall to check on her parents. They were still sleeping.
She figured they would know where she went so she began walking towards the front room. On the table se saw three people setting three large trays down onto the table, still steaming hot.
"Good morning." One of them said to her. "Would you prefer it in here, or in your bedroom?" they asked. "Hmm? Oh." She remembered. "No. I mean…here is fine." She stuttered out. "And your elders?" another asked. "Uh…er…they're still sleeping." She told them, sitting down and feeling odd as the person poured out some wonderful smelling juice into a glass for her. "Thank you." She said, surprised, and took the glass. "Everything looks wonderful." She said, unsure of what she was supposed to do.
"I'll return for this later than, if you've no need of anything?" the one asks her. "Yes, that's fine." She said relieved. She wasn't used to having people wait on her and it felt rather awkward. Hungrily she ate her breakfast, which was fantastic. She finished and, not seeing a sink to wash the dishes in, allowed it to sit remembering the man had said he would return. She left her bag behind for a change and made her way towards the palace entrance, though she did grow confused on the way and asked for help once more.
Picking up her brush she began her daily work. She'd done well by doing rooms by herself, so they had been content to allow her to work on her own. She did not mind; it was better than being in places where you were never wanted. So long as she had the room finished nobody minded. They paid her well for it to, when they saw how the floors sparkled and shined.
She rested while she ate her lunch, happy knowing that her parents were being taken care of. She'd go back later to see how they were doing, but she was confident that they were exploring the palace hallways or perhaps going down into the courtyard. She had to do that sometime before she left she told herself.
She had brought her shell with her, and when she had finished with her lunch she fiddled with it and began formulating what she would play for the pharaoh. She was happy with the first few mars, so she put it away and began working again.
Finally night fell, and she returned with her shell back to the roon after returning her pail and brush to their storage place. She had been paid four coins for the room, and three for the next. She jingled the coins happily as she walked into the room, having found it on her own for once, and paced it in the money box.
"Ah, you are home!" her mother said, giving her a hug. "Yes, but I'll be off again soon." She told her. "Ah, that is right. You have to play for the Pharaoh." Her mother said proudly. "I can't wait to hear what he has to say."
"Well, it will have to wait a little longer then." She told her mother. "I expect you to be asleep when I return.
"And why is that?" her mother asked. "I can wait up a little longer for my only daughter. I'm not that old yet." She remarked. Alyssa laughed at the comment. "No, that's not it at all," she says. "I'm going to try and work a little bit more tonight. Not all night." She said as she saw her father giving her a strange look. "Just a portion of it. I'm trying to save up s we can get another house."
"Why, aren't you happy here?" her mother said, gesturing around. "Of course I am. This is wonderful." She says. "But I'm sure it's only meant to be temporary. The Pharaoh won't want to hear me play songs all the time-" "And why wouldn't he?" her mother says indignantly. "Does he think he's too good for my daughter now?" she asks. "Hush, Mama." She says. "That's not it at all. Too much of a good thing is bad for you." She says as an excuse. "That's no excuse." Her mother says as if reading her thoughts. "Ah, well," she begins. "I'm thankful he has done so much for us, but I don't want to overstay our welcome. He won't want to pay for us all the time, and quite frankly, I wouldn't want him to either." She says. "We'll probably be here for a while still, but we will eventually be leaving." She says firmly to her mother.
"Ay…alright then." Her mom says, sitting down on a nearby chair. "If that's the way you want it." She says. "I'm not that bad." Alyssa says hurt. "I try my best. Is it the rugs?" she asks. "I can try and stay a little later. We can get them if you want, it'll just be a while. Or if you want a chair, or a bed like these….it'll take a while, but I can earn enough to get them eventually."
"That's not it at all." Her mother says. "It's just…why do you want to go so badly? All your life you've worked hard, and finally you receive your reward and you want to cast it away!" "I am not casting it away." She says. "How long this will last, I don't know. So I am preparing for it, should something happen. It is not that foolish a thing to do." She says, still a little saddened at her mother's earlier comment.
"Never mind." Her mother says, dismissing it. You'd better finish, or you'll be late." She tells her daughter. "Oh, right!" she says. "I'll be on my way then. I might see you in the morning if you are up, but don't trouble yourselves. Sleep in, won't you?" she says, giving her parents quick kisses on their cheek and hurrying out the doorway.
She enters the pharaoh's chambers, happy that the map she had drawn on her hand was still faintly there. She attributed the fact that she reached her room earlier to the same fact and marveled at the substance which was able to withstand so many scrubbings without failing her.
"You seem much more rested today." The Pharaoh says. "Indeed, I am." She replies. "The bed was so soft and deep that I was afraid I might not be able to get out." She confessed to him, slightly red. He laughed warmly. "I'm happy that you like it." He told her. "And I am happy that you are happy, my Lord." She says and he laughs again. "Shall I?" She asks him gesturing with her shell. "Yes, yes, of course, of course." He tells her motioning or her to begin.
And one song after another she plays, bouncing tunes and soulful melodies, ringing throughout the room. Imaginations are stirred, eyes full of mirth and sometimes longing. The spell she weaves with her notes in the air puts everyone in a warm reverie, and she can feel her own self become lost within the music at times. Finally her concert is finished for the night, and she exits the room promising to return the next day as usual.
She drops her shell off just inside her room as she walks towards the room where she keeps her brush and pail. She picks a room out of the ones that need cleaning and sets to work, the brush strokes upon the ground as rhythmic as her notes in the evening breeze.
.:. "Gaah!" The Pharaoh cries as his life point counter drops some more. "Not as easy as you thought, is it, Pharaoh?" Raphael says from across the field. "All you have to do is play one little card, one little card in your hand."
The Pharaoh takes in a deep breath, trying to return it to normal. "I hate to say this Yugi, but he might be right." The Pharaoh says. "So long as we're careful, we could-" "Pharaoh, no!" Yugi interrupts. "That card is evil! You can't possibly play it!" he says. "But it's the only way we can get Timeaus out of that ice!" The Pharaoh tells him. "At this rate, if we don't do something we will lose the duel."
"But that doesn't matter." Yugi says. "Nothing can happen so long as we don't play that card." "But we can end this all right now if we can just get Timeaus! We have to play it." The Pharaoh repeats, taking the card in his hand. "That's it, Pharaoh." Raphael says on the other side of the field, quietly. "You know you want to." The Pharaoh raises his hand,
And stops.
"Pharaoh, no." Alyssa says, holding onto his arm as he turns to look at her. "Do not play that card." "What card?" He asks, noticing that for the first time since she came she was looking him in the eye. "The Seal of Orycalcos. I know which card you were going to play." She says. "Pharaoh, don't play that card. He's toying with you, don't let yourself fall into his trap." She pleads with him. "You do not believe I could get out of a trap?" he says, snidely. "That isn't it at all, and you know it Pharaoh." She tells him, slightly hurt. "Please, I'm begging you, don't' play that card."
"And why should I listen to you, eh?" he asks her. "Why should I listen to you, a mere peasant as you are so fond of saying. You don't even know the rules of the game." "Please." She repeats, wounded by his words. "Do not play that card.
"Why not?" the Pharaoh asks, his voice growing in volume now. "Why not? Have you a reason why I shouldn't?" he asks. "Yes, I do." She says. "Oh? And what could that be?" he asks her. "I…I don't know how to explain it." She says, racking her brain. "But I know, I just know if you do that something bad will happen." She tries to explain, the flickers of her vision coming quick enough for her to receive these feelings but flickering away before she could even begin to remember. "Oh? And have you any proof of this? Any evidence that will help to prove your cause?" he asks her. "No, I don't." she says, looking away before returning her entreating eyes to his. "Please, trust me on this?" she asks him. "I'm afraid not this time." He tells her. "The only thing standing between victory and I, and my ridding us all of this nuisance is five hundred attack points, five hundred attack points that I can gain with this card. I'll take him down with his own card," The Pharaoh says. "Please, Believe me!" she says, her own voice growing a louder. "Don't raise your voice to me." He says, narrowing his eyes. "When do I tell you not to do something?" she attempts. "Please, believe me when I say, don't do this! Stop this now, before it is too late! No good can come of this. Stop this now, before it is too late." She repeats, softer.
"I've had enough of this." He says. "Release my arm now." He tells her. "No", she says defiantly, holding on to it. "I said let go!" the Pharaoh yells, pulling back on his arm harshly so that it flings her to the ground. She lands on her side, bleeding from the various rocks and pebbles that lay on the ground. "Pharaoh," She says, tears in her eyes.
"Yami, don't!" Yugi shouts, holding onto the arm of his partner. "No, Yugi. Not this time." He says, shaking him off. "And now I play, the Seal of Orycalcos!" he yells, slapping the card into the slot that came out of his own duel disk. "Pharaoh no!" she yells as the green circle descends. She can hear him yell as it burns its way onto his forehead. The monsters cry as it appears on their own, their faces contorting into evil glares and eyes turning crimson with the power of the card. Yugi yells as he is transported away to another part of space, where he can look down upon the field and the Pharaoh but knows he can not hear him. "You promised." Yugi said as tears took form in his eyes. "You promised."
And she, she was pushed over the side of the plateau as the Seal expanded its entire area, grabbing on to a dry branch to keep herself from falling into the pit.
"Hey look! There's Yugi!" Joey says as he reaches the edge of the same cliff they had all come over earlier, Tristan at his side. "And look! He's dueling that other jerk! Go Yugi!" Joey shouts encouragement to his pal as they scale down the wall. Yugi turns, his eyes red and angry at Joey.
"Hey wait a second, that's Yugi!" Joey says. "Yeah, Tristan says, landing beside him. "You've already said that." He says.
"But…If that's Yugi, then why's he got that mark on his face?