Chapter 19: A Sinking Feeling…
"Yugi are you sure we're going the right way?" Tea asked nervously as the trio continued walking down the long hallway and shivered as the air around them suddenly began to grow colder. "And is it just me or does anyone know where Akari is or how she's doing?"
"To be honest Tea, I don't know where Akari is or where we're going," Yugi said as he tried to read the pyramid schematics Mokuba had made for him before they left. "I just hope she's all right."
"Well we've gotta keep going if we ever want to find her." Yami said as he lit some torches and hand one to Tea as she walked ahead of the group.
It's a good thing I've got this torch, Tea thought to herself as she watched the carvings on the wall passing her by as she walked at a quickened pace, silently praying her friend was all right.
As Akari's scream ripped through the sounds of the raging battle, the monsters immediately stopped fighting and instead turned their eyes on her. She groaned in pain as she slowly staggered to her feet and ripped off the bottom part of her dress and wrapped the thick silky material around her abdomen. Then she heard a soft crying sound as she instinctively began walking towards it.
Ryo meanwhile had desperately been hacking and slashing his way through the monsters to get to Akari when the fighting stopped and he watched in shock and disbelief as Akari slowly rose to her feet and began walking towards the center as if nothing had happened. She's a tough little girl, I underestimated her power and will to save Bakura. But if she really is the "light of hope" foretold in the legends then what happens next?
As Tea walked ahead of her friends, she began to wonder about Akari's powers and why she had them. Sometimes I can't help but wonder why Akari has these strange powers…is she even human? Or something more? Then she stopped as she saw a huge mural on the wall in front of her, depicting the account of the great war in Egypt that was prevented with the aid of a beautiful fairy-like creature called the "Tenshi no Kibou".
"So Akari is really a…monster?" Tea whispered in awe and began backing away from the mural. "It, it can't be! I can't believe that she's a monster…I just can't believe it…" Then her foot suddenly slipped on a rough gritty patch of sand and rock and she fell backwards and began sinking.
Meanwhile Yami and Yugi had finally gotten their bearings and were just starting to look for Tea when they heard her screaming for help. "TEA HOLD ON!" Yugi yelled as he began running towards the sound of her voice. A few seconds later, he stopped as he saw Tea sinking into the murky looking patch of sand in front of him.
"Yugi wait! It's quicksand you could get sucked right in a matter of minutes." Yami said as he caught up to his partner a few moments later and threw a large stick into the patch of sand in front of them.
"I don't care how dangerous it is Yami," Yugi said solemnly as he watched Tea disappear beneath the quicksand. "I've got to save her."
"I understand Yugi, just be careful." Yami said as he smiled warmly at his friend and watched as Yugi dived into the quicksand headfirst.