I haven't said this for a while, but…

I don't own anything except the story idea and maybe a couple of other things.

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Chapter Ten: Call From the West…

"Who are you?"

That was the first thing the stranger said to her.

'This isn't Yuugi,' something inside Shizuka said the longer she looked at him. 'This is NOT Yuugi.'

The 'Not-Yuugi' also had had scrambled warnings jumbling through his own thoughts, but he would not demean himself to becoming like a mouse in the jaws of a jackal; he would hold himself high and act as his position demanded. Though he had to admit, he had never heard of anything remotely like this happening to any of his ancestors.

What had happened? He could remember vaguely.

Malik, the riverside temple, that paler youth—Valon, he believe he called himself—that strange light, and then sleep. They must have abducted him; that was the only explanation he had.

The youth pushed the thick blankets covering him off and stepped onto the floor—it was completely carpeted, not the soft marble floors he was used to—as he put a few feet between him and the young woman he had woken up to.

"Who are you?" He demanded. "Where am I? Why have you brought me here?"

Shizuka could only stare, her voice inoperable. She knew whoever talking to her wasn't her friend and Prince, but who was he?

Looking him over, she could again feel that energy behind her eyes. She was a little hesitant to close her eyes while in the presence of a mental stranger, but listened to the nagging feeling that had brought her here to begin with and allowed her eyes to shut.

Amazingly she could still see the stranger, and was more astounded at what he truly looked like. Had it not been for his dark skin and a slight difference in his hair, he could have stood as Yuugi's twin, they looked almost exactly alike. In her closed eyes, Shizuka could see that his clothes were also quite different from her own prince's attire and he wore gold jewelry that would astound any smith of her kingdom.

Opening her eyes again, Shizuka stared at the person now inhabiting Yuugi's body wide-eyed. "Who are you…?"

"First answer me," the person said, folding his arms across his chest. "I may consider answering you after."

Sighing, the female slayer stood up. "My name is Kawai Shizuka. This is the Black Dragon castle."

The stranger looked around, his eyes revealing some surprise and wonder as to how he came to be in this strange place. "And why have you brought me here?"

"I didn't," Shizuka said.

"You lie!" The person shouted. "A pale-skinned young man attacked me in my own palace temple! And now I find myself here, with a paler young woman! Where should I believe you did not take part in this?"

Shizuka stopped at his mention of an attack. 'Could it have been like with Yuugi…?' She wondered, but decided to calm the angered victim before her first.

"Yu—Sir…I ask that you please quiet down," she said, stepping closer only to have him step back.

"I demand you tell me what I am doing here!"

Shizuka had no idea what to explain or how to start, when noticed a mirror sitting a little ways behind him; although it would no doubt shock him, she had to show him.

"Look in there," she pointed. "In that mirror."

The stranger looked at the object hanging on the wall, then back at Shizuka. He soon decided to follow her directions and stepped in front of the looking glass.

His ruby eyes widened at the reflection looking back at him. It was his face, but his skin was far too pale. Putting his hands to his face, he rubbed his eyes; when he looked again he found no changes. He ran his hands across his face, as if trying to wipe something away—most likely make-up or something—but still nothing changed.

"What have you done to me!"

Shizuka dashed over to him. "Listen—whoever you are—this is not your body," she said. "This is my friend's—my prince's body. A couple nights ago we were attacked and the man did something to him; he's been asleep since that attack." She paused, recalling the gold light that broke through the window and entered Yuugi's body.

"You said that you were attacked, right?" The youth hesitated, but nodded. "Maybe whatever happened to Yuugi also happened to you. But… Who are you? Where are you from?"

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the stranger straightened and met the girl's eyes. "I am the Morning and the Evening Star, ruler of the Golden Sands, I am the King of the Gold Dragon Kingdom, High Pharaoh Atem."

Shizuka took a moment to sort through all of what he had said. "Atem-sama…" She decided. "Do you know how you got here?"

The youth named Atem thought a moment. "I recall green light," he said. "I…blacked out."

The young woman knew it had to be the same light that had surrounded Yuugi and Rafael that night. "Is that all?"

"Wait!" Atem put his hand to his head. "Wait, I remember …something. There was…gold light, I flew past gold light. Red light… White light…" He paused. "There was a strange sound that drew me here."

"What sound?" Shizuka asked.

Atem could barely recall it; it was someone whispering, but their voice was mixed with the snapping of a fire so he couldn't make out any words. But it had been so familiar, almost like his own voice.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

For a time, silence reigned through the dark room as both fell deep into their own thoughts. Both were confused about the entire situation.

Then the bigger problem sprang into Shizuka's thoughts: someone was inhabiting Yuugi's body.

How would the people be able to handle it? How would the Queen?

"Atem-sama!" Shizuka grabbed his shoulders. "We need to do something! When others find out that you're not Yuugi, they're going to panic!"

Atem stared wide-eyed; back in his own domain no one ever dared speak to him without permission, much less touch him. It was perhaps the largest offense he had ever been dealt, but it had come as too much of a shock for him to do anything about it.

Shizuka's own mind raced, but not on the same road as the prodigal Pharaoh's and she began spouting out her thoughts.

She had to keep this a closed book, but what could she possibly do? They couldn't pretend that he was still in a coma, he had to move sometime; they couldn't possibly tell anyone that their Prince was now possessed by another spirit, the slayers would possibly hurt him.

"Ohhh!" She mussed up her red hair. "What can we do!"

Atem had recovered from his shock, and also realized what the girl had been saying. Back in his own kingdom the priests and shamans dealt with conjuring out spirits that ailed or possessed people, they themselves integrated with those that passed on.

But he had no idea how these foreigners dealt with this sort of thing.

"Your prince…"

Shizuka looked up. "What?"

"Your prince's name…?" Atem inquired.

"Yuugi," the young woman replied. "Why?"

Atem had an idea, but was not sure if it could be pulled off. "I could try to pose as your prince until we can find a way to explain all of this."

It was stupid. A ridiculous idea. It would never work.

"But what else can we do?" Shizuka sighed submissively.

- - -

The two sat in Yuugi's room the rest of the night talking, mostly about Yuugi himself, but occasionally about the attacks on their two kingdoms.

Shizuka was surprised that the attacks hadn't been by the same person, but supposed that they probably couldn't if they were in completely different places. She found Atem rather strange, much different than her dear friend by the way he carried himself and seemed to demand respect and acknowledgement.

Atem steadily became interested in the prince he would be filling the role of the more Shizuka told him. Yuugi spent time with his people on a regular basis, he worked the same way they did and seemed to prefer it that way. To the Pharaoh this was strange, but at the same time very intriguing.

Soon, dawn broke.

- - -

Shizuka paced back and forth in front of the door in Yuugi's room nervously.

"Kawai Shizuka."

The young woman looked back at the bed where the supposed Prince sat. "Yes?"

"You will have to stay calm if we are to make this work," Atem said.

Shizuka took a deep breath. "I guess I'm just worried about a lot of things," she said. "Where Yuugi is, if he's okay…and now there's this. I can't calm down."

Atem stared at the fiery-haired young woman intently. "Kawai Shizuka."

She looked back again. "Yes?"

"What exactly is your relationship with your prince?" He asked. "You seem rather familiar with him."

"Well…Yuugi's father—the late King Mutou—took me and my brother in when we were kids, so we grew up together. I think of Yuugi as a second brother."

Atem took this into consideration. He never had any siblings, though he believed he had found something akin to it. Atem drooped slightly as he remembered what he had discovered and been forced to leave behind. He would have to get back to his own kingdom and his own body somehow.

It was then that the door opened and in stepped Queen Hikari and her attendant.

Everything in the room froze as Shizuka and Atem met the Queen's own startled gaze. She put one trembling hand to her mouth as tears gathered in her eyes.

"Yuugi…?"

Atem managed a smile. "Mother…"

The Pharaoh wasn't sure when she made it from the door, but Queen Hikari suddenly had her arms around him and was holding him as she cried.

"Thank God…" She whispered. "Thank God you're alright…!"

Atem's eyes widened as he felt a strange stirring in his chest and he shakily returned the embrace. He could vaguely recall his mother holding him like this when he was a child and she had been alive, but what was this feeling now?

"Mother…" Atem spoke the word again, leaning his head on her shoulder. "Mother…"

Shizuka blinked at the strange sight. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought it was Yuugi sitting there hugging his mother; it looked the same way it always had.

The rest of the day consisted of letting all of Yuugi's closest friends have a chance to see the awakened prince. In all honesty, Shizuka felt terrible lying about Yuugi and with each happy face that came to see him, she felt worse.

"Yuugi!" Katsuya and Ryuzaki came running in at last. "Bless the stars! I was worried as all hell!"

Atem looked at Shizuka who stood by the door as she nodded. The blond was her brother, Jounouchi Katsuya, and the other…

"Ryuu…zaki…?" Atem chuckled a little.

The youth blinked, both at the way his name had been said and the acting Prince's chuckle. "Prince?"

"Zaki," he said. "Zaki. It's just…" The frantic waving of Shizuka's arms gave him enough of a sign to stop. "It's nothing. Nevermind. I am glad to see that you are both alright. Especially you, because of your arm."

Ryuzaki nodded. "Yeah, likewise. We were worried sick about you."

"Phenomenally!" Katsuya said. "Do you know what happened or who that guy was?"

Atem shook his head. "I do not. I do wonder, nonetheless."

Katsuya sighed. "Someone who would have the gall to attack the castle and the prince! We've never had to deal with humans causing that much of a problem for us before."

At that, the Pharaoh blinked. "Truly?"

Katsuya and Ryuzaki stopped. "Yuugi, you would know that better than anyone."

"Ah!" Atem glanced at Shizuka for a split-second. "I apologize, my memory is vague. I must still be tired."

"Yeah…" Ryuzaki said slowly. "We probably should let him get some rest, he is still recovering."

Katsuya was about to object—even when Yuugi was sick the two of them would sit and talk until the prince fell asleep—but he stopped when Ryuzaki put his good hand on his shoulder. The blond slayer met his other friend's black eyes which were, as usual, partially hidden by his lavender bangs.

The slightly smaller slayer's gaze seemed to drive a message and Katsuya nodded slowly.

"Yeah, you're right," he smiled. "It's been a long day, you're probably worn out. Would you like me to stay with you for a bit, least until you fall asleep?"

"No, thank you though," Atem smiled back.

Katsuya's smile faltered, but was back again as he stood up. "Well, get better soon," he said. "We're gonna need you up and about pretty quick!"

And with that, the two slayers left.

Shizuka sighed and leaned back against the wall. "That was close!"

Atem shifted the covers a bit before settling back again. "Kawai Shizuka…"

"Yes?"

Atem put his hand to his chest. "When the Queen came in, I felt something in my heart," he said. "And just now, with your brother and Ryuu Zaki I felt something similar." He paused. "Now that I think about it, when you hugged me that first time—when you thought I was Yuugi—I felt something too."

Shizuka came and sat down in the chair by the bed. "What did it feel like?"

"I am not sure," the Pharaoh said. After a moment of thinking he straightened up. "Perhaps it is Yuugi's heart reacting." He caught Shizuka's confused expression. "I am housed in this body, but it is not my own; the heart belongs to your prince. Perhaps it still reacts to the people he cares about…"

"That can happen?" The young woman asked, truly amazed.

"I suppose that it can," Atem replied.

For Shizuka this brought some relief and happiness; it could mean that whatever happened to Yuugi he was still alive.

- - -

The following day, Shizuka took Atem out into the garden upon his request.

"Don't you have gardens back in the Gold Dragon Kingdom, Atem-sama?" She asked as she watched the Pharaoh's confused and amazed reactions to the different plants he came across.

"Yes, of course, but nothing like this!" He replied, gingerly touching the petals of a sunflower that reached his shoulder. "It's mostly springs, rivers and fountains. There are water lilies and some trees, but they're fruit trees and don't flower that often."

Shizuka had heard stories about the desert, but had never heard of this. "Must be rough."

Atem spotted a bush of thorny, white flowers and hesitated in going toward it; it looked ominous. Almost like one of the oasis-dwelling creatures he had heard stories about.

"Those are roses," Shizuka said, noticing the attention of his gaze. "Don't be scared of it, Atem-sama, it's just a plant."

"I never mentioned my being afraid," the Pharaoh said, clearly annoyed at either her talent of noticing things or voicing his desire to be reassured.

Shizuka smiled and approached the bush; taking out her knife, she cut off a small bloom. "Here," she held it out to him.

"What?"

"Go ahead, take it."

Atem hesitated, but took it nonetheless. "Does Yuugi…like these?"

The young woman shrugged. "I think so. I sometimes see him giving the Queen huge bouquets." She watched him as he spun the flower around between his fingers. "Did you get another feeling?"

Atem nodded. "It is very strange. I can tell the difference between our feelings, but they are also quite similar." He kept the flower.

Shizuka followed after him as he continued walking down the garden path. Seeing him move, she could see several differences between the Pharaoh and her missing friend; Atem walked with his hands in fists, while Yuugi would leave his hands open.

"I wonder what we should do," she sighed.

"About…?"

"About this!" Shizuka pointed at him. "You can't play prince for long, there are plenty of similarities between the two of you, but also enough differences that someone is bound to catch on pretty fast."

Atem nodded. "I have wondered about this also."

"It's obviously something involving magic," the young woman said. "But no one uses magic in the Black Dragon Kingdom, all the sorcerers and mages and such died ages ago."

"Perhaps we can return to my kingdom," Atem suggested. "My priests deal with spiritual problems regularly, I'm sure they could put me back into my own body."

"But what about Yuugi?" Shizuka asked. "He's still out there, somewhere."

Atem could not leave everything with that. Despite all the strange things, this Yuugi was still in some sort of danger and Atem had come to like what he had been told about him. He could not return to his own body and leave this Prince to wither away without a soul.

However, before he could begin to devise any sort of solution, an unfamiliar voice spoke.

/Atem/

The world spun and the prince fell to the ground.

"Yuugi! Atem-sama!" Shizuka rolled him onto his back to find his eyes void of color and light. 'No. Not again,' she pleaded to Heaven and began shaking the youth. "Wake up! Atem! Atem!"

The Pharaoh heard the young woman's voice, but it gradually faded to a distant murmur. He seemed to be floating high above the kingdom; he could see everything and nothing at the same time.

/My Lord Pharaoh, Atem/

He looked up or down, he wasn't sure, and found a man of his nation before him. His robes almost matched the color of the desert sands that lay so far to the East, but his eyes were the deepest shade of blue he had ever seen and reflected no light.

Who are you?

/I am called Shadi/ the stranger bowed. /I am he who called you to this kingdom/

Atem should have been upset, offended, angry, but for some reason was completely calm. Why?

/To protect you/ Shadi replied, rising from his bow. /You can stay here no longer, Pharaoh. You must depart/

Had he been completely aware he would have demanded answers, but in this dreamlike state he merely asked the question he often heard his messengers inquire. To where?

Shadi turned around and pointed. /Head to the West/ he said. /Come to the place where Earth meets Ocean, cross the water to a sacred isle. There will you find me/

Are the others there with you also? Atem asked.

At this, Shadi shook his head. /The maiden with hair like fire will accompany you. She will protect you/

And with that, Atem blinked back to consciousness, Shizuka holding him with obvious panic and fear in her features.

"Atem!"

Feeling a little stiff and uncomfortable on the ground he sat up and rubbed his face. "What happened?"

"You just dropped!" Shizuka said. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Atem shook his head. "No, I am alright," he replied. Looking back at her he again saw her concern, and he responded to an urge without thinking.

Shizuka's eyes widened when Atem pat her head comfortingly. "A-A-Atem…!"

The Pharaoh stopped and lifted his hand away. "I-I-I-I…" He had absolutely no idea what to say in response to what he had just done.

"Shizuka!"

The two turned as Katsuya and Ryuzaki approached up the path; Shizuka stood up and helped Atem stand also as the two men joined them.

"Doshitano, Onii-chan?"

Katsuya eyed Atem for a short moment. "Her Majesty wants to talk to you two."

Shizuka looked at Atem who returned her looked before bending down to pick up the rose he had dropped; the two proceeded to follow her fellow slayers into the castle. Her heart began to race as they neared the throne room; Queen Hikari usually talked to her in the library or garden or somewhere comfortable.

The doors of the throne room opened and they stopped at the foot of the dais. Atem looked around, thoroughly impressed at the architecture of the throne room; it was much lovelier than most of the castle, he had not been expecting it.

"Is it really so unfamiliar, my son?" Queen Hikari asked from her throne. "You come in here every day."

Atem started and smiled. "No, of course not," he replied.

Katsuya and Ryuzaki stood on either side of the dais dutifully. Now Shizuka knew something was up.

"Why don't you come up here, Yuugi," the woman motioned to the throne beside her own. "I'm sure you must be a little tired from your stroll."

Atem glanced at Shizuka, who bore a grim expression, and then looked back at the mother of the prince he inhabited. Carefully, he climbed the steps of the dais and stood before the throne of the ruler of the Black Dragon Kingdom.

He felt something in his heart again, and again he recognized this feeling. He had felt this when he accepted the crown of his forefathers, when he sat in the throne after his father died. It was Yuugi's heart stirring for the place of his father. And his own stirred for preparing to sit in a place that was not his.

Atem put his hand to the back of the throne, feeling the purple velvet before looking back at the Queen. "You already know that I am not your son, don't you?"

The woman sighed. "I had my suspicions…"

Atem smiled sadly. "I am sorry, My Lady."

"Okay," Katsuya said, moving closer to the Queen. "If you're not Yuugi, who are you? How did you get here?"

"I am Atem, King and Pharaoh over the Gold Dragon Kingdom far to the East," the youth replied. "I am unsure how I came to be here in this body…" The memory of his vision in the garden entered his thoughts.

"So this is the Prince's body?" Ryuzaki asked, clearly surprised.

Shizuka dashed to Atem's side as her brother lunged forward.

"You possessed Yuugi while he was helpless!" The blond boomed.

"It was not my choice," Atem replied.

"It wasn't, Onii-chan!" Shizuka insisted. "I was there when he woke up; it was as much of a surprise for him."

"You knew of this, Shizuka?" Queen Hikari asked.

The young woman nodded. "Yes. I didn't want anyone to panic about it…"

The Queen nodded and looked back at the youth standing behind the slayer. "Atem-sama, was it?" The Pharaoh nodded. "How did you come to be here?"

The next few minutes were filled with the explaining of the attack back in Atem's country and his waking up in Yuugi's room, in Yuugi's body.

"So it happened there, too…?" The Queen murmured.

"At first, I thought it had been you people who abducted me," Atem said. "Thankfully, Shizuka corrected me on that."

"But even so, you can't stay like this," Katsuya said. "You need to get back in your own body and let Yuugi out."

"I would gladly do both," the Pharaoh said. "However, I cannot reach my own body from here, even through meditation, and your prince is not here."

"What!" Katsuya and Ryuzaki jumped forward with a start.

"Yuugi does not dwell inside this body now," Atem said. "His spirit has long since been separated from here."

"Meaning what!" Katsuya demanded.

"Yuugi is gone…" Queen Hikari said quietly. "My son is gone…"

Atem stared at the woman and his heart hurt. "He is not dead, Lady," he said. "His heart still lives, which means he does also."

"But where is he?" The woman asked.

Atem shook his head. "I do not know. But…I believe I know where we can find out." Everyone turned their eyes to him; Shizuka looked exceptionally interested. "To the West…where the Earth meets Ocean…a sacred isle… There is a man there who seems to know what is going on now."

"How do you know?" Shizuka asked.

"I spoke with him when I passed out in the garden," the Pharaoh replied. "He apparently put me in Yuugi's body and is now wanting me to come to him."

"And you expect us to trust this guy? To trust you?" Katsuya asked. "How can we?"

"Because I trust him!" Shizuka shouted, surprising everyone. "Atem would not lie!"

Queen Hikari was the first to recover from the shock. "Shizuka…"

"He only lied about being Yuugi because I told him we needed to hide him!" The young woman went on. "He would never do anything to hurt any one of us!"

"How long have you known him, Shizuka?" The Queen inquired. "How far would you place your trust in this stranger?"

"Two nights, a day and a half," she replied. "But…I know Atem wouldn't lie, especially about this! And I trust him enough that I'm willing to go with him!"

The throne room was silent for a time. Shizuka had only ever been known to speak out like that once, Atem somehow knew that.

A soft sigh came from the Queen.

"West?" Atem looked to the Queen with a start before nodding. And for the first time since he came into the throne room, the woman gave a genuine smile. "It has been a long time since anyone has recorded a quest from our kingdom."

Katsuya and Ryuzaki jerked. "Highness?"

"Shizuka, Atem-sama… You will venture to the West, find the isle and the man…and return my son to me," the Queen said.

Shizuka smiled for reasons unknown, even to herself.

"Highness!" Katsuya placed one hand on the armrest of her throne. "You can't be serious!"

"I am completely serious," she nodded. "If Shizuka places so much faith in this king and his vision, I will not doubt her. Besides, we need to know what has happened to Yuugi."

Katsuya seemed to deflate a little as he removed his hand from the Queen's throne. But glancing at Atem and Shizuka, he straightened back up again. "Then I'm going too!"

"No one saw that coming," Ryuzaki muttered, but everyone heard him.

Queen Hikari smiled. "It is settled. Your journey begins tomorrow." With that, Shizuka and Atem, followed by Katsuya, left the throne room.

In all honesty, Shizuka never wanted to leave the kingdom; it had first been when she and her brother had been offered to be taken back to wherever it was they came from. Her resolve was strengthened after the incident in Hasalm, and since then she had never gone out with any of the other bands of slayers to help the villages of the Black Dragon territory.

And yet, here she was, volunteering and actually leaving.

"Shizuka…"

Her attention turned to the Pharaoh. "Yes?"

"For trusting me…" he said.

"Yes?"

Atem clearly wanted to say something in the away of gratitude, but wasn't exactly sure how.

"How about a 'thank you'?" Katsuya suggested.

Atem had never thanked anyone before, his status never required it, but with the help of Yuugi's heart moving inside him, it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be.

"Thank you…"

The young woman smiled. "You're welcome!" They came to a corner where it split off into two halls. "I'm going this way," she said. "Onii-chan, could you help Atem get his stuff ready."

"Yeah, sure." The blond obviously didn't want to.

"And be nice!" She called as she ran off, her hair flowing and waving like a fire.

At that realization, Atem stared after her.

'The maiden with hair like fire will accompany you,' the man called Shadi had told him. Had he somehow known what Shizuka would do?

"Oi, come on!"

Atem looked back at Katsuya with a flat expression that usually told his subjects he was not pleased. "I do bear a name."

"Yeah, I know," the blond said. "But I know it's not Yuugi, so it'll be too weird to call you anything else."

The Pharaoh followed after the blond with a sigh and a shake of his head. "So, when did you start suspecting me?"

"Day one," Katsuya replied. "Yuugi always calls me 'Jounouchi-kun.' And no matter how tired or sick he was, he would always let me stay around and talk to him."

Atem nodded. "And you told Ryuzaki?"

The head of blond hair shook from side to side. "Nah. He figured it out on his own and gave me the idea," he said. "I guess his started when you said his name; Yuugi hasn't laughed at the 'zaki' part of his name since we were kids."

Atem smiled at that and sighed. "I apologize for my deceit."

"And you talk different too," Katsuya said. "You're gonna have to work on that while we're on the road." They started climbing the stairs leading to Yuugi's room. "Be sure to pick out an outfit that won't make you stand out too much, and find some good walking shoes."

"Don't you have horses?" Atem asked.

"They're all with the Slayers that are out around the country," Katsuya replied. "We're gonna have to walk it until we can buy some, maybe in the next country or something."

"We're walking!" Atem sounded more amazed than his schooled features let on. Even so, the wide-eyed expression was enough to make Katsuya break out laughing.

- - -

The day began early for Shizuka, though she knew they wouldn't be setting out until noon. She set her bag on her bed and checked herself over in the mirror sitting a few feet in front of her bed.

She wore a black turtleneck, sandy-colored pants that tucked into black boots, and her shirt was covered by a gray-blue jacket whose sleeves tied up slightly out of the way of her hands and a hem that only went down to her waist. She pulled on her belt with her pouch and short sword, followed by her regular sword. She carried other throwing knives and gas bombs in her jacket, as a regular everyday precaution as a slayer, but they couldn't be seen at all.

There was a knock on the door. "Shizuka!" It was Anzu.

"Come in!"

The door opened and the well-figured woman stepped in. "Shizuka, I just heard that you, Jounouchi and even Yuugi were leaving today!"

Shizuka nodded. "That's right."

"Why? What for?"

"You're an apprentice advisor," Shizuka said. "If you don't know now, you will eventually." Anzu clearly wasn't happy to have her own speech given back to her. "We just have to go find something."

"What?"

Shizuka sighed. "I don't know." She grabbed her bow from the corner of the room and pulled her backpack onto her shoulders. "But when we find it, I'll send you a letter."

Anzu sighed and followed the young woman out of the room and down the hall. "Write me anyway," she said. "I want to know what you're doing everyday."

"Not likely, Anzu-san!" Shizuka laughed.

The two made it out to the courtyard, where Katsuya sat on the steps waiting for them.

"Onii-chan!" Shizuka dashed over to her brother's side. "Has At—Yuugi come out yet?"

"Not yet, he's still up in his room getting ready probably," Katsuya said and then laughed. "He seemed a little surprised that we'd be walking for a few days, he's probably trying to find the right look!"

Shizuka looked appalled. "Did you tease him!"

Anzu looked a little confused, but before she could voice it, Ryuzaki came up carrying a bundle under his good arm.

"I really don't understand why you're doing this," he said. "But there's no use in trying to talk you out of it, it there?"

Shizuka shook her head.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I feel that I have to."

Ryuzaki sighed and pulled out the two bundles under his arm and held them out. "Here; I've been working on these for a while."

Shizuka took one and passed the other to Katsuya; they unbound the cloth to find metal face masks in their hands.

"I know that…when we're using our bombs…you two have a really strong sense of smell and, uh…you sometimes pass out…so I—" Ryuzaki cut of as Shizuka hugged him. The slayer turned a light shade of pink, but accepted the gesture sheepishly.

"Thanks, man," Katsuya pat his friend's good shoulder. "I appreciate this." He then noticed Honda standing a couple yards away and separated from the group.

"I still don't get what's going on," Katsuya's friend said. "When are you gonna tell me the truth?"

"Not anytime soon," the blond smiled. "I don't know how long we'll be gone. But I promise I'll tell you everything when I can."

Honda looked past Katsuya at Shizuka as she talked with Anzu and Ryuzaki. "You'll look after her, right…?"

Katsuya followed his gaze. "You know I will." He caught his fellow slayer and friend's expression. "Honda…"

"I don't care if she said no," he said. "I still…"

"I know," the blond patted Honda's shoulder. "She'll be fine, don't worry. I need you to look after things here."

Honda nodded. He then cast his gaze up the stairs and his eyes widened. Katsuya followed his attention and his own eyes widened.

Soon the whole courtyard was quiet at the sight of their prince and Queen standing at the top of the stairs. Atem was dressed in black pants and a sleeveless black shirt, a turquoise band tied around his left arm and a dark blue cloak around his shoulders. The Queen was dressed in a light purple cloak with the hood pulled up.

He made his way down the stairs, Queen Hikari in tow, and made it to Shizuka's side. He glanced around, only to have the people staring look away.

"Is something the matter?" He asked.

"Yuugi doesn't dress like that!" Shizuka whispered.

Atem looked himself over. "I don't see why not, they were in his wardrobe." Shizuka groaned.

Katsuya walked up. "You like being conspicuous, don't you?"

"It was a part of my place as Pharaoh to—" Shizuka covered his mouth with a hiss.

"No one else is supposed to know!"

"Shizuka, Katsuya…" The two turned their attention to the Queen. "I hope that your journey will be safe and any obstacles you meet, you can overcome."

The two nodded. "Thank you, Highness."

She then turned to Atem, pulling a sword and belt from out of her cloak. "This was my husband's sword, I want you to have it."

"No! I couldn't possibly—"

"Please," the woman urged. "If only to make me feel you are kept safe by the spirit of my husband." Atem sighed, hesitating a moment more before accepting the sword. Queen Hikari then pulled out what looked like a braid of hair. "And this, so that you are kept safe by my own spirit."

Atem's eyes widened and with shaking hands took the hair. He wanted to say something, but nothing seemed significant enough and he could only embrace the woman called mother.

A few more moments passed before Atem let go. "Thank you, for everything you've done for me," he said. "I promise to you, I will bring your son home."

Together with Shizuka and Katsuya, the three set off down the road and out of the kingdom, waving back to their friends and companions as they disappeared over the hill.

Anzu sighed. "I still feel like I have no idea what's going on."

"Be happy that you don't," Ryuzaki said. "I know and I still don't get it." With that, he turned and walked back into the castle.

Queen Hikari watched after the group that would travel far from home for what seemed like hours before turning to head back into the castle, pulling her hood down to reveal short hair.

- - -

- - -

Weird and kinda long, but again important.

The only two mentions would probably be Atem's outfit, he wore this when Yuugi set him and Anzu up on that date, and Yuugi's mom originally had short hair and I just wanted to tie that into the story.

Expect the next chapter to have two groups meeting up! Woo-Hoo! I'm so happy I can finally get the story moving!

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter.