Just go ahead and read. TT

"I am doing my best to," Tahirah replied to Yami, making Terrah blink.
"Doing your best? You could get us out of here in two shakes of a cat's tail, if you wanted to!"
"I'll pretend I know what that saying meant...And I am not so willing to go directly against the Pharaoh--he does not trust you, and right now, I am trying to understand you, so I suggest not being snappy."

Joey rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. "Well, during the meanwhile, we'll be just wasting time here. It's not like we've got much to do." he said as he spotted a few stones in the corner. "Anyone up for checkers?" he said as he began to arrange them properly.

Yami looked down upon Yuugi, then back up at Tahirah. "Do you know what happened to him?" He asked hopefully, forgetting about Atemu momentarily.

Tahirah, trying not to chuckle at Joey, looked at Yami, then at Yuugi. "...That boy, he arrived here not long before you were discovered, he seemed lost, confused. He was already injured when he arrived here, the desert is dangerous...but he mistook Pharaoh Atemu..I believe he thought the Pharaoh was you. For that, the guards punished him..."

Yami sighed, still feeling guilty about Yuugi. "With all do respect... could you please let us out about now? I really need to have a talk with Atemu. He can hurt me all he wants... but not Yuugi..."

Tahirah sighed "I cannot release you now; things would go quickly out of hand." She looked at Yuugi "He will be alright for now...I am not making any promises, but I will try and get you out by tommorow. For now, there is someone I need to talk about this with." She turned to go, then stopped and looked at them "One more thing..if I do get you out, I suspect any of you of planning to harm Atemu...I will kill you myself." Then she walked out. Terrah blinked slowly, now even more confused.

"Whoa-whoa, calm down Yami, we don't want that Atemu skewering you with a cheese grater right now. "He said as he held his hands up. "Besides, he's probably off in dream land by now. "He said shrugging.

Yami slumped down on the floor. "Great. Just great. And like I can do anything to Atemu. He'll just send all his little followers after me. Joey... remind me why we even decided to go on this trip anyway?"

" I was wondering the same thing Yami. " he said shrugging. "Up for a match of checkers? " he said as he offered a game to get his mind off their situation.

Terrah, shifting Yuugi very gently into a position that wouldn't cause him too much pain when he woke up, leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes and trying to sort this out.

Tahirah smiled to herself as she left the dungeon area. 'That boy, whether he likes it or not...he is almost exactly like Atemu..' she thought. Then she glanced around "Now where's Jonouchi this time?"

"Joey... what exactly would we use as the checker board?" Yami asked, wondering how Joey could think about checkers at a time like this.

" You need to take your mind off things, your always so serious, don't you take a break? That's what the vacation was for. "Joey said as he looked around for something that could substitute as a board. He dug in his pocket, to discover his deck packed in it. He took it out. "Would you prefer a duel?" he said grinning

'Duel?' Terrah thought to herself, one eye cracking open to glance at Joey and see his deck. 'Ha...shoulda known..' Mhm, she was a fan of Duel Monsters as well, her favored card being her Black Luster Soldier, which came in as an even match for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but she dismissed that thought from her head swiftly enough.

Joey flashed Terra his Red Eyes Black Dragon. " The almighty dragon! He's gonna toast the dark magician this time." he said as he shuffled his cards.

"Call me crazy.. but I'm not exactly in a dueling mood. Not without Yuugi..." Yami sighed, looking at him. "I sure wish he'd wake up...

Terrah leaned forwards slightly, folding her legs to one side. "Yami, this may sound like an odd question...but why would Yuugi and yourself become separate in this timeline? I'm having a hard time cluing in, on that one."

Atemu hid behind the hallway wall, listening in on Tahirah and Jonouchi's conversation. Oh, I know what will happen, Tahirah. But it's best if they do die.. he thought to himself.

"Terrah... I myself don't even know that question. I don't even know why he would be here, separated from my body seeing as we're bonded together by the puzzle." Yami responded.

Terrah frowned "Thought so..." She groaned, rubbing her forehead again. "Dang nab it! This is so frustrating...I'm getting a headache trying to figure this out!" Wait...maybe that wasn't just the confusion, the Eye of Horus felt strangely...warm, against her fingers.

Yami looked at Terrah curiously. "Hey.. I think the reason why you get headaches is because of that eye..." He stated, amazed at himself for just figuring it out.

"Hm?" Terrah looked at Yami. "...You could be right," she commented, frowning a little again. "...But why would that happen?"

Yami shrugged. "I don't know... but I have a strong hunch that that is why you always find yourself with a headache. Maybe it has something to do with your counterpart."

"..Hm." Terrah nodded slowly, considering that. She wasn't so sure, though...it had started in and around when her Egyptian double had, for lack of a better word, threatened them. She didn't know why, she just had a hunch that something was going to go wrong.

Joey, by this time, had nodded off, and had slumped next to Yugi, leaning against him. " Wake me up if Atemu comes to free us. " he murmured. " If not, don't mind me. " he said as he closed his eyes.

Terrah looked towards Joey, smiling thinly. "Man...nothing seems to dampen his personality for very long..."she commented.

Jounichi was busy in the entertainment room, pulling out random wigs from a pile of clothes." I think...this one looks like him. " he said as he tried it on and looked in a mirror. " Perfect! " he exclaimed as he began to dig for the proper outfit. " Done! " he shouted as he tried the suit on. He deepened his voice and tried to make it powerful." Seto..you are a complete moron." he said mockingly.

Tahirah passed the room, then stopped upon hearing the all-too familiar voice. She turned and walked in "What in the name of Ra are you doing...?"she inquired, blinking at Jonouchi.

" Atemu suggested I try being the palace impersonator. " he said shrugging as he adjusted his wig. " How do I look? Like a complete jerk? " he said grinning. " I think Priest Seth will have fun watching me strut across the place as him. " he said as he tugged at his sleeve. " But I'm still curious of what he meant earlier. Who was that stranger? "

"I, personally, think he'll throw you into a holy stone just for spite's sake," Tahirah replied, rolling her eyes. "The strangers are the ones I came to talk to you about, if you can find it to be serious at this moment."

Atemu crawled out of his bed slowly. He walked toward the door, but then realized he needed clothes on. "Crap." He said to himself, and grabbed a robe that was resting on a chair. He opened up the door and walked into the hall, quietly.

Jounichi took off the wig and sat down. " Well, I'm all ears. " he said as he waited for her reply.

'Yeah and where have I heard that before' Tahirah thought, sighing as she sat down as well. "The three of them aren't just lookalikes, they're identical to us in every aspect of the word, that's what has Atemu worried...He has them imprisoned. Two things I don't understand..one is that none of them have any memory of being us, at least not anything significant."

"Even the one that is me, she has no idea of what she is, and it concerns me that I would lose my memory." She sighed lightly. "The other problem is more so what worries me, I do not believe Atemu understands just what will happen if any of them perish. There will be no forgiveness, just as you, I, or he would be if it was us, they will blame him or us for it."

Jounich sighed. " Looks like another heap of problems for us. If they're us in every way, it'll just cause more difficulties." he said as he looked at Tahira. " Any way I can help? I wouldn't mind helping out. " he said as he put away the costume.

Tahirah nodded, smiling thinly. "I can't convince Atemu of this on my own, he just won't listen...and that boy, the prisoner from before the other three, he needs to be helped or he'll die within maybe two days...and if that happens, I don't want to know how the others will react, particularly Atemu's counterpart."

" This is perfect timing, huh." he said shrugging. " Looking at Atemu's big day tomorrow, and now this. All we need are flying scorpions. " he said as he remembered his scorpion bite yesterday. Ouch. " I really wonder how he puts up with all the responsibilities." he said. " I know! Why don't we give him a day off tomorrow! He's always got the weight of the world on his shoulders. "

"Eh!" Tahirah blinked at Jonouchi. "...That's an idea, I think it would do him good." She then glanced towards the hallway and stated in a louder tone "It's unseemly of the Pharoah to eavesdrop, especially if it is on the conversation of his friends."

Atemu came out, laughing nervously. "Erm, I tried to call one of my servants because I was thirsty and they didn't come so I just got up and got it myself! I wasn't there long, just for a moment I swear! Oh, look at the time. Gotta get going again. Night!" He turned around and headed back to his room. Damn. He thought to himself, then sighed.

Tahirah watched Atemu take off. She looked at Jonouchi "He /definitely/ needs a day off..." Absently, she rubbed her forehead lightly, not realizing that she felt the same warmth as her 'other self' down in the dungeons.

Jounichi raised his eyebrow. " Well, wasn't that random. " he said. " Well, I better be turning in, lots of Seth-posing tomorrow! " he exclaimed and got up. " We can deal with our twins tomorrow, I doubt they'll disappear over night. " he said as he yawned.

Huh.. a day off. Like that'll ever happen. Atemu, though he had smiled at the thought of a day off, knew it was virtually impossible.

Tahirah nodded, standing as well "Yeah..." She yawned slightly. "Just don't get yourself killed by Priest Seth before we can deal with it." She smiled a bit "Night, Jonouchi." She then walked out of the room.

We're past 20,000 words!