Chapter 6
"It is truly an honor, Mr. Muto, to be helping you on your research. The Domino City Museum welcomes you and your team." Ms. Kurin walked swiftly in front of the rest of them, leading the charge. The click of her sky high heels echoed in the empty hall as they made their way to the Egyptian exhibit.
"We really do appreciate you making time for us on such short notice." Solomon shifted his notebooks in his hand; several loose pages stuffed in between the books. "But when we found more information from the photos, we needed to figure out the rest."
Kurin brushed back a lock of hair that fell from her bun. She nodded her head in enthusiasm. "Of course, of course. I understand the urgency. But can I ask why the CEO of Kaiba Corporations has also joined your research team?"
She stopped just short of the door that lead to the exhibits. She was reluctant to allow all of them to come, even after the customers had left. But the ancient Egyptian exhibit was a huge success so any more information that could lead to bigger findings would definitely bring even more of the public to the museum.
"Mr. Muto and Ms. Ishtar told me about their findings. I wanted to see for myself and maybe integrate a few characters into the game I'm developing."
That brought a sudden sparkle to Kurin eyes; that was all the convincing she needed as she was a huge fan of the Duel Monsters game.
"Please take all the time that you need." She gave a short bow before closing the door behind them.
"Ok, let's start reviewing what we have." Solomon motioned for the others to pull out their pens and notebooks, pretending to write as he spoke. He moved around the room, pointing at the artifacts, giving details that could be found on the information cards underneath.
He did as they had practiced at Kaiba's mansion; they would have to talk for a little while, walk around the room to inspect each piece. They were giving a show for the cameras.
Mokuba moved quietly out of site of the camera lens and pulled out what looked to be his cell phone from his pocket. It only took a few moments for him to work his magic on the technology and hack into the system.
"Got it." He announced. "We have about five minutes on a loop being fed to the security monitors. Hopefully this won't take long and the security guys aren't that smart." He scurried over to the sarcophagus. Using the same device, he pointed it towards the glass case. It took him longer than he liked to. Moments later, the four walls slowly retracted into the floor.
He earned a warm pat on his head from his brother.
"Let's get moving." Atem opened up the bag he carried in. There was no time to waste; he pulled out the cards from his pocket, placing the Blue-Eyes at the foot of the coffin, Kuriboh at the head, the Dark Magicians at either side.
"The Rod belonged to High Priest Seto, the Puzzle belonged to me, and the Eye was my uncle's." The three men rotated the rare artifacts until they were in the respective hands.
"What do we need to say to open the Shadow Realm?" Yugi asked as he walked back to his designated spot just as they practiced. As soon as his feet touched the corner of the 'triangle' the Millennium Eye vibrated in his hand.
"Guys!" He turned and his eye grew bigger; the Puzzle and Rod were doing the same thing.
"Well, at least we know we're doing something right." Atem commented, watching as the artifacts shook with power.
"This is insane." Seto whispered to himself; the Rod became hot in his hands as it continued to glow brighter. One thing was for sure, he wasn't about to back out now.
"Look, guys! The cards!" Tea pointed at the four cards, which started to emit a white light.
"Step back!" Solomon warned the others at the two green lines surrounded the men; the writing appeared in between them. They had seen this before when the Shadow Realm was opening. As the neon green lines started to come closer, they were suddenly stopped by the white light of the cards. The protectors were stopping the portal from being opened fully and consuming them all.
"Repeat this three times…" Ishizu began; she knew this window of time was crucial and there was none to waste. "Open the gates of Darkness, guide the path with light. Rescind the soul without fail, to its rightful place."
"Are you ready?" Atem looked between the two men who were the only ones that could help him through this.
"Let's get this over with before my hand sets on fire." Seto sarcastically commented; Yugi said nothing but nodded.
"Open the gates of Darkness, guide the path with light. Rescind the soul without fail, to its rightful place!"
The Millennium Items grew hotter and shone brighter, blinding their wielders. The golden light shot out connecting the three; a pyramid was created as it settled on top of the green circle.
"Open the gates of Darkness, guide the path with light. Rescind the soul without fail, to its rightful place!"
The cards exploded with yet another blinding light. White columns formed from floor to ceiling. Everyone could feel the electric charge coming from them; Seto swore he heard a roar coming from his side, but he couldn't break his concentration.
"Open the gates of Darkness, guide the path with light. Rescind the soul without fail, to its rightful place!"
They were engulfed with gold and white; though they were afraid as to what was happening, they had to stand their ground. They felt cold, then hot, then cold again. They felt things touching them, moving around them; through them. Were they in the Shadow Realm? They couldn't see what was going on but their monsters' silhouettes as they swirled around them as if they were in the eye of a tornado.
Besides the fact that they could feel their hands burning, they could also feel their lives draining from them. They didn't know how long this was going to take, but prayed it wouldn't last long.
Just as fast at the lights came, they disappeared. The final shock of the Millennium Items jolted the three back, knocking them to the ground a few feet away from their original spot.
"Yugi!" Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Solomon ran to their friend's side.
"Are you alright, Pharaoh?" Ishizu comforted Atem.
Neither said a word, trying to figure out just what was going on. White dots appeared before Atem eyes when he opened them.
"Seto?" Mokuba didn't know what else to do. His brother sat on the floor, hunched over as he held his head.
"My hand is on fire, my head is pounding, and I can't see." Seto grumbled. "What the hell!?"
"What happened, guys?" Yugi was feeling the same way the other two were.
"We don't know." Solomon answered. "You all were engulfed in a white light. We couldn't see anything inside."
"Inside?"
"Yeah, the pyramid stopped anything from going beyond the boundary." Mokuba spoke. "We weren't affected by it." He looked back at his brother who continued to stay in place.
"Did it work?" Those that weren't suffering from a huge throbbing headache looked at the coffin as if waiting for the occupant inside to wake.
Tristan pushed Joey towards it. "Why don't you go and find out."
"Hell no!" Joey pulled Tristan towards him. "You find out."
"You wanted to know if it worked, so you go and see." The two friends went back and forth for about thirty seconds before they started to agitate a certain someone.
"Shut up!" Seto roared. "Just shut…the hell…up!" The young billionaire felt his last bit of patience snap. Mokuba slowly stepped away. The last thing he wanted was his brother to misstep and snap at him.
Gathering his bearings, Atem staggered a bit as he made his way towards the coffin. Determination fueled him. He had to know if they had succeeded or failed. He touched to lid of the coffin and pushed; it barely moved a inch. He had no energy to do it alone.
He looked down to see a dark set of hands next to his and then another set. Marik and Joey stood on either side of him.
"On three; one…two…three!" The men pushed together. The sound of alabaster scratching against alabaster was music to the Pharaoh's ears. It took barely a minute before the lid fell to the floor with a loud thud. The three huffed from the excretion of strength. They all leaned on the rim trying to catch their breath. Ironically, Joey was the first to peer inside.
The inside was engraved with the same script as the outside. Precious jewelry and gems glittered the bottom of the coffin, surrounding the figure that was covered by a sheet of blue silk. Shaking, Joey gently tugged at the material. He let out a breath with it was revealed that the body was entirely wrapped in strips of white cloth.
"I can't tell if she's breathing or not." He said once the sheet was removed. He didn't know what to expect. Maybe she was supposed to move; struggle against the cloth cocoon. Or maybe she was going to moan like all the mummies did when they were suddenly revived like in the movies. Or maybe it didn't work at all.
It was Atem's turn to reach inside. Moving his hand underneath the head, he pulled at the end of the cloth. Slowly, he unraveled the long continuous strip. First revealing a crown of golden blond hair, then long dark eyelashes that dusted against pale, almost grey, flawless skin; her lips were blue from the lack of oxygen. He stopped at her small bare shoulders; he touched her neck, holding his fingers there for a time.
"She's growing warmer." His voice cracked a little. He couldn't believe that he did it. Five thousand years since he had laid eyes on his sister. He never thought he'd see her again, even in the afterlife. He couldn't stop his emotions from spilling out; droplets of tears trickled down, some hitting her. Knees buckling, he rested his head on the rim as he continued to shed silent tears of happiness.
"Azula." He whispered affectionately, stroking the top of her head. Several strands of her hair began to shift, falling in her face. He laughed to himself; His sister took pride in taking care of her hair. She would spend hours grooming it until it was presentable.
"Guys. We don't have time for this." Mokuba checked his watch. "We have less than 90 seconds to get all of this back together before the feed starts over again."
"I have to get her out." Composing himself once again, he struggled to lift his own weight with his legs. He doubted if he could carry the dead weight of another person.
"Allow me, Pharaoh." Marik moved. With ease he picked up the Queen, cradling her lifeless body in his arms.
"Ishizu." Marik called out in alarm; his movement was causing the cloth to unravel more. He soon realized that she was naked underneath as the top of her breast began to show. Marik let out a shaky breath, considering his two choices: drop her or let the cloth come undone. Either choice would issue an ass kicking from Atem and Seto.
Quickly, his sister was at his side. She gripped the end of the cloth; she secured it so it wouldn't move further.
Tristan and Joey struggled to get the alabaster lid back into place. They huffed; sweat dripped from their brows.
"Wait!" Atem hurried; reaching inside, he pulled a blue sack from the coffin. Stepping back, he let the lid close shut once more.
"Move guys." Mokuba orders, pointing his controller in their direction. They barely made it off the platform before the glass walls emerged from the floor encasing the artifact once again.
"I do have a question. How are we gonna get her out of here without getting noticed?"
Mokuba growled. "Why do you always think of things after the fact!?"
Tristan raised both of his hands on defense. "Hey! I'm not the brains of this operation. I didn't think of it until now!"
"The emergency exit." Seto pointed to the door to the far end of the room. "Hurry while the cameras are still down." He ordered Marik.
"Will she wake up?" Tea asked as she dried her tears. She watched Marik disappeared through the door inside the room.
"I hope so." Atem knew she would. But would she be the same Azula or would the vast time being stuck in the Shadow Realm take a toll on her soul?
He silently prayed to the gods that she would be just as he remembered her.
TBC
SMOOCHES!