Chapter 19

Yugi awoke when he was dropped roughly onto an unyielding surface. His eyes flew open as something tugged at the Puzzle he still clasped to his chest -- and Pegasus hissed in pain, jerking his hand back from where he had tried to remove the Puzzle from Yugi's grasp.

"Well," Pegasus said sharply. "It appears the Puzzle likes you, Yugi-boy. I guess that means I'll be keeping you around a bit longer than anticipated."

He stepped back, allowing Yugi to see that they were in a different room, a chamber even more opulent than the last. Lanterns had been set around the perimeter of the room, and it seemed to glow golden in the light. There was an enormous sarcophagus, even larger than the first one and carved from a single block of black granite, at the center of the chamber. It was on this sarcophagus that the guard placed a still unconscious Yami.

"Good," Pegasus said. "Now, go and get the others. We need them for the soul sacrifice."

The guard nodded and disappeared through an opening in the wall. Watching, Yugi realized it was the 'false door' behind the ka statue -- not a false door at all, but a real one into the true burial chamber it concealed. Pegasus laughed at his expression.

"This is the actual final resting place of the Nameless Pharaoh." Pegasus lifted one of the lanterns so its light spilled over the golden statue of a goddess. "It is here we shall perform the final ritual."

Yugi shivered at the eager edge in the other man's voice. "What are you going to do to us?"

"Do not be sad, Mr. Mutou." The new voice was soft, feminine, and filled with a tranquility at odds with the situation.

Yugi's head jerked around to spot Isis Ishtar stepping through the open doorway. A tall, dour-faced man followed her. In his arms was a slight, unresponsive young man with a wild mass of honey-brown hair and blank, violet eyes.

"Miss Ishtar? You're a member of the cult, too?"

She offered a serene smile. "My family founded the cult. It was my ancestor who discovered this place and deciphered the mystery of the Millennium Items. For centuries, we sought the missing Items to reunite them with the Pharaoh who created them. Now, the time is finally at hand..."

Isis glided across the chamber to gaze down at Yami, lying so still on the top of the sarcophagus. He looked like an offering stretched out on a sacrificial altar. If Pegasus had his way, that's what Yami would become. Yugi was determined not to let that happen.

With surprising reverence, she brushed Yami's tousled hair back from his face. "He really is the living image of the Pharaoh." She sighed. "If only he had not rejected me, he could have ruled at my side."

The Puzzle bit into Yugi's palms as he clenched his hands into fists. "Get away from him!"

She turned to sneer at him, but the tall man interrupted. "Where should I place Lord Malik, Lady Isis?"

"Bring him here to the altar, Rashid." She helped him arrange the unresponsive boy at the foot of the granite box that housed the pharaoh's coffin.

Seeing Yugi's confusion, Pegasus said, "The boy is her younger brother. He has been in the state you see for six years, since a traumatic incident involving the death of their father."

"The Millennium Items -- and the Great Pharaoh's power -- will restore him to me," Isis said, straightening from where she had been adjusting Malik's jalabiya comfortably around him. There was an unshakable conviction in her voice that Yugi found disturbing.

"Indeed," Pegasus murmured. "As that power shall restore my beloved wife and our precious child to me."

Following Pegasus gaze, Yugi's eyes widened in horror. In a wooden, mummiform coffin propped up against the wall near the entrance rested the linen wrapped form of a woman, an infant-sized mummy tucked against her side. The mummies were obviously not antiquities. Yugi felt sick.

"My darling Cecelia..." Pegasus ran loving fingers over the bandage swathed face of the larger mummy. Human features were barely recognizable beneath the wrappings.

Horror rippled through Yugi. His stomach lurched and he shrank back from the sight before him. Had Pegasus mummified his dead wife and son himself?

As if he had heard the question, Pegasus continued, "I performed the ceremonies here, in the desert above. The hut served as my embalming tent. I removed the internal organs, and packed their abdominal cavities with linen and packages of natron. The desiccated organs, I placed in canopic jars formed of the finest alabaster to be watched over by the four Sons of Horus. The bodies I placed in natron for seventy days, then wrapped in pure white linen inscribed with protective spells and incantations. Then I brought them here, performed the Opening of the Mouth... Every day since that day, someone has made offerings of bread and incense and cool water for Cecelia's ka, and for that of our son."

Yugi swallowed hard, forcing down the bile that had risen in his throat. Pity warred with revulsion. "This is why you joined the cult. The death of your family..."

"It was an accident, you know." Pegasus one visible eye was clouded with memories. "I didn't see the cyclist until it was too late, and the car went out of control. When I awoke in the hospital…." Seeming lost in thought, he stroked the larger mummy's arm before shaking himself and continuing, "I have made all the correct preparations, performed all the spells. Now, my long wait is coming to an end. The Pharaoh's power will give me back my heart."

A sudden noise from the outer room, followed by a masculine shout and a woman's scream, grabbed their attention. Apparently, the others were awake and fighting back. Both Pegasus and Rashid rushed to the open doorway. Rashid dashed to the guard's aid. Pegasus took one look at whatever was happening in the other room and flung himself at something beside the door. He shoved at a certain point on the wall, and the door ground shut, sealing them in the burial chamber. He did something else to the mechanism beside the door, then looked smug.

"There," Pegasus said. "We won't be interrupted now."

Breathing hard, Isis nodded. "We must hurry. If Lieutenant Bahur manages to overcome the guards, he will bring reinforcements."

"Yes, we mustn't tarry," Pegasus agreed, hastening back to the makeshift altar. He stood beside the sarcophagus, one hand reaching down to retrieve a long, curved knife. "Come, Yugi. It is time for you to fulfill your destiny."

Yugi stood, paralyzed by the fear trip-hammering in his chest. His gaze was locked on the knife in Pegasus' hand as it hovered meaningfully over Yami's unconscious form. Isis moved gracefully around the 'altar', placing the Millennium Items around Yami's body. When she had laid all of the Items in place except for the Eye, and the Rod in her own hand, she hesitated.

"What are you doing?" Pegasus demanded.

She gave the Rod a sharp tug. It separated into two pieces, one of them a wicked-looking dagger. "The power of the Pharaoh belongs to the Ishtar family."

Pegasus stumbled back a hasty step. Then his expression hardened, and his own knife came up. "You double-crossing bitch! You never had any intention of keeping your part of the bargain."

Hers was the slow, liquid smile of a snake. "Neither did you."

"Of course not!" Pegasus laughed -- and the Millennium Eye flared with power. A heartbeat behind, the Millennium Rod matched it. They faced off, one at either end of the sarcophagus. Forgotten for the moment, Yugi dashed to Yami's side.

Lying atop the black granite sarcophagus, Yami was as still as the statue he resembled. Was he even alive? Yugi bit his lip, then pressed his ear to Yami's chest. He almost sobbed with relief when the strong beat sounded beneath his ear. He clutched at Yami, wrapping his arm around Yami's torso. In his other hand, the Millennium Puzzle was a solid, not-very-reassuring weight.

"Wake up, Yami! I need you to wake up now."

There was no response from Yami. What had Pegasus done to him? If it was same thing he'd done to Yugi and the others, why hadn't Yami awakened yet? Yugi shot a quick look at Isis and Pegasus. He could feel the magic raging between them, lifting the hair on his arms like the charged atmosphere before a storm. Even though the two had not moved, he did not doubt they were locked in some sort of magical combat.

He stroked his hand over Yami's cheek and jaw. "Please wake up. Please, Yami. I ...I don't want to lose you."

Fighting the fear that Yami might not wake in time -- or ever -- Yugi plastered his trembling body against Yami's. The Puzzle, trapped between them, dug into Yami's side. A golden explosion of light filled Yugi's vision.

--

"Please wake up. Please, Yami. I... I don't want to lose you."

Yami struggled to wake up, to respond. But something held his body in the lead grip of lethargy no matter how hard he fought it. His heart labored from the strain. Yugi needed him!

He felt Yugi's touch, felt his warm breath against his skin. He longed to put his arms around Yugi, to comfort and keep him safe.

And then he felt the sharp edge of something hard and metallic jabbing into his ribs. Heat flared from that point of contact. Agony raced like fire along his nerves. Images flooded through his mind in a confusion of color and sound, sensation and scent. His back arched off the cold stone beneath him as every muscle in his body spasmed.

Feeling as if his mind were shattering along with his body, Yami screamed.