Disclaimer –"Yu-Gi-Oh!" and all related characters, events, and concepts belong to Takahashi Kazuki and any other related owners/distributors/producers. The world of Reirinsei and all related characters and concepts belong to Lunnaei. Dragon's just havin' fun. We get no monetary benefit from this. Our benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters."

Otherworld I: The Door"
by Lunnaei and DragonDancer5150

Chapter 6 – Grief

For an instant, Yugi feared that he had been stricken blind. Then, three points of golden light began to glow softly in the deep, cold darkness – the Puzzle, Key, and Rod. Yugi picked himself up off the ground, turning to help his grandfather as Jonouchi groaned and sat up. "Anyone get the number'a that bus?"

"Small fry," Kaiba muttered out of irritated reflex as he pulled himself to his knees.

The glow of the Items slowly gained in strength. "Whoa . . . !" Jonouchi breathed in awe at the vastness of the chamber. "Hey, Yugi, where are we?"

For himself, Yugi was not sure. He had expected that they would be transported to the room of the spirit's soul, hidden within the ethereal energies of the Puzzle. He had been there before, but it had not looked like this. The room had been built of stone and had a distinct Egyptian flair to what little décor was to be had, but that was where the similarities ended. Whereas the room before had appeared to be constructed by an architect from the school of M.C. Escher, this had none of the countless doorways and stairways that ran in every which direction imaginable. The foursome lay near one end of a single, wide room, with faded murals painted on the walls. There were a number of enormous columns along the walls as well, some having fallen over among other debris that littered the broken floor from a largely collapsed ceiling, open to a black and starless sky. The group crouched behind one such great column, blocking much of the room from immediate view. Yugi walked along to its end where he could see more of the chamber's ground level. Far across from him, the floor was raised up as a low dais that stretched from wall to wall, had to be some ten to fifteen feet deep and perhaps four feet high. At the center between two worn yet majestic blocks carven-and-painted with cobras and Eyes of Horus stood a high-backed throne crested with a winged disk. A narrow stair joined the floor proper to the level of the platform and the throne. The entire room felt ancient, cold and distant, broken and abandoned. The sensation hung in the air as a nearly palpable cloud of disconsolate devastation, and the new occupants shuddered under its oppression.

"The royal throne room . . . or what's left of it," Kaiba murmured in response to Jonouchi's question as he and the others joined Yugi at the end of the massive column, but Yugi barely heard him. His mind was just taking in the enormity of the change in scenery when he registered one detail that literally had not been there a heartbeat ago. As if in response to his silent question, a lithe human figure lay half-curled on the stairs before the throne, looking and feeling very small and insignificant in the vastness of the chamber and the darkness of the heart that remembered it. A once-majestic cloak of royal blue flared over and behind the slender body, the tattered remains still managing to cover much of its owner from view. Beneath, linens that previously had been pure white were darkly stained, the edges ragged. Tarnished gold bands glinted dully from the figure's visible arm and around both shins, the once-white slippers on his feet scuffed and worn. His face was hidden, buried in his folded arms, the hue of his skin bronzed as dark as Shadi's, but there was no mistaking the thick red-black hair that crowned him. The terrible grief emanating from the lone, noble figure threatened to crush them under its weight.

Yugi choked, stricken to the core at the sight and the storm of inexpressible emotions that he could feel radiating from the spirit. "M-my Other Self, no!" He dashed across the room, heedless of the broken, uneven floor.

"Oh, great Pharaoh – !" Sugoroku moaned, following a mere step behind, Jonouchi and Kaiba on his heels.

Yugi dropped to his knees by the pharaoh's head and gasped at what he saw. The spirit looked as though he had been in an appalling battle, covered in dirt and blood, much of the latter quite possibly his own. He made not a sound but bitter tears streamed unheeded down his cheek, his shoulders shaking with repressed sobs. Out of the corner of his eye, Yugi vaguely registered his grandfather start to approach and Jonouchi catch him with a shake of the head. This was Yugi's place.

Yugi breathed, "Nakama." Very gently, he placed a hand on the spirit's arm. The pharaoh gave a violent gasp and pulled away, eyes snapping up to his in a wild moment of defensiveness, terror and rejection, and Yugi flinched away from the impressions that pounded out at him for just an instant from those deep pools of amethyst.

The spirit relaxed slightly when he realized that he was not in immediate danger, then slowly registered whom it was who had managed to sneak up on him in his moment of weakness. In something akin to disbelief, he reached out a trembling, blood-stained hand to touch Yugi's face. "A-ai . . . bou . . . ?" The word came out a broken, whispered croak.

Yugi forced a grin of reassurance, the dirty, battered face before him blurred by his own tears. "Yup. It's me, Nakama. I'm here. Y-you're going to be okay. N-no, you are okay," he asserted, correcting himself with a shake of his head.

The spirit dropped his face into his hands, moaning, "N-no, I . . . am not okay . . ." Realizing that he had spoken the confession aloud, he seemed to come to himself and began to clean his face of wetness, pulling himself more upright. It was unbecoming to be seen so, even by –

Yugi shook his head again. He knew that it was unhealthy to bury and deny one's grief, regardless of station in life. Pulling the spirit's hands from his face, Yugi shifted himself closer and wrapped his arms around the spirit. The pharaoh fought the gesture but only for an instant, then collapsed gratefully into his aibou's shoulder, releasing the inconsolable sobs of his wounded heart, hands clutching at Yugi's shirt. Yugi wept with him. He could not imagine what had so completely shattered his partner's immovable calm like this, but he did not need to know, not yet. It was enough for him for now that he could be here to comfort his friend.

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The spirit let himself sob for a long moment, grateful for the earnest release of all that pent-up grief and fear. The others held their peace until the tears began to slow and quiet down. Finally, Sugoroku could contain himself no longer. "Pharaoh . . . !" He dropped down by Yugi's side.

The spirit shifted reluctantly, pushing back from Yugi and wiping his face again before meeting his former vizier's eyes. With an infinitely-weary chuckle, he murmured, "I know, I know, Si-Amun. This is no way for the living representation of the gods to behave – " His words cut off with a startled gasp as Sugoroku hauled him into an embrace.

"Oh, protocol be damned, my boy! You were always as a son to me, and we are no longer in Egypt." His voice trembled with his own tears. "I-It's been you with my grandson this whole time. I didn't remember . . . "

The young pharaoh's voice shook as the tears threatened to fall anew, and he clutched back at his beloved advisor. "Y-you died . . . I couldn't save you. Si-Amun, I couldn't . . . all my power wasn't enough. I-I couldn't defeat him. I wasn't strong enough. I-I . . . failed."

"No," a voice countered quietly, firmly, "you succeeded, Pharaoh, and saved both the kingdom and countless lives with your sacrifice."

Sitting back, the pharaoh looked up. "S-seti . . . "

Kaiba nodded, his eyes as soft as the spirit had ever seen them. "The kingdom – your people – were saved that day. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I will not allow it!" he added with a smirk that hinted at something deeper and very personal. He offered the spirit his hand.

The young pharaoh grinned and accepted, letting his former high priest pull him to his feet. He studied Kaiba for a long moment, then noticed Jonouchi's presence at last. "Jonouchi-kun, my friend . . . " With a smile of weary gladness, he held up his hand.

"Glad to have ya back, buddy," Jonouchi nodded with a lopsided grin, accepting the hand in a Duelist's clasp. He looked the spirit up and down, then laughed, "So this's what'cha actually look like, huh? Heh, you really do look just like Yugi, like his older brother or somethin' – with a heck of a tan!"

The spirit looked down at his clothing and allowed himself a rueful chuckle. "Eh, yes and no, Jonouchi." He met the eyes of his former high priest and vizier, sharing a private humor with them. "I . . . I'm usually a little . . . tidier than this."

Jonouchi shrugged. "Eh, no worries. You're among friends, right?"

Yugi laughed. "That's right, Nakama! You don't need to impress us."

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Jonouchi hesitated a moment, reading the same thoughts in Yugi's eyes as he himself entertained, but he could see that Yugi could not bring himself to speak them, afraid of hurting his partner by asking him to remember what obviously had been a traumatic event. Ah, well, nuts – someone had to. Jonouchi might as well be the bad guy. Clearing his throat, he ventured, "So . . . what happened back then, anyway?"

He watched the spirit's eyes darken at that and, after a brief hesitation, the spirit shook his head. "The others are waiting outside, aren't they? Let's go. I will explain everything out there so that . . . I don't have to repeat myself."

Author's Notes: Please be sure to check my bio page for any updates, etc. Thanks!