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 7 – In the Name of the King

The corpse sinks to the floor.
The vessel becomes sand, becomes dust.
Even the brightest gold, even the sharpest sword
Is wrapped in the sheath of time.
Woe to the Pharaoh, for his body lacks even his name.
This is the battlefield of souls.
I cry the song of battle, the song of a friend.
To the place far away where souls meet -
Guide him.

The "Pert Kertu" – a prayer for the dead, as scribed on a funerary stone
for the Nameless Pharaoh by his successor, cousin, and friend,
the sorcerer High Priest Seti

"Ah! Hey, guys, they're waking up." Anzu pulled the others' attention back to the four unconscious forms. They had expected the blackouts, but it had worried them when, a moment later, it seemed as though Yugi were crying in his sleep.

Kaiba, Sugoroku, and Jonouchi were already sitting up by the time Yugi began to stir. Before his eyes were open, they could just hear him whisper under his breath, "No, they need to know you're okay." There was the briefest of pauses before he groaned, curling suddenly on his side with an arm up over his face as though the light of the room was too bright. Then, he sat up and met the collection of questioning gazes. "Ah . . . yo," the spirit murmured almost sheepishly. "I'm sorry to have worried you."

"Hey, Yugi! Welcome back!" Honda pulled him to his feet.

"Honda-kun!" Anzu admonished, her tone severe. "That's not his name!" She looked meaningfully at the necklace hung just above the Millennium Puzzle.

In curiosity, the spirit dropped his gaze to the cartouche, surprised that it was no longer blank. "Who . . . ?" He cupped it up in hand for closer inspection.

Bakura shook his head. "No one. The Puzzle flashed a second time when you returned, and that was just on there."

The spirit looked at the faces around him, reading the same thoughts, the same questions echoed over and over again, but no one could bring himself to be the one to voice them. What did the cartouche say? Was it his name? What was his name? What had happened all those ages ago? He looked back down at the cartouche, and his fingers closed around it, gripping so tightly that the corners of the pedestal base bit into the flesh of his palm. He looked past his friends at the two stone murals, noticing something on the ground before them. There were three somethings, in fact, the three Egyptian God cards. He pushed to his feet and closed the distance to the murals. The rest pulled in around him as he bent to reclaim the cards.

"Hey, Y-yugi – ?" Mokuba ventured, his voice hesitant with the knowledge that it was the wrong name to use.

The spirit gave Mokuba a reassuring grin before turning to Kaiba. "You carved these, didn't you? I can feel your . . . heka, your magic, in them."

Kaiba nodded. "I did, less than a week later. I knew that one day you would return, and you would need something to guide you."

The spirit smiled to himself, then turned to the rest of the group. "Kaiba was once a sorcerer, one of the most powerful in the kingdom – "

"Second only to you," Kaiba interrupted with a tone between annoyance and genuine respect.

The spirit gave a low laugh. "Without you, I would not have had to push to get to the level I was."

"There could not be anyone who surpassed the pharaoh in power."

"You nearly did time and again."

"Nearly," Kaiba grunted, tone sour. Then, he sighed, letting it go. "It was inevitable, I guess. You were the son of the pharaoh, his only child. Eventually, you would take the throne – "

"Whereas you were free to do and become whatever you pleased," the spirit countered with the same tone of quiet jealousy. His gaze had not left the mural but at that, he turned and met Kaiba's eyes. "I really was glad for you when Father appointed you to the position of High Priest, especially at such a young age. You had more than earned it."

"Father?" Jonouchi chimed in.

The spirit nodded. "Pharaoh Akh-khnum-ka-nen. He appointed all six of the High Priests who bore the other Millennium Items. When the previous wielder died, High Priest Seti was chosen to be the new bearer of the Millennium Rod . . . which I see you have reclaimed," he added with a grin of mild humor. He nearly laughed when he saw Kaiba realize that it was in his hand, as though he had been so accustomed to its weight and feel in his grip that he had been completely unaware of having it.

Shadi had kept himself apart from the group during this entire exchange, but curiosity overrode his sense of privacy at last. "Great Pharaoh." The spirit turned to see Shadi knelt with his head touching the ground as befitted a servant addressing him. He found that it bothered him as before it never had. "Son of Ra, will you bless us with understanding of what happened three thousand years ago?"

Breaths were held as the spirit frowned at the question, horrific memories playing through his mind. He passed a hand over his face and drew a deep breath. His gaze found Bakura's only briefly, and he decided that there was no need to connect the boy to his ancient self's part in the tale. His eyes found Kaiba's and Sugoroku's, and they nodded. The bastard who started the whole war would remain anonymous in the present. "The story is a long one. Basically, there was a thief who tried to get his hands on all seven Millennium Items, although he was usurped by one of my own priests who succumbed to the lure of fell power promised by the dark force the thief had sought to release. That dark force was a creature called a Tervai, a greater demon, by the name of Zorc Necrophades." Even as he spoke the name, he could not completely suppress a shudder of horror. "He was also a so-called Shadow Master, and he sought the subjugation of all living things to him and his race. The doorway to do that was through Egypt and through the sorcerers of the Pharaoh – and the Millennium Items." Subconsciously, the spirit folded his arms in an effort to control the trembling he could feel beginning to overtake him and, for a long moment, he fell silent, struggling even still to come to grips with what had happened. He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue, feeling gentle consolation from Yugi within his heart.

He looked back up at Kaiba as he realized, "You must have been the only survivors – you and High Priestess Isis and . . . and Mahaad's apprentice, Mana." Kaiba only nodded. The spirit grinned softly as another thought occurred to him. "You must have succeeded me, too . . . " Again, Kaiba merely nodded, his face drawn and weary. The spirit gave his arm a supportive squeeze, then sighed as he turned to continue his narrative. "Th-the final battle . . . I don't know how many lives were lost . . . too many. My entire army fell – and most of my priests . . . Mahaad, Kalim, Shada . . . my eldest priest had already betrayed me." He did not speak the man's name. He would not, as the man had lost the honor of having a name when he acted against the pharaoh, his god-on-earth. Then, the spirit he caught Kaiba's eyes again as he corrected himself. "Betrayed us both." Kaiba seemed to stop breathing for just an instant, violent emotions crossing his visage in succession too rapid to follow. At length, he only swallowed and gave another, single nod.

The spirit continued. "Si-Amun used the Millennium Key to unlock his ka beast Exodia, the Forbidden One . . . but even that one's great strength was not enough and his defeat . . . killed Si-Amun." The spirit would not meet Sugoroku's eyes, and the elderly gentleman laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. The spirit drew another shuddering breath before going on. "Those of us still standing were utterly spent. I knew that there was one spell left that I could cast. It was one my father himself had taught me, the most powerful of binding seals known among the spellcasters of the kingdom. One of Father's favorite sayings was that 'Justice is in the name of the king.' There were many ways to apply meaning to that – heh, and he taught me all of them – but one way was that a person's true name holds a power within it, a great power even if the individual is not a spellcaster. Because of my bloodline and training in the Arts, he knew that my name had power greater than anyone else's in the kingdom. He always told me to guard it well. I . . . I can't help but wonder if he foresaw Zorc's threat and knew that he would not live to face it himself. I think Mahaad tried to tell me something along those lines."

"Mahaad?" Honda prompted.

The spirit paused, then chuckled softly to himself and pulled out his and Yugi's Duel deck from the ever-present case on the back of his hip. He found one card in particular and gazed at it a long moment. "Monsters were once very real. Many were created by the hearts of the people, by their ka or spiritual energy. Mahaad's ka beast did not have a face, only glowing eyes in a shadowy cowl . . . until the day he tried to make up for perceived shortcomings by trying to take on the thief alone, without any backup." The hand not holding the Deck balled into a fist as the spirit glared at the figure on the top card in a new swell of grief. "So foolish, Mahaad! You should never – !" He caught himself. "I understand why you did it, but . . . " He sighed. "I'm not sure exactly what he did, but I've heard of a great spell that spirit sorcerers can cast, combining their ka with their ba or eternal soul. When the stone slab was brought before me, it held a stylized depiction of Mahaad's Magus of Illusion, though it was now different somehow in appearance. It's . . . amazing, really, how Pegasus could happen to capture an exact likeness of a person from only stylized carvings." He turned the card out for the others to look at the face. "His hair was originally brown but . . . meet High Priest Mahaad, spirit sorcerer and bearer of the Millennium Ring." The card he held out for inspection was his signature Dark Magician.

Only gasps of shock initially answered his revelation. No one knew quite what to say. Even in his heart, the spirit could feel Yugi's surprise as well as empathetic grief for his loss. The spirit smiled inwardly, returning a sensation of reassurance. "Pegasus did not include it in his artwork, but there was an epitaph on the stone slab."

Sugoroku nodded. "'Pharaoh, my soul is your eternal servant'."

"Wow," Bakura breathed. "Well, that explains why you're so well known for the card. Dark Magician's rare but not unique, and yet, it's almost as though you're the only one who has ever played one."

"Big-Brother!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Is it true? What about your Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"

Pain shot through Kaiba's eyes and he did not respond right away, but finally muttered a single word through a throat too tight to cooperate properly. " . . . Kisara . . ." From the look on his face, no one wanted to question further for the moment.

Anzu hesitated before prodding softly, "So, what about your name? You were telling us about a spell – ?"

Jonouchi nodded. "Yeah! Whatever happened ta that Zorc Necrophiliac?"

Kaiba shuddered and shot him a glare. "That's 'Necrophades', you idiot!"

The spirit either ignored or was too distracted to catch the unintentional play-on-words. He had put the Duel Deck away and held the Millennium Puzzle cupped up in both hands, tracing the seams along one side face with his thumb. "I had never understood why the Pharaoh's Item was the 'Millennium Weight,' an artifact in the form of an inverted-pyramid puzzle that was never broken down." He laughed suddenly, remembering, "My father was so angry when he caught me trying to take it apart one night when I was little. He said that it was never to be disassembled unless it was not meant to be put back together ever again. I never understood its purpose until he bequeathed it to me on his deathbed. The greatest function of the Millennium Weight, the Millennium Puzzle . . . is that it's a supernatural prison. An entity bound within the Puzzle can only be released if the Puzzle is whole, for one thing, and the Puzzle itself has a say over who can solve it."

The spirit drew a long, shuddering breath, gaze locked on the mystical artifact in his hands. "The greater Tervai demon Zorc Necrophades is locked away deep in the mystical space of this Puzzle, behind a seal created by my name and powered by the sacrifice of my ka, my life energies, so that my ba is bound to the Puzzle . . . as his guardian, I guess," the spirit added ruefully. "When I cast the spell, I knew that it would require my life. I just didn't know that I would be joining him myself." He looked up suddenly, meeting the eyes of his dear friends, and added, "Not that I regret that! Please do not mistake me. I would not have met all of you if my ba had been allowed to pass on. I just . . . I'm not sure what I am supposed to do from here."

Jonouchi laughed and chucked him on the arm. "Ah, c'mon! That's easy – ya stick around with us!"

"Heh, yeah," Honda rejoined with a grin. "I doubt Yugi'd mind sharing space in there with you for however much longer." Anzu just grinned, tears touching her eyes.

The spirit paused to listen to the joyful, enthusiastic voice in his heart, then chuckled, "No, Aibou says that he doesn't mind at all."

"Ah, got it." Bakura gave a self-congratulatory nod, seeming only half aware of the current conversation. At the questioning looks, he commented, "Oh! I'm sorry. I've been listening, but I've also been trying to remember my hieroglyphics. My dad taught me to read ancient Egyptian. I can read the cartouche. I know your name!" he beamed happily. "It's Atemu!"

As if in response, the massive rumble of an earthquake suddenly shook the museum to its foundation, and the spirit sensed something shatter deep within the Millennium Puzzle.

"No. Mighty Ra, have mercy – n-no . . . !"

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