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 11 – Fear
On another deck, Rishid opened the door into a stately suite, Yugi's luggage already present. Atemu crossed the room to admire the view out the wide portholes, his eyes finding the shores of his homeland there at the edge of the timeless Nile, mere meters it seemed from where he stood. Lost in thought, he flinched in mild surprise when Rishid asked, "Can I have anything brought for you, or for . . . eh, for Yugi?"
Atemu turned and shook his head with a small smile. "No, thank you very much, Rishid." Rishid bowed and withdrew, closing the door behind him, and Atemu shifted again to gaze out one of the circular windows.
Yugi emerged to manifest and stand by his partner's side. He confused Atemu a bit when he uttered a phrase in English. -/A penny for your thoughts?/-
Via Yugi's understanding of the foreign language, Atemu comprehended the individual words, and yet the comment did not quite make sense to him. Still, it accomplished what Yugi had intended when Atemu grinned as he cocked an eyebrow to his dear friend. "I'm sorry, Aibou – a what for my . . . ?"
Yugi laughed. -Ah, it basically means I'd be willing to pay to know what you're thinking.- He, too, had been gazing out a porthole, but he twisted slightly to glance up sidelong through blonde bangs.
Atemu allowed a chuckle of his own, honestly amused even as he tried to sound lighter than he truly felt, teasing, "Are my thoughts worth so little, Aibou? Or do you mean a coin other than the smallest denomination of the U.S. monetary system?"
Yugi shrugged. -It's an American saying. I don't know why they would offer so little.- He grinned again suddenly. -How about three thousand yen, then? One for each year since . . . - His voice trailed off as he realized that there was no sensitive way to refer to one's time of mortal death. He turned back to gaze out the window, embarrassed and regretful that he had brought it up.
Atemu thought he remembered the conversion formula from one of Yugi's math classes in school. Still teasing, he pointed out, "That would still only work out to about twenty-six U.S. dollars – though that is twenty-six-hundred times better than that original penny you offered."
Yugi only shrugged sheepishly, grinning as a hand went to the back of his head. -Well, I guess something's better than nothing, right? Besides, Grandpa and I forgot to handle my paycheck for this month before we left home, what with the rush to get here and all.-
"And what use has a spirit for money, anyway?" Atemu queried. He shook his head with another laugh, even more genuine this time at the absurd thought.
They stood in silence for a moment longer before Yugi ventured, -So . . . what are you thinking about, Nakama?-
Atemu all but held his breath as he formulated an answer. Brotherly instincts had long kicked in, and he did not want to unduly scare or worry Yugi, but he did owe his partner full understanding what it was they would face. He could put on a brave front for the others, but he could only hide so much from Yugi. Leaning forward to brace against the sill of the porthole, Atemu relented briefly to the trembling he had fought until now to deny. His chin tucked, eyes closing, and his voice was a little rough as he admitted, "I am . . . a-afraid, Aibou. Deliberately, I have not given the others much detail on Zorc and his race. Having just a hint of his vile strength and ferocity is enough to turn anyone's blood cold. I almost could not defeat him before. To be honest, I didn't – not truly. I only held him at bay . . . and he is by no means the most powerful of his kind."
- . . . Nakama . . . -
Atemu punched the wall next to the porthole in fright-born aggravation and despair. "HOW! How do I defeat him? His power is greater than mine ever was. We have all the Millennium Items again but not enough people to wield them. I have no doubt Kaiba and Grandpa will reclaim the Rod and the Key. I have – we have," he corrected with reluctance, "the Millennium Puzzle . . . but that still leaves four Items unattended. From his long association with the thief's spirit, Bakura might be able to manage the Ring, if any of that expertise leaked through their bond . . . but, no. I cannot – I will not – ask such a thing of Bakura. He has suffered enough as it is." Atemu heaved a deep sigh, his mind run hopelessly out of options. "No one else is trained to properly use the heka of the Millennium Items! To even attempt to do so would incinerate the one who tries, his soul literally combusting from the inside out! I know . . . I witnessed it once, when I was much younger." Atemu shook his head, shuddering at the terrible memory. "Now we leave known territory altogether, journeying to another land I only heard tales of in lessons from my tutors of old, and would never have believed in at all if not for the fact of a talking snake!"
Atemu turned then to face fully his partner. "Yugi, I do not know all the specifics, but Pegasus was right when he said that there was an evil power and intelligence hidden within the Millennium Items. The intention with which they were created was for Good, to protect the kingdom from her powerful enemies . . . but by nature, the Millennium Items harbor a great and terrible Evil. My father, Pharaoh Akh-khnum-ka-nen, authorized the creation of the Items as described in an arcane spellbook no one could read until one of his High Priests stepped forth saying that he could decipher it – the same one who would later betray me." Atemu scowled darkly for a moment before continuing. "The kingdom was under such threat of falling to darkness that, after some debate, my father permitted the priest to perform the ritual that would forge the mystical artifacts. What my father did not know . . . was that the ritual demanded the blood sacrifices of ninety-nine human lives."
-S-sacrifice!- Yugi gasped, appalled.
Atemu nodded, momentarily at a loss for words. "F-father . . . when my father found out what he had authorized, it horrified him. In fact, it devastated him so much that it . . . it killed him. He had such an incredible heart for his land and his people. That, if nothing else, is the one thing I remember of my father – his love. He fell ill and . . . That was a little over four years ago – or rather, four years before Zorc. As I mentioned earlier, I was twelve."
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Yugi waited in empathizing silence for Atemu to gather his thoughts again, pushing back the grief of a loss of his own suddenly brought to the fore with Atemu's talk of his father. What a coincidence, Yugi could not help thinking. He had been seven when he lost his father to lethal illness – not exactly the same age, but still . . .
"My father and the six priests he elected to be Item Wielders with him used the artifacts with the intention of Good, for peace and justice . . . but that was not their base purpose. Their creation together was so that they could be keys in unlocking Zorc from his prison in the Afterworld, who then could turn around and free the rest of his kind. The means to do so must have been destroyed back in my time, and so he has returned to Egypt's sister, which is where I think he hailed from originally, before he was sealed in the Afterworld by the gods." Atemu glanced sidelong at his partner in something akin to apology, and shrugged. "Or that's the story my mentors told me. I remember now hearing of the mythical battle between Usir and Zorc, before Setekh killed him." Yugi frowned at him in some confusion. More and more, Atemu had started flip-flopping between modern and ancient names and references ever since the trip to the museum. He could guess and follow them most of the time – he knew "Seti" was Kaiba and "Si-Amun" his grandpa – but there were some instances when Atemu lost him altogether.
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Atemu knew that he kept slipping, using words his partner could not possibly know, and it reminded him all the more that he did not belong to this time and place. "Sorry, Aibou. You would know them by the names they . . . " He thought for a moment, trying to remember the books he had read on late nights from time to time, after Yugi had finished homework and let the spirit take control to learn more of his own country's rich history. "The names of the gods as they are known now must have come out of the later Greek influence, several centuries after my lifetime. The names themselves sound like they are Greek in origin, at any rate." He refocused. "Osiris and Set. Anyway, stories already ancient when I was a child tell of a conflict between the great Usir – that is, Osiris – and a malevolent beast from the Place Beyond that tried to destroy Ma'at, the Order of Creation. Usir imprisoned him in Duat, the Afterworld or the Underworld, depending on how you choose to translate that. They refer to the same place."
He thought again for a moment. "Do you remember the Door that Seti men– " He caught himself and sighed. "Sorry, Aibou – that Kaiba mentioned having been moved to my tomb?" Yugi nodded. "I do not know what has become of the original portal. It was in my palace in the capital, Waset . . . eh, 'Thebes' is the name the later Greeks gave it, if I'm not mistaken. We haven't time to excavate my palace." Atemu's tone kept his tone matter-of-fact even as he knew that Yugi had shared his heart and soul for too long to miss the wince of quiet grief and inexpressible loss. Atemu pulled a breath and plowed on. "I remember seeing the Door Kaiba mentioned when Shada and I were in the shrine in Kul Elna. It's the Door through which the thief released Zorc. I have been thinking about that. Kaiba and I – Seti and I – may be able to, eh, 're-magic' the Door, shift its mystical focus from the Underworld to Reirinsei. I remember some of the spells scribed on the original portal. And then . . . " Atemu's voice trailed off, the trembling threatening to overtake him once again as his mind returned to the task before him.
Yugi placed an ethereal hand over Atemu's, where both gripped the porthole frame once again. A small gasp escaped Atemu, amethyst snapping to amethyst. Yugi managed a smile, mentally gathering in the wisps of doubt, uncertainty and fear that leaked from Atemu's control to curl down their bond. -It's okay, Nakama. It's all right to be afraid. You wouldn't be human if you weren't. But you're not alone. You don't have to face him alone. You have all of us.-
Atemu's chin tucked further, unsuccessful in his attempts to turn aside the memory of overwhelming hate, rage, cruelty and raw power that had flowed from the demon, or his own helpless terror in the face of it. At the time, everything had happened so fast. The thief managed to gather all seven Items, placed them in the Millennium Stone that had forged them, and freed Zorc – and wound up giving his life in the process and finding himself imprisoned in the Millennium Ring, the first Item he had secured when he killed Mahaad, and therefore bonded with from the start. Atemu and his priests and soldiers had already long been in battle-mode when Zorc made his appearance. There was no time for fear or questioning, for doubt or uncertainty, only for action. Reaction would have to wait until later.
Later was now. Atemu knew full well what he faced and had the time, too much time, to dwell on that knowledge. He was deathly frightened. He could not deny that. He could turn the questions aside in a group, focus on the more immediate concerns – getting to the tomb, navigating the traps, casting the spells – but in the quiet, alone but for Yugi, he could not escape the horror that had been threatening to overtake him since yesterday when a supernatural earthquake had thrown him to the ground like a rag doll. Nothing in the past two years – the foes, the Duels, the Shadow Games – nor even anything in his ancient training as the talented young sorcerer he once had been . . . none of his knowledge and experience to date amounted to the skill and power he would need if he truly thought to have a chance against that ancient force of pure demonic Evil. And his friends . . .
"I'm afraid I am only leading you and the others to certain death, Aibou, that – " His words choked off.
Yugi slipped ghostly arms around his own body and his closest friend's shuddering spirit. -We don't know that, Nakama. Let's just get to Reirinsei, first. Then we can re-evaluate the situation. Everything will be all right. We'll see this through, just like we always have.-
Atemu forced himself to relax even as he appreciated the astral arms that embraced him. "I've lost everyone I know and love once already, Yugi. I . . . couldn't bear to go through that pain again."
Yugi just held him tighter, having no answer, as Atemu relented for a time to the emotions he had fought to hide now for too long.
Author's Notes: Please be sure to check my bio page for any updates, etc. Thanks!