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 14 – The Tombkeepers

Eleven living bodies and one startled spirit tumbled into an unceremonious heap on a chill stone floor. Atemu was the first to pull himself from the pile, shivering violently as he stood up and stepped out from the bottom through the bodies of some of his friends. Urgh! he thought. The sensation of my energy pattern passing through solid material . . . Another shudder ran through him as if for good measure.

"NYARGH!" Jonouchi complained simultaneously, a rampant tremor wracking him. He gave Atemu a reproachful look. "Dude, don't do that to a guy!"

"Y-yeah! T-that was . . . Brrr!" Mokuba agreed. Ishizu wore a delicate grimace, while Yugi just gave Atemu a sheepish grin before he turned with a murmur of thanks to Rishid who, with Honda and Malik, was starting to help people back to their feet. Kaiba scowled as he steadied a blinking Anzu before retrieving his Rod and briefcase, and Bakura nearly tripped on the Key as he tried to get to his feet, but Sugoroku caught him. Someone's hiking pack had come partly unfastened as well, spilling a bundle of toiletries. Jonouchi groaned dramatically and set to retrieving them. Yugi, of course, helped.

Atemu rubbed a sensation like gooseflesh from his arms. [My apologies, my friends. If it's any consolation, that wasn't pleasant for me, either!] Pushing the teeth-gritting experience from his mind, he turned to take in the sight of this, the deepest and most sacred chamber.

Torches burning in sconces lined the walls, the rest of the chamber lit by braziers on poles standing in strategic locations throughout. Thick, decorated columns stood in two rows, dividing the place in unequal thirds stretching away from them, the center aisle wider than the outer two. Most immediately, however, the group had landed at the foot of a relatively modest structure, but one that took their whole attention in an instant. A squat obelisk stood centered between the nearest-most pillars, barely a meter tall and about half that per side in width. The pyramid at the crown was surfaced in smooth, gold leaf. The rest was gleaming white stone, in contrast to the yellow-brown of the rest of the tomb, the bottom third carved in rows of hieroglyphs, while single rows framed the upper portion on either side of a dominant panel. In that panel was carved a single image.

"I-it's . . . a cartouche," Bakura breathed. "A-an empty one."

Kaiba was scowling in confusion. "It wasn't blank when I carved it."

"It is empty, yes," sounded a voice from ahead and yet all around. "Has been since you spoke the name on its face, Bakura Ryou."

[Shadi.] Atemu grunted in no little amount of exasperation as the group surged around the memorial to take in the rest of the chamber.

"Gods," Honda complained. "You again?"

Two successive raised platforms dominated the rest of the central space from the obelisk to the far wall, the latter a bit higher than the closer. A massive panel decorated the wall between abutting columns, with stepped crosspieces framing the top edge – a doorway not unlike the one behind the Puzzle's altar at the end of the stone bridge. This one had rows of hieroglyphs carved down its seamed halves, with a stylized Horus Eye in a single, sizable frame at the center. In the middle of the larger, closer dais stood Shadi in front of a wide, flat structure on the ground. "It gladdens my heart to see that you have all made it here safely – and so quickly. You are to be commended."

Jonouchi snarled. "An' you are to be throttled for – ?" He stopped in surprise as Atemu put his arm out across his friend, a silent request for him to hold his peace.

Ishizu stepped forward. "Shadi, am I to understand that you are here to help us open the door to the Otherworld, then?"

"I am. What the Pharaoh Atemu and Pharaoh Seti lack in memory from their training as sorcerers to accomplish this task, I will attempt to make up." He grinned almost sheepishly, shrugging. "I can make no guarantee that I will be of much help, nor that this will work at all, but your plan is as sound as anyone has been able to devise."

Malik nodded. "As soon as Shadi returned to tell us what had happened, all the family heads of the entire clan pulled together for an emergency council. In the end, they decided that the best course of action would be for a small company of people to go through this portal, altered to go to Reirinsei rather than the Underworld and, from there, enlist the help of the native inhabitants against the threat to their world and ours."

Anzu frowned. "So why are we here?"

At that, none of the Tombkeepers would meet the others' eyes, not even Shadi. Atemu nodded in understanding, though he could not completely hide the tremor of terror that shuddered through his slim frame. Still, his voice was steady when he spoke. [We are the ones in possession of the Millennium Items . . . and it was my doing to release Zorc to begin with, by pursuing my lost memories. I am the one who sealed him the first time, so it is my responsibility to go after him and finish what I started.] He managed a very small grin at his aibou when Yugi laid a gentle, supportive hand on his ethereal arm.

Bakura swallowed in fear but asserted, "Not alone, Atemu-sama." Atemu saw him and Yugi exchange looks and fortifying nods, then turn and share nods with the others, unifying behind his lead. He could only pray that history would not repeat itself . . . or worse.

Ishizu spoke up before any others could further comment. "That is . . . part of it, my pharaoh. The responsibility is not yours alone. You could not have known. Still, you are right that the council has decided to entrust this matter into your company's hands, if only because you are in possession of all seven Millennium Items now."

Malik's hands tightened into fists. "But not just you guys. Rishid, Ishizu and I are going as well. It's the least we can do for all the trouble we . . . the trouble I've caused."

"No, you are not going with them, Malik."

Malik glared at Shadi. "What? Why not?"

"Because only seven will pass this door. Pharaoh Atemu and Mutou Yugi count as one. Six will accompany them, one for each of the remaining six Millennium Items." His cool, blue eyes met those of Jonouchi, Anzu, Honda, Sugoroku, Bakura, and Kaiba.

Atemu found himself wondering what that might mean down the road, recalling his conversation with Yugi on the riverboat, but he kept his silence . . . for now.

Malik began to protest anew, and his siblings with him, but Mokuba beat them to it. "What? But that means . . . I can't go, either! Big-Brother – ?" He stopped when Kaiba turned to him, the expression in his brother's eyes startling him into silence.

"Mokuba, don't be ridiculous. I have never intended to take you beyond this point. Had Malik and the others not met us at the airport, I would have had you go back with the plane. Ishizu, I . . . " He hesitated, but he had no choice. "I . . . entrust Mokuba into yours and your brothers' care. I will return for him. On my honor, you have my word."

Shadi frowned. "Have a care, Kaiba Seto. Do not make promises you do not know you will be able to keep."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed dangerously as he turned back to Shadi, his glower alone enough to demand explanation.

Shadi was not cowed, his gaze turning once again to take in the whole company at once. "Make no mistake, my friends. You are not journeying from one city to another, nor even one country to another. You are leaving this world for another one altogether, and none here have any way of bringing you back. If possible, the Ishtahls and I, and the rest of our clan with us, will hold open the door and guard it, but should it come under any kind of assault, or if our resources should deplete, we will be forced to close it and may not be able to reopen it, though we will of course do everything within our power to try. Understand now, however, what you are getting yourselves into before you commit yourselves to the point of no return."

Yugi shook his head, glancing at Atemu. "Thank you, Shadi-san, but I think we've already reached that point. Regardless of the consequences, we have to do this. We can't leave Zorc Necrophades loose in that world, both for Reirinsei's sake and because he could return to our own, maybe with reinforcements."

"There are more of his kind out there," Sugoroku put in, his voice low, "and I've little doubt he intends to release them, just as he would have three thousand years ago, had he had the chance."

Kaiba gripped his briefcase in one hand and the Rod in the other, both fists turning white at the knuckles, eyes hollow as a faint shiver wracked his tall, lithe frame at the memories. Beside him, Jonouchi, Anzu, Bakura, and Honda could not know what those memories were, but Atemu watched them shudder and exchange looks, no doubt acutely aware that they would learn firsthand for themselves all too soon. Atemu gripped his aibou's shoulders, both offering and seeking comfort, as Yugi wrapped his arms around his chest, trembling despite his brave façade.

Shadi studied them for a moment longer, his eyes betraying more compassion than they had before. "My friends," he said after a moment, voice quiet, "your quest to this chamber was a long one, and the adventure before you even longer. Take the time now to rest as much as you can. Over there, you will find blankets for warmth and refreshments for nourishment."

Atemu turned and noticed for the first time that his group was not the only one in the chamber. A handful of dark-skinned men dressed in bright-colored clothes worked in silence to lay out a spread of baskets carried in from a concealed door near the back corner of the chamber.

Honda gaped. "Dude!" He rounded on Ishizu and her brothers. "There's a back door to this place? How come you guys didn't bring us in that way?"

"It . . . would have been less . . . dangerous," Bakura put in.

Kaiba folded his arms. "It was not part of my design."

Ishizu shook her head, looking equally baffled as she stared at the door.

Rishid spoke in his siblings' defense. "I swear to you, my friends, we did not know. A . . . secret held by only another part of the clan . . . ?" He turned questioning eyes on Shadi.

Shadi nodded. "Not all of the secrets of the clan are known to all of the families, as well you are aware." He met each of the Ishtahl siblings' eyes, who nodded slowly in response. "Well, this passage, added by an Item bearer after Pharaoh Seti's time, guided by an intuition from his Item, is one of the secrets of our family. Bobasa!"

At his name, one of the group in the corner turned and straightened, his eyes bright while a big grin split his round, jolly face. Atemu shook his head in amusement – if a giant beach ball could somehow be personified and given clothes, he had the vague impression it would look something like this man. "Yes, Master Shadi?"

"Come see to our guests' comforts. They've had a long journey."

"Oh, my, yes, yes!" Bobasa trotted – More like bounce, Atemu thought with a silent chuckle – over to the group and offered a bow and a gentile hand each to Anzu and Ishizu, the ladies of the party. "Come, come. Refreshments await!"

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