The Eye of Horus
Neferi: I'm sorry for not updating sooner! They gave me as a present a trip to Europe and I went off for almost a whole month…and the month before that I was having trouble with the floppys of my fics. This one opened, now I have to see the others…anyways, here's the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own YGO, but I do own Tara Kasuki and any other character that doesn't have to do with the series and appears here. Enjoy.
Chapter Twenty: The Test of the Senses
"What's that sound?" a Rare Hunter asked in a low voice.
It was clear that some of them were scared. They were in a pitch-black chamber and there was a strange sound around them. None of them moved. Yami Marik frowned slightly.
'Either way we have to proceed, I must posses the Horus Items' he thought, looking around expecting to see something.
But the chamber was too dark. Not even Odion, whom was beside him, could be seen.
"Let's proceed" Yami Marik announced, causing a few Rare Hunters to narrow their eyes "I'm not staying in this chamber. If any of you wish to go out, you must proceed".
Some Rare Hunters swallowed nervously, others nodded. None of them wanted to stay trapped inside the chamber. The only way out was passing to the other side.
They suddenly heard some shuffling and Yami Marik announced he was proceeding. Odion was right behind him, and soon they followed their Master.
Yami Marik walked slowly forward, checking with his foot where he was stepping before walking further. He didn't like this chamber at all. He had the feeling there were a few traps around it. He suddenly stopped when he felt the floor tremble slightly and heard something move. He knew it wasn't any of his Rare Hunters.
The Rare Hunters stopped in line behind Odion and Yami Marik, wondering why were they stopping. Had their Master found something? If he had, they hoped it wasn't anything they had to worry about.
"Master Marik, what is it?" Odion asked, looking down at him even though he couldn't see him.
"There is something moving on the ground" Yami Marik answered, trying to look around to no avail.
It was too dark to even see your own hand in front of you.
"What can it be?" Odion asked, the sound of something moving in front of Yami Marik coming to his ears.
Yes, there was definitely something in front of Yami Marik. But it seemed as if it didn't always move. It seemed as if it in a certain amount of time it moved…
'Hm…I wonder…' Yami Marik thought, his hand resting on his Millenium Rod, hanging from his belt.
He checked with his foot lightly what lay in front of him and to some point, he felt ground. Past the point, there wasn't anything to stand on. There was no ground on which they could proceed towards the exit. He suddenly frowned when he heard something move again. Then, the sound stopped. He decided to check again, even though he expected to find nothing. But this time, past the point he had marked as the last piece of land, he felt some stone. He smirked.
"It's a moving bridge" Yami Marik told Odion as he heard the now known bridge move "It rotates to the other side".
"Are you sure Master?" Odion asked.
"Of course I'm sure Odion, I checked it myself" Yami Marik retorted, glaring over his right shoulder where he knew Odion was.
How could he doubt his great mind? He knew well what he was doing, and was determined to get what he wanted. Even if he had to do it on his own.
The bridge stopped in front of Yami Marik, and he quickly proceeded into it followed by Odion and the rest of the Hunters. Some moments after they had stepped into it, the bridge moved in a circular direction and stopped. Yami Marik checked to see if there was ground before stepping off of the bridge followed by his band of Hunters.
"Are we on the other side?" a Rare Hunter asked, trying to look around.
They didn't know since they couldn't see anything. But what they did notice was that there was a strange and awful smell around on the air…Suddenly light went into the chamber and everything around them could be seen. They were in fact at the other side of the chamber since they were able to recognize the doors they had left behind. The carvings on the doors looked exactly like the ones on the other chamber.
On their side of the chamber the view was different. There were treasures! Many chests filled with golden items, jewels and rich clothes were seen just a few feet away from them. It was hard to believe such fine artifacts were still inside the Temple and not in the hands of someone who might have bought them or stole them. The Rare Hunters gazed at them with awe, admiring their beauty. Something so rich couldn't be wasted inside an old Temple.
"Don't touch anything" Yami Marik stated as he walked forward.
He knew how the minds of his minions clicked. They would probably want to retrieve the treasures out of the Temple. But he had the feeling that doing that in this particular occasion was going to cause some trouble.
Some Rare Hunters followed their Master's orders, others decided to ignore it. They silently made their way towards the treasures and decided to take them. The moment they laid their hands on them, their fate was sealed.
Yami Marik and the rest of the Hunters heard screams behind them and quickly turned around to see what was happening. The Hunters that had not followed instructions were being pulled by spirits that appeared out of nowhere and were slowly being enchanted to their death.
"This is what happens when you don't follow my instructions" Yami Marik told the rest of his Hunters, a smirk slowly forming on his lips "You pay the price".
And so he turned around and walked forward, leaving the Rare Hunters to their suffering. The rest of his Rare Hunters followed him across the chamber, not even gazing at the treasures from the corner of their eyes.
-o-
Yugi and Tara walked down the corridor they had found by opening the mysterious door on the wall. This corridor had torches that were not burning since there was light outside, which entered through the windows located at the left side of their path.
"What's the second Test?" Yugi asked, following Tara from behind.
"The Test of Senses" she answered, gazing at the carvings on the walls "It tests our five senses: tact, vision, audition, taste and smell using different things. I don't know which type of things since I just gave the idea of what to do, I wasn't the one who made the plan of this test".
"I see…" Yugi said, looking at the ground in thought as he walked behind Tara "I wonder how do they test the senses…".
"It must be very hard passing the test if you don't have control of yourself. Many people let their senses take over them instead of doing it the other way. It shouldn't be like this" Tara added, looking over her left shoulder for a moment to make sure Yugi was behind her.
"You're right" Yugi nodded "Changing the subject a bit, are we far from the Horus Items?".
"Not too far" Tara answered as she turned to the right and entered another corridor "It shouldn't take us too long to get to the chamber of the Items unless we run into a spirit".
"Run into a spirit? You mean there are spirits in here?" Yugi asked, looking up at Tara with interest.
"Yes, there are spirits inside the Temple. They are supposed to guard it and what's inside of it, even though the fact that the Temple is hidden is safe enough" Tara answered yet again, walking further down the corridor and making all the torches around light up.
"But having a lot of defense in a place like this is good" Yami's voice said as he appeared walking beside Yugi.
"Yes, it's true" Tara replied.
She was thinking about Marik, for some reason. She missed him. It had been painful for her to find Yami Marik instead of Marik. Would she ever see him again? She maintained the hopes of seeing him again and having a chance with him. She did feel strongly for him.
"Are you all right?" Yugi's voice said, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"Yes, I'm alright, just thinking about a few things" she answered before shaking her head "Let's hurry, we don't know if Yami Marik has passed any of the tests. He might have, which means there's a chance he might get to the Items. And we can't allow that".
Yugi nodded in agreement and hurried his pace behind Tara. They couldn't let Yami Marik get his hands on the Horus Items. It would be catastrophic.
-o-
Odion wrinkled his nose. They had smelled something strange when they had reached the other side of the chamber but they hadn't paid much attention to it. Now, the smell was increasing and it was making his stomach sick. Why did it stink so much?
Yami Marik was choosing to ignore the smell. It was a waste of time worrying about a smell that might go away soon. But it didn't go away, in fact, it grew worst. He had to use part of his cape to cover his nose if he wanted to advance.
The Rare Hunters also used their capes to cover their noses so they could follow their Master. Unfortunately some Rare Hunters seemed intoxicated by the awful smell and fell sick to the ground.
"Master Marik, are we going to leave them behind?" a Rare Hunter asked as he stopped and gazed at his fallen comrades.
"Of course we're leaving them behind! If you want to carry with them, you can die along, they're too much of a problem to be with" Yami Marik answered without stopping "And I'm not wasting my time with some fools".
The Rare Hunter gazed down at his comrades silently before walking away behind Yami Marik. He did want to survive. And if leaving his fallen comrades was all it took to do so, he would do it.
Odion gazed around the chamber as he covered his nose with his cape. There was no sign as to where was that smell coming from. He decided it was an incantation since there was no other explanation for it. He closely followed Yami Marik and noticed that a few feet away from them was the other doors that led into the next chamber. He felt some relief in knowing he was soon going to walk out of that smelly place.
Yami Marik stopped abruptly just before reaching the doors. A few tables had appeared and spread just before the doors. There was nothing on them. He frowned.
'This is another trick' he thought, gazing at them carefully.
There was a lot to expect from this Temple. It was well guarded, filled with traps and incantations that could fool anyone who was passing through. Of course, they were not going to fool him. He was too intelligent to be fooled by something like that.
In a sudden flash, food appeared over the tables. It was a banquet. The tables had meats, fruits, wines and everything ancient Egyptians used to eat in their time. Everything looked delicious.
Two Rare Hunters felt their stomach grumble when they saw the food. They were very hungry, but they didn't know whether to eat it or not. They had seen how their comrades had met their dooms when they decided to steal the treasures inside the chamber and now doubted the food was safe. But it looked so tasty…The temptation was too much and they ran towards the tables and started eating as fast as they could. Their comrades told them not to do so, but they were not listening. The stomach had won the battle against the mind.
Yami Marik didn't move to stop them. He let them do as they pleased. It was their fault if they ended up enchanted or dead. He had warned them all not to touch anything but if they did so, it wasn't his fault. He wasn't surprised when he saw the Rare Hunters fall flat on their backs and not move. He simply smirked darkly.
'The fools, I warned them not to touch anything they shouldn't' he thought.
He proceeded towards the tables and walked past the Rare Hunters, his cape swishing behind him as he did so. When he reached the tables he pushed them aside roughly and stood in front of the doors, waiting for them to open. Slowly but surely, the doors opened and granted them entrance to the next chamber.
They all walked into the new chamber and looked around as the doors closed behind them. It was a circular chamber lit with torches, containing pillars with carvings and four different doors, each with different inscriptions on them.
"Welcome" said a male voice that echoed throughout the chamber "To the fourth and last test, the Test of Decisions".
A young man appeared standing by the first door on the left, dressed in a kilt and wearing golden jewelry. Afterwards, three young girls appeared standing by the rest of the doors, all dressed in fine linen dresses and wearing their usual golden jewelry.
"Choose the correct door and pass to the chamber of the Horus Items. Choose the incorrect door" the young man smirked darkly "And pay the consequences".
Neferi: End of chappie! I hope you liked it. Please review and keep reading! I'd really much appreciate it.