Chapter 13- Power of the Treasure
Menthos growled at where Heba was lying against the wall.
Heba had a trickle of blood running down his face from his head injury. Slowly, Heba opened his pain filled amethyst eyes and glared at Menthos. He knew that he couldn't physically get up, but that didn't mean he would give up.
"It's over, Protector. The Treasure is gone, and you will be, too. Say good bye." Menthos said, raising a hand. He was suddenly thrown back and landed on his back. He sat up and looked to see Atemu standing in front of Heba with his hand out.
"Atemu, what do you think you are doing?" Heba asked, shocked.
"I'm not going to let him kill you like this." Atemu said.
"Are you crazy?! He'll kill you!" Heba exclaimed.
"I knew that already." Atemu said.
"Get out of here! Atemu, I don't want you to die." Heba said.
Atemu looked back at him and smiled softly. "I don't want to lose you either, Shining Star." Atemu said.
Heba's eyes filled with tears at the old nickname. "Atemu." Heba said softly.
Atemu turned his gaze back to Menthos.
"Out of the way, Pharaoh. I have no quarrel with you." Menthos said.
"No. If you want to bring harm to Heba, you will have to go through me." Atemu said.
Menthos growled. "I will gladly do that. Say hello to the Treasure when you see him in the afterlife." Menthos said, raising his hand.
"THAT'S ENOUGH, MENTHOS!" a voice rang out.
Menthos whirled around to find himself facing a very pissed off Yugi walking toward him, a pure white magic surrounding Yugi entirely. Yugi's amethyst eyes had turned pure white.
Menthos recoiled in shock. "You?! That's impossible! You're dead!" Menthos shouted.
"I was, but now, I am back." Yugi said. His voice seemed to carry throughout the huge room even though Yugi had spoken in a normal voice.
"That's impossible! You were dead! You cannot use your power to bring yourself back! You would have had to have been alive for that!" Menthos shouted.
"I may have been dead, but my body still held the power that the gods had granted me. Those powers were activated, and since they were called upon, the god Osiris used his power to bring me back. You will not win this battle." Yugi said. His Sais appeared in his hands.
"I will not allow you to defeat me, Treasure!" Menthos roared. He formed a ball of Black magic in his hands and threw the ball at Yugi.
Yugi merely swung out with his Sai, and the Sai cut right through the ball of energy, causing the attack to dissipate.
"Th-that's im-impossible!" Menthos exclaimed in pure shock.
"Did you ever wonder why the power of the treasure was coveted so? Did ever occur to you to ask yourself why the gods would want someone to protect the Treasure? Did it ever occur to you to ask why the gods would want someone who would give their life to protect the Treasure at all costs?" Yugi asked.
Menthos started to back off, scared.
"The reason for all that was because the power of the Treasure was so great that not even the gods themselves could have stopped it. The Protector was sent to not to protect the Treasure from others, but from himself. The purpose of the Protector was to prevent the Treasure from ever having to use his full power against anyone, but you have forced me to have to use the full power that I have in order to stop your pointless quest for world domination." Yugi said.
"You're wrong! You don't have the power to defeat me! No one has ever had the power to kill me! Not even the Protector could!" Menthos shouted, showing defiance.
"Your defiance only shows your true weakness. You choose to be defiant because you know that there is nothing you can do to stop me." Yugi said.
"That is not true. I will not be defeated by you. Not even you can defeat me." Menthos protested.
Yugi's eyes cut to slits. "Do you truly believe such a claim, Menthos?" Yugi asked.
Atemu turned to Heba and kneeled down beside. "Heba, are you all right?" Atemu asked.
"I'm not sure." Heba said, grimacing as he tried to move.
Atemu reached out and put his arms around Heba. "Leo can probably heal you." Atemu said.
"Knowing Eternias, he can." Heba said.
"You really should call him Leo." Atemu said. He glanced at where Yugi stood. "How is it possible that Yugi is alive? I saw him. He was dead." Atemu said.
"I don't know, but like Yugi said, Osiris must have had something to do with it." Heba said.
Atemu noticed Yuesei motioning to him and realized that Yuesei wanted him to join the others. "Heba, if I supported you, do you think you could walk?" Atemu asked.
"I'm not sure, but I can try. Why?" Heba asked as Atemu helped him up to his feet.
"Yuesei wants us to get over to where they were." Atemu replied as most of Heba's weight fell onto him. Slowly, the two made their way over to where Yuesei and the others were, wary of Yugi and Menthos.
"You two okay?" Leo asked.
"Fantastic. I have never felt this good." Heba said sarcastically.
"Cut with the attitude, Heba." Leo scolded.
"Then stop asking stupid questions." Heba snapped.
"Leo, can you heal him?" Atemu asked.
"Sure although considering your attitude, I shouldn't, Heba." Leo said.
"It was kinda dumb to ask that." Joey said.
"No one asked you, Joey." Leo growled. He put his hand on Heba's shoulder, and a blue magic surrounded Heba.
Healed, Heba stopped leaning on Atemu for support.
Atemu reluctantly let go of Heba, liking the feel of Heba in his arms, but knowing Heba wasn't one for publicly showing affection, he let go of him.
"Okay. How is Yugi standing there alive and well?" Tristan asked.
"I don't know, but the only thing I can figure that it is the gods who have allowed Yugi to live." Heba said. He noticed Yami off to the side. 'Hmm. I wonder if Yami had anything to do with this.' Heba thought.
Yami was oblivious to what Heba was thinking or what the others were doing. 'I don't understand it. How is it possible? I know that Yugi was dead.' Yami thought.
~Flashback~
Yami was crying into Yugi's chest. He didn't pay much attention to anything else, but was startled when he felt warm hands on his arms. Yami rose up to find himself looking into Yami's amethyst eyes. "Y-Yugi?" Yami asked.
Yugi looked at him confused. "Yami?" Yugi questioned.
Yami's eyes widened at hearing Yugi speak, having confirmation that Yugi was alive and he was not dreaming.
"It's over, Protector. The Treasure is gone, and you will be, too. Say good bye." the two heard Menthos say.
Yugi's eyes took on an angered look. He sat up quickly causing Yami to fall flat on his back.
"Y-Yugi? What are you doing?" Yami asked. He backed up when he saw the white magic surrounding Yugi.
"I've had it with that bastard. This is going to end now." Yugi said, walking out into view.
Yami watched in shock.
Menthos growled. "I will gladly do that. Say hello to the Treasure when you see him in the afterlife." Menthos said, raising his hand.
"THAT'S ENOUGH, MENTHOS!" Yugi shouted.
Menthos whirled around shock in his eyes.
~End Flashback~
'I don't know what happened, but something did, and I don't think that Yugi is going to let Menthos get away with what he has done.' Yami thought.
Yugi raised a hand and threw it out in front of him, sending Menthos crashing back into the wall.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
Yugi turned to see Maytrine running at him. Maytrine tried to strike Yugi with both her swords, but Yugi easily blocked her swords with his Sais.
"H-How?" Maytrine asked.
"You still risk your life for a man who almost killed you only moments ago." Yugi said.
Maytrine's eyes widened. "Of course I do! I love him!" Maytrine snapped.
Yugi's eyes narrowed. "Then I suppose that you'll see him again very soon." Yugi said.
Maytrine was suddenly thrown backwards into the wall.
Yugi formed a ball of white magic in his hand before throwing it at Maytrine.
Maytrine was hit by the attack and shrieked as she turned into black dust.
"Maytrine! No!" Menthos and Mortine shouted.
Yugi looked at them. "None of you have your souls. You sold them to gain the dark magic you now have. You have not been alive in over five thousand years. That is why she turned to dust. That is why none of you ever aged. You have no soul, therefore you are not technically alive." Yugi said.
"You bastard! You will pay for what you did to my sister!" Mortine shouted, charging at Yugi.
Yugi merely crossed his Sais to stop the sword that Mortine had used to strike out at him.
"N-No. No one can have that kind of power." Mortine said, his eyes clearly showing the fear he felt.
"Then you would be wrong." Yugi said. He forced Mortine's sword back before he kicked Mortine so hard in the chest that he crashed into the wall, leaving an indent of his body in the wall before he fell to the ground. Yugi threw his Sai, which landed right in Mortine's chest.
Mortine gasped before he screamed out turning into nothing but black dust.
Yugi held out his palm, and the Sai flew back into his hand.
"This is impossible! We were told that the black magic would make us invincible!" Menthos shouted.
Yugi turned to face Menthos. "There is a difference in invincibility and immortality, Menthos. Immortality means you will not die. Invincibility means that the obstacle seems to great to overcome. Invincibility is not absolute whereas immortality is. The gods saw that this would be a problem. My sole purpose was to kill you and all those that you convinced to aid you." Yugi said.
"The gods are to blame for this." Menthos growled.
"No. You alone are to blame for what you have brought on yourself." Yugi said.
Meanwhile, the others were becoming slightly fearful of Yugi.
"How can Yugi just kill all of these people like it doesn't matter?" Tea asked.
Heba sighed. "Because I don't think that he does at the moment." Heba said.
"What are you talking about? Yugi has always cared about others. He'd put his life in danger for the same of a stranger." Yami argued.
Heba turned sideways to look at them all. "Yugi has always been like that. I will be the first one to tell you that." Heba said. He sighed and turned to look back at where Yugi was. "That's the curse of the Treasure." Heba said.
"What curse?" Leo asked uneasily.
"The reason that the Protector of the Treasure was needed was for the Treasure's protection, but not physical. The full power of the Treasure is far beyond anything a mortal can withstand. If Yugi were ever to use his full power, he could lose his humanity. He could stop feeling. That's why I was needed. As the Protector, I was to fight by Yugi's side in order to prevent him from ever using his full power. He called on his full power now, and he has lost his humanity. Yugi's not a human anymore. I'm afraid he's more of a god now." Heba said.
"WHAT?!" was the collective response.
"Yugi is considered the son of the gods because of the power he was gifted with." Heba's eyes filled with tears. "There is nothing that we can do to change that. Yugi's humanity is gone. He is exacting the judgment that the gods would." Heba said.
"Yugi doesn't think the way we do now." Atemu said.
"He thinks as Osiris, Horus, and Ra would. Looking at the bigger picture instead of the here and now." Seto added.
Heba nodded. "Once this happens, there is nothing that we can do to stop it. Yugi as we knew him is gone. There is nothing that we can do to help him," Heba said.
"So, we just stand here and watch him become something he's not." Joey demanded.
"We can't do anything else. Nothing is powerful enough to stand up against him." Heba said.
"No. There has to be something." Ryou said.
"Yeah. There has to be something that can help him. Something to reverse this." Malik said.
Heba shook his head. "I know of nothing." Heba said.
All eyes turned to watch Yugi.
'No. I can't lose him like this. I don't want Yugi to leave me.' Yami thought desperately.
Yugi started to walk forward to Menthos.
"Stay away from me." Menthos ordered, fearful.
"You have spent five thousand years trying to rule the world. You have sought power after power to aid you in your quest. All of it has failed. You went against many laws of different kingdoms. You have taken more innocent lives than anyone in history. You won't be allowed to get away with it." Yugi said.
"You're not going to win!" Menthos shouted.
Menthos charged at Yugi, who blocked Menthos' sword with his Sais.
Menthos' eyes widened. "N-no. You can't have the power to do this to me." Menthos said.
"Actually, I do." Yugi said.
An invisible force sent Menthos flying back into the wall. Yugi held up his hand and formed a white ball of energy before throwing it at Menthos.
Menthos screamed as he turned into nothing but black dust.
"It's over." Yugi said.
Everyone heard his declaration.
"What do we do now?" Tea asked.
Heba didn't answer. Instead, he walked forward to Yugi and stood in front of him. "Yugi?" Heba asked.
Yugi looked at him, and Heba could not see that Yugi wasn't the brother that he remembered.
"You're duty is done, Protector. You are free from your duty." Yugi said.
Heba felt his heart break at hearing Yugi call him Protector. Yugi and Heba made a point never to refer to each other by those titles because they took away from the family bonds that they had forged.
"Why do you seem sad, Protector? Are you not happy to have your freedom?" Yugi asked.
"I always had my freedom. I've lost my brother." Heba said.
"That I cannot help you with." Yugi said.
The others had gathered around Yugi.
With the white aura around him, Yugi had taken on an angelic appearance.
"I guess Yugi really is gone." Joey said.
Leo frowned. 'It might work.' Leo thought.
'Love can transcend everything, Eternias. Not even the gods of Egypt would stand in the way of true love.'
'I guess it couldn't hurt to try.' Leo thought. He turned to Yami and said, "Yami."
Yami turned to face Leo. "What?" Yami asked.
"Kiss him." Leo said, nodding toward Yugi.
"What?!" Yami exclaimed.
"Have you completely lost your mind?" Atemu asked.
"We all know that Yami loves Yugi, but isn't that a bit excessive?" Tea asked.
"Just do it, Yami." Leo said.
"Why?" Yami asked.
Leo sighed. "Just do it. Trust me. I wouldn't tell you to do this if I thought it wasn't necessary." Leo said.
Yami looked uncertainly at Atemu, who shrugged.
Heba caught Leo's eyes, who nodded. Heba's eyes widened, realizing what it was that Leo was thinking.
"Leo, I don't know about this." Yami said. He was uncomfortable with openly displaying affections like that, especially for the first time.
"Do it, Yami." Heba said.
All eyes turned to the other one.
"It can't hurt." Heba said.
"You can't be serious, Leo." Yami said.
"Yami, will you do it already? Kissing him is not going to kill you!" Leo said.
"Fine. I'll kiss him," Bakura said.
"Bakura!" Ryou gasped.
"What? If the Pharaoh won't do it, then I will." Bakura said.
"No, Bakura. It has to be Yami." Leo said.
"Leo, this is not the kind of joke that I want a part of." Yami said.
"It's not a joke. I thought this is something that you would have wanted to do." Leo said.
"Leo, I don't want to kiss Yugi like this." Yami said,
"DO IT!" everyone shouted, tired of the arguing.
Yami jumped. "Why the hell should I?!" Yami retorted.
Atemu sighed. "Yami, just kiss him. It's not like you'll be punished for that. You were a Prince of Egypt, after all." Atemu said.
"You know, I'm going to kill you all for this." Yami said. Gathering his courage, Yami walked around to stand in front of Yugi. He glanced at Leo who nodded encouragingly.
'If this works, we might just be able to save Yugi form his power.' Leo thought.
Yami brushed his embarrassment aside as he took Yugi's face in his hands and kissed him on the lips. This time Yugi's lips were soft and warm opposed to cold and clammy like when he had kissed Yugi when he was dead.
Yugi's eyes widened as warmth spread through him. 'Yami's kissing me! Why is he kissing me?!' Yugi thought.
Yami pulled back to see Yugi's amethyst eyes instead of pure white.
Heba saw this, too, and gasped.
"Heba what's wrong?" Atemu asked, worried.
Yugi looked at Yami as a blush appeared on Yugi's face.
The next thing Yami knew, he was having to keep Yugi up as Yugi collapsed into his arms, out cold.
"Yugi!" everyone exclaimed, worried.
They all were aware of a jerking sensation.
Sayora gasped.
Everyone turned to find themselves facing Osiris, Ra, and Horus.
"We all need to talk." Osiris said.
Everyone gulped, fearful at what the three gods of Egypt wanted to say to them.
Okay. Menthos and all of his cronies are gone. You know why this story is called Curse of the Treasure.
The next chapter will be with what Osiris, Horus, and Ra decide to do with Yugi since his pupose is fulfilled.
R&R.