The chosen Pharaoh
Last time so did Atem spend some time together with Mana, but at the same time so was it revealed that Bakura had escaped from the shadow realm and was planning his next move with Zorc's servants. A few days later so did Atem learn that one of his villages had been attacked, he went there with some of his guards to check it out. But not long after they arrive there so are they ambushed by Bakura and Diabound, the guards got annihilated and Atem got badly hurt. Bakura then shows himself and takes Atem's Millennium Puzzle and left but not before he beat up Atem a little more and then told him to get to Kul Elna when he recovered and as soon as Bakura and Diabound left so did Atem lose consciousness, what will happen next?
Chapter 12- The truth about Kul Elna
INSIDE OF ATEM'S MIND,
Atem was looking around himself, he could feel the presence of someone else but couldn't see anyone else there.
"Whoever you might be come out right now". A bright light appeared in front of him and he covered his eyes for a few seconds, when the light died out so did he lower his arms and gasped in shock.
In front of him stood his father, the former Pharaoh, Aknamkanon, Atem walked towards him, "Father? Is it truly you?" Aknamkanon nodded with a sad smile on his face, "Yes my son, I wish I could see you like this and have good news with me but I'm here to give you a warning".
Atem looked at his father and his eyes narrowed, "What's the warning?" Aknamkanon looked at him, "You cannot allow the thief king Bakura to get his hands on the seven Millennium Items, if he does then he will be able to let the Dark One cross over to our world".
Atem's eyes widened in shock, "When you say the Dark One, do you mean Zorc the Dark One? The very being that was responsible for the creation of the shadow realm?" His father nodded.
Atem began to panic, "So if Bakura gets all seven items Zorc will cross over to our world?" Aknamkanon nodded, Atem's eyes narrowed, "I will never let him get his hands on the seven items, for the sake of the entire world". Aknamkanon smiled and nodded and wished Atem good luck before he vanished.
OUTSIDE OF ATEM'S MIND,
Atem grunted as he was slowly regaining consciousness, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around, he saw that he was in the hospital wing of the palace, he sat up slowly as he gasped in pain.
He heard a sound next to him, he looked around and saw Mana sleeping on a chair, the door to the hospital wing opened and one of the palace healers whose came in, he smiled at Atem, "Pharaoh, You're finally awake, I'm so relieved".
Atem looked at his hands, he then remembered what had happened, "How long was I unconscious?" The healer looked at him with concern in his eyes, "For about two days". Atem was shocked when he heard that, he looked at the healer, "I need you to get my guardians, I need to speak with them". The healer bowed and said that he would find them and left the room.
About a minute after the healer left the room so did Mana wake up and as soon as she saw that Atem had woken up so did she jump up from the chair and hugged him tightly.
"Atem I was so worried, when I heard that the guardians had found you unconscious and badly hurt I was really scared that you wouldn't make it".
Atem smiled sadly and hugged her back, "I'm so sorry I worried you Mana, I thought that I would be fine but what I found in that village was something I didn't expect".
Before Mana could ask what he meant so did the door open and Seto, Karim, Isis and Shada came in and once they saw him awake they all smiled in relief. "My Pharaoh, we're all so relieved that you're awake, when we heard that you had left to check on a village that had been attacked for over two hours ago and never came back even though you should have we all got worried and hurried there only to find you unconscious on the ground badly hurt".
Atem smiled sadly at them after hearing what Isis said, "I'm sorry to have worried you, I thought it would be no problem but I can't believe who it was that ambushed me there". Seto looked at Atem's troubled face, "Who was it Pharaoh? Whoever it was that person was the one who took your puzzle right?"
Atem gritted his teeth when Seto said that, he put his right hand on his chest there his puzzle usually would be. He looked at his sacred guardians, "The one who took it was, no matter how strange it might sound it was Bakura".
All of them gasped in shock, Seto walked over to Atem side and looked the young Pharaoh in the eyes, "It can't be Pharaoh, he was sent to the shadow realm and you should know that the best, after all it was you and Slifer the Sky Dragon who sent him there".
Atem looked at him, "I know that Seto, but I know what I saw, no matter how impossible it seems he somehow managed to escape from the shadow realm". All of them looked at him worried, if what he said was true then the most dangerous person they had ever seen had returned from the world of darkness and suffering.
Atem looked at all of them, "I want you to send out our soldiers everywhere, if they see someone who look like Bakura even just a little bit I want them to send information about it to me immediately"
All of them nodded before they began to leave, but before Shada could exit the room so did Atem tell him to wait, Shada looked at him wondering since it was only him, Mana and Atem in the room now.
Atem looked at him, "I want you to do something for me but before that, what do you know about Kul Elna? The village Bakura was talking about when he attacked the palace the first time".
Shada looked at him confused, "Well, according to what I have heard so was it a village made up of thieves and grave robbers, but why do you ask my king?"
Atem sighed, "When Bakura took my puzzle so did he tell me to come to Kul Elna once I had recovered". Shada and Mana gasped in fear, Mana walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders.
"You can't Atem, he nearly killed you two days ago and now he has your puzzle". Atem looked at his chest again and smiled sadly, "Yeah that's that, and without my puzzle so can't I summon one of the gods".
Shada and Mana looked at him confused and Mana asked, "What do you mean Atem? You have the most shadow magic in the history of Egypt". Atem looked at her, "Even so the gods are really hard to control, I could probably summon one but I wouldn't be able to control it for long before it would go berserk like Buster Blader did three years ago".
Shada got a worried look on his face, "I remember that incident, it took us quite a while to keep him still long enough for you to regain enough control to call him back and during that time so did he destroy a fifth part of the palace, but if one of the gods went out of control then there would be no way to stop it".
Atem nodded, "Yes so I do think that we should not consider summoning a god without my puzzle which is too bad because if I could summon Ra so could he destroy Diabound in an instant".
Atem looked at Shada, "Try and find out anything you can about Kul Elna and what happened to it and tell me about, I know that Bakura is waiting for me there and I will get there as soon I've recovered enough".
Shada and Mana looked worried at him and Shada told him that the guardians should go instead, but Atem shook his head, "I need to do this, there is something I have to find out for myself".
Shada looked worried but said that he would do as Atem told him and left the room, Atem looked at Mana and saw her looking at him worried, "What's going on Atem"? Atem looked at her, "I just have to find out the truth about something, it's very important to me".
Mana nodded and told him that she understood, but Atem could see that it was something more troubling her, Atem put his right hand over her right hand and looked her in the eyes, "What's wrong Mana and don't tell me that it's nothing because I have known you long enough to know when you are troubled".
Mana rubbed her neck with her left hand, "You remember our time that night before those creatures attacked the city right?" Atem blushed and nodded, then his eyes widened, "Wait a minute, Mana are you saying that you're…" Mana nodded, "Atem I'm pregnant with your child".
To say that Atem was in absolute shock would be the understatement of the millennia, he fell down on his back on the bed again and stared up in the roof, Mana looked worried at him and asked, "Are you… mad Atem?"
Atem snapped out of his shock and looked at her, "No of course not Mana, it's just that so many things are happening so fast that it's hard to follow, but I promise you this Mana, once this madness is over so will the two of us and that child live happily as a family".
Mana smiled and put her head on his shoulder and Atem was trying to think of a way to tell his guardians and Shimon about the child that Mana is carrying.
THE NEXT DAY,
Atem had recovered enough to leave the hospital wing, he was now sitting on his bed and holding his hand there his puzzle usually would be thinking about his last meeting with Bakura.
Suddenly so did someone knock on his door, he went over to it and opened it and saw Shada stand there, he told him to come in and he sat down on the bed again while Shada sat down on a chair.
"Did you find something Shada?" Shada nodded, "I didn't find out what happened to Kul Elna but I found out where the village used to be before it got destroyed".
Atem smiled, "Good work Shada, we will take a few guards and leave for Kul Elna", Shada looked at him with a questioning look on his face, "Aren't we going to tell the other guardians?" Atem shook his head, "we will leave a message but once they find it we will be halfway there. If we told them what we are going to do they would stop us and I have to do this". Shada nodded and then they begun to prepare to leave for Kul Elna.
A HALF HOUR LATER,
Atem was sneaking through the palace towards the stables there his horse were, it had been badly hurt during Bakura's attack but they managed to save its life and heal its damages since they knew how much it meant to Atem. He had had that horse for five years now and it had been a birthday gift from his father and a close and loyal friend to him during all these years.
He got inside the stables and went over to his horse and put on the saddle. But once he was finished and was about to lead his white horse to the secret meeting place with Shada and the guards so did he hear someone behind him.
He turned around and saw Mana stand there, she walked up to him, "I knew you were up to something once I saw how you have been acting today, you are going to Kul Elna aren't you?"
Atem nodded and Mana looked at him with a serious look on her face, "Well I'm coming with you". Atem's eyes widened, "No way Mana, normally it would be too dangerous and now that you are carrying our child it's even more dangerous for you".
Mana's eyes narrowed, "You don't have a choice Atem, if you won't let me come with you I will inform the others and then what do you think will happen?" Atem gritted his teeth knowing full well what would happen if she did.
Atem sighed and looked at her, "Fine you can come but you have to do exactly as I tell you, if I tell you to leave then you will understand?" Mana sighed before she nodded with a tiny smile on her lips, Atem took his horse and told her to follow him.
Atem and Mana got to the meeting place and Shada and the soldiers were waiting on them, Shada gave Atem a questioning look when he saw Mana, "If I didn't let her come with us she would tell the others". Shada sighed and nodded, he understood why it would be bad if she told the others since they were doing this even though this was obviously a trap for Atem.
They all jumped up on their horses and began to ride towards the remains of the village of thieves Kul Elna were.
TWO HOURS LATER,
Atem and the others had gotten to the ruins of a village and Atem realized that this must be what was left of the village of thieves Kul Elna.
Atem could feel a very dark and evil aura everywhere around them, he started regretting that he actually took Mana with him. Atem looked at Shada, "You feel it too don't you?" Shada nodded at him and Mana looked at them both confused.
But before she could ask so did one of the soldiers horse fall to the ground, then they looked their way so did they see that a skeleton-hand had grabbed the horse's leg, then more skeleton hands came up from the ground and grabbed the soldier and he began to sink down into the ground.
Mana screamed as Skeleton men came up from the ground, "Atem what's going on?" Atem's eyes narrowed when he saw them, "They're the evil spirits of the villagers that used to live here".
He saw his solders draw their swords and stopped them, "Swords won't affect these things, the only things that will work is magic and shadow creatures".
Shada had already activated his DiaDhank then Atem said that and then he took and summoned Two-Headed Jackal Warrior who took and cut down six skeleton men and then went after another six.
Atem looked deeper into the ruins of the village, he could feel the most evil presence closer to the middle of the village, he snuck a look at Mana before he called out to Shada, "Shada, looked after Mana, I'm going after Bakura".
Mana looked like she was going to protest but Atem gave her a `Do not argue´-look before he rode up next to Shada and let her jump over to his horse before he rode of to where he felt great malice coming from.
He soon reached the source, it was an underground crypt, and on top of the malice he was feeling he could also feel that both his Millennium Puzzle and the Millennium Ring were down there. He went down and felt the presence of evil spirits all around him and that feeling got stronger the deeper he got.
He soon could hear a very familiar chuckle, "Please come down here Pharaoh, my friends has told me that you are here". Atem's eyes narrowed and walked down and reached the crypt. He saw Bakura sitting on some weird stone tablet and glared when he saw that Bakura had both the ring and his puzzle around his neck.
Bakura got up on his feet, "I'm glad that you are here Pharaoh, I hope that you like my village, or what's left of it, all because of your father".
Atem gritted his teeth, "I keep telling you that my father never would do something like this, now return the Millennium Ring and the Millennium Puzzle to me". Bakura laughed, "You may say that but I can hear doubt in your voice, you have begun to wonder if you know all about your father".
Atem gritted his teeth again, no matter how much he wanted to believe that it wasn't true so had he begun to wonder if what Bakura said was true. Bakura laughed, "If you want to know the truth, then the spirits of this village can show you what happened here".
Suddenly a few evil spirits began to fly around him and he gasped in pain as they was connecting to his spirit and he gasped as he in shock as the memory of the spirits was flowing into his own head.
Atem saw how his father's soldiers were gathering the villagers of Kul Elna and how they were offered so that their dark souls could be used for the creation of the seven Millennium items.
Atem gasped in shock as he saw what happened here, his father had really sacrificed a whole village in order to create the Millennium items? He didn't want to believe it but he had seen the spirits memories.
"I think that it's fitting that the son pay for the father's crime, and since you don't have you're puzzle anymore so can't you resist the spirits". Atem knew that Bakura was wrong, he could resist and reject them but he was wondering if he should, if his father had really done this so should he really pay for what his father had done, and then so did Atem scream when he felt the spirits pull in his soul trying to tear it apart.
Bakura activated his DiaDhank, "Diabound, come forth". Atem looked up and saw Diabound appear and saw that he had changed even more now since his battle with Slifer.
"Since I'm the survivor from this village I deserve to get my revenge as well, now Diabound destroy him with Illusionary Shockwave". Diabound began to charge up the attack and Atem who saw this knew that this was it.
AT THE SAME TIME AT ATEM'S STONE SANCTUARY,
Inside of Atem's stone sanctuary so did the Dark Magician's (Mahad's) stone tablet begin to glow and a beam flew towards Kul Elna.
BACK WITH ATEM,
Atem saw Diabound fire the Illusionary Shockwave at him, he prepared himself but then a beam of light came into the crypt, it flew at Atem and somehow got a grip on him and moved him out of the way right before the attack hit the spot he had just been at.
Atem was put down on the ground again and then Mahad appeared before him with his arms crossed and his staff in his right hand. "If you threaten the Pharaoh so are you threatening me".
Bakura stared shocked at him before he laughed, "I guess you haven't learned your lesson right? After all you have come back to be destroyed by me a second time".
Mahad looked at Atem who stared at him shocked, "I'm here to protect my old friend that I swore to always protect".
Atem looked down into the ground, "Mahad did my father really order the destruction of Kul Elna". Mahad looked at him over his shoulder, "What do you want to believe Atem?" Atem held his head, "I don't want to believe it, I really don't want to".
Mahad turned his head back to Bakura, "Then don't after all, your father may have agreed to the creation of the items but he didn't know how they was going to be created".
Atem looked shocked at him, "How do you know that?" Mahad looked at him again, "I could always feel the evil within my ring, so I began to research the spell used to create it and the others items, and once I learned about what had happened to Kul Elna so did I confront your father about it but he got so shocked and devastated over the news that I could see that he didn't know what happened here. Also he felt so much guilt that he got sick and eventually lost his life".
Atem looked at him shocked, so the reason that his father had been so sick that it eventually took his life was because he learned what had happened in Kul Elna and felt guilty over it?
Atem remembered the last time he saw his father on his legs, he had been on his knees in front of statues of their ancestors and had begged the gods to spare Atem's life because he was innocent of his father's mistake, the next thing Atem knew so was he sick in bed and later so did he die.
Bakura looked at them angry, "I have had enough of your talk, now my spirits destroy them both", the spirits flew towards them but Atem looked up with new determination in his eyes, "My father knew nothing, he was a noble man, a man worthy to be a Pharaoh". Atem got up on his feet, "And now I owe it to him to take you down and restore the peace to the land of Egypt".
Mahad held out his hand and repelled the spirits, "Now in the name of my father, the former Pharaoh Aknamkanon, return your stolen Millennium items to where they belong".
Bakura laughed, "That's what I'm planning to do, see this stone behind me? It's known as the Millennium Stone because the items came from it and once all of them are returned to the stone…"
Atem interrupted him, "Once they are returned to it, a doorway between our world and the shadow realm will open and Zorc the Dark One can cross over to our world right? Are you really so insane that you think that I will ever let that happen?"
Bakura got a sinister smirk on his face, "Fine, then I guess we will have to settle this with one final battle, DIABOUND DESTROY THE PHARAOH AND HIS MAGICIAN ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Diabound roared and Atem and Mahad prepared themselves for the final battle against Bakura and Diabound.
So it comes down to this, can Atem and Mahad defeat Bakura and Diabound or will they fall by their might? And will the other guardians find out about this in time to get there to help? Continue reading to find out and please review.