Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 13- The Millennium Rod
The plane was idling through the air since Heba had no idea where they were supposed to go to next.
"Okay. Before I do too much, get out the book and figure out where the next item is." Heba told them from his position behind the plane's controls.
"Sure thing." Malik said as he grabbed the book from where it was laying.
"What items do we have left, anyway?" Marik asked as he leaned back in his seat.
"Well, we've only found the ring, necklace, and scales, so there are five left." Ryou said as he got the book that listed the items out. "There's the Millennium Rod, the Millennium Key, the Millennium Key, and there's two Millennium puzzles." Ryou said as he looked through the list of them.
"I wonder why there's two of the puzzle." Atemu said.
"No way to know. We'll find out when he find them, hopefully." Joey said.
"I hope that we can get through this soon. I just really don't like having to fly all the time like this." Bakura muttered.
"Come on, Bakura. You always said that you wanted to go on an adventure. Well, we're on one now." Yami said.
Bakura groaned. "I take it back." Bakura said.
"Too late. We started this mission, and we have to finish it. Besides, the entire universe is at stake in this." Seto reminded them.
Lighteningstar waltzed over to where Malik was looking at the book. "Did you find it, yet?" Lighteningstar asked.
"Yes, I found it." Malik said.
"Well, read it!" Bakura snapped.
Malik glared at him. "You were all too busy talking!" Malik shot back.
"You could have interrupted!" Bakura growled.
"You would have snapped at me for that, too!" Malik growled.
"This is getting old." Yami said as he rubbed his forehead.
"No kidding. I might end up killing them to just to have a little peace." Seto said.
"Or we'll just tie them up and put duct tape over their mouths." Atemu said.
"You guys like that thought, don't you?" Ryou asked, looking over at them.
The three shrugged.
"Their arguing does get annoying." Atemu said.
"Ryou and I know that better than anyone." Marik said as he knotted his fingers behind his head and closed his eyes.
"How do you two deal with it?" Joey asked.
"We let them might it out. We usually amuse ourselves by playing some kind of game." Ryou replied.
"That's why you've become such masters at games!" Atemu exclaimed.
Marik smirked with his eyes still closed. "Well, I wasn't going to tell you that I got so good at playing games because I play them almost everyday." Marik said.
Atemu growled. He had wondered why Marik had become such a challenge for him when it came to playing games, and he now knew exactly why that was.
"Guys!" Heba shouted over the sound of Malik and Bakura's bantering.
All eyes turned to where Heba was.
"Could you read the next clue so that we can figure out where the next item is? I really don't want to fly aimlessly. We are on a bit of a tight schedule." Heba reminded them.
"Oh. Right. Someone distracted me." Malik said, shooting Bakura a glare.
"You could have read it by now!" Bakura snapped.
"Malik! Bakura!" Heba growled.
"Right. Sorry." Malik said. He looked back down at the book. "A large arena is the next area you seek. Oval in shape, the exterior walls are made of travertine, the inner walls of tufa, and the vaulting of the seating of monolithic concrete. This place is next to a colossal statue of one of the great emperors of the empire. The arena is used for sporting events. Gladiators fought often in this place. Animals were also used to entertain the people. The lions guard the item in an underground chamber." Malik said, reading from the book. He closed the book and said, "What the hell does that mean?"
"That in is way to easy." Seto said.
"No kidding. Only someone who isn't from this world wouldn't know what that place is." Yami said.
"Then I don't feel so bad for not knowing." Joey said.
"Uh, I have no idea what that thing is talking about." Marik said, finally opening his eyes.
"You don't?" Atemu asked, incredulous.
"Neither do I. What is it talking about?" Bakura added.
"I can't believe that you don't know that. It's so simple." Yami said, slightly exasperated.
"Okay. Tell me so that I know where to go." Heba said.
"It's the Roman Colosseum in Rome, Heba." Seto said.
Heba nodded and plotted their course for Rome.
"So, what was this place known for?" Joey asked.
"The Roman Colosseum is one of the oldest and most famous structures in history. In fact, the Colosseum is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World." Atemu said.
"It's the place where ancient Romans would go for entertainment. Gladiators, who were just men that fought for the entertainment of their emperor, would fight each other in full view of the people. The winner was loved, and the loser died most of the time." Atemu explained.
"It's most famous for being the place where people would be fed to the lions." Seto said.
"Man. That'd suck." Joey said.
There was a growl.
All eyes turned to where Lighteningstar looked rather pissed.
"Uh, what's wrong, boy?" Malik asked.
"I hate it when people use cats for their own purposes! We don't kill needlessly!" Lighteningstar growled.
"We know that, Lighteningstar. Calm down." Joey said.
"They would have the people thrown to the lions have fresh cuts all over their bodies. Basically, the Romans forced the lions to act on natural instinct." Atemu said.
"I still don't like it." Lighteningstar muttered.
"None of us do, but we have to deal with it. It's just the way the ball bounces." Waterstar said.
Lighteningstar glared at him. "You're starting to sound like Emperor Yugi." Lighteningstar said.
"Someone here has to be the voice of reason." Waterstar said.
Heba sighed. "Lighteningstar, large cats like lions and tigers are often feared, and that's probably what the emperors of ancient Rome were going for. It's nothing personal. Besides, animals here don't have the ability to speak." Heba said.
"Yeah. I know. I know." Lighteningstar said.
"Doesn't mean we have to like it." Earthstar said.
"No. You don't." Heba agreed.
"From the sounds of it, the Colosseum is going to live up to its reputation as far as the lions are concerned." Malik said as he looked at the book.
"Yeah. If a lion is guarding the item, then it's really living up to the name." Marik agreed.
Aknankanon was in the throne room dealing with the daily palace business that he had to do.
Dartz stayed nearby in case he learned of anything that happened that would require his help.
Suddenly, the doors to the throne room were throne open, and a guard rushed into the room.
"Pharaoh! We are being attacked again!" the guard said.
"What?! Where?" Aknankanon demanded as he jumped to his feet along with Aknaudin, Karim, and Shada.
"Near the outskirts of the city on the west side." the guard replied.
Dartz stepped forward. "Pharaoh, we will help you in this situation." Dartz said.
Aknankanon nodded.
Dartz left along with Karim and Shada, who would lead the Egyptian forces in the battle.
'I hope that they will succeed in saving our people.' Aknankanon thought, knowing that they were in trouble since the items had not been recovered just yet.
The plane had run into a storm, and the plane was shaking rather badly.
A sharp jolt had them all jumping their seats.
"Heba! Can't you do something about this?" Joey asked.
"Sorry, Joey, but it's a lot harder than you think to maneuver a plane during a storm. You're all just going to have to deal with it until we get out of this." Heba said.
Heba fought to keep the plane as steady as possible through the howling winds and the heavy rain.
"I've never had a plane ride like this." Bakura muttered.
"Bakura, clam down. There's only so much that Yugi can-" Atemu was cut off as another jolt had them all bouncing again, "do." Atemu finished.
"Sorry, guys." Heba called back.
"It's not your fault." Yami remarked.
"I hope we get out of this soon." Malik said.
After about half an hour of fighting against the storm, Heba managed to get them out of the storm and get the plane to a steady flight.
"Well, that part of it is over." Heba said.
"Thank goodness." Ryou said.
"How long before we reach the Colosseum?" Seto asked.
"We should get there in about half an hour." Heba answered.
"That's good." Marik said.
"I'm just not looking forward to dealing with lions when we get there." Joey said.
"Don't worry, Puppy. I'm sure that your pet tigers can handle them." Seto said.
"WE ARE NOT PETS!" Waterstar, Lighteningstar, Windstar, and Earthstar all shouted at the same time.
"You're pets given that you follow them around all the time." Seto retorted.
Earthstar growled. "We are guardians! It is our duty to protect them from harm at all costs! It is our duty to oversee their well-being! We are no different than the personal guards that you all have!" Earthstar said.
"Yeah! We don't like being called pets! Pets are pampered, and we are certainly not pampered!" Windstar growled.
"Watch it, or might let you get killed the next time an assassin comes!" Lighteningstar growled.
Seto jumped, started by the outburst form the three tigers.
"I think that you insulted them, Seto." Joey said.
"I didn't think that they would take it so hard." Seto said.
"The way we see pets are different than the way you see pets." Heba said.
"How do you see them?" Marik asked.
"Pets are treated like royalty. You give them everything that they could possibly want or need. They don't have to do much each day, and they are left to their own devices for the most part. Guardians are protectors. They would give their lives to save their master's life. They're trained fighters." Ryou explained.
"You guys do things that pet owners would." Atemu said.
"Like what?" Malik asked.
They sleep with you, and you guys pet them all the time." Atemu answered.
"We know. They sleep with us just in case an assassin tries to kill us during the night. We do pet them and love on them, but that's just the bond we share with them. They're like friends to us, and we treat them as such. Those are just friendly gestures, not the gesture of a pet owner." Malik said.
"Okay. Sorry for saying that." Seto said.
"Don't worry about it. From your standards, we are pets. You couldn't have known that we see being pets differently than the way you see them. That probably should have been explained to you beforehand." Waterstar replied.
"In any case, they're important given that they have saved all of your lives at one point or another." Ryou said.
"Point taken." Bakura said.
Bakura, Marik, Yami, Seto, and Atemu made a mental note to never call the tigers pets ever again. They really didn't want to be ripped to shreds.
Dartz and the others arrived to find that the village was still under attack.
"We must act now." Shada said.
"We Millennials will last longer in a battle. Get the citizens that you can out of here, and we will fight these Zordanians as best we can." Dartz said.
"Agreed." Karim said.
The Millennials went in to attack, and the Egyptians went to save their people.
Dartz blocked a sword from hitting a woman and kicked the man away. He turned to the woman and said, "Quickly! Get to the priests and soldiers!"
The woman nodded and ran off.
Dartz blocked a sword as it came at him before he pushed the man away. He turned and kicked the man in the chest, but the man went back at him and tried to strike Dartz.
"You will not stop us. We shall win." the Zordanian said.
"We shall see." Dartz said. He slammed his head into the man before forcing him back.
Dartz could feel his magic weakening slightly. 'They act quickly.' Dartz thought.
The Zordanian ran at Dartz, but Dartz managed to block the sword before he rammed his knee up into the man's stomach. The man doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach. Dartz then rammed his elbow down into the man's back, slamming the man into the ground. Dartz then brought the blade of the sword down into the Zordanian's back, killing him.
The Millennials were able to kill a few of the Zordanians, despite the fact that their magic was slowly weakening.
The Zordanian leader realized that they were not ready for this kind of battle. Not yet. "We shall continue this battle another day." the Zordanian said before all of the Zordanians disappeared in smoke.
Dartz breathed deeply. "If that is what only a few can do, then we are most certainly in for a major war.' Dartz said.
Karim and Shada came up to them.
"Thank you. We couldn't have done so well in that battle." Karim said.
"You don't need to thank us. We are glad to help." a Millennial soldier said.
"Were the people taken to safety?" Dartz asked.
"Yes. There are nearby towns that are willing to take them in." Shada answered.
"That's good." Dartz said.
"The dead will be given a proper burial by their families." Karim said.
"We will remain and help move the dead." another Millennial soldier said.
Karim nodded before Karim, Shada, and Dartz started to return to the palace to tell Aknankanon of the battle that they had fought.
Heba had landed the plane in an open area near the Colosseum.
The group got off of the plane as they walked toward the Colosseum.
"Wow! This place is massive!" Joey said when they arrived.
"That's one of the things that the Colosseum is known for." Seto said.
The group then entered the Colosseum.
"A lot of people could fit in this place to watch all of the events that took place here." Ryou said as he noticed that there was a large amount of seating space.
"What's that?" Malik asked, pointing to an elaborate box high in the center.
"We assume that that's where the emperor and other high ranking officials would sit to watch this." Atemu answered.
"Okay. Back on task. Where do we look?" Bakura asked.
"it mentioned lions right?" Heba asked.
"Yeah. An underground chamber, too." Yami answered.
"Well, I suggest that we start looking in the area where the animals were kept before these events. The underground chamber is probably somewhere like that." Heba said.
The group then started to walk toward where the lions and other animals had been kept in the Colosseum.
"Okay. We're here. Now where do we start?" Bakura asked.
"I think that we're just going to have to search through them all." Malik answered.
"No way! I'm not looking through places where animals were kept!" Bakura said indignantly.
"Bakura, it's been centuries since the last time there were any animals kept in this place. I don't think that we have to worry about being seen by any of those animals." Atemu said.
"Let's start looking." Marik said.
Everyone started looking on each stall one by one to see if they could spot where the underground chamber would be.
Soon, they were nearing the end of the area.
"Maybe the underground chamber is somewhere else." Seto said.
"I don't think so. These clues have been very accurate. We've found the item exactly where it says in the clue each time. I think that the underground chamber is here somewhere." Heba said.
The group then walked into the last chamber, which was rather elaborately decorated.
"Wow. They kept a lion in a place as decorated as this?" Bakura asked as he looked around.
"This might be one of the most used lions, one who pleased everyone with his actions in the arena. It's probably the one that everyone wanted to see, so it was kept well in this place." Heba said.
"Hey! What's that?" Malik asked as he pointed.
Everyone looked and saw a carving in the wall. It looked like a rod.
"Hey. That looks like the picture of the Millennium Rod from the book." Ryou said as he remembered what the rod looked like.
"It's clue. The rod must be hidden in the underground chamber behind this wall." Heba said.
"Okay. Let's just use our magic and blast it open so that we can get this over with." Joey said.
"NO!" Seto, Atemu, Yami, and Heba all shouted at the same time.
"Why not?" Joey asked.
"Joey, the Roman Colosseum is a historic place. We can't destroy it." Atemu said.
"What about the item?" Malik asked.
"Malik, I'm certain that there is a way to get into the underground chamber that doesn't require us to destroy the Colosseum." Heba said.
The group walked up to where the carving of the rod was.
"How do we do this?" Marik asked as he crossed his arms, getting bored.
Heba looked at the rod closely and noticed that there seemed to be a hole where the eye in the design was. He then pulled out his sword.
"I thought you weren't causing any damage." Seto growled.
"I'm not, Seto." Heba answered. He turned the sword so that the tip was placed into the hole before he turned the sword, also turning the eye.
The group shook a little as the wall in front of them slid up to reveal a set of stairs that sloped downwards.
"Okay. I think that you found it, Heba." Joey said.
"It helps when you observe things instead of immediately deciding to destroy it." Heba answered.
Heba led the group as they descended the stairs.
"Master, stop." Waterstar said.
Heba did as did everyone else.
"What is it?" Yami asked.
The tigers darted down in front of them.
"We can smell them." Lighteningstar growled.
"The lions?" Heba asked.
"Yes." Windstar answered.
"Okay. You guys go first. We'll follow." Heba said.
The tigers then led the way down.
"So, you were able to save most of the people of the town." Aknankanon said.
"Yes. There were very few dead, and the ones that were are going to be given a proper burial by their families. The soldiers remained to take the bodies to them." Karim replied.
"Good. They all deserve a proper burial." Aknankanon said.
"We owe a great deal to Lord Dartz and the other Millennials for their aid. No one would have survived had it not been for them." Shada said.
"You need not thank us. We are only doing what is right. These Zordanians are lethal to all and must be stopped at all costs." Dartz said.
"We do owe you a great deal. It is your power that is allowing us to survive in these battles against them. We could not have lasted as well as you. You even managed to kill a few of them." Karim said.
"You killed some of them?" Aknankanon asked.
Dartz nodded. "I know that my magic was being drained. I could feel it. However, we were able to take down a few before we were too badly drained." Dartz answered.
"That is good." Aknankanon said.
"If you will excuse me, I need to inform Emperor Yugi of this latest development." Dartz said before he left.
"We are fortunate that the Emperor chose to aid us. He is under no obligation to since the peace treaty between us has no been finalized yet." Karim said.
"The Emperor already sees the military aspect of the treaty in effect. For that, we are indebted to him." Aknankanon agreed.
The moment that the four tigers reached the bottom of the stairs, they leaped out and clashed with the two lions that had attacked.
All six growled at each other as they all crouched down in attacking positions.
"Now what?" Marik asked.
"If you want to try and help them, be my guest. For now, I think that the best thing to do is to let them handle the lions." Heba said.
"Yeah. Those lions could kill us if they wanted to." Yami said.
"I think that we're all staying here." Atemu said.
The two lions roared loudly before they lunged forward at the tigers.
The tigers also attacked.
The lion brought it's claws down into Waterstar's face, throwing Waterstar backwards. In retaliation, Earthstar jumped forward and tackled the lions. The two felines went rolling across the floor before Earthstar managed to pin the tiger underneath him.
Lighteningstar and Windstar both jumped at the other lion. The lion lashed out at Windstar, but Windstar managed to get out of the way. Lighteningstar crashed into the lion and knocked it backwards, but Lighteningstar was knocked to the ground as well. Windstar jumped forward at the lion before it could get up and tackled it to the ground, pinning it down.
The two lions growled at the tigers before they stopped.
"You're Millennial tigers." the lion that Earthstar had pinned said.
The tigers as well as the humans were shocked.
"You're Millennial lions!" Lighteningstar shouted.
"Of course. Who else would the Emperor put in charge of protecting the items?" the lion that Windstar had pinned asked.
Heba walked on into the room. "If you promise not to attack us, they'll let you go." Heba said.
The lions agreed and were let up.
"Who are you?" Heba asked.
"I am Crescent." the lion that Earthstar had pinned said.
"And I am Lunas." the other lion said.
"You were the ones charged with guarding the items?" Joey asked.
"Yes. I see that you have one." Lunas said, seeing the ring around Bakura's neck.
"We have three, actually. We don't know who the necklace and the scales belong to." Atemu said.
"Why do you need them?" Crescent asked suspiciously.
"The Zordanians have returned, and they're attacking Egypt. We need them to save the universe." Heba explained.
"I didn't realize that it was serious." Lunas said. He gestured to the gold box behind them. "Take it." Lunas said.
Heba walked forward and picked up the box.
"Can we ask a favor?" Crescent asked.
"What's that?" Bakura asked.
"Can you open a portal to the Millennial Kingdom so that we can go home?" Crescent asked.
"Sure thing." Heba answered. He opened a portal.
"Thank you." Lunas said before the two lions went through it and the portal closed.
After sealing the room again, the group returned to the plane.
"Well, that was interesting. Not exactly what I expected." Joey said.
"I like them." Earthstar said.
"Only because they were felines like us." Waterstar said.
"That's the beauty of it." Earthstar replied.
"Well, at least we have four of them now. We're halfway there." Atemu said.
"All right. Open the box already." Bakura said.
"Have you ever heard of the word patience?" Heba asked as he set the box on the table.
"No." Bakura answered.
Heba unlocked the box and opened it to reveal that the Millennium Rod was inside.
"Well, at least we're down to just four to find." Yami said.
Heba picked up the rod. "We need to see if one of us is the one to control it." Heba said. He passed it to Atemu.
The rod then went around the circle.
"Doesn't look like it belongs to anyone here, either." Marik said.
"This is a complete waste of time." Seto said as he took the rod from Marik.
The Millennium Rod started to glow.
"You were saying?" Yami asked as he smirked at his cousin.
"So, it belongs to me?" Seto asked.
"Apparently so." Heba said.
"Great." Seto said sarcastically.
"Well, now that that's over, we should get going." Heba said as he got behind the controls of the plane.
Everyone else sat down as well.
Heba started the plane and took off.
They were now halfway through their mission, but they still had a lot to do.
Hope you liked it. Again, the info about the Colosseum came from the Grolier encyclopedias I have. Also, I'll probably have Bakura and Malik arguing a lot. Hope you don't mind. I decided to go with the ancient Egyptian person who had the rod. Sorry to anyone who wanted Marik to get an item.
Next: The Millennium Eye.
R&R.