Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 14- The Millennium Eye
Now that the group had four of the eight Millennium items, they were halfway through their mission.
"So, we have four of them. We only have eight to go." Ryou said.
"Good. Let's hurry up and find them so that we can go home already." Bakura said gruffly.
"Come on, Bakura. It's not that bad." Atemu said.
"Not that bad! We have been away from home for nearly a month, and you say that it's not that bad!" Bakura shouted.
"Geez, and I thought that you were the one that would have loved this since it meant that you would be away fro a while. You always said that you hated being confined to the palace and wanted the chance to get away." Yami said.
"Yeah. That's why we got into trouble so much when we were teenagers since you were the one, along with Marik, that always dragged us out to go into town." Atemu said.
"They got you guys to go into town?" Malik asked.
"But you guys take us to town all the time." Heba said.
"Yeah, but we usually have bodyguards with us at all times, and the fact that you guys have such great power and skills helps out, too." Seto answered.
"In any case, someone get out the book so that we can figure out where I need to head next." Heba said.
Bakura grabbed the book.
"Uh, Bakura. You're not going to being able to read it." Malik said.
"And why's that?" Bakura snapped.
Malik rolled his eyes. "Because the book is written in the Millennial language, and you don't know it." Malik answered.
"Oh." Bakura said.
Ryou took the book from Bakura. "I'll find it." Ryou said. He then started to flip through the book.
"I just hope that things haven't gotten worse back home." Marik said as he leaned back in his chair.
"We would have been contacted if something had gone wrong, and things got worse." Joey said.
"Not if it happened too quickly." Atemu answered.
"Don't worry. It would take a lot of magical energy to do what these Zordanians are plotting. We would have sensed something like that." Heba said.
"Plus, Yugi already offered the aid of the Millennial army in case the Zordanians did do something, so they would go to help out if necessary." Malik added.
"Guys." Ryou said.
All eyes turned to him.
"I found the next clue if you're interested in hearing what it says." Ryou said.
"All right. Where do we find this one?" Yami asked.
Ryou looked down at the book. "A city that sits upon a great mountain houses the next item. An ancient people lived in this great city. Well preserved by time, this place stands even now. Dense vegetation kept the city hidden as it was on this mountain. The city is carved into the mountain, and stone walls surround the city. A great dragon guards the item." Ryou read.
"Any idea what that means?" Heba asked.
"Not really." Marik said.
Atemu, Yami, and Seto all rolled their eyes.
"We know that you guys don't know the answer to it." Atemu said.
"Well, what does it mean?" Bakura asked impatiently.
"This one isn't quite as clear as the others." Yami said.
"Seto, can you use that program that you used before to figure out what it means?" Heba asked.
"Sure thing." Seto answered. He got his laptop out and turned it on.
"A city carved into a mountain. Not exactly something that I would have expected." Joey said.
"Well, ancient civilizations would do that." Yami said.
"Okay. I've put in ancient cities on mountains, but it didn't narrow it down enough." Seto said.
Heba thought for a moment. "Seto, change it to cities carved into the mountain and add the stone wall that surrounds the city." Heba told him.
Seto did as Heba told him. "Hey. That did it." Seto said.
"Where is it?" Bakura asked impatiently.
Seto glared. "You don't have to rush me." Seto retorted.
"Where is it, Seto?" Atemu asked.
"It's talking about the Incan city of Macho Picchu." Seto answered.
"Hmm. I didn't even consider that." Yami said.
"Where is this city at?" Heba asked, needing to know what direction he needed to take.
"It's in the Andes Mountains in Peru." Seto answered.
Heba nodded and headed the plane in the right direction.
"Well, we'll be down to finding three items pretty soon." Bakura said as he leaned back in his chair.
"Don't be so quick to judgment, Kura. We don't know how hard it will be to get this." Ryou said.
"I'm not worried. It's not like there is much to worry about." Bakura said.
"Yeah. We haven't been thrown anything that we couldn't handle yet, so I agree with Bakura. We don't have anything that we need to worry about." Marik said.
"Let's just hope that you're right." Joey said as he looked at the book. The part about the dragon had him a little worried.
Yugi walked down the halls of the palace, deep in thought. 'There have been a lot of attack from the Zordanians lately. I know that the Pharaoh is starting to get sick of it since it is his people that are suffering so much.' Yugi thought.
"Yugi."
Yugi turned to find his grandfather catching up to him.
"Where are you going?" Solomon asked.
"No where, really. I was just doing some thinking." Yugi answered.
"What are you thinking?" Solomon asked.
"I think that I need to send more soldiers to help the Pharaoh with the Zordanian attacks." Yugi said.
"Yes. I understand that there was another attack." Solomon said.
"Yeah. It's getting worse. I know that it takes time for Heba and the others to find the items, but we're running out of it at the moment." Yugi said.
"The people are rallying behind you since learning that Egypt is under attack. I think that because Heba, Joey, Ryou, and Malik are all married to Egyptians, they feel the need to aid them." Solomon said.
"So I've noticed. I just don't know what we can really do. We may last longer in these small battles, but the major battles are going to be much harder." Yugi said.
"I know. There is little that can be done to prepare." Solomon said.
Yugi sighed. "It seems almost hopeless." Yugi said. A thought then struck him. "Unless-" Yugi trialed off as he thought about it.
"Unless what?" Solomon asked.
Yugi turned to face his grandfather. "Unless there was a way to block the magic that the Zordanians from affecting us." Yugi said.
"Meaning that Millennials wouldn't be affected by it." Solomon said.
"Yes. If Millennials were able to fight them at full strength, then Egypt's chances of survival would be much greater." Solomon said.
"Such a thing won't be easy to do, though. We don't know anything about the magic that the Zordanians hold." Yugi said.
"Perhaps we need to send in a few experts on the subject then." Solomon said with a smile.
Yugi caught on to his grandfather's meaning. "I think that you're right. Come on." Yugi said.
The two then walked down the hall to find the ones that they were looking for.
Heba flew the plane to the area of Peru where the ancient city of Machu Picchu was located.
"Uh oh." Heba said as he looked over the area.
"What?" Joey asked.
"We're going to have to do some climbing. There's no way that I can land the plane in an area close to the city without causing damage to the city itself, and I don't think that anyone would be happy if we caused any damage to the city." Heba said.
"We can't do that. It's a historic place, and we would get in a lot of trouble for that. Not to mention the fact that Dad would murder us all for even thinking of doing something so foolish. We'd be really dead if we actually did it." Yami said.
"That's why we're climbing." Heba answered.
Heba guided the plane down into an open area that eh could land in.
Once on the ground, the group got out of the plane.
"Ah, man! We have to climb that!" Joey exclaimed.
"Yes, we do." Heba answered.
"Why don't we just fly up?" Malik asked.
"Because we won't get up there." Lighteningstar growled.
"He's right. Besides, every other creature that the book has said guards an item has been there, so chances are that there is a dragon up there guarding this item. We don't want to give ourselves away by flying in the air. It won't kill you to do a little climbing, Malik." Heba said.
"You never know. I it might kill me." Malik said.
"I don't think it will." Atemu said.
"Come on. We can't waste time talking about this." Bakura said.
"He's right. Come on." Yami said.
The group walked toward the base of the cliff and started to climb up.
About halfway through the climb, the group had to stop for a breather.
"Man! This is hard work!" Joey said as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
"I'm beginning to wish that we had thought to take off our capes and jackets." Ryou said as he tugged at his collar.
Bakura took a look up. "And we're not done yet. We still have a lot of climbing to do." Bakura remarked.
"You know, it seems like climbing the Himalayas was easier than this." Marik said.
"Well, this is really rocky, and the Himalayas weren't nearly as rocky as this is." Seto answered.
After taking a fifteen-minute break, the group resumed climbing.
The tigers were having a little easier time than the humans were because the tigers were digging their claws into the rock to hang on as they climbed up.
The group finally made it to the top of the mountain.
Once at the top, everyone, including the tigers, collapsed. All were sweating and panting as they tried to cool down and regain their breath from the exhausting climb.
"Maybe we should have flown up here, Heba. It would have been less tiring." Ryou said.
"You realize that now! When it's too late!" Malik exclaimed.
"Malik, knock it off. There's nothing we can do now. Come on. We have to find that item." Heba said.
The group got to their feet and headed toward the city.
"You called, Your Majesty?" Valon asked.
Yugi rolled his eyes. "Valon, you are my brother-in-law. You don't have to go for all the formality crap. That goes for you, too." Yugi said, looking at Rafael and Alister.
"What is it that you needed to see us for?" Alister asked.
"I need you to do something important for me. I know that you three are good at creating magical things to suit your own needs." Yugi said.
"We've been known to do that, yes. What does that have to do with anything?" Rafael asked.
"I want you three to go to Egypt and help out in the battles against the Zordanians. While you're there, I want you to see if you can find a way to block the Zordanians' ability to drain us of our magic." Yugi said.
"So come up with a spell that will prevent them from draining our magic." Alister said.
"Exactly." Yugi said.
"It might be easier if we were able to find a way to make some sort of amulet or charm that would prevent the person who wears it from ebbing drained." Valon said.
"Then do that." Solomon told them.
"We should warn you that there is a chance that we won't be able to do this." Rafael said.
"I understand. All I ask is that you try." Yugi said.
The three nodded, determined to do the best they could in this situation.
After entering the city, the group started to look around the ancient city.
"Look at this architecture. I haven't seen anything like it." Ryou said as he admired the architecture of the different building in the city.
"That's why scholars believe that the Incans were the ones who supervised this city." Atemu answered.
"Okay. So, where is the Millennium item at?" Bakura asked.
"We don't know. That's why we're going to have to look." Atemu answered.
"We need to stay on guard. Don't forget that there is most likely a dragon somewhere around here, so we have to be ready for anything." Heba said.
The group then started to look around, splitting up to do just that.
Rafael, Valon, and Alister had arrived in Egypt to be met by Dartz.
"I have been told by Emperor Yugi why you are here. I hope that you can do this." Dartz told them.
"We're going to try our best. We may not be able to, but we are certainly going to try." Rafael replied.
Dartz nodded.
"Does the Pharaoh know why we are here?" Alister asked.
"No. Emperor Yugi and I thought it best that he not know in case it doesn't work. We didn't want to get the Pharaoh to hoping that we could pull this off and only dash his hopes if we, or rather you, don't succeed." Dartz replied.
"How are you going to explain our presence then?" Alister asked.
"You're here to give extra aid to us against the Zordanian attacks." Dartz answered.
The three nodded their understanding.
"Lord Dartz!"
Dartz looked to see Isis running up to him. "Priestess Isis, what is it?" Dartz asked.
"There is another attack." Isis explained.
"Where?" Dartz asked.
"On the east side of the kingdom. Mahado and Karim have gone on ahead with the Egyptian and Millennial soldiers." Isis answered.
"Come. We must go and aid them in this battle." Dartz said to Rafael, Alister, and Valon.
All three nodded before they ran off as well.
After searching almost everywhere, the group came to a certain area of the city.
"Okay. We have looked almost everywhere. Where the hell is that item?!" Bakura shouted.
"Stop shouting!" Seto snapped.
"Uh, guys." Heba said.
"You're shouting, too!" Marik shot back.
"Both of you, stop it!" Ryou said.
"Guys." Atemu said, seeing what Heba saw.
"Will you all stop it?! Arguing like this isn't going to get us any closer to finding that item than we already are, so zip it already!" Malik growled.
"Stay out of this!" Bakura growled.
"Guys." Yami said, knowing what Heba and Atemu did.
"Just knock it off! It may take a while, but we will find that item!" Joey said.
"Oh, shut up!" Marik shouted.
"Don't yell at him, Marik!" Seto growled.
"Will you knock it off?!" Ryou exclaimed.
Heba, Atemu, and Yami looked at each other, wondering how they were going to get their attention.
"This is pointless." Waterstar said as he watched them argue.
Heba looked down at his tiger and got an idea. "I may know a way to get them to stop." Heba said.
"At this point, we'll try anything." Yami said.
"Okay. The three of us are going to have to plug our ears." Heba said.
"Why?" Atemu asked.
"Because these four," Heba said, motioning to the four tigers, "are going to surround them and roar as loud as they can, and we don't want to hear that at full force." Heba explained.
"Good idea." Yami said.
"I love it." Earthstar said.
"So do I. I just love scaring people." Lighteningstar added.
"Get to it." Heba said, motioning to the others, who were still arguing.
Waterstar, Windstar, Lighteningstar, and Earthstar then surrounded the arguing group.
Atemu, Heba, and Yami all plugged their ears, waiting for when the tigers would roar.
All four tigers looked at each other before-
"RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!"
"AAAAAHHHHH!" the arguing group shouted as they jumped and landed in a pile on the ground.
"Lighteningstar!" Marik and Malik shouted.
"Windstar!" Bakura and Ryou yelled.
"Earthstar!" Seto and Joey shouted.
Heba walked forward. "I told them to do that." Heba said.
"Why?" Marik asked.
"Because you wouldn't listen to us when we were trying to tell you something rather important." Yami answered.
"Like what?!" Bakura growled.
Heba, Atemu, and Yami all pointed to where a carved natural stone that was enclosed by curved walls of dressed stone with trapezoidal windows stood. On a stand in front of the stone was the gold box of the Millennium item.
"It was right in front of you while you were arguing." Heba said.
There was a sudden loud roar.
Everyone looked up to see a pure black dragon land in front of the box.
"I think we've found the dragon." Bakura said.
"Who dares come here to try and take the Millennium item?" the dragon growled, fire coming from it's mouth as it spoke.
"Perhaps running is in order." Marik said.
Heba, confidant, stepped forward. "I am Heba, Prince of the Millennial Kingdom as well as Egypt." Heba answered.
The dragon blinked. "You are a Prince of the Millennial Kingdom?" the dragon asked.
"Yes, I am." Heba answered.
The dragon used a clawed a hand to stroke his chin. "Ah, yes! I can sense that four of you are Millennials. For what purpose do you come here to claim the Millennium item?" the dragon asked.
"Um, who are you?" Joey asked.
"I am known as Terrace. I was told to guard the Millennium item at all cost and only relinquish it to a Millennial royal. I sense that you speak the truth. I will get you take it." Terrace said. He curled his tail around the box before he moved it around in front of Heba.
Heba took the box. "Thank you, Terrace." Heba said.
"My pleasure." Terrace said.
"Great. Now we have to climb back down." Bakura said.
Terrace chuckled. "No need. If you get on my back, I can take you back down." Terrace said.
"That would be great!" Marik said.
"If you don't mind, we'll do that on our own." Heba said as he drew out his wings along with Joey, Malik, and Ryou.
The other climbed onto Terrace's back and everyone flew down the mountain to where the plane was.
"Thanks for the ride." Yami said.
"My pleasure." Terrace said.
"What will you do now?" Heba asked.
"Well, my mission is complete, so would you allow me to return to the Millennial Kingdom?" Terrace asked.
Heba nodded and opened a portal to the Millennial Kingdom, which Terrace immediately went through.
"Well, that was uneventful." Bakura said.
"Be thankful. They all won't be like that." Heba said.
The group then headed back into the plane.
After a tiresome fight, the Millennial and Egyptians collapsed, exhausted.
"They really do drain you of your magic." Valon said.
"Unfortunately, yes." Dartz replied.
'I see why Emperor Yugi wanted us to try and form a way to block that ability, but I know that it is hopeless.' Rafael thought.
After aiding the survivors of the town, everyone returned to the palace.
Dart, Rafael, Valon, and Alister went off to talk.
"Can you do it?" Dartz asked.
"There's no point in trying. Without an understanding of the magic, we can't do it. We would need to know more about their magic, but we know nothing of it, so there is no chance that we can even attempt it." Rafael said.
"I understand. There is nothing you can do about that." Dartz said.
"We are sorry. We would like to help, but we can't in this case." Alister said.
"Don't blame yourselves. You can't help it." Dartz said.
The three nodded.
"I understand, Dartz. Thank you." Yugi said before he turned off the monitor. He then sighed.
"No luck?" Solomon asked as he entered his grandson's office.
"No. Rafael, Valon, and Alister don't know enough about Zordanian magic to do anything. Without further knowledge of the magic, there is nothing that they can do." Yugi answered.
"It was a good idea, Master." Firestar told him.
"Maybe, but it is impossible to do." Yugi said.
"We will have to hope that the others find the Millennium items, and that these items can aid us in this war." Solomon said.
"Those items are our last hope." Yugi said.
"The others will find the items for sure." Firestar said.
"I know they will find them all. It is a matter of whether or not they find them before the war starts." Yugi said.
"We can only hope that they do." Solomon said.
Yugi nodded his agreement. 'I must be ready to go and help should the need arise.' Yugi thought.
Once on the plane, Heba set the box containing the Millennium item down on the table.
"Okay. So, which one is this?" Bakura asked.
"We'll soon find out." Heba answered. He unlocked the box and opened it to reveal the Millennium eye inside.
"Which one is this?" Atemu asked.
Malik got the book and opened it to the page about the Millennium Eye. "This one is called the Millennium Eye. It says that the Millennium Eye can see into a person's soul and can tell if the person has good or evil intentions." Malik said.
"Wow. That's pretty special." Marik said.
"I wonder if one of us is the owner of it." Atemu said.
"There's only one way to find out." Joey said.
Everyone except for Bakura and Seto, since they already had an item, tried the item, but it didn't react to any of them.
"Well, none of us are it's owner." Heba said.
"Well, that's another item that we have to search for the owner." Yami said.
"We can't help that, Yami." Ryou said.
"I know." Yami said.
"Well, we had better get out of here and start looking for the next item." Heba said.
"Good idea." Atemu agreed.
Everyone sat down in their seats as Heba started the plane.
Heba then started to lift the plane off.
"At least we're almost done. We only have three items left that we have to find." Yami said.
"Right. We're close to having them all. With any luck, we can stop those Zordanians with the items." Atemu said.
"Only time will tell the answer to that mystery." Heba said.
"I guess we're off to look for the next item." Joey said.
The plane then started to leave Peru.
Hope you liked it. The information about Machu Picchu came from the Grolier encyclopedias that I have.
Next: The Millennium Key.
R&R.