Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 16- The Millennium Puzzle
The plane was flying through the air once more.
"At least we only have to find two more items." Bakura said as he leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head.
"Yeah. We're that much closer to finally being able to go back home." Marik agreed.
From his position behind the controls of the plane, Ryou said, "We won't be able to do that if we don't find out where the next item is."
"I'll get it." Heba said.
Heba and Atemu had recovered from their ordeal back in Japan.
Heba grabbed the book and started to flip through it.
"I just hope that these items are able to help us. We're putting a lot on these items." Yami said.
"Well, they're our last hope at the moment." Seto said.
Heba found the next entry. "The next item is found within the statue of a great beast. With the head of a man and the body of a lion, this place is guard over one of the great king's tombs." Heba read.
Immediately, all of the Egyptians said, "The Great Sphinx!"
"We're going back to Egypt!" Bakura shouted as he pumped his fist up in the air.
"This is in Egypt?" Joey asked.
"Yes. The Great Sphinx is one of the greatest monuments in Egypt. Any of us would know that one." Seto said.
"You know, maybe instead of going right to that one, we should see where the next one is at so that we can get that one instead of going to Egypt and then leaving again." Ryou said.
"He's right. That would be the most logical thing to do." Seto agreed.
Bakura groaned. "I was looking forward to getting home." Bakura said.
Heba frowned as he looked through the book.
"You okay, Heba?" Malik asked when he noticed the frown on Heba's face.
"There are eight items in all, right?" Heba asked.
"Yeah. That's what that book said. Why?" Yami asked.
"Because the clue about the Great Sphinx is the last one listed." Heba explained.
"What?!" was the collective response.
"That can't be right. There are eight items, and only seven clues?" Atemu asked.
"According to this book, yeah." Heba said.
"Are you sure that being trapped in that cave didn't do any brain damage, Heba?" Malik asked.
Heba glared at Malik. "Malik, I know what I am seeing. There are only seven clues here." Heba told him.
"Hold on!" Windstar said.
All eyes turned to the white tiger.
"Wasn't there one item that had two of the same one?" Windstar asked.
"Yeah. The Millennium Puzzle. Why?" Joey asked.
"Maybe both of the puzzles are in the same place." Windstar said.
"That is the most logical explanation for there being only seven clues." Waterstar agreed.
"Well, I guess we're heading back to Egypt then." Seto said.
Ryou changed course and headed the plane back to Egypt.
"Well, at least we're going to be some where that we know this time around." Bakura said.
"Yeah, and you actually got one right." Yami said.
Bakura and Marik glared at him.
"You have to admit that he's right. That's the only clue that you two figured out." Atemu added in.
"Hey, Atemu." Heba said.
"Yeah?" Atemu replied, turning to look at his husband.
"I think that you had better contact your father and let him know that we're going to be heading back now and why." Heba said.
"Good point. He's going to want to know." Atemu said.
"I'm sure that he'll be glad that we'll be home soon." Bakura said.
Aknankanon was in his study. He was trying to do some of his routine work, but was having trouble concentrating.
There was a knock on the door.
"Enter!" Aknankanon called.
Karim opened the door. "Pharaoh, there is someone here to see you." Karim said.
Aknankanon looked up and saw that Yugi was standing with him. He stood up and said, "Emperor Yugi, please come in."
"Thank you." Yugi said as he walked into the office with Firestar behind him.
Karim then shut the door.
"Is there something wrong, Emperor?" Aknankanon asked.
"I have been sensing a build up of magic. I don't think that we have long before the Zordanians make their next attack." Yugi said as he sat down.
Aknankanon looked grave. "I feared that that might be coming. It had been too quiet of late." Aknankanon said.
"I will make good on my promise and give you any aid that we possibly can." Yugi said.
"I know, and I am thankful for the aid that you have already given us." Aknankanon said.
"If you do not mind, Firestar and I will be staying here now. I would rather be here for when the attack comes." Yugi said.
"I would appreciate that, Emperor Yugi. We need all the help that we can get." Aknankanon told him.
"Have you heard how Heba and the others are doing?" Yugi asked.
Before Aknankanon could answer, the video monitor beeped.
"I'm sorry. I need to see what this is about." Aknankanon said.
"Of course." Yugi said, understanding completely.
Aknankanon answered it. "Atemu!" Aknankanon exclaimed in surprise.
"Hi, Dad. I thought that I would let you know that we're heading back home now." Atemu said.
"You have all of the Millennium items, then." Aknankanon said.
'That will help if they do.' Yugi thought.
"Not yet. The last two items are located in Egypt, so that's why we're coming back. We'll have to find them once we get back." Atemu said.
"I understand. How long before you get back?" Aknankanon asked.
"Ryou thinks that it'll be about four hours." Atemu answered.
"All right. We'll be expecting you." Aknankanon said.
"All right. Bye, Dad." Atemu said.
The connection was then cut.
"That is certainly a relief. I was worried about them." Aknankanon said.
"If they have all but two, then even if an attack comes before the last two are recovered, we will have more help than we would without them." Yugi said.
"I agree. They have done well even if they have been gone for several months." Aknankanon said.
~Four Hours Later~
As Ryou said, the group arrived back in Egypt in about four hours. Ryou landed the plane on the landing strip.
The group then got off of the plane.
Aknankanon, Amara, the priests, and Yugi were there to meet them.
"You're all right." Amara said happily.
"Yes, Mother. We are fine." Yami assured her.
Heba then noticed his brother. "Yugi, what are you doing here?" Heba asked as he walked over to him.
"I sensed a build up of magic and knew that something big was going to happen soon, so I decided to come on here." Yugi said.
Heba nodded his understating.
Yami watched Yugi discreetly. 'He looks so beautiful. I wish that I could just hold him right now.' Yami thought. He immediately has to squash the thoughts. 'This isn't the time to think about that. There are more important things that I need to focus on.' Yami thought.
Atemu did notice Yami's distraction. 'I really need to talk to him.' Atemu thought.
"Come inside." Aknankanon said.
The group then headed inside.
After telling them what they had gone through to get all of the items, it was found out that Isis was the owner of the Millennium Necklace, Karim was the owner of the Millennium Scales, and Aknaudin was the owner of the Millennium Eye.
"Well, at least we do have some added help from these items now." Aknankanon said.
"Yeah, but we're not quite done yet." Atemu said.
"What do you mean?" Amara asked. She hadn't been happy when she heard that Atemu and Heba had been trapped in a cave for a while.
The group had left out the fact that the two had nearly died from the loss of air since that would have made things worse as far as Amara was concerned.
"We still have two items left to find. We figured out that they're here in Egypt, so we know that we have to go there and get the last two." Atemu explained.
"Where is this item?" Aknankanon asked.
"The clue leads us to the Great Sphinx." Seto explained.
Aknaudin frowned. "Why the Great Sphinx? There is nothing within it. There is no way to get inside." Aknaudin said.
"Not necessarily." Yugi said.
Heba turned to Yugi. "Do you know where it is then?" Heba asked.
"I might. There's a spell that Millennials can use to seal a doorway that leads into a place. Only a Millennial could reverse that spell. I myself used that spell back in the days of the rebellion against our father. It was a way to hide things from him." Yugi said.
"Could you find a secret way in?" Aknankanon asked.
Yugi nodded. "It's not that hard. Once the spell is cast, it's just a matter of finding the way in." Yugi answered.
"Well, you're going to have to come with us, then." Heba said.
"Why?" Yugi asked, turning to face his brother.
"Because no one else knows that spell." Heba answered.
Yugi looked at Heba for a moment before he said, "You didn't pay much attention to our magic lessons, did you?"
"Not a bit." Heba answered.
Everyone started laughing at that.
"All right. I'll go. I think it might be best if a few of us stay here, though. If an attack happens, you'll need the help of the Millennium items that you do have." Yugi said.
"He's right. We don't know when they're going to make their first move." Aknankanon agreed.
It was decided that Yugi, Heba, Atemu, and Yami would be the ones that went to find the item along with Firestar and Waterstar while the others remained at the palace in case something happened, and their power was needed.
"Do you think that they'll be able to pull it off?" Amara asked.
"I wouldn't worry about them. Heba and Yugi are the best warriors in the Millennial Kingdom, so they're going to be fine with anything that they might have to fight. Firestar and Waterstar can give them a lot of help with that." Ryou said.
"I just hope that they find these two items before time runs out." Aknankanon said.
Malik looked out the window. "That is one thing that we don't know at the moment." Malik said.
"All we can do is pray that they are able to do this quickly." Isis told them.
Yugi, Yami, Atemu, Heba, Firestar, and Waterstar arrived at the Great Sphinx.
"Okay. So, how do we do this?" Atemu asked.
Yugi walked forward a few paces and said a spell in the Millennial language.
"What was that supposed to do?" Yami asked.
"If I'm right about a passageway, we should be able to find it now." Yugi said.
The group spilt up to search with Yugi, Yami, and Firestar going in one direction while Atemu, Heba, and Waterstar went in the other.
Yami kept stealing glances at Yugi, wondering what he should say. He wanted to just tell him how much he missed him and that he loved him, but he knew that it would make things worse. Yami clenched his fists. 'Seeing him periodically like this is making it so much harder.' Yami thought.
Firestar noticed Yami's actions. 'He wants to be with Master, so why doesn't he just admit that and return with him? I mean, he's not the Crown Prince, so it's not like he has a duty to the people. I wish he would just finally admit that.' Firestar thought, able to see how depressed both were.
"We found it!" Heba suddenly shouted out.
Yugi, Yami, and Firestar went over to where the other where in front of a door.
"I told you that spell would work." Yugi said.
"Yeah, You did." Atemu said.
The group opened the door and went in.
"What are people going to say when they see a door in the Great Sphinx?" Atemu asked.
"They won't." Yugi answered before he said another spell.
"You made the door invisible again?" Heba asked.
Yugi nodded. "Don't need to arouse suspicion with other people." Yugi said.
The group walked down the passageway, but it was getting progressively darker.
"How are we going to find out way?" Atemu asked.
Yugi then turned on a flashlight he had brought. "With this." Yugi answered. He then handed another one to Heba.
The group walked down the passageway until they reached a fork.
"Now what?" Yami asked.
"We're going to have to go down both. Either one could lead to one of the puzzles, and it could be that the puzzles are in two different places." Yugi said.
The others nodded. They split up in the same groups with Yugi, Yami, and Firestar going down the right path, and Heba, Atemu, and Waterstar going down the left.
Atemu, Heba, and Waterstar walked down the path with Heba in the lead since he had the flashlight.
"What's up with Prince Yami and Emperor Yugi? They both seem rather tense." Waterstar remarked.
"I don't know." Heba answered.
Atemu had tried avoid this, but decided to say it anyway. "I think that-" Atemu started.
"DUCK!" Heba shouted.
All three ducked to the ground as arrows shot over them.
"What is that?" Atemu asked, looking up at an arrow that had been only an inch above his head.
"A trap. I think that these items are being protected even more." Heba said.
"We'd better crawl under the arrows." Waterstar said.
Agreeing on that, the three crawled slowly under the arrow. Once by the last arrow, they got on their feet.
"We'd better be on guard from now on. I don't want a repeat of this." Heba said.
Waterstar and Atemu nodded their agreement as they continued.
Yugi, Yami, and Firestar had gone down the other path.
"Why are both these items buried together?" Yami asked.
"I don't know. Maybe because they're same item." Yugi said.
Firestar rolled his eyes. "Could you two actually address what's really on your minds?" Firestar asked.
"Like what?" Yugi asked.
"Like your-" Firestar started.
"LOOK OUT!" Yugi shouted.
Grabbing Yami, Yugi jumped up along with Firestar to grab a bar above them.
Swords went flying through the air right where they would have been.
"Traps?" Yami asked.
"Yeah." Yugi replied.
"Think there are more?" Firestar asked as he stayed on the beam they had grabbed onto.
"I don't know. That's why we're walking across the beam." Yugi said.
"Can it hold all of us?" Yami asked from where he was hanging onto Yugi.
"If it can hold a 500-hundred pound tiger with us hanging on to it as well, I think so." Yugi said. He climbed up, helping Yami go as well.
Heba, Atemu, and Waterstar had made it through several other traps and ended up in a central room.
"Look!" Atemu said, pointing.
On a stand were two golden boxes.
"We found them." Heba said.
"AHHH!"
The three looked to see Yugi, Yami, and Firestar fall to the floor from a hole in the ceiling.
They landed with Yugi on top of Yami, and Firestar landed beside them.
"Are you guys okay?" Heba asked.
Yugi and Yami looked at each other before blushing and getting up.
"I think so." Yugi said.
Atemu had seen the looks when the two noticed the position that they were in. 'Something definitely went on between them.' Atemu thought.
"I hate trapdoors." Firestar growled.
"Come now, brother. It's not that bad." Waterstar said.
Firestar glared at him. "You're not the one that fell through a trapdoor." Firestar growled.
"You two are brothers?" Atemu asked,
"Yeah. Didn't they tell you? We're twins, actually." Waterstar said.
Atemu and Yami looked at Yugi and Heba.
The two shrugged.
"The tigers reflect their owners a great deal. They're twins like us." Yugi said.
"On to more important things." Heba said, motioning to the two puzzles.
"Let's get them then." Yami said, starting toward the boxes.
Yugi grabbed Yami by the arm and held him back. "Hold on, Yami. Didn't you guys say something about something guarding each item?" Yugi asked.
"Yeah. Why?" Heba asked.
Suddenly, the stone figures on all of the walls stepped off the platform and turned to look at them with their swords raised.
"That's why." Yugi answered.
The two Millennials grabbed their swords and turned to face the stone statues.
"I have never seen statues come to life." Yami said.
"I think that we have seen just about everything since we started the search for the Millennium items." Atemu replied.
"Not the time for talking." Yugi said.
The stone statues then attacked.
Yugi ducked and kicked the stone statue back, but it didn't do anything.
"Uh oh." Yugi said.
The stone statue hit him and sent Yugi crashing into the wall.
Heba blocked the sword from another stone statue, but the force threw him off balance. Another stone statue hit Heba and sent him crashing back into the ground.
"We're in trouble." Atemu said.
The stone statues rushed at them.
Waterstar and Firestar charged at the stone statues, but both were quickly knocked to the ground.
Yami and Atemu moved out of the way as the statues went at them.
Yami was surrounded by them. He looked around knowing that he was in trouble. Yami ducked, and the soldiers ended up hitting each other, destroying themselves.
Yami turned to where Atemu was. "Atemu! Force them to hit each other!" Yami shouted.
Atemu moved out of the way, and a stone statue destroyed another one.
Heba ran forward and grabbed Atemu, pulling him out of the way, causing two stone statues to destroy each other.
Yugi got up and ran forward, knocking Yami down as a stone soldier struck another, destroying it.
Using strategy, they were able to get the soldiers to destroy each other.
"Okay. Not exactly easy, but at least it worked." Yami said.
"Come on. Let's get the two items and get out of here." Atemu said.
The group walked up the platform.
Yugi and Heba each reached for one box, but a zap of gold magic hit them in their hands.
"Ow!" both exclaimed as they grabbed their hands.
"Are you all right?" Yami and Atemu asked at the same time.
Atemu looked at Heba's hand, and Yami looked at Yugi's hand.
Neither were burned.
"What was that?" Atemu asked.
"It's some sort of protection spell. Whoever the true owner of these puzzles are must be the only ones who can touch them." Yugi said.
"Can you take off the spell?" Atemu asked.
"No. There are several different types of protection spells. They are very specific. I would have to know the exact protection spell used, so I can't." Yugi said.
"Why don't you two try?" Waterstar asked, looking at Yami and Atemu.
"Why? The same thing might happen." Yugi said.
"Well, all of the Millennium items have gone to Egyptians, so it might be that they are the owners." Waterstar explained.
Atemu and Yami looked at each other.
"It's worth a try." Atemu said.
Both reached out and took one of the boxes, and they were not zapped.
"Wow. You were right, Waterstar. It worked." Atemu said.
"I told you that it would." Waterstar said.
"I know. I know." Atemu said.
Yami and Atemu then opened the boxes. All of their jaws dropped.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Yami exclaimed.
"BROKEN?!" was the exclaim from everyone.
"How can both be broken?! We need them!" Bakura exclaimed.
"Well, they are called the Millennium Puzzles. It lives up to the name." Yugi said
"Now what?" Amara asked.
"Well, they're the owners, so I would say that Yami and Atemu have to put them together." Heba said.
"This could take forever, though. How can we possible pull this off in the time that we have?" Yami asked.
"Being the owners, you might be able to put them together fast. Of course, there is no guarantee of that." Yugi said.
"Well, we might as well try." Atemu said.
There wasn't much of a choice at the time.
Yami and Atemu had gone to their rooms to try to put the puzzles together.
Waterstar moved Firestar to the side.
"What is it, Waterstar?" Firestar asked.
"All right. Spill. What is going on between Emperor Yugi and Prince Yami?" Waterstar asked.
"What makes you think I know anything?" Firestar asked.
"Because you always know what's going on in Emperor Yugi's life just like I always know what is going on in Master Heba's life." Waterstar answered.
Firestar sighed. "Something did happen. A lot, actually. Back when Prince Yami was staying in the Millennial Kingdom." Firestar said.
"What?" Waterstar asked.
Firestar motioned to the gardens, and the two started walking in them.
"Out with it." Waterstar urged.
"Well, Master Yugi and Prince Yami ended up starting a love affair." Firestar said.
Waterstar's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" Waterstar asked.
Firestar nodded and told him how the two had admitted their feelings for each other and starting a love affair only to end it when Yami had to leave.
Waterstar growled. "I can't believe that Prince Yami would do that. He could have stayed. He isn't the one to be Pharaoh." Waterstar said.
Firestar sighed. "What can you do? This is between them." Firestar said. He then glared at Waterstar. "Don't tell anyone what I've told you. Master Yugi and Prince Yami need to work this out themselves." Firestar said.
"All right. I just hope that they can work this out soon." Waterstar said.
"I know. I'm tired of the sexual tension between them." Firestar said.
"I sensed that, and I won't tell anyone." Waterstar said.
Several days had passed, and things finally come to blows.
A massive explosion hit the middle of Egypt.
"What the hell was that?!" Aknankanon exclaimed.
"The Zordanians! They're attacking!" Yugi shouted.
"The puzzles aren't done!" Atemu said.
"Work on them. We'll hold them off as long as possible." Yugi said.
Atemu and Yami went to, hopefully, finish the puzzles while everyone else left the palace to fight the Zordanians.
Hope you liked it. Again, the information about the Great Sphimz came from the Grolier encyclopedias that I have. Waterstar knows about Yugi and Yami for a reason that you'll find out later. And Atemu won't talk to Yami about this until after the Zordanians have been defeated.
Next: The start of the battle.
The poll is still up, so vote if you haven't.
R&R.