"What the fuck do you want, Bakura? And where is Mokuba?" Seto said through gritted teeth as his eyes met the crazed gaze of the white haired transfer student. He had wanted to kill the guy to begin with for what he did to Umi, but now? Now he wanted to rip him apart with his bare hands.
"Oh, I see that they aren't with you. Well then." Bakura gingerly stroked the metal of the golden ring around his neck. "If you want your brother back, you'll need to find him."
"I'm not playing your games. I can have this building surrounded by guards in seconds. You will give Mokuba back to me."
Bakura seemed to consider it for a moment before a wicked grin spread across his face.
"No. In fact, you will play, or your brother's going to die. And I'm sure that the afterlife waiting for him is, shall we say, less than ideal? And that is all your fault, Seto Kaiba." He laughed.
"I will tear you apart if you hurt a single hair on his head." Seto's voice was low and dangerous as he clenched his fists and prepared to strike. He hated dirtying his own hands for something like this, but Bakura had pushed him too far, and he was not even certain why he had been chosen as a target. He knew Bakura had a strange obsession with the Millennium Items, but Seto cared nothing for them. As far as he was concerned, Bakura and Yugi could fight each other until the world ended for the ridiculous artifacts. He wanted nothing to do with any of it. But he could not stand by and let Bakura hurt Mokuba. And he owed the possessed young man for what he had done to Umi.
"Like you did after I raped your girlfriend?" The mocking tone sent Seto into a rage that he had rarely allowed himself to experience. But he could not stop himself. He pulled back his fist and threw it forward, anticipating the pain of contact.
But he hit nothing. The momentum of the punch made him twist and stumble to the ground as the other cackled in laughter.
"Foolish boy. I'm not even here. And neither is your precious brother." The image spat as Seto recovered. Knowing now that the image was just that, an image, Seto could see now the flaws in the boy. Close examination showed bits of missing pixilation here and there that he had been too blind to see earlier.
"If you ever want him back, Kaiba, meet me in the Valley of the Kings. If you do not, your brother will be left to survive the darkness alone." The image faded from view as Seto looked around for their source. He could find nothing out of the ordinary.
"Roland!" He called to his bodyguard and right hand man. "Prep the jet." He pulled his tie from his neck in a smooth, practiced motion. His movements were taut with anger and worry. Mokuba had gone missing two days prior and this vision was the first word he had received about his little brother since. He pulled his long coat on quickly, wondering where exactly everything had gone wrong. Two days ago, things had started to turn around. He had Umi once more and had screwed up the courage to fight for her, to be with her regardless of what anyone said. Everything was going well with the company and he had even began cooking up some new ideas. After lunch that day with Mokuba, he had made a visit to the jewelry store where he had purchased the emerald necklace that her grandfather had returned to him. Mokuba was supposed to go straight back to the office.
He wouldn't admit it to his younger brother, but Seto was impressed at his developing business acumen. The kid was smart, he thought, smart enough to figure out a way out of this.
He had been with Umi, and had been trying to not fight with her grandfather when he got the call saying that Mokuba had gone missing. And two days, two nights of worrying had taken their toll. He had vowed to kill whoever it was that had hurt his family. And now, finding out that it was the same person that had hurt Umi, Seto was laser-focused on his target.
"I should have made her press charges," he muttered to himself as he stormed to the rooftop platform from which the VTOL jet would launch. "She should have listened to me."
Umi sat in the window seat of the passenger jet staring at the void below. Occasionally she could see the faint glow of light that marked habitation, but largely, she saw only a dark emptiness that echoed the hole that gaped within her soul. Yugi fidgeted next to her, much like she must have done on the many trips she had taken with their mother. She could tell that he was nervous, but occasionally, over the last day or so, she had also been subjected to feelings of intense passion. She had wanted to discuss them with her brother, but she had never found the opportunity. And now, sitting on a plane to Egypt, surrounded by both strangers and friends, Umi felt she had missed her chance.
"What's it like, Umi? Egypt?" He asked, wiping his palms against his knees as he tapped his feet in a strange syncopated rhythm.
"It's just a place. I'm sure I've told you before." She continued staring out the window.
"Yeah, you have. I'm just. I'm just nervous, I guess."
"Humph." She smiled thinking that nervous was an understatement. She took a deep breath and tried to start telling him of all the wonders of the place, of her memories with their mother exploring the ruins, but with each memory she attempted to tap she felt her heart constrict more tightly.
"It's hot, sandy. There are lots of old buildings. The people are nice, well most of them. Pretty much like anywhere, I guess." She said after her memories failed her. She could tell that he was disappointed with her description, after having been told her fantastic stories previously.
"I see." He looked back to the monitor in front of him and switched through the channels. She leaned her head against the window once more.
"Is this really what you want?" she asked as the world passed beneath them. She could feel his eyes turn toward her. She had asked the question repeatedly since they bought the tickets.
"I don't think it really matters what I want. It's what needs to happen." He turned back to the movie.
She tried to think of Egypt once more. She had often told him that it was like a second home to her, even more so than Japan. She remembered longing for the month long trips during the summer to the digs, her excitement over every new discovery, and how at peace she had been among the sand.
But looking back now on those memories felt like watching a movie, like she was seeing the experiences of someone else, distant and detached. She could see the places she had gone and the jobs she had done, but she felt nothing as she looked out of her own eyes.
Landing in the airport, Umi felt herself gag as her stomach lurched into her throat. Tears welled in her eyes as she walked through the familiar landscape, but this time alone. Well, not alone per se; Yugi was with her, as were his friends. But the trip was different now, without her mother and Neferet. As she looked around at the buildings and listened to the calls to prayer that had once thrilled her so, Umi had realized how much she had not wanted to make the journey. She shook her head to help her focus. She forced herself to think about Yugi's needs. Her own could wait.
"We should stop by the Department of Antiquities." She said to the group. "The tomb that you need is restricted; we'll need permission to enter."
"Why is it restricted?" Tristan asked.
Umi shrugged.
"Who knows why they make the decisions they do?"
"Hey, didn't Ishizu work for the Department of Antiquities?" Tea asked Yugi.
"I wasn't there, remember." Yugi pointed out. He closed his eyes and tilted his head as if listening to something. He then nodded and sighed. "Atem says that he believes it was called that."
"Ishizu Ishtar?" Umi asked, now curious as the pronunciation was not common.
"Yes, she opened the museum exhibit with this weird tablet that had Duel Monster characters on it. Yugi, I mean Atem and I went to see it before the Battle City tournament."
"Hmm. I worked with her one summer, creating 3D scans of broken tablets for reconstruction."
"Wow, small world, huh?" Tea mused, but Umi wondered if their meeting had been coincidence. Her own interactions with the director had an air of mystery around them and were difficult to explain fully.
"Yeah. very." Umi led the group through the winding streets toward the building where she had spent so much time working with her mother. As they walked through the door, an armed guard smiled at Umi. He looked familiar, if only vaguely, but he made no move to stop their entrance. A young woman at a reception desk near the start of the museum portion of the building smiled broadly as she saw Umi.
"Umi! It is so good to see you! It has been too long. What brings you here today?"
Umi smiled at the young woman who had helped her and her mother so frequently during their visits.
"Fatima, it is good to see you too. I need to speak with Ms. Ishtar if possible."
"Ah, the director has just returned from the field. I will see if she has time to see you today." The woman tapped on the keys on her computer. "You know, that scanning software you designed has been a tremendous help with the Hatshepsut project. Dr. Mahmoud has been able to use it to turn up some astonishing tidbits about her."
"That's wonderful."
"I'm sure he would love to see you while you are here. I heard he is planning to publish soon. Maybe he could get your name on the paper?"
Umi chuckled. She had planned to write a paper about the design with her co-designer at school for her senior engineering project, but it had slipped her mind in recent months.
"I would love to see his work with it."
"Shall I set up an appointment? Oh, and the director is free and told me that I should send you up right away. Will your friends be going as well?" She looked at the group gathered behind Umi.
"Yes, please." Umi looked at her brother who nodded. "And yes to the appointment with Dr. Mahmoud, but tentatively. I'm not sure how long I will be here. At the very least, I will leave him my contact information before we leave."
"Excellent. I will let him know."
Umi nodded and turned back to the group.
"Oh, Umi. I was sorry to hear about your mother. She was a good woman. Brilliant and always so thoughtful. I'll miss her." Fatima said with a sad smile.
Umi looked back at her, a similar smile on her lips, but pain in her heart and tears in her eyes. She took a deep breath as she led her brother and his friends to the office of Ishizu Ishtar, Director of Antiquities. She pushed the grief aside once more as she trudged along her path.
Ishizu was on the phone when the gang entered the room. She signaled for them to have a seat and Joey placed the case that he had been carrying containing the Millennium Items Yugi had collected on a table as everyone else found a spot in the seating area near the front of the office. Many of the smaller tables were littered with artifacts and papers. Joey fiddled with a shard of a tablet that he had picked up off the seat of a chair before he also sat down. The group was silent as they waited, listening in vain to the half of a conversation in Arabic. Umi could make out a few words, but she was surprised at how much of the language she had forgotten. She had grown fairly fluent, but was now struggling to keep up with the speed of Ishizu's speech.
Yugi fidgeted and Tristan coughed as they waited. Joey shifted in his seat while Tea drummed her fingers. Umi took deep breaths as memories of sitting in the office with her mother came flooding back to her. After what seemed like an eternity, the phone call ended and Ishizu approached the group.
"Umi, I am so saddened to hear about your mother." She held her hands out to the girl who stood and took the offered sympathy. "She was an essential part of the community. Her presence will be missed, but I know she will be missed so much more sorely by you and your brother." Ishizu pulled Umi into a hug as the waves of grief broke over the younger girl. Umi could no longer hold back the tears that she had locked so deeply within her soul. "She was a good scientist and a great friend. And a loving mother." Ishizu extolled the strengths of Sakura Muto as she stroked Umi's quivering back. After a few moments, Umi took a deep, but unsteady breath and tried to calm herself. She wiped the salty tears from her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Ishtar."
"Never be sorry for your grief, Umi." The older woman squeezed her shoulders and looked firmly in her eyes before turning her attention to the other teens gathered in her office. "My Pharaoh."
"Uh, nope, I'm Yugi. Atem doesn't want to come out right now and I'm not sure why."
"I see he discovered his name then. I had no idea that you would be the one to shepard him home, Umi."
"I don't know about that; it was mostly Neferet that helped him uncover his past."
"Neferet?"
"The spirit that joined with Umi." Yugi said as if it explained everything.
"It's what I think your weird necklace reacted to the first time you showed me the tablet." Umi added.
"She was my consort and the wife of the Gods." Atem said as he took control of Yugi's body. "I did her a great injustice." he added quietly. "But without her confinement, she may not have been able to assist me now."
"Of course, if you hadn't banished her to darkness, she might have been able to stop all of this from happening in the first place." Umi was surprised at the bitterness in her voice as she accused him and at the shock of pain that pulsed through her body. Atem nodded penitently.
"True. And now she is gone. Banished once more because of my arrogance."
Umi shook her head, but Tea spoke before she could.
"She didn't look like she was banished. It was more like she was, I don't know, released maybe?"
Atem looked at her in surprise.
"That is what it felt like to me. She was sad to go, but happy as well."
"Hmm." The pharaoh who shared her brother's face looked at Umi and she noticed how sad his eyes were. "I wonder if I will feel the same."
"So you are ready to depart this world, My Pharaoh?" Ishizu asked. Atem shook his head.
"No, I do not know if I will ever be truly ready." He looked at Umi once more, knowing that Yugi had told her everything that had happened since he had recovered his memories in Bakura's sick little game. "But I also know that I cannot stay."
"Then I will take you to the altar. It is my duty as a tombkeeper to help prepare you for this." Ishizu returned to her desk quickly and picked up the phone. She issued a few commands in Arabic that Umi felt she should understand before returning to the group. "Come. Let us depart. My brothers will meet us."
The trip to the tomb was long and uncomfortable. Umi was grateful she was offered the opportunity to drive as it allowed her to focus on the task at hand. She had had enough of small talk or explaining things to people. And at the same time, she was uncomfortable because she usually loved to explain and educate. Today, however, she was only able to focus on the task at hand. Ishizu spent the trip explaining what she knew about the ritual in an effort to prepare Yugi and Atem for what would happen once they reached the tomb.
"It's not really a tomb, you see," she explained over the noise of the engine. "I mean it was designed to be a tomb, but it was never used. There were never a real sarcophagus placed in it. Despite this, it is a place where this world meets other worlds."
"What do you mean, 'other worlds'?" Joey asked. "Like different planets or something? Are we going to meet the aliens that built the pyramids?"
Umi could not help the quirk of her lips and the roll of her eyes. She imagined that Ishizu was staring at him in disbelief.
"Aliens did not build the pyramids." she said coldly.
"But the evidence... Ow!" Joey rubbed the back of his head where Tea had smacked him.
"There is no evidence."
Umi chuckled.
"Really, is it that hard to believe in human ingenuity and creativity? That those things were enough?" Umi called over her shoulder.
"Eyes on the road. We are coming up to the turn."
"I am curious, Ishizu," Yugi asked. "What exactly do you mean about other worlds?"
"I wish I had a good answer, My Pharaoh."
"Not the Pharaoh." Yugi replied impatiently. Atem had gone back into hiding, yet Ishizu insisted on calling him by the title despite his many protestations.
"All I know is that the place is a crossroads. You can feel the energy of different worlds bleeding into each other."
The radio crackled to life with static and noise. A voice called to Ishizu through the static.
"Sister? Come in?"
The older woman picked up the microphone.
"Odion? What is it? Over."
"The guards have reported an unidentified object in the airspace over the valley. They said it was heading this way. Over."
"What do you mean an unidentified object? Over."
"The report says that it looks like a dragon? Over."
Ishizu looked confused for a moment before she asked for clarification.
"That's all I know, Ishizu. Wait. It's landed near the tomb. I, I think..." Sirens blared distantly through the radio. "Ishizu, we have intruders. Be careful." The radio went dead as Ishizu's face blanched. She looked at Umi with hard eyes.
"Drive."
Umi accelerated, pushing the jeep and its passengers to the limit.
Seto landed the VTOL jet several hundred meters from the tomb entrance and jumped out of the cockpit. He brimmed with anger as he followed the pulsing of the small device embedded in his collar. The signal was growing stronger with each step. Eventually he reached the ruins of a stone temple. The pulsing had grown so fast that the light seemed to glow steadily and the beeping had become a buzz. He looked around but he could not see Mokuba. He saw nothing but rock and sand all around him. He kicked a small pebble in frustration as he looked in vain for an entrance. The pebble skittered across the stone and eventually fell down an embedded staircase with an echoing sound. Seto walked toward the sound and pushed a large stone revealing an entrance. Firelight flickered in the darkness. Seto took a deep breath and began his descent.
Dark portals branched off from the main path, but Seto kept walking steadily along the torch-lit corridor. The buzzing at his collar echoed along the stone walls. He reached up to the device and pressed it to silent. It still glowed steadily. He sighed in disgust as pressed the device once more, realizing that it did little good now. He continued on the path, glancing into the dark doorways as he passed. He had no inkling where Mokuba might be and the tomb was a maze of stone and shadows. He stopped at the top of another stairway. He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling frustration wash over him.
"Mokuba, where are you?" he muttered to himself as he peered into the doorway to his right. The doors reminded him of the house from the hallucination, only the house had been full of light and life, while these were not. He grew uneasy with each passing second of indecision. A sudden flare of light at the bottom of the stairs drew his attention and he continued down the main path. At the bottom, the corridor opened into a large room and several torches were clustered in the center near a large, raised stone that seemed flat from a distance. As he approached, Seto saw the firelight flicker off of the white head that had beckoned him to this place.
"I see Fate has guided you here, Seto Kaiba."
"Fate? Please." Seto scoffed. "I had a GPS tracker embedded in Mokuba's locket. Idiot." He rolled his eyes. Bakura stared at him coldly and Seto did not risk tearing his eyes away from the other man even though he wanted to look around the large room for any sign of his brother.
"Don't discount destiny's hand in your actions, Kaiba. You were meant to be here, now. Does this place not seem familiar?"
Seto could not stop his curiosity any longer. He turned around in place, taking in what he could see of the room. The walls were lit dimly with evenly and widely spaced torches, but there were large patches of shadows between what he realized must be an altar and the walls of the room, as if it were designed to accommodate a great number of people. The stone altar at the center of the room was intricately carved and had deep indentations where it seemed that things were missing.
"Now that you mention it." Seto let his gaze wander further around the space before turning his cold eyes back to Bakura. "No. Not at all. Where's Mokuba?" Seto's voice was hard, dangerous as he demanded information.
A dark grin spread on Bakura's face.
"Safe."
Seto felt the fury within him erupt as he reached across the stone altar and pushed Bakura's face against the rough surface. His voice was a harsh whisper at the other man's ear as he held him down.
"Forgive me if I don't trust your definition of safe after what happened the last time you put your hands on someone I care about."
His rage was met with mocking laughter as Bakura looked up at him.
"How is Umi anyway? I've been meaning to ask."
Seto's grip on his throat tightened.
"Don't you dare."
"You're going to kill me, Kaiba? You'll never find your brother if you do."
Seto squeezed more tightly before releasing him. Bakura chuckled hoarsely as he rubbed his throat.
"You may not believe it, but you were destined to be here, now. You play your part and I promise Mokuba will return to you, unharmed. A shame, really. His screams are," Bakura tapped a finger against his chin as if he were looking for the right word. "Chilling."
"What have you done to him?"
"Nothing you haven't done yourself, or have you forgotten Death-T?"
Seto felt his blood run cold at the mention of the terror theme park he had built for the strict purpose of destroying Yugi. After his mind had been fractured, he regretted the waste of funds on such a petty goal. His biggest regret was subjecting Mokuba to the penalty game he had designed when he lost to Yugi. He wished it was still in operation, however. He would love to send Bakura through it right now.
"I see you remember."
"Where is my brother?"
"Aren't you tired of asking that yet? I'm not going to tell you until you do what I want." Bakura leaned against the altar.
"And what is it that you want?" Seto felt angry and disgusted with himself for considering the idea of giving in to Bakura's demands.
"Aside from you to witness what will soon happen? I want your girlfriend, but I guess she's not as useful now that you split her soul in two."
"You can't have Umi."
"I'm not asking for permission."
Seto pulled him across the slab once more.
"The only reason I didn't kill you before was because she stopped me."
"So do it now. She's not here Take your vengence. Right the wrong. And lose your brother. Which one will you chose, Seto Kaiba?" Bakura issued a challenge. "Will you choose your brother? or your lover?" He chuckled as Seto's grip tightened on him. "Except she isn't exactly, is she? You don't know her quite like I do, do you?"
Seto felt his face flush hot with embarrassed anger.
"You don't know the little noises she makes, the moans, the sighs as she finds release." Bakura laughed at the irony of the situation. "And yes, she did find release with me. I would have made her my dark queen, had you and Yugi not interfered. Can you even please her?"
Seto's grip tightened further and his vision went red.
"Shut. up."
"Did I touch a nerve?"
Seto balled his other hand into a fist and slammed it into Bakura's face. His knuckles came back bloody before he repeated the action. His eyes shed hot, angry tears that were as much a response to what Bakura had said and done as they were to his own inability to act on his longing and how unfair he thought it that everyone else seemed to have no problem taking what they wanted from her. He refused, holding out hope that she would give freely to him what others had stolen, and had yet to be rewarded. Part of him wondered if he should follow suit.
He slammed his fist into Bakura's face again.
"Kaiba? Bakura?" A man's deep voice asked from across the room.
Seto turned, still holding Bakura tightly in his grip. A tall dark skinned man with ritual scarring down one side of his face stood at the foot of the stairs. He walked purposefully across the distance with a smaller, blonde-haired teen following behind him.
"What are you doing here?"
Seto looked back at the newcomers with his fist poised ready to strike once more.
"He kidnapped my brother." He said, his arm trembling with anger and his desire to follow through.
"Bakura? Are you alright?" The blonde asked, stepping between Seto and his prey. Seto put his bloody fist down but would not, could not let go of the bunch of fabric in his hand.
"Never better," Bakura said smiling through the blood smeared on his face. "Though I think he broke my nose"
Marik touched Bakura's face, making him wince in pain as he assessed the injuries.
"It looks that way."
"That's the least of what you deserve." Seto hissed. He jumped as the large man placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't touch me." His voice was still raw with anger and jealousy.
"Release him."
Seto glared at the man over his shoulder, but his face was a mask of stoicism that did not crack under Seto's raging emotions. Seto groaned in frustration before he did as he was bid. He released Bakura with a flick of his wrist and the other teen landed heavily against the stone altar. Seto took a step back from him as Marik moved to steady Bakura.
"Master Marik, what should we do with these intruders?" The large man asked, his eyes never wavering from Seto as the younger boy tended to the wounds of his peer.
"Clean them up, Odion," a woman's voice said from the door of the stairs. Ishizu led Yugi and his friends into the room.
"Where is mokuba, you git!" Seto demanded.
"Well. Since the gang's all here, I guess the game is over. A pity really, Kaiba. Your anger is so deliciously dark." Bakura waved his hand and a shadow that had broken the pattern of lights around the chamber's edge disappeared revealing the younger of the Kaiba in a state of living terror. Seto pulled away from Odion's grip and sprinted across the room. He was kneeling next to Mokuba in an instant, trying to shake him awake. But Mokuba's face remained contorted in fear and his eyes were glassy and unresponsive.
"Stop it!" Seto yelled back to the master of this game. "Stop it now!" His voice cracked.
"Oh this is nothing compared to what you did to him yourself." Bakura said.
"Bakura!" Atem's stern voice echoed through the chamber.
"Well, well if it isn't my pharaoh." Bakura started mockingly. But then marik touched an extremely tender spot on his face and he flinched.
"Let Mokuba go Bakura. Now." His words were a command backed by his position as ruler and commander. Atem met Bakura's eyes from across the room and the thief who had done so much damage since his host had taken hold of the Millennium Ring for the first time, succumbed to the pharaoh's command.
Seto stroked his brother's face, oblivious to the confrontation happening across the room.
"Mokuba, please. Come on, wake up. You're stronger than this." He whispered as he lightly tapped his brother's face and pushed his long hair from his forehead. He could feel tears welling in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. Not here, not in front of them, not about this. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, distilling his fear into fury when he was suddenly disarmed by the presence of umi as she laid her hands on his shoulders. He sighed as he leaned back against her, one hand grasping her thin fingers while the other continued to try rousing Mokuba.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered. He looked up at her and could no longer fight the tears. She knelt next to him, sliding her arms around his waist as he continued to plead with the comatose boy.
"Mokuba? Mokuba please." His heart was torn in twain.
Mokuba blinked once and then twice. He turned his eyes to his brother and gave as strong of a smile as he could.
"I knew you would come for me." Mokuba's voice was soft and still trembled with the fear induced by the visions he had experienced.
Seto was awash in relief and he pulled his brother to his chest burying his face in the child's long dark hair as he felt his anger dissolve into gratitude for their safety. He could hear some commotion in the background but her did not care. He had all he needed in the world, he thought, as he slipped his arm over Umi's shoulder and pulled her into the embrace he and Mokuba shared. He leaned his head against Umi's and then against Mokuba's as he held them close. Tears fell, free and unchecked for the first time since he had said goodbye to his parents. He realized that he had his whole world in his arms, and that it was enough.
The commotion around them grew louder, but Seto did not care. He never really ascribed to yugi's fantasy world, and had no plan to try rationalizing everything. Not when he had Mokuba's safety to be thankful for.
Umi saw the jet gleaming on the horizon as the truck roared down the dirt path that qualified as a road.
"Stop here." Ishizu ordered from the passenger seat. Umi stopped but she wanted to drive until she reached the glistening silver machine, or at least until she found its pilot. Reluctantly, she hoped down from the driver's seat and followed her brother and his friends into the dark opening of the tomb that was not a tomb. She looked back at the silver beast hulking in the distance, wondering if Seto had come this way already or if he was on some other journey. He had left suddenly the other day and had not answered her calls. Umi tried to convince herself that everything was fine, but she could not help the worry that had spread through her heart when she had heard the description of the jet over the radio.
He was here, she knew it. She could feel it, but she did not know why.
She turned her attention to the enshrouded passageway before her and followed the others down the stairs.
She lost track of how long they walked and of how deeply they had descended as her mind tried to make sense of why he might be here. She stopped in her tracks when she felt him at the bottom of the stairs. She was struck by his anger and rage and jealousy. The emotions confused her as did her ability to sense them so strongly. She tried to push her way through the opening, but Yugi and his friends would not move out of her way fast enough. The scene she faced once she stepped into the chamber made her head spin. Seto stood over Bakura looking for all the world like he would kill the younger teen. Bakura smiled a sick, twisted smile; blood poured from his nose and over his chin. A blonde boy about her age stood between them and seemed to be administering first aid to Bakura. Seto was demanding Mokuba's release, and Umi felt the pain and torment and fear within Seto's spirit. She could not hear what Bakura said in response, but the wave of fear that hit her was enough to make her flinch. She saw Seto sprint across the room as a shadow fell away and she pushed her way through the others to make her way to his side.
She did what little she could to comfort him as Mokuba returned from the world of shadows where he had been trapped. Umi flinched once more at the thought, the memory that Neferet had shared of her time in such a place. The thought of having her spirit trapped in such a place terrified Umi. She could hear discussion and talk behind her as her brother and his other self were prepared for the ceremony that would allow Atem to return home while Yugi could travel along his own path. She looked back to those gathered around her brother, wondering if she should be there, with him instead. Seto looked up at her then, his blue eyes were a window into his fractured soul. She could see so much in them that he hid from others. She always had been able to, from the first time they met. She pressed her forehead against his and felt his arm around her slide down her back. The touch tingled even through the fabric of her shirt.
"Are you alright?" she asked softly. She felt his forehead rock against hers as he nodded.
"Yeah, or I will be." his fingers traveled back up to her shoulders and she released a shaky breath before she freed herself from his presence. As she stood, he gripped her hand and brought her fingers to his lips. He stared at it for an uncomfortably long moment with his eyebrows knitted together.
"Seto?" she asked, curious as to what he was thinking. He shook his head before looking up at her.
"Sorry."
"Are you sure you are alright?" She asked again as he cradled Mokuba against him.
"Yes. Go. You're needed."
She locked eyes with him for a moment wondering just what he had meant. She thought that he needed her, too. He tried to smile but she could see the pain still haunting his eyes. She did not want to leave him, not when her heart ached so.
But she heard her name from across the room. She forced herself to turn away and go back to the path she had started them all on.
"Once the items are placed within the stone," the blonde boy was explaining as she joined the group. "According to legend, that's when the doors will open." He held the ring in his trembling hands. He walked to the stone and laid it carefully in the crevasse sharing its shape.
Umi felt a small golden orb pressed into her hands.
"Where's Kaiba?" Yugi asked as she took the Millennium Eye from him. She glanced back to where he had been. He was helping a much recovered Mokuba to his feet and leading him toward the exit. Yugi followed her gaze. He then looked back at his twin, sensing her growing worry.
"We can do this without him." he suggested softly. Umi took a deep breath and placed the artifact into the stone.
Once all of the objects were in position, Yugi hefted the Puzzle from around his neck and laid it into the stone. Golden light seemed to fill the carvings on the stone and from there fill the room. Once the light had faded, Yugi stood face to face with his counterpart. They stared at each other for a long moment, as if they were trying to decide what to do next.
Umi watched and suddenly felt a twisting in her stomach. She closed her eyes trying to will the wave of nausea away, but the more she tried, the more she felt the need to run. She turned away from the pair, hoping that whatever was affecting her would disappear once they were out of sight, but her brother's mixed-up emotions crashed upon her like waves on rocks. She looked back at them only to see tears glistening on each of their cheeks as they moved to embrace the other for real for the first time. Umi swallowed hard, as she realized what had caused the hollowness in the pit of her stomach.
The void within, where Neferet had been, threatened to swallow her. She backed away until she touched the stone wall behind her. Her hands caressed the carvings that had been so painstakingly chiseled into the rock. She looked at the wall to discover the story it held locked away in its crystalline structure. She felt that it held secrets about what was happening buried among the birds and snakes, hands, feet, and mouths of the hieroglyphs carved there. She searched for meaning among the symbols, but she could find none. She felt as if the part of her brain that had known what the images meant was missing.
And the sick feeling grew as she ran for the door.
A/N: I think this is really rough, so I'm sorry. I'm having difficulty getting through some parts of this right now, so any feedback about where things seem stilted will be appreciated. I'm hoping to revise all of this soon, but time is short and exhaustion is a real thing.