Chapter 35 - A Lonely Soul

Once everybody had calmed down, the gang sat inside the Hawkins caravan deciding what to do next. Joey was ranting on about destroying the great beast that was in the sky previously, while Tea argued they needed help from the outside in order to do that. Rebecca then cut in, saying that they wouldn't be able to convince anybody to help them if they had no evidence.

"In case you forgot, those jerks burned down my grandpas' laboratory and all of his research," Rebecca explained. "Without no hard evidence theres no way anybody's gonna believe our story."

"But we have proof," Tea argued, "It's all down in those underwater ruins."

Rebecca then pulled out her laptop, turning it towards them, "Whatever was there won't be of any help to us now."

"The ruins are gone!" Rose said, staring at the screen. She then sat back in her seat with a sigh, "They're one step ahead of us."

"Don't give up so easily," Professor Hawkins said, emerging from his room, "I can help you find the information you need. You're right about looking to the ruins for answers."

Yami then spoke for the first time since they entered the caravan, "So, did you discover anything more about these thugs?" he asked.

"Well I can't be sure, but based on the inscriptions I found, theres a good chance these fellows are descendants of Atlantis," Arthur explained.

"But if you're hunch is right, why would these people want to destroy whats left of their ancestors city?" Duke asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

"They must be trying to hide something," Rose said, crossing her arms.

"Indeed," Arthur said, "Those ruins revealed the history of Atlantis, and its not a pleasant one. They must want to keep it a secret."

"How much of this history do you know?" Yami asked him.

Arthur explained how thousands of years ago Atlantis was the most advanced civilisation the world had ever known, and that it was a paradise, a land of total tranquility where everyone lived in peace. Until one day, when a dreadful creature was called forth from the depths of the earth by an evil king. He explained how the power hungry king drew his power from a stone, and the stone drew its power from another world.

Joey then jumped up, "It's that rock they have around their necks isn't it?" he asked. Arthur shook his head, saying that he wasn't sure as that was all that he could translate.

"There was probably something written on those ruins about how to destroy that monster before it destroys us," Duke said, clicking his fingers. "That might be what they were hiding."

"So we have to find another way to figure out how to get rid of it for good," Rose said.

"Well the ruins may have been destroyed," Arthur explained, "But there are copies of the inscriptions at a museum in florida where I was doing my underwater research."

"Perfect," Tea said, a glint of hope now in her eyes.

"So we just have to get to the museum and translate the rest," Rose said, sounding more cheerful than before.

"That's great all, but just one question," Duke cut in, "how do we get there?"

A moment ago Tristan had been grinning, but upon hearing that he slumped back down in his seat. "We're doomed," he said.

They came up with the idea of calling Kaiba for help, though half the group thought that it would never work. Well, more like the whole group thought that it wouldn't work.

"Come on Joey, he's not going to answer," Rose said as he dialled the number for Kaiba corp, "Didn't you hear his massive blow up back at Industrial Illusions? He doesn't want to have any part in this."

"It's worth a try anyway," Joey said as he turned on the web cam.

"No way," Tea said after a moment, "he really took your call?"

"What? He did?" Joey said, looking at the screen. "Kaiba? Is that you in there?" He said, leaning in towards the webcam.

"It works better when you step back from the webcam," Mokuba said.

"Oh, right," Joey sat back again, revealing the rest of the gang sitting around him.

"Make it fast Wheeler," Kaiba said in his usual cold tone.

"We found some clues about those biker punks," Joey explained.

"What kind of clues?"

"I'm not giving them up that easily Kaiba, but if you give us a lift to Florida I'll fill you in on the way," he grinned.

"So what's it gonna be?" Tristan said, leaning over Joey's shoulder.

"Time is running out!" Joey said, "Those creeps defeated Yugi and took his soul!"

Everyone groaned, "You idiot Joey," Rose muttered. She loved the guy, but he could be a bit thick headed at times.

Tristan pulled him back into a headlock, "Way to keep a secret lame brain!"

"Yugi's soul?" Mokuba said, "What's he mean?"

Joey pulled out of Tristan's headlock, "Please disregard my last statement folks."

"Whatever, Kaiba doesn't believe in all that magic stuff anyway," Tristan said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, it's all 'some kind of hocus pokus mind trick." Duke said, imitating Kaiba's voice.

Joey laughed, "hey that sounds just like him."

Rose whacked them both on the back of their heads, "He can hear you, you idiots!" Joey just gave her his usual cheeky grin.

"YUGI LOST?!" Kaiba boomed. Everyone suddenly shut up, staring at the screen. "Yugi gave his Duel Monsters championship crown to some nobody?! No one deserves that title but me!"

"Hold on Kaiba," Yami said.

"I don't want to hear another word," Kaiba said, "You're a disgrace to the game Yugi," and he hung up. Everyone stared at the blank screen, surprised at Kaiba's outburst. He really needs to get over the Duel Monsters Championship, Rose thought with a shake of her head.

"Now what?" Yami muttered.

"No ride?" Joey said, standing up. That stinks!"

"That jerk," Tristan said, "how are we supposed to get down to Florida now?"

"Well I say the professor stays here and we hop the next flight," Joey said, turning to the gang.

Duke volunteered to stay and keep an eye on the professor, and the rest of the gang organised a train to catch to the airport. They just hoped that they would be able to get to the museum on time.

...

"How long is this train ride anyway?" Tea asked as they sat at the station.

"Too long," Joey said, kicking the ground with his foot as they waited to board.

Tea sighed, "Any chance you wanna go instead of me Duke?" she said with a laugh.

"No can do Tea, I gotta stick with the professor in case those biker punks come back," he gave them all a thumbs up, and the doors to the train opened.

"Well, all aboard," Joey said, standing up. They said goodbye to Duke and hoped on the train. Yami hadn't said anything since they left professor Hawkins, and Tea was getting worried. Joey and Tristan took two seats in the middle of the carriage and Tea sat next to Yami across from them. Rose sat in front of Tea laughing at the boys eating their food like pigs. She looked behind her to where Tea was sitting. Yami had barely said a word all day, apart from when he spoke to the professor, and it appeared that Tea was trying to get him to talk. She'd fake sneezed, talked about the view and the beaches in Florida, but he just stared at his feet. Poor guy, Rose thought, he's lost his closest friend because of his mistake and everyone wants him to get over it already.

"If it were me, I'd be curled up at the back of the carriage blocking everyone out," Rose muttered.

"What was that?" Joey asked her, a mouth full of food. Rose chuckled, before saying that she was just talking to herself.

"Come on you gotta cheer up," Tea said from behind her. Rose tuned her ears into the one sided conversation going on in the row behind her. "I promise we'll get Yugi back. But in the mean time you can't just sit around moping. It might feel better to talk about it. We can even come up with a plan."

Yami simply sighed and stood up, "Sorry Tea," was all he said, and he headed off to the end of the carriage, disappearing through the door.

Tea sighed, looking back at the door he had disappeared though. "Poor guy."

"I think he needs to be alone for a while," Tristan said, poking his head out to look down the rows of seats.
"He's already alone," Rose mumbled, to nobody in particular.

"Yeah, isn't that the whole problem?" Joey said. "He's crushed."

"Hey Rose," Tea said, leaning forwards to talk through the seats. "Maybe you should to talk to him."

"Yeah, you both have that ancient egyptian thingy going," Joey said, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth.

"Huh?" Rose said, not quite understanding him through his mouth full of food.

"I think Joey means that you probably know him better than we do," Tea explained.

I did, Rose thought, If only I could remember. "Alright, I'll give it a shot," she said, standing up. She walked down to the end of the carriage and could see Yami through the door. He was standing between the two carriages, staring out the window with a look of despair on his face. He balled his hands into fists and punched the wall in front of him with so much force he almost broke through it. He then mumbled something before letting himself slide down the wall so he was sitting in the corner, his head buried in his hands. Rose opened the door and quietly walked in, but decided not to say anything. Instead, she sat beside him silently. He didn't need to be bombarded with lame encouraging speeches. She decided that if he wanted to talk, he would. All she could hear as she sat there was the rumble of the train as it rattled along its tracks, and the slight hum of voices in the carriages either side of them.

For Yami, Rose's presence triggered a thought, It's probably better that Rose doesn't remember anything from our past, he thought miserably. If she knew of all the terrible things I did as Pharaoh she wouldn't still be here, and I need her help to get Yugi back, just like I need everyone else's help. How can they still side with me after what I've done? I should be the one captured by the Orichalcos, not Yugi. Yami went to rest his head on his arm, but realised he had his duel disk on still, and gave up. With a sympathetic sigh Rose unclipped the device and pulled it off of his arm, placing it on the floor beside her. He simply put his head in his hands. So they both sat there, completely silent, shut off from the rest of the world. Rose could hear Yami's steady breathing as she watched him, patiently waiting until he was ready to speak.

After a few minutes of silence, he lifted his head up. "How can you still be here by my side?" he asked, staring out the window. His voice sounded so empty and filled with dread, nothing like he normally was. Rose couldn't see any of the life and passion that the ancient Pharaoh normally portrayed. But having Yugi with him was probably a contributing factor to his forever upbeat attitude. Now however, he was alone and empty.

Rose was surprised by his question, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You heard Raphael," Yami said, looking down at the ground with dread, "He said I was an evil pharaoh, the reason for the destruction of Egypt."

"But you don't know that," Rose argued.

"And neither do you," he said, still not looking at her. "We both have no memory of the past at all." He then sighed, "I'm afraid that Raphael was right, and that I'm turning evil again, Rose. I let my rage take over and I sent Yugi away. Who knows, I could do the same to the rest of you..." Rose noticed him ball his hand into a fist.

"Pharaoh," Rose said, grabbing his arm gently. He relaxed his hand and finally turned to look at her. "You can't believe a single word that Raphael said to you. He may have not used the card in your duel, but the Orichalcos controls him, and we can't trust anybody associated with it. I don't believe you were an evil Pharaoh. You fought against the evil that tried to destroy Egypt, you weren't the cause of it."

He sighed, "Even if that is true," he said, turning back to the window, "I still fear the darkness inside my heart since I played that card. Without Yugi's light to guide me, I don't know what will happen."

"The world isn't split up into good and evil," Rose said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Everybody has both light and darkness in their hearts, but their character is judged on which side they decide to act on. You are a good person, I know that. You were also a great Pharaoh. You just have to believe that your light can overshadow the darkness just like it did all those years ago."

He looked back at her, "You really mean that?" he asked.

"Every word," Rose said with a reassuring smile.

He sighed, and Rose could see the ghost of a smile trying to show itself, "Thank you." Rose gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and then looked down, noticing the deck of cards sitting in Yami's belt. She reached down and pulled them out to make a point. "My deck?" Yami asked as she held them in front of him, "What do you wish to do with that?"

"This is the deck that you and Yugi built together, right?" Rose said. Yami nodded. "Your heart is in this deck, and so is his. So even though he may not be with you right now, you can still defeat this evil together. Just don't forget everything you taught me about the heart of the cards."

Yami smiled, "How can I forget my own advice." He took his deck back from Rose and sorted through the cards until he found Queen's Knight. "I also have a part of you in my deck to help me," he said, holding the card up with a smile.

"You bet, so there's nothing stopping us. I promise that together we'll defeat this beast and save Yugi, he'll be back with us in no time." Rose gave Yami an encouraging smile, and he nodded.

"You know," he said after a moment, "I'm really curious to know what you were like back in Egypt."

Rose laughed, "Probably the same as I am now but...more...egyptian."

Yami chuckled, "Yes, well, I'm still not sure where your place was in the palace, if you were a part of the palace at all. It's quite frustrating not knowing," he noted.

"Tell me about it," Rose said. "Though I'm pretty sure I would have been a part of the palace, I mean, how else would I be so close to you? The Pharaoh wouldn't be friends with an average towns person, would they?" she asked. "And even if that was true, the question then is how. It doesn't seem very plausible."

"Indeed," Yami said. "Though we did see that vision of you kneeling before the previous Pharaoh, after you had found the Millennium Heart. Perhaps your item was your connection to me," he suggested.

"Could be," Rose said. "But for now we have to focus on getting Yugi back, we'll sort out the past later," she said. "But just remember, you're not alone. I'll always be right here by your side, as well as the rest of the gang. We can defeat this Dartz guy and stop him from resurrecting that beast," she said reassuringly.

"Right," Yami nodded, the hint of a smile on the edge of his lips.

That's when Rose noticed that the hum of voices either side of them had stopped. She stood up and peered through the door curiously, before a shocked expression appeared on her face. "Um...we have a problem..."

Hello everyone! I'm in my new house and have internet once again! It was a painful 6 days, but I've managed to write HEAPS in that time, so sit back as the updates roll in ;)

I hope this makes up for my absence :D

Always happy to hear what you think :)

PharaohsThrone