Ty- So, here's the continuation of DE. I don't own anything except my oc, the plot, and any alternate names for the characters, such as Mai's. Also, FF is eating my scene breaks. Very sorry about that everyone! I'll get it fixed. Now, read and enjoy!
Yugi's heart stopped as they heard the boom of a bomb go off near the museum. He, Megan, and Ryou took off faster than their other friends. He begged his half divine DNA to help him run faster, get to Atem faster. Oh, Gods, what would he do if his beloved's body was destroyed?! That would be it. They'd be lost to each other until their next lives. A loud resounding 'NO!' rang through his mind.
Adrenaline pumped into his bloodstream, sending him practically flying up the steps of the museum. "I'm coming, Baby." He murmured to himself over and over. Yugi knew the building. He sped through the corridors. He didn't pause to even see if Ryou and his sister were behind him. He slid to a stop before an open doorway.
A blond woman he'd never seen before was crouched protectively in front of the glass case holding his other half. Her eyes widened, but Yugi wasn't paying attention to her. With a strength he shouldn't have, the young adult lifted the case off the cloth covered corpse. He crawled on top of the plaster or cement slab, straddling the corpse at shoulders and hips.
"Please be O.K. I need you to be O.K." A soft groan left the covered form. The adrenaline crash caught up to Yugi as he let out a relieved sob. Tanned fleshy fingers lifted the cloth. Blurry crimson eyes gazed up at him. The paler of the pair let his weight rest on the other as he buried his face in Atem's neck. The former Pharaoh clung to him, whispering calming words in ancient Egyptian.
"Yu- Never mind. Hi, Atem. Hello, Ms. Whoever you are. Right. Yugi, bad guys in the museum. Get Atem up and let's go." Megan said, sliding to a stop in the doorway. Ryou gracefully stopped, his feet settled perfectly on the ice under them. Yugi helped Atem sit up. It took a minute for his sister's words to compute.
"Wait, what bad guys in the museum?!" He spoke shocked. Megan huffed as Ryou rolled his eyes. Leave it to Yugi to totally forget about the bomb they'd heard go off.
"I suggest we move. We're boxed in here." The blond woman motioned for them to follow as she left the room. A lethal looking whip was curled in her hands. She glanced back at the motley crew of demi gods and mortal. Atem gripped the sheet around his waist. Apparently the grey water in Anubis' city had dissolved his clothing. Yugi smirked cheekily at him.
"So, you going commando under that sheet or just happy to see me?" He asked flirtatiously. It certainly took the former ruler by surprise. He hadn't heard that tone for millennia.
"Um, what?" The younger of the Moutu siblings just turned back to the former Pharaoh. She lifted an eyebrow in amusement. "What?!"
"Yugi, you're going to have to give him a modern flirting 101 class. O.k. So Demis up front?" Blue eyes looked over to the white haired teen. He nodded, taking the lead. "Yug, take the back. Your abilities are more defensive. Ryou, when we get closer, I'll take the lead. Out of the three of us, I'm the heavy hitter. You said yourself my combat magic was the best." Megan paused. She closed her eyes before opening her senses more.
"What do you hear?"
"The bad guys are going to miss us completely, but we have to move, now. Atem, I need you to move on your own. Yugi's our shield. He can't concentrate if he's helping you stand. Come here, my fave idiot Pharaoh." Yugi handed the Pharaoh over to his sister, who took his weight like it was nothing. Atem was surprised. Megan smiled at him. "Ryou helped us learn how to use our demi blood. You can put more weight on me. I have enhanced strength."
"Thank you, Oni."
I lean more onto Megan's form. I have no idea why I feel so weak. Was my sudden regeneration so quick that my magic has yet to return to me? I glance at Mai, who watches our surroundings. The other, Ryou, I think, waves his fingers around, white crystals fluttering around them.
"Ryou's momma is a very powerful snow and ice sorceress. She's so strong he and his younger sister are considered demi-gods, just like Yugi and I. …Marik and the others are in the lobby, and they've got trouble." Megan pats my side as she readjusts me. Golden hawk wings rise from her back. With a powerful beat of those wings, she lifts us into the air.
Fatherly pride swells within me as I stare at my reincarnated child amazed. "Little Hawk." I murmur softly.
"Save your strength. I'm going to give you to Marik and have him take you to the game shop. Now, hold on to that sheet and me tightly, or you're gonna lose both." With a mighty wing flap, we're flying through the corridors. I enjoy the feeling of flight, the sense of near complete freedom it brings. Wind beats around us. Mine and Megan's hair fly away from our faces.
She's changed so much since I last saw her. Her very presence is like that of the warrior sage. Her bone structure, something I hadn't really noticed before, was more defined. There was a masculine curve to her jaw, that wasn't out of place on her. It was similar to my own, only slightly softer. Her blue eyes had subtle hints of tawny brown around her iris. The two tones gave a wisdom beyond her years to her face, made it seem older and somehow younger all at once.
I have always known my beloved daughter was an old soul. She even seemed such back in our first lives together, but there was a maturity that I hadn't seen before. I didn't recognize my adopted child in the woman before me. The realization that Megan had come into her own during the year apart took the breath from me. She was calm, for the most part, and settled comfortably into her skin.
"I never realized, until this moment, how truly beautiful my Little Hawk is."
"Thanks, but Atem, I not your child any more. Yugi and I have come to terms with our past relationship and the one in our present lives. We're brother and sister, not father and daughter. I don't mind the old pet name sticking around though." I chuckle. Our moment is ruined at the sounds of shouting. Megan descends to pass through into the lobby.
There are two groups standing there. On one side is a man in what I can only describe as a fashionably challenged suit of mauve. He's surrounded by men in black clothing. On the other is Marik and my loved ones' friends. My eyes widen at the sight of that cursed and vile Telena. Why is she standing with my beloved consort's friends? What is she even doing here?!
"Atem, Anzu's our friend. She's a far better person in this life. Trust me. Yugi and I know what we're doing." I nod, willingly allowing myself to be transferred into the waiting arms of the group. The other male blond of the group, with warm golden brown eyes, lifts me up. "Joey, can you get Atem to the game shop? Grandpa will know a way to help him."
"Joey, get him out of here!" Yugi's shout kills any protest I would have made. Joey nods. He races out the door, Telena's reincarnation following. The farther from the museum we travel, the harder it gets to breathe. Both watch me with concerned eyes as I fight for each breath. Black spots begin to dance before my eyes, and I slip back into darkness after that.
Yugi shivered as the group across from them parts. From within, a woman walks forward proudly. She appears to be made of metal, with molten lava just under the surface of her skin. Her long hair is pulled into a beautifully done braid. The bronze dress she wears is something an empress of China would have worn. Her eyes scan over them, before settling on Yugi.
"Nuri, my betrothed, I thought I would find you here. Come, I have waited almost a full millennia for our marriage."
"I am sorry, Empress Wong, but you're sadly five millennia too late for that. My master's heart and hand belong to my Pharaoh." Mai spoke boldly, her fear of the empress having long since died. The Dragon Empress was not as powerful as she should have been in this form. She would have to have a drink from the waters of Shangri-La for that to happen. And only one person in the entire room knew where that was, if he could remember it.
"Ah, Woserit. I should have known you would find your way to your master again. Besides, that worthless thing you call a Pharaoh is not long for this world. The only thing binding his body and soul together is my Nuri's presence."
"How dare you talk about my Atem that way! I don't know who the hell you think you are lady, but you're going down!" Yugi felt rage enter him. He knew at some point there was a connection between his mother and Sekhemet. He could really use the power of the lioness right about now. He needed to dish out a little revenge for how this bronze lava woman was talking about his love! He also wanted a little payback for the way she'd talked to him.
"That Pharaoh has nothing on me! I am Empress Wong! I am the Dragon Empress, descendant of the Yellow Emperor, a goddess on Earth! He is god in title alone! He has no divine blood in his veins, like I do! Only another divine is worthy of you, Nuri! Only I am worthy of the title of your spouse!"
"No. Atem is the other half of my very being, as I am his. Ryou, now! Ice this bitch!" Ryou seemingly popped out from nowhere, flurries of snow, sleet, and hail following him. He froze the Dragon Empress, making it impossible for her bronzed body to move. As his storm raged on within the lobby, the group made their getaway. Even though most of them didn't know Atem as well as others, they were all equally impatient to see the Pharaoh.
Only time knew if the empress' words would ring true or not.
Atem- TYRANT! What's going on with me?! –frantically digs through hundreds of notebooks- Where is it?! Where have you hidden the plot?!
Ty- -ignores Atem- Ok, so next chapter will cover what's going on with Atem, and a little family tension! It might take me some time, as I want to get a good conflict going with the changed dynamics between Yugi, Atem, and Megan. There's a hint as to what the conflict's about in this chapter. We've also finally met Vivian, and Siegfried made a small cameo.
As for an update schedule, I want to try for updates around the 15th and 30th of every month. If I don't make both of those dates, then there will be at least one update a month. I also would like to see more reviews, as reviews are motivation to press on and deliver at the best of my ability!
Yugi- What she's saying is, more reviews, more motivation, more story. It's a never ending cycle.
Ty- R&R, please and thank you!