Author's Note: Soooo? How'd I do? Was that last chapter super cray cray or what?! After revising and revising and a couple of enraged phone calls to close friends for support I finally got what I could see in my head on paper! Thank all you lovely people who left such wonderful reviews & personal messages; your support and excitement spur on my creative juices and keep the magic flowing. :) I hope that you will all continue to read and go on this journey with me. And now, the next chapter, and it's a long one…. Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh. I also DO NOT condone the use or play of Ouija boards-the following events were simply for entertainment purposes. My advice: DON'T FUCKIN DO IT. SPIRIT BOARDS ARE DANGEROUS.
Chapter 13: Beyond The Veil
White fire.
It was blinding. Amethyst orbs squinted against the brightness, trying to make out any form of his surroundings... A large round room made of stone. Pillars cracked and crumbled under the flames. Heat. White-hot heatwaves scorched his skin as Yugi struggled and fought with invisible bonds.
There was a shadowy form behind the rising inferno. Trapped. Someone was trapped in this burning room! The figure wasn't moving, not even as flames licked at their skin and clothes. He cried out a warning and fear almost stilled his heart when no sound escaped his lips. He could feel his vocal chords straining with effort to make noise but he heard nothing but a high-pitched ringing in his ears. His body was being dragged backwards away from the flames, by who or what-he didn't know. He didn't much care-but an indescribable need to protect roared within him. His mind set to get to whoever was about to be burned alive. He fought against the force, ripping his arms and legs back and forth only to be bound tighter. Breath whooshed out of his lungs as the force began to crush him and he dropped to his knees. His arms and legs refused to move to his will, feeling strapped tight to his sides. It was getting increasingly harder to breathe. He choked, panic seizing him when he couldn't get enough air into his lungs. Tears fell and he used what little air he had to cry out against the chaos around him and the magic that held him fast. Black spots started to form amongst the white flames. Lack of oxygen took its toll as Yugi felt himself grow weaker, his struggles slowly losing what little strength they had. He barely registered the insistent pulling on his body, his eyes slipping closed. No...someone was in there….I have to save..
"Yugi!"
A deep baritone cry broke through the silence. The syllables of his name echoing through the still-conscious parts of his brain. That voice! He knew that voice! Yugi weakly lifted his head-the figure was finally moving, running towards him. His dimming amethyst opened and locked with a shock of crimson.
"YUGI!"
Pharaoh?! Atem seemed to be fighting to get to him, running in slow motion-his eyes wide with fear. He was okay-seemingly untouched by the flames that silently roared around them. The sight of his partner spurred Yugi's adrenaline and he threw everything he had into fighting whatever was holding him down. He had to break free! He had to get to him! By some miracle he managed to get to his feet. He gasped for air as the invisible bindings around his arms and chest loosened, allowing him to breathe freely. Atem's lips moved but he couldn't hear him-silence again overtaking his senses. The Pharaoh must have been under the same spell, he was struggling to push forward-frantically motioning to something behind Yugi. He turned his head and soundlessly screamed, finding himself a few feet away from a great doorway of light. It's depths akin to a black hole, a seemingly endless tunnel to the unknown. Gravity was pulling him backwards into the void, a gale force of energy sucking him inch by inch towards the open maw of light. Sheer panic overtook him as he wheeled forward, fighting tooth and nail to keep from falling into the door. Yugi screamed his friend's name, desperately reaching forward one arm-outstretched towards Atem who reached back for him. Inch by inch...they were mere feet from each other…
Crimson orbs filled his vision. Black pupils retracting to almost nothing. Pure terror crossed Atem's features. Yugi's eyes went wide as he read his name on the Pharaoh's lips, before the former spirit was roughly yanked back, swallowed by an explosion of purple flames-
"Yugi! Wake up!"
The young man jerked awake to a hand shaking his shoulder. His heart raced when he couldn't move away from the culprit-arms and legs all wound up the sheets, and he flailed to free himself.
"Whoa, hey, it's just me! Calm down." Came a British-accented whisper from somewhere to his right. Yugi stopped his movements. The remnants of his dream faded away, and he found himself blinking up at a concerned Ryou.
"Ry-Ryou?"
"Are you alright? You were thrashing around and took all the covers.." He whispered, moving to give Yugi some space to sit up. "Was it a nightmare?"
Once he had untangled himself, Yugi moved to rest up against the headboard. He ran a hand through his hair, his hand coming away wet with moisture. His cold-sweat chilled him in the air-conditioned room. He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart before nodding.
"Y-Yeah, it was." He croaked quietly, his throat felt dry. "Guess all this craziness must be taking its toll…". Ryou nodded in understanding.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, I...I've had it before, the night we came back from the dig. It was about the Pharaoh. He was in trouble..or I was, I can't be sure. The details get all fuzzy when I wake up. But I think I'm just worried about him. I'm okay now though...What time is it?"
Bakura grabbed his phone off the bedside table and held it up. The little glowing numbers showed it was half past two in the morning.
Yugi cringed, "Sorry for waking you."
He shrugged it off, "Don't worry about it. And speaking of the Pharaoh, we should go and do this now, while everyone is asleep." He pointed in Joey's direction. They could vaguely make out the lump of covers that was their friend, snoring loudly and mumbling words into his pillow. Yugi agreed and they slipped out of bed. The pair pulled on some clothes and shoes in the dark. Using the light from his cellphone, Ryou fished out a large laptop case from the bottom of his suitcase. Yugi grabbed a can of tea from the mini fridge and they tip-toed out of the door.
"Ooh, can I have some? I should've grabbed me one."
"Sure. I was super thirsty when I woke up. Remind me to thank Grandpa in the morning."
The hotel was quiet and empty. The small lights illuminating the length of the hallway and their shared Jasmine tea woke them fully as they made their way downstairs in silence. Yugi followed Ryou down through the lobby and towards the front of the hotel. No one was behind the front desk, much to their surprise. They shrugged at the lack of need for stealth and moved on, tossing the empty can in a nearby trashcan. Further down a hall just off the main room was a door labeled Spa and Whirlpool. Yugi raised an eyebrow at his friend, who gave him a sheepish grin. Ryou cleared his throat and swiped the hotel keycard into the slot. The door gave a small beep and unlocked. Yugi opened the door and they dove into the room, closing the door behind them.
"Whoa, it's dark in here!" Yugi said, quickly lowering his voice as it echoed loudly back at him. The smell of chlorine assaulted his nose as he and Ryou stepped further into the room, footsteps tap-tap-tapping on the linoleum floor. "See a lightswitch anywhere?"
"There's a shower room over here somewhere, we can turn the light on in there I think. Careful of the edge, you might fall in." Ryou whispered, and they pulled out their phones to light the way. The dim LED screens reflected off the water and revealed the edge of the pool about four feet away. They moved to the other side of the pool to the boy's shower room and flipped on the lightswitch, propping the door open to brighten the whole room. The reflecting water cast undulating shadows all across their appearances and the walls. Yugi looked around the big in-ground pool, noting it didn't get very deep. Three feet all the way to eight feet. His small bubble of excitement faded upon seeing a lack of a diving board. 'Bummer! No cannonball challenge this year..' A huge hot tub bubbled across the room, steam coming off the water and dancing through the air, creating a warm, humid atmosphere. He had an involuntary shiver as Rebecca's predatory smile popped into his head. A ridiculous chibi image of him in her clutches drifted across his mind. Yeesh.. Not about to go there. He physically shook the frightening images away.
"Okay, so how do we do this?" Yugi turned to Ryou, who plopped himself down onto the sea-green tiles.
"Um, well we don't really need to do much in preparation so let's just jump right into it." Ryou pulled out his worn spirit board from the laptop case, along with a wooden planchette with a magnifying lens in the middle. It was faded and worn from use, with fancy lettering etched into the wood. At the top corners were the words "Yes" and "No", with the full alphabet and numbers 0-9 running in the middle, and along the bottom was an engraved "Goodbye". Looking closer, he found the designs weren't actually etched into the wood-they had been burned into it. Yugi's face scrunched in discomfort as Ryou directed him to sit across from him-legs crossed, placing the board on the floor between them-with the writing facing Yugi.
"What? No candles or incense? Aren't we supposed to set the mood?" Yugi teased, getting an annoyed look in return.
"No. I suppose if you're into that sort of thing you could, but mostly it's all about focus. As it is, I didn't pack for a full-blown seance. I know you guys think this is crazy-"
"Cause it is-"
"-for those who don't know what they're doing, you mean! Spirit boards have a bad rep because of people who don't take this seriously. You have to remember this is not a game. You are trying to talk with the dead. Using one of these is like peeking through a doorway to the other side."
Yugi fought to control another shiver running up his spine at Ryou's mention of a doorway. Sudden flashes of his dream coming to the forefront of his mind. "Remind me again how this is gonna help us find Marik and the Pharaoh?"
Ryou took a deep breath, stretching his neck back and forth. "We're going to try and talk to any spirits directly associated with this-" He pulled a glittery gold thing out of his bag.
"Where the hell did you get this?!" Yugi's mouth fell open in shock as the Millennium Key was placed in his hands. The gold Ankh-shaped key was cold to the touch. A kind of nostalgia settled over him at the lack of energy emitting from the Item. He had assumed it would feel like...well, like it still held some shred of power, not like just another piece of exotic jewelry. It had been seven years since the Ceremonial Duel.. and yet he still missed the weight of the Millennium Puzzle around his neck..
Ryou guilty rubbed the back of his neck, "I was going to ask for permission to borrow one but Ishizu and Odion were so upset! I don't know what came over me, I-I just swiped it from the case in their room while no one was looking. The Ring was in there too but…" He looked off-kilter just talking about his previous possession. Yugi knew the feeling all too well. Ryou recomposed himself. "Doesn't matter, I took it because we needed a direct tie to the Pharaoh. Since we don't have the Puzzle I figured the Key would do. This is going to be one of our channeling devices."
"Ryou, I didn't think you had it in you to steal anything." Yugi said, surprised at this out-of-character behaviour.
"Yes yes I know, and for the record I've never stolen a thing in my life! Well, at least until now. That damn thief must have rubbed off on me more than I realized. Did you bring the necklace?"
"Oh yeah, it's right here." Yugi pulled the delicate chain from around his neck and handed both over. Ryou placed the Key on the space of the board between the top two words and wrapped the chain pendant around his left hand and wrist.
"Alright then, so here's how this is going to work. I'm going to act as the medium and the energy pool and you're going to keep track of the messages we get. Place the tips of your fingers on the planchette, yes, like that. Good. We're going to do a couple of circles across the board and open up the session by saying 'As friends we gather, hearts are true. Spirits near, we call to you. Enter now, our blessed space. We call you forth, into this place.'".
"You're joking…" Yugi couldn't help the uncomfortable, awkward grin morphing on his face. They'd been in some pretty weird situations but this felt especially ridiculous… If anyone had been around to watch them...Damn, he could almost hear the 'hocus pocus magic show' spiel now.
"No I most certainly am not. You have to be serious about this or it won't work." Ryou snapped. "Don't joke during the session either, or you'll end up pissing something off. We're already not doing this in a cleansed place and I refuse to go home with an angry ghost attached to me! One possession of my body was more than enough, thanks!"
"Okay okay, I won't. Promise. But aren't we the ones supposed to be cleansed?" He didn't know very much about any of this, but he'd seen enough movies to know the basics.
"Yes, and the place where a seance takes place is supposed to be purified beforehand but since we're working with limited resources I opted for the water method."
"Err you lost me. What's the water method?"
"If an evil spirit breaks through they can try an attach themselves to someone or something through the board. A lot of people believe that by burning the board they can close the doorway to the other side and trap the spirit within. But in truth, it's the exact opposite. Burning the board keeps the doorway from closing, leaving spirits free to travel back and forth. Water is an element that is closely associated with purification, and according to many different cultures, keeps spirits from crossing over."
"So that's why we're doing it in here? Cause we're next to the water? So if an evil spirit tries to jump either of us-"
"We're going to chuck the board into the water and call in for backup."
"Oh. Guess it's as good a plan as any."
"More or less.." Ryou's unsure expression didn't give Yugi a lot of confidence.
Yugi attempted to straighten his face, "But is it really necessary to chant a spell? We're already doing this at the supposed Witching Hour." Yugi threw his head back and did his best impression of a creepy cackle. "Mwahaha!" Ryou gave an exasperated sigh.
"Just say the damn chant Mutou!"
Yugi held his hands up in mock surrender and giggled before placing his fingers back onto the planchette. All joking aside, Yugi found he was quite nervous about messing with the board. He'd heard from his Grandpa about evil spirit coming through and causing trouble for people who used them. Of all people, his friends knew best just how bad things could go when you play around with the supernatural. 'Here goes nothing..' He took a deep breath and nodded to Ryou. Together they gently moved the wooden planchette over the board, and spoke the opening chant.
"As friends we gather
Hearts are true
Spirits near
We call to you
Enter now
Our blessed space
We call you forth
Into this place!"
The heart-shaped eyepiece made a soft scraping noise as it glided over the board, it's magnifying lens enlarging the numbers and letters it passed over. Their voices bounced off the walls, echoing back to them before fading out. Yugi's eyes followed their hands as they continued to do a couple more circles before stilling the planchette in the middle of the board. There was no noise other than their steady breathing and the water lapping at the edges of the pool. After a few moments of no action he looked up to ask Ryou how long it usually took for something to happen.
"Hey how long do-!" The words died on his lips at the faraway look on Ryou's face. He stared straight through Yugi, as if he wasn't even there. His lips were barely parted, and his eyes had a glazed over look about them, like he'd been hypnotized. Was he in some kind of trance? "Err..Ryou?" He jumped as his friend asked aloud the first question. His voice had taken on a harder edge, sounding more...authoritative, maybe?
"Are there any spirits attached to the Millennium Items here who wish to communicate? We are calling out to Pharaoh Atem...or spirits associated with the Millennium Items. Are you with us?" Ryou barely blinked as he again went silent. Yugi looked back at the board, ready to read back any letters. The pool room was eerily quiet…He didn't dare move an inch, in case he messed up whatever message might come through. 'I hope this works.. Atem, please be okay. Please let this work!' They sat there for what Yugi estimated to be about three minutes before Ryou asked again.
"Great Pharaoh Atem, wielder of the Millennium Puzzle, we are reaching out to you. Are you with us?" Yugi kept his eyes trained on the planchette, his and Ryou's fingertips barely ghosting over the wood. Ryou's breathing had taken on a rhythmic pattern. In. In. Out. In. In. Out. Without realizing it, Yugi's breathing had synched up with Ryou's. Their steady breaths had a calming effect, his apprehension slowly draining. He still had his guard up though; Ryou's mention of getting possessed definitely made him take this seriously. But the silence was starting to wear on him, and again the vestiges of his dream nagged at the back of his mind. Why though? Yugi peeked up to Ryou's face; the intensity of his concentration surprising him. It felt a little out of place to see his friend so serious, especially during something he himself had labeled as 'an unusual, entertaining hobby' of his. Yugi was going to have a talk with him about this later-no, an intervention. Nothing about this seemed "entertaining", in fact, Yugi personally wanted to label it as "borderline psychotic". Why Bakura got a kick out of talking to dead people or messing with the Occult he couldn't fathom. It certainly explained why Ryou's occult deck was built the way it was, but still… Normally Ryou was very polite and reserved, and when he came out of his shell was a bit of a goofball. One would never guess he was into such dark stuff. But this Ryou Bakura…something was different about him. He couldn't put his finger on it. The white-haired youth spoke out suddenly, jarring him from his thoughts. "Yugi, call out to him."
"Huh?"
"Call out to him. He was closest to you."
"Okay. Um, Atem? Can you hear me? It's Yugi…" He looked to Ryou for guidance but the half-Brit was currently mentally checked out, doing his meditating-medium-ing, or whatever. He sat with his posture upright, long arms reaching the board with no problem. Despite feeling awkward, Yugi kept going. "Atem? We're calling for you, please speak to us...Yami, someone has done something terrible to you. Er, your body, I mean. I just want to know if you're okay…I need to know you're okay." He went quiet again as something undefinable entered their space. He could barely sense it; his instincts telling him something was amiss. The air felt inexplicably heavier, and Yugi tensed as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He shot a worried look to Ryou, who still hadn't moved. "Ryou, do you feel that?"
"Yes. It's fine. We've got something's attention. Keep talking." He kept up his weird meditative breathing. In. In. Out.
"Uh, what do I say?"
"Just keep calling for him."
"Okay." He took a deep breath, "Yami, you there? I hope you're listening. Someone has disturbed your resting place. They've destroyed it, and taken one of our friend's hostage. We need your help. Please come through and talk to me." Whatever was in the room with them was still there. A cloud of tension so thick it was physically tangible hung over them. The peaceful quiet of the pool area had taken on a darker, creepier vibe. Yugi looked up and around the room, half-expecting shadows to start forming. He couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched. "Ph-Pharaoh? Is that you?"
Ryou called out again, "We are calling out to the ancient bearers of the Millennium Items. We only ask for guidance, for the sake of our friend. Speak to us. Use my energy to communicate." He closed his eyes and tilted his head back.
"WHA-? What are you doing?! Don't offer it anything! What if it's not safe! Didn't you just say you didn't want to get possessed!?"
"SHHH! I can feel it…"
"Feel what?"
"My energy being channeled...it's working. It's like being mentally drained.." Ryou's shoulders went slack, head drooping forward. "Get ready." He whispered.
"Ready for what?! What the hell are you talking about? Ryou, this doesn't feel right, maybe we should sto-WAH!" Yugi's heart jumped into his throat. The planchette slowly began to move under their fingers, moving in a slow figure-eight motion before making loopy motions to a small sequence of letters. "Crap! Tell me it's you who's doing that!" It was the strangest sensation-he could feel the pull of gravity on the eyepiece but his hands weren't applying any pressure in the directions it took. It was completely different than when he and Ryou pushed it around the board. 'Crap! Crap! Crap!'
"It's not! Hurry and read what it spells!"
"H-E-L-L-O. It-it said hello?"
"Good. We've made contact." Ryou looked sleepy, fingers never leaving the planchette. "Who are you?" They waited, the wooden eyepiece sat hovering over the letter "o". Yugi's heart was hammering in his chest, apprehension and curiosity waging war within him at the sudden activity from the board. 'Okay, now I get why this is an adrenaline rush for him. This is freaking scary!' Yugi's vision blurred for a second, and he blinked moisture from his sight. He'd forgotten to blink, he was staring so hard. Once the board came back into focus he noticed something peculiar. A mist had appeared in front of his face. When he exhaled more mist swirled between them. Aw hell. "Ryou, I may be going a little crazy but, is it cold in here to you at all?"
"Hm? No, it's actually a little hot in here."
"Then why can I see my breath?"
"What?" Ryou finally looked up. Sure enough, their breaths could be seen in the light from the shower room. He studied the puffs of air. "Huh, that's new.."
Yugi sweat-dropped, "I have a bad feeling about this..". Their attention was diverted as the planchette began its movements again. It jumped to three letters.
Yugi whispered, "Uhh... Key. It spelled key. Hooooly crap it spelled key!" Now he was officially creeped out. His hands were shaking on the board piece, and he could feel sweat forming at his hairline. This thing recognized the Millennium Key, or at least understood what it was. It still lay on the top of the board.
Ryou nodded and addressed the room, "Yes, we have the Millennium Key. Do you recognize it? We are looking for the Pharaoh of the Millennium Puzzle. Are you here with us, Atem?" The planchette jumped to life again and Yugi "Eeped!" loudly. Their hands followed the path of the next message.
Yugi's voice faintly echoed as he read the letters out loud, "N-O-T-H-I-M. N-not him? If you're not the Pharaoh then who are you?" He swallowed nervously, not at all sure if he was going to like the answer. His heart pounded so hard it was beginning to hurt-every one of his senses seemed to be in hyperdrive. The previously silent room now echoed with strange sounds-barely there sounds. Like whispered words too low to understand, moanings winds...distant footsteps-hell it didn't matter what it was. Any little sound in the echoing room triggered warning bells in his head. He was about five seconds from telling Ryou they needed to bail out.
"We know you're here! Answer us. Tell us who you are." Ryou put force behind his words, making it a command. Ryou hadn't been kidding when he said his energy had been drained-despite the strength in his voice he looked about ready to pass out. His color had paled and he too, was starting to sweat. Yugi hoped whatever presence was with them couldn't see how tired and vulnerable he looked all of a sudden. Which was kinda stupid cause ghosts could still see… Do ghosts see like living people? Or do we look like ghosts to them too? Why hadn't he ever asked Atem any of this? His situation was different but still, he'd been a spir-
"AH!" Yugi flinched when a cold breeze swept through his bangs, and he yanked his hands off the planchette. "Something just freakin breathed on me!" He bolted up onto his feet. "No no no no no!"
"DON'T! Put your hands back! You'll break the link!" Ryou's hair has been ruffled too, but he stayed still. Yugi squeaked, dropping to the floor and putting his fingers back on the eyepiece. They both gasped aloud, as soon as his skin came in contact with the wood it shifted across the board rapidly.
"K-E-Y-B-E-A-R...Crap slow down! G-U-A-R-D-I-A-N...-I-T-E-M-S. Keybear? K-Key bearer! Guardian, items.. Wait, I think I know who this is! Or at least I hope I know who this is!" Yugi yelped as the planchette continued to move, "Y-U...!" He blanched as the last two letters of his name came through. The planchette stilled in the middle of the board.
"Y-Yugi?" Ryou asked in a shaky voice.
"Yeah, I know, it just spelled my name."
"N-Not that. L-Look at the pendant!"
The chain was wrapped loosely around Ryou's hand, and the stone hanging from it began to glow. At first, Yugi thought it was a trick of the light, with the stone reflecting the bathroom light next to them. By as they watched, it started to get brighter. The mysterious cold breeze picked up again, this time much stronger-chilling them through their clothes.
"Why's it doing that?!"
"I don't know! It-it's getting hot! Something's happening-it's reacting to whatever's talking to us!"
"Take it off! Hurry take it off!" Yugi let go of the planchette and grabbed Ryou's hand, both of them fumbling frantically with the tiny chain. The slack in the metal links suddenly disappeared-locking and tightening around Ryou's wrist. The necklace, chain and all, grew brighter and warmer still.
"It's not coming off! It's not-! Get it off me!"
"What the hell is going on?! Why won't this-!"
"AH! It's burning! Yugi stop the session! Something's wrong! This isn't supposed to happen!"
"WHAT! H-How do I stop it?!"
The board lay abandoned between them as the scuffled with the chain, and both boys screamed when they saw the planchette moving of its own accord. It looped the same sequence of letters over and over in rapid succession.
"Shit! R-Read it! Quickly!" Ryou screamed, still fighting with the necklace around his hand. His skin underneath the chain links was turning an angry red.
Yugi's eyes tracked the letters as it repeated the same message, it took him two rotations before he cried out, "Call my name! It's spelling out 'call my name'!"
"Ahh! Yugi! Help! It hurts!" Ryou clutched helplessly at the shining pendant, the light from within it fluctuating as fast as the words forming on the board. Frightened tears made tracks down his pale cheeks. "I-I don't know what's happening! Say goodbye and throw it!"
"Say goodbye?! What are you-!"
Ryou thrashed and hopped up onto his knees, yanking on the necklace to no avail. Yugi leaned over the board and grasped his wrists. He cried out in pain and let go of the burning metal. They braced themselves as a cold wind strong enough to knock them over kicked up, completely surrounding them. Ryou's terrified eyes found Yugi's as he jumped to his feet, grabbing the sides of his head.
"ARGH! NO! S-SOMETHING'S COMING THROUGH! DON'T-STO-" His voice died out, along with the light in his eyes. Yugi cried out his name, diving forward and catching him as he went limp. The board got knocked to the side and the planchette slid off the wood and stilled. The wind died. Yugi supported him by his shoulders, giving him a rough shake.
"RYOU! What's wrong! No, wake up! C'mon wa-" He went silent as a pulse of energy shot through him. The pendant's light turned blue and Ryou's form lit up-surrounded by a light blue aura. His hair and loose clothing lifted-like he was floating under water. "Wh-What is this?" Fear kept him frozen to the spot as his friend's head lifted to stare at him, eyes vacant of any traces of life. He let go of Ryou's arms, the strange light holding Ryou's body up. His mouth opened and Yugi jumped back at the voice that spoke through him.
"Yugi Mutou….call my name!" It was Ryou's voice...but it wasn't his voice. Like someone was speaking over him. The double-timbre reverberated through the room, the lower notes thrumming through Yugi's bones.
"Call your name? Who are you?! What have you done to Ryou!" Yugi stamped down his fear as best he could-adrenaline pumped through his veins and a combination of fear and anger welled up, giving him the courage to speak up. He had to save Ryou! But how? His eyes kept shifting back and forth from his possessed friend to the board. 'Ryou said if we threw it into the water, whatever spirits were here would be trapped inside the board! I'll have to move fast!' No way was he gonna let his friend get taken over by another evil spirit. If this thing came at him they were all going for a swim! "Let him go now!"
The voice spoke again, "Can't... speak it...here to...help….call my name!"
"I don't know your name!"
"The Key! Was…..mine, once…..can't cross over! Call my name!"
Yugi's mind raced, hit with sudden inspiration, "Key? The Millennium Key? I know of two people were only two holders of the Millennium Key, and only one knew my name! Prove you are him and I'll say your name!"
"Time running out! The jewel...trapped within him.. You are known as..Light of Hope...Now, call my name boy!"
'That's it!' Yugi jumped at "boy!" and grabbed the Millennium Key, holding it before him like a shield.
"Come forth, Shadi!" At his cry Ryou's hand shot forward and grasped the Key. The jewel and the Key exploded with light-a stunning clash of blue and gold. Yugi shut his eyes against the sudden brightness. The aura released Ryou, who promptly passed out on the floor. Yugi lurched forward and pulled him up into his lap. "Ryou! Are you okay?" Said Brit mumbled something incoherent before letting out a snore and snuggling into his lap. "Sleeping huh?" Yugi sighed in relief. 'Thank god, he's okay..'
"Foolish boy.."
Yugi looked up. Hovering above the pool was a spectral form; a long woven robe covered his frame from neck to ankle. A white turban adorned his head and a white cape fell to pool about his dangling feet. He looked exactly as he had all those years ago when he had first appeared to him at the museum in Domino. Same heavy-looking, gold hoop earrings and age-old cobalt eyes-darkened by the true horrors witnessed through the span of history.
"Shadi… it is you." Yugi felt exhausted at the wave of immense relief of Shadi's appearance, silently thanking his lucky stars they hadn't brought over an evil spirit.
"Playing with such pitiful means of human magic. What would you have done if it was not me whom you found?" His tone was sharp, matching the disgruntled expression on his ghostly face.
"Honestly I have no idea, we were kinda just hoping we'd get lucky. And thank goodness it worked! It's good to see you again." Yugi said. Seeing an old familiar face sent waves of nostalgia crashing through him. 'I...I miss him so much…' He got the feeling Shadi knew what he had been thinking because his voice softened, gazing down at Yugi almost tenderly.
"It is good to see you too, though I did not think we would ever meet again in this lifetime. I do not know what magic you have unleashed this night but I have been pulled from the Sekhet-Aaru, if only for a short time. My soul was forced into your friend's body by that strange jewel. When you summoned me forth by name I was able to escape and appear before you. There is no power left in the Millennium Key, but it is still filled with my essence. It was a wise choice to use it to channel my spirit. Now that I am free of the jewel's clutches I can feel the pull on my spirit to return to the Afterlife. Quickly now! I heard your cries, but was unable to communicate. Tell me, what has happened?"
"Forced into his body?! Waa-no! We'll get to that in a sec! We're sorry for disturbing you but we were looking for the Pharaoh. His remains have been stolen from his resting place by someone with a power like nothing we've ever seen or have heard of before. It came from this pendant!" He held up Ryou's wrist, displaying the normal jewel and chain stilled wrapped around his burned hand. He gently lowered his hand to avoid further injury. "And what's worse, Marik Ishtar was kidnapped in an attempt to keep the thief from taking him. They've both been gone for days now and we need help to find them!"
"The Pharaoh's body has been taken? Along with the Ishtar boy..." Shadi repeated back, stunned. Surprise gave way to comprehension, and lastly dismay. Yugi's heart trembled. 'Oh god, no..' Tears stung his eyes at Shadi's reaction. The image of finding the empty sarcophagus coming to the forefront of his mind and bringing all the pain and sorrow and anger back full force. He clenched his fists tightly to keep him focused.
"Please Shadi, do you know anything?" He swallowed around the lump in his throat, "Is he alright? I'm scared whoever took him is going to do something awful to him-to revive the Shadow games! We were calling out to him and...and he didn't answer.." He sniffled as he admitted his fears, voicing the secret thoughts that had plagued him since discovering Atem's body missing.
Shadi looked down sadly, "I am sorry boy, but he would not have been able to answer no matter how you called for him. His soul has been absent from the Sekhet-Aaru for some time now."
Yugi gasped, "His soul? Wait what are you saying?" Oh no, please no...
"He has been ripped from the Afterlife to whereabouts unknown. By whom or for what reason, I cannot say. You are correct, there is strange magic at work. A power so unlike the shadow magic which we were once bound to."
"He's gone.. Wh-What can I do? Shadi, how do I get him back?! A-Am I too late?"
"I wish I had the answers you seek, but I do not. What I can tell you is that without the power of the Millennium Items the Shadow games are forever gone from this world. The Pharaoh's body and soul could never be used to unleash it, especially with Zorc Necrophades permanently destroyed. You may put your fears on that to rest. As for finding the Pharaoh's remains and the Tomb Keeper, the key lies within that necklace. For some reason, your friend there was able to tap into it's power. Instead of speaking to you through that board like you intended I was thrust into his body, almost becoming trapped. Whether he was aware of what he had done or not you must find out."
Yugi blinked in surprise, "Ryou did that? How did he tap into the pendant's power?" The whitenett twitched in his sleep.
"That is the mystery you must solve. Uncover the secret to unlocking the jewel's power and you will be one step closer to finding your friend, and freeing the Pharaoh's soul." His ghostly form began to waver.
Yugi nodded firmly, "Right! I promise Shadi, I'll find him!" He felt Ryou stirring, bleary brown eyes peeped open to look up at him.
"I have complete faith in you, boy. You have a strength that rivals that of all mankind. I must go now. Until we meet again. Farewell, Yugi."
Yugi smiled at the actual use of his name, "Bye Shadi, and thank you!" The spirit bowed his head and faded from sight. The room had calmed, water perfectly still like nothing had occurred. The talking board and planchette lay harmlessly on the floor where he had knocked it over. Yugi sighed, "I just wish I knew where to start.." A tired groan caught his attention.
"Mmm...Yugi? Who's that talking?" Ryou came to fully and blinked in confusion.
Yugi helped him sit up, "Hey bud, you're awake. You scared me there for a minute."
"Scared you? How? And who is making all that racket? Some of us are sleep-" The confusion on his face grew as he turned this way and that, "Uhh why are we at the pool? And why is it so dark?"
"WHA? Don't you remember anything that just happened?"
"What just happened? I remember going to bed...I think? And something woke me up-no, YOU woke me up. You were having a nightmare. And we went back to sleep? At least, that's what I think happened. No idea how I ended up here though. Were you and Joey trying to pull a prank on me?" His tone turned accusatory as he reached up to scratch his head and yelped in pain. "What happened to my hand? It hurts!"
Yugi reached over and gently unlooped the chain from his wrist. It came away easily. 'Ryou tapped into its power… It might be safer to keep this with me for now.' The innocent looking jewel glittered in the fluorescent lighting. Whatever power this rock had almost cost Ryou his body. It was also to blame for the disappearance of Marik and Atem's body. After tonight, Yugi didn't need anymore proof that this pendant was capable of immense power, and very dangerous. He lifted the chain to put in around his neck but halted-if he somehow tapped into it like Ryou had done he'd be choked to death. Not keen on suffocation, he wound the chain around his own wrist for safe-keeping instead.
"The pendant burned you. We were using the Spirit Board to call on the Pharaoh, and something happened to you. You seriously don't remember anything?"
Ryou looked lost as he wracked his brain, "Sorry Yugi, I really don't." Yugi sighed again.
"It's alright, it's late and I'm too tired to relive that crap right now. I'll fill you in later. C'mon let's head back to the room." He stood up and offered Ryou his hand. Not realizing the pendant dangling back and forth, Ryou took his hand-accidently coming in contact with the jewel. It sparked at their combined hands. Both boys jumped and yelped like they'd been electrocuted.
"Oh for crying out loud! I'm getting really fed up with this damn thing!" Yugi fumed, berating the thing as he took it off his wrist and shoved it into his pocket. He continued his verbal assault as he stomped about picking up their stuff.
"Yugi…"
"-it's absolutely ridiculous! Sometimes I really hate magic-"
"Yugi!"
"What!"
"I remember what happened."
Yugi halted mid-rant, "Eh?"
"I remember everything. And I know what we need to do." Ryou jumped to his feet, "We need to buy some more time, and I know who can can give it to us!" Grabbing his bag from Yugi, he hustled them out the door.
"Time? What do you mean-?" Yugi jogged to keep up with Ryou's longer legs.
"You still have Pegasus' number right?"
"Yeah, but why-"
"First thing in the morning we're gonna call him. We need a favor. A big one."
"How big?" Ryou stopped so suddenly Yugi bumped into him with an "Oof!". Ryou managed to catch a flailing arm with his good hand before Yugi fell on his butt.
"Huge. Probably globally so."
"Care to elaborate?"
Ryou nodded and tugged him along, "We tell him the truth. Tell him what know. And then we're going to ask him to throw a tournament here in Egypt. An exclusive, all-inclusive tournament."
The lightbulb clicked on above Yugi's head, "A tournament… contestants are by invite only?"
"Yep! It won't be easy, but I think he'll help us if we really sell it to him. It will be last minute but if anyone can pull it off it's Pegasus. It also helps we already have three of the most formidable duelists in the industry already here. With Rebecca's help we can make it four by tomorrow night." They made it to the room and barged in. "While you guys are busy dueling for the world's entertainment I can do some more research on the pendant."
"But we've literally looked everywhere possible! What more research can we do?" Yugi asked, slamming the door and flopping down onto their shared bed. He kicked off his shoes with no regard to the amount of noise he was making. Joey could sleep through a hurricane, and the proof was in his unhindered snore-fest just a few feet away. Sleep sounded so nice too… Ryou tossed his stuff onto his suitcase and whipped out his phone, quickly typing up an email.
"It's different now because I have information we didn't have before. Listen, while I was possessed by that spirit I saw something. Remembered something, actually." Tap tap tap tap..
Yugi sat right back up, "I'm never gonna get to sleep tonight, am I?"
"Nope. Not while we have a lead. All that time we were looking for any shred of info on magic rocks or those weird scribbles on that metal bit, I couldn't help but feel as if I've seen them before. And I was right! I have seen them before, or at least something similar." He finished whatever he was typing and got up to grab the first aid kit from his suitcase. Joey mumbled and rolled over onto his belly, knees pulled up under him. Ryou came and sat down in front of Yugi and started bandaging his hand. "While I was under, the jewel sent me to my soul room and started playing back some of my memories. One memory in particular was of my first day working at the shop. The store owner had me sorting through a big pile of old manuscripts. She has a whole collection of weird texts down in her basement, but anyway, I distinctly remember there being one page that was so old it was crumbling at the edges...it had the same markings like on the pendant all along the bottom of the paper. Once I realized what I was looking at everything went white and then I woke up."
"And you're sure the markings are the same?" Yugi took pity on Ryou's lame attempt to wrap his hand, and took the gauze from him.
"Positive. I've even sent my boss an email asking her to get it out of the basement for me. You're up next."
Yugi yawned, "To do what?" He finished with the gauze and taped it in place.
"Call Pegasus."
"Can't I do it in the morning? I'm seriously about to crash." His eyes drooped closed, only to shoot back open as Ryou roughly shook him by his shirtfront.
"WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP! YOU NEED TO CALL HIM RIGHT NOW!" Ryou straddled him and proceeded to slam him backwards into the mattress.
"WAI-OOPH-BU-AAH-GET O-STAAH-" Yugi flailed until Ryou stopped shaking him. As they both caught their breath Yugi mustered up the last reserves of his energy, hitting Ryou with the one thing he knew would win him the battle. "Ryou please…" Eyelashes quivered around half-lidded amethyst orbs, tears pooling just enough to give the impression they might fall over, threatening to cascade down the saddest, cutest puppy dog pout known to mankind. He heard his friend gasp, and for extra measure he gave a pitiful sniff-knowing full well his face was already pink. "I'm so tired...Let's sleep first, and I'll call Pegasus first thing in the morning. I promise! Please won't you let me sleep?"
Ryou spluttered, "Ah! Yugi! But- We- Oh damn it all! Stop with the look! That's not fair!" He squirmed. He knew what was coming. But he couldn't make himself look away when Yugi shyly peeked up through wet lashes, hitting him with the full force of his Puppy Dog Eyes of Doom. Ryou gave an exasperated growl, "FINE! Dammit, go to sleep! But you're calling the second the sun comes up!" Yugi dropped the pout, smiling victoriously.
"YES! Night Ryou, you're the best!" He wormed his way under the covers and was out like a light. Ryou sighed, before turning off the coffee pot and sliding in next to Yugi. 'Guess it wouldn't hurt to get a little shut eye..' He closed his eyes and drifted into a dreamless slumber.
In the bed next to them, Joey gave a deafening snore and flopped halfway off the mattress.