Chapter 13
Cold fear swept through him, it almost routed him to the spot. For what seemed like several long hours all he could do was stare. His gaze was locked on his closest friend, who was still staring at something he couldn't see. What did this mean? Was this really happening? Similar questions went round and round his mind, yet Yugi could still not take his eyes of his friend. He was painfully aware that behind him were two of his friends who had no idea what was going on, and how'd they'd need an explanation when there was time for it. More time past, or maybe it as none at all but finally Yugi spoke.
"It's back?"
It was all he could say, he just did not know what else he could say. Atem finally broke of his stare into thin air and looked at him. He nodded.
"It's back Yugi."
"But why? Why are you seeing it now?"
The former pharaoh turned away, looking back to where Yugi could only assume this figure was. Behind him he could hear the others making a cautious approach, but he didn't look round at them. He also guessed, from the distant calls, that Tea and Elijah had become aware that they'd stopped. But once again he made no move to turn round, he was still watching the once King, who was wearing an unreadable expression. He did not move, just continued to stare at the sightless figure who was only a few metres away from him. Nothing about the figure had changed, it was still so familiar yet he still couldn't work out how. It's eyes hadn't changed either, they were still just as sightless as they'd ever been. But something was different this time. The figure stared into his eyes and raised a hand. It beckoned to him.
Atem still did not move, considering what to do. Apart from the first encounter with this… entity perhaps, it had not made any direct movement to him. What could it want with him? If it was beckoning to him again it clearly wanted him to come close or did it mean to follow it? He blinked a couple of times, his gaze still on the figure. He wasn't going mad was he? This figure really did exist, it was right there but still only he could see it then it must need him for something. He was vaguely aware of the others nearby talking, clearly they were asking Yugi questions but he didn't turn to answer them. His mind was occupied with the figure in front of him. The wind around him picked up slightly bringing with it a whispering. Once more there seemed to be words carried with the whisper but he couldn't for the life of him work out just what was being said. The whispering seemed to sweep past him, moving behind him. Following the sound he turned, his eyes found Yugi. He was looking around himself, almost like he'd heard something. Their eyes met.
"You heard it?"
Slowly, Yugi nodded, "What is that?"
The former Pharaoh shook his head, "I don't know.."
"Hear what guys? What are you talking about?" Joey asked, his expression was somewhere between confusion and concern.
When no answer came from either the former Pharaoh nor Yugi, Joey exchanged a look with Tristan just as Tea reappeared, Elijah following behind her.
"What's going on?" She asked.
They turned to look at her, all apart from the former Pharaoh who'd turned back around. Yugi wasn't really sure how to explain exactly what was going on. After all, neither of them could be quite sure about what was happening. Atem looked back to the figure which once again beckoned to him. Perhaps he should follow it, it was clearly indicating that it wanted him to follow. The answers to what all of this meant could be wherever the figure wanted to go. He was just about to step forwards when there was movement beside him. Yugi had appeared next him, his eyes were wide but not from fear. He was just as confused by all this as he was. He looked straight ahead, searching for something before turning to him.
"How could I hear that whisper but can't see that figure?"
Atem shook his head, "I'm not sure but it wants me to follow it. Perhaps the answer to all this lies wherever it wants me to go."
Yugi's eyes widened, "You want to follow it?"
The former Pharaoh tore his eyes away from the sightless figure, which was still motioning to him, and turned to Yugi. Yugi held his gaze, just from his gaze he knew exactly what he was about to say.
"No. No way. You're not going on your own and don't even try the whole I've put you through enough because it won't work."
"But Yugi –"
"But Yugi nothing. We do this together or not at all, you know that."
Atem considered him for a moment before he nodded slowly, turning back to stare at the figure. Yugi, on the other hand, turned and moved towards their friends. They deserved to know what was going on.
"Atem needs to follow something, something is… well I guess you could say that something is calling him and he needs to find out what. I'm going to go with him, I don't know what's happening but I'll explain everything to you guys when we're back."
The looks his friends were giving him clearly told him there was absolutely no way they were just going to sit and wait. If the former Pharaoh was seeing something then they would be there for him. The only person who looked a little confused was Elijah, he looked to each of them in turn clearly not sure what was going on. His face was one of complete bemusement.
"I'm not really sure what's going on here," He said slowly, "But I should really be heading back to the professor."
His words seemed to snap Tea out of her current state, she glanced round at him before turning briefly to meet Yugi's eye.
"Sorry yes you must get back." She said, "We'll catch up with you in a little while."
Elijah looked at each other them in turn for a moment before walking away, although he cast a confused look over his shoulder. Joey, waiting until Elijah was out of sight, turned to Yugi.
"What is this thing then?"
Yugi's expression became slightly helpless, "I'm not sure Joey. This isn't the first time Atem has seen this so it must mean something but we don't know what."
Joey shook his head slightly, "Seen what?"
Yugi sighed, "He's been seeing this figure for a while and now it's here again. It wants him to follow it but to where we don't know."
The others exchanged a look, clearly not knowing what to say and Yugi found he didn't know what to tell them. How could he explain any of this when he didn't quite understand it himself? He glanced at his friends for a moment before turning to the former Pharaoh, who was still staring in the direction of what Yugi assumed was the figure. Despite his back being turned he seemed to feel eyes upon him. When he looked at them he knew without a doubt that they were all going to accompany him and there was nothing he could say to change any of their minds. Instead he shared a small appreciative smile before turning back to the figure which was still waiting for him. There was a pause as former Pharaoh and sightless figure stared at one another before the former took a step towards the latter. Almost at once the figure turned and walked away.
No one spoke, no one knew what to say. They simply followed the former Pharaoh as he led them to… wherever it was they were going. Yugi was walking almost directly behind him and behind him were the others. They walked for what felt like miles but no one could quite be sure exactly how long it had been. They walked up dunes and down them again, across the top of some and at the base of others. As they walked closer towards what appeared to be a cliff line the sand got deeper, and it became harder some them to keep pace with the once King. It wasn't surprising to any of them that he seemed to have no issue with the deeper sand, but the rest of them weren't so lucky.
"Man, I'm going to be emptying my socks of sand for the next three years after this is over." Tristan grumbled, shaking his foot slightly before taking another step.
"At least you're wearing socks..." Joey replied.
The other three turned to him, all giving him various looks of disbelief but also disgust.
"That might just be the most revolting confession you've ever made." Tristan replied.
Joey looked up at them, taking in their expressions. He opened his mouth to reply but found there was nothing he could say that would redeem him after that, so he simply shut it again. Yugi shook his head slightly before turning around where he found that Atem had stopped walking. He was a fair few paces away from them, gazing almost transfixed at the cliff line ahead of them. Yugi hurried as best he could to catch up with him, his adrenaline pumping. Reaching the once King's side he glanced nervously at him. He noted idly that the traces of illness had seemingly disappeared from his face, almost as though the figure's presence had stopped it. Taking in the former Pharaoh's face he could see his expression was somewhere between recognition but also confusion. He was looking at the cliff face. Set into it was what appeared to be an entrance, set around the entrance were various markings which must have been carved into the stone. It was difficult to make out the markings as time had eroded them however in its day it must have been a sight to see. Clearly whatever this place was had an important significance, which Yugi was almost sure about given the former Pharaoh's reaction to it.
"What is this place?" Yugi asked, still staring at the markings.
Atem's expression changed, "Why would it want me to come here?"
He'd clearly not been listening to Yugi's question. Yugi turned to look at the others behind them, they were all watching the once King with similar expressions of concern. Turning back to Atem he tried a different question.
"Can you still see it? The figure?"
This time Atem heard him, he nodded, "Yes it's by the entrance."
"What is this place?" Yugi tried again.
"It's a sanctuary, protected by the Gods. My father brought me here once when I was young, but I've never been back here since that day."
"Why not?"
Atem shrugged, "I didn't live long enough to have need to come back."
Yugi stared at him for a moment. He never really thought about how Atem had died and, frankly, he never wanted to. But on the rare occasions Atem made a comment about it his matter-of-fact tone always threw him off guard.
"So… this thing you're seeing." Joey said, slowly, "What does it want?"
Once again Atem shrugged, "That's what I'm here to find out."
There was a slight pause, Atem's gaze tore away from the sightless figure which was still standing in the entrance, watching him. He turned to his friends, looking at them each in turn. He had no idea what was about to happen but he did not like the idea of his friends being in any sort of danger. But it was a testament to how well they all knew the former Pharaoh at this point as before he could make any sort of request Joey shook his head, frowning at him.
"Don't even say what you're about to. There's no way we're going to let you do this alone."
The other three nodded their agreement. Atem looked away briefly, before looking back and sharing a small smile.
"Thank you."
Joey nodded, "We're behind you all the way Atem."
Atem smiled once more before turning to the sightless figure, which was still waiting. He stared at it for a moment before steeling himself and leading the way towards the entrance.
As they approached the sightless figure made no move but as they drew closer it turned and walked into the dark tunnel which led into the sanctuary. The former Pharaoh entered, with the others following close behind him. He could just see the back of the figure as it moved ever deeper into the sanctuary. The deeper they descended into the tunnel the darker it became, however four members of the group pulled their phones from their pockets and turned the torches on. Yugi moved to fall into step beside Atem, who was still leading the way, illuminating his path. Thousands of years of erosion had clearly taken place, there wasn't a smooth path for them to walk on, and the walls of the tunnel had been left rough with sharp edges here and there. But soon enough the tunnel opened out into a huge room. There was a small set of stairs in front of them which led to a walkway which in turn stretched all the way to the other side where another doorway was situated. Torches lined the side of the walkway, however after so many years they did not burn to illuminate the way. Only their torches did that. Surrounding the walkway was complete darkness, they couldn't see the bottom so there was no way of knowing how deep it was. Yugi didn't wish to think what could happen if one of them fell. The walkway itself was cracked, clearly showing its age. In fact he couldn't help but wonder whether it was hold any sort of weight. Beside him the former Pharaoh stepped forwards, his eyes focused on the archway across the walkway. The sightless figure was moving towards it, once it arrived it stopped. Turning to face him the sightless figure seemed to gaze at him for a moment before it slowly dissolved, disappearing from his sight.
"It's gone." Atem said, cautiously beginning to descend the stairs.
"Atem be careful." Yugi warned, his eyes locked on the cracks in the stone.
Atem made no reply but complied with Yugi's warning. He slowly descended the stairs with the others following behind. Once he stepped off the final step he held up a hand to the others, instructing them to wait. If this walkway wasn't going to support any weight then he'd much rather it be him who fell rather than any of them. But as he made his way slowly across the walkway he found that the stone made no sign of cracking under his weight, despite its visible age it was clearly still strong. Turning back to the others he smiled and nodded at them. Yugi was the first to step out onto the walkway, with the others close behind.
Seeing them following, the former Pharoah turned and continued to move across the walkway. His eyes found the edge of the walkway were a small section of the stone had broken off. The memory of his brush with death here played through his mind. The rush of fear as the stone broke beneath him and he fell. His desperate cry to his father for help followed by his father's calm instruction to lift himself back up. As the memory played out in his mind a thought crossed his mind. His father had come here to ask the Gods to spare his son for the misdeeds he thought he'd committed. Did that have anything to do with why he'd been called here? Surely not as he'd defeated the cause of all that. He continued his way across the walkway, only pausing once he reached the spot where the sightless figure had disappeared. A new sound caught his attention, a whisper. The whisper had returned, he glanced behind him to see Yugi looking around as well, clearly he was hearing it as well. The two look-a-likes exchanged a look before the once King turned to look into the next room. From his position in the archway he could just see the altar although it was still slightly shrouded in darkness. As his eyes focused on it the whispers seemed to become more intense, almost as though they were calling him forwards. He allowed the whisper to pull him forwards and towards the altar. The torch lights from the others behind him, illuminated the way and some of the surroundings. The walls were illuminated slightly slowly revealing the faded portraits of the Gods that lined the walls. Although most of the colour was gone from the walls it was still clear who they were, or at least it was to him. As the altar came into full view the former Pharaoh motioned to his friends to stop but he continued forwards until he stood in almost the same spot his father had stood so many years ago. Illuminated by just torch light Atem looked up at the Gods depicted on the walls, despite them being faded due to time that did not matter, they were still the Gods. He slowly knelt, keeping his left knee pointed and bowing his head, showing his respect to the Gods. The whispering he could hear ceased with a slight hiss. He could feel the others gazes upon him but did not move. Seconds trickled by before there was a flash of light and behind him Tea let out a scream.
Atem looked up, bolts of light crashed down striking not only the altar but the ground around them. However, the lightning never struck too close to them. Behind him Yugi and the others were staring around as the lightning continued to strike the ground. Still knelt on the ground, the former Pharaoh watched and waited, his eyes never leaving the altar. There were a few more moments of crashing lightening before silence fell once again. Yet Atem still did not move. He was aware Yugi had moved to stand behind him but still made no move. The silence stretched. But then out of the silence a voice boomed out;
"Old and ancient is the eagle which glides through the shadows, awaiting its time to grace the world once more. Gracing yet cursing the world with much torment until it flies free with another. Stripped of power the eagle glides still until the world around crumbles. The eagles fly as the sky grows dark and the winds do howl. Broken and battered by wolves the eagles face the wind. The eagle will fall yet the eagle will survive."
Silence fell once again. The former Pharaoh slowly got to his feet staring at the altar, what had that meant? What was he supposed to do now?
He didn't get to linger on the thought for long though as a loud cracking sound boomed around them. Rocks from the ceiling crashed to the ground, leaving even more cracks in the floor. A low rumbling sound echoed as even more rocks began to fall.
"We've got to get out of here!" Joey yelled, already running back the way they'd come.
They didn't need telling twice, they took off running back towards the archway and towards the exit. Yugi was halfway towards the archway when he turned, but he did not find Atem running after them as he'd expected. Atem was still standing at the altar, his back to Yugi.
"Atem!" He bellowed, "Come on we have to get out of here!"
Rocks pounded the ground around them making everything shake but for the longest time Atem did not move. Yugi yelled at him again and this time he turned, running towards him. Yugi took off as well, praying Atem would keep following him. He sprinted through the archway with the former Pharaoh not far behind him. Across the walkway he could see the other three, they'd made it to the other side but seemed to be waiting for them. He could hear Joey yelling at them to hurry up. The rumble got louder and around them various stone torches broke, the stone tumbling down into the darkness. More rocks were still falling from the ceiling, pounding the walkway. Yugi drew on everything he had to run faster.
"YUGI! Watch out!"
Atem's yell caught him by surprise and he felt himself pushed to one side, he almost fell to the ground but remarkably somehow managed to keep his footing. Turning he watched as a huge rock struck the ground where he'd been seconds before, missing the former Pharaoh by inches. Cracks instantly spread across the stone and it crumbled. Yugi's eyes widened in horror as the ground beneath Atem crumbled away and he fell.
"ATEM!"
Yugi tried to reach him, but it was too late. Atem plunged down and was swallowed by the darkness. But Yugi barely had time to take in what had happened or make out what the others were screaming at him. He felt the stone beneath him crack and crumble away. Before he could make any sort of move the stone gave way and he fell. The last things were felt and heard was a strange falling sensation and the sound of his friends screaming his name before everything went dark and he knew no more.
