Apep and the Sacred Scrolls of Duat

Chapter 10: A Morning In The Afterlife of a Pharaoh

In the dead of night, the king was tossing and turning in his bed, breathing heavily and clutching at his aching head. He was in such pain as he'd never felt before and it was as though his skull were being split in two. His fingers were buried deep in his hair as he grit his teeth, holding back cries of agony, curled up almost the thin, soft sheets on his bed.

In his dreams, Atemu saw Egypt burning, the giant serpent standing victorious over the chaos and a shadowed figure laughing through the flames. It was a large, bulky, cloaked figure with a single glowing light shining from where its left eye would be. It seemed to care nothing for the screams of the people around them who were fleeing in terror and being destroyed by the serpent or engulfed in shadows.

Atemu saw his friends all around him, some lifeless on the ground and others almost so. It was a horrific sight. Their cries echoed in the kings' ears and the pain became unbearable. He fell to his knees, his hands clutching at his ears trying to block out the sound, but to no avail. The unearthly noise demanded to be heard and he swore, he'd never be able to forget it.

Especially the laughter, the cruel, mocking laughter of the shadowed figure seemed to shake the very earth itself while it jeered and sneered at the suffering people. Its voice almost sounded familiar but the horrors surrounding him made it impossible to focus on a disembodied voice while he saw his people and his friends suffering.

"You will fail!" Atemu yelled at the serpent and the shadow. "I will not allow this to come to pass!" he said, sounding far more confident than he felt.

"You have no choice," the hissing voice of the serpent said over the screams.

"This is a dream only! You cannot see the future!"

"A dream it may be, but it will come to pass," came the reply.

"You will be stopped…both of you," Atemu yelled back and stood up with a grimace.

A moment later, the shadows grew and swallowed him whole, tossing him around like a rag doll on a jagged stone floor with the familiar voice laughing at him as he screamed himself hoarse.

His magic failed to respond when he called for it to end the torment and free him from his nightmare. Even his call for Mahad and the Dark Magician went unanswered, as did his commands for the Gods.

He awoke sometime later, unsure if hours had passed or if it had only been a matter of moments. It had felt like an eternity and his entire body felt sore, as though the rocks he'd been tossed against in the dream had been real.

It left him shaking and exhausted, unable to move as the pain in his head finally faded to a dull ache.

Even when the sun finally rose, it failed to completely banish the darkness he'd just seen, and he could still hear the screams.

Teà and Serenity, having had a much more peaceful rest, were asleep in their shared room. There were two luxurious beds made of wood, a precious commodity in the middle of a desert. They had images of the gods carved into them and they were extremely comfortable.

Neither young woman was much impressed when a joyful Mana burst into the room and drew open the thin, silken set of draped curtains that led to the open balcony. However thin those curtains were, they at least blocked out a portion of the bright morning sun, now though, the room was flooded with light.

"Teà, Serenity, rise and shine," Mana greeted them in a an enthusiastic tone. "Ra just woke up, so come on, up, up, up," she chanted happily.

"Wh..." Teà blinked her eyes open and squired against the glare of the sun.

"It's morning!" Mana smiled at them.

"Erm..." Teà yawned. "What time is it?"

"Just after dawn," she replied.

Serenity yawned and brought the covers over her head, intending to go back to sleep.

"No, no, no, no, don't go back to sleep!" Mana cried and pulled the covers from Serenity's bed.

"Wha..." the young woman examined, stunned as she sat up and stared.

"Did...we ask for a wake up call?" Teà asked, sleepily confused as she ran a hand through her messy hair.

"I didn't," Serenity answered, just as confused. "Can I have those back now, please?" she asked, looking at Mana who was holding the bedsheets.

"Nope, sorry, it'll be worth it, I promise," she grinned.

"So...why did you wake us up...at dawn?" Teà asked.

"Hehehe," the young sorceress giggled. "Because...I saw you last night..." she said in a sing-song voice as she stared at Teà.

"Err..."

"I saw you...and the Pharaoh..." Mana sang and Teà blushed.

"I..."

"And you were holding his hand," she continued to sing.

"You were? You didn't tell me that part," Serenity said.

"Well...I mean...what are we, like five or something?" Teà said, still blushing.

"You like him," Mana grinned.

"Shhhhhhh!" Teà leapt out of bed and out her hand over Mana's mouth. "You wanna tell the whole palace, huh?!"

"Mmmm...if...I...mwahhhh..." Mana said, her voice muffled by Teà's hand.

"What'd she say?" Serenity asked.

"No clue. Not sure I wanna know," Teà answered.

Mana shrugged off Teà's hand, undeterred and continued. "I said; if I saw you, then I bet other people did too. People talk, y'know," she said. "Anyway, that wasn't why I woke you up," she declared. "It's the third day, so the Pharaoh has to train with the army first thing in the morning. I figured you might wanna watch...or hold his hand some more," she grinned.

"Mana..." Teà sighed.

"What?" she asked, innocently, "I'm just trying to be a good friend here."

"Uh huh."

"Oh, come on. He's my oldest friend, we were practically raised together. I've known him since forever and you're my friend too."

"Right," Teà said, unconvinced.

"And ever since all this mess with the snakes, nothing fun ever happened here. Now you guys are here and it's much more interesting."

"Erm…there's evil snakes killing people…right?" Serenity frowned.

"Well, yeah, but I meant it's more interesting having you guys here, not the snakes."

"They were the ones who brought us here."

"Oh yeeaaaah," Mana drawled, blushing as she rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly. "Anyway, come on, get up!" she added after a moment, her unabashed enthusiasm returning easily.

Under the early morning sun, the Egyptian army trained daily. In the outer sections of the palace was a large open courtyard which was surrounded on all sides by large pillars. To one side was a pool of water and horses were tied in the shade of hanging swaths of fabric.

Commander Asim was there and he was watching intently as the Pharaoh trained with several other men and women, all armed with swords or spears.

"Hey, Teà, Serenity, over here," Yugi waved, sleepily at them.

"You woke everyone else, too?" Teà scoffed.

"They wanted to see what the Pharaoh has to do all day," Mana shrugged as they walked over to their friends.

"Yeah...but I didn't think you meant we'd be up this early!" Joey bemoaned.

"It is kinda early..." Yugi yawned. "Does he get like a break at some point...y'know, like fifty winks or something?"

"Fifty what?" Mana asked.

"A snooze break," Joey said.

"Oh, erm no, he doesn't."

"Damn," Joey deflated.

"And there's already been like two hours o' this, right?" Tristan asked, his eyes barely open.

"Yep," Mana said. "Including chariot racing and archery practice. When we were little I used to come all the time, for moral support, you know, but my magic training got in the way when we grew up so I figured I'd bring you guys today to make up for it," she said, smoothly.

"Doesn't really look like he needs a cheering squad," Duke said, sleepily as the Pharaoh disarmed another soldier and threw him to the floor.

"Ten points!" Joey yelled out, cheering, much to the amused confusion of the onlooking soldiers.

"Oh, man, that's gotta hurt," Tristan winced as the soldier hit the sand covered ground with a thud.

The man however, got up instantly and seemed unharmed.

"Bet you're real happy that last duel wasn't this kinda duel, huh, Yug?" Joey asked, smirking.

"Yeah," Yugi agreed. "I err...think he'd have kicked my butt," he said, unashamed.

Captain Reni, the solider whom the Pharaoh had taken into the desert to find Mahad and Shada, joined in the fighting. He stood at the back of the Pharaoh, holding a spear in his hands, pulling it tight against his throat, choking the King with it.

Atemu grasped at the spear with his hands, trying to prise it away with a hiss but he made very little progress. He lashed out with an elbow and struck Reni in his side, then he kicked the older man in the knee, grabbed the spear and forced him to the ground. He managed to snatch the spear complete from Reni and held the pointed end at the man's throat.

"I could do that but I don't wanna," Joey drawled, impressed.

"Sure you could," Tristan scoffed.

"Wow, could you, big brother?" Serenity asked.

"I totally could. But it's way too early in the mornin' f'this," he replied. "Joey Wheeler doesn't fight on an empty stomach, y'know."

"Uh huh," Yugi looked at his friend, skeptically.

"Don't listen to him, Serenity," Teà said, "He's all talk, right guys?"

"Hey!" Joey exclaimed. "I've been in plenty o' street fights before...err...I mean..." he trailed off when he caught the surprised glance on his sister's face.

"Yeah...against people a lot smaller than us who didn't know how to fight," Tristan snorted.

"Point is, we're retired. We don't do that anymore," Joey glared at his friend.

"Well, yeah, but..."

"You hurt people?" Serenity asked.

"Err...well..see..." Joey muttered, ashamed.

"Why would you do that?" his sister frowned.

"They made...some mistakes. We all do, but they more than apologised," Yugi told her. "And he's right, they don't do it anymore. So, please don't worry about it, Serenity," he said with a smile.

"Well...okay," she replied.

"Thanks, Yug," Joey silently mouthed to his friend with a guilty face.

They turned back to the fighting just in time to see the Pharaoh land flat on his back with a painful sounding 'thud' after being tossed aside like a rag doll by Commander Asim.

"Ouch," Duke winced.

"Is he okay?" Serenity asked, concerned.

"Can he die...like again?" Joey whispered.

"From this? He'd be the laughing stock of the country," Mana snorted. "He's fine," she said, waving a dismissive hand.

As she'd said, he rolled over and leapt to his feet. "See," the young sorceress shrugged. "Besides, he's the one who orders them to treat him like a regular soldier when they're training," she explained.

Commander Asim took Reni's place and picked up two dulled blades and tossed one to ground at their feet. Then he lunged at the king with the blade who just about had time to step aside and roll swiftly onto the ground so he could pick up the blade to defend himself against Asim's next attack.

As the swords clashed, Yugi's attention wandered, never one for fighting, his thoughts drifted to his grandfather and just what was happening since their rather hasty disappearance. Had anyone noticed that they were missing at all?

"Man! That was cool!" Joey elbowed Yugi gently and pointed out at the ongoing fight. "Think you could do that, Yug? Yug?" Joey tried again to get his friends' attention.

"What? Oh, sorry, Joey," Yugi said, blinking over at him.

"You were a million miles away, huh?" Teà smiled.

"Kinda," Yugi nodded. "I was just thinking about grandpa. He was going to call me to tell me how the dig with Professor Hawkins was going…but I'm not there to answer it. So…"

His friends regarded him with sympathetic eyes. None of them were as particularly close to their own families as Yugi was to his grandfather. The man had become an almost permanent fixture in all of their lives and the thought of him worrying over Yugi's disappearance didn't sit well with any of them.

"Maybe he'll think we just…went out for pizza…" Joey suggested, not sounding as though he believed that himself.

"…Maybe," Yugi managed a small smile.

"We haven't been here that long…maybe he hasn't called yet," Teà said, much more convincingly.

"I hope not," Yugi said. After all of their adventures, he didn't want to worry his ageing grandfather any more necessary.

"We all know the deal, anyway. Things always go back to normal after something crazy happens," Joey shrugged.

"Weird, but true," Teà agreed and they all hummed in agreement.

"So it's all gonna be fine in the end," Joey said, "Just think of it as a vacation."

"Uh-huh," Tristan snorted.

The fight between the pharaoh and the commander was still happening as they spoke, until the commander managed to land a sharp kick to the king's knee felling him and holding the blade to his throat.

"A valiant effort, pharaoh," the commander declared.

The king managed to hold off the blade with the large, skin tight golden bracelets on his right arm and he rolled away from his opponent. But this time it took him longer to stand on his feet and he seemed a little out of breath.

"Again," he ordered.

"Perhaps, my king, we had better discuss the matters you left in my charge while the soldiers continue their training," the commander said after appraising the king.

"I am fine, commander," Atemu insisted.

"No doubt, but the soldiers require training time as well as your majesty," Asim said, pointedly.

"Very well," the pharaoh sighed. "Continue," he ordered the soldiers.

Asim stood beside him and gestured to the large pool of water a few feet away. The king nodded and strolled over to it.

"Forgive my forwardness, pharaoh," the commander said quietly. "But you seemed…fatigued," he added.

"Ah," Atemu have a sardonic smile. "You appear to be taking lessons from Shimon."

"Not at all, I am simply concerned."

"Well," the king sighed. "You're not wrong…and thank you," he said taking a seat on the edge of the pool and rested his forearms on his knees.

Commander Asim nodded but said nothing.

"You served my father before me, didn't you?"

"I did, pharaoh," the commander replied.

"He trusted you and advised me to do the same," Atemu said. "How goes the selection of your fifty men?" he asked, taking a breath and sitting up right.

"It is done, I intended to announce it in the morning assembly," Asim replied.

"And you trust these men?"

"I do."

"Very well, then that will suffice," he said and looked directly at the commanders eyes. "How did you know I was fairing worse than usual?" he asked.

"I am a soldier, sire," the man replied. "And I have trained you since you were a child, it was not difficult to see but I do not think all would notice."

"I see," Atemu bit back a smile. "I am sorry. I wouldn't wish you to think I wasn't paying attention to your lessons. I hope you know that I do appreciate them, and enjoy them."

"That has been rather evident through the years, Pharaoh," Asim gave a smile as well.

"Good."

"But you are a busy man. Particularly the last few weeks. I fear these training sessions will not be of much use to you or your health until matters are resolved."

"Yes…the serpents," the king sighed, deeply. "Do sit down, commander, if I stare up at you any longer the sun will blind me," he rolled his eyes. "Have you any notions of the mood in the city regarding the serpents?" he asked after Asim sat a short distance away from him on the edge of the pool of water. "Has it worsened at all?"

"I believe there is some tension, pharaoh. People are anxious to see the matter resolved. But I live mostly with the army, I could speak more for their opinion than the peoples'," he answered, honestly.

"Hmmm," Atemu hummed thoughtfully. "Then what is the opinion of the army?"

"That we must fight to protect our people and our home."

"A noble opinion to be sure, but how?"

"I confess, I know not. These creatures seem continually unaffected by all we do."

"Yes," the king let out a tired sigh of agreement.

"No doubt you are far too preoccupied to train with the soldiers. It is perfectly understandable should you wish to postpone any future training sessions," Asim suggested.

"Perhaps you are right," Atemu pursed his lip. "But, we shall see. We have three days before the next one."

"As you wish," the commander acquiesced. "I should return to my duties," he said after a moment and looked out at the soldiers still training not far from them.

"Of course," the pharaoh stood and the commander did the same. "Thank you," Atemu said sincerely and held out his hand.

Asim smiled and in a show of camaraderie and respect, grasped the king's hand and knelt on the ground. Then he stood and made his way back to his solders.

"Over taxing ourselves, are we, Pharaoh?" Shimon asked, strolling over to the king.

The king turned to his vizier with a sardonic smile. "Have you even known me to do such a thing, Shimon? I fear your wrath too much to attempt such a thing," he said, dryly.

"Evidently not, sire," the old man replied. "However, it is fortunate that you are much too old and far too large to hide in vases whenever a task meets with your disapproval."

"Large?" Atemu raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed."

"I see," the king chuckled.

"I was about to step in myself before the good Commander Asim did. Evidently we were of one mind. We would not want harm to come to you, my king, simply because you are not focused on the fight in front of you. Or because you lack sufficient rest," he added with a stern gaze.

"As always, nothing escapes your notice," Atemu sighed.

"And it never will."

"At times, I can't help but wonder which of us is king," Atemu mocked.

"I of course, only have your best interests at heart."

"Of course," he nodded.

"You spent another restless night, my king," Shimon said, much more seriously.

"And I feel its effects, believe me," Atemu replied. "But I simply could not rest. My dreams were…disturbing," he admitted.

"Apep spoke to you again?"

"No…no. Not the real one at least."

"Nightmares," Shimon inferred.

"Yes. A horrific one. As well a persistent headache," he said, gently rubbing the side of his head. It had taken a lot out of him all nigh not to scream for help during those long hours and he'd gotten next to no sleep.

"Then I am sorry to jest," the old man said.

"It's hardly your doing," the king replied smiling. "Besides, I fear I owe you an apology for my behaviour yesterday. You owe me nothing."

"An apology?"

"I was brash in dismissing Senna, I know that. I've no excuse and whatever happens will be of my own making. I'm not arrogant enough to believe that it will be without consequences. Above all, you and my father always taught me never to act rashly…"

"And you do so very rarely," Shimon assured him. "A king you may be, but you are as human as the rest of us. The man is trying at the best of times and considering the stress of our predicament…your lack of rest…your concern for your friends…it was a perfectly human response."

"Nevertheless," the king shrugged.

"It is done," Shimon said. "There seems little sense in stressing the issue now. Though I should prefer to ease your conscience by saying, I'm sure that your father would have relished the chance to do the same," he whispered with a mischievous flint in his eyes.

"It will sway my conscience very little…but thank you."

"Now, I suggest we return to the palace. You have many more governors and advisors to listen to besides Senna. And for my own personal advice, might I request that we do not dismiss anymore. Not yet."

"If you insist," the pharaoh said, and turned his attention back to Yugi and the others who had been listening to his conversations. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"Whoa! Did you guys see that!" Joey yelled, as one solider knocked another to the ground.

"Unless you'd rather stay here," Atemu suggested with a smirk.

"They are most welcome to join our training," Asim called out.

"Pass," Joey shrugged and they stood to walk behind the pharaoh and Shimon.

"My king…where are you going?" Shimon asked after a moment.

"The throne room," he answered, perplexed.

Shimon coughed pointedly and looked up and down at the king.

"First, I would suggest a bath and a change of clothes," he said, quickly.

"Ah, yes," the pharaoh said, noticing only now that his clothes were covered in dusty sand and sweat. "An excellent idea, Shimon," he said.

"You wanna join him?" Serenity asked Teà quietly with a conspiratorial grin.

"Shut it," Teà muttered back, embarrassed.

"Did you say something, my dear ladies?" Shimon asked as the King walked on ahead.

"N…nothing," Teà assured him, still flushed red but trying to appear perfectly normal.

"I see," the old man's lip twitched but he said nothing further.

"An hour ago, Spiria arrived at the temple of Apep," Isis declared as she and the other priests stood before the king on his throne. Mahad and Shada were among them, having finally woken the day before and left their beds.

"And? Did the priests speak to you?" Seto asked.

"They could not," she answered.

"And why is that?" Atemu asked.

"They were dead, sire," she replied, heavily.

"Dead?" Shimon furrowed his brow.

"It appeared to have happened recently," she nodded.

"All of them?" Mahad asked and she nodded.

"They appear to have been…bitten by snakes, quite brutally," Isis explained.

"You think this was…not caused by natural means?" Shimon asked.

"I find it unlikely," she said, "I have never seen such a ferocious attack on so many such as this."

"But why would Apep murder his own followers?" Atemu said, confused.

"Perhaps the serpent has sustained one loss to many at our hands and sought its revenge on an easy target," Seto suggested.

"Or it's just nuts," Joey called out from where he and the others sat.

"I highly doubt that," Seto said, unimpressed.

"What, it's a snake, it's only got a tiny brain, y'know," Joey snapped.

"Well, either way it means we'll have little help from those poor souls now," the king pursed his lip with a sigh.

"And I cannot say I will mourn their passing," Seto nodded.

"Therefore we will need…" the king said, choosing to ignore Seto's remark, but a loud bang at the doors stopped him before he could say anything further.

"Forgive me, Pharaoh," a palace guard rushed into the room and knelt on the ground.

"What is it?"

"Sire, we have apprehended more intruders in the Temple of Amun. Priest Seto gave orders to guard it well. I know not if they mean your majesty harm so they have been taken to the dungeons."

"How is this possible?" Seto demanded. "The temple has been under constant guard!"

"None passed by the watch," the guard assured him.

"And yet…" the king said.

"They are perhaps…" Isis began and turned to Yugi and the others. "Not Egyptian," she remarked, pointedly.

"How many were there?" Atemu asked.

"Three, sire. Two men and a woman," he answered.

"And what do they look like?" the king asked.

"They are dressed...most unusually. The two men are of great age. One was rather...we thought..."

"Yes?"

"Sire, one was remarkably alike Master Shimon. We did wonder if this intruder was related and feared jailing him, but Priest Seto's orders were quite clear."

"You need not fear. Now, tell me other of the others."

"The other man is tall with white hair and the woman is young with long hair of gold and pale skin."

"Hmmm," Atemu hummed quietly. "Bring them to me," he ordered after a moment.

"Yes, Pharaoh," the guard bowed low and marched away.

Once the guard was gone, Atemu pressed a hand to his forehead again and let out a quiet hiss of discomfort.

"If they mean you harm..." Seto protested.

"I don't believe that they do," he replied.

"How can we be sure?" Mahad asked.

"I know of only one man who could be taken for Shimon's twin," he said, evasively.

A moment later, the guard, plus four others, entered the throne room surrounding three people. It was a tall, white haired man in a suit and a much shorter man with wild grey hair wearing dusty overalls and carrying a trowel. Beside them stood a tall, statuesque woman with long blonde hair wearing a purple miniskirt and leather jacket.

"G...grampa?!" Yugi exclaimed and fell off his pile of cushions quite comically.

"Grampa!" Rebecca yelled at the same time.

"Mai! Long time no see!" Joey exclaimed.

"Gramps, you too?! Oh, man, the snakes got you guys too!" Tristan said.

"Well, hello, kids!" Solomon Mouto waved back. "Are you having this dream too?" he asked.

"Erm...Pharaoh..." Yugi turned to him. "Could you err...the guards...I mean..."

"Of course," he nodded. "They are no threat, thank you, you may leave," he said and waved a dismissive hand at the guards who bowed and left.

Yugi and his friends ran over to Mr. Mouto an the others and laughed happily as they hugged.

They are not of our world either, my king," Isis concluded.

"No, they are not," Atemu said.

"This problem would appear to be escalating," she said

"So it would seem."

They retreated once more to the Pharoah's luxurious rooms and made themselves comfortable while they spoke. Joined by his vassals, the king sat regally and listened.

"It was the strangest thing," professor Hawkins said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Your grandfather and I were excavating a newly discovered tomb...and the next thing we knew, we were on the floor of that rather remarkable temple where the guards found us," he said.

"Snakes aren't exactly uncommon at a dig site, but certainly not in the numbers I was attacked by. I thought maybe I'd hit my head and started day dreaming. Or gotten heat stroke. It happens in the desert, you know," Solomon said.

"No luck, gramps," Joey snorted, "The snakes got us too. This is all real."

"Remarkable," professor Hawkins said, looking around in awe.

"How 'bout you, Mai?" Joey asked.

"I was working," Mai said when people turned to her, "At a bar in Vegas..."

"Vegas! How'd you wind up there?" Joey asked.

"They pay well," she explained, simply. The truth was, since Yugi had started playing Duel Monsters she'd own earnings had dwindled to the point of ridiculousness and she'd needed to find kept her jobs to support herself. "I was on my break and then..."

"Snakes?" Yugi finished for her and she nodded. "Did anyone see you...disappear?" he asked.

"There wasn't anyone else there. So I guess not," she shrugged. "I thought I was going nuts."

"Nope," Joey shook his head.

"Uncanny," Solomon remarked, looking at Shimon, who was his exact double aside from their clothes. "Are you sure this isn't dream?" he asked.

"Not unless we are all having the same one," Shimon replied.

"And I dunno about you guys, but I don't really dream about goin' to the land of the dead," Joey said. "Err...no offence, it's a great place and all," he then added, looking over at the Egyptians.

"Erm...gramps, we've been here for days now," Yugi said. "Weren't you worried about us?"

"Yugi, I talked to you about five minutes ago on the phone," he said, confused.

"What...but how?" Yugi exclaimed. "That was days ago and...that makes no sense. That was days ago. We were watching tv and then...I don't get it."

"This is not your world, Yugi," Atemu remarked. "Time has little meaning here."

"Yeah, but?"

"Yug, nothing that ever happens to us ever makes any sense," Joey shrugged. "Just go with it," he said.