Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. I do however own a few characters, but two of them aren't really that important. One however will be a main player, and she is named Beithwal. You'll be introduced to her in this chapter.

A/N: Hello internet! Hows it hanging? Okay so, here goes my first go on this fanfiction. Now I'm thinking that I may seem to be jumping all over the place with explaining stuff and Im sorry if I confuse you guys :U. I don't mean to. Also as a side note Im using the Japanese names and the Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh because I can and I like it better than the 4kids version. If you have questions about who is who don't be hesitant to ask. ANYWAYS introduction time. Welcome to Interlunar. It's basically a continuation of after the Ceremonial Duel between Atemu and Yuugi, with one slight modification. The story is based around Ancient Egyptian mythology (been doing lots of reading on that stuff. Hurrr) but ive also added in my own doo da. So explanations as to what everything means and such will be posted after the story. Please note that the rating is subject to change because well… I can. Anyways, I'm going to stop typing utter nonsense and let you guys read the story. Let me know what you think! Cheers~

INTERLUNAR

-The End is Just the Beginning

"It's alright aibou."

Yuugi Motou looked up from his kneeling position to stare into the crimson eyes of his other half. The mighty Pharaoh Atemu was known for not betraying any emotion but right now, he could feel his façade start to slip. Yuugi always had this uncanny ability to be able to melt Atemu's mask whenever he looked at him with those majestic purple orbs. He was stubborn to keep it in place though. If it cracked, then saying goodbye would be near impossible.

Lowering himself to his knees with Yuugi watching every movement, Atemu placed what he hoped was a consoling hand on his hikari. Yuugi raised both his hands to capture Atemu's inside their grasp. Squeezing tightly, looking away as tears stung his eyes, Yuugi said "I don't want you to go."

Atemu lowered his own gaze. "I know. But I have to do this."

"No!" The Pharaoh jumped at the fierce tone that had suddenly made itself prominent in the young boy's voice. Yuugi was always known as a soft and gentle soul, never one to raise his voice even when he talked to Otogi after the fire. In fact the only time Yuugi had ever shown any sort of anger was when the Sennen Puzzle had been stolen.

The soft pitter-patter of tears slapping the pavement echoed around the hollow chamber. "There has to be another way. You can't just… just… i-it's not..!" His voice was shaking so bad he couldn't get the words out. Atemu sighed, wishing that there was another way; that he could stay forever in the mortal world with Yuugi and everyone but, he knew that as long as he lived as a mortal, the Earth would forever be plagued by the Shadows.

It was his duty to die.

With him gone, the world could know the peace that had only ever been dreamed about. With his ultimate sacrifice, the dark games would seal themselves forever; never to break free again to play with the lives of mortals. Atemu tried to stand back up, knowing that if he stayed any longer, the chances of him actually being able to leave would slowly diminish until he could not make himself go at all, but Yuugi had clamped his hands firmly around his other self's and was showing no sign of ever letting go. A piece of Atemu shattered as he looked down at his aibou. Looking smaller than usual, his eyes downcast, Yuugi looked ready to snap. Not being able to resist, he leaned down to Yuugi and pulled him deep into a hug. Yuugi responded immediately, letting go of Atemu's hands so that he could wrap his arms around his other self's shoulders, squeezing the life out of him.

He had to do this; for Yuugi's sake. With him gone, Yuugi could have a normal life again. No more life and death situations, no more running about collecting items and definetly no more insane psychopaths trying to kill him. Atemu pried himself away from Yuugi, surprised to feel his arms go limp. This really was for the best. Turning away, he walked towards the door to the afterlife, keeping his eyes trained on the Eye of Horus so he would not see the other people in the room, feeling all their eyes on him watching, waiting to see what he will do. Atemu took a steadying breath, the steel cold look in his eyes not wavering in the slightest.

"My name is Atemu, son of Ahknemkata." The room shook with the power of his name. The Eye, split in two, pouring dust from the crack onto the floor as it slid open, revealing the other side. A blinding white light bounced into the room, shining only on Atemu, its wisps clinging tightly around his body as if desperate for him to come home. Squaring his shoulders, Atemu marched forward, paying no heed to the sudden cries of Yuugi and his friends. They had to understand…

This was for the best.

The closer he got to the entrance, the cooler it became. A wind picked up, blowing softly into the Pharaoh's face. It seeped into his skin, changing his outward appearance and modifying it to be what it once was thousands of years ago. The gold that now adorned his wrists, ankles, neck, ears and forehead seemed to glitter with their own light. Human shapes appeared in the white glow and the sound of laughter floated to Atemu's ears. Mana smiled out at him from the light, reaching out one of her hands towards him. Tears stung the back of his eyes, but he refused to shed them even now, at the end of everything.

Goodbye, aibou…

Reaching his hand forward, he clasped the offered one from Mana…

And was frozen solid.

Icy fingers licked its way up his arm, tensing the muscles into place and worked its way quickly down the rest of his body. The white light dimmed to a more sinister colour and invaded the room, coating the walls with its inky shade. Mana disappeared from view completely, along with the other figures behind her which were all the people Atemu used to know once upon a time. A strong gust of wind blew his still form to the edge of the staircase, nearly knocking him over but not nearly. All he could do was watch the scene play out before him.

The door to the afterlife remained open, but what was happening inside it was a different story. Already dimmed down a bit, the light became a ruby red colour mixed with purple wisps of shadow. The two colours twisted together in a circular pattern slowly, never blending together. The colours sunk deeper into the cavern behind the door, revealing a long endless tunnel with walls of swirling red and purple. One of the swirls of mist detached itself from the walls and glided over to Atemu. It circled him once, nuzzling him like a lost puppy that had just found its owner and then it came to a stop directly in front of him then started expanding, taking on the silhouette of a human. Two more wisps of purple swirled into the room, also taking on a human shape. The one that was directly in front of Atemu refined its features slowly, like sandpaper scraping away the unwanted wood. It transformed into a woman, her hair black and as long as she was tall. Green eyes flashed with intelligence in the darkness, accentuated by her dark skin. Cream robes complimented her figure, hugging her in all the right places, decorated with simple Egyptian text along the bottom of the hem. A simple arm cuff that looked like a snake completed her outfit.

She smiled at Atemu, bowing before him. "My pharaoh." She said in greeting. Atemu could do nothing but glare at her, silently asking for an explanation. Shadows gathered at his feet, sensing the growing annoyance welling within their Master. The girl watched this with interest, a gentle smile playing on her lips. When she made no further address, Atemu turned his attention to the other two shapes that were appearing behind her.

They appeared to be twins for they looked the same but were in some ways not the same. One was a man and the other was a woman. Both were dark skinned, but the boy had black short hair and the woman had waist length blond hair. Her eyes were the colour of the Nile on a bright summer's day and on the lid of her eyes was a thick black line that swooped up away from the edge of her lid to her hair line. On her head was a band made of gold and light golden fur joining in with her hair. She had a black short toga that was plain to accentuate the rest of her. Her male counterpart had milky iris' that seemed to almost be the same colour as the whites that surrounded them. He had a crown of feathers on his head and a red wrap around skirt on his waist, leaving his toned chest exposed to the world. The two seemed to be arguing over something but Atemu couldn't hear what they were saying because they weren;t arguing with words but with motions.

Straightening up suddenly, the girl in front of Atemu turned around to address the other two. "Smettila! Mantenete il vostro litigi in casa. Siamo qui a nome di tuo padre, ti ricordi?" The two stopped what they were doing to hear her words. They both bowed low but not before Atemu saw the flash of fear that entered their eyes. Whatever the girl had said had put the two in their place. She turned back to the pharaoh, smiling, and the picture of innocence. "That's better. Sorry about that. Awyr and Maji don't know how to show respect sometimes." Atemu didn't show any indication that he was listening, instead trying to figure out how to defreeze himself. The girl tilted her head as if listening to him. Then almost as if a thought dawned on her, she snapped her fingers. Instantly, feeling came back into Atemu and he could move his arms and body freely. Shaking out his stiff arm, he glared at the girl.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

She scoffed. "Straight to the point I see, nice and thorough. Well who would want to waste time with unwanted words but such pleasantries are rare in this day and age. I remember the good old days when-"

She suddenly stopped rambling on as though someone had put a halt to her thinking. Clearing her throat loudly, she turned slightly toward the two others. "Anyways, back to answering your question. The name's Beithwal but most just call me Beri." She jerked her thumb behind her indicating the other two. "He is Awyr and she is Maji. We are all guiding spirits for souls wishing to enter Duat."

Atemu nodded in understanding. He took a few steps forward, stopped then looked back into the room. He couldn't resist one last look at everyone; especially Yuugi. But when he looked he saw that everyone was frozen just as he was but something was different. There was an eerie chill to the air, almost as if the little square room had been transformed into a ghost town. Shocked at this sudden change, the pharoah immideiatly moved to stand beside Yuugi, to see what had been done to him. He kneeled down to his still form, looking closely into his violet eyes.

"You don't want to do that…" Beri said in a small voice but her warning fell on deaf ears. He stared at those vibrant eyes, noticing that the life had been frozen; almost like his soul had been trapped deep within a box and now all that was left was a shell. Atemu gaped at the change, anger gnawing away inside him threatening to break loose. Composing himself, he faced the three guides, his voice even but laced with acid.

"What have you down to aibou?" He demanded. Beri took a step back, hands held up in front of her chest as if the motion could calm him down.

"Nothing. It-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" The Shadows at his feet flared up in front of him due to his anger, eager to start causing chaos. Beri watched his outburst with a subdued expression. She noticeably swallowed, moving closer the Pharaoh.

"Look, he's just frozen in time. Much like these other mortals." She gestured to the others in the room. They were all frozen just like Yuugi, but to Atemu it didn't matter. It just seemed so wrong to see his vibrant partner so unnaturally still. He closed his eyes, scrunching his brow in frustration.

"Reverse it."

Beri shook her head. "Can't do that."

Atemu's eyes popped open, crimson orbs flashing. "Can't or won't?"

The spirit guide tilted her head as if considering the possibility. "Both."

"And why is that?"

"I don't have time to fully explain okay?" She snapped. Atemu glared at her, the shadows moving closer to him.

"You've frozen everything in the room; you have all the time in the world."

"Ugh! Fine you know what?" Her wrist moved in front of her face, flicking her hand out toward the Pharaoh. Icy tendrils licked up the side of his arm and into his body, freezing him in place once again. Beri smiled triumphantly. "Much better. Now I can do my job without you rudely interrupting." Struggling against the stiffness in his muscles, he glared maliciously at her, mentally kicking himself for being stuck in this situation again.

"We have come for a specific purpose dear Pharaoh." She started walking around him slowly in circles, and continued talking. "You believe that if you sacrifice your soul, that the Dark Games would be locked along with your soul inside Duat, safe and sound, but what you don't know is that only works when you have your entire identity known."

Atemu scoffed. I know everything there is to know about myself, simpleton, he thought sourly. Beri stopped walking, turning her green eyes on him.

"You'd think that wouldn't you?"

Atemu blinked. Did you just read my mind?

She sighed, continuing with her walking. "Yes I can read your mind but that's beside the point. You don't have all your memories yet. You have your memories as a pharaoh in Egypt which was a good stepping stone. But-" at this point she was directly in front of him again. She turned her body toward him, crouching low to meet him face to face. "Your past is still shrouded in mystery." He raised a mental eyebrow. "The Ancient Egyptian's used to believe in reincarnation. Your soul," she poked him in the chest, "is a particularly old one.

"If you want to enter Duat and take with you the Dark Games you must first unravel the truth of your past life. Only then can you enter and restore balance to the world." He didn't know if what she was saying was true. Spirits were known to cause havoc; years of solitude would drive anyone crazy so it makes sense that once free spirits would be seeking some thrills. It could be that these spirits were in the mood to fuck up some potential spirits peace in order to provide entertainment. Atemu couldn't prove if what she was saying was true at the moment, so he just played along.

And how exactly do you propose I do that.

"Normally, you would be able to go to any spiritual medium in the mortal world and have them read your chakras no problem, but with you, since you're a… special case, you would have to go to a specific reader."

If you know I have to go to a certain reader because I'm a special case, then why not tell me who I am right now? Why should I have to go through some long process when you have all the answers?

She let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't tell you. If I just told you the truth then you would be flooded with too many memories at once and your head would explode. As a spirit, you would be sent to oblivion, never to be reincarnated again, doomed to live out your worst nightmares."

He still didn't trust her. Going silent in his mind, he turned inward hoping that he would be able to block off Beithwal's intrusion. If he went through those doors right now, and what she said was true, then everything he had fought for – the future, security, his aibou – it would all be undone. He would be damned if he did anything to cause his aibou pain. With him gone and the Shadows still free, there would be no way of controlling them, their master locked away then they would lash out at the world. No one would be safe. Especially not Yuugi.

"Do you understand?"

What could be the harm in staying a while? Only until he knew if this woman was lying. Atemu stared long and hard at her, seeing if there would be some crack in her face showing that she was lying. He couldn't see anything except sheer boredom plastered on.

Yes I do.

She rubbed her hands together."Excellent. Now the fun can begin." As if that was a queue, Awyr and Maji moved from where they were standing and ghosted over to the still form of the pharaoh. They had been silent this entire time, not giving off any hint that they were present in the room. Each one simultaneously placed a hand on his shoulders, keeping him routed to the place. Not like I can move anyways, he thought sourly. "Now this may hurt a little." Reaching around with her right hand to her left arm, she plucked the jewel that was embedded in her snake armband. It was completely clear except there was a multitude of colours swirling inside, making the jewel glow with its own light. She leaned down at him again, holding the jewel up. Taking one of his hands, she flipped it so his palm was facing the ceiling. Slowly, Beri's fingers ghosted over his palm, small sparks of energy floating off her tips into Atemu's skin. Then, she pressed the jewel to his skin and almost immediately, hot liquid poured into his veins, seizing up his muscles. It raised his body temperature to the point where one could feel the heat radiate off his skin, like he was an earth bound sun. The ice that used to be present was melted away completely by this new sensation. Rainbow light leaked from between the jewel and his palm, making it so bright that Atemu saw dots. He could feel his skin tear open, but he felt no blood pour from the open wound. Instead, the sensation of something entering his skin took his place. It felt rather like one of those shots that Yuugi had to get at school, but a lot more painful. Only after the sensation passed that the light died down. Atemu had to blink a few times to clear his vision of dots to see again.

Beri was leaning over his hand, her face close to where the jewel now was; embedded deep within his flesh. There was still a gaping hole, perfectly round and covering most of his hand. Blowing softly, the skin healed itself up completely, enclosing the jewel within. Straightening up, Beri gave him a quick smile. Turning her attention to the other two, she waved them off. Obediently, they backed off slinking back to the portal to Duat and giving each other a meaningful glance. Once they had let go, Atemu went limp and fell to the ground. Now that the ice was gone, he could actually move. He tried to lift himself up but found that a hot fire would burn in whatever muscle he was using.

"Oh ya, I should have probably told you, you might hurt for a few days so I recommend lots of rest in bed."

Atemu shot her a glare, working his jaw to see if he could speak. When only a slight bit of pain shot up his neck he spoke. "What did you… do to me?

"Oh it's nothing serious. Just you are now-" A large tremble shut her up. Shaking slightly on the spot, she threw a question at the other two. "What the bloody hell was that?" Maji looked up to the ceiling as particles of dust rained onto her face. Her eyes widened slightly. Moving as fast as lightning, she grabbed her brother's arm and jumped through the portal. Beri's jaw dropped and she ran after them, shaking her fist at the entrance.

"You ungrateful bastards! The minute I get my hands on you you're gonna wish that-" Another violent shake caused her to lose her balance. She fell backwards, landing on her backside, the air whooshing out of her. Chunks of rock dislodged themselves from the ceiling and fell right in front of Beithwal. She sat up, trying to get some breath back into her lungs, but only succeeded in filling them with dust. She coughed out what little air she had, turning her head so she could look at Atemu. He was still lying limp on the floor, all his energy useless without the use of his muscles. Hot pain was slowly working its way into his system, pulsating in strength. He closed his eyes against the pain, gritting his teeth together hard. A third and final shake came and went, but it caused more damage. It was the most violent one. It cracked the walls the floor and the ceiling, but no more rocks fell. Cracks traveled up the door to the afterlife, until it reached the solid gold Eye of Horus. It went around it, like some little kid with scissors were cutting out the shape. It snapped off and fell to the floor shattering on impact. The doors slowly started sliding shut, cutting off any hope Beithwal had to returning home. Lifting herself up, she sprinted toward the door. She was a meter or so away from the entrance before she tripped on one of the cracks on the floor. Falling flat on her face, she let out a little grunt and immediately started to get up.

With a mighty thud, the doors slid shut, blocking any person from walking through to the afterlife. Beri was still on the wrong side.

A/N: Ya I have Beri speak other languages, but it will be explained. As will other things. But later. Because I feel mean :P

Meanings:

Awyr: Welsh word meaning "Air"

Maji: Mandarin word meaning "Water"

Beithwal: Elven name from Jacqueline. Means "Protect"

Duat: Ancient Egyptian afterlife; often seen as a place similar to Egypt. The heart of the deceased was weighed by Anubis against the feather of truth. If the heart was too heavy, the soul would be devoured by the Devourer of the Condemned.

"Smettila! Mantenete il vostro litigi in casa. Siamo qui a nome di tuo padre, ti ricordi?" 'Stop it! Keep your sibling problems at home! We are here for a reason, remember?'