Tulip-Jin: And here it is, the last chapter of my fourth fic evah! YIPPEE!!!
Yami Tulip-Jin: Oh joy, oh rapture.
Chibi Red Eyes Black Dragon: Raaawwwr rawr, raawrr rawr...rawr. (Now TJ has time for more important things, like...recreational sports or something.)
Yami TJ: Why're you so bummed out? (blinks) Aibou's gonna have more free time...SHE'LL HAVE MORE FREE TIME?!
Yami TJ bolts for the nearby Closet O' Riot Gear, still fully stocked from the last time TJ forgot to update.
TJ: Free time! WOO-HOO! Who wants to go white-water rafting! Ooh, ooh, I do! YYYYYAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!
Disclaimer: Yugioh owned by....think about it. Take your time.
WARNING: Do not attempt rituals involving seven magical objects and a dimension of evil magic without a certified magical technician on-site.
"Your Highness, are you certain that this is such a good idea," Septhroith asked as he eyed me warily.
Well, so what if I was strangely energized on what was the darkest day we'd seen yet?
"Yes! Yes High Priest Septhroith, this is the only way," I said.
In front of me, on a pedestal, were all seven of the Millennium Items. It was the first time in years I had taken off the Millennium Puzzle and It looked almost forlorn as It sat in the center.
"Now, where is that - ah! Priestess, you made it," I cried as a woman entered.
She was heavy with her third child, but she still bowed. I pointed out where she should wait.
"Don't come back until we finish, do you understand? Not that I fear for you, but I really have no idea what this might do to your child," I practically babbled.
.
.
Worse, she seemed to think it was funny.
"At last, I see a Pharaoh that acts his age. I can go to the gods happy now," she commented. I almost banished all the red from my face before she saw it.
"Priestess Ishtar, do yours and your husband's families know what to do if all goes as planned?"
"Yes; but are you so certain you will return?"
"I'll never die anywhere but in Egypt, I promise you," I said as I escorted her out.
Septhroith had overheard most of that. He seemed very upset with me. I ignored him at first, while he tried to find out what I hoped to gain from this strange ritual. I wasn't in the mood for his petty politics right now.
"Damn it - Yam-kal!"
I hesitated. I hadn't been called Yam-kal in so many years…
"I can see you're planning to do something very drastic - something to do with those Shadow Games of yours. I can figure that much out. But what is it you think you're going to do? I know you, and you're not all-powerful no matter what you do."
I didn't like the scolding tone in his voice - Septhroith could be such a overprotective ass sometimes - and I turned to face him. That mention of 'death' and 'returning' he had overheard had completely cracked the protective shell he'd grown over his emotions.
For the first time in almost ten years, his eyes were exactly the way I remembered them before he started training under the traitorous Henshin. He was really worried about me!
"Seth…," I said as I averted my gaze, sensing him start at the old nickname I hadn't used since he first tried to kill me, "You're right. I'm not all-powerful. I've made too many mistakes to even consider claiming that title. And so I'm going to try and repent for what I've done."
I felt the trickle of fear that oozed down his spine as if it were my own.
"I might as well start big - the Shadow Realm has almost broken through to our dimension. Seth, you know just as well as I do that it must never be set loose upon the world."
"What…what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to seal it away. It, the Shadow Games, everything! And I'm going to use the Millennium Items to do it," I finished as I turned to the setup beside me.
"But…but then you'll -"
"I would appreciate it if you would find someone to replace me, Seth. Or you could rule Egypt yourself, I don't care."
I was about to begin when a voice rang out.
"Well, you might care if I were the one taking over, am I right Pharaoh?"
Bekareh sneered as he strode up like he owned the place.
"And you've even put the Millennium Items on a table, just waiting to be taken away - by me."
"I don't like you, Bekareh, but I might as well warn you - don't touch them and you may yet live a full life," I warned him, knowing he would ignore me anyway.
I was right - he laughed.
"Why, that's very considerate of you! Nevertheless, I'll take my chances. First, I'll reclaim what rightfully belongs to me," he said as he grabbed the Millennium Ring.
He tried to pick it up but he couldn't; he tried to remove his hand but found that now it was stuck too.
"Wrong choice," I muttered under my breath, then placed my hand on the Millennium Puzzle and began chanting.
"Power of Rah/Power of Isis/Power of Osiris/Power of Horus/Power of Anubis/Power of Thoth/Power of Seth/I name to thee/vessels of darkness/golden spirits of the desert…"
All the Millennium Items began glowing blindingly bright. Seth jumped out of the way and watched in what had to be terrified fascination.
I found myself wishing I could see his expression, just because I'd never gotten that look from him before, as I continued the chant. The roof of the room - which had no ceiling - was a wall of blackness, the very sky of the Shadow Realm itself.
"To balance the Darkness/To balance the Light/I summon the Powers to this vessel!"
A massive blast of shadowy energy was dragged down and sucked into the first Item, the Millennium Eye. I had no control over where the magic went, except that the last one had to be the Puzzle. Otherwise the ritual would be forever half-finished and frankly, that was worse then the Shadow Realm.
.
.
I repeated the line again and again, and each time a huge blast of Shadow Game magic was ripped from the 'ceiling' and sucked into a Millennium Item. Each one then bore a hazy purple and black aura. First the Eye, then the Scales, the Ankt, and the Tauk changed.
When the huge blast of light hit the Rod, however, it had a swirling purple and silver aura. I wasn't sure what could have caused that. And then it was the Ring's turn.
I knew, when I first started preparing for this ritual, that if someone was touching an Item when a piece of the Shadow Games was being sucked in, that they too would get 'sucked' in.
That was why I had planned for only Seth to watch. I knew he wasn't stupid enough to try and mess with the Items during a ritual, even if the Rod was his by right of his position.
What I hadn't counted on was Bekareh finally entering my Father's tomb, discovering where the Items actually were, and getting over here in time to get caught in the middle of things. Well, it was his own fault for not listening, I decided.
"To balance the Darkness/To balance the Light/I summon the Powers to this vessel!"
As the next huge blast began heading for the Ring, Bekareh, deciding he was about to die and figuring he might as well finish me off mid-spell just because I was standing right in front of him, charged up his own magic energy and pointed it at me.
"Try some of this, Pharaoh! Dark Force Spell!"
.
.
I didn't even have time to register the spell's approach before it blasted and burned it's way right though me. My body dropped onto the table, and I would certainly have fallen to the ground had not my hand still been firmly attached to the Puzzle.
.
.
I did manage to look up enough to see as the Shadow Game magic was sucked into the Ring without a hitch. Bekareh's look of triumph vanished as the Ring's light transformed into long grasping tentacles that held him fast and drained his soul into the Ring.
Then his body was carelessly blown back, the unholy energies he had mastered in life already consuming it with their black flames. The Ring took on the same purple and silver aura the Rod now possessed.
I pushed myself up - I had to finish this! The hardest part was still left. I tasted blood in my mouth, some of which dribbled down at the corners of my lips. I saw Seth coming closer, wanting to help, but I waved him off. The last thing I wanted to worry about was his safety.
"Powers of Light/Powers of Darkness -" I had to pause as I coughed up some blood, " - I give thee - sacrifice/Be - offered all - that I am/And call - thy Powers unto this vessel!"
'It's necessary…probably more then I deserve…' That was my last thought as my body failed and my world went dark for what seemed like the final time…
.
.
(From Septhroith's POV)
.
.
It was impossible! Right before my eyes, he forced the last incantation out and then - I watched in sheer horror as he died. His body was dead before it hit the ground, his own blood splattering all over him.
I began to move forward, then stopped myself.
This ritual of his was still working.
The rest of the magic above us swirled around, making a tighter and tighter circle before blasting down and into his Millennium Puzzle. The string was completely burned away as the Puzzle absorbed it. It was still glowing as brightly as ever, unlike the others, and actually began levitating!
.
.
Not being familiar with the expected behaviors of Millennium Puzzles, I took a few steps back and watched as two more golden pieces appeared.
A box appeared underneath the Puzzle, and it's lid appeared over It. Then the Puzzle's Sennen Eye pointed to Yamakali's dead body and It shot a beam of light into it. Something too bright to see clearly rose out of it and was drawn into the Puzzle.
The Puzzle's aura took that purple-silver color for a full second, before it shattered.
I jumped as the Puzzle broke into all It's separate pieces with a metallic bang. It was just so unexpected! All the pieces separated and then fell into the box. The lid landed right on top. In front of my very eyes, hieroglyphics burned themselves all over the box, and then there was a colossal burst of bright light, the magic faded and the Items were simply golden pieces lying on a table.
I waited for a minute or two, just to be safe, and cautiously approached them. I had to shield my eyes when all seven Items caught and reflected sunlight straight at my face, as if they knew I was there - I paused.
.
.
Sunlight?
.
.
I looked up. The sky was clear! Bright blue, a few scattered clouds, but free of the dark forces that had tainted it for so long! I had never been happier to see Rah's heavenly barge as it went about its daytime travels.
My happiness turned to ashes as I approached what was left of him. A dead body, a warm soulless corpse that still bled, that was all that was left. His abnormally pale skin was practically translucent in death. As I touched his body, I heard the priestess approaching me from behind. I wondered blankly what she thought of the scene before she spoke.
"He will return," she said. "I trained under the same Master as he did, and I know one of Master's students could never break a promise. He will return."
"And how long will that take," I asked bitterly.
I was crying, I realized. I couldn't remember the last time I had cried.
"Years? He was the only one that could solve that stupid puzzle of his, so how is he supposed to come back if it can't be solved?"
"There will be someone to solve the Puzzle," the Priestess said matter-of-factly.
"A chosen one will appear. It will be his destiny to help the Pharaoh's return and stop the evils of the Shadow Games once again. For you and I both know that one day they shall return."
I wiped my tears away angrily and picked up Yamakali's still-cooling body.
"I'll get started on this…he told you what to do with the Millennium Items?"
"Yes."
"Then I won't get in your way," I informed her before leaving the sunny room, heading forward into the bleak future that awaited me…
Chibi Red Eyes: Rawwwr rawr, rawr! Raaawwwrrr rawr raaawwrr raaawwrr rawr! (And that's all, folks! Thanks very much for living with TJ and her Yami's insanity!)
TJ:(In far distance) WHEEEEE! So, which one of you pansies wants to go cliff diving with me? Guys? Guuuuuuys?! Helloooooo, where'd you guys go!?
Chibi Red Eyes:(sighs) Raaawwr, rawr rawr rawr. Rawwr! (Right, its really mostly TJ. Sayonara!)