Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Children of Destiny ❯ Pandora's box ( Chapter 20 )

Pandora's Box

Sam: *sigh* It's getting there… hopefully by the end of the year if I keep typing every day every week… T___T If you all must know I am now officially in uni, yep booze, late nights, missed deadlines, lectures, seminars, poverty and MY MOM REFUSES TO LET ME BRING MY COMPUTER WITH ME!!!! *Wails* I've had to resort to using the computer in the library to get this stuff done. So expect long updates those people who are still with me but believe me we are getting to the end real soon!!!!

Disclaimer: 21 chapters… I'VE BEEN SAYING IT FOR 21 CHAPTERS!!!!

Sam: So say it again

Disclaimers: AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!

Sam: Hehehehehe…

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"Shall we play with it milord?" Atemu blinked nonchalantly at Yin's suggestion with the bamboo ball in his hands.

"Out here? On the street?" he asked staring at the empty alley they were walking in.

"Well what else do you do with a toy if not to play with it? The festival ended a while ago and unless you wish to return to the inn early there's nothing else I could suggest we do" Atemu frowned but stared at the bells and ribbons before dropping it onto a knee and kicking it over towards Yin who was on the other side of the alleyway. They took turns shooting and defending their goals.

"You call that a kick?" Atemu taunted as his competitive attitude started to kick in again. Yin raised an eyebrow and kicked the ball hard in proof of her worth. It flew above Atemu's head and smacking a man in the face. The ball had bounced back into her hands.

"Oops…" she mouthed before shoving the ball into Atemu's hands and sidled into the shadows.

The man, who happened to be one of the town's court officials out on patrol during late hours especially to bring order at the late night brothels in the area, was enraged from the unintentional assault and looked at the tri colour headed teen holding the `weapon'.

"YOU!" he roared not noticing the girl that had conveniently shied herself to the walls.

"But I-"Atemu tried to say before the man grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him away. Yin who had slid out of the shadows sniggered silently whilst her future husband was taken away to the court magistrate for assault of an officer. She followed diligently, keeping out of sight from Atemu's bitter gaze of being humiliated when she noticed that the official was dragging Atemu out of town rather than the directly to the court. Narrowing her eyes she kept to the shadows and followed as the two entered a wooded area. "This isn't the way to the court, where are you taking me!?" Atemu exclaimed in alarm wrenching his arm away.

"Humph… it took you a while to notice. I don't see what the emperor sees in you… prince" the man turned to face the teen, his eyes the colour of blood. Atemu stumbled backwards when the painful contortions in the man's body made themselves known. Lumps seemed to swell across his arms as if insects were crawling under his skin and his muffled screams of agony shook his entire being in a fit of convulsions. Atemu fell to the floor as the first spurt of blood spat from the man's lips and his eyes swelled with red. The official snorted as flecks of red came from orifices from the tear ducts in his eyes to a bleeding nose.

The insects had continued to burrow around his body tearing the tissue apart before the man dropped to his feet in a quivering mess the contortions of his body seemed to give birth to another in his place and the corpse dropped to the floor as if he were a pile of rags. Standing in his place was a silky silver headed young man with a strange sapphire gaze dressed in a red and black cloak. Atemu, whose knees had given away to the horrific sight of death, looked up at the man who stood in the official's place.

"Who are you?" Atemu managed to utter. Gabriel flashed a smile as he leaned over him.

"Gabriel but I think that's all you need to know" he whispered as his sapphire eyes began to glow. His slender hand morphed into a large bird-like claw with black protruding nails. A hiss came from Atemu's pouch as Tyrande leapt from her hiding place and swiped at Gabriel's face.

"Tyrande!" Atemu yelled in alarm as the kitten fought bravely. Gabriel roared as he tossed the kitten aside and went to strike. Yin narrowed her eyes as she leapt out of her hiding place and rolled Atemu out of the strike of the claw. It melted the ground with a poisonous fume before eating away a hole in the floor. Any surrounding life died within seconds of it's deadly touch of the acid. Gabriel growled in frustration of his miss.

"Why do you protect him Yin?"

"Yin…" Atemu whispered trying to see if she was hit. Yin didn't answer him but merely glared at the demon before her. A rustle in the underbrush informed her of others that had accompanied their master.

"Meuh…" uttered a weak cry from the injured kitten as Atemu went to scoop it up into his arms.

"Get up…" Yin ordered and Tyrande complied getting to her feet as if she was merely born a few moments ago. Atemu smiled joyfully as the kitten seemed to be fine before glaring at the demon and squaring side by side with the `peasant girl'.

"That… was a big mistake Gabriel…" Atemu growled as he lunged with the sword that he had been carrying on his back when he fought the Arachnypmhs. Ghouls from either side of them began to pour from the dark cover of the trees in aid of their master which Yin neatly deflected with what seemed a simple swipe in the air resulting in a massive explosion that blew the ghouls apart. In all the confusion of raining rotting guts and limbs Gabriel flicked his wrists and needles scattered towards the princess. Yin stared horrified as he noted the prince of Egypt acted as a shield for her. "Run" he grunted wincing slightly as poison form the needles started to seep into his blood stream. Gabriel smirked as he advanced towards.

"TYRANDE!" Yin yelled for the kitten whose screech turned into a roar. Sweat started to break out on Atemu's forehead and he vaguely saw the transformation of the tiny thing into a large snarling tiger that scooped them off their feet and carried them away as fast as she could. Masses of Gabriel's minions lumbered after them in all out chase to which Tyrande agilely dodged any weapons thrown her way to disable her. Yin turned and leapt off the giant cat and drew the twin sword to Atemu's. A simple slash movement in the air spread across the population of Ghouls that charged towards, separating their torsos from their deformed hips. She leapt up high and the glowing moon behind her made her look all the more mysterious, an amethyst aura surrounded her as the dreaded and notorious power of her third eye awakened. With that the lights that dotted the night sky seemed to swirl and shooting stars flashed behind her and directed towards the earth she was about to strike. Thousands upon thousands of fiery star rocks plummeted towards the ground striking each Ghoul directly. A large line of where there obliterated bodies dropped were what was left of the huge army that chased them. Yin glared at their leader who unfortunately was able to block her assault before she turned to flee with her injured companions. Atemu had finally lost consciousness after that.

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"Here!" Yin indicated towards Tyrande of a cave and she gently sat the injured prince o f Egypt on the floor. She noticed the three blacked dots on his back where the needs penetrated. They had been completely imbedded into his being and Yin noted the blue tint upon his lips. She had to act fast. Pressing her lips against the orifices she sucked and feeling a piece of metal touch she gripped the needle with her teeth before spitting out the offending object towards a puddle of water before proceeding to the others. He heard a slight wince utter from the prince before the offending weapons were cast aside. Yin then undid her pack revealing a set of sharp needles of her own. Taking one instigated the process of drawing out the essence of the poison and evicting it from Atemu's body. She strategically placed the pattern of needles on his back before turning him around and focused the energy that literally boiled the poison out. Drops of black dripped out from the punctures of her needles before eventually Atemu cried out in pain and the needles shot out like darts striking the caverns of stone. The ordeal was over and she leaned him back wrapping a cloak around his feverish form.

Yin woke up to find that the cloak was on her his time and Atemu was nowhere to be seen. She searched the cave, which was deeper than she had originally thought and found him sitting beside an underground spring. Water was running down in torrents on one side of the wall and she knew that it meant there being a waterfall nearby. She stared over at the spring and watched serenely at the prince swimming in the coolness of the water. Her face tinged with pink for the future pharaoh had stripped of all of his clothes. It took a while for Atemu to notice that she was watching him but when he did, he blushed and smiled sheepishly. Yin blinked noticed that the prince seemed subdued and getting used to the closeness that he so abhorred before. Yin smiled for things had changed between them and she knew that things were going to change a lot more.

"She's a wonderful companion isn't she?" Yin asked staring at Tyrande who was now fast asleep. Atemu smiled petting the cat absentmindedly on his lap before turning to gaze at the girl next to him. Yin was in a world and the two didn't speak much for a while.

"That… those fiery rocks that fell from the sky when they were almost upon us" Atemu mused back to when they were escaping the Ghouls. Yin turned to him with wide surprised eyes; Atemu had seen her in a new light and in truth was quite fascinated with her ability of summoning such power from the stars of the night. "How did you do that? I can barely manage to summon monsters from the Shadow Realm in my training in magic"

"Parlour tricks…" Yin replied. "Believe me prince; to summon elements of the world around us is quite easy compared to that of summoning creatures from another plain. It saves energy of opening the rift between our two worlds. I'm sure you would find it easier considering your training within the realm of shadows" Yin smiled to Atemu's amazement.

"You've got to be kidding… commanding the stars to fall at your will takes a lot of energy" Yin chuckled

"No it's not… the stars were ready to fall soon, it was just a matter of speeding them up… like to claim the apples by knocking at the tree with a stick…" Yin whispered. "Although I am quit fond of that trick as is this one…" Yin stared up at the full moon in the distance and slowly as if simply plucking it away from the sky itself (1) she twiddled it like a coin between her fingers before Atemu, the glow of the moon shimmering between her fingers before she wrapped her hands around it and encased it in darkness. Atemu tried to peer through the clenched fists to find that nothing was there and the moon was where it should be only being briefly shielded by the clouds. He looked at Yin with an amused smile on her face and chuckled at her antics.

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It was a while before they saw fit to leave the relative safety of the cave and meet up with their friends and the months past when they travelled that Atemu had started to become quite fond of the servant girl that followed him around like a duckling and much to the surprise and dismay of his friends who previously had found ample opportunity to tease him could no longer do so since he was not affected by the closeness that Yin posed anymore and in fact started welcoming it. Sometimes to a point that his friends started to worry for him.

"I wonder, what is keeping Yin? Do you think there might a problem?" Atemu asked.

"Oh for crying out loud Atemu… she's only left our side a few moments ago…" Honda cried. Atemu sat back frowning at his friend's outburst.

"You know… I'm starting to worry for you" Ishtar said. Atemu blinked. "You're growing too attached to that girl… we're but a few more days away before reaching the Forbidden City and by then she'll probably go back to serving whatever household she was before she was sent away…" It never struck Atemu that such a possibility would happen and now he thought about it, these next few days maybe the last few days for the two of them to be travelling together.

"I guess so…" he replied stroking the kitten in his pouch absentmindedly.

"Oh Ra… I don't believe it… you … you love her don't you?" Bakura whispered staring at the future pharaoh. Atemu's eyes widened.

"WHAT?" he scoffed. "By the Gods what are you on about?"

"You really are… come on prince ever since we got separated at that festival those months back, you never complained about anymore and what's more now you save a seat next to you for her whenever we stop for a rest"

Atemu frowned at the assumptions but it was true. He had grown very fond of the servant girl to an extent that he sometimes dreamed about her at night and unlike the start of his journey towards the Forbidden City. He was not looking forward to that day arriving anytime soon.

"Milord, you seem awfully quiet" Yin said. Atemu didn't answer her as he was too busy dwelling over his own thoughts. He couldn't deny that he had to marry someone of royal blood but his affection towards the servant girl had taken to a point even he didn't know could happen. He had fallen in love with her and what plagued him more than anything now was not being able to see the girl ever again. "Milord?"

"Huh? I'm sorry Yin but I… "

"Milord she's a very loyal one isn't she?" Atemu blinked confused. Yin smiled and bending down to tickle the cat that purred against her touch. Atemu sometimes found it remarkable. True many have stroked Tyrande like she did but no one else aside from himself could make her purr so contently. "But then I suppose I would be too if you've been taking care of her so well… Her fur's much sleeker than I remembered during that Shadow match" Atemu smiled at the compliment but frowned.

"Wait a minute, how do you know where I got Tyrande from?" Yin froze and bit her lip from her mistake. Atemu looked at her in shock. "It's you… you're that bodyguard that was looking after the princess on her visit to Egypt" Yin looked away sheepishly. "Gee… I thought you were guy… Who were to think it huh?" his good humour seemed to disappear just as quickly as it came. Yin looked worried.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I… well… I'm not looking forward to going home… I mean… despite how much we've travelled together I don't really know you that well… and well the thing is…" he looked at her who cocked her head confusedly. "I want to know you… a lot more… but I don't think we'll have the chance" he ended glumly. Yin blushed from the comment. "Do you… do you think maybe we'd still see each other after all this is over?" Yin smiled but sighed to keep up her pretence.

"I'm not sure milord" was her reply much to Atemu's dismay.

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They emerged out of the hidden tunnel that led them away from the catacombs of the underground caves and the monks immediately surrounded the exhausted group of teenagers with bandages and water.

"Big brother?" Serenity asked looking over the feverish and seriously wounded blonde. Joey's opened his eyes slowly and weakly smiled in acknowledgement. Seto pushed passed the worry group to hurry back to the room and laying the blond over the fur lined bed. Monks poured in and wrapped the bleeding stab wounds in attempt to stop the heavy bleeding.

"Hey… buddy…" Tristan whispered by his bedside. "How are you holding?" Joey stared dully at the brunette.

"How do you think I'm holding?" Joey said glancing at the two wounds in his shoulder and stomach before he coughed reflexively. He winced in pain from the renewed bleeding.

"God… try to keep yourself from dying, man" Tristan growled. "Don't you dare do this to me again…" Joey noted the salty water that clung to the brunette's lashes.

"Whatever," Joey moaned as he lifted himself off the bed. "I'll be fine…" he replied holding his arm out to stop the brunette pushing him back down. Bags had started to form under his red-rimmed eyes as the toll of a raging unnatural fever and the number of near-death-experiences he has had in the past few weeks. It was strange though, why he hasn't died yet. What exactly was keeping him alive throughout it all? He had been drowned, struck by lightening, set on fire by an angry Egyptian God card, crushed, slashed and stabbed and despite feeling like death he never got to that point of no return. At least not yet. He stumbled out of the bed much to the protests and dismay of his friends as he felt something inside him hum comfortingly. Joey led his way to find that Yugi, Ryou, Malik and their yamis… were unconscious and sleeping in the middle of the temple floor. "What happened to them?"

"We are not sure" Isis replied worriedly cradling her brother in her arms. "They've been unconscious for a while. I don't know what to do." Joey found somehow that he wasn't worried and merely walked past them. "I can feel that your own spirit is weak Joey… You have to rest" she added. Joey however, ignored her and the pleas of his friends as he tried to tend for those that were unconscious. Seto knelt by his side and pulled him up by his arms.

"I'm fine" Joey said weakly trying to break the grip the CEO had on him but the weak struggle barely registered to Seto's unrelenting grasp around his waist.

"You need to rest Joey…" he whispered in the blonde's ear. He finally gave up the struggle and lay limp in his arms. He was led back into the room and laid on the bed once more. Joey fell asleep almost instantly. For a moment Seto panicked but the faint pulse calmed him down.

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Atemu stared miserably as the preparations for the wedding was arranged. Much as though it irked his father to perform a foreign ceremony he found it was more appropriate that way considering they were on foreign soil. Ever since they returned Akunumkanon was overjoyed with the return of his son and truly grateful to the servants that accompanied his journey to the Forbidden City. So much so that plans for the marriage were immediately underway and Atemu felt himself being swept away as couriers zoomed in and out of his chambers carrying either gifts or preparations for the celebrations. Atemu himself was made to dress in a crimson robe encrusted with gold trimmings as a sign of royalty whilst red in comings with the traditions of the Chinese a sign of good fortune and prosperity. He stared forlornly for the servant girl that had been with him all these months but saw no sign of her since their return but he knew of the harsh reality of royalty and the courses of being a romantic in believing that you would love the one you marry was far too farfetched. The best he could do was to keep the memories of that time together.

"I can't believe you're going to go through with it" Honda had complained to him. "Come on you admitted you love Yin, so why don't you stop feeling sorry for yourself about marrying this nobody princess, grab the girl of your dreams and run away?"

"Yes… and the likelihood of that ever being successful Honda is zero" Bakura commented and putting a damper on the boy's romantic ideas. Atemu sighed as the ceremony began and he awaited the bride to arrive.

"Couldn't I even have got a chance to see her before all this?" Atemu muttered to his father.

"Its part of the superstition they have that bride and groom can't see each other before the wedding" Akunumkanon muttered adding to the misery of the prince. Atemu had to admit that the dress was pretty magnificent. The range of coloured embroidery decorating the bride's gown, he could almost imagine what Yin would look under it all. Thankfully for now the red veil was over her face so it wouldn't disrupt Atemu's fantasy of being wedded to the servant girl. They were required in the ceremony to kowtow three times and the bride would wait for the groom who would enjoy the banquet until it was time for bedding with his bride. Atemu didn't have much appetite for food or drink so they pushed him into the room where the princess would be waiting.

"Does your son know about the rest of the customs he needs to follow on this when bedding the bride?" Emperor Xia asked Akunumkanon.

"Err…" Akunumkanon whispered. Xia smirked slyly before nudging him to his son. "Atemu" Atemu looked up at his father. "Um… there's a custom that they follow in when you're bedding your bride for the first time and that involves something that men and women do to procreate shall we say"

"What do you mean?" Akunumkanon brushed his hair back stressfully and sighed in exasperation.

"Just make sure you're on top ok?" he rasped before shoving the bewildered prince into the room. Atemu blinked in confusion before staring at his `wife'. He sighed as the fantasy of Yin would be shattered when he unveiled the face hiding under the red silk cloth. He sat next to the girl who seemed relaxed for such an event before he lifted up the veil to show her face. His eyes widened as he came into contact with large innocent violet eyes that corresponded with his own.

"About time milord. I was starting to get worried that you wouldn't show" Yin whispered. Her hair was held high and entangled with many berets and pins that made her face light up more than usual. Atemu stared in amazement.

"You're the… you're the" Yin smiled. "But I thought that the princess was blonde" his wife chuckled.

"Let's just say my father likes playing a lot o deception games prince" Yin whispered. "But right now… I think we'll just enjoy the moment ne?" Atemu blinked a few times before he a large grin spread across his face. He then frowned again.

"But… what's all this about me being on top?" Atemu asked and Yin chuckled at his naivety.

"It's not compulsory…" Yin whispered and kissing the stunned prince before pushing onto his back.

Outside the couple's fathers were trying to listen in hearing faintly moaning.

"Well I think everything is sorted. Our children are married and happy"

"I don't know about happy. Knowing my son he'll probably be mad at me for deceiving him like that"

"OH RA!" they jumped as Atemu screamed in ecstasy. The emperor grinned whilst Akunumkanon shrugged.

"Or he'll probably forget that little detail"

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The temple erupted in laughter when finally the group woke up from their visions. Bakura and Ishtar cackled like a pack of hyenas whilst Yami glared at them with the faint trace of a blush on his face. It took everyone a little while to remember where they were as the monks stared at the group of teenagers that had woken from their sudden coma.

"Malik" Isis said.

"Sister? What happened?"

"You tell me…" Isis stated staring at each teenager in turn. "You all just suddenly fell asleep where you stood" Confusion set further in as the teenagers pondered of their recent flashback of the past.

"Joey" Yugi whispered suddenly overcome with worry. "Where is he?" they hurried to the small chamber that they remembered seeing Joey last. Seto was sat by the blonde's side but they noticed the stab wounds on his already battered body.

"What happened?" Yami growled at the brunette who sat over the blonde and overlooking the wounds.

"Katsuya… "Tristan explained. "It's kinda complicated"

"So explain" Yugi replied and the Seto began relaying the events that happened with the snake men, Khan, and Katsuya and if it were possible Yugi's eyes got wider and wider as the story unfolded. Serenity was by her brother's side again who stirred from his slumber. Thankfully, the fever had finally that had been raging on since he arrived to Hong Kong had finally subsided. Joey stirred from this slumber before he woke up again feeling for the first time these past few weeks refreshed.

"Big brother, don't get up yet you're still…uh…" the stared down at the bloody bandages that had loosened from his waist and shoulder. It looked as if the wounds were never there, not even a scar to prove that he had been hurt but mere hours before. Joey blinked before staring passively at the two tri colour headed twins. He smiled giving them the thumbs up much to their amazement and relief.

"Joe? Those… wounds…" Joey cocked a head glancing at the gaping blood covered holes in his shirt to find that no such wounds existed. He shrugged indifferent to the strange phenomena that occurred.

"You were hurt pretty badly…" Andrin stated suspiciously.

"Well I'm fine and dandy now" Joey replied cheerfully flexing his arms a bit before leaping to his feet. The others still weren't sure about this new development. "Hey, happened with Mokuba and Kaiba… Don't see how it wouldn't work for me ne?"

"That's… true…" Andrin said cautiously. He shook his head from the suspicion and replaced with relief. "I suppose"

"So…" Mokuba whispered. "What are we gonna do now?"

"I think I know…" Yami replied. "All these visions that each of us has been having… about our past"he explained the happenings of the details of the visions to the rest of the group and noticed that Joey had suddenly paled as he described the events. "So it's… obviously its these visions that hold the key"

"So what? We're just gonna wait for the next happy flashback to occur on its own accord? So far all they've showed us is a good laugh, not a way to get rid of the skeletal cretins outside or Gabriel. I'm sorry Pharaoh but as much as I pride the newfound powers my hikari has that ice barrier is not going to hold on forever"

"We're just a bunch of nuts ready to crack at any second" Ishtar growled. His lighter half rolled his eyes at the analogy.

"Funny, I thought `your' nuts have already been cracked ages ago yami…" he said pointedly much to the spirit's irritation. This set off a huge argument between the holders of the Millennium Rod as Isis protected her brother from the demented yami. Yugi looked on hopelessly as he could hear the bear scrapings off ice as the Ghouls were still relentlessly clawing their way in. He wrapped his arms around his lover and despite their link being lost; Yami could tell that he was losing faith that they were able to escape the wrath of Gabriel.

"Guys…" Yugi said trying to assert authority above the squabbling duo whilst Isis tried to hold the yami back. Malik growled as he took a deep breath and blew. A jet of fire flew from his mouth and singed his yami head to toe then he winced feeling his heartburn.

"Ryou…" he whined. "Let me have some more of that ice water huh?" Ryou held up his palm and a transparent amoeba appeared and hovered over it. It then shaped into an ice cup with ice cool water in it.

"Would you like a lemon with that baka?" Ryou muttered coldly much to the discomfort of Bakura whilst Malik sheepishly took the drink and drank in one gulp.

"You're able to control your powers better than before" Isis stated to the surprise of the two other item holders.

"And they're starting to act more like Ishizu and Rei…" Bakura whimpered as he hid behind the former pharaoh whilst Malik let a puff of black smoke. Yami noticed the pale face of the blonde and immediately wondered if the fever had returned.

"Joey what's wrong?" Joey flinched staring fearfully at the former pharaoh. He shook his head trying to feign good health and calm but Yami could see right through. "Is there something… is there something that you know? That could probably help us?" Joey swallowed as he shook his head again. Yami glared. "Joey…"

"I…" Joey took a deep breath as he was forced to expose the information that he hoped he'd never have to show again.

FLASHBACK

He frowned analysing the thing inside from all angles of vision that night. The old man at the Chinese apothecary had given him some clue that the box had something to do with Yugi's heritage but he pondered on what `he' had to do with it and why Solomon Motou had changed his will to bequeath him with it. He was pretty certain why Solomon had given him the torn Blue Eyes. After all it represented the friendship he had with his long term archaeologist partner and friend Arthur Hawkins. Joey had felt most honoured that Solomon had saw fit to give him that despite his misgiving of ignoring Yugi for the past few months. Guilt had pervaded his thoughts once more. What was most unnerving was… he somehow knew there had been something wrong… that something missing, it was the same familiar feeling he usually had in his gut when duelling and whenever he got himself into tight situations in the back alleys of the slums that he used to live. It had been particularly strong around Téa before she revealed herself to be the bitch that she was. Despite the fact that they had hung out with her and how nice she seemed he was starting to dislike her as a friend for no apparent reason but he did nothing. It was as if he was waiting. He was waiting for something to happen. He was waiting for Téa to show her true colours, for Solomon's death and Yugi's kidnap. He was waiting, to reclaim this box.

`Reclaim?' He thought. `Why did I think that?' He shook his head from the thoughts before gazing at the box again. He fingered the strange serpentine creature wrapped around it like a forbidden treasure. He brushed the Noble Xia emblem with a thumb before staring at the strange lock it had. Joey blinked in surprised when the clasp that held the box locked tight suddenly clipped over to the side. He yelped as something seemed to snap and he drew his hand back. He suckled at the droplet of blood that had pooled around from the cut of his forefinger before noticing the little trap where a sharp blade protruded from a hole where the clasp had been and the Xia emblem flipped over form the bottom of the box underneath it. Joey whimpered all of a sudden unwilling to go on with the investigation but somehow he understood and slit his finger against the blade and this time let the blood drop onto the emblem. The eyes of the serpent glowed amethyst before relinquishing its hold of the box and it opened. A wave of nausea swept over the blonde for an instant before it disappeared as quickly as it came and he found himself staring at the contents that were in the box. It looked like manuscripts of a diary written in an ancient Chinese text that he barely knew how to decipher but the final text was what irked him.

The victors will face death; the defeated will face a fate worse than death as is what awaits the nobleman of the Xia… the princess will be destroyed. Her soul will shatter where not even the likes of her prince can follow…

There was a flash and he felt himself lurch back into another place. It was almost like a nightmare world that he had been thrown into where the sky was black with the remnants of burning fire but he saw the events unfold from one drama to another. He had been dropped in the middle of a war as against the Ghouls and the slaughtered brethren of the palace under siege lay decomposing in the rank formation that they were cut down on whilst the Ghouls marched their way to a palace of white marble stone. He felt himself be pulled into the centre of the chaos as he saw two of the human army leaders resembling female versions of Ryou and Malik in their armour. Dead. The Ryou look alike was pinned into a wall with a large trident spear through her stomach. Her normally ethereal white hair was stained with blood of her own and her enemies. The Malik look alike was staring blankly towards the sky as a good number of stab wounds from spears and lances mutilated her body. Joey felt himself be pulled further into the centre of chaos noticing the princess and the female Yugi look alike staring defiantly under her last drawn breath as Gabriel strode in casually kicking the dead bodies aside.

"Well Yin? Where's your prince?" Gabriel drawled. "It looks like I've won this war by taking you under my wing"

"I'll never be yours" Yin said. "He'll come… I know he will…"

"I doubt it especially with the lovely Anzu keeping him occupied…" Gabriel replied as he approached and Joey noticed Yin's eyes start to glaze under Gabriel's hypnotic gaze. "He belongs to her now… Yin… as you belong to me…" as he drew closer almost catching her lips and sealing her doom.

"NO!" Yin screamed as she shoved him hard and with her last will of strength she took her sword and slit her throat. She dropped to her knees, dead but still glaring defiantly that she had escaped his clutches once more. Gabriel roared as he went to claw relentlessly at her corpse with his hands when a trumpet sounded in the distance and the surge of the army of Egypt would come. The company were all dead despite the valiant efforts of Atemu who returned horrified to find his wife. The vision dissipated with the gentle sobs as he held her close in his arms.

Joey shoved the manuscripts back into the box and closed it. His breath was short as if he had done the 100 metre dash before he slid to the floor.

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(1) The moon plucked from the sky scene thing was taken from `MERLIN'

Sam: Finally got this stupid writers block out of my head… I'm sorry this is not my best chapter at all because it took me so damn long to write it. I was really stuck in a rut though on how to conclude this back story so I can get my clogged brain back to the present. Anyway the next update should not take as long because now I am out of the rut and back into the flow of this fic.