Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Returning Curses ❯ Isis Ishtar's Ancient Egyptian Exhibit ( Chapter 12 )

Returning Curses

Chapter 12: Isis Ishtar's Ancient Egyptian Exhibit

Yugi stood patiently in front of the museum, waiting for it to officially open at 9:00, in five minutes. He waited in silence with a few other people anxious to see the exhibit.

"I hope the museum can give us some clue to what this curse is capable of." muttered Ryou beside him.

"Ryou! Where did you come from?" asked Yugi, suprised to see him.

"I saw the commercial last night, and I knew that you would come here. Did you really think you could leave me behind?" he grinned.

"I guess not. Thanks for coming." sighed Yugi.

"You can't keep me away from a good mystery!" he laughed.

They both jumped as they heard a noise, and Yugi laughed when he realised that it was only a guard opening the museum door.

"Guess Ancient Egypt must be popular." The guard muttered as the horde of people ran past him. "No running in the museum!" he called after them, mainly Ryou and Yugi, who were desperate to get to the exhibit quickly.

"Now, just where is the exhibit?" Yugi asked Ryou.

"How should I know? I only..." his voice trailed off as he realised that his Millennium Ring was pointing down a hallway to his left.

"Is it sensing Isis's Millennium Tauk?" he asked Yugi in an undertone. Yugi shook his head.

"It's in my pocket."

"Who else has a Millennium Item?" he frowned.

"Shadi does, and so does Malik." replied Yugi.

"And either one of them could be at the exhibit. Let's go." said Ryou, already running off in the direction the Ring pointed.

"No running!" the guard shouted again

Yugi ignored him as he ran and caught up with Ryou.

"This way!" Ryou muttered, turning a corner. Both boys stopped dead when they reached the exhibit.

"N-no one's here!" Yugi stammered, looking around the room.

"How could that be?" Ryou murmered, more to himself than Yugi.

"Bakura, check the Ring again, maybe it's pointing somewhere else."

"Right." Ryou glanced down at the Millennium Ring. "What the...?" The Ring was motionless. No quivering points. It hung limply across Ryou's chest.

"This just keeps getting weirder." Yugi observed, also staring at the flattened Ring.

-Do you know anything about this?- Ryou questioned his yami.

=No. The Ring detected an Item, but lost track of it.=

-Can the Ring do that?-

=Unfortunately...=

"Ryou? Are you okay? You look spaced out." said Yugi curiously.

"Just thinking." Ryou sighed, before resuming his mental conversation.

Yugi took advantage of this time to look around the room the Ring had led them to.

/At least we know this is the right room. Yami, we better start.../ Yugi was interrupted by a few of the people he had seen waiting in front of the museum running through the room, snapping photos and chatting excitedly. /Apparently, they found the right room./

//This makes things a little more difficult.// Yami sighed.

/Yes... It does./ Yugi was close to giving up looking for anything that could help, when he heard a shout.

"Hey, Yugi! Over here, I think I found something!" called Ryou. Yugi ran over to him.

"What is it?"

Ryou pointed to a stone tablet on the wall. The ancient paint was chipped in several spots, but it clearly showed a cloud of red mist surrounded by hieroglyphics.

"If only we could read hieroglyphs." Ryou groaned.

"We can't...but I bet Isis can!"

"I don't see her, Yugi."

Yugi pointed to a lady with long, raven black hair leaning against the opposite wall. "Right there." He said, turning around to look at Ryou. He spun around again to ask her for help, but she wasn't there. "Where did she-?"

"Hello Yugi, Bakura." said Isis in her creepy voice.

"We're here too-"

"Find out about the red mist curse, you were hoping I could translate, because right now your being affected by the curse, Yugi. And yes, I'll help you."

/Okay, is she creepier with or without the tauk?/

//I think she's always creepy. It's in her nature.//

"Can you tell us what it says, Isis?" asked Ryou.

"Of course. It describes the red mist. It says that the curse was called the Red Demon Curse, and it gave the enchanter full access to the victim's mind, and occasionly, access to their body." Isis explained.

"Full access? You mean EVERYTHING is open to them?" Yugi questioned worryingly.

"Yes."

"How often does the sorcerer get control of the body?" Yugi sighed.

"When he or she feels up to it." Isis said, reading off the tablet. "It takes a lot of mental strength to control the victim's mind. It takes about as much strength as supporting an Egyptian God Card in the Shadow Realm. It depends on mental defenses."

"Does the tablet say anything about a cure?" Ryou inquired.

Isis was reading dangerously close to the end of the tablet. She looked at the boys and sighed. "There's a problem. right here at the edge, it says; the only remedy is... Nothing more. It seems to have been cut off.

Yugi and Ryou groaned.

"Wait." she examined the end of the tablet. "It looks like the part with the cure was freshly broken off. I'm sure it wasn't broken when I put it on the wall. Someone must have chipped that part off."

Yugi and Ryou exchanged glances. They both knew that stone hadn't been broken by accident.

"Thanks Isis, now we have a little more information." Yugi told her as he and Ryou started to leave.

"I'll tell you if I find the broken piece." Isis promised.

"Thanks again!"

Yugi and Ryou left the museum around noon.

"Bakura, why did your Ring lead us to the room? Isis doesn't have a Millennium Item! At least, not anymore."

"I don't know, maybe there was someone else who we didn't see."

"I guess...

"We still have time to find the reincarnated priest. I'll look through the west side of Domino, and you take the east, alright Yugi?" said Ryou.

"What exactly are we looking for?"

"Well... if the spell uses red mist, maybe we should look for someone with red eyes."

Yugi nodded, and they both ran in opposite directions through the city.

~Think again, you can't outsmart me! I'll be ready for you!~

*****

You'd better like this chapter. Nice and long, right? Huh? Right? THIS CHAPTER TOOK ME FOREVER TO WRITE!!! ARGH!!!

Cookies to Kaira-chan, Crouching Tigress, and Towairaito Zoon! ^___^

Prof. Yoshimori is from Shadi's first appearance in Shonen Jump. At least, that's where I saw him...