19 Wrong Turn into Shadow Realm

Dimension: Anime

Joey watched as Hi came tearing out of his room. Hi was spewing out so much stuff, but in another language he couldn’t understand. Like Chinese or something? However, Silhouette wasn’t there. “Okay, Atem, this is not good. If you are going to go and lift Yug’s kids, you gotta fix the language afterward.” What was he supposed to do about this? “Plus, you should return both of them at once.”

He wasn’t too worried about it. Hi probably knew about Sil. He just needed to find someone who spoke that language. “Oh yeah, Tristan’s wife

Miho. Better call her.”

Shadow Realm

Silhouette looked around herself. This place didn’t feel nice. She clung to her doll and looked around. “Hi?” What happened? She figured she would be sent back to Uncle Joey again if they disappeared.

“Hello.”

Silhouette heard a sound around her. Someone was there? “Hello.”

“Who are you?”

Silhouette tried to see who was talking. Offering information to someone she didn’t know wouldn’t be smart.

“Well, well.”

She turned around and saw Bakura. No, not Bakura. He didn’t feel like Bakura. Bakura had a certain kind of smile to himself. This one was . . . jagged.

“Oh. Who gave me such a rare gift?” He reached out his hand to touch her, but she took a step back.

“You aren’t Bakura,” she said.

“My, my. You have any idea how long it took others to figure such a simple thing out?” He chuckled. “Doesn’t matter. The appearance works, when I need to connect to something from Earth.” He walked forward more.

“Stop that!” She took a couple steps backward. This wasn’t Bakura.

“Oh. Just like everyone else,” he said sadly. “I don’t see why you can’t trust demons. You are one too, you know.”

Silhouette grabbed at her head. It burned badly. “Hi!”

“Oh, please. That’s power. That should feel good,” he said. “Good to the dark. You are dark. Hikaru is light.”

Hi was light. Atem had referred to him as light. Her other Momma Masika did too. “What’s light and dark?”

“Light are the ones who will move on and have a happy ending.”

Silhouette watched a scene in front of her start to play out. “Momma. Momma Masika. Atem. Daddy. Hi.” And her? “Wait.”

“Oh, what do you mean Daddy?” the figure asked her. “Has that man even said anything to you? You aren’t his. You are dark.”

“What?” Silhouette viewed herself getting left behind. Everyone ignored her as she stopped being able to walk forward. She called out, but no one cared. Everyone just smiled and went away into the light. “What’s going on?”

“That light. That’s their destiny. Look how happy the man that used to be your Daddy is with ‘Hi’. The light loves light. The light all went into the light. There’s no room for you in the light, you are dark. The darkest of all the dark. Do you understand yet?”

She watched him appear in front of her.

“You’re a demon. You can feel the wdjat on your head.”

Silhouette rubbed the mark she felt on her head. “It burns.”

“It’s power. It’s demonic power.”

“I’m not demonic. I’m . . . six.”

He just laughed. “Age isn’t an excuse. You’re a demon. One of mine. Not very strong, but I can change that over time.”

“Where’s Hi?” She needed to get back to him.

“Hi is the light. You don’t get the light. Demons are forbidden from the light.” He gestured to the scene below them again. “We can’t go in the light. We are dark. We are demonic.”

Demonic. Dark is demonic, according to this person. “Momma Masika said the light and dark side need each other. I need Hikaru.” Oh, he didn’t seem to like that reasoning. “Dark is just dark, it’s not a demon.” She pointed with her dolly to the scene below. “Momma Masika is dark. I came from her, and Atem. They are dark, but you showed them go into light.” So? “This is false. You are lying.”

Ooh, he didn’t like that at all. He grabbed her. “I see Atem worked on you more than I thought. Explains your stupid little outfit.”

Silhouette tried to get away, kicking her legs.

Dimension: Manga

“Bastet! Sekhmet! Ethereal Forms of Us!” Atem looked for any help they could. Yuugi was yelling the same thing outside of the Game Shop. It was upsetting that the children were taken early, and wanting to see what happened, they looked in the mirror.

Hikaru made it back to his side, but Silhouette was missing.

Ethereal Yuugi showed up with Bes. “What’s wrong?” As soon as he said it, he seemed to know. “Someone took them. Someone took her.”

“Where is Silhouettte? How do we reach her?” Atem asked him.

“I don’t know. Bastet! Sekhmet!” Ethereal Yugi did the same thing as them, but with much quicker results. Bastet was right beside him. “Someone took Sil, she didn’t make it to the other side when they got plucked.”

“Ooh. Guides are important. I can’t believe Isis just plucked without coming herself, that’s dangeorus,” Bastet insisted. “Silhouette is special. Stay here.” Bastet disappeared and reappeared quickly with Sekhmet. “Confirmed. She is in the Shadow Realm.”

“The Shadow Realm!” Atem said quickly. “I am supposed to keep Masika from there, what is it, and how do we get to it?”

“It’s a good place to always stay away from,” Bastet told him. “The domain itself belongs to Zorc. It is a playing path they used in the other dimension.”

“Zorc! She went straight to him.” Atem was angry, his wdjat was even starting to slightly slow. “He will not keep her.”

“The Shadow Realm is real dark with strange fog,” Ethereal Yugi told them. “It’s accessed with a millennium item piece in a shadow game, in our dimension. It’s a place that’s worse than death, people can be trapped there for eternity. Pegasus first used it.”

“We need to get there,” Atem said. “A game played with the millennium puzzle, Bastet if we get the pieces for you, can you enter?”

“No, but you can. I can fix it so you can enter,” she told him. “I would work quick, the Shadow Realm is large. You will never find her to collect her the more time goes by within entering it. It’s never entered in the same place twice.”

Atem and Yuugi quickly fetched their sides of the millennium puzzle and brought it out to her. She set things up, and told them what to do.

Hopefully, it was quick enough.

Shadow Realm

“Stop struggling. Someone tossed you into my area like common trash, there is no one that can come fetch you. This will be your home from now on.”

“No!” No it wasn’t. “Hi!”

“No one can come, Silhouette. Just like we can’t go into that light, the light cannot come into my darkness. You know, it’s not the first time you’ve been here. Last time, in order to fetch you again, they went ahead and let you have some demonness in you. That’s why you have such a lovely symbol on your forehead. It’s a gift, from me to you. Welcome home.”

“I am not home!” Silhouette tried to move away, but he was strong. She swung her dolly around at him in frustration.

He screamed like she burned him. She ran away, trying to find some way out.

“Silhouette!”

Oh? Atem’s voice? She kept running toward it, but there was no one there. No one was there. Then it was llike the ground left her, even though it was never there. Whatever let her run, wasn’t there anymore.

She was falling. She just kept falling.

Dimension: Manga

Atem held Silhouette still as he and Yuugi returned back from the Shadow Realm. They played the quickest game of Duel Monsters ever, staying long enough to grab Silhouette and then Yuugi surrendered the game, bringing them instantly back.

All wasn’t well though.

Bastet and Sekhmet were both there, to make sure she did get back. Ethereal Yugi and Bes were already gone.

“Moving across dimensions always has a danger to it,” Bastet said. “That’s why we must have escorts. Isis was desperate to try such a terrible thing.” She came closer to Silhouette, who was still shivering. “It’s okay. I was the kitty who let you pet me, remember? You are safe now. You are with your father.”

Silhouette couldn’t answer. Her eyes were just wide. She couldn’t do anything but shiver.

Masika came over to try and help her, but even her words weren’t reaching her. “Silhouette?” Masika touched her forehead. “She’s sweating so much.”

“The Shadow Realm can make one sick the longer they’ve been in it. Her age would mean she couldn’t last very long.” Bastet stroked her head, as if petting her. “She is also still in shock. She wasn’t just in his realm, I can feel it. She was wrapped in Zorc’s presence.”

“Oh.” Sekhmet lied down. “That’s too much.”

“Come on, Silhouette. It will be okay?” Masika kept trying. “Look? It’s Mommy Masika. That’s the name you recognize. It’s okay. Come on.” She shook her arm. “Silhouette.”

“Isis has gone too far with a living soul under risk,” Sekhmet said. “I will be back.” She was not gone very long, and brought someone else new. Another god they had never seen. Bastet and Sekhmet both bowed.

He came near, but Atem took a step backwards. The god just looked toward him a moment, and then looked at her. He then went away.

“Horus will decide her fate,” Sekhmet said.

“Her fate.” Atem finally spoke. “Her fate should be to live as the carefree little six year old she had been!” His wdjat glowed even brighter. “I can’t believe this. Zorc. That demonic energy wrapped itself around her.”

“Horus said her doll hit him,” Sekhmet told them. “I thought I felt less power in Ethereal Atem. He must have passed some into her doll. Smart. Without breaking from his grasp, she would have died in the Shadow Realm. We could have done nothing for her.”

“The doll.” Atem tucked the doll closer to her. “You are out of his presence. You are safe now, Silhouette.”

“She cannot be moved again!” Masika yelled toward Bastet. “Look at her, she is in no condition to be merely thrown and flipped between dimensions.” She touched her arm. “This poor child is still shivering. She cannot escape Zorc’s presence, even when he’s not around, it’s too dangerous to move her again.”

“Agreed,” Bastet said. “Horus said he will not permit her from moving from this dimension until she is better. Humans who willingly play and enter into the Shadow Realm have some knowledge of risk. This child was thrown in there without any knowledge of any risk. That didn’t please him.”

“It pleased no one,” Atem answered.

“Give the human bed rest. When she snaps out of it and knows she isn’t trapped in the Shadow Realm anymore? Expect nightmares for some time, and vivid hallucinations at others,” Bastet warned them. “Do not leave her alone for too long. Some hallucinations and nightmares will be caused from her own imagination and trauma. Others will actually be Zorc, reaching out to her.”

“It is known as a place worse than death. There is no way to escape it’s claws, once they have sunk into someone,” Sekhmet said. “Stay near. As long as she has hallucinations and nightmares, she will stay here.”

“I’m so sorry.” Anzu came behind Masika and hugged her. “You have her still, yet, you don’t. I can’t believe this happened. If having Hikaru back home is this dangerous too? Yuugi?” She looked toward him.

“It’s different with him,” Yuugi told her. He glanced toward Atem.

Atem nodded. “Zorc wants Silhouette. She is darkness. He doesn’t want Hikaru, he is light.” That would probably suffice for them.

“Light has to willingly agree to go into that place, while darkness can just be yanked.” Yuugi had no idea if it was right, or if it was a lie. He looked toward Bastet and Sekhmet who nodded.

It was a good enough excuse, to still try for Hikaru, yet not let the others know about the demonness in Silhouette.

“Please?” Masika tried to call to her again.

Anzu went to hug Yuugi.

“It’ll be okay,” Yuugi tried to comfort her. “Hikaru is safe to travel, and Silhouette will stay here safely. It’ll be okay.”

Atem just stared at the child. ///Atem: Even now, she is trapped in unending nightmares. No one can reach her.///

///Yuugi: I know, Atem. I’m sorry.///

///Atem: Do you know? Her face is the face of someone just about to ready to die, she is caught in that moment and cannot escape it./// He held onto her tighter.

“However, this also means something else,” Bastet had to point out. “As you give more power back, to make the deals you need, it will be easier to reach Silhouette. There is a great chance, that when he comes? He might possess her.”

“I can’t find a way out!” Silhouette started to shout in Atem’s arms. “Hi! Where are you, Hi!” She was struggling so much, Atem almost lost his grip. “Let go, let go!”

“You are not being held by evil,” he tried to warn her, trying to hold onto her as she squirmed. “Silhouette, please, you must see the truth for what it is!” His wdjat started to glow again.

And? So did hers. She looked toward him. Still shivering, but now she was conscious of his presence again. “Atem?”

“Yes. You are safe,” he assured her. “I’ve got you. It’s okay.”

“Where is everyone else? How do we get out?”

“She connected with your power,” Bastet told Atem. “She sees nothing but the Shadow Realm and you now. She cannot see or hear anyone else around her.”

“I see.” At least, he was able to speak to her. “This is an illusion, Silhouette. I am real, and you are back with everyone. Your Momma Masika is just to your other side, holding your hand.”

She just looked confused. “It’s just fog and darkness. Everywhere. No one is here but you.” The glow from her wdjat lessened again. “No. No, I don’t want to be alone again.”

Darn. Atem didn’t have complete control of his wdjat. It was an emotional thing that often happened when he was angry or took command. It would not always stay powered. Even if he could, hers would not.

“Atem?” she called out. “Anyone?” She squeezed her dolly. “Hi. Please. Hikaru.”

“When you can, connect with her again. Give her food and let her know she is safe. Safe in a bed would be good,” Bastet said slowly. “Others will come and offer help. Their help will all involve becoming gods and losing the children.”