Sands of Time (Complete)

Chapter 15: The Beginning Of The End

Aadila and the group of the Pharaoh's friends had been following the papyrus for, what seemed to be, hours and it would still take a while longer. The papyrus was saying that he was somewhere along the River Nile, possibly because the canyon connected to the Nile at some point downstream from where he fell. The sun had already risen and Aadila had contemplated telling the guardians that she knew where the Pharaoh was, but they would find out eventually, yes?

Everyone was climbing up a cliff and Aadila began to walk away when she noticed that no one was following her. She turned around and saw that Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan were trying to pull up the, rather large, man that did not seem to belong to their original group of friends. They all struggled and their efforts seemed hopeless, but they refused to give up.

"Come on guys, pull!" Yugi yelled, encouraging his friends to keep trying. Aadila couldn't just stand there, so she waved her finger and the large man flew over the edge of the cliff, causing Aadila to laugh as the four teens lied underneath him. 

"Come on, the Nile is just over here." Aadila said, walking towards the cliff. Bobasa, the large man, quickly got up and came to Aadila's side, towering over her. The others soon joined them and everyone awed at the magnificent sight. 

"The Nile River! So cool! So refreshing! So thrust-quenching." Bobasa said, with an expression that looked as though he could drink the entire river dry. "Let's go!" Bobasa quickly slid down the edge of the cliff toward the river, the teenagers following right behind. Aadila, however, was distracted by her Millennium Item as it shone brightly. She looked up and saw something in the distance and became worried. She noticed Bakura's henchmen had caught up to them and she had to distract them away from the others as they tried to find the Pharaoh.

"Aren't ya comin'?" Joey yelled to her from the bottom, while his friends continued along the River.

"I'll catch up! I just want to check something first!"

"Suit yourself!" And with that, Joey simply ran to catch up with his friends. Aadila walked in the direction they came to get to that point and was immediately met by the riders.

"Can I help you?" Aadila said, somewhat intimidated by the number of them present.

"Our master would like to see you." One of them said.

"And what if I refuse?"

"Well, that won't be an issue. You have no choice in the matter." Another said.

"I'm giving myself a choice and I say no!" Aadila was getting annoyed.

"Too bad." A third said.

"We didn't want to have to do this." A fourth said. Suddenly, everything went black. 
**********************************************************************************
By that time, Yugi, Joey, Tea, and Tristan had run into Mana along the river. Bobasa had just showed them the cape he had found in the river, the Pharaoh's cape to be exact. Joey was arguing with Bobasa because Bobasa was thinking about his stomach, yet again.

"The important thing is we found something of the Pharaoh's! That means that Aadila's papyrus she gave us was right! He's around here somewhere." Yugi interjected.

"You guys know Aadila?!" Mana interrupted. "And if you're not the Pharaoh, then that must mean the king is missing!"

"We just said that!" Tea, Joey and Tristan said all in unison.

"Sometimes it takes me a little while to catch on." Mana said innocently.

"You know Aadila as well?" Yugi said.

"She is a very good friend of mine and the Pharaoh's. We have known each other since she came to the palace as a child after her village was destroyed. Her family was the only ones to survive." Mana looked at everyone and she noticed their sad faces.