Wings of Time

Tear of Misconception

The world shifted even as they ran. They leapt out of crashed cars and weaved through people just to have them shift into something else. Walls of alternating hot and cold air burst past them, along with flickers of light and grey. Orange, white, blue, then grey grey grey. Aleah started to wonder if she were living in a dream. Her long legs easily kept up with Yugi, and goosebumps and chills tickled her from the constant temperature changes. Through tears in time she could see dark haired Egyptians staring back at her and the other pale people on the other side. As she passed one even tried to press their hand through to touch the rain on the other side. Buildings melted. The sky was a patchwork quilt.

And ever shining without giving any of its light to its surroundings was the rift, a great tear drop hole sinking from the sky the size of a football field.

She wanted to close her eyes. There was just too much to see, far too much, with too little to think about it. But why Egypt? Why had the time rift blended Ancient Egypt and Japan of all places together? There were thousands of places, millions of times, and that was what it chose?

Yugi pulled her around the last turn into the site of a tall man who looked so much like a pale, modern version of Set. Behind him was the solemn shape of Shadi. They spot each other at the same time and rush to meet each other, leaving Yugi and Seto to meet and watch after them.

"Aleah-" gasped Shadi, looking relieved to the point of faintness. "We must go-"

"Oh no you don't," she snapped, "what the hell is going on?"

He closed his eyes and pressed his forefinger and thumb to his eyebrows. "Not now, please, you've done damage enough."

"Me? How could I have done all this?" she gestured around her. "I was doing nothing with time. If anything all I did was run, and if that is a crime, go figure, this should have started from the day I learned to walk."

"This started when you came here." insisted Shadi. "It is your doing."

But she couldn't accept that. She couldn't fathom that. How could her existing here caused something like this? If her being in the wrong time could do something like this, why hadn't it happened back in Ancient Egypt?

And if it really was her fault for the unraveling of the world...

She shook herself. She'd lose it if she thought on that.

"What do you know, I found her." said Seto, who had caught up with Shadi. Yugi, seeming to sense the tension between them, wrapped his hand around Aleah's arm. He was glaring at Shadi with an intensity Aleah hadn't expected from a face as sweet as his.

"Aleah didn't do it." he said softly. "Something is wrong here. I've been thinking that since the moment you took her away. Shadi," the puzzle against his chest began to glow. "Are you telling the truth?"

Shadi blinked. In that instant his face fell back into it's usual calm, stoic state. Aleah couldn't read anything on it. As she thought on what Yugi was saying, a thought slowly came to her mind.

"You told me rifts were completely random." she said. "Why is it the day after you told me about them one happened to appear."

The millenium puzzles glow died down. A wave of heat passed over them as Egypt phased in and out besides them. Yami stared out from Yugi's eyes, his form grown taller, his stance more confident.

"Shadi, I command you to tell me all you know about what's going on right now. You are not taking Aleah anywhere."

She felt her gut clench at the sight of him with something too warm and twisting. There he was. The Pharaoh, in this time once more. Atem.

Shadi shifted ever so slightly. Before Atem or anyone could do anything, he snatched at Aleah's wrist and yanked her into a tear in the building where a flaming building shown. She could feel the heat pressing in on her like hot metal and she coughed on the smoke. She was falling, falling, to where she didn't know. Shadi's grip on her wrist was like stone.

The last thing she heard was two voices shouting her name-both sounding exactly like Atem.

And after being dragged, half stumbling, through smoke and heat and screaming people, she finally opened her eyes and knew she had officially lost her mind.