Gods' Enigma (Aka "Puzzling Questions")

Rating: K+, but if this story actually goes anywhere, who knows? PG-13 is a possibility. So's M.

A/N: You know...If I tried to explain what's been going on with me for the past years, I'm not sure you'd believe it. The divorce and the jobs, the computer deaths, the occasional lack of Internet, the identity crises, complete loss of sanity. (Not me, my dad, just nearly me.) Oh, yes, what a wondrous joy my life can be! Hark, is that sarcasm I hear?

Never mind. FIRST, I want to give you all a fair warning. I'm posting this because I want to see if, by some chance, doing so will cause me to want to continue it. I don't know. I was awfully fond of it for a while, but...I just...don't really know. This particular muse is dedicated to and was originally invented by Inami (the artist, who drew the inspirational fan art) and vampslyr (the one who outlined the general plot) of the Deviant-art community.

I ask that all readers visit my profile for a link to the lovely fan-art that inspired this. Which...I'll put up there soon.

"How much further?" His formerly soft and pleasant voice had grown weak and raspy, it seemed, but that didn't really surprise him at all.

After all, every muscle and bone in his body was now thoroughly worn and tired. His lips felt dry, his throat felt dry, and the shimmering sand was still dry and impressively warm from the scalding desert sun. The golden eye of the heavens had done its job excessively well, it seemed.

It was an extreme, yet welcome contrast to the bitter cold of the night air. Howling winds, that had only murmured and whispered in his ears about an hour ago, had grown stronger and louder as they pushed him forward and bit into his tender skin down to his aching, freezing bones.

More than he had ever wanted to do anything before in his whole young life, he wanted to simply curl up and fall asleep against the warm, shifting surface beneath his feet. He almost felt as if he had never walked before now, much less this far. It was as if he had been walking forever, or at least as long as he had been alive.

He longed for shelter, for a soft bed and a thick, velvety blanket…perhaps the pleasant company of a warm body near by—a loved one to share the sacred peace of this deep, dark, starless night.

But his treasure prodded and beckoned, urging him not to stop here. It was not time yet. The stoic eye of the gold pyramid almost seemed to gaze on him with pity, but it pushed him onward. "Soon." It promised temptingly. "Very soon, you will find what you seek."

The young man sighed to himself wearily and continued to carry his little treasure with him as he trekked on. He didn't know why he was out in the desert. He wasn't entirely sure how he got here or exactly where he was going. And he really didn't know why a golden necklace, of all things, was speaking to him.

But somehow, he didn't find it all that strange. He only knew it was his task to fulfill. It was his mission to follow this item's directions and find…whatever it was he sought. He really didn't know, but it seemed to, anyway, and that was enough.

He was just so tired. "I don't know how much further I can go, my friend." He sighed to it, clutching the priceless object in his small hand. "Couldn't you have taken me closer to it when you asked me to come here?"

While he couldn't remember coming out here very well, he just knew he hadn't been tired when the gold amulet—it called itself the "shennen puzzle"—had summoned him here. He had not been tired at all when he answered its call to him. He had felt so happy and willing and light-hearted. Now all he felt was heavy-headed and lead-footed.

"Have patience, you will be home soon."

"Home?" He asked the enigmatic jewelry, astonished. This was the very first time it had mentioned their destination, he thought, and now that he actually knew, it made for more questions than answers. Hadn't it just taken him from his own home? Or…was that where he had been? He couldn't remember just now. In fact, it didn't really matter just now. He could remember later. Gods above, was he tired. "A new home?"

"…Old and new. Nothing has changed, but nothing will be the same."

"Oh." That didn't make any sense at all, but then again, that wasn't any less sense than he had chosen to rely on all night. Just as long as wherever the golden puzzle was taking him to was close by. Exhaustion weighed heavily on his eyelids and they had already begun to droop, slowly, shielding him from the sands swirling around him in an intricate dance.

"Here. Rest now."

"Here?" His eyelids opened, though he didn't necessarily remember closing them, but he knew they must have revealed his complete and total disappointment. No shelter, no bed, no blanket, no familiar faces to greet him, no one and nothing as far as his eyes could see. There had to be some mistake. "You said you'd take me home."

The puzzle glittered agreeably to sooth his worries. "And we shall go home. Soon. Lie down, rest, and find peace. Tomorrow, when you wake, we shall be home again."

He was far too tired to argue. If he tried, he sensed that the puzzle wasn't going to answer him anyway, as it had said all it really wanted to say tonight. It was tired, too, he thought absently. It didn't come to him to wonder how an inanimate object got tired, or why this particular one was. Not many thoughts would've seemed worth the effort now.

Right now, all he could think about was sleep. He curled up next to a large, warm pile of sand and tried to conserve as much body heat as possible. When he shivered violently in spite of his efforts, the puzzle glowed a soft butter-gold and he felt its warmth envelope his body.

"Thank you." He yawned, smiling. "Good night."

There was a long moment of silence, where the boy almost completely drifted off into darkness, before the puzzle glittered at him one last time.

"Good night…Yugi."

...Okay, so, that's the prologue.

Thoroughly confused? I really hope so. I tried. Not terribly hard, but I tried.

The next part is unfinished, though it clears up some of what's going on and is mainly from Atemu's perspective.

I'll try to finish it.

In the meantime, please review.