Encroaching Darkness: A Continued Game

Ateo smiled devilishly as he set fire to a bunch of buildings in the cold of the desert night of Egypt. Smirking all the while at the massive destruction of buildings; while no people were caught in the dangers, he certainly left them homeless to say the least.

"Hahaha!! Weep pathetic mortals!! Know that I've come back from my 4000 years hiatus in a bout of revenge!!" Ateo screeched at a high pitch. He was interrupted when a portal ripped through space revealing Todd, Philip, and Tem, "Ah, look who it is, the assholes; so nice to have celebration with guests from my past, now isn't it?"

"Ateo!! You will stop in my name!" Tem commanded.

"Not so fast! I resided on the outskirts of your cute little kingdom, so any rules you say don't apply to me." Ateo stated, "Now if you'd be so kind as to not make a move so I can murder you in cold blood where you stand."

Tem growled, "See? He sees no reason."

Todd snapped his fingers, creating a spark of his own. "Funny little fact Ateo. Did you know you really can fight fire with fire? You see when it's forest fires, a barrier can be made to use up fuel. So imagine what I can do with my magic fire to get in your way?"

Philip then asked, "Can't you just make it vanish?"

Todd shook his head as he replied, "Depends on if it's still under his control. If it is, I can't control it. You have to be really, really, really, powerful to do that. This fire he's unleashed and not controlling any more, eh maybe. Let's see. He did burn on a pretty big scale." Todd made the fire floating over his fingers vanished as he tried to focus on mystically extinguish the fires Ateo started.

Ateo laughed as Todd was unable to affect the fires at all, "It's all hopeless, the world will suffer and know my name; and you Pharoah," Ateo pointed at Tem, "You will die at my hand!"

"You've said that so many times, but you kept failing. Your mind is in one place while your heart is in another." Tem stated, "Just reason a little. I never sent anyone to do what they did to your home." Philip made his way between Todd, Tem, and Ateo, to prevent further fighting. Todd took this time to shoot down jetstreams of water upon the fires, muttering about Ateo's hypocrisy.

Philip then said to Ateo in a calm voice, "Ateo...you do this you help Ides, the guy who kidnapped you, abused, and stole your destiny...or more accurately stole you from your destiny. Just think for a moment. What would the Pharaoh have gained by killing your home. And being the Pharaoh, and prideful about it, wouldn't be admit to it, saying that it was right due to being a god?"

"I'm doing this for me, Philip!" Ateo growled, "That asshole ruined my life!! I saw the Pharoah's men! I saw them murder my family!!" Ateo's eyes began to glow a slight tinge of red as tears began to form in his eyes.

"That's a lie!!" Tem growled back. Todd clinched his teeth forcing himself forward before snapping at Ateo.

"Oh for God's sake shut the hell up! You're family is dead! I sympathize! I really do! But can't you just listen for once of your life! You would think living for 4000 years would make you smarter! Make you wiser! You call us dumb?"

Philip reached out slightly, "Todd..."

"Not this time Philip!" Todd snapped, approaching Ateo, "Philip just gave you the reason as to why your vengeance, your mindless destruction and misguided hatred it nonsense! If the Pharaoh killed your family, why would he hide it? He's the Pharaoh, a king, a god, back then he could've said day was night and night was day and it would've been written! What would he gain from killing your people and then lying about it? Here's a craaazy idea...maybe someone tricked you, made it look like the Tem's men killed your family, when it was someone else's army!"

Philip was shocked, haven't seen Todd this angry in months and considering the circumstances of the first time he was this angry, this made it all the more unnerving.

"I know for sure it was them... I know that for a pure fact... Darkness may be a Secret, but he is unable to lie to his champion." Ateo growled, "You know nothing Todd, you waste your time on prattles you know nothing about. I des never even came to this planet nor had any effect until the creation of the Seven Sacred Secret items; you say you know much, but you know little!"

Todd responded, "Yet you continue to ignore my point. It could've been someone else's army! How hard do you think it is to recreate a flag? Or to design armor to resemble that of a particular armed force like that of the Pharaoh's? Hell if you paid any attention to the modern world you would see that that's a freaking business! And you're also ignoring the other point...the fact that the Pharaoh would gain nothing by saying he didn't do it! Seriously! You say we're dumb but you're the one not using your brain. I know the Egyptians didn't know it was the source of intelligence but that's not an excuse! Again, let me spell it out for you! The Pharaoh, the ruler of ancient Egypt...considered to be a god incarnate by his subjects says he didn't kill your family. Really think about this...the Egyptians killed all male Hebrew babies and didn't question it. You mention your family's death and everybody even the freaking Pharaoh himself questions it! Put two and two together and you might be the next Imhotep!"

Philip cringed as he knew that Todd's rage would probably set Ateo off again.

Ateo eyes blazed a fiery red, "The Secrets know far more than you do, and Darkness said it himself, the pharoah did it. He gave the order to sacrifice my family and you're the fucking moron who wants to use logic in a point in time he has no understanding of!!" Ateo lobbed an orb of darkness at Todd. Todd threw a ball of light as a counter.

He continued, "Never claimed to know more than a Secret, but considering they seem to have human qualities (or perhaps we have their qualities...this is going right into the notebook...) I would think he can be deceived. Even Darkness has his limits, hell he literally told us something he can't do before we left!" Philip still couldn't help but wince as he watched the two energy balls.

"They're omnipresent because of their abilities you fool!!" Ateo growled, Wadjet formed from behind, looking scarier than ever, red eyes blazing as the serpent's wings had become weathered unlike the angelic wings they once were, "You fucking moron. You know nothing!! NOTHING!!" Wadjet shot out a massive fireball, looking much like molten lava straight for Todd.

Todd simply teleported to the side, causing Philip to jump and dodge the lava. "Damn it Todd you're going to get us killed!"

Todd, simply looked up at Wadjet and said in genuine surprise, "Holy shit! What the hell happened to...oh right...I accidently blew you up..."

"No you idiot. Wadjet changes according to my soul's strength... Serving to anger me only makes Wadjet more powerful." Ateo stated, "And a moron like you, like Pe, must go have their hearts devoured by Ammit."

Tem glared, having not dodged nor was in the way of the attack, spoke up, "Ateo, you're going to stand down now."

"As if." Wadjet began to gather black flames in the back of its throat, "Wadjet, aim for Pe first, the pharoah can wait." Wadjet turned to Todd and blasted the black flames at Todd. Todd attempted to teleport above Wadjet, with flames forming from his hand to attack the serpent. While this was happening, Philip was trying to plan a way to stop Todd and Ateo from killing each other.

Wadjet slashed it's tail upward and knocked Todd down to the ground, Ateo suddenly appeared before Todd, slamming a foot down on Todd's chest, "Not fast enough, Todd." Purple magic ushered into Todd, somewhat disabling Todd's strength and magical prowess. Wadjet hissed from behind, turning to stare at Philip and Tem, to make sure those two didn't plan on doing anything.

Unfortunately for Wadjet, Philip was planning something, secretly sending a needle through the Earth, devouring it as it slithered towards where Todd was from underground. Todd looked up, continuing to joke, "What, the mighty Ateo too scared to fight me at full strength so he has to nearly strip me of my powers for a little bit? Come on, only way to improve is to have a challenge."

"I am a thief, not a fighter, I steal, I do not get into brawls for kicks." Ateo stated, "Don't even try your psychological shit on me either." Ateo stared at Todd, his red eyes glaring. Wadjet hissed, seemingly awakening Ateo from a probable daydream.

"What is it now, Wadjet?"

Another hiss.

"Seriously? Then deal with the problem. I have no need to kill Pe's physical reincarnation." Wadjet faded, vanishing from sight as Ateo glared at Todd, "Anything else you want to continue blathering on about?"

Todd smirked, making himself stand, "Oh there is plenty I'd like to blather about. Ask Phil, nothing stops me from talking. But while we're talking about psychological shit, I don't need to be a therapist to tell you were abused in your youth (though visiting one definitely helps). I assume that as you were beaten around by Ides, it gives you, despite what you claim, a predisposition for violence, for instance, burning this innocent city of people who have done you no wrong..."

As Todd continue to ramble Philip decided to enact on a plan not involving the buried piece of him. He sprinted towards Todd, splitting into two bodies, hoping to confuse and subdue Ateo so that they could try to talk this out semi-peacefully.

Ateo became immediately enraged by Philip's sudden action, "You do not fucking get close to me!!" Black energy poured off of Ateo, burning away a huge portion of Philip, "You fuckers need to stay away!" Ateo's eyes started to become more red at the actions that continued to enrage him.

The two Philips began to reform, noticing they're above the buried piece, as Todd spoke again, "See, this only proves my point. Through the abuse you've suffered, you've learned to replicate it. Any sort of good in you is buried in your Shadow. You live out your worse nature, making you, for lack of a better word, a psychotic bastard."

As the two reformed into one, Philip called up the buried piece and tossed it at Ateo, to wrap around and tie him up.

"I'm fucking defending myself now, and you say that!!" Ateo summoned Wadjet once more, black energy saving him from Philip's onslaught, he jumped atop Wadjet, "Stay away." Wadjet took flight, spitting a fireball down at the trio as Ateo took off.

Todd and Philip jumped away as Todd shouted, running beneath them, "Oh yes, because this city that you've burned really must've attacked you! Yes, I'm sure that a collection of buildings owned by civilians really register as a need to self-defense. And if the police attacked you...you ride on a giant fire breathing snake! What did you expect! And if you're referring to us...you'e just burned down a city! Do you expect us to not retaliate against that!"

Running alongside Todd, Philip stretched his arm out to try and grab Ateo and force him back to the ground. Wadjet moved out of the way but was slammed into a giant hand made of energy, fading. Tem caught up not moments after, "What's going on?!"

Makoto stood nearby, his black trench coat and red eyes gleaming in the night, "Well, it's so nice to come across you guys once more." He smiled, the energy hand wrapping around Ateo and grappling him, "And so nice to see you again Ateo."

"Ides!!" Tem stated right away, "Get out of that boy's body, now!!"

"Ah pharoah Tem, so nice to see you too." 'Makoto' smiled, "It's been so long... Boy you look... It's been so long..."

Todd muttered, "Damn...don't think I got my powers back. Phil I'm gonna need your help with not dying."

"No problem Todd." Philip responded, creating his sword arms.

"I mean what luck that I run into you guys... In Egypt of all places... Coincidence no? And after I had stolen all the souls of this little town..." Makoto muttered, "I heard what you did Ateo, openly defied me somewhat and helped these losers in the Ebony Game from earlier... I think you can pay up to make up for that..."

"Let me go you asshole!!"

"Since you're now mine, and since you hate the world as much as I, just help em get a bit closer..." Makoto chuckled as his eyes glowed gold, staring in Ateo's own, who suddenly became limp. He threw Ateo across the ground at Tem, knocking them both back into the ground.

"So, Todd and Philip, how has the times been to you?" He chuckled, "Eh, you're not worth the time, I must continue, think of stopping Ateo as some form of help." Makoto turned around, walking away.

Todd couldn't help but growl, trying to create a fire ball to throw at Ides. Ides was swift to block the attack with a shield of darkness, he did not turn once, but he did stop walking for a moment, "I helped you with your Ateo problem, I'll expect help in return later." He suddenly vanished, laughter echoing.

Tem got up, staring at Ateo before going over to Todd and Philip, "Ides looks far different from his form long ago."

Philip answered Tem, "He's possessing a human's body."

Todd shouted, "Considering everything we're not helping you you son of a bitch!"

"No, his energy is different. I can't explain it." Tem stated.

Ateo grunted, sitting up, rubbing his head in pain as he hit a wall head-first, "Ouch... Damn... Where am I?"

Philip gave a run down, "We're in Egypt, you burned down a lot of buildings, and Ides just stole a whole lot of souls, and Todd's pissed that Ides got away."

Todd took a deep breath and added, "And you're helping us kick his ass. I don't care if you hate the Pharaoh. If either of you attack each other, I'm going to kick both your asses."

Ateo stared at Todd with a glare to set him on fire, "You don't order me around."

Tem turned to look at Ateo before looking to Todd again, "I don't trust Ateo as far as I can throw him."

Todd responded, "Well we have no choice. Ides is still out there and he needs to be thrown back into his realm."

Philip nodded, "Yes, so I think we should try to get to following him and prevent him from killing anymore people. And to make sure neither of you try to kill each other and to prevent Todd from having to beat you both up..." Philip shot out thin strands of nanomachines that latched onto Tem's and Ateo's wrists. "Do something stupid and I give bite you...painfully."

The band around Ateo's wrist burned away almost instantly, "You do not touch me, Philip."

Tem did nothing, staring at the strange strand around his wrist, before glaring at Ateo. Philip merely shot another one at Ateo, saying, "I have literally infinite more where that came from Ateo, you're better off just keeping the damn thing on."

Todd added, "Especially after your little hissy-fit that has costed about 1000 lives, all because you can't control yourself in order to save the world. A world, might I add, that you're a part of regardless of what Ides has brainwashed you into thinking."

It burned away once more, "You do not touch me. If you do not leave me alone and shut up, I will do what I must." Ateo growled.

Todd responded irritably, "And what would that be? Killing the 1000 people Ides needs?" Philip placed his arm between Todd and Ateo, and promptly told them both to shut up.

"Ateo, until you've regained out trust, I'll just keep making these." Philip replied, firing a larger band, this time more akin to the bond Ides once put on him. "Again, I'll just keep making more."

It burned away once again, Ateo's eyes glared at Philip, "You continue that, and I will personally lash out."

Philip responded bluntly, "You've tried it before and it never worked why on Earth do you think it'll work now?" Philip shrugged, secretly sending a nanobot gliding until it landed on the small of Ateo's back. Todd merely gestured for them all to get going.

"We don't have all the time in the world guys!" Todd said as he began to walk, "Hell if we don't act quickly enough there won't be a world."

Ateo huffed, black energy enveloped him before he was gone suddenly. Tem shrugged, following the trio, "He's not going to like what you're doing. I know Ateo doesn't work that way. you can't force things on him, or else he will lash out."

Todd groaned slightly at Ateo's disappearance, "Well if Philip's analogy of him being a 4000 year old teenager wasn't accurate, we wouldn't need to try to make him behave."

Philip turned to Tem and asked, "So, any clues about where to go Tem?"

"Well, maybe there is someplace about here somewhat of my tomb? If its still standing." Tem questioned, "Ides is taking his time but we want to force him into an Ebony Game."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Todd asked, "He's too damn stubborn, and coming from me that's saying something."

Philip nodded, "It's true Todd is one of the most stubborn people I've ever known."

"Upon my 'death', I sealed a portion of my own magic within my body, if we can get to my tomb and return me to my original power, I can force Ides to play an Ebony Game with the Ebony Realm." Tem stated, "He's not invincible to his own realm."

"Do you have any memory of where your tomb is Tem?" Philip asked.

"Perhaps. I might know exactly where." Tem answered, "It's just been a while."

"Lead the way Tem." Philip said, with Todd going to the back; Tem nodded, walking off into the desert with the two following him.

From far behind, Ateo glared at the trio, "Assholes." He muttered before vanishing in darkness.

Chapter I
Tem walked through the desert dunes, looking to the other two, it was day now, "We might be a bit longer, I'm not sure." Todd snapped his finger to produce a bottle of water, taking a few sips before placing it in his backpack.

"Want one Tem?" Todd asked.

Philip decided to look into the history of Egypt in his head to get any clues as to where the tomb maybe, despite the strong possibility that it could be lost to modern science.

"No, I don't need it anymore. I'm immortal because of Light." Tem stated, "I believe we are getting close, I just don't know if this will work if my magic source died as well."

"Wait! I might be able to help on this one. Let's see if I can sense your tomb!" Todd stopped where he was and began to focus, concentrating on finding Tem's magic source if it was possible. Todd could sense the energy was still alive, about a while west.

"Well?" Tem questioned, staring at Todd.

Todd floated, trying to save what little energy he had and started to follow the source, "Follow me! I'm picking up an energy source!" Philip sprinted behind Todd.

Tem followed suit, "I'd think it'd be under a lot of sand though by now, wouldn't it?! Light said that the sands covered Kemet..."

Philip nodded, "He has a point there Todd. If we do find it, it's bound to buried after all these centuries."

Todd smirked, "Teleportation my friend. If we're above it, or in its general area, I'll be able to sense how low beneath us it is and teleport our way in."

"That's actually a solid plan Todd."

"Aren't they always?...uh don't answer that."

"Teleportation? I see." Tem stated, "Well then, can you do that now?"

Todd stopped for a moment, confronted with the sheer stupidity of not think of that sooner. "...Grab on, I'll try that." Philip grabbed his shoulder, also realizing Todd's stroke of stupidity, but decided to not rub it in his face jokingly. Tem did the same waiting for Todd to teleport them to the deepest part of his tomb when he supposedly died long ago.

"Well, here's hoping I don't invoke a mummy's curse." Todd joked as he teleported.

They found themselves in a dark room, a sarcophagus lied on the ground surrounded by riches and in the far back a torch was lit a strange green color, "That's my magic I speak of." Tem stated, but as he approached it, a dark mass of energy appeared revealing Ateo, who blocked his path.

"Here to get your power back I see." Ateo growled.

"It's not of your concern Ateo. Stay out of the way." Tem barked back.

"It's much of my concern, I suggest you go back and away from your dark power that you once held within your soul." Ateo answered.

Philip stepped forward, "Ateo! Enough of this nonsense! If we're going to defeat Ides Tem is going to need to be at full power!" Todd stepped forward, his hands "radiating" cold, ice starting to form.

"Listen asshole," Todd begun affably, "I get that you don't care for the pharaoh here. Trust me, I know I can hold a pretty nasty grudge..." Todd phased out for a moment, thinking back on recent events. He gently threw some ice shavings from his fingers to quickly regain his senses, "Where was I?...Oh right, I get what it's like to hold a grudge. But I also know that some things go beyond them...the safety of other people for instance. And look," Todd disappated his ice, "I don't want to hurt you...right now anyway, maybe later for killing a city of innocent people, so please, step aside and let us get his power so we can send Ides to Hell...or the Ebony Realm...think he should go to Hell."

"Ides will know the second you grab your power back Tem, and he's not going to like it. You have no idea what magic this is Todd, so get out of this." Ateo growled.

"I need it." Tem stated.

"Like a fucking drug of this time period, no?" Ateo's red robe fluttered in the air at the sudden power radiating from him, black energy blasted Tem who was slammed into a wall, "Stay away, go back." Todd stepped forward, still trying to control the situation.

"Ateo," Todd said sternly, "You may be right about the fact that I don't know what magic this is...but if we can use it to banish Ides and set things right, I'm willing to take that chance. Again, I don't want to hurt you...just back away from the sarcophagus. We can work this out. Think about it. You can get revenge on Ides." He gestured to Philip to hop in.

"Yes Ateo, think about all the pain he made you go through, starving you, dehyrating you, saying he'll give you vengeance in a ploy just to use you as a weapon of mass destruction in his plans. He never cared for you and now he's going to destroy the world. Consider what we can do together Ateo." Philip added.

"I want nothing to do with you guys either. But if you want to die painfully, be my damned guest." Ateo huffed, mumbling and cursing in Egyptian under his breath, walking over to the side, "Know that Ides will know the second Tem touches that flame."

Tem stood up, "And he'll be afraid to know that I've got my full power back."

Philip and Todd however, took Ateo's warning to heart. Philip looked to Todd, "Todd, make the strongest barrier you can, fortify it with whatever "holy" elements you can." Todd nodded and began setting up the shield, already feeling blood trickling down his nose. Philip turned to Ateo, "Thank you Ateo."

"Shut up and leave me alone." Ateo growled, glaring at Philip.

Tem approached the flame, which reacted instantly and shot into his body, light energy filled the room for a brief moment before dying down. Tem smiled, "Looks like I've got what we need."

There was a sudden heavy tension in the room as dark energy wafted its way in, 'Makoto' suddenly appeared, giving quite a devious smile, "Ah, pharoah Tem, your memory has grown quite... Soft... While Ateo, you're as sharp as ever, I taught you to be tough anyways." Ides turned to Todd and Philip, "Hey kiddos, how're you holding up? Whatever, anyways, I appreciate your help of getting pharoah Tem here."

Todd growled slightly before saying, "You know Ides...here's an idea...rather than pretending like you know what you're doing just admit it...you have a stalker level crush on the Pharaoh and got pissed at his rejection. I mean I get that it hurts but stealing 1000 souls will not impress him."

Ides' flipped 'his' hair, "Ah ha... What a joke... I may be a bit... Flirty on such subjects... I'll admit, but in any case... do you remember pharoah Tem that you sealed your own power to seal my whole self, no?" Ides smiled, "By releasing your own energy you yourself sealed away... you gave me back my own power."

"W-what?"

"That final light attack on my body left quite a problem, and you lost your power right then... Do you not remember? For shame." Ides giggled, black energy slammed Tem straight into the wall, before he turned to Todd and started to blast the field of energy of holy elements Todd had created. Todd was forced to the ground, howling in pain, much to Philip's surprise.

"What the hell? I assumed that would heal you!" Philip shouted.

Todd snapped, "Look at God and you're turned into salt! "Holy" isn't always nice Phil" He forced himself up and spat out some blood, "Damn it, need go back to that dairy diet. Well at least that jolt to the nerves woke me up completely." Todd tried to retaliate through a ball of light, about the size of an average TV and tossed it Ides. He knew it wasn't going to work, but, 'On the bright side,' he thought, 'Tem is at full power or at least he should be. Meaning this fight is going to be more grounded.'

Ides laughed, smacking the ball of light right back, Tem came to use his own punch of light energy but got knocked back as well, "This is pretty cute. A little fight in a dark tomb." Black energy suddenly tied itself around Tem, tying him down.

Ateo stared as this went on, not doing a thing to help either side, and all the while Ides continued to batter the shield until it would break, "Ahahaha!! You fucking losers, you know nothing about what greatness has just occured!! The seal that kept my power down is broken!! I am complete, and your two souls shall complete the 998 I already have!! Tem, Todd, your souls shall be mine!!"

"Problem with that," Todd said, "I only have one soul, now multiple "souls". Regardless, if you think you're getting it, you're dreaming." Todd created balls of light, "I dealt with worse than you, I can beat you down worse that anything you can beat me with. Ask Zied."

Philip couldn't help but smirk, 'I have to admit Todd, even if it's going to get us killed, your confidence, or at least your bravado is contagious.' Philip transformed in his armored form, creating an arm blade. "We will not give up until you're imprisoned Ides."

Ides smiled, "I am in this human form... Ah but oh well... How about-"

Ateo suddenly popped up next to Ides, "You and I get out of here? Heh..." Ateo grabbed Ides before black energy enveloped them, transporting the two elsewhere, Ateo's voice rang out, "You have time you morons... Go prepare yourself..." His voice faded.

"Damn it!!" Tem struggled, "Someone untie me from this dark energy!!" Todd and Philip rushed to the Pharaoh, the latter reassuming his true form. Todd tried to sever the dark energy with a concentrated shot of light, freeing Tem.

"Thanks, what happened?" Tem questioned.

Philip explained, helping Tem up, "Ateo seems to have temporarily teleported himself and Ides to an undetermined dimension as to give us time to prepare...any suggestions as to how we prepare?"

"Prepare? I'm not sure. Why would that nutcase do such a thing." Tem questioned, "We should probably search them out."

Todd shook his head, "I'm with Phil on this. If Ateo gave us extra time, we should use it to prepare for a fight. So, any holy Egyptian relics you can lead us to to use against Ides?"

"I used the Sacred Secret Items against Ides. Do those still exist?" Tem questioned.

"Ah damn it," Philip muttered, "Ateo destroyed them to help unleash Darkness on to the world...anything else we can use?"

"Not that I'm aware, looks like we've got nothing else." Tem sighed.

Todd created roughly a pound of sage in his hand, asking, "Can we use sage and incense against him? Usually works demons and malignant spirits."

"I'm not sure. But this is unfortunate news." Tem slumped his shoulders, "What are we going to do?"

Todd lit the sage, waving it around as he said, "Well I don't know about you, but I'm going to do what I always do. Piss off a godlike being and kick his ass while doing it."

Philip responded, "Todd as glad I am about your enthusiasm, this isn't something you or I have ever dealt with before. He can kill you if he so much as thinks it."

Todd smiled, "So can every other demon and god I faced up against. And I'm still kicking, you know why? It's because they're arrogant, and Ides here is really taking the cake, I mean Satan levels of arrogance here." Philip didn't know whether Todd was brave or that his work as the World Walker has finally driven him insane.

He turned to Tem asking, "Any other relics that can be of help Tem?"

"I have no idea, there's no other artifacts I know of that can help us in a fight against Ides..." Tem answered, "We'll have to figure out something though. Where do we go?" The two young men shrugged, not really sure where to go.

"Let's get out of here first." Philip sighed, grabbing onto Todd's shoulder. "Where too Todd?"

"Let's try the surface above this tomb, and try to collect as many things we can use against evil spirits as we can so we can at least try to weaken him. Grab on Tem!"

"Uh... Ok." Tem grabbed Todd's other shoulder, somewhat confused still about teleportation abilities in a human. Todd teleported the three back to the surface, creating and burning another sprig of incense.

"So, what now? Pyramids, Sphinx, the dimension where Ateo took Ides so that I can "walk" there?" Todd questioned.

"What of this "Veda" character you spoke of to Darkness?" Tem questioned.

Todd quickly explained, "Veda is a god of knowledge, but not one that I'm on good terms with right now. Stole my damn Book from me." Philip sighed slightly at Todd's childish grumbling about the theft.

"It's still an option Todd. If we can find his dimension or wherever he might be we can get the information we need to defeat Ides. Do you happen to know where his dimension is Todd?" Philip offered.

Todd shook his head, "Don't know where his realm is. Besides if I'm going there it's not for negotiations, it's to get my Book back. Without Ides' interference we might be able to get some information from it. Either way Phil, we're getting the information...on second thought let's pay Cthuhlu's second cousin twice removed a visit. All I need now it to figure out where he is..."

"Well do you have any idea how to get to him? Is there anyone who knows anything about this Veda?" Tem questioned.

"Presumably the Secrets." answered Philip.

"Unfortunately Darkness wouldn't help us...think you can get Light to help us Tem?" Todd questioned.

"I think I'd be able to ask for help." Tem stated, a portal of light opened and he went through, leaving it behind for Todd and Philip to follow. The two followed Tem through the portal to Light's realm.

"I just realized," Todd said, "You could've done that at anytime...why didn't you banish Ides to Light's mercy when he appeared? Have Light kick his ass?"

"Light won't interfere." Tem stated.

"Right, sorry. So where is she?" Todd asked.

A sudden burst of Light next to Todd answered his question as Light appeared, "Welcome back. What do you guys need?"

Philip, worried that Todd would do something stupid to anger Light asked politely, "Pardon us Light for the intrusion. But we wondered if we can ask you to bring us to Veda's realm so that we can gain the information we need to banish Ides back to his Realm, please."

"Great-grandfather Veda? I can't get there, he's not too keen on seeing others often. He likes Darkness the most. You'd have to go see Darkness for that type of deal." Light pointed to a door nearby that materialized, "Go through that door to meet Darkness, he shall help."

Philip and Todd made their way to the door, Todd saying to Light, "Much obliged." Tem followed suit, the door opening and revealing them to be once more in Darkness' presence almost immediately.

"Ugh... Visitors returning once more to come and see me. What do you need?" Darkness questioned.

Todd stepped forward and asked, "Think you can get us to Veda's realm? We need information on Ides and I can try and get my Book back."

A portal that was green opened beside Darkness, "Go through there to Totema, that is where he is..." Darkness walked off, tending once more to his wrecked realm.

"That was easy." Philip muttered as he approached the portal. He then noticed Todd jotting in his notepad. "What now Todd?"

"Making a plan to get my Book back. Think you and Tem can distract Veda while I steal my book?" Todd responded. Philip shrugged, not really sure if he can actually achieve the desired goal for Todd, but he's give it a shot.

"I guess that should be easy enough." Tem stated, walking through the portal. Todd merely nodded as he followed the two, still jotting ideas in his notepad.

Chapter 2
Totema was the realm of all knowledge, and that was now where Tem, Todd, and Philip now stood. Books were stacked atop books and pages floated about in random directions. Words wrote themselves in the sky before fading almost instantly, there were seas of black ink that allowed mountains of books to stack atop one another creating islands.

Right as the group had entered the realm, high above in the air, out of reach, Veda appeared from a portal, "Ah... You have come to my realm, where all knowledge is hoarded. It'sss ssso nicce to find othersss are ssslowly coming to me, for knowledge... Or perhapsss to get a ccertain book back..." He stared down at Todd specifically, before turning his sight to Tem and Philip.

"Todd... Trussst me when I sssay you ssshall not get your book back from me until I deem it ssso..." Veda's eye slowly widened, "I know what you want... To find the way to defeat Idesss without having to resssort to Light'sss champion... How little you underssstand Ateo isss what alwaysss causssess you problemsss..."

"Ateo is a useless, maniacal psychopath with no regard for human life..." Tem growled, "And he has no-"

Veda's eye turned green, "The problemsss he ssspeaks of are not of your doing, but of your father'sss... But due to your passst... The ssson ssshall pay for the sssinsss of the father..."

Tem's eyes widened, "...What?"

Veda stared at Todd, "Todd, I sssaw you fight my grandssson Zied... You know little, and russsh too quickly... You ssshall not attain your book..."

"Sorry, can't say that I recall that," Todd said, cracking his knuckles, "But if I fought him, I would assume he's some sort of demon, so I would think he probably had it coming. As for the Book, I will be getting it back. Hell it's not like you need it, supposively being omniscient and all."

Philip, ignoring his compatriots asked Veda, "So do you have the information we need or not Veda? Not like I have to ask, going with Todd's previous "omniscient" comment."

"You ssshall not get the book back until I deem is ssso... Of courssse, I know how to rid yourssselves of Idesss... But you ssshould already know how to do that..." Veda stated, "There isss no other way..."

"So basically," Todd started, "Kick his ass again as if it were 4000 years ago? Seems easy enough...still not giving up on my Book though."

A portal opened, revealing Todd's book, "A fine tome indeed..." Veda flipped through the pages, skimming the book in seconds, "Thisss isss yoursss... But for now it isss mine..." The portal closed, taking the book away.

All Todd could say was, "You're a dick."

Philip then asked, "We say that we already know, but assuming that you truely are omniscient, I would assume you have knowledge of where Ides is, correct?"

"Todd... It doesss no help to cry and call namesss... And yesss... I do know where Idessss isss..." Veda answered.

"Also doesn't help to steal my Book, but you did."

Philip groaned slightly, smacked Todd upside the head and said to Veda, "Well Todd's brash stupidity aside, we would like to know where Ides is, so we can banished him back to the Ebony Realms."

"Idessss isss with Ateo in the deepessst partsss of the familial tomb of Ateo..." Veda stated, his eye slowly widening, "How interesssting that you are ssso bent upon Idessss' defeat that you cannot contain Ateo'ssss anger.... You only pusssh it..."

"Well believe me," Philip said, "That's not intentional."

Todd asked, shoving his hands in his pockets, "Well since I'm going to have to steal the book later since you're hellbent on keeping something that's literally useless to you, can you at least give us a portal back to Egypt?"

"Ha ha..." Veda laughed slowly, "You can craft your own portalsss and escapesss... But for now, you ssshall remain here in Totema, to attain the knowledge of Ebony magic ssstrong enough to forcce Idesss into a game..."

"Don't think I like the sound of that..." Todd muttered.

"Agreed Todd." Philip responded, asking Tem, "Is there anything particuarly special about this "Ebony Magic" Tem?"

Tem, who looked rather defeated, muttered, "Ebony Magic is what I used against Ides... It's what the items were somewhat made of... I think... I'm not completely sure, but it can corrupt others..."

"Yeah, though I don't like the sound of that," Todd sighed, "So, what objects are we going to use to harness the Ebony Magic, cause I do not trust Veda enough to learn the damn thing...and I could probably learn it later in the Book." Todd replied, muttering at the end.

"Nothing that I know of now, they were the only ones I knew of..." Tem stated.

"Indeed... You will have to learn it here..." Veda stated.

"Damn," Todd muttered under his breath. He turned to Veda and replied, "If this makes me evil or something, I will personally kick your ass."

"Dear Todd, I am not evil... Nor isss the realm here... Ssssuch a sssubjective term..." Veda iterated.

Todd rebutted, somewhat defiantly, "Depends on your definitions there Veda, but the major issue I have is that I've been told the Ebony Magic is a corruptive form of magic. Tell me the catch."

"What catch...? Ebony Magic isss not of my power..." Veda stated.

Todd raised an eyebrow. He crossed his arms and asked, "What should I be on the look out for as I'm learning then?" Todd didn't trust Veda, which went without saying. It was fairly obvious that Veda wasn't giving this for free, there had to be a catch.

A black book fell from the sky landing beside Todd's feet, "That isss the book you require..."

Todd couldn't help but mutter as a semi-joke, "Not the one I want but OK." He flipped through the book, reading carefully to make sure there is nothing in there that'll stab him in the back in the future. Nothing of the sort was stated, save for the fact that continually using the magic over and over would cause slow corruption.

"Ah... Idesss likesss to move quite a bit... Alwaysss planning ssso sssswiftly..." Veda stated, "The ssstart of all thingssss wassss much like that... A ssswift plan to a beginning dream..."

Philip asked, "So you know where he is then?"

Veda's eye glowed purple, "Ah... Indeed he has left Ateo'sss familial tomb... Without that old Egyptian..." He stated.

Philip nodded slightly, looking back at Todd who was still reading the book Veda gave him. "So," Todd asked, still focusing on the pages of the book, "When I'm done learning this Ebony Magic, will you bring us to Ateo?"

"Ateo ssseemsss to be... Unconsscioussss at the moment..." Veda stated.

"Well that's good, no need to chase him down." Todd said, still reading the book.

Philip nodded in agreement, "So, when Todd's all set will you teleport us there?"

"I'm sssure you can get there yourssselvesss... After all... Your inhossspitality hasss proven to give me no care in the ssslightessst here..." Veda stated.

Todd muttered something about the book, causing Philip to smack him upside the head. "Well Todd, think you can get us home?" Todd shrugged and answered, "We'll have to see. Grab on guys." And so Todd attempted to walk; but before this could happen, Veda forced them out of the realm, spitting them into the familial tomb of Ateo's. The ancient egyptian unconscious on the floor.

"Well that works too." Todd muttered. Philip kneeled and gave Ateo a gentle shake.

"Come on Ateo, time to get up." Philp groaned. 'He'll probably be pissed at me waking him up but that won't be new.'

Ateo seemed silent before muttering, "What do you want now...? Come to take away my living privileges?"

Tem was silent, staring at Ateo.

"No, but we are going to get your help against Ides." Philip demanded, yanking him to his feet. "You've caused enough trouble today Ateo, I think the least you can do is start focusing your anger on the right person, again being Ides."

"I'm not in the mood." Ateo replied, "I'm not doing anything right now, especially after he bashed me down into the ground."

Todd sighed, "Don't you realize Ateo that that's what Ides wants? For you to stay down when he kicks you like that? He knows that you have the ability to kick his ass, so he decides to take an active role in keeping you down." Todd approached the Egyptian, "I mean piece it together. The only way to beat him is to use Ebony Magic. You're a master at using it. So he beats you up, call you weak and inferior. You can prove him wrong. Show him how powerful you are without him, show him that his bullying won't put you down. Show him that he can't win."

"Whatever... I really don't care right now, just leave me alone..." He sat back down, "I don't want to deal with any of this right now."

Philip replied, beginning to lose his patience with him, "Yeah, none of us wanted to deal with this either but here we are. So get up."

Dark energy began to emanate from Ateo, his eyes slowly turning red, "You don't tell me what to do."

Todd said, losing patience himself, "Well neither can you so get up!" He then proceeded to try and use his telekinetic powers to pick Ateo up.

"Take care of Ides yourselves." Black energy encased Ateo before he was suddenly gone once more.

Todd sighed, "Stubborn as an ass." Philip nodded, leading the group to the way out. "I'm going to start trying to detect Ides and his Ebony Magic." Todd said following Philip, Tem following the duo.

The magic was easy to pick up, Ides was not far as well, as it took but a short time for the trio to leave the tomb and find Ides staring at the Pyramid of Giza. "Grab on." Todd said, preparing to teleport to Ides' location. Philip grabbed his shoulder, Tem doing the same, and thus they came to appear where Ides was.

'Makoto' stared at the pyramid, hearing as the trio teleported in, "It's certainly changed, you know... Time has taken its toll on Egypt, it's not like it once was." Ides stated.

Todd sarcastically clapped, "Congratulations! You have figured out kindergarten level causality! Maybe now you can learn what happens when you mix water and oil next!" As much as Philip wanted to reprimand Todd, he couldn't help but feel a little more at ease by his humor (whether or not Philip thought it was good humor was irrelevant.)

"Merely small talk you simpleton, of course, you wouldn't understand rhetoric coming from someone who has seen time pass with ages." Ides turned around, "So, my pathetic mortals... You come to me to finish me off, I'm sure. My 1000 souls has taken a while to collect, but I've certainly got them now."

Todd leaned to Tem, whispering, "Is there away to get those souls back? What happens now that he has them?"

"I- I don't know." Tem replied.

"Come now..." Makoto took a few steps forward, "What do you plan to do?"