This is my first fan fiction, so don't be too harsh.

The Perfect Sacrifice

I Don't Own Yu-Gi-Oh

Deception

When Yugi looked into his masters jet black eyes, he saw hatred and fear. He could see it brewing inside his body. The only question was how long would he be able to suppress it? There was always that look in his dark eyes that made Yugi wonder if he even had a heart. Even the hardest, coldest heart seemed too much to conceive him having. Did he feel anything, except hatred?

Mariku was sitting on his throne, when a thought emerged from the depths of his shadowy mind. 'I shall make Yugi cross the raging sea, and bring me back a sacrifice, a woman. One who would please the gods? And by Gods of course I mean... MYSELF.' There he sat on that golden throne, which was encrusted with round ruby stones, pondering the entire day. 'That way I will be able to get the little brat out of my hair for a while. He never leaves my side, it seems like every time I give him a job he's done it before I even finish saying it. I need a break, and this is what I have been waiting for.' Finally, Yugi ran into the great hall, to announce to Mariku that his servants that were found to build the pyramids were assembled. This had been Yugi's longest job, finding people that would be willing to die in order to construct something for their dead leaders, who they didn't even like in the first place. However, his evil Master had a very different plan for him.

"Yugi", Mariku called, "I need to talk to you about something that you will be required to do." Yugi was shocked; he had already been given a huge, time consuming task, and was now expected to do something else. "I want you to cross the sea to the island of Guanika." Again, Yugi was flabbergasted, everyone who had ever attempted to make it to the other side of the sea died, either in a ship wreck or some freak accident. Because of this, no one had attempted this for 200 years.

Yugi retorted, "Master, please reconsider, send Jonouchi, I am working on the pyramids. I must..."

"It is too late, my mind is made up, gather a crew. You'll head out next month," explained Mariku. "And Yugi, next time try not to tell me what to do, I won't be so lenient next time."

"But master, you'll have to find someone to work on the..."

"ENOUGH", Mariku shouted, "I grow tired of your excuses, and I await an apology."

By now Yugi had learned never to argue with Mariku, he was usually ruthless, but for some reason had not lashed out at him. While Yugi he thought 'Was Mariku finally changing into the leader that they desired him to be?' Yugi walked out of the hall and headed down the familiar path to his friends house. He knew exactly which step to skip, and which ones he could step on. This road led to the worst part of town. It had the worst people, the worst diseases, so therefore it was the worst kept.

There came a knock at the door, Jonouchi stood up, as much as an intoxicated man could, and stumbled to the door.

"Who's there...? I... oh... go away!" commanded Jonouchi.

"It's me", persisted Yugi, "I have some news for you from Master Mariku himself. He bids me talk to you." Hearing this Jonouchi sprinted to the door, and flung it open.

"What... Mariku...I need sleep," acknowledged Jonouchi. He had recently been accused of robbery of a fine silk rug, and was jailed for four months time. He couldn't bear to show his face around the unforgiving town. He was always looking for a place to hide himself. Yugi found this as the perfect opportunity.

"Jonouchi, Mariku has somewhere for you to go, he said that he noticed you sulking in the shadows, so he wants to help you and send you somewhere for the time being, some place where you will not be noticed ." While hearing this, Jonouchi opened the door and saw his little friend, standing there, panting. He had run all the way from the Northern tower, where he lived, to the outskirts of the town. A tear began to fill his eyes when he thought about what Yugi was going to do for him.

"Yugi, you're the best friend a robber could ever ha..." explained Jonouchi until he was cut off.

"Jonouchi, you don't understand, it's not me doing it, it's the king. He wants you to cross the sea. The raging sea of Gornado. When you cross the sea you will come to Guanika. After landing on shore, you are expected to..." he couldn't finish, there was something inside him that wouldn't let him do this to his best friend. Every time he tried to finish what he had started saying, he choked. What was wrong he had betrayed people before; he had even betrayed Jonouchi before? As a matter of fact, he was the one that told Mariku that Jonouchi stole the rug in the first place. Why now, when his life depended on it could he not lie? Why did this feeling stop him from doing what he so desperately needed to do? Looking up in Jonouchi's direction he merely stated "Jonouchi, I have to go, I'll talk to you later." And with that he ran to the door, trying to be as fast as he could. He was hoping that Jonouchi would not try to follow him. He ran through the town, until he came to the local tavern. He stepped in the door, and his nose was immediately filled with the perfume of alcohol. So many people were collected in this tiny building he could barely fit enough to walk to the bar. As he got closer he noticed a familiar face. It was Malik; he was Yugi's best friend all through grade school. After they left school, Malik went on to be a famous scholar in the Middle East. When Yugi saw his face the picture came flooding into his mind. It was the last day of school, and Malik told Yugi that he was planning to study abroad. This killed Yugi, not knowing when the next time would be that he would see his best friend. That was the day that they had the falling out. Yugi yelled at Malik; he said

"You can't leave me, I was always there for you and now, the time I need you you'll never be there. When will I ever get to see you? You're my best friend and I will never be able to talk to you. You know you're the only one I can talk to, truly, the only one I can tell my true feelings, what am I to do?" He continued yelling until he was cut off by Malik's attempt to salvage the friendship,

"Yugi, I'll only be gone for a few years; I'll be back before you know it. And plus you'll have plenty of things to do while I'm gone. First, you'll have that knew apprenticeship with Mr. Saudii. You'll also have Anzu to keep you occupied. I mean I know it's not the same but at least it's something. I'll be back in four years, after that you can look forward to having me around, because I plan to set up my practice here." This statement however did not shift Yugi's mind. He was still very upset and proceeded to tell Malik that if he moved away their friendship was over.

He walked over to the bar, trying not to be seen by Malik. "Bartender, can I have a Scarab Flush please?" he begged. The bartender walked away, but in a few seconds had returned with a magenta colored beverage.

"I know that voice anywhere", came a voice from Yugi's left side, "You're Yugi aren't you. It's me Malik; remember me we used to be best friends. We graduated together, and I left for a few years but I'm back now." With this announcement Yugi turned his head more towards the right. He was trying to ignore the voice, until finally it stopped. In one instant the voice was gone, there was nothing? What had happened? Just then, however, a figure appeared so close to Yugi's eyes that he couldn't see who it was.

"Back up at least so I can see you", he commanded. The figure did as it was told and was revealed to be Malik, Yugi's long lost friend. Surprised he looked behind him, 'Hadn't he been behind me?' he questioned. He looked up at his friend, he hadn't changed a bit. He still had the long golden locks of hair. He had the same amethyst colored eyes. He was still tall, and lean. Yugi laughed to himself, for Yugi had grown so different that it was hard to recognize him, but Malik would have been able to be recognized immediately. In fact, as soon as Yugi walked in, he noticed it was Malik right away.

"Wow, Malik I didn't expect to see you here, I thought you moved away," he lied. He brought his eyes to the floor, trying hard to not look Malik in the eyes.

"I told you that I would be back when my study was over. I'm pretty sure I told you four years, and it has been that long. Did you forget about me?" he asked.

"Of course not," he again lied, "How could I? You were my best friend, I could never do that. I thought about you everyday. I wanted to write you but I could never find where you were staying."

"Well that's because you were so mad at me I had to leave before you cooled down, so I didn't have enough time to give you the name of the man I was staying with." Malik sighed as he forced a golden strand of hair behind his ear. "Well hat doesn't really mater now, I'm back and I'm excited so, lets paint the town red."

"Umm.... Well Malik I have to work in the morning, I'm not sure if tonight is a good night to party, especially since we just met up for the first time in four years. Maybe we should meet tomorrow, and catch up on things. And then we can plan from there. What do ya say?" He was hoping to himself 'Maybe he won't be able to make it. I really don't feel like talking with him anymore.' He raised his head and awaited the answer from Malik.

"Ok then, we'll meet up tomorrow, you just tell me where and I'll be there," retorted Malik.

"Well, why don't you meet me at Mariku's palace around lunch time? We can leave from there and we'll just go wherever we end up." Malik nodded at Yugi and revealed that he had to leave anyway. So they shook hands a parted ways. Malik went to his lodge and Yugi finally headed back towards his house in the palace. Yugi walked through the city trying not to think of what had just happened. But how could he not, the one person he had a friendly relationship with in high school, the person he scared off. Yet, Malik still wanted to talk. Continuing to walk, Yugi pushed all thoughts of Malik out of his head. He had no choice