Title: Memories of Egypt – 1/8
Author: Telpei
Pairing(s): Seto/Jou, mentions of Priest Seto/Atemu
Beta: Jennie B.
Spoilers: Mentions of plot details from the series, up to the Doom arc.
Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from the Yu-Gi-Oh characters or episode details used in this story.
Summary: Seto has always been bothered by the idea of his Ancient Egyptian past, but what would life be like without it?
Author's Notes: This story was written for the Winter Wishes Challenge 2007 at the Yahoo! Group A Dragon's Lair. The premise of this story was that either Seto or Jounouchi could make a wish, and it would come true within two seconds with no explanation towards how it came true. The wish maker in this story was Seto, and I am proud to say that Memories of Egypt won first place in the contest between those stories that had Seto as the wish maker. Needless to say, the story is finished, so I'll be updating regularly (for once! ; ) I hope you all enjoy it!
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Chapter 1
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Seto Kaiba was un-amused when a familiar tri-coloured, spiky haired annoyance walked timidly into his office on what had been a perfectly decent Saturday afternoon. "How did you get up here?" the brunet growled at his rival, his eyes narrowing into slivers of deadly blue ice. "We certainly didn't have a scheduled meeting. I'm a busy man, Yugi. You have some nerve interrupting me like this."
Yugi came to a stop just inside the heavy wooden doors of Seto's office, wringing his hands in front of him in a nervous gesture, and looking appropriately sheepish. "I'm sorry, Kaiba-kun, but Yami asked if I would bring him by to speak with you. They let me past the front desk when the receptionist recognized me..."
Kaiba snorted, clearly unimpressed. He made a mental note to find out who had let this idiot all the way upstairs so he could personally terminate their employment with Kaiba Corporation. "And I suppose she recognized you since you currently hold the Duel Monsters Champion title, hm? A title that I should rightfully own?" he commented with a sneer, obvious hatred reflected in his tone of voice.
Yugi visibly winced in response to Seto's cold words, but the brunet only felt a minimal amount of satisfaction from witnessing the gesture. "W-well, Kaiba-kun, Yami said it was really very important that we speak to you as soon as possible. You see, we're trying to – "
Seto's harsh bark of laughter cut Yugi off mid-sentence, and the businessman's eyes darkened with a shade of malice. "If you think that his opinion matters to me, Yugi, then you are more of a fool than I originally suspected. Now get out of my sight before I call security."
The short duelist frowned, his righteous soul jumping to his yami's defense automatically. "Now that's not fair!" he cried out with indignation. "Yami has done nothing but love you, Seto Kaiba, as a friend and, well, as more than a friend! You must have regained some of your memories by now, so you know that your relationship in the past wasn't something to be laughed at! You two have a strong bond, I know you do - if only you'd open your eyes and see it!"
"The only relationship I hold with either of you is one of rivalry," Seto assured the shorter teen, getting to his feet and slamming his hands onto the polished wooden surface of his desk. "I don't know what delusions you hold concerning me, or my supposed feelings towards you and your little group of friends, but I promise you that I do not want, nor do I need, the support you claim to be able to offer."
Kaiba's words stung Yugi's soul, but the teen simply gave a little huff and crossed his arms over his chest. Sometimes he didn't know why he bothered with Seto Kaiba, but in his heart he knew that it was for a worthwhile reason. Seto Kaiba didn't have anyone else, and Yugi suspected that the young CEO just didn't know how to be friendly. In any case, he hadn't come here to deliver his usual Heart of the Cards friendship spiel. "Kaiba-kun," he tried to reason, keeping his voice at a low level and trying to sound friendly - despite the brunet's obvious distaste for the sentiment. "I didn't come here to argue with you. Please, if you would just listen - "
"What part of 'get out' don't you understand?" Seto cut him off again, frowning outright. The brunet straightened and strode around his desk, coming to a stop in front of Yugi and staring down at the shorter male. "I'm not interested in whatever it is you have to say, Yugi, so it's time for you to leave."
However, Yugi didn't back down. He stood his ground and did his best to glare right back at the young executive. "Kaiba-kun, Yami needs your help. We're trying to get him his own body, and you're the only one who – "
"That's enough!" Seto roared, drawing the attention of the security guards out in his secretary's office. "I don't know what possibly made you think that you could ask such a thing of me, but I assure you I have no intentions of offering any favours to you, or the rest of your little crew." By then, the guards had come rushing up, prepared to take action, and Seto didn't make any movement to stop them. The larger of the two placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder and the duelist froze, his eyes glinting with a hint of fear.
Surely, Seto wouldn't kick him out! The man was cruel and unapproachable, but he couldn't be serious! Yugi tried to assure himself that his efforts towards friendship were getting through to the brunet, and that Seto wouldn't go that far...would he?
However, Yugi was sadly mistaken. Seto gave a quick nod of his head, and the guard's grip tightened on Yugi's shoulder. "Let's go," the burly man growled, physically pulling Yugi from the room. The small teen immediately erupted into protest, but Seto shut the door firmly in the boy's face as he was dragged from the office. The brunet stormed back across the room, past his desk, to stare out over the city through the large picture window that took up most of the wall. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, and he ground his teeth together, slowly regaining his composure and finally relaxing enough to sit down again in his high-backed, leather chair. Encounters similar to this one with Yugi never went well, but until now, Seto had never gone so far as to call in security.
The brunet made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and rested his elbows on the desktop. Leaning forward, he sunk his hands into his thick, chestnut hair, fisting the silken strands and giving a painful tug. In all truthfulness, he did remember his past. Memories haunted him in his dreams, assaulting him when his defenses were lowered and he was most vulnerable. The dreams stole away precious hours of sleep, and Seto held nothing but resentment for them.
His feelings were also affected by these past influences. While it was undeniable that the three thousand year old priest in his dreams had been romantically involved with a crimson-eyed Pharaoh, Seto wished he was dreaming of soft, golden hair and warm, brown eyes instead. The conflicting emotions warred within his mind, one side telling him that he should hold more respect and love for a cherished leader, while the other plotted to pursue a certain puppy, instead.
If one thing was certain, Seto Kaiba did not like being told what to do. Furthermore, he enjoyed being told what to feel even less. Every night he dreamt of intimate moments with a boy named Atemu, he felt a certain amount of betrayal towards someone else, and a growing hatred for his inability to suppress the dreams.
With a scowl, Seto pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and turned back to his laptop. He still had several reports to go over, and they would require his full concentration.
OoO
By the end of the day, Seto's frustration had reached a new level. He hadn't managed to get through any of his paperwork that afternoon, so he knew that he'd be working all evening and into the night, as well. These days, Seto wasn't sleeping very much anyway since he couldn't stand the dreams, so he wondered if perhaps his impending late night of work would be welcomed. However, all the time in the world wouldn't matter if Seto couldn't get Yugi's words from their earlier meeting off his mind. Even though he didn't care for the spirit they called Yami, the young executive knew it wasn't his place to deny the man his own life in his own body. If Yugi's words were true, then the brunet's presence was required for whatever process would liberate the spirit from the puzzle. Seto wasn't sure if he could refuse to participate since someone's life was at stake, even if that someone was a sworn rival.
The tall man sighed as he stepped out of the limo, and he nodded his thanks to the chauffeur before heading up the marble stairs to the front door. The butler was waiting for him, ready to take his jacket, and it wasn't long before Seto had retired to the study. Mokuba was across the hall, playing a video game of some sort before his bedtime. The brunet had already checked his little brother's homework, and had found it highly satisfactory. A slight smile came to Seto's lips as he thought of the boy. Mokuba's happiness and safety were one of the brunet's highest priorities, and he felt that he had succeeded in that aspect of his life, at least. Mokuba had turned out pretty well, even though he'd been put under so many traumas as a child.
The brunet's thoughts turned dark once more as his memory brought up images of Mokuba's kidnappings throughout the years. The brunet gave a groan of frustration as he curled his hands into fists on his desk, one on either side of his laptop. He had to stay focused, or he'd never get this work done! Setting his jaw, Seto thrust the distraction out of his mind. However, he couldn't stop the fleeting emotions, the brief, wistful moments of weakness, where but one single idea crossed his mind. "I wish Yami and Isis and all their Ancient Egyptian bullshit had never existed," he murmured to himself, his voice sounding exhausted, even to his own ears. If none of it had ever happened, Mokuba would never have been kidnapped, Seto himself would never have to listen to another speech about the Heart of the Cards, and none of those lying, cheating imbeciles would have come anywhere near his company. Not to mention, Jounouchi probably wouldn't have been struck by lightning on top of Kaiba's very own blimp. Seto sighed, shaking his head to clear away his doubt, and regret. He knew he was being weak. There was no use in making wishes that obviously wouldn't come true.
The brunet closed his eyes and counted backwards from ten to calm himself, but when he opened them again, he blinked several times in surprise. Mokuba was sitting across from his desk at the head office, and the boy was looking at him expectantly.
"Seto...are you all right?" the raven-haired pre-teen asked. "Maybe we should talk about this after you've had some sleep."
"No," the brunet replied instantly, straightening his posture and taking only a moment to collect his thoughts. "No, I'm fine. I'm sorry, Mokuba; I zoned out for a moment."
"Well, that's not like you, but whatever," the younger Kaiba replied, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. "Now let's talk about my allowance. You told me I could have more money after my birthday this year."
Seto frowned. "Mokuba, now's really not a good time for this. You know that the company has been having trouble lately. The new duel disk system just isn't selling as well as I had hoped, which I can't understand, since the game is so popular..." Seto trailed off, his brow furrowing in confusion. What was he saying? Of course the game wasn't popular. "But it is popular," he reminded himself out loud, his train of thought becoming muddled and confused. "Ever since Yugi beat me, its popularity has been growing..."
Mokuba raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "Uh, Seto? Who are you talking about? No one has ever been able to beat you at Duel Monsters. That's the whole problem, isn't it? There's no way to promote the game since you don't have any competition. Now, can we talk about my allowance? I don't care how the company is doing, I just need a higher limit on my credit card."
"No," Seto replied instinctively, his eyes skimming over the charts and statistics spread out on his desk. "We don't have the money. I'm sorry, Mokuba, but you'll have to do without."
"But you promised!" the boy interjected. "You promised me the new system would sell! Seto, you're always such a liar! Maybe it was better when Father was around! At least then I could spend whatever money I wanted! You're such a Scrooge!"
Seto watched, stunned, as his brother stood and stormed from the room. His internal defense mechanisms were already kicking in, reminding him that this was not a rare occurrence, and that Mokuba was simply going through a stage.
However, a nagging voice in the back of his mind reminded him of a sweet little brother who had been happy without a credit card, whose happiness had stemmed only from the presence of his one family member. And then, one shattering realization crumbled Seto's resolve to the core. By saying 'Father'... Mokuba couldn't have meant...Gozaburo...could he? Since when had his little brother shown that man any respect since his death?
Slowly, Seto closed his eyes and counted backwards from ten. He had to figure out what was going on. He quickly sifted through his thoughts, and he was able to pick out two strains of memory from the chaos in his mind. In one storyline, he lost a duel against a boy named Yugi and his life had been subsequently turned upside down – though his company had certainly prospered. In a frantic moment, the brunet pulled out a pad of lined paper from his desk, and his favourite pen. With quick strokes, he jotted down the timeline of these strange memories and gasped in surprise when he reached a stunning, nearly incomprehensible, realization.
His wish had come true.
Ooo TBC ooO