Heya!
Here is a little ficlet written for Mahad month challenge, which you can find here: post/164791772077/le-mois-de-mahad (sorry, this is written in French, but in short, our tumblr group challenges writers with a different Yu-Gi-Oh! character each month, and September is dedicated to grumpy Priest Mahad!)
I hope you'll enjoy it! It's quite short, but ideas are being thrown at my face for a sequel, so if you like it there might be additional chapters later on.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh nor its characters. I found the cover picture on Pinterest. I anyone knows the artist, please do tell me, so that I can credit them for their work.
I only own the plot and nonsense that ensues.
NB: Just to be clear, Seth = Priest Seto
Bonds
The Shadow Realm was an endless pit of eternal sufferings. Humans' darkest secrets, the most violent emotions, the harshest pains known to any living being, were condensed and nurtured into a magma of blackness and lurking monsters. The poor souls condemned to stray in there were unlikely to return, unless they were rescued in an hour of time. After that, they often ended shredded to pieces and every single drop of delectable misery taken from them was devoured. Only a madman could venture in there.
A madman, or a very skilled mage. One powerful enough to keep the shadows at a distance, to make them fear you, enough to leave you alone. There were a few who survived without heku, the sacred knowledge of magic. Mahad had met some of them, like Jonouchi Katsuya and Hiroto Honda, whose power of will was so strong they resisted the taunts of the Shadow Realm, but they were exceptions.
Other than them, he had seen many, many others get engulfed, without being able to help them. He could not save everyone. Not everyone deserved to be saved. The Shadow Realm was, after all, a place for the tainted to be punished. It had a purpose, albeit extreme, and the high priest accepted it as that.
Most dissolved into oblivion, a few survived long enough to get out in time. Some others, like him and his fellows priests, could travel in, although it never left anyone unscathed. Mahad had done it many times, in fact, but he was kind of a special case. Being the former bearer of the Millenium Ring, and now that he had fused his ba with his ka, thus becoming the Dark Magician, he used the shadows to do his bidding, more than he avoided or repel them. His power was deeply linked to them.
He was a special case, but not the only one. There were those who could bend the darkness, but used it for motives that were not as benevolent as his.
Speaking of which...
The high priest swirled around and pointed his scepter threateningly in front of him. Its end instantly crackled with dark magic, and the shadows around him hummed with unease, sensing the sheer power of it. But its target stayed unfazed.
"Show yourself, thief," he demanded sternly, "before I make you."
A flash or glowing red and a growl were his own answer. For someone so prone to bragging, this was a change. Mahad gritted his teeth and advanced towards the hidden figure determinedly. His scepter eventually lit a fraction of a reptilian black head, with razor sharp fangs and blood red eyes. The dragon blew a strong puff of air through its snout at the magician.
"That's all you've got?," he deadpanned. "You're so weak as to associate with a ka. Where is your precious Diabound? Where is your beloved master?"
At the mention of a master, the beast growled angrily, smoke and sparks coming from his maw. The high priest snorted.
"Right. You have no master. Pardon me if I believe otherwise, but you sent antagonistic signals on the matter. You looked so eager to please Zorc, that I might have thought you were submitted to-"
The creature roared and shot a blazing ray of fire at him, but Mahad was unimpressed. So predictable. He blocked the searing flames with ease, too powerful for the weakened dragon to reach him this way.
"We both know you cannot hurt me, in your state. But if you so wish, I can get back at you for the time when you killed me. I've learned one or two imaginative ways for that."
The other huffed. Eventually, he went back a little, and darkness swirled around him. When he appeared again in the halo of the scepter, there was not a dragon anymore, but a man with tanned skin, dirty gray hair, violet eyes, a four-stitched scar on his right cheek, and a flowing red robe on his shoulders. The bandit king was identical to when he sold his soul to Zorc, and yet seriously undermined. He was limping, albeit discreetly, and he was clutching his side with an arm as he slowly advanced towards Mahad. The high priest hummed.
"How you manage to still be alive is something I'll never understand. Some luck you have, thief king. Or maybe you're cursed to live and suffer."
"I didn't know you were into mockery. I'm hurt. My poor heart will never get over it."
Maybe it was the complete nonsense of the situation, or maybe it was the influence of the Shadow Realm for so long. Either way, the Dark Magician could not help the laughter that bubbled in his chest and burst resoundingly in the empty space around them. Bakura, however, was not so amused, and his smirk fell lightly.
"Yeah, yeah, I have no heart, yadda yadda. Same old song."
"Don't say you don't deserve it," Mahad countered, a small smile still playing at his lips, "though I have to say I'm curious about your choice of ka. Why the Red-Eyes?"
The Thief King grunted, his side still throbbing. He took some time to answer.
"T'was not really my choice. It was the first I could reach, before the shadows got a hold of me. It's powerful enough, and its power stems from darkness. All in all, I'm lucky t'was it, and not that blasted Blue-Eyes bitch."
The mage snorted at him.
"I'm sure. She would have roasted you. But you must realize that committing your ba with a monster spirit is dangerous? You may never part from it ever again."
Bakura did not have a reply to that. Frankly, he could not care less at the moment. Not when his survival was at stake. Pain pulsated in his body, and he tried his best to hide it to his archnemesis. That bloody priest was a thorn in his foot, even more so now that he had not the Millenium Ring anymore. His faithful Diabound evaded him, and all he could do was turning back into the black dragon should he need to think of a quick escape. It depended on what the Dark Magician wanted with him.
Said Magician hummed when he noticed the slightest twinge of pain twist his opponent's features, and he advanced slowly. The thief growled and backed away into the cloak of shadows, but he was not impressed nor stopped. He leaped forward, surprising the other, and placed two joined fingers on his sticky red side. His magic surged in dark waves, and the open wound resorbed. Hieroglyphs sparkled on the heated bronze skin, leaving trails of heka along the knitted scar.
Bakura smacked his hand away and snarled, his body now tingling with an unknown spell. Mahad simply took a few steps back, observing the other's angry face turn into a stunned expression. He arched a brow and smirked.
"Better?"
"What did you do to me, you-"
"What, don't I get to be thanked?" He feigned to be hurt, but his tone was sarcastic. "Frankly, you fully deserve to be in pain. But it appears you'll be way more useful healed and about. As much as it pains me to say it."
The Thief King held his head high up and glared.
"As if you could use me," he spat, "no one tells me what to do. Especially not one of the Pharaoh's minions."
Mahad smirked wider, puzzling Bakura. Clearly, the mage had a trump down his sleeve.
"Trust me, I prefer being a slave to Seth's relentless sex drive, than ordering you around. I won't. But your new master will."
As if on cue, a ripple agitated the shadows, and Bakura's body began to glow as the pull of summoning began to stir the ka he had fused with. Realization hit him.
"Oh, no, you didn't, you rat."
The Dark Magician waved at him, a sufficient smile tugging at his lips and threatening to split his face in half.
"Don't thank me, thief. After all, you initiated the process. I only gave the fusion a little push, so that it could be definite. Enjoy your life as the proud Red-Eyes of my master's best friend. I'll see you around."
A roar answered his cheeky retort, and the black dragon disappeared in a swirl of darkness as it was summoned on Jonouchi Katsuya's side of the field. The young blonde man apparently had a duel going against Mutou Yuugi, and Mahad was sure he would be called on the field soon after the dragon.
He could not wait to see Bakura's face when he came out and atomized him with a burst of his signature Dark Magic Attack. Sweet revenge.