School? Simpler than cake.
Exams? A breeze.
Love? Hurt. Bad. Moreover, was overrated in the first place. Yuugi knew people could live their lives without a lover; nuns did it all the time. Priests often did too. Therefore, that's what he decided for himself. He would live with himself, without the need for a 'special someone' to cuddle. Seeing as the one person whom actually might have had a chance at winning Yuugi, was preoccupied with the boy's body, most of the lad's friends agreed he should take a break from soul-mate-searching for a while.
Even Grandpa Solomon thought that Yuugi needed a break, though he disproved of the forever thoughts that he was informed of on the journey back home after the school year had ended.
"Remember, you need to choose someone by the end of your twenty-sixth year. Or else you'll go mad. And I hear the forced transformation hurts a hell of a lot more that the accepted transformation."
"Remember, I'm still in denial."
"Well get out of the river and try the ocean. Or the desert. I got an invitation to help at a dig with a couple old colleagues of mine. Do you remember Arthur?"
"The guy with the genius granddaughter whom scares me?"
"Yeah. He, Bakura-san and me, all working together to find the tomb of some dead person. I think we'll find it. We leave in two days for Egypt!"
"I have a friend from school from there! Have you heard of the Ishtar family?"
"Yes. They are a very old, very traditional family of tomb keepers. We're not on their best side, for obvious reasons, but they haven't tried to kill us in years."
"How traditional is traditional for them? Malik was under the restraint of 'no relationships' all year."
"Malik is the eldest true son of the Ishtar clan. He has an older adoptive brother slash servant. The brother/servant can't carry on the family, because he is not of the family. Malik is probably the first choice to marry his sister. His younger brother being second and the father third and then the brother/servant kid."
"Oh… that's kinda disturbing on a whole bunch of levels."
"The government has asked them to marry outside their family but the father refuses."
"Oh. Because I think Ryou…" Yuugi stopped himself. The night Malik had first returned feeling for the gentler blunette was a painful one he cared not to remember.
"Little Ryou comes out of his closet then. About time, the lad's been overshadowed by his brother the closet destroyer for years. I don't see what you do in that kid."
"Baku is soft. Like taffy. And he won't come off my pinky finger." Grandpa laughed at his grandson as they pulled into the driveway of the Game Shop.
Egypt was hot and muggy and… had a distinctive smell. Wind, heat and dust being prominent, along with a spectrum of spices and seasonings that were used excessively in the foods of this land. Yuugi liked it. His Grandfather inhaled deeply too, glad to be back in the oven he had spent his golden years excavating. Yuugi giggled when a hard archeologist's hat was forced over his hair.
"Not working. Use this first." Yuugi tied his hair back as his grandfather did with the bandana, and then pulled the hat over his slightly calmed hair. "You look like I did on my first year."
"Fun. Which way do we go?"
"This way. There's a jeep waiting." Yuugi followed the older man down the airport to the appropriate doorway. As he said, the jeep waited. However, it was being driven by the last person expected.
"What are you doing?!" Malik screeched at the driver. A man whom was the spitting image of Grandpa Solomon gripped the wheel with nervous hands. "You release the emergency brake AFTER you step on the break and put into drive. Not BEFORE! Shove over, I'm driving. You've already put a dent in the fender and I'M going to be the one pulling it out!"
"Boy, respect your elders!" both men reprimanded together. Yuugi giggled as they looked at each other and laughed, greeting each other as old friends. Malik sighed, and then gave Yuugi a smile.
"How're you taking the heat?" he asked.
"Ah, it'll get to me later." Yuugi replied, scrambling through the door into the jeep. Malik was also shoved to the back, leaving the men to figure out the jeep. Soon they were moving, jumping over the sand dunes towards the dig. Or so Yuugi thought.
When a castle loomed over a series of dunes, Yuugi began to wonder. However, someone jeering behind them distracted him. Riding up fast, on a large motorbike, was Marik, his wild hair flying wildly as he broke the speed limit by a dozen to catch up to the jeep. He was wearing a long purple cloak over what seemed to be traditional Egyptian garb, and he looked like a daemon as his cloak flapped wildly behind him.
"YOU NEED A CHAPRONE WITH THAT THING MARIK!" Malik screeched over the wind.
"I'M NOT ALONE OVER HERE! BAKURA'S 16 RIGHT?!"
"YOU NEED A PERSON WITH A LISENCE, YOU MORON!"
"SO? WHO SAID I CARED? RACE YOU!"
"OLD MAN, MOVE OVER!" Malik pushed to the front, and gripped the wheel. Yuugi laughed as Marik pulled even, and Bakura waved from under the billowing cloak. Neither youth was wearing a helmet, causing Grandpa to yell over the wind at them. No one was listening.
"BUCKLE UP, PEEPS, WE GOING OFFROAD!" Malik yelled. Everyone in the jeep obliged. They raced around a little old woman bicycling home with her groceries, then veered off the road and hit the crumbly side of the dunes. Marik revved and picked up his pace, whipping over the next dune. Both old men looked scared when there was a frightened yelp, and a loud bang. However, they soon found Marik and Bakura perfectly fine except for a blown tire. Malik laughed at the distraught youths.
"See you later, suckers! Walk the baby back to the repair room, all the way."
"Good thing I brought a hat." Bakura giggled. He flopped it over his pale hair, and then helped the fourteen-year-old lift the bulky bike. Yuugi sat back as Malik sped the rest of the way to the large palace, which apparently was the winning point. Soon they drove at a reasonable speed between alabaster pillars engraved with the history of each and every pharaoh lived. Finally, they stopped and Malik stopped the jeep, and let the three out.
"Leaving you here. Head that way until you see someone you know. Later."
"He's a little crazy, that one." Grandpa commented.
"That was Malik, he's lived underground most of his life, so he's rather wild when he's allowed out of the darkness." The Grandpa-lookalike stated. Yuugi smiled up at his grandfather, who grinned slightly in knowing. The massive alabaster hallway was also inscribed with hieroglyphs, and pictures. Yuugi started when he saw a figure, much like himself down to the way the hair spiked, standing next to a red-cloaked figure holding a mummy with one of the Egyptian gods looming over the pair.
"Yes, it's all very interesting. Now let's keep moving." Grandpa chided, leading his grandson from the wall and down the hallway. Yuugi had a sudden sinking feeling, along with the sensation that he was being watched very closely.
Yuugi saw Ryou first. Ryou's father, Bakura-san, was inspecting something on the wall around the corner. Baku was obviously still helping Marik, and Arthur was chatting with several laborers and his granddaughter simultaneously. Yuugi took the time to approach the wall as well.
The spiky haired pharaoh was now standing on a balcony, and holding an infant that seemed to glow. The red cloaked figure from before stood behind the pharaoh now, looking reverent. Another three Egyptian gods, Ra, Horus and perhaps Bast, now stood, accepting the infant from the Pharaoh, as a crowd watched. Suddenly there was the sound of arguing women.
A brown haired girl whom reminded Yuugi of a [certain] cheerleader from Japan and a tall black-haired woman. The girl was screeching in Arabic, while the woman spoke softly in reply whenever the other stopped for breath. Suddenly the argument stopped as a third woman swept in. A white veil covered the third woman's face, but a wise eye took in the room while the other stayed hidden behind a lock of pure white hair.
Her voice was even softer than that of the other woman, but both heard her with unerring precision. Yuugi then realized that there was going to be more than just a sinking feeling, as the woman whom had just entered began walking towards him.
"Hello, child. May I have your audience privately?"
"Yes ma'am." Yuugi trembled.
"Please follow me, then." Grandpa gazed after the lad, wondering.
i am no longer allowed to have acess to my drugs. probably for the better, but it is gettin lonely without my friend the moose with the monocle... *falls over*
R&R PLZ3!
