Title: For You I'd Do Anything – Chapter 10
Author: Erudit
Thank you for your great reviews!
I'm sorry it took forever. I've been done with this chapter for quite some time but didn't like how it turned out. I tried thinking of something better and read through it again and again but could only think of minor changes. I hope those of you who still read my updates like it better than I do. Let me know what you think of it.
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"We should have asked Jono to join us." Yugi remarked, and took a bite of something that looked and tasted somewhat like tuna sandwich.
"So?" The pharaoh commented absentmindedly while skimming through a scroll Mahado had brought him just a few minutes ago. His left hand was lying comfortably on Yugi's thigh, only leaving its place to unroll the scroll a little more from time to time.
A few minutes later Atemu looked at Yugi over his papers, saying: "You know quite well he'd just be moping around now that Seth is in Sakkara. He probably wouldn't even eat anything."
So he does know about their relationship! And I always thought he was too blind to notice. "And you wouldn't be sulking if I had to leave on a mission?" Yugi asked teasingly, and then stuffed a rather large piece of his tuna-sandwich-look-alike into his mouth.
"A pharaoh doesn't sulk." Atemu stated sternly, his left hand once again leaving Yugi's leg to unfold the scroll a little more. Then he looked back up at Yugi, smiling gently at the younger one. "But I would miss you."
Yugi cheerfully prepared another piece of bread, and then offered it to the pharaoh. They had been sitting in Yugi's room for about one hour when suddenly Yugi's stomach had growled, reminding both of them that he hadn't eaten anything for quite a while. Atemu had immediately dragged Yugi into the kitchen, and had more or less ordered him to eat something. Yugi had obliged for once; he'd been hungry anyways.
"Does that mean you'd let me go, if I wanted to?" Yugi asked once Atemu had taken the offered bread. He was still thinking of how to bring up Sakkara; not sure whether he should tell Atemu the truth or stick to the lie the judge of the afterlife had prepared for him. There wasn't much time left to dawdle after all; otherwise, Kisara could get killed before he even got there.
The pharaoh sighed. "I want you to be happy. If you desire to leave, I'll do nothing to stop you."
"It's not that I want to leave you forever or something like that!" Yugi rushed to explain, not liking the crease on Atemu's forehead. "I'd just be gone for a few days. I'd be back for the New Year Ceremony for sure. It's just that I still have to find that person I was looking for."
"The one you don't want to tell me about." Atemu stated darkly. "The one you asked Bakura to find for you…"
"Well…" Yugi hesitated, feeling how Atemu once again got angry. His body still responded sensitively to Atemu's magic. "Yes." He agreed, "You're right. But I won't need Bakura's help anymore, if that's a relief to you. I now know where the person is at."
"Why don't you let me accompany you, then? Or even better: remain here, safely in the palace, and my guards will find him and bring him to you."
"It's not that simple." Yugi clarified. "I'm sorry, Atemu but I have to go alone. You can't leave the palace without Seth being here to take up your place in your absence. The people need their king; more now than ever. And I have to go myself. I don't know what will happen once I find that person. I cannot put other people's lives in danger."
"But you'd willingly sacrifice your own." Atemu said sourly, looking at Yugi with tired and worried eyes. They both didn't like talking about this subject.
"Yes, I would sacrifice my life if the need arose." Yugi admitted. "But I'm certain there won't be any necessity for something that drastic." He bent forward slightly, brushing his lips over Atemu's reassuringly, whispering a soft "don't worry".
"Yugi," Atemu breathed, his eyes closed from the sensation. Then he pulled the younger one closer to really kiss him. "You know I will do nothing to stop you, little one. But I'll worry about you immensely. That is something I could not stop even if I wanted to." The pharaoh sighed for the umpteenth time, leaning his forehead against Yugi's, and cupping the younger one's cheek softly. "I think I care too much about you, little one." He muttered, closing his crimson eyes once again.
"You can never care too much." Yugi admonished, hugging his pharaoh.
"But it hurts." Atemu said, for once sounding like a little child, and Yugi was sure he would have pouted, had he not thought it beneath himself.
"Sometimes it does." Yugi agreed. "But most of the time it makes you feel happier than ever before. Aren't you happy, pharaoh?"
"I'd be happy if you stayed – here, with me." Atemu answered curtly, nevertheless smiling at Yugi.
"Maybe you'd worry less if you knew I wanted to go to Sakkara?" Yugi suggested. "Seth will be there to protect me."
"Maybe." It didn't really sound convinced.
"Now I'll let you get back to work." Yugi said, trying to wriggle free of Atemu's embrace. The arms around him tightened.
"I can work like that."
"You might." Yugi said, laughing slightly. "But I can't eat."
Just as Atemu had let Yugi go back to his food, a knock on the door announced somebody's need to talk to the king. Atemu gave his permission to enter, and Mahado informed him dutifully that the Southern Ambassador was once again waiting for him in the throne room. Then, they were left alone again.
The pharaoh got up, and rolled up his scroll. "I'm sure he waited to tell me about that until you were nearby." He said with a scowl. "They are all thinking I'm calmer and more devoted to my work when you're present."
Yugi looked up at Atemu with a disarming smile. "You know, the sooner you talk to him, the sooner you'll get rid of him. But, if you insist, I can come and interrupt your discussion after a certain amount of time, saying there was something really, really important I needed your help with." His smile turned impish.
"Thank you, little one." Atemu ruffled Yugi's hair; he seemed to like doing that. "But you're right. I should get this business done once and for all. I'll see you later." He touched Yugi's cheek in an affectionate gesture, and left the room.
Yugi ate his last slide of bread slowly, and began cleaning up the mess he'd made until he got interrupted by Jono.
"Did the pharaoh tell you to clean tables and dishes as a punishment for joining the tomb-robber on one of his tours?" Jono asked jokingly.
"No." Yugi answered with a slight smile, tilting his head to examine his work.
"It's clean." Jono surmised. "You could probably eat directly from the table now; without using any of the plates. Where is his royal highness anyways? I thought he was with you." Jono looked around as if expecting Atemu to magically appear in front of him at any moment, scolding him for his disrespectful behavior.
"Talking to that ambassador once again." Yugi answered, breathing heavily, as he tried to carry all the plates and leftover food at once. The pile began to topple over, and the plates on top would have crashed to the floor had Jono not jumped to Yugi's aid and caught them.
"Here, let me help you." Jono took half of Yugi's plates and together they carried it into the adjoining room. Some of the slaves would clean it later on. Yugi would have done it himself but the last time he did, he afterwards had to listen to one of Atemu's long lectures about the proper behavior of his high priests. Some things just weren't worth the trouble.
"Was the pharaoh very angry?" Yugi wondered, although he himself had gotten to feel enough of Atemu's fury anyways; as much as he'd ever wanted to feel at least.
"I don't think the word angry quite describe the state he was in." Jono told him. "He was livid; yelling at everybody and everything; condemning every one of us to a painful death if you'd get as much as a scratch on your trip."
"I'm sorry I got you all into trouble." Yugi sighed. "I suppose I should have thought of that beforehand. He didn't really kill anybody, did he?" Yugi looked at Jono with wide eyes, anxiously awaiting an answer and thinking about all the people he had come to care for in his time in the past.
"Just the Nubians, once you were found. And they deserved it, if you asked me." Jono answered grimly. "They wanted to kill you, after all."
Just then they were interrupted by a slim man with long black hair: "Uhm, excuse me…are you high priest Yugi?"
"Yes, I am." Yugi answered politely, and with a kind smile, wondering if he had met that person before. He didn't seem familiar.
"I am Shahim, one of Horus' younger counselors. Actually I was just chosen a few weeks ago." The man scratched his right ear sheepishly. "I was wondering if you could help me with something for a second, your holiness. I would have tried asking my colleagues but they are not very friendly towards new faces." The young man frowned, and then looked at Yugi hopefully.
"Of course I can help you." Yugi exclaimed, smiling encouragingly. "What do you need help with?"
"Well, it's in this room just behind the corner. Horus asked me to take care of it for him but I have no idea how. And if any of the other counselors find out about this, they are going to report me." Shahim looked deeply troubled by his instructions.
"Don't worry, Shahim!" Jono said, patting the man's shoulder encouragingly. "We'll help you!"
"Actually…only high priest Yugi can help me." Shahim interrupted in a hurried manner. "Horus' orders, you know? I'm not supposed to show it to anybody. But I'm sure he won't mind me showing it to one of his most trusted high priests."
"Oh." Jono's enthusiastic expression fell, and he began scrutinizing the counselor when feeling unwatched. "I understand of course. I will wait for you outside, okay Yugi?"
Yugi nodded in response but Shahim said immediately: "There is no need for you to wait. It might take some time for high priest Yugi to be able to help me. You'd just get bored. I'm sure he'll be able to find you, once you're done." Shahim smiled at Yugi innocently.
"Yes." Yugi agreed after a short pause, noticing the glimmer in Shahim's yellowish eyes. It's a trap. "I suppose Shahim is right. I'll meet you outside once I'm done, Jono."
"Are you sure?" The guard looked at Shahim skeptically.
"Yes." Yugi answered firmly. "Don't worry. We'll meet later." He just hoped Jono had realized that Shahim was up to something. He wasn't sure he'd be able to deal with whatever that counselor had planned on his own.
Shahim favored him with a radiant smile, apparently not having noticed that his victim had already seen through his charade, and led Yugi to the afore-mentioned door. "After you, your holiness." He gestured, opening the door, and letting Yugi step inside.
Yugi frowned suspiciously. Usually he'd never risk going into a dark room first, but he had already decided to play along with whatever this Shahim was trying to do. He wouldn't be able to do anything about the counselors as long as he didn't have proof they wanted to harm him. He entered the dark room, asking Shahim whether he planned on turning on the light, still feigning ignorance. He sensed the motion even before Shahim had really begun, managing to step out of the way when the counselor tried to knock him out. His newly acquainted senses had once again saved him.
Shahim, realizing he had missed, turned on the light, and then locked the door to prevent Yugi from escaping.
Yugi turned around, becoming conscious of the other people in the room. His assumption had been right. Some of the counselors had put their plans of trying to get rid of him into action. But he couldn't believe they had really tried it in such a blunt way, asking him to follow them in front of some other person, and even trying to harm him inside of the castle. If he was judging Jono correctly, the guard was already on his way to inform Atemu of what had transpired. They had taken a great risk. That could only mean they were very sure of themselves. Or this Shahim was simply stupid and hadn't thought about this.
"Hello, high priest Yugi." One of the counselors greeted him with a slightly twisted smile. "How nice of you to join us." The group laughed at the joke, confirming Yugi's suspicion about them being sure of themselves. Either they had seen to it that Atemu would be too busy to help him, or they had planned something that was supposed to get rid of him before Atemu arrived.
"You are risking a lot for something that shouldn't have bothered you at all." Yugi told them calmly. "I've never even tried to undermine your position. If I had, you wouldn't even be in the palace anymore." He had figured it was the same as it had been when talking to Bakura. If they thought he wasn't afraid of them they'd become unsure of themselves. It was just like playing a game. You could win even when you didn't have the best cards if you were able to make your opponent believe you had the better cards. Luckily, it was very simply for him to pretend to be Yami.
"You will soon lose that proud smirk of yours!" One of the counselors yelled, glaring at him outright.
Yugi looked at him slightly surprised. They really believed they were the victims in this case? And he the evil culprit? Obviously they didn't respond well to his Yami-impersonation. But it was already too late to change plans.
"And what exactly do you plan on doing?" He wanted to know, sticking to what had worked so well on Bakura.
"We won't do anything." Shahim said, putting a special emphasize on the we. "He will be the one putting you back into your right place." Shahim gestured to a figure that had been hidden from Yugi's view up to that moment. A big man with scars all over his face, arms and chest stepped closer. The floor vibrated softly with every step the man took, and a chain rattled at the heavy movement of his arms. Only when the giant man was close enough Yugi realized his hands had been cuffed by a giant chain. That had obviously been the origin of the rattling noise. He would have felt sympathy for his opponent if he hadn't been too worried about himself. There was a lot he could do against magic. But against muscles he didn't stand a chance; unless, of course, he could out-smart the giant.
"May we introduce you to Oalaola, high priest Yugi?" One of the counselors said, stepping forward slightly. "He is one of the pharaoh's best fighters. Highest rank in both defense and attack. Horus has taken him on almost every dangerous mission. You could call him the pharaoh's favorite."
"Just like you." Shahim said from his position next to Yugi. "We would all like to see which favorite will win, in the end. After all, the pharaoh deserves only the very best. What would he do with somebody that is only always second best?" Shahim smiled at Yugi innocently, as if he hadn't been implying he wanted one of them to die. Yugi guessed he was an expert at pretending to be something he wasn't in reality.
"Just a question, before you leave, Shahim." Yugi stopped the other from joining the counselors in the back of the room. "Are you really a counselor? Or just somebody that needed the money really bad?" He looked at Shahim with a meaningful smile, knowing he had hit a nerve when Shahim had to be held back by some of the council-men to not try to attack Yugi on his own. "I see." Yugi said softly. "Well, I hope the money you got will be worth it."
"Not all of us have a pharaoh to afford our various desires and sprees." Shahim growled through clenched teeth, still being held back by the other counselors. "Some of us work hard to support our families. We can't all play with murderers and thieves just because we like the thought of Horus rescuing us!"
Yugi knew he was alluding to Bakura but didn't even respond to Shahim's anger. It wouldn't help any of them if he started to explain his actions, and it would only make it more difficult for Shahim when he realized Yugi wasn't the person people had made him believe he was. Sometimes it was simpler to remain clueless as to what people were really like.
"If I were you, I'd leave this room now." Yugi told the council-men instead. "After all, I wouldn't want to get your expensive robes dirty. And once the duel has started, I can't guarantee for what is going to happen." He was glad they really turned around to leave the room, even though it was probably just because they didn't like the sight of somebody being killed and less the thought of their clothes getting dirty. It would be easier for him to get this Oalaola on his side if they weren't in the room to talk against what Yugi had to say.
One of the counselors remained in the room and stepped once again up to Oalaola, opening the chain around his hands, and therefore enabling him to move free. "Just as I promised you, guard; this is high priest Yugi. Remember, the pharaoh will reward you with everything you have ever dreamed of, once you defeated this one. When his holiness is dead, you'll be the one taking up his place again. Nobody will be ranked higher in Horus' favor anymore." The counselor said to Oalaola, and then turned towards Yugi. "It was nice meeting you, high priest. Such a pity we didn't become acquainted better." He laughed cruelly, and then turned around to follow the others into the next room, where they were obviously going to wait for Oalaola to be done.
"You don't honestly believe what they are saying?" Yugi asked once they were alone. Oalaola didn't answer but instead began to attack. Yugi could do nothing else but try to escape his powerful punches. For once his small size came in handy. "Obviously you do believe what they are saying." He stated, once again ducking to evade an attack. He side-stepped and let himself fall onto the ground, rolling out of the way when Oalaola tried to kick him.
He tried to focus on his opponent's eyes, wanting to read Oalaola's mind in hopes of discovering why one of the pharaoh's most respected guards would want to kill him but his opponent's eyes focused on everything else but Yugi's face. It was futile to try to read his mind like this, Yugi noted with a pout, wishing his powers had already developed more.
"Well, let me tell you: the pharaoh will never reward you for killing me." He transported himself to the other side of the room, glad that he had at least managed to control his teleporting powers. Then he thought of why he hadn't simply teleported himself outside of the room, and almost missed Oalaola's next move. Only his instincts from the past saved him from pain. "Never knew I'd ever be grateful to all those bullies that tried to beat me up." He muttered underneath his breath.
"I don't know why you even listen to them." He tried a different approach. "Have they ever been nice to you? Why should you do something that will obviously only make them happy? There is nothing they can give you in return." He dodged another attack, discovering the chain on the ground in the process, and picked it up. There had to be something he could use that for.
"Obviously you're better than them." He continued, sidestepping another time, and watching Oalaola's hand getting embedded into the wall. How somebody could get that strong was a mystery to him. "Otherwise they'd have never asked you for help." He used his magic to wrap the chain around Oalaola's legs. Luckily his opponent didn't pay any attention to something happening around his feet. He was completely focused on Yugi.
"Can you even talk? Don't you have an own opinion?" Yugi asked, trying to sound mocking. In any normal situation he wouldn't have dared challenging somebody as strong as Oalaola unless he had wanted to commit suicide but he trusted his magic, and he hoped the chain around Oalaola's feet would do the rest.
Oalaola charged forward angrily, planning to use his body mass to simply crush Yugi to death. But only after a step he began to stumble, the chain around his legs doing its work, Yugi once again stepped out of the way, watching Oalaola heavily fall to the ground. Then he looked around for something to knock out his opponent but the room was empty.
Yugi carefully stepped away from the warrior once Oalaola tried to get up. His opponent was obviously very angry. He was breathing heavily, whether from exhaustion or from rage Yugi couldn't say for sure. With one motion of his hands Oalaola ripped the chain into pieces.
So much for using that escape route again. Now I can only hope he'll eventually get tired. The floor is made out of stone, so there is no sand to throw. He doesn't need fire to hurt me, as his fists are effective enough, and there isn't any water around. I'm completely helpless. If an idea doesn't hit me soon…
Yugi sighed, and jumped high into the air with the help of some of his magic, evading another one of Oalaola's kicks. But he hadn't expected the warrior to try to punch him at the same time, and only his teleporting powers saved him. He reappeared on the other side of the room, a hand raised to his heart, trying to calm down from the shock. He should have seen it coming. Somebody who had fought for many years on Atemu's side couldn't be completely stupid. Once again he wondered why he hadn't teleported into the safety outside of this room. Usually his powers would have ensured that without him explicitly thinking about it.
He escaped another attack by speeding up his movements but at the same time he knew he wouldn't be able to keep his speed at such high a level. He'd soon be exhausted, years of exercise or not. Then, while throwing the remains of the chain into Oalaola's face, he sensed somebody had put up a barrier to keep him from escaping that room.
So, that's why I didn't automatically teleport outside! Yugi exclaimed inside his mind.Out loud he asked Oalaola: "Why do you even want to be higher in Horus' favor? Aren't you happy the way it is now? He respects you as one of his best warriors, and takes you on his most important missions. What else do you want?" Again, no answer.
Yugi frowned. He felt as if talking to a wall. No matter what he said, Oalaola didn't react to it. At least not outwardly. He should just teleport himself outside. Now that he had realized it had been a barrier that kept him from teleporting outside, it should be child's play to break the spell. After all, only Atemu's and maybe Seth's magic were a match for him. But on the other hand he didn't want to flee from a fight. That would just show everybody that he was really a coward, always needing the pharaoh's help. And he wasn't sure whether Atemu would really let him go to Sakkara after a scene like that.
While sidestepping another series of punches, he scrutinized his opponent, looking for a weak spot he might be able to use. Maybe I should pull down his pants? But I'm not sure I want to see what's underneath it. And he might not even care about it. I could try knocking him out with one of my spells but I'd have to experiment with the strength of it. He is practically a giant; it might not even work the first time I try. And should it work, he could wake up much sooner than anticipated. I simply don't have enough experience with people as big and tall as him.
"Do you really think you can solve every problem by using your fists?" Yugi started up again. "I mean, sure it has worked well for you all this time but can't we just talk about this?" Oalaola reacted by attempting to grasp his arm to keep him in place for his next punch.
"Don't you think it's a little bit unfair…you against me?" Yugi continued, slipping behind Oalaola with a series of quick steps. "I mean it's obvious I'm no great fighter. Don't you have something called fighter's honors? You know: don't hit women or children?" Still no response. But that didn't matter in this case. His words were just supposed to distract his opponent from what Yugi was really up to. Yugi stretched out his foot, anticipating Oalaola's next move to turn around and try to hit him in one motion once again.
The giant tripped over his foot, stumbled a few steps, trying to regain his balance, while Yugi hurriedly stepped out of the way, afraid of getting punched by mistake. That would be just his luck. Evading every attack gracefully and getting hit in the end while his opponent tried to remain standing.
With a loud thudding noise Oalaola fell to the ground, breathing heavily. They were both a little bit exhausted because of their running around. Before Oalaola could get up again, though, the door was blasted open, and in stormed Jono, yelling something about rescuing mission going according to plan C.
Yugi blinked, as Jono stopped in front of him, hair grey from the dust the explosion had generated, telling him in-between heavy breaths: "Sorry…took long … door sealed."
"You came just right moment, Jono!" Yugi smiled, grateful his fight was finally over. And I didn't even have to run away.
Mahado and Shada entered as well, both of them holding their millennium items in front of them. Yugi could make out the faint glimmer that appeared whenever the items were used. They looked at Oalaola, frowning simultaneously. "Why am I not surprised that they used him?" Shada muttered grimly. "Now where is the rest of those cowards?"
"They are in the next room." Isis told the others, gesturing to the door the counselors had disappeared behind only about an hour ago. While Shada and Mahado went to said door to take care of the royal advisors, Isis stopped in front of Yugi, just as Jono had done before.
"I'm glad you are alright, Yugi." She said with a gentle smile. "I was worried about you. But you seemed to handle things quite well…in your own way." She turned to look at Oalaola who was currently dragged out of the room by a heavily panting Jono, who had to stem his whole body against Oalaola's weight to be able to even move him. Apparently the guard had knocked Oalaola out.
"Horus wanted to come as well but I assured him our help would be enough. It's better for all of us if he finally finishes his talk with that southern ambassador." Isis continued, as if having read Yugi's thought. He had wondered why Atemu had not appeared.
"He is beginning to get on my nerves with all this talk about exotic plants and strange spices; If he had thought about bringing some of the things with him on his journey, then he wouldn't need to talk so much about it…but leave it to ambassadors to always forget the most important things." Isis frowned annoyed.
Yugi chuckled amused. He'd never ever heard Isis talk so much. The high priestess was usually pretty quiet. It was comforting to hear her behave like a normal human for once.
"Why don't the two of us leave this place?" Isis suggested. "I'm sure Shada and Mahado can take care of those counselors on their own."
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Atemu had not been pleased by Oalaola's behavior, Yugi recalled while sitting in a coach on his way to Sakkara. He hadn't been allowed to be present when Atemu had announced the former warrior's punishment. The pharaoh hadn't even told Yugi what he had decided on, which meant it had been something really bad, and Atemu had feared Yugi wouldn't agree with it; which probably meant Oalaola was dead by now.
Had it been any other decision, Yugi would have complained about Atemu's lack of trust in him but he understood Atemu's need to punish those that had tried to hurt him. Yami had been like that as well: hardly ever showing mercy to those that had threatened Yugi's well-being unless his hikari was standing right next to him and stopped him. Besides, Yugi had been relieved that the counselors wouldn't be able to bother him anymore, although Shahim had mysteriously disappeared before Shada and Mahado had been able to arrest him. Yugi was quite sure it had been Shahim as well who had put up that barrier that had kept him from teleporting out of the room.
Suddenly Yugi's thoughts were cut short because he felt somebody quickly approaching his carriage. He waited for the guards to detect the stranger but oddly enough they neither shouted nor stopped the carriage. It has to be some kind of priest or magician. Yugi realized, closing his eyes and concentrating stronger on the intruder. Did he know him? Was that stranger planning an attack? In front of his inner eyes he pictured something that always reminded him of a scan of his surroundings. He couldn't see any colors, only variations of black, grey and white, depending on the strength and the character every person had. How he was able to distinctly recognize a person when just sensing his abilities in a weird mix of black and white was a mystery to Yugi but somehow it always worked.
"Bakura!" he realized and only a moment later a shadow appeared on the outside of his carriage. Yugi could see him through the drawn curtains, marveling at how the guards didn't notice his presence. Then, the curtains were pushed open, and the tomb-robber himself entered. Bakura shook out his hair, leaving sand everywhere on the floor.
"What are you doing here?" Yugi exclaimed surprised, watching the other carefully. What was the king of thieves up to? "And how did you get in here without them noticing?" He gestured towards the guards on each side of the carriage. Atemu had forced him to take them along even though he had insisted it wasn't necessary.
"Well…" Bakura sat down on a pillow in front of Yugi, wearing a smug smile. "I am the king of thieves or have you forgotten about that already?"
Yugi rolled his eyes. King of braggarts would suit him better.
"I know of some spells…" Bakura didn't care to elaborate any further, obviously not wanting to share his secrets. "Only that stupid pharaoh-" he ignored Yugi's glare "and apparently you are able to see through my great hiding talents." He frowned slightly, and with some imagination you could have seen a pout forming on his lips.
"You asked me to help you find that princess." Bakura continued when realizing Yugi wasn't going to comment on what he'd said. "And when I finally agreed to assist you in that search, I meant it. That means I'll accompany you to Sakkara. And you won't get rid of me until she is found – dead or alive."
Yugi sighed. "I don't even want to know how you found out I was traveling to Sakkara." Bakura smirked in response.
"But you'll get a lot of problems if Seth or anybody else sees you in Sakkara." Yugi carried on, trying to make Bakura see reason. Atemu would kill them if he found out he'd let Bakura accompany him. Or even worse…he'd be completely disappointed in him.
"Don't worry." Bakura boasted. "Nobody will notice my presence. Besides you, that is. Now stop talking; otherwise your guards might become suspicious."
Yugi would have liked to stick out his tongue at Bakura but refrained from doing so, limiting himself to a pout. He looked outside into the desert once again, ignoring Bakura's subtle tongue-clicking. Obviously the tomb-robber was bored, and now tried to annoy him. But if he was hoping for a reaction, then Yugi would have to disappoint him. After all, Yugi was one of the most patient people that Bakura was probably ever going to meet…even when he wanted to hit the other with something. It wouldn't do him any good anyways, as there were only pillows around. No use to waste precious energy.
He thought back to what Isis had told him about Oalaola once they had left that sticky room where he had more or less successfully fought with the guard. Apparently Oalaola had been one of the pharaoh's highest ranked guards, just as the counselor had informed him at the beginning of their acquaintance. He had been responsible for the pharaoh's safety himself. Atemu had always taken him on his trips into the city and on various more important missions. That had actually been when Yugi had first met Oalaola, although he himself didn't remember. The one time he had accompanied Atemu into the city…or had it been Atemu who had accompanied him? He couldn't really remember anymore… No, he had wanted to get Seth to accompany him but Atemu had gone instead of the high priest… Yes, that was how it had been.
Anyways, Oalaola had been one of the guards that had been supposed to protect Atemu. And when Yugi had been hurt because he had protected Atemu from getting harmed, Oalaola had been made directly responsible for Yugi almost dying. Oalaola had failed doing his job; and Atemu had degraded him from head guard to a common guard as punishment. And even so, Oalaola had been lucky. If Yugi remembered correctly, Atemu had ordered the rest of the guards to be beheaded. At least Jono had told him so back then. The former head-guard probably blamed him for that as well. It is after all much easier to blame somebody else than to blame yourself, Yugi thought with a sigh.
Yugi had just taken out some of the notes he'd scribbled on one of the papyrus scrolls in hopes of finally getting the prayer for the New Year Ceremony done when he suddenly felt very uncomfortable. It took him a few minutes to fully register what he didn't like; at first he'd thought Bakura was trying something funny. Then he realized it was the aura of the city they were coming close to. I suppose we're almost there.
He had never felt so much dark energy in one place before. The hair on the back of his neck rose as he shivered involuntarily. That definitely wasn't a good sign. Now he almost wished Atemu had accompanied him. Bakura looked paler than usually as well, signaling Yugi that he felt it too even though he pretended not to notice anything.
Then, just as suddenly as he had felt it, the dark aura was gone again as if it had just been turned off. Yugi sighed relieved, although a frown signaled he was trying to figure out where all the dark energy had gone off to.
"They probably performed a ritual." Bakura informed him.
"Hmm?"
"You can only feel so much dark energy at one place when somebody is performing a ritual to call upon the dark gods." Bakura explained. "I've been at rituals like that before…they are never pretty. Always involve killing people and sacrificing things you like. Just like the former pharaoh did when he created the millennium items..."
Yugi opened his mouth, wanting to defend his pharaoh but he closed it again when realizing he didn't know how. Bakura could be right, after all. He couldn't say for sure how the millennium items had been created. And a lot of people had been killed to create them.
"I just hope Seth is still alright." He muttered, looking outside through the curtains thoughtfully and slightly worried. If the high priest had been here all the time, then he surely had felt the dark energy as well. Who knew how often rituals like that were performed… What if they had killed Seth and sacrificed him to their dark gods? He could only hope that either Seth was too strong for them to openly attack him or that they didn't want to risk being found out by their pharaoh, and therefore didn't even try harming Seth.
"Don't worry. I've tried to kill him several times and never succeeded. He's fine." Bakura said.
"Hmpf."
Yugi could make out buildings outside of the carriage. Everything looked normal as though nothing had happened just a few moments before. But they had probably not even felt anything, and had therefore no reason to behave differently.
"Your holiness!" one of the guards called out to him from outside.
"Yes?" Yugi asked, throwing Bakura a warning glare when he heard the tomb-robber's sniggering.
"We're almost there." The guard informed him dutifully.
Bakura rolled his eyes. As if they hadn't been able to tell that on their own.
"Thank you, Shibou." Yugi said, "please let me know once we're in front of the temple."
"Of course, your holiness."
"You should try to get out now and hide somewhere in the city." Yugi told Bakura. "Seth will be waiting for me at the entrance of the temple. He will sense you. And you're no help to me if you're dead."
"How nice of you to worry so much about my well-being." Bakura said mockingly, and then disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing but smoke behind.
Yugi rolled his eyes. "What a show-off."
"What?! Did you say something, your holiness?!" One of the guards yelled.
"No, no! I didn't say anything. You must have imagined it." Yugi told them.
- To be continued -
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Sorry, no Seth after all in this chapter.
I'm not a hundred percent sure what I'm going to write in the next chapter but if everything goes according to my plan (that I thought of just recently) it should explain some things about Bakura. And perhaps Yugi will finally find Teana's sister.
Does anybody know the name of the demon/god that Bakura is at the end of the anime series? I can't remember.