A CEO Scorned.
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WildEm: Title being Ancient Egyptian for 'You are Peseshet reincarnated' again, I watch far too much of TMR.
Atem: You got that right.
Seto: Oh shut up!
WildEm: That's enough!!! Both of you!!! Now, courtesy of Isis the Sphinx, I have someone to come and stop you bickering and driving me more insane than I already am.
Atem: Please tell me it isn't Seth!!!
WildEm: Actually, for once, no, it is... Ta-duh-dah: Yugi!!!
Yugi: (enters) Hi guys.
WildEm: Thanks Isis. Great idea. Okay Yugi, you think you can get these guys to stop going at each others' throats while I write the chapter?
Yugi: Sure thing.
WildEm: You are my lifesaver. Oh, and there will be more SxS action in the next chapter, I know they're sort of on hold at the moment, but I promise, spotlight goes back to them in a bit. I'm not gonna be able to post any more chapters for a little while, I'm going away for a week, I'm taking my laptop but because my wireless connection is on a BT HomeHub I won't be able to get the net. I'll still be writing though, and It'd be great if my inbox had loads of reviews when I get back!!! I'll put chapter 10 up hopefully on Friday/Saturday. I'm going away for a national competition, so wish me luck guys!!! See you Friday!!!
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Yanakh Peseshet sima sesin sa sinu tu.
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"So..." Yugi began, handing Péséraelle a hot chocolate, "What were you saying about these dreams?"
Once again, Seto found himself back in Yugi's living room, with the rest of Yugi's friends, leaning against the wall next to the window. The rain was pouring down outside, and it was absolutely tipping it down. He was surprised that the killer raindrops didn't break through the window. He could feel the cold from outside coming in from the window, but on the other hand, the radiator beaneath the window was on full whack and the sensation of both hot and cold made him shiver. He wanted nothing more than to sink to the floor by the radiator and curl up and sleep...
But he would die before thinking about it here.
Péséraelle was wrapped in a blanket at the centre of the three-seater sofa, with Yugi on her right, and Elizaveta on her left. Since Pegasus' death, Seto and Mokuba had invited her to come and live with them, as she would be lonely in Pegasus' mansion, although he hadn't gotten away with it for the first few weeks without regular visits from Kimo and Croquet. After the first few weeks, he had told them, quite simply, that if he saw them near his property again, he would let his guards shoot them.
Surprisingly, they hadn't called around since.
Atem, Joey and Serenity were sitting in armchairs opposite Seto, Mokuba was perching on a footrest near Serenity and Téa, Tristan and Duke were sitting on beanbags on the floor. Péséraelle took a deep breath. He was beginning to get the impression that this woman was a real know-it-all. Clever, oh yes, very, and not so afraid of subtlely telling other people so, either.
"Merci, and, I, I don't really know, it's like I keep having weird moments where I'm somebody else, only for a second or two when I'm awake, but for longer when I sleep, and it's really starting to freak me out, I mean, I thought it was just the PVS playing tricks on me, but I really don't know. I'm having a few blank spots as well, where I'm conscious, but when I look back, I just can't remember what I was doing, these are usually around the times I go all other-person-y, so my guess would be that I'm actually in this other-person-y thing for longer than I'm consciously aware of, so that might indicate that my brain is..."
Yusi stared wide-eyed. "Woah!!! Slow down a minute, can you remember, what the content of these 'other-person-y' moments is?"
Péséraelle gripped her mug gently and raised in to her lips and taking a sip again before speaking, shaking her head from side to side as if she really didn't want to tell them this. "I can see this, this man..."
Atem perked up at this, uncrossing his legs, he leant forward with an inquisitive look on his face. Seto looked disinterested, but, despite the appearance, he was listening.
She narrowed her eyes a tiny bit, trying ot recall the image. "He smiles at me, and tells me that he's sorry and that he loves me, and he reaches out to me, but can't reach. Everytime I dream it though it's like he seems to get closer though. He tells me his name but I forget it as soon as I wake up."
"What does he look like?"
Everyone in the room turned their heads to look at Atem, as serious as ever, leaning forward even more and putting his elbow over his knee, letting his hand casually grasp his chin. She looked to the side for a moment, before back at Atem.
"About 5ft11, I think, um... Chestnut hair, I think, he wears this sort of hat..." she motioned over her head with her left hand, "Tanned skin, and, the most gorgeous lilac-coloured eyes... Am I ranting?"
"Are ya sure 'e's not jus' ya dream man or somethin' like 'dat?"
Péséraelle frowned and Serenity smacked Joey over the head. "Joey!"
"Ouch, what? Geez Ren 'dat hurt!"
"Ren..."Seto mused. It suited her. It had a clear, strong ring to it but at the same time it was beautiful, and gentle on the ears. Seto almost began to smile at her, but stopped himself quickly. He still wasn't entirely sure if he had Joey's blessing yet, infact, he was sure that he didn't have Joey's blessing, and the last thing anybody wanted at the moment was for the mutt to go off on one of his rants. Although being so near her and not being able to talk to her touch her, or even soften his gaze for her was driving him insane. That fluffy feeling was back...
"Would you think before you opened your mouth?" she mock-scolded.
...Oh gods... It was back with a vengence. He began to gaze at her when he thought he could, and once, their eyes locked for a split second, and during that split second, both of them felt happier than they had ever felt before. Seto's heart thumped in his chest so loudly that he was worried the others might hear it, and he had to hold his breath so as to starve himself of the oxygen that allow him to show any more of his feelings.
"No, you aren't." Atem smiled, as Yugi's eyes wavered to the clock, which read nine thirty.
"Hey, do you guys wanna stay for dinner?" Yugi pipped up.
"Eh, sorry Yug, Me and Ren 'ave gotta go, it's gettin' kinda late." said Joey, proceeding to give a massive yawn.
"Yeah..." said Téa slowly, "I guess we oughta go."
"Yeah, it was great meeting you, Péséraelle."
She nodded and Yugi grinned. "Safe journey back okay guys?"
Joey waved his hand. "Ah shuddup Yug."
Seto took his weight off the wall. "Let's go, Mokuba."
"Ahhhhhh Commmmming..." he yawned, before getting off the footrest and walking to his brother's side.
"Kaiba, may I talk with you out the front for a minute?"
"No."
"A minute, literally."
Seto grunted. "Whatever."
Atem heaved himself up from his chair and followed the CEO into the shop part of the building, where he closed the door behind them and folded his arms.
"So you recognise her?" he asked.
"Why should I?"
"She obviously knows us." Atem said, "She recognised us when we went to see her remember? Atem? Seth? Remember?"
"Yes."
"So now do you recognise her, Seth?"
Seto flinched at the name. "Will you make up your mind what you're going to call me Atem because I'm sick of all this alternate life hypocrisy."
"She was the physician, in the Infirmary, Seth. And Mahado's childhood rival and later love. Can you remember teasing him about it, as he teased you about Kisara?"
"Don't call me Seth!!!"
"She was the attending physician when I went down with the fever that time. Can't you remember her, Seth?"
"I said don't call me Seth!!!!" he yelled, clasping his temples with a sudden dizziness that had come over him. It felt like he was descending into a state of complete calmness and tranquility. And he didn't like it one bit. A picture of an Ancient Egyptian Péséraelle was forming in his mind, as well as one of Mahado.
"You do, don't you, cousin?"
"I'm not your cousin!!!"
"Seth listen..."
"Stop it!!!"
Seto hmmed very softly as he went into a phased-out sort of trance, letting his head fall forward onto his chest. The eyes that Atem saw looking up from under his chocolate-brown fringe were different, less cold, and they seemed deeper, more mysterious, yet more genuine. They blinked and his breathing became slower.
"That is why Mahado would not attack her." he said, in a voice that was calmer than usual, "The power of his emotions was stronger than the power he used to lock himself in that tablet."
Atem smiled. "I knew you would remember."
"Let us not be the pot calling the kettle black, my cousin. You yourself were unaware of this until a few hours ago."
Atem gasped. "How did you..."
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again Atem saw a flicker of blue light. "Your mind is easier to read than an unrolled papyrus." he chuckled, "Elizaveta and my hikari are planning to set Destiny back on course by reviving Mahado - I believe that modern technologia makes up for the absence of a spirit. This was meant to happen. Peseshet woke up before Kaiba embarked on this assignment." his eyes narrowed, and he began to raise his hands to his head again, "I think you know very well where this shall go."
He began to massage his temples again, and screwed his eyes tight. Atem felt a pang of sadness as the aspect of Seto that was his cousin faded... The cousin that had taught him almost everything he needed to know, taunted him into managing impossible feats, challenged him and had been a confident with whom he had discussed his innermost demons and problems, ranging from Court problems to courting problems.
Seto groaned as the ringing in his ears gradually stopped, his eyes returning to their normal state. Atem smiled again.
"Thank you. I think Mokuba's waiting. Safe journey and a good night, Kaiba."
A little voice in the back of his head whispering, "...my cousin..."
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"Are you sure you wanna do this today? You look knackered."
"That's one word for it." Seto said as he laid the Millennium Ring and the Millennium Rod down on the table. He hadn't touched the thing since Yugi had given it to him, and there were no signs of anything creepy... Yet...
Being a total insomniac didn't help. He had barely slept at all last night, and all hope that Elizaveta might not have noticed this had gone down the drain a long time ago.
"Okay, do we have a spell?"
"I'm just trying to find it. Go over to Yugi's, get Péséraelle, and ask Yugi for his Dark Magician card."
"And what if he wants to come too?"
"Tell him to sod off!!!"
Elizaveta smirked and orbed out, leaving Seto rummaging through his stuff for the spell he had used with his yami in Egypt... Honestly, where the Hell did he put that thing?
Seto passed a few painfully slow minutes by tweaking the wording on the spell a little, before Elizaveta orbed back in with Péséraelle, who jumped and shrieked, not being used to orbing.
"Mon dieu..." she exclaimed.
"Hi there!" She shrieked again and fell over backwards as Nina padded up to her and offered her a paw to shake, "I'm Nina, pleased to meet you!"
"Urgh, ça c'est trop bizarre!" she said, before extending her arm tentatively, "I'm Péséraelle."
"I've heard so much about you dear. Alright, come with me and we'll get ourselves a nice cup of tea, Master Seto and Mistress Elizaveta have a little something to take care of. Come with me." Nina waited for the bewildered woman to heave herself to her feet before leading her out of the room, just as Seto pulled the scrap piece of paper with the spell on it out of the Book of the Dead.
"You got it?" Elizaveta asked, surprisingly happy for nine o' clock in the morning.
"Yep. Get your arse over here...
We call upon the Magics great,
The Seven Bright Shiners,
The Nineth and Eighth,
To beckon one,
Return to the Sun,
And undo,
What can't be undone,
To right a wrong of flawèd Fate,
Retrieve one from the furthest Gate,
And from his prison,
His soul seperate."
The Dark Magician card on the Ring began to glow and vibrate, shaking as if it were a petrified creature that was about to be stamped on. The Ring began to shine too, making Elizaveta crumple the piece of paper with the spell on in her palms. Suddenly, purple light exploded from the image on the card, forcing both teenagers to cover their eyes to prevent themselves from being blinded.
As the light faded, Seto's jaw dropped as an image of the Dark Magician appeared - but there was no simulator in his living room!!! The Dark Magician's face was one of confusion. The light exploded again, engulfing the spellcaster completely. The smell of Magic in the air suddenly got stronger - Seto briefly wondered if the maids would be able to get it out of the furniture of not, but just as quickly dismissed the thought, classing it as slightly badly timed. The light seemed to be winding and snaking itself around the Dark Magician's body like a million tiny golden threads, and his eyes shot open as if someone had just stabbed him in the gut and he seemed to be in a state of something that looked very like pain. Elizaveta covered her mouth and Seto narrowed his eyes - Duel Monsters couldn't feel pain - but this one was different.
This one had always been different. There was a reason that Yugi and Atem were so fond of him. Him. Not it.
Seto swore out loud as a circular beam of light erupted from the Dark Magician and knocked them off their feet, shattering all the windows into thousends of tiny shards which fell like hailstones onto the furniture beneath them. Seto hit the ground with a painful thud, as did Elizaveta. He groaned and sat up, just in time to see Nina slide back aruond the door and take cover behind an armchair. The light was beginning to fade, but the Dark Magician had apparently stood for a second, before falling to the floor and was lying on his side having collapsed almost dead, still shrouded in a layer of power. That too, gradually faded, but the Dark Magician had changed.
He was wearing garments not unsimilar to what Seto's own past incarnation wore, and he could have been no older than twenty-five, a strand of chesnut hair was visible inside his bizarre headdress. Seto's look of confusion turned to one of horror, as he saw that two deep slashes plagued his body - one running from the front of his right shoulder to his stomach, and one running from the left side of his chest to under his ribs on that side. And they were deep. Elizaveta gasped as crimson red blood leaked from the wounds and pooled on the carpet underneath him.
His eyes were screwed shut in agony, his breath stinted and his body shuddering. He crossed his arms across his torso, and tried to bring his knees up in an attempt to stop the pouring blood, but his muscles seized and jaw dropped, stifling a cry as incredible pain seared through him.
"What are you waiting for? Heal him!!!" Nina bellowed, making both teenagers jump and snap back into reality. They pushed their way through arm chairs and dropped to their knees beside him.
"Come on... Come on!!!" Elizaveta said under her breath as the gash she had slowly sealed up under the golden healing glow from her hands, the tear in his tunic repairing itself too. Seto finished his too, and rolled the former Dark Magician onto his back, sighing in relief that the blood was no longer there either. Slowly, lilac eyes opened, seemingly in awe that the excruciating pain was no longer there. He sat up very suddenly, and he looked at the palms of his hands in disbelief, his jaw dropping as he turned them over. He looked up, left, and then right.
"Seth? Where... Where am I?"
Seto suddenly felt a weird sense of dèja vu, and before he had time to think, his mouth opened. "Iiwy em hotep, Mahado."
'Mahado' looked at Seto, taking in his modern attire and paler skin.
"Yanakh Seth sima sesin sa sinu whe."
Mahado's eyes widened like saucers. "Yasut?"
"Tieu."
"What happened? I... I..."
"We changed Fate." Seto explained, "We expelled the Bakura, and that way you were able to be brought back."
Mahado's eyes searched Seto's for answers. "You are Seth's reincarnation?"
Seto sighed. "I am Seth, in every dimension except time. My name is Seto Kaiba."
"Then you are also an Abhorsen?" he asked, "How far into the future are we?"
"Yes, to the first. As for the second: Five thousend years, give or take a century."
"What???!!!" Mahado exclaimed. Seto and Elizaveta jumped as one of the destroyed tables suddenly burst into bright purple flames. The magician, and apparently, from the look of the flames, Charter Mage, looked around, muttered an apology, and with a wave of a hand, the flames died as quickly as they were born.
Elizaveta looked at him with narrowed eyes - the eyeliner that boldened and framed his lilac eyes and the shape of his cheeks, the bronzed skin and the toned body - he was very handsome.
"Why did you do it Mahado?"
Everybody looked around to see a very ornately dressed High Priest standing in the room, translucent, as all ghosts were. His attire was the same as it had been 5000 years ago, his expression all too familiar.
"How did you get here?" Seto demanded, but Seth ignored him.
"It was the only way to seal Bakura's Ka." he said simply, and Seth raised one eyebrow, a tiny fraction.
"I know the vision you had that night, Mahado." he said to his friend, "Egypt was not in that great a threat from Bakura, he was just pushing it too far with Atem's father. It could have waited until the morning, at least. So why did you drag yourself out to a battle in the middle of the night, when you were not on your best form?"
"It could not wait..."
"You knew Bakura and Zork's strategy before any of us did." Seth said, taking a few steps towards closer to the three, "You knew that the Court's weakness was not in any physical, mental or magical breach. It was in an emotional one. You knew Bakura planned to get to you in the same way that he got to me, by leading Zork to Akunadin. You knew you could not let it happen."
Mahado's eyes fell to the floor for a second, before they slipped shut, in something that ressembled shame.
"You saw her die didn't you, in Bakura's bid to weaken you." Seth sighed, "I have felt the same."
A lone tear ran down Mahado's right cheek, and Seth's expression became softer, his eyes large and forgiving.
"You loved her." he said, "You still do."
"She died not long after I." Mahado said, "I still could not prevent..."
"I know. It bit us both on the backsides, huh?"
"Wait, back up, I thought we brought everyone back to Life..." said Seto warily.
"Yes we did, but apparently the effect wore off." said Seth somewhat sadly his untidier bangs falling over his eyes. Seto didn't push the subject, it was obviously a tender one.
Normally, Mahado would have snorted, but he bit his lip tenderly. "I had to choose..." he said, referring to the duel in which he had fought his master with every fibre of his being so as not to hurt her.
"You did the right thing." said Elizaveta.
"Time comes around, Mahado." Seth reminded, a hint of hope in his usually serious voice.
Mahado was quiet for a few seconds, before speaking again. "I want to see her."
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WildEm: Review people!
Ancient Egyptian dialogue:
Seto: I am Seth reincarnated.
Mahado: Truly?
Seto: Yes.