Another chapter! Like I said, things are picking up slightly more. Hopefully if there were any surprises, they were good ones! I try to foreshadow everything, but sometimes it is more in my head than on paper. Still, enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Four:
The boy kept his face carefully neutral as he listened to Mahad enthuse about his most recent summons to talk to 'Lord Ra'. After hearing his Father's words, the boy knew he would need to act as though nothing was wrong, no matter how hard it was to hear his friend talk about the false god. Mana, sitting nearby, rolled her eyes.
"Okay, that's enough Master Mahad! I was there too, and I can assure you that there are thousands of more interesting things we could be doing right now than discussing the new spells he was showing you."
Mahad turned red. "Mana!" he began, reprimandingly, but was quickly interrupted.
"Yeah yeah. Mind my tongue and what not." Mana commented, rolling her eyes. Despite himself, the boy grinned. He knew Mana had likely heard that same lecture multiple times, and not just from Mahad. He blinked, however, when said magician suddenly turned her attention towards him.
"And what about you, Prince? You've been really quiet all morning."
Blushing the boy shrugged. Although he was worried about what he had overheard nearly a month ago, the chance to spend time with his friends made up for that. Mahad's eyes turned towards him as well, curious. "Mana is right, my Prince. Is everything all right? You're not sick, are you?"
The boy hesitated, torn between not voicing his father's plans and informing his friends of the upcoming trouble. Before he could respond, however, the boy was interrupted by the sound of footsteps entering the garden. Turning, he acknowledged the guard's presence.
"Is there news from my Father?" he asked, curious as to why the guard would interrupt them.
"Excuse me, Prince. Your Father wishes your presence as well as that of master Mahad in Court."
Blinking, Mahad frowned. "Court? I was unaware that we were meeting today."
Nodding, the guard turned to escort them. "It is apparently an emergency meeting. That is all I was informed to tell you."
The boy fell into line behind Mahad, glancing over his shoulder and managing a small smile and wave for Mana. He didn't want her to worry…
As they entered the throne room, the boy immediately moved to his father's side. Turning, he glanced around at the various court members. Much to his surprise, all of the guardians in training were also present, including Shada, Isis, and Karim. A sinking feeling suddenly came over him, and he knew what was about to happen.
His Father glanced around, nodding once he saw that everyone was there. "As you know, my son will come of age in a few weeks. Unfortunately, this is not the occasion for celebration I had hoped it would be."
The boy noticed quite a few raised eyebrows as his Father continued. "Since my son was only four seasons old, "Lord Ra" has demanded that I sacrifice my only child to be a vessel for the "gods". I was able to hold him off until now, however when my son comes of age he will have no reason to hold back. My son would be able to take the throne should… anything happen to me."
The boy shifted uncomfortably, disliking his father's implication. Judging by the murmuring amongst the Court members, they were also uncomfortable. Auset, the elderly priestess of the Millennium Necklace, spoke.
"Surely one of the Gods would never do such a thing…" she commented, one hand moving to her Item even as a worried look crossed her face.
Akhenaden stepped forward, shaking his head. "I was there when "Lord Ra" demanded my nephew as price for keeping this country and its people safe. Not long after that, he granted us the Millennium Items."
Nodding, the boy's father spoke once more. "It has taken us a few moons, but we have finally contacted the groups rebelling against the false gods. We are meeting today because the false gods have gone to join the fight against the northern rebels; including 'Lord Ra'. This meeting was called the minute he left. Tomorrow, we will declare war against the false gods and drive them away from our world. I would like to hear your thoughts. If any of you do not wish to participate, I will understand. However, you will be asked to leave the planning sessions."
The Guardians looked at each other, and the boy also watched their expressions. They ranged from disbelief to resolution. Finally, Seto spoke.
"We will follow you, my Pharaoh. Even against Lord Ra." The High Priest stood tall, and his confidence seemed to spread among the Guardians until each was discussing plans of attack and defense. The boy felt a wave of relief and pride. Together, with his Father's leadership, he was certain that they could defeat the false gods.
Yami sat up abruptly as a second knock sounded. Blinking, he realized that he must have fallen asleep while waiting for Mahad to arrive. He hurriedly moved over to the door, biting back a yelp as he kicked something hard. When he opened the door, Mahad blinked at his disheveled appearance.
"Ummm… Excuse me, I can return tomorrow." He began, but Yami shook his head, interrupting.
"No, it's just jet lag. Please come in." Moving aside so Mahad could enter, Yami managed to bite back a yawn. The jet lag was worse than he remembered from his first trip to America, but he supposed he hadn't been crossing time zones so frequently before that trip.
"Sorry Mahad. I must have dozed off after dinner." Yami managed a slight grin before remembering what he had wanted to talk to Mahad about. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure how to bring up the subject now that his friend was here.
"Ahhh… Mahad, what exactly happened with Marik? Seto won't tell me and kept avoiding the subject when I tried to bring it up on the plane back." he finally asked, scrambling slightly for a different topic.
Mahad shifted uncomfortably. "Well… Seto would kill me if he found out I was telling you this…"
Yami blinked, about to tell Mahad that he didn't want his friend to tell him if it would get him in trouble when the other man continued speaking.
"Somehow you were able to tap into the power of the Millennium Puzzle. The wielders of the Millennium items are granted the ability to use a power known as Shadow Magic. You were able to summon… summon a shadow creature from the shadow realm to protect you."
Yami blinked, hazy images appearing in his mind and vanishing just as quickly. "So I used… magic?" he asked, voice doubtful despite his best efforts to control it.
Mahad nodded. "Yes, and I believe that we should be able to teach you how to control your power and complete a summons without using too much of your ba."
Yami listened with wonder, excited by the prospect even if he understood little of what Mahad was saying. Finally, though, the opening came for his true question and, with some hesitance, he took it.
"…Mahad, there was something else I wanted to know. The real reason I asked you here is because of…" Yami steeled himself, taking a deep breath. "I've been having these dreams recently. The thing is, they're not like normal dreams; it's as though I'm seeing… I don't know, a story of someone else's life, only I am the person. I feel what they do, know what they know, and all of it seems familiar. You're in it, as are Mana, Seto, and the rest the Court. I just… I don't know what I was expecting to happen if I told you… I guess I thought you might be able to explain it to me."
Glancing up, Yami blinked in confusion. Mahad was staring at him, skin paler than usual with a look on his face that was a cross between hopeful and an expression of someone seeing a ghost.
Silence reined before Mahad finally managed to pull himself together. Swallowing, the mage spoke, "Can you tell me about one of them?"
Yami nodded, giving Mahad the details of the most recent dream. If anything, Mahad looked almost worse than he had before, slowly sinking onto Yami's bed. After a few minutes of silence, Yami finally spoke again. "Are you okay, Mahad?"
Mahad slowly nodded. "…Yami… Would it be okay if I were to discuss this with the others before telling you what… what I think about these dreams?"
Nodding once again, Yami stood up, seeing the other to the door. As soon as Mahad had gone, he flopped back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Addressing the bare wall above him, Yami commented dryly, "Well… That wasn't quite the response I'd hoped for…" With a sigh he rolled back over. Sleep came quickly, despite the nervous energy still coursing through him.
Seto shot up as he heard a sudden commotion outside of his door. Glancing down at Kisara, he was relieved to see that his sudden motion hadn't woken her up. Gently extracting himself from being her impromptu pillow, he headed for the door, murderous thoughts foremost in his mind. Those faded away, however, when he saw the scene outside.
Mahad was babbling excitedly to the few members of the Court who had emerged from their rooms, none of whom were able to understand him due to the speed at which the mage was speaking. Seto interrupted after a few minutes of silent enjoyment at the sight of Mahad making a fool out of himself.
"No one can understand you, Mahad, unless you slow down and start over." He commented coldly, a swell of pride rising up in him as the mage gulped, apparently having missed Seto's entrance. He soon recovered, and began talking in a slower manner, although his excitement was still evident.
"It's the Pharaoh… I mean Yami. He's our Pharaoh… I don't know how Osiris allowed our king to leave the afterlife and be reborn, but he is too similar to our king for it to be a coincidence. He is also starting to remember the past. He was telling me about his dreams, and I am certain that they are visions of the past, much like Isis is able to see using the Millennium Necklace."
Mahad continued speaking, however Seto tuned him out to watch the expressions of those around him. They ranged from discomfort to incredulity and almost every expression in between. Finally, when Mahad stopped to gasp for air, Seto interrupted.
"Kisara is also certain that he is the Pharaoh reborn." Seto stated bluntly, eyes daring anyone to question her word.
Silence fell over the group before Isis spoke. "This complicates things, Seto. If he is our Pharaoh reborn, then things have changed. We must protect him, especially if any of the false gods discovers who he is."
Nodding, Seto turned back towards Mahad, who was staring at him with a fish eyed look. "What else did you tell him, Mahad?" he demanded, certain that the magician had let something leak.
"I… he asked about Marik and I told him about Shadow Magic, but… I don't understand… How did you know he was… and you didn't tell us?" Mahad's voice turned accusing, and more pairs of eyes then his met Seto's.
Frowning, Seto shrugged. "I had no proof, and Kisara only just told me." Keeping his face straight despite the outright lie, he shot Mahad a glare. "Besides… we had agreed not to mention that he could use Shadow Magic to him."
Surprisingly, Mahad glared back. "Well, I think he deserves to learn how to protect himself." The mage's eyes continued to meet Seto's until the mage turned, stalking off towards his quarters. Inwardly, Seto raised his eyebrows. So… Mahad had grown a backbone. Then again, matters dealing with the Pharaoh had generally caused the usually meek mage to turn to steel.
Looking around at the rest of the group, Seto mentally sighed. There was no chance of keeping this to themselves… Knowing Mana, everyone would know within the day.
Turning, Seto started back for his room. Well, he should probably be the one to tell Yami. Anyone else and it would probably be unintelligible. Besides, he told himself, a very small part of him wanted to be there when he told the boy to see if there were any signs of recognition.
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