DISCLAIMER: Welcome! I am Nuin and I will be your guide as we embark on this wondrous tour of Yugi-Oh and Yaoi-land. Now remember that feeding and petting the characters is forbidden at all times. I do not wish for them to run off with any of you, which would result in disabling me from writing the rest of the story. Please keep your arms and legs inside the moving vehicle as I do not wish to receive any lawsuits containing dismemberment of tour-guests. Also may I make you aware of the fact that I do not own anything besides the plot. Thank you.
WARNING: May I also kindly remind you that this story is in fact a Yaoi-story. Which means lovers of the same gender. Anyone with restrictions against this form of love is asked to please leave the premises as it will probably upset the characters. Now if you'll please turn to your right, I believe that we are in for a treat as the characters begin on a new story.
NOTIFICATION: This is the sequel to 'Born to Servitude'. Though 'Rebirth of The Damned' can be read standing alone, it would help in the understanding of the relations between the characters, if you were to read 'Born to Servitude' first. If you want other additional reading 'Revenge Is Best Served With A Pinch Of Insanity' and 'You Want What?' are one-shots following after the events that take place in 'Born to Servitude' and before 'Rebirth of The Damned'.
FanFicFanGurl101: I think Marik no Yami is quite cute, in his own insane way, though he is definitely evolving and growing up, from petulant child he was to almost an adult. Lol.
Pennypigeon: Thank you. Updates are slow, yes. School, work, writer's block, muse running away, etc. all contributing to the slow updates…sorry.
PlAiN-ahsie-SiMpLe: Yeeeeees, development of Marik and Yami no Marik….
S'Star: I have continued…albeit slowly, but steadily, when the muse cooperated.
The Anibee: I do love my Marik and Bakura. Lol. The latter make things so much fun.
Rebirth of The Damned
By Nuin
26. A Greater Power
It didn't take long for the group, which had volunteered to bring back the stone tablet, to come to the conclusion that it would be more difficult than they first had assumed. The most troublesome issue was that the stone tablet weighed more than any of them could lift alone and even working together with all five of them heaving it at the same time, they had to take several breaks just to catch their breath. Another thing that caused them trouble was the looks and stares they got from the visitors and staff of the museum alike. If Marik hadn't chosen to come along, they might not even have been allowed to take the tablet thus far.
However it wasn't until Isis' secretary came running after them that they felt like idiots.
"What are you doing?" The young woman practically screeched causing them to wince at the piercing sound.
"Carrying this heavy block of stone out to our car?" Jou smiled nervously.
The secretary sighed. "Men." She looked at them and then the stone tablet. "It cannot leave the museum. When I said that you could have the text, since your sister said you were allowed to, Ishtar-san, I meant that you could have the transcribed text. Here." She thrust a bunch of papers at Marik. "Your sister wrote the text down, easier to handle than a large stone block." She snorted as the four young men stared at her.
"Really, trying to lug of with something like that -" She pointed at the tablet. "-when you can have those." She turned to look at the papers now being held by Yami as he had taken them from Marik and had begun reading through them, she rolled her eyes. "It will have to be taken back to Ishtar-sama's office, she usually keeps it in the large vault in there." The secretary hid a smirk at the horrified looks on the boys' faces. "Don't worry, I'll get the staff to bring it back upstairs."
They all heaved a deep breath of relief, then smiled briefly before thanking her and walking out of the entrance doors, quite thankful that they wouldn't have to haul the stone tablet all the way home to Yugi's house. Instead they only had to carry five pieces of paper, though they were just as important.
Five heads were bent over the table in the centre of the Mouto living room. Heaps of paper were scattered all over the wooden piece of furniture covering the surface in white. Each of the five were scribbling furiously, scratching their head or reading what was on the paper in front of them.
Yami Bakura reached over a bunch of papers, his long pale fingers slipped around a glass of water and brought it to his mouth gulping down the soothingly cool liquid. Replacing the glass on the table, he glared down at the text in front of him. It couldn't be true. This couldn't be what was expected of them to do. It was ludicrous and if it were true, they needed all of it at the same place at the same time. He stumbled over the thought, so much power gathered at one place and it could be so easy to take it.
He cast a glance over his near copy, Ryou was laughing along with the others, who didn't know how to translate the ancient text. Yami Bakura lips edged into a small content smile, well that made his mind up. He had fallen. His greatest care was no longer to get revenge on the Pharaoh, it hadn't been for a while now. Yami Bakura wouldn't try and gather the seven golden items for himself. Though he was still searching for a way to give the spirits of his birth town their eternal rest, he no longer hated the Pharaoh and his priest…hell, he was one of those priests now, one could say.
No, his greatest care in the world was to make his light happy. Gods above! He was turning into such a weakling. But it felt good for some reason. It warmed his heart, something he was sure hadn't happened since he had been a child in Kuru Eruna.
Brushing a lock of white hair out of his eyes, Yami Bakura turned his attention once again back to the text in front of him. The piece he was translating only stated that they would need to gather a great power, something greater than anything else on the planet. Though what this power was, it didn't say. He grumbled in frustration. Damn these cryptic scribes and their texts. It would be somewhat more helpful if they for once actually wrote what things really were instead of using words such as 'a greater power than that of the Gods above' or 'gather the souls of the worthy'. Yami Bakura let his head fall onto the table with a soft thud and a groan.
"Tomb Robber? Is everything all right?"
Yami Bakura raised his head slightly and looked at the speaker, then let his forehead met the table surface again. "Just fine. Everything is great, Atemu." The white haired thief sighed, then continued, his voice muffled by the spill of his hair falling over his shoulders and into his face. "This is screwed up. You know that?"
"What do you mean?" Yami tilted his head, confusion evident in his blood red eyes as he put down the piece of paper he had been translating.
"Everything. We're looking for clues in dusty old annals about a battle that took place before you were even born. They're cryptic and I don't understand any of it." Yami Bakura growled. "We need some kind of power that's greater than anything on earth and where the hell are we going to find something like that?"
"Do not snap at me, Tomb Robber! It is not my fault!" Yami glared at him. "We just need to translate all of this, then piece it together to a whole. It will probably make more sense once we have."
"From my point of view, none of this makes sense." Jou commented and held up his sheets of paper, looking at them with squinted eyes. "I'm not even sure that I've translated this right. So if we do get it pieced together, it still won't make sense."
Seth glanced over the proffered papers in Jou's hand, then snatched them from the blond. He quickly let his eyes run over the words, comparing them to the original text. His eyebrows creased as he studied the meaning. "Jou, this is correctly translated." Seth smiled softly at the young man.
"Yeah?" Jou asked hopefully, his eyes lighting up with undisguised pride.
The former priest nodded and handed the papers back to their owner, giving Jou a satisfied smile for a job well done. "You did well." Then Seth turned his attention back to his own translating, putting the finishing touches to his work.
The moment Yami Bakura had translated the rest of his assigned text, he threw the sheets on the middle of the table and rose from his seat. "There. I need to go out. Do with that what you will." He pointed at the bunch of paper he had thrown and left the room, fumbling with something in his pockets.
When he got out onto the street, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Sticking one in his mouth he lit it up and puffed a few times, savouring the taste and rush of nicotine into his body, calming him down.
"Since when do you smoke?"
Yami Bakura glanced out of the corner of his eyes at the owner of the voice. He removed the cigarette from his mouth and blew out the smoke. "Whenever I feel like it, Ryou." He snapped, as he flicked off the ashes hanging on the end of the cigarette. Finally he turned his head around to look directly at his lover. "Everything is so screwed up." He sighed, snuffing out the cigarette.
Ryou laughed listlessly and moved to stand in front of Yami Bakura, his hands lifting to rest on his darker half's chest and leaned his weight against him. "Yeah, it is." He let his forehead thump against Yami Bakura's shoulder. "We're loosing more and more people each day."
"And these records are cryptic as hell."
"They are?" Ryou looked up and tilted his head to one side, white bangs falling into his eyes.
"They were written by high state officials, in the time before the great builders, who loved nothing more than to show off their achievements on the monuments they built. Usually accounts were as precise as possible, so that those who could read, were able to bask in the glory of their kings." Yami Bakura snorted in contempt. "Glorified self-proclaimed rulers."
Ryou looked thoughtful for a moment, his eyes getting a faraway glaze as he wrapped his arms around his lover's neck. After few moments his brown eyes turned lucid again and he stared into Yami Bakura's eyes. "Well, they might make more sense, if they're all combined to a whole."
"Yeah, that's what I'm hoping." The former thief sighed, wrapping his own arms around Ryou's waist. "Otherwise we're done for. Unless the brains can come up with something else we're going to be soulless at some point or other."
Nodding slowly Ryou leaned up and pressed his lips to those of his lover for a brief but none the less passionate kiss. He drew back quickly with a grimace. "Eww, smoke breath."
Yami Bakura rolled his eyes and chuckled, and reached out to run a hand through the white hair identical to his own. "You saw me smoking, Hikari. You should have known."
"Hey! It's not my fault that you have bad breath, when I want to kiss you." Ryou scowled, a grouchy pout on his lips. Yami Bakura simply smirked and leaned in for another kiss, this time a light peck on the lips, sparing his light for the horrendous task of coping with his breath.
"Are you quite finished?" A voice grumbled beside them, turning around they found Seth standing in the doorway with an irritated expression on his face, his arms were crossed and his fingers were tapping against his elbows slightly agitated. "We are done with the translations, if you are ready to join us?" He offered with a mock-bow and turning around on his heel Seth stalked inside again.
"Alright." Yami muttered as he held up the finished translation, studying the words. "We have the translation, though it is about as helpful as if we went up to them and asked politely for them to release the souls."
Yami Bakura snorted. "What you mean is that the translation is just as cryptic as if it was written in Swahili. Which none of us can read, so of course it's helpful."
"Tomb Robber, either say something useful or say nothing at all." Yami advised with a sneer and sat down in the chair behind him, crossing one leg over the other as he settled into the soft fabric. "But yes, the text is cryptic…in that you are correct." He sighed.
Jou leaned forward in his seat, staring intently at Yami, his hand clenching and unclenching. "So what do we do? Can you make any sense of it at all? Did we translate it correctly?"
"We all translated it as it should be." Marik said quietly, his eyes downcast as his fingers played with a loose thread from the couch. "It's the text itself that's difficult to understand.
"Then what do we do? How does this bring the others back? I want Ryuuji back."
"Honda, we'll figure it out." Jou rested his hand on his friend's shoulder giving it a comforting squeeze and bumped their sides together, flashing a small reassuring grin. "We always do."
"Yeah…" Honda didn't sound convinced, if the slump of his shoulders were anything to go by.
"I might have an idea." Yugi muttered looking through the papers, drawing the attention of the others to him. "I think I know what it means…maybe."
"You are sure, Aibou?" Yami asked hesitantly.
For the first time in a couple of weeks, Yugi's face lit up in a smile. "Yeah."
They stood side by side in a circle, their hands locked with the person's next to them, fingers intertwined. With a shaky breath Honda nodded and smiled slightly at the inquiring gaze Jou gave him. Letting his eyes roam over the rest of the group, they were a small group, only ten of them against the thousands of monsters serving the entity they were about to go up against. Though they were confident that they could win…or if they failed, they would die trying.
"Are you all ready?" Seth asked, his eyes filled with a determined gleam. He began chanting and held out the Sennen Rod toward the centre of the circle. A dark mist slowly crept into the room from every nook and cranny within the four walls, gathering around them until they were enveloped in darkness. Honda shivered, chilled to the bone by the sudden cold that surrounded him. He could hear the others puff out breaths into the stale, frosty air, forming small, glowing white-grey clouds through the otherwise dark place.
"It seems as though we are expected." Shadi noted. How the elder Egyptian could distinguish anything in this place Honda couldn't phantom, he could hardly see an inch beyond his nose if even that far. A low roar from behind had him jumping in surprise and breaching the circle, by jerking his hands out of Jou's and Yami's.
"What was that?" He squeaked in panic, when he couldn't see where the noise had come from.
"Shadow Monster, damn big one as well." Jou muttered beside him. "Ugly too."
The beast bellowed out another roar, much louder than the first and Honda had to hold his hands to his ears to keep his eardrums from bursting. "You can see it?" He asked, yelling to be heard over the sounds the beast was making. "You can see it in this darkness?"
"Darkness?" Jou sounded confused. "Yeah, it's dark, but I can see just fine."
"I can't." Honda said petulantly, then shifted closer to Jou's voice as yet another roar assaulted his ears. "What's happening?"
A comforting weight settled on his shoulder and within the blink of an eye, Honda could see everything that was going on. He stared dumbfounded at the hand on his right shoulder, then at its owner. A stone faced Shadi looked back at him through crystal blue eyes. "You are not accustomed to dealing with the magic of this place, it is why you could not see without the aid of others."
"Oh…" Honda muttered.
"You should be doing well for yourself now, I have given you a small amount of my magic to help you see and feel." Shadi continued and let his hand fall from Honda's shoulder to once again be hidden within the voluminous folds of his robes.
Honda stared at the older man and nodded. "Umm, thanks…" He turned his head around to take in his new surroundings. It was still dark, but he could see much more than he was able to before. He drew in a sharp breath, they were surrounded by scores of monsters, small as well as enormous creatures were moving about in an outlined circle around their little group, restless, growling, shifting, none of the monsters were standing still. It was as if they were either afraid of moving closer or were waiting for some form of signal.
He swallowed nervously at the sheer amount of shadow beings. "Jou?"
"Yeah?" The blond answered absentmindedly.
"What are we going to about them?"
"Nothing, as long as they don't attack. If they do…Fight fire with fire." Jou shrugged.
"Get ready, I think they are going to attack." Yami called out, the Sennen Eye on his forehead burning brightly in the darkness, casting a golden glow around the former Pharaoh. He raised his left arm and unfolded the Duel Disk each of them had strapped on before they left for the Shadow Realm. Yami plugged in his deck and pulled out a handful of cards, eyes and jaw set determinedly.
Honda watched in fascination as everyone copied Yami's movements, all except himself and Shadi. The dark skinned man had pulled out a familiar looking golden device and put it on his wrist, with a soft click the device unfolded and Honda finally remembered where he had seen it before. It was the ancient predecessor of the Kaiba Corp. Duel Disks.
A row of monsters very familiar to Honda appeared in front of their group, ready to protect them from the advancing Shadow Beasts. He smiled, when he saw the fiery monster materialize beside his best friend. The Flame Swordsman looked at him out of the corner of its eyes, with a nod and a small smile the monster took a step closer to Honda, adamant to protect its masters friend.
This wasn't to be an epic battle, not even one that would last until one side had lost. It was merely an attempt to drive the less inclined for battle to the ground, humiliating them and scouting out the opposite side's fighting force. This was only to be the beginning.
Honda avoided yet another swipe from huge, poisonous claws as he jumped back and hid behind the Flame Swordsman, who made short process of its opponent by swinging its sword and cutting off the other monsters head and half of the upper body. The separated parts fell limply to the ground staining the grey soil green and yellow. But the Flame Swordsman could barely rest before another took the dead monster's place, barrelling into the fiery beast and severely damaging it.
While Honda's protector was engaged in a fierce battle against its new opponent, Honda himself had been left unguarded and vulnerable. He was too busy avoiding the attacking beasts advances that he failed to notice one monster, which had gotten close enough to grab him by the scruff of his neck. The huge monster hauled him upward, his back snapping with whiplash from the force and his legs dangling a few feet above the ground. Honda jerked his arms up to grasp at the claws of the monster, wheezing as they closed tighter around his throat.
A giggle echoed in his ears and he tried to turn his head to see where the noise had come from, the monster was in his opinion not capable of such a noise. Honda felt a light tickle on his chest and looked down to find the bitch - who had sent his best friend five thousand years into the past - lightly trailing her fingers around his left pectoral, right above his heart. Her green eyes shone with glee.
"Puppy's little monkey has been caught, naughty, naughty." She giggled again, pinching and pulling his nipple hard through the fabric of his shirt, making him cry out in pain. "Shouldn't play with the big boys, little monkey. Might end up dead."
"Shut up…bitch." Honda growled, but the last part came out strangled as the monster clamped its claws tighter around his throat.
"Your masters aren't here to help you, little monkey. Too busy playing with my Master's pets." She idly played with the hem of his shirt, before ripping it open, the buttons flying to all sides and baring his chest to the cold air. Honda shivered and struggled to breathe, when once again his windpipe was crushed between the claws of the monster holding him captive. "You are simply in the way, little monkey. Must obey my Master and get rid off you."
She cackled and plunged her hand through his bared flesh, ripping into his chest, and wrapped her hand around his heart, squeezing it ruthlessly. Honda screamed as she wrenched out her hand, a small glowing light trapped between her blood drenched fingers.
The world once again became dark.