Egyptian Lotus Part Nine
Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto or Yu-gi-oh!
A/N: Please read and review!
Atem rose shakily on his feet as the swirling chaos of color died back to reveal Bakura's stunned face.
The Thief King took a step backward, startled by the appearance of the monster; without the Millennium Pendant, the Pharaoh shouldn't have been able to summon even a weak ka, let alone the Magus of Illusion. And that left only one, dangerous possibility: The soul of the magician had tied itself to the well-being of the Pharaoh.
As he looked on, the Mage of Mirages turned his eyes on the Pharaoh. His lips didn't move, but a voice sounded within the heart of the Pharaoh, "Stand, My Lord! I am here because of your determination! Without that will to fight, I will vanish."
Atem didn't know what to say…his will was wavering; what did it matter if the people fell? The very source of power he drew upon to protect them, the Millennium Pendent, could have been the product of evil magic and a twisted heart…How could he call that justice? How could he call upon his father for strength when it seemed impossible his father wasn't one of the villains who indulged the dark arts for his own selfish purposes.
'I'm so confused…' The Pharaoh admitted to himself, unaware that his heart was laid bare to the Magus.
'My Lord, when I was alive, I sensed evil in the Millennium Ring and set out to learn the origins of the Sennen Items. I knew of the atrocity of Kul Elna. But the former king Akhenamkhanen did not know this truth.' The figure of heka and light replied.
Atem looked up as his heart compelled him to soften.
The Magus continued, his eyes closed in heavy thought, 'The day after I became a Priest and sealed the evil thoughts of the Millennium Ring, I approached your father and I told him everything; your predecessor felt the same pain that you do in your heart…and that…that is why he fell ill and died…If I hadn't told him…' The spirit of Mahado could not continue for a long moment, but then he said, 'Your father wanted a peaceful kingdom, my King, and you have inherited those intentions. If the Millennium Items fall into Bakura's hands, we shall be plunged body and soul into shadow. If you do not stand up to him, no one will.'
Perhaps seeing his opening in the wavering of the Pharaoh's heart and his own, momentary inability to reconcile his tormented feelings, Bakura yelled, "I'll kill you as many times as it takes! Ghosts! Tear that magician and the Pharaoh to pieces!"
Atem closed his eyes, 'Thank you, Mahado.'
He stood, his thoughts echoing across the plane of his heart and his mind; he was the Pharaoh and he would stand and fight! He rose to his feet, a radiant glow encompassing the Magician that stood at his ready.
The Magus extended his hand and a backlash of power destroyed the shades of malice and hate. Pleased with Bakura's disbelief, he told the Thief King, 'The evil in the Millennium Ring was much stronger than these spirits. Against my heka, you are completely powerless, Bakura!'
For a moment, defeat flickered across the white-haired man's scarred visage…and then his featured pulled with insane laughter, "Then what about my spirit?"
Atem felt the walls pulse as the creature Diabound melded with them from the shadowy expanse of Bakura's soul. A dark power filled the chambers as an evil light surrounded the king of murderers, liars, and traitors.
The creature exploded in front of them, its gaping maw lined with rows of jagged fangs; its lower body coiled into a lethal, hissing snake and around it were built up plates of armor…It was a far more formidable foe than it had been…
'It's become even more powerful after fighting the Gods…' Atem felt uncertainty settle low in his abdomen.
"The Ring and the Pendant," Bakura sneered, "I'm not collecting them to ornament a stone tablet! By absorbing their evil, I can make my spirit beast evolve!"
The beast gave a bone-chilling roar as it eyed the Pharaoh and his party; It lurched forward, obviously readying itself for the charge.
"Mahado, look out!" Atem warned, "He can copy the abilities of those he fights!"
'My technique…' The spirit trailed off as he positioned himself between his king and certain harm.
"And those of the God-beasts!" Bakura snapped.
A gold light suffused the creature and the air around them grew charged with electricity; there wasn't even time to cry out in alarm as Diabound unleashed the Lightning Force of the God-beast Ra upon them.
But Mahado just smirked, 'I should have told you, Bakura, that I have trained in the Afterworld and increased my heka!'
He lifted his staff and an odd, black void rimmed with white flame opened up before him; it swallowed the attack entirely and then the hole spiraled in on itself and disappeared.
'The energy sent into the Afterworld Warp,' The Magus elaborated, 'Is ejected at another in space.'
"Be careful; Diabound can walk through walls to evade direct attacks." Atem told him, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
'In that case…' A teeming mass of energy flared just behind Bakura and a flash of light and heat bore into the wall etched with hieroglyphics at his right.
But he was not fazed as he replied, "Too bad you missed."
"Did we?" Atem smirked as the pillar began to fall towards the stone tablet behind him; with no recourse, his desperation turned to insanity as he cried out of his beast to guard it.
Diabound flickered from the shadows; its tailed wrapped around the pillar and yanked it into the air. However, in giving the command, Bakura had left himself wide open: Diabound had nowhere to run-while holding the pillar, it couldn't take advantage of its ability to hide in the walls and was left defenseless. There was no place left to hide.
A blast of purple light emanated from the Mage's staff and struck Diabound with enough force to crack its skeletal armor. Below him, Bakura screamed and clasped his hand to his wounded eye.
"That stone tablet," Atem shouted in triumph, "Is your tombstone, Bakura!"
Nathifa lifted a chalice to her lips but she found her taste for even watered wine and bland food affected as of late. And even if she had been hungry there wasn't much time to allow for food or rest; her kingdom was in complete unrest.
Even without an outright declaration of the danger the Pharaoh was in, her people were feeling his absence deeply. And without the usual visibility of the Priests, their unrest was only beginning to deepen. She alone remained and as hard as she tried, much of work had to be private.
Though she saw as many people a day as she could, most of her duties took her well beyond their eyes and ears; without Atem to govern law, she had been forced into the position of judge and jury. And without the Priests, she didn't have information she required coming back to her in the quantity she needed to be able to determine things such as taxes and the prices for crops and goods at market. She was flying on less than a wing and a prayer.
Even with the comfort she had found in the sudden streak of golden light not more than an hour earlier and the comfort her faith in Isis brought, she was beginning to feel hopelessly out of her depth. There was so much that needed her immediate completion and she had no one to turn to for counsel.
'I can't give up…not yet…not with so many people relying on me.' She turned her resolute jade eyes to the open balcony.
It was a busy market day…the chances that anyone, even with the disquieting events surrounding them, was watching the palace very intently was small; her odds were good, she reasoned, of getting what she needed on her own.
She would have to make sure Atem never found out, though. He didn't like her to go out without a full guard if it could be helped. And as much as she protested the ring they formed around her, both literal and figurative, that cut her off from her people even when she stood amongst them, she was willing to relent on the matter…at least, most of the time…
But times were changing and she couldn't afford to abide the old rules if they would bring her empire crashing down.
She stood from her desk and pulled her plainest shawl from the chest at the foot of the bed she shared with her husband. Winding it several times around her hair, she secured the shock of color into a tight bun at the back of her head. Then she took a veil and pinned it up over her eyes, so that their shade would not betray her identity. And when at last she had shed the complicated woven garment around her body and replaced it with a faintly yellow linen, she slipped from her chambers, past the palace guards, and into the street.
Disappearing quickly into the crowd, she stopped only long enough to take a basket leaning against the side of the palace with her. Tucked under her arm, it could only serve to make her look less suspicious.
And, indeed, it seemed that she was passing well for a maid on her way out to the market to purchase food or bolts of fabric. To keep up the façade, she visited every stand, inquired about their prices, and selected something small. But it wasn't until she came to the fifth stand that she found what she was looking for.
The woman running her small section of market was selling quality linen; however, the prices she was asking were far from what the queen would have expected.
"Pardon, Matron, but may I inquire as to the cotton you use?" She asked, smiling.
"Now, my pretty, that is a trade secret." The proprietor whispered conspiratorially with a wink, "But for you I might be inclined to speak on the matter."
"I wouldn't dare jeopardize such an establishment with that knowledge." Nathifa replied with a chuckle.
The woman laughed heartily before finally asking if there was anything in particular she was looking for.
"Why, yes, Matron, I am. I want to find some embroidered silk."
"Of what variety?"
"Something blue or red, if you have it." She responded.
"Something for a lover, perhaps?" The woman's eyes narrowed good-naturedly, "Ra knows you're attractive enough to have several."
"You flatter me." Nathifa replied even a blush tinted her cheeks.
"But women like you don't want many, now do you? Your heart belongs to one person, I'd imagine."
Unnerved by the depth of her analysis, the queen finally inquired, "How do you know that?"
"When you're as old as I am, you learn to read people." The matron replied matter-of-factly, "It's an acquired skill." And then, as if nothing else had occurred, she fold a swatch of deep blue fabric and passed it to her for inspection.
"Its quality is excellent." Nathifa remarked. The weave was so fine she could almost see through it-the sheerness was a clear indication of its worth. "How much?"
The price nearly made her choke; for cloth that good, and in the quantity she had requested, she should have been paying a small fortune. But the woman was charging the daily allowance of a slave girl!
"Tell me, Matron, how can that be?"
"Times are hard, my dear. It takes a little compromising to get by." The elder of the two shrugged.
"And…" Nathifa tried to word her question carefully. A slight verbal misstep could be considered outright treason and though she knew she was in no danger, she had no wish to imply that the woman was anything but a loyal citizen herself, "Is there more that could be done to ease them?"
The woman stopped and thought it over for a moment before responding, "I don't think so, my dear. Even with a great king, there will be trying times. In fact, it is those times that are most important."
"Do you mean to say that hardship makes good men and women?" Nathifa asked.
"No, it merely reveals them." She responded without hesitation.
"Thank you." Nathifa smiled as she laid a fair sum on the table.
Apparently mistaking her gratitude for the fabric instead of her words, the matron said, "Thank you, lovely, for your generosity."
"Mahado! He's injured! Quickly, strike him again!" Atem cried as the Thief King flinched away.
Bakura gave a low moan of agony before responding, "Impressive…you actually managed to strike my face…but…" He pulled his hand away from the bloody mess of his eye and gave a maniacal cackled, "It didn't hurt one bit!"
Refusing to be fazed, Mahado raised his staff and yelled, "You can't escape this one!"
Even as the attack was loosed, though, he realized something was wrong; Bakura's grin had only grown and his laughter increased.
"So you refuse to die, Magician? It is of no consequence for you cannot defeat me!" He cried.
With a cry of rage, Diabound's tail whipped up and around; the strength of its grasp shattered the stone pillar into a field of debris that took the brunt of the attack. From behind the dirty brown veil of matter, Atem could just make out Bakura's twisted face.
His dark voice echoed through the room, "You waste your heka! Diabound's rage will only increase!"
With a sick smirk, the white-haired man reached behind him and lifted something from the tablet, "It was a good idea; I will need this tablet to complete my contract with Zorc Necrophades. But Diabound can't protect it and fight you so…" He revealed the Millennium Puzzle in his calloused hands, "So I'll just use your item."
Atem's eyes went wide with horror and impotent rage as a massive creature comprised of what looked to be human bones appeared over the tablet; with its massive, dense shell guarding the tablet, there was nothing they could do to target it. Even worse was the fact that it had been summoned at all.
As Shada looked on, he couldn't help but think in amazement that even a Millennium Item wielder would have had trouble sustaining multiple ka. But for a singular thief to be managing just that feat, and with multiple Items, as well, was almost unthinkable.
It was almost as though Bakura could sense the man's thoughts for a moment later he turned and smirked, "Now I can annihilate you in comfort." His grin widened, "I'll activate his special ability Dark Camouflage."
Diabound gave a cry before it simply sunk into the ceiling and vanished from site; and now that the monstrosity was free to plot and plan, there was very little they could do.
The Thief King knew this, as well, and taunted them, "Now where could he be? Where will he attack from? You won't know until you're dead."
Shada and Atem pulled close behind Mahado for protection. The creature could have been anywhere: the walls, the floor, the ceiling…it could very well spring up between them and render them in half before they realized it was there at all…
But even as that thought crossed the Pharaoh's mind, Shada raised his Millennium Key and cried, "I offer my heka to summon a creature: Two-Headed Jackal Warrior."
The white-haired, scarred man looked at him with a silent, mocking question. What good would it do him?
And Shada called his wordless bluff, "And I'll use his astounding sense of smell to locate your creature!"
With a low growl, the ka turned its head to the left and wrinkled its nose. Pivoting hard on its foot, it flung a whip bearing a circular blade at the wall; but victory was hardly assured: As the vicious weapon neared the monster, Diabound's arm shot from the wall and captured it.
"Just because you can find him doesn't mean you can stop him!" Bakura smirked.
Using the chain as its counterbalance, the massive creature pulled itself from the wall and exposed its horrific head to them.
Seeing his chance, Atem cried out, "Don't let him get away! Attack Diabound, Mahado!"
"Too late!" The thief cackled, "He's already in position to attack!"
A massive ball of hateful energy amassed itself with frightening speed in the monster's clawed hand. The Pharaoh did not see the same orb appear to his left from Diabound's other hand.
TBC
