Chapter Thirty-Six:
The next morning Seto rejoined the group with his emotionless mask back in place. There was a reason his Pharaoh had always enjoyed playing him. O'Neil moved over to him, pushing his hat up out of his eyes.
"Hey there. So, apparently they need supplies and we've volunteered to take Ishizu and Marik into the nearby town to pick them up. Do you want to come? Yami wasn't sure if you would want to. He said something about you being depressed."
Scowling, Seto peered over O'Neil's shoulder to see his Pharaoh grinning over at him as he climbed into one of the cars. "Of course I am coming." He hissed, storming towards the vehicle as Kisara followed him.
"He does have a point, though, Seto. You aren't very happy." Kisara said softly, voice only loud enough for Seto to hear, and even then only just. "Before he remembered you were but now… Seto, there is always a chance for events to work out. Please do not worry so much…" Her distressed look more than anything else made Seto take a deep breath, closing his eyes.
"Once he remembers everything, he will have to face Zorc. There are only three outcomes. Zorc could kill him, in which case I doubt I will be around to mourn his death; he could seal himself again in which case we will have to wait for five-thousand years before he will return, if he will return again; or he wins, in which case we must return to our new world and he likely remains here, with his new family and friends, which will be the same as losing him."
"You don't know that." Kisara spoke urgently, turning to meet his gaze. "He would still be alive. You could visit if he chose to stay."
Snorting, Seto shook his head. "Perhaps for a few years. But will he still want us visiting once he has built a life? How would he explain us to others?"
"You can never know what the future will hold, Seto. Even I am not sure how this will turn out. Still, have faith. He is your friend, after all. You care for him."
Seto interrupted, "No, I do not…"
To his surprise, Kisara interrupted him right back, "You would not care about him leaving you if you did not Seto. It is all right to care; it doesn't make you weak." Leaning forward, she gave him a small kiss on the cheek before pulling back, blush tingeing her fair cheeks before she spun, hair falling around her like a halo before she slipped into the car.
Slowly following her, Seto remained silent as he got in, not speaking as they drove back down the road and eventually turned onto a track going to the side, almost invisible unless you knew what you were looking for. This, while less bumpy, was sandier which still took quite a bit of time. The entire ride took about two hours, and Seto ignored any and all comments directed at him during that time.
Finally they arrived in a small town which was more similar to those seen in Khemet than any Seto had seen thus far. Tents were set up, with traders hawking their wares. There were very few visible cars and the people for the most part kept to themselves, only a few looking at the large group curiously.
"Well, we're here so what exactly do you need?" O'Neil asked, tugging his hat back down over his eyes as he looked around.
"If you would wait here, we will be right back." Ishizu commented calmly. "Marik and I can collect what we need and bring it back. I can assure you that it will not take long." With that, she and her brother started off, soon disappearing into the crowded streets.
A nearby radio blared in one of the tents, everyone in the group turning to look as an urgent message suddenly sounded.
"In important news, there has been an attack at one of the digs studying the site of a buried village. The ruins were half excavated when the team studying them lost contact. As rescuers arrived, they found a massacre, with many dead and the remainder injured. Among the survivors are the scientist leading the expedition, two of the students on the dig, as well as seven workers. Police are still identifying the bodies, and more information will be released as the investigation continues."
"Wow…" O'Neil commented.
Jackson raised his eyebrows in his direction, pushing up his glasses as he spoke, "It can be, unfortunately, common. With so many people working very hard for little money there is always the chance that some will see their chance to sell some artifacts to make quick money on the black market. Of course, they usually sign up with the digs as opposed to attacking them. Strange…" he trailed off, and Seto stopped paying attention to him. The fate of the diggers weren't his concern, after all. Instead he looked over at his Pharaoh, who looked briefly worried as he stared at the radio before finally slowly turning away to look at the others.
"We might as well look around." The Pharaoh commented. "They will at least take a few minutes." Smiling slightly, he turned to Mana. "Want to see if we can find some sweets?" he asked, and she lit up.
"Yeah!" she enthused, already grabbing the Pharaoh's arm and starting to drag him off.
Mahad sighed, "Mana…" he began however she was already darting off and to keep them in sight the mage had to hurry after them. Seto followed slowly, keeping the Pharaoh in sight but not getting too close as he and Mana bought some baked goods at one of the stalls, splitting it between them as they continued on.
O'Neil laughed slightly behind him at something Carter had apparently told him. "Yeah… They do make a cute couple." He commented, snickering. Suddenly, though, his voice took on a different tone. "Hey, who's that?" he asked, curiosity and wariness evident in his voice.
Before Seto could look, he heard his Pharaoh's surprised voice. "Ryou? What are you doing here?"
Turning, he froze, eyes widening as he saw the familiar white hair. "Bakura…" he whispered, feeling everything dropping away around him at the sight of the being who had turned his world upside-down five thousand years ago.
Yami released Mana's hand, moving forward to make sure he was right. "Ryou, that is you, isn't it? I didn't see you in Japan when we were visiting with Yugi… Are you here visiting your Father?" When Ryou didn't say anything, he moved closer. "Are you okay? Maybe you should sit down…?" he began before freezing. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling that there was danger nearby.
Before he could do anything, Seto was suddenly in front of him, pushing Yami behind him even as he hissed at Bakura, "What are you doing here? How are you free?"
About to order Seto to move and leave his friend alone, Yami choked on his words even as his friend spoke.
"It has been a long time, hasn't it? I have been sealed for nearly five-thousand years, after all, during which you have been wandering between worlds. Now, though, I am close to being completely free. What do you intend to do about it?" the thing wearing Ryou's body commented.
"I will stop you," Seto spat. "No matter what, this time I will see that you are destroyed!"
"Oh, and that is making me so scared." Came the sarcastic response before Bakura turned back towards Yami, their eyes meeting before more of the Guardians threw themselves between the other boy and Yami. That didn't stop him from hearing the other's comment. "Just you wait, Pharaoh… It is only a matter of time before I find out the Eighth Key. Once I have that and the other Millennium Items, you won't be able to stop me. This time I will be sure to kill you, and believe me when I tell you it will be more painful than you can possibly imagine."
Seto started forward followed by Mahad, however there was a sudden swirl of shadows and Ryou disappeared, leaving Yami staring wide-eyed at the empty space where he had been.
It stepped out of the Shadow Realm a distance away from the Pharaoh and his Priests, not wanting to be attacked before it could regain more of its strength. Despite being freed, the long imprisonment had weakened it.
Turning, it began heading towards the nearest village. The more souls it could seal into the shadow realm, the greater its power would become. Before it could get very far, though, transporter rings suddenly descended in front of it. As they cleared, it raised an eyebrow.
"You. What do you want?" It demanded rudely.
Heru'ur's eyes narrowed slightly, however he kept his voice polite, or as polite as possible for a goa'uld. "I come bearing a message from Lord Anubis." He stated bluntly, eyes narrowing. "He would like to congratulate you on your escape and ask for you to join us."
Laughing, It turned slightly to look out over the desert. "Why would I want to do that?" It asked, vaguely curious. There may be a way It could use them, after all.
"By helping us we can give you access to our knowledge and weapons. We want the inhabitants of this world destroyed and you seem to want the same, or you did." Heru'ur responded and the being snorted.
"That does not mean I will join you. If I had my way, you would be killed as well." It commented, and Heru'ur took a step towards It.
"Why you… If it weren't for Lord Anubis's orders I would kill you where you stand for such insubordination."
"If it weren't for Lord Anubis's orders…" it repeated mockingly, watching as Heru'ur's hand clenched around his kara kesh. "You followed a weakling like Ra, and now you follow another. You are a weakling and a coward. Killing you would be too much trouble, so leave now and I will consider sparing your life."
"What makes you think you can?" the other demanded, and the being smirked as he turned to fully face him.
"Because, you are mortal. Unless you use the sarcophagi your body will age and die, no matter how long the host lives. I will never die and unlike you I need no sarcophagus to live forever. You cannot kill me, but I can kill you."
Heru'ur took a step back, demeanor rapidly changing in the manner which It hated. "Of course. Will you at least consider the alliance? I am sure that Lord Anubis would be willing to make it worth your while."
About to once again decline, and possibly kill the messenger for annoying him, the being paused, thinking it over before smirking widely.
"Now that I think of it, there is something he could do. It won't be easy, though." The grin widened as It began to describe what It desired.
"So now we have another goa'uld?" Jack demanded and Yami couldn't blame him for being so worked up. He was still slightly in shock after seeing one of his friends possessed by a goa'uld. "I mean, where did it come from? How did it know you?"
"Seto, who exactly was that?" Yami asked, turning towards his High Priest. This time he wouldn't take Seto's misdirections. He wanted answers, and he wasn't going to allow any of his priests to continue to keep information from him because they were afraid of what would happen.
Seto gritted his teeth, jaw tensing. "No one," he began before Yami interrupted.
"No, Seto, not this time. I let you get away with it before, however I know you too well for you to be able to lie to me without me telling, even if it is just a feeling. The same goes for the rest of you." He continued, turning to the other Guardians, "I want the truth, now. I know we do not have time for all of the details, but I need to know what I have forgotten."
Isis was the first to speak. "My Pharaoh, please understand that it is hard for us to talk about this… The last time we faced Bakura many were killed."
"I know. However, unless I am aware of what we are up against, I cannot defend myself, let alone fight it. I am sure that Jack and the others would agree with me."
"Very well," Isis sighed. "We will tell you what we know, however not here. Once we return to the ruins, then we will tell you." The remainder of the Guardians voiced their agreement, Seto more reluctantly than the rest, and Yami finally nodded.
"Alright. We should head back to the cars, then. Ishizu and Marik said they would not be long." With that he turned, leading the way.
The car ride back seemed to drag out for hours, and Yami was surprised when they actually arrived. Sliding out of the car, he waited as they were led back below and shown to their rooms before turning to his Guardians.
"So, who is he? This Bakura?" he asked, and Jack nodded.
"Yeah. How is there another goa'uld still on Earth? And what was he sealed in? We know the one which possessed Marik came from a canopic jar, like many on Earth, however this one didn't seem to."
The Guardians glanced at each other before Isis spoke. "No, he was not sealed in a physical vessel, but a spiritual one." Pausing, she sighed. "It is a long tale, but I will try to be brief. The goa'uld that we knew first as Bakura was the result of experimentation by the false god Ra." Yami blinked, frowning slightly as he noticed Jack's eyes widening and the older man elbowing Sam who was standing next to him, however before he could ask why Isis continued and he had to pull his attention back to her.
"Implanted into a human host from a young age, it grew as a human for years. Eventually, though, its village was destroyed. This drew its ire to the crown, just as we prepared to throw out the false gods. During that time, it somehow learned of what it was and what it was intended to be. A weapon, one which Ra could have used to destroy worlds."
Akhenadin took over, continuing her story. "He remained out of sight throughout the war, for what reason we cannot surmise. Surely Ra would have attempted to use it at some point, however he chose not to. No, it did not arrive until after the war was won. The night of the coronation, he arrived at the Palace with the former Pharaoh, my brother, in his possession. He continued his assault, and the Guardians began to fall. In the end, he had reclaimed a form which Ra had left hidden for him. We can only assume it was a being from another world, and it began to carry out the destruction of Khemet, calling itself a Dark God."
For the first time, Seto spoke. "After taking on what it called its true form, it began to call itself Zorc, the Dark One. In the end, the only option was to seal it. By that time, there were only three of us left; you, myself, and Mana. I was sealed in the Shadow Realm while Mana was sent by you to fetch me. You ended up sealing yourself to prevent more harm from coming to the people of Khemet."
Silence reigned as Yami took everything in. "I see… But there must be another means of defeating it, surely. How was the seal done the first time?"
"Don't even think about it, Pharaoh." Seto ordered and some of the other Guardians also straightened in alarm. "The only way the seal worked was by using something powerful as the key. Your name, the name of the God on Earth, was powerful enough but I doubt that you remember it."
Mahad nodded. "If what Bakura says is true, then he cannot resurrect as Zorc unless he has it, which means it will likely be the last thing you remember. Otherwise he would already be free."
Frowning faintly, Jack spoke up, "So why can't we just capture it and remove it like any other goa'uld? I mean, how hard can it possible be? We pull it out, kill it, and voila, no more evil alien."
"It is not that simple." Shimon stated, and Yami looked over at his former tutor. "I am afraid that there were many things Ra was looking for during his experimentation. He didn't just want a weapon that could be easily defeated, he wanted something more than that. Bakura, or Zorc, is invincible. No amount of damage will phase him, at least not for long. Once he regains his true form, he has the power even to block the sun."
Swallowing, eyes wide, Yami finally slowly spoke. "So there is no other way, then. The seal must be redone." All eyes turned on him, and Jack was the first one to speak up.
"No way, kid. We'll find another way. Maybe Thor or one of our other allies will have an idea. If we have to, we can try to find a way to talk to the Ascended… Daniel here is friends with one of them. They might be able to stop it." He stated passionately, however Kisara shook her head, speaking up quietly.
"No, even the Ascended cannot face it. The Dark One is stronger than that… In a way, Ra did what no other goa'uld has achieved before or since; create a god." Her voice was so soft that Yami had to almost lean in to hear her.
"Seriously?" Jack demanded, frowning.
"Well, that is a problem." Daniel muttered. "Kind of makes you feel bad for being worried about Anubis… At least the other Ascended could handle him if they chose to."
Yami tuned them out, glancing over at Seto. The priest's face was set, an expression which indicated that he was worried about their options as well. His heart fell slightly. Yami had only just remembered his friends, not to mention his family and now he could lose them again in such a short time. Choosing to remain silent, he listened to the conversations around him.
Jack wasn't sure what to think. Not only were they facing a goa'uld who was loose on Earth, but it was one that was apparently invincible. Great… Now all they needed was for Anubis to join up with it and they might as well start saying their goodbyes.
He suddenly realized that Teal'c was trying to get his attention, pushing his thoughts away as he moved over.
"O'Neil. We must do something about this. It is not right for your world to be destroyed in such a manner." He began, and Jack nodded.
"Yeah, but what can we do besides get in touch with Thor? I mean, I highly doubt we could even contact the Ascended Council and if they wanted to help us they would have offered already."
"What about the Tok'ra, or the Jaffa Alliance?" Teal'c suggested. "When your back is to the wall, you do not think only of facing the enemy head on if you can climb over. We need to, as you say, map out our choices."
"You mean explore all of our options." Jack responded absentmindedly. "You're right. Maybe together we can figure out what to do. Come on. If we get to the surface we can use the sat phone to try to contact HQ. They might be able to get started while we work from here."
Moving quietly, the two had soon made their way to the surface, only making a brief detour to grab the phone. Setting it up, Jack was soon making the call. It took him a while to get through, both due to bad connection and the security level of the base. After reading out his ID and clearance numbers multiple times, he finally reached the base. The phone rang for a long time, and Jack was about to hang up and try again when a voice spoke.
"O'Neil, do you have any idea what time it is here?" came the familiar voice.
"Ah, no General." He replied, trying to think. If time zones worked by losing time as they came from the US… But wasn't there a line where it stopped or else days would be confusing? Before he could try to figure it out, General Hammond answered his own question.
"It is five in the morning, Colonel. I hope it was worth having me called in here."
"Oh it is, Sir." Jack assured. "Teal'c, would you care to explain?"
"Of course, O'Neil. General Hammond, we need to get in touch with our allies among the Tok'ra, Asgard, and Jaffa alliance. There is a goa'uld on Earth, one which is impervious to most methods of destroying goa'uld. If we do not take care of it soon, it will be able to free the body of an alien trapped here, allowing it to begin to rampage your planet. In order to prevent this, we must destroy it first through unconventional means. It is our hope that one of our allies will have an idea or weapon which can aid us."
"There is a goa'uld on Earth?" The General commented, and Jack could hear the sleep disappearing from his voice. "Where?"
"Well, Sir," Jack began, taking over once more, "We don't actually know. It used some sort of dark portal and disappeared. Say, come to think of it, it looked kinda like that weird fog on the cameras when Yami and Seto were in the corridor that day."
There was a brief silence broken only by the static of the phone. Jack was about to check to make sure they still had a signal when General Hammond spoke again. "Find out what that was, Colonel. I will gather a meeting of our allies and whoever I think might be able to help us on Earth. If we find something, I will have Thor send it to you right away. Also, I want to know where this goa'uld has gone. We might be able to take over some satellites nearby to keep an eye on it if we have a clue as to its whereabouts."
"Yes, Sir. I will work on that right away." Jack promised, grinning over at Teal'c.
"Then if that is all, Colonel, I am going to send out requests to our allies and try to get some shut eye before they arrive again. Unless something changes which requires my urgent attention, from now on try to call at a more decent hour. That will be all."
"Yes Sir." Jack replied even as there was a click as the General hung up. Beginning to pack up the phone, he grinned over at Teal'c. "Well, hopefully we hear from our buddy Thor soon."
Teal'c nodded, frowning slightly. "O'Neil, I have a question. Why did you not inform General Hammond as to Yami's role in this?"
The grin slid off of Jack's face. "Because that would put more stress on him to save everyone. If at all possible, I don't want him to even fight this time." Teal'c nodded, and Jack turned away, pulling out his sunglasses and slipping them on as he continued putting the phone away. Yami was so young, so naïve… Just like Skaara. He was not going to allow the boy's life to be ripped apart.
And Bakura has escaped! :D I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and is excited for what comes next. As always, please leave a review! Thank you very much.