Enemy Revealed
The three men had fallen asleep in the room where they'd done the casting, only for Yuugi to suddenly jolt awake, throw himself to his feet, and bolt from the room. Something drew him, drew him to a place he'd never been to before—the Palace's curtain wall. He ran up the stairs to see people, foreigners and locals alike, gathered on the wall, watching something in the distance. Far away, something was roaring, something which sounded like a huge fire, but in the desert, a fire large enough for that would be hard to come by. Normally.
Pushing his way through the crowd, he found himself at the outer edge of the wall, a hand tightly gripping his upper arm as he leaned on the edge and stared at the damage just beyond the city wall. A glance showed him the Captain of the Guard holding his arm and looking more than a little unsettled at the flames. Mirror Force when inactive would merely deflect the damage, not send it back at the attacker, and that was what had alerted and woken him—a missile striking the barrier and hitting the ground just beyond it. Now, there was a section, a distorted hole of blackened, burning debris where there had once been desert and part of an irrigated field.
Looking up as he heard a faint whistling sound, he caught a flash of metal in the sky and whispered with all the force he could muster, "Mirror Force, activate!"
A clear, glass-like dome took shape around the city and Palace, and the missile blasted against it, exploded, then hurled silvery missiles back at a ridge of hills not too far away, in several places along the ridge. However, even as massive explosions tore the top of the ridge apart, there were still locations on the ridge where he could see the tell-tale glint of silver. There had been inactive launchers there as well!
"Damn! It missed some!" he growled, then shook off the Captain's hand and launched himself off the top of the wall, yelling as he did, "Curse of Dragon, come to me!" The golden, almost skeletal dragon appeared below him, and he landed on its back, then called, "Take me over to the ridge, my friend!"
With a shrieking roar, the dragon flew in the direction of the ridge as Yuugi silently set the 'trap' for Negate Attack around the city and Palace, just to be safe. As he got close to the ridge and could see the launchers, he could see they were being loaded and aimed.
"All right, my friend, I'm going to give you more power, and I need you to destroy those silvery things down there!" he called, and Curse of Dragon gave a nod-like motion, so he whispered, "Activate, Burning Land, Fairy Meteor Crush, and United We Stand!" Power surged around the skeletal dragon as it shot flames out of its mouth to strike the launchers, completely and utterly destroying them and the people operating them, flying along the ridge to find them all.
As they were getting to what looked like the last location where there was a launcher, a flash of metal in the sky from a ridge off to one side made Yuugi whisper, "Negate Attack, activate!" The silver suddenly fell out of the sky and hit the ground just past the ridge, well away from the people and roadways, so Yuugi let the dragon destroy the last launcher in front of them, then asked, "Have you still got enough strength to search the next ridge over, my friend? I know there's one more launcher for sure there."
The dragon gave another shrieking roar and flew as fast as it could in the direction of the indicated ridge, where they came upon what looked like a whole base in the hollow just behind the edge of the ridge. There were all kinds of war machines, troops by the thousands, and many typical military buildings, but there was no indication of them being from any legitimate military, and the soldiers didn't even wear a uniform other than a band around one arm. It was enough to know this was a huge threat, and he couldn't leave it.
"Get started on destroying this whole thing. I'll call for more help," Yuugi told the skeletal dragon he rode on, and it gave a nod, then began firing flames at the base.
He then considered who else would be particularly useful to call—and decided dragons and a few demons were the best way to go. "Hyozanryuu, Seiyaryuu, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Summoned Skull, come to me!" The four appeared by Curse of Dragon's sides, then he called over to them, "Red Eyes, Summoned Skull, Fusion! Emerge, Black Skull Dragon! Destroy the base, before they attack Egypt again!" As the dragon and skeletal demon merged and became the upright, skull-like dragon, they all joined the attack.
After a short pause as a wave of dizziness hit the boy, he again considered who or what else he could call for help to destroy the terrorist military base. To his surprise, though, Curse of Dragon looked back at him in what he swore was concern, then flew upwards, somehow 'tossing' the powers which had been attached to it onto the dragons below. Black Skull Dragon obviously got the United We Stand ability, as its already powerful attacks got even stronger—massively stronger, not marginally stronger.
"What are you doing?" Yuugi asked the dragon he rode curiously, fighting off another wave of dizziness—and heard a worried trill from said dragon in response. "You're worried about me?" he asked with a little smile, and Curse of Dragon gave a little nod. "Don't be. Worry once the city and Palace are safe. Can I count on you to get me safely back to Priestess Isis at the Palace?" After a pause, the dragon gave another nod. "Good, thank you."
Finally, he also knew what else he could do, so called, "Upheaval!"
Below him, the land began shaking, tossing, and splitting apart, even as lava surged up from below the surface and water came up around it to create a steaming flood, swamping across the shaking and broken base. The dragons took to the air to shoot their magical powers and flame-like breath at the remains of the base, and Black Skull Dragon pulled free of his energy to begin digging down into the largest building on the base. It seemed he'd found something there worth digging to reach, so ignored the destruction around him in favor of his digging, even when the steaming water began flooding the hole he was making.
The other two dragons were apparently satisfied with the destruction of the rest of the base, so joined Black Skull in digging the hole—
Which was the last thing Yuugi saw before he fainted.
PA-HPS-YM-SK
Back at the Palace, moments after Yuugi headed for the ridge, leaving the Egyptian soldiers cheering and the foreigners staring in stunned shock, Set, Mahad, and Shada reached the top of the wall. "What happened?" the High Priest asked the Captain of the Guard sharply, making him face the younger man with a grin.
"Oh, High Priest! The Prince just headed up to the ridge along there, where the invisible attack came from! You should have seen him! It was amazing!" the man burst out, clearly thinking it was good news.
"He went? Alone?" Set asked sharply.
"Yes. Why shouldn't he? Obviously, he was still full of energy," the Captain replied.
Set looked back at Mahad and Shada, asking, "None of us has a summoned being large enough to carry two, correct?"
"Yes," Mahad replied quietly. "We can only wait and hope his summon brings him back. Which did he call for?" The last part was directed at the Captain.
"Curse of Dragon, Priest Mahad," the guard replied promptly, and stared when the Priest's eyes slid shut like he was in pain.
Set and Shada also turned pale as the older one commented worriedly, "He certainly likes to play dangerously. The fiends and fiend-dragons aren't the most reliable sort."
"But...all we can do is wait," Set answered, turning to face the blazing ridge in the distance. "Call for Isis! She's our most skilled Healer, and I have a feeling we'll need her when the Prince returns."
"I'll search for her!" Mahad immediately offered, turning and leaving.
"Set!" Shada suddenly gasped, making the High Priest turn—and stare up at the swirl of energy visible in the sky as something silvery fell to the ground near the ridge further away. In the distance he could just make out a small, dark shape flying for the further ridge, the one the silvery thing had apparently come from.
"That..." the younger Priest began, then drew in a slightly shaky breath. A moment later, he apparently gathered his wits, as he called, "Kaiser Seahorse!" The creature appeared beside him, waiting quietly. "Shada, keep watch here and fill the Priestess in when she arrives. I'll find out what the thing was which fell from the sky. If I can, I'll keep an eye out for the Prince as well—he's using far too much energy with at least one summon, Mirror Force, and Negate Attack. If he's using others as well, after Anubis' casting..."
"He'll have nothing to spare," Shada finished softly, turning very cold and pale.
Mounting the Seahorse, Set said to it, "Let's head over towards the western ridge, and look for a spot where something fell from the sky on the way." They were off a moment later, heading for the further ridge as smoke began rising from multiple places along it. He gave an involuntary flinch, but they had reached a strange object laying in the sand about a mile from the ridge. Without dismounting, the High Priest just stared at the thing, and even Kaiser Seahorse's head was tipped to the side as though it had no idea what to make of it.
It was metal, easily as tall as him, shaped somewhat like an arrow, but much too fat, and seemed to have been made. He understood nothing about it, other than that it was a kind of weapon, and apparently, one alone could make a village vanish in a blackened crater. Normally, he had all the answers, but now, he had none. He only knew how it could have been missed—from a distance, it was bloody hard to see, and only if you knew what to look for and roughly where.
A frightened almost-whinny from the Seahorse made him look forward as a rumbling sound began and grew louder. The ground below them was shaking, and a look up the ridge ahead showed it fairly tearing itself apart, making his eyes widen. "Could he really have found something so dangerous it would warrant using Upheaval?" he gasped, then nudged his mount with his heel slightly, getting it to look back at him in worry. "Let's fly up there, Kaiser Seahorse."
It didn't take them long to reach the top, even as the sounds of destruction grew closer and louder. As they crested the ridge, both stopped in shock—the remains of a huge number of bodies and of buildings were still there, but most had been reduced to rubble, and no one was alive. He could see two dragons he knew, a white and a pink one, and a third, dragon-like creature he had no clue what to call, all of them digging into the ground in the remains of what looked like some kind of building, ignoring the steaming water flowing around them and into their hole. Looking up, however, he was just in time to see Yuugi faint as Curse of Dragon hovered above the chaos below.
He figured Curse of Dragon would just let the boy fall, but it didn't; rather, it gave a worried cry and shuffled itself around as it tried to keep the boy on its back. A moment later, Set understood what made Yuugi so powerful, so said, "Let's help the skeletal dragon keep Yuugi on its back." Kaiser Seahorse flew up beside the other dragon with a call to alert it, and Set reached out to grip the cloth of Yuugi's back to push him back into place and hold him there.
"Let's head back to the Palace, Curse of Dragon, Kaiser Seahorse," the High Priest called to the two, who both made agreeing noises and turned to head in that direction. They were able to maintain their positions well, and the dragon seemed to know, to understand, what Set was doing there, how he was helping.
They were intelligent—he hadn't been imagining it.
By the time they were back at the Palace, Priestess Isis, the Pharaoh, Priest Akhenaten, and Priest Karim had joined Shada, and they had gathered in the courtyard below the wall to wait for them. Curse of Dragon landed in front of the gathered group, and Set immediately jumped down to the ground so he could reach out and pull Yuugi down from its back. Isis was right beside him, placing her hands on his head and chest, then sending some of her energy into him.
After a few minutes, she drew her hands back and said tersely, "He will take long to wake. Barely any of his energy and soul remained—His Highness was casting and maintaining far more than just Mirror Force, and that alone would have killed a lesser man to use once. Until then, it is impossible to wake him."
"How long do you estimate his recovery to take, Priestess?" the Pharaoh asked tiredly, looking defeated—he knew how dire the situation was and what Yuugi had risked to protect people who were not his own.
"A week. Perhaps more," she answered quietly, turning to look at the man. "However, even once he wakes, he will not be 'recovered' for likely approaching a full moon cycle afterwards. His exhaustion will show, and he will be incapable of either physical or magical exertion during that time."
"But he will live?" Ahknemkhanen pressed.
"Yes, barring unforeseen circumstances," she agreed. "Which we should no longer have, as the meetings with the foreign delegates have now officially ended, regardless of their continued presence here for the remainder of the week. I would hope, at least...However, with this enemy, unless it has been eradicated..."
"And you see no further destruction of that kind in the near future?" Akhenaten asked, good eye showing a feeling of relief.
"I would not know had I seen it—I do not know what the weapon resembles," Isis responded with a sigh.
"Have you had any visions of a village being destroyed and a 'clear sky' above them?" Set asked suddenly. She turned to him and nodded. "The weapon shows only as a flash as though sun upon metal—it is nothing more. You may well have 'seen' it, but if you were not aware of the tiniest flash in the sky, it would have seemed there was no warning."
The woman closed her eyes to consider his words, then her eyes shot open as she nodded. "You would be correct, High Priest," she replied. "There have been such flashes, too small to notice without looking for them. I know of the villages yet in danger."
"On another note...What are we to do with Curse of Dragon now that His Highness is unconscious and apparently yet maintaining it?" Karim asked suddenly.
"He is not," Set replied, shaking his head. "All the creatures he summoned are maintaining themselves here, obeying what may have been their last orders before his collapse—the other dragons were still destroying the...area...atop the ridge when he collapsed. They apparently saw fit to dig deeply into the remains of what may have been a building before His Highness had it destroyed."
"...An underground shelter, like a cellar, but deeper?" Shada offered quietly.
"Perhaps," the High Priest agreed. "However, we will not know all of what took place until the Prince awakens, and he is no longer maintaining any powers here, besides the casting he came to me to retrieve the scroll for."
Isis closed her eyes, calling up the images of Yuugi's battle atop the ridge, then opened them with a blink and faced Curse of Dragon. "I am Priestess Isis. You have brought him to me safely, so you have done your duty admirably. Please leave him in my care—he will be all right," she told the creature. It paused, then gave a nod and let itself dissipate.
"That was all it needed?" Karim asked in surprise.
She faced him a little wryly and agreed, "Apparently. I also found how many castings the Prince was using, without even considering the consequences. Shall we take His Highness to his chambers to rest and hold our discussion there?"
"Indeed," the Pharaoh agreed. "Priest Karim, you may carry my son. High Priest, please go ahead to see if Mahad is ready for us in the Prince's chambers."
"Yes, My Pharaoh," Set agreed, bowing a bit, then handing Yuugi to Karim and heading away.
PA-HPS-YM-SK
Soon after, they had congregated in Prince Atem's room while Yuugi rested on the collection of bed-cushions. They sat near the younger boy, with Isis and Mahad nearest him on the cushions, and the others with separate cushions to sit on in a circle around them. Opposite Isis and Mahad was the Pharaoh, and the Vizier and Karim were to one side of the circle while Set and Shada were to the other.
"Well, then, Priestess Isis, what are you able to tell us?" the Pharaoh asked her in a soft tone, gaze surprisingly intense.
"This child is far more powerful than we ever imagined," she began, then paused and looked at Karim. "Do you know of a creature composed of Summoned Skull and Red Eyes Black Dragon?"
His eyes widened and he breathed, "He was able to summon Black Skull Dragon?"
"He summoned both independently, but combined them soon after," she answered in a soft tone. "He used some I had never heard of before and the effect was singularly impressive, however...I will begin at the beginning, give the list in order. Mirror Force, Curse of Dragon, Burning Land, Fairy Meteor Crush, United We Stand, Negate Attack, Hyozanryuu, Seiyaryuu, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Summoned Skull, Fusion, Black Skull Dragon, and Upheaval. All of that, all active, and all while maintaining the casting of Ra."
Everyone could only stare at her as they carefully sorted the list. Finally, Shada asked, "And he is yet alive?"
"Alive, and will recover," she agreed. "However, this is also a danger, particularly should Atem not be even a fraction so capable."
A soft voice said dryly, "I can use most of those, too, all at once." Everyone turned to the door to see Atem standing there, looking faintly amused.
"Fusion? Or Mirror Force? And what is 'United We Stand'?" Mahad asked sharply.
"Well, I know how Fusion functions and the various results, but I still need a focus to cast it," Atem replied with a shrug. "By what I can do myself, yes, I can use Mirror Force without dying, but I'm not sure of my range. Yes, I can summon and maintain five summoned beings, or more, depending on the circumstances, and give them added strength—far greater in number than the ones Yuugi gave them. Yes, I can use Negate Attack, and yes, I can use Upheaval with no ill effect. United We Stand is an ability which increases a chosen ally's or summon's strength incrementally for every ally in range—obviously, the more allies are nearby, the more the strength will increase. And yes, since Mana kindly informed me you were concerned about the loyalty of fiends and fiend-dragons—I trust Curse of Dragon and Summoned Skull, and any Fusion including them, with my life, Yuugi's, and all of yours." He stepped fully into the room, shut the door, and walked over to where his younger lookalike lay.
"Atem..." Set began worriedly.
"Mana paralyzed everyone for me," Atem answered the unspoken question, then sat beside Yuugi as he shooed Isis and Mahad away. "Now, let me give him some energy." The two Priests stood and watched as their Prince took the younger boy's hand and closed his eyes—and several of the Guardian-Priests' eyes widened as their jaws hung open from shock at the sheer volume of energy Atem was transferring to Yuugi.
After about five minutes, Yuugi stirred and murmured tiredly, his eyes opening as the flow of energy stopped. Tiredly, Atem met his other half's gaze and smiled. "Feeling better, Yuugi?"
With a little smile, Yuugi replied, "Yes, a lot. Should you be walking around openly?"
"Mana paralyzed everyone for me," he chuckled in reply.
"Oh," the smaller replied, slowly sitting up.
"So, what prompted you to drain yourself dry?" the Prince asked his lookalike dryly.
"The whole top of the ridge was covered in missile launchers, and on the furthest ridge was a whole base of a bunch of people wearing no real uniform other than an arm band. When I used Upheaval to destroy the base, Black Skull started digging down into the remains of the building, and the other two dragons also started to dig with him when they were sure the rest of the base was taken care of," Yuugi answered with a sigh, leaning his head on Atem's shoulder. "This isn't over—whoever's come here isn't likely to have been at the base, not if he or she has been so thorough in planning that they were able to build a whole base so close to here without anyone knowing."
"Hmm..." Atem murmured, gazing absently at the wall past Yuugi as he rested a hand on one of the smaller's arms to keep him upright. "What did the arm band look like? That may hold a clue."
"...Red...Blood red with...I think it might have been a scythe and a..." The boy drifted off, fell silent for a moment, then looked up at the older of the pair with worry evident in his gaze. "It was a snake, but it was torn apart, and the ourboros sliced in half, with the scythe hovering over them."
At the Prince's wide-eyed expression, the Pharaoh asked, "What does that mean, the ourboros and the snake, with the scythe?"
"The ourboros is a symbol of learning, of a skill called alchemy, which is an advanced form of healing and creation. The snake—where did we learn healing and peace from, if it wasn't the Uraeus serpent we honor so greatly? The scythe represents death," Atem asked quietly. "These people mean to destroy, to kill, creation and healing...and peace."