A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Original Beta: White Swan

Current Beta: Lady Lunar Phoenix

A/N: …. wow this was a short chapter. (Wipes sweat away after fleshing it out.)

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The Stanley Hotel stood as still and as silent as one would expect a virtually empty hotel could. The off seasons provided no valid purpose in a full staff, and a week absence wasn't going to bring the hotel down around anyones ears. Provided the lone occupant was of sound mind and not likely to set it ablaze. The main staff was allowed to be free of their responsibility to look after the hotel, the skeleton crew staff was near by in case of emergencies. But Kaiba was of sound mind and rich enough to ensure that he could have the whole hotel for the week. Hell he could 'buy' the hotel if it pleased him. But the reality was that he didn't really need the 'week', at least that was the real plan for his presence here.

A few days to iron out the list of people for the Kaiba Corp GrandPrix, check up on points, seeds, and locations for each duel. As well as go over all the reports for the completion of the park and to make sure all the license and permits were in order. The nature of the park, the accessibility to orphans mostly, meant that there was always going to be a risk of some child deciding they were going to wander off and explore. Children being children, it meant having cameras not just in the usual out of sight out of mind locations. Without parents to hold a metaphorical leash on the child it would be up to his staff and employees to keep an eye on the children.

The rest of the week was more to provide Mokuba and Yugi time without him so that Mokuba would get comfortable with his brothers' absence. And if that group that attempted to kidnap him before was going to come after him, this would be the best place for it. Alone, isolated, and Kaiba was more than capable of taking care of himself. While Mokuba was safe with Yugi and Mahaado looking after him.

And after working for a full solid day only to find his usually neat writing being disfigured into a childs' scribble...

Kaiba relented and heeded the need for rest and got up from the table he had been working at. Begrudgingly remembering why exactly he kept his brother around as his human alarm clock. However ; he did no one any favors if he allowed Mokuba to live his life as a type of caretaker for his older brother. It was weakness that couldn't be allowed to be cultivated into his little brother, and ironically Yugi would probably be the best teacher for that.

But that was neither here nor there, while Kaiba stood up and collected all the paper work he had been working on. Tucked them all into their appropriate files, logged off and turned off his laptop and soon had everything tucked into his briefcase. His stomach rumbled to remind him that he needed food, but bed first. He left the dining hall, with only his loan seat still off the table before leaving back to his own private suite.

Said suite was large and warm in colors, with subtle honey and warm wood colors in both the color of the walls and the color of the furniture. A very stark contrast from his usual white and blue colored surroundings. Placing his briefcase back where it belonged, he changed clothes, threw back his pills and wine and crawled into bed. Even as a part of his mind noted, that maybe he was reaching the end of needing the wine AND pills. It wasn't like he didn't know that this cocktail was literally a fatal combination. And that in the end, he was playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette with his own life by using it.

He pulled back the sheets to his bed before climbing in, a yawn already escaping his lips as he settled down quietly and was quickly brought into slumber by work and aids...

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

It was dark.

So what caused him to go from forced upon sleep into this surprisingly aware and clear wakefulness? The room was dark, with only a slight bit of light coming from around the edges of the curtain that covered the windows of his room. The moon light wasn't strong enough to even lighten the thick material, ensuring that a person opt to wakefulness from light wouldn't be disturbed.

So why was Kaiba? How could his eyes just open as though he was mid blink despite recalling what he used to go to sleep by? Indeed he didn't even really 'need' the drugs or the wine, his own exhaustion should have been enough to keep him asleep. While he laid there in the near total darkness of the room a sound of something scratching touched his ears causing him to flick on the light.

Where something that looked like one of those large American roaches scuttling across the ground. Seemingly from an empty space of wall across the floor and towards the door. Disgust rose up like bile in the back of his throat before he grabbed his glasses to get a better look at where it may have come from. As his eyes focused on what he thought was a typical black roach, something that infested lower quality hotels solidified into a gold trimmed scarab that was making tracks along the ground towards the closed hotel room door.

A scarab though? Kaiba, Seto did 'not' hallucinate by default so if he saw a scarab in his room then he must have been dreaming. Though he didn't recall, what dreams he 'could' recall, having any that involved him literally waking up in the same bed he went to sleep in. But scarabs didn't exist in America, and if there was one in his room, it couldn't be from some strange collector losing one of their property. After all, one, he was alone, and two that was just disgusting.

And he refused to let a petty dream get the best of him. Thus he pulled the glasses from his face and placed them back on the nightstand before he lay back down in bed. He closed his eyes, only to hear the door to the room click open. His head jerked around to try and see who was messing with him, but no one was there, even as the door swung closed on its own. The bug may have been the aftermath of a dream but this reality was starting to annoy him, he didn't pay to be treated to some third rate horror show. He got out of bed, stalking out of the room, dead set on finding whoever thought this was funny. Since he did not intend to spend the whole time being sleep deprived by third rate horrors.

"Kaiba?"

"What is it Yugi?"

"What was Mahaado's life like in the past?"

"How should I know? I didn't exist in ancient Egypt."

"And you dislike the past, yet Kaiba... there is something only you can answer."

"..."

"Why would Mahaado believe that by being friends with you, as opposed to a servant, that the Gods would abandon us during our battles against Bakura?"

All his fingers had to do was touch the doorknob, suddenly he recalled the private conversation he had with Yugi while packing. He hadn't answered that question; saw no purpose to revealing how much he remembered. But then again he knew what kind of person Mahaado's master had been, no different then Gozoboro in the end. Cold, demanding, arrogant, it was a wonder that Mahaado didn't turn out like Kaiba had. No, the truth was more that it was a miracle that Mahaado had survived at all under the man's 'care'.

...the door clicked open...

...he could hear the whip crack...

That was right, the first time he had seen Mahaado in the palace itself the boy was being whipped for letting the Prince out into the city. The Prince of Egypt was not supposed to be let out of the palace without the guards, unprotected save one untrained mage.

...his bare feet walked along soft carpet...

...small feet dashing along stone...

But the prince was happy that they had met, and dragged him down the hallways seeking out his 'Maha'. It was that 'Maha' that the Prince had been crying through out the city, looking for like a lost cub seeking it's mother. The crack of the whip carried down the passage towards them. He didn't say anything, but knew when the Prince's footsteps faltered. Even the small child, not even fully of three years of age, knew that something was wrong. Small hands tugged on his leading him with urgency instead of excitement. The small boy was growing more panicked now in the Palace than he had when he had been wandering the city markets crying for his Maha. The palace had been a bit cooler than outside, out from under the rays of the sun. The winds drifting in through the windows and through doorways while they went deeper into the palace.

He knew what he would see even as he walked into the room; Mahaado hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, whipped until all his back, his thighs, his rear even his legs were raw and bloody, a fitting punishment for a disobedient student. The Prince ran forward, screaming for them to stop, they were hurting his Maha and by the Prince's view that was right up there with treason. Of course one had to understand that when one had not yet even reached the higher ages that communication could prove to be a bit... difficult. So all the Prince could really say was 'Maha' and 'No', the rest was lost in his fits of screaming. The Prince rushed along, throwing himself against Mahaado's legs, his tiny body a small shield against the whip.

Set suddenly found himself holding the squirming, raging, bundle of Future Ruler of Egypt long may he reign.

He didn't know how the Jailer got a hold of the Prince or brought him over, he was a little too busy at that point trying to restrain the Prince. The Prince's tiny hands reached for Mahaado when a powerful voice spoke over the Prince's crying. He turned, but didn't need to look up; he knew this was his ruler, the Pharaoh. He released the Prince so that he could bow before the Pharaoh properly, facing the ground obediently waiting for the Son of the Gods themselves to speak. The sheer honor of being before the ruler of his homeland, humbled him. So it confused him a bit when that sound of rapid soft thumping began by the side of his head.

"Maha MINE!" thump, thump thump.

"Yes, my son."

"No Hit Maha!" cloth fluttered and more thumping.

By now he 'had' to look up and found the Prince's foot repeatedly stomping on the ground while his arms flailed about like he was trying to fly.

"No, son Maha was bad."

"...! Maha no bad. Maha good!" STOMP!

"No, Maha Bad, Maha let Prince out of home."

"I want! Go out!" the Prince proclaimed hotly. "Maha do as I say! Maha do as I say!"

"And what Maha did was bad. You are not allowed to go unattended into the streets of the city. He knows that, yet he defied me. You may be his owner, but I am your father and what I say goes above anything you say or want. You were bad; Maha is getting punished because of you." The Pharaoh said firmly, both trying to explain things to the Prince on his level while at the same time infuse more grown words into the conversation.

"Me bad... So Maha hurt?" There was no reply to that, only the soft thump of the Prince flomping down onto the ground in shock... "Me bad..." The boy's voice choked up as the implication, as something he apparently didn't consider finally came to his mind.

The sound of the Prince's wail of pain suddenly turned into the slam of doors and the shriek of glass shattering. Kaiba snapped out of a musing that had taken him from his room to the kitchen with a shock. He never before let himself be so mentally sidetracked that he could walk a whole building without awareness before. Now he was on the other side of the building, standing before the kitchen with the doors flung wide open. Drink glasses flying across the room so fast that the light caught the glass casting false rainbows of light to appear. But there was no one in the room to be causing such chaos, who would install...

He should have known, he didn't need to be in the Halloween industry not to know some of the tips and tricks of haunted houses. With that in mind what was going on in the room made sense, they'd forgot to turn off the system in the building. Apparently the true kitchen was somewhere else and this was a false kitchen designed to propel the glasses, creating a haunting effect. Two long rows stretched out from one wall to the other, with an off white counter with rows of doors under it. Hanging above them were the pans required to cook the various meals that were made in the kitchen. After the dinning room and kitchen were closed the room was immaculate, with everything wiped down and cleaned to perfection.

The look of irritation on his face was a mix of high class dismissive amusement and conceited self importance that felt insulted by the unworthy interruption. Before him, shattered into millions of pieces was every single plate, bowl, cup, and glass the kitchen held. Doors that should have been shut had been flung open, some even still swaying from the remembered force of the blow that opened it. The pans gleamed with their well cleaned exteriors from where they had been flung somewhere on the floor. Somewhere in the back of his mind the thought of someone trying to force him to pay for this mess rose up. Only to be squashed by his disdain of cleaning someone else's mess up.

And yet, who would actively destroy perfectly good dishware for a jump scare? It was a display of wealth that was unnecessary, especially for someone who just wanted to work in peace. This was 'not' how a business conducted itself.

He turned go back to his private room, the annoyance of this incident putting him in a foul mood. The drugs and wine already beginning to send him back his slumber as he walked when he noticed a soft sound not there before. It sounded like wind chimes in the distance, a soft sound that raised the hackles on Kaiba's neck causing him to turn around. What he saw froze him to the bone; somewhere in the back of his mind he knew this was supposed to be impossible. Every fragment of glass and China hovered in the air like humming birds, light from the halogen lights above casting small shimmers of rainbow light about. There was a name to what it looked like, how each shard formed itself into a blade...

A Thousand Knives.

Yugi was never so merciless to have Mahaado cast that spell during duels. But it was one that he knew about, the lethality of it's ability to kill a monster, no matter how powerful, in one blow. There was a time though, when Mahaado brought that spell about. When he thought on it, he could almost smell the hint of desert, that tang of blood on the tip of his tongue. "I'm not awake... this is just a bad dream..." He began slowly backing up as the smell of ozone and raw power crackled around him.

It came like the wings of a humming bird, so fast that the naked eye couldn't see. The first nick came in such a way he wouldn't have known he had been cut if it didn't slice so close to the eye. Then another nicked his arm, blood beginning to drip down. He took another step back as the rest of the knives lunged forward with a speed that left him filled with horror. "DARK MAGICIAN...!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

An open window brought a mountain tossed breeze into the room carrying away a nightmare's sheen of sweat's scent. He sat up in fear, his body shaking from the horror of that terrible nightmare. A thousand blades cutting into him, piercing his body was not something he wanted to experience ever in his life. His body was killing him as though he had been stabbed by each and every single blade, but logic reminded him it was all in his mind. Science having proven that the monks were right about the power of the mind. His mind said he had been attacked; the dream so real, that his body responded by reacting as though it had. Elevated heart beat, a quicken breath, sweat pouring down with every nerve singing to run like hell.

But there he was, in his room with the full moon light flowing into the window. A mountain whispered breeze stealing in to take away the sting of a heated body charged to run... Wait, the window open? He didn't sleep with the window open so why was it open? He got up letting the flickering of moonlight behind distant clouds light the way as he walked to the window. His steps not as purposeful as usual but still he moved along soft carpeting. The nightmare made him chuckle a bit as he walked, swaying slightly. Him? Kaiba, Seto? CEO of one of the most powerful Gaming company in the world, afraid of a nightmare?

While A Thousand Knives 'was' a very scary sight to behold coming straight at a person, Mahaado was such a kitten he would never cast the spell, at least not at someone who wasn't doing anything against Yugi. Ever the thinker, he found himself wondering if the spell's physical manifestation in the game was perhaps a bit much. The fear of those knives aimed at one person's monster could be more than what a person could handle. If the monster stood directly in front of the duelist the effect they would see would include the blades supposedly approaching themselves. If KaibaCorp was going to improve upon the 3-D technology that made them so famous; he couldn't afford the duelists to find out the lethal way that they had weak hearts.

With a yawn Kaiba shut the window, the drugs and wine were reclaiming their grip on his mind and body. He had a few more hours before morning and sleep was not going to be denied him. The clock shone with a machine borne glow of red of the third hour past the witching time. He sluggishly walked to the bed and nearly face planted himself face into the pillow. Grabbing the blanket he curled up under it, as the outside chill had dropped the temperature of his room.