Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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"Of course that's assuming Kaiba will even be willing to talk about it," Malik mused aloud as they walked closer to another street light. Their voices carrying away into the night felt better to him, between the darkness and the topic they were discussing? It was enough to make him feel like he was cloistered in the Underground of his people again.
"Bastard killed Yugi, and yet Yugi still wants to be friends with him... man," Jounouchi spoke into the darkness, letting that particular poison out. He couldn't let it fester too long when they had such bigger fish to fry. But considering what they saw at the end of the 'game', seeing Yugi entrust Egypt to Kaibas' past self only to find out 'this'? Yet Kaiba was a better topic to discuss, far better that cold CEO rather than nebulous organizations wanting to end the world via Zorc.
"He wasn't to blame, Jounouchi. Like the others, the Item got to him as well back then," Bakura pointed out with a voice softened by understanding. "But he probably still bears the scars of those days, even subconsciously."
"What makes you so sure?" Malik asked, curious as to how Bakura could remember all this stuff. Wasn't he possessed at the time in Ancient Egypt?
Bakura gave a bitter snort before glancing behind him to see Malik in the dirty yellow street light they were reaching. All around them were dark woods, a long winding asphalt road and a lone light with the next one probably a mile or more away. Yet despite the fact that he lived in modern times, the notion of walking such a distance oddly didn't bother him. But Jounouchi and Malik were probably going to be feeling the pain for a while in their legs.
An old soul that belonged to Egypt while these two new, young souls belonged to this age. For all his love for Egypt, however; Bakura could say there was no happiness in his memories of that place. "Because the bastard who possessed him ended up staying in the Ring. You guys even got to interact with him."
Jounouchi looked at Malik in alarm as his mind instantly began bringing back all those dark moments. From the Monster World game, to sealing them in their favorite Duel Monster Card, unto Battle City which was a full stop right there.
While Malik remembered how casually the Spirit cut Bakura to help with their 'plans'. How the Spirit let Malik hide his soul inside Bakura when he lost his own body or took over to protect Bakura.
Their mutual expressions of concern and the dawning realization that Bakura was possibly carrying that Spirits' memories as a parting 'gift' was interesting. They knew that only Kaiba really abandoned Yugi, but if this Spirit was the one body jumping all over the place in the past and had he been able to maintain those memories? If he remembered the Spirits' past, exactly how much was stored in Bakura? And strangely Bakura looked not only resigned... but harden in the darkness.
"I am not going to say that he left me with any of the memories of the past, but I know who he was. Not only a High Priest in the service of Yugis' father, but Yugis' uncle and Kaibas' father. I can only imagine what would go through the mind of someone who watches his son rise through the ranks on his own. Attaining status as 'General' without pulling the strings of blood relationship at the time. But over time it seems he forgot about that, since he focused only on defeating Yugi and destroying the Spirit in the Puzzle."
"Why, though? Why did he leave Kaiba alone? If he's who you say he is, and he's related in that sense, why not just bring Kaiba to his side? Kaiba would have made a better target for the Ring than you," Jounouchi pointed out. Money, resources, what did Bakura have that Kaiba 'didn't' have?
"Kaiba can be seen as a God," Malik answered with a faint shrug. "I would suspect that Kaiba was protected by divine might against Zorc's power this time, though not Gozoboros'. There had to be a reason for the Three God Cards after all." Malik nonchalantly pointed out as he slipped his hands into his pockets.
"He'd like to think that," Jounouchi snorted in mocking amusement.
"Seriously, Jounouchi. What's wrong with thinking that we may have a connection to a higher power?" Malik asked, raising an blond eyebrow in a slightly strained tolerance.
Jounouchi rolled his eyes in the darkness, while his own personal fears ghosted along behind him, whispering.
"I just... I just can't bring myself to think that Yugi or Kaiba are gods, okay! I think of all the crap that's recently happened and it just doesn't seem possible. If Kaiba was a God, why did the kidnapping happen? Do you really mean for me to believe that Yugi would have been willing to let his grandpa and mom 'die' if he was a god?" Jounouchi asked, a tight, fierceness in his voice that left them silent. No one had anything to say to 'that', at least nothing that would have been acceptable to say. There was a feeling that if they tried to counter the argument that Jounouchi would get upset with them, so they went with silence.
Malik looked over at the back of Bakura's head for a long stretch of silence, allowing Jounouchi to have his thoughts. So he was a bit surprised when Bakura finally spoke his thoughts from the lead position.
"They weren't monotheistic gods obviously, when there are multiple they tend to have an area of influence that serves as their strength. They wouldn't be as good in other areas that don't fit, and unless we know what those two would be gods 'of' it could very well be that it was out of their ability to do anything about the bomb. But regarding this group, we have to at the very 'least' assume that this group is working from that notion. That their extreme methods are because they are 'expecting' potential divine retribution for what they're doing. So they would strike first and as hard as they can. In a way Yugi already 'has' shown that he has a type of divine magic, by managing to seal away Zorc for as long as he did. Who knows what allowed for everything to set back into motion, but untouched..."
"That bomb probably was just meant to show that they were serious about their intentions. But either way you look at it, if the ability to summon Ka are back on the field again... Mahaado is Yugi's familial person, his family, servant and bodyguard, but only 'that'. Yugi's 'Ka' are three in total and those three 'are' Gods." Malik noted aloud for the group.
"One... Yugi only has the one. But it split itself into three because it was just 'that' powerful," Jounouchi corrected, remembering those battles far too vividly for his taste.
"Really? What did it look like?" Malik asked his interest captured at the idea of what all three Gods would look like merged.
"Uh... well.." Jounouchi scratched at the back of his head. "She was massive, but in size, she wasn't fat or anything. Her skin was a type of shiny white, she wasn't silver but looked more metallic than just white stone or something. She had Ra's wings and his head was a type of headdress... Actually her battle gown seemed to be made up of Ra. She had large bird wings, and considering all the stuff I've seen since all this began? She takes the prize of most impressive."
"She?" Malik echoed in an effort for clarification.
"Yeah, Horakhty, what about it?" Jounouchi asked turning to look at Malik.
"Uh well, Ka's are gender sensitive, that is to say, a human male has a male Ka 'only'. Even when the Ka was an animal it retained whatever gender the body was. Granted the soul was believed to be in three parts, but no one was believed to be able to function if one part was missing. So I guess that makes Yugi, Atem." Malik explained to Jounouchi, since the poor guy never had to learn about Ka or anything else in Ancient Egypt.
"No kidding, how did you 'not' know that Yugi's past self was Atem?" Jounouchi snarked at Malik shaking his head. Just because they were talking about Yugi's past didn't mean Malik had to go into a type of 'teacher' mode on him! Like Jounouchi wasn't hearing enough from his own teachers during class.
But Malik answered with a soft, amused chuckle while Bakura decided to give Jounouchi some mercy as the gates of the Cemetery 'finally' came into his distant view.
"Set was the protector of Ra, like Kaiba as Set protected the Pharaoh, so having the Winged Dragon of Ra made sense. But there were those that, during different ages, would merge Gods with each other. Eventually Ra and Atem were considered largely aspects of one God, Ra at noon and Atem when he was at Sunset and descending into the afterlife. Something we see in Yugi's hair color, blond for noon, red for dawn or dusk and black for night time."
"Atem was seen as a type of hermaphrodite snake that rose from the primordial sea of chaos, created what we consider the human form, and after a bit he created first the rest of the Gods, then humans. Despite being physically 'male' he created the Gods that we know of that rose from his own divine fluids. Basically Atem got lonely and birthed the first gods to keep him company, some traditions say he birthed humanity directly others say the Gods. But Yugi being male in both lives, and having a 'female' Ka? Yeah... So we know who they are aiming for." Malik explained, missing Jounouchi's jaw falling open and his eyes going buggy as Bakura turned in his direction.
"Yes, a God who created Gods would be either a valuable asset or threat to their plans, since Atem is said to return to Snake form when the world ends. I doubt they want the world destroyed though, so they must be interested in his more 'create divine beings' ability." Bakura noted while Malik caught up with Bakura as the feeling they may have been onto something grew.
Leaving Jounouchi stumbling after them as he tried to get over the blithely spoken 'Oh Yugi's a bisexual capable of having kids by getting off'. The only unfrozen part of his mind began tapping out and he wanted to start screaming for Yugi at that point. How was neither of them alarmed or disturbed by what they were talking about? Jounouchi didn't think he was going to ever be able to swap tapes with Yugi again without his mind going into...
"ARGH! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TELL ME?!" He blurted out, interrupting the pair in front of him with a cry that was a mixture of displeasure and disgust, among other things.
The pair shared a look between themselves before looking at their fellow who had stopped walking. Perhaps it was a sign of how old Bakura was, in a sense, and how naive Malik was that what was bothering Jounouchi didn't register at first. Watching Jounouchi drop his head in his hands and clutch at his head as though his head was pounding confused Bakura. He tried to fathom what was bothering the blond when his mind went back to what they were discussing and he began to chuckle.
Malik cast a glance at him for the sound, but Bakura could only shake his head in amusement as they stood there. "Ok, I get it... we won't discuss 'that' part of Atem anymore, in front of you at least." Bakura walked over and began shaking Jounouchi to get the poor guy out of his frozen stance.
Malik pondered what they were discussing, unable to figure out what 'that' was that Bakura mentioned. But he finally decided he would bug Bakura later, if he was still curious, though at the moment it didn't seem to be important. His mind going back to what they had been discussing and the myth of Atem. His manifestation as a man, and when the end of time came he would return back to being a snake. Which when Malik thought back on the big three he could kind of see it, with Ra as a type of griffin that carried the nobility of the eagle and king of beasts. Obelisk carried the human body and the wings that would be spread to shelter man as depictions of the Gods above man did. Which left Osiris with his long draconian body, double mouths, could that long slender body be the 'snake' part of the equation?
"Maybe the problem is that Yugi is too young?" Malik finally voiced a thought that was starting to form in the back of his mind. "Kaiba and Yugi are two different people, Yugi was split between himself and the Puzzle, sure the other him has returned to the past. But what does that mean for Yugi? If his 'power' was split as well than does he have it back, or is it something that will redevelop over time?"
It was a question that caught the other two off guard and helped Bakura get Jounouchi out of his mental lock.
"Well, Kaiba already would have his powers even if he doesn't know how or willingly uses them. But think about it, Set protects Ra, Kaiba has always protected the Pharaoh when in his right mind." Malik began explaining his thoughts, his hands stuffed in his pockets because of the chill and his hood drawn up. "So what if the reason that this group that kidnapped the Kaiba's didn't kill Yugi or Jounouchi was because Set willed it? We know that Set could take over Kaiba if something happened that put Yugi at risk before the Puzzle came into play."
Bringing the mind back to the pictures of Black Luster the day that Gozoboro died of his 'heart attack'. The signs that Kaiba had been potentially possessed back, when the prospect that Kaiba wouldn't be able to help Yugi by being removed from the company.
"He's 'not' a God! He's flesh and blood and human like us, and those assholes who have done this crap? They're delusional and need to be stopped!" Jounouchi argued automatically, his tone growing confrontational. "If he was a God, his blood family would have been the last on the list of people he would be willing to let get blown up!"
"But if he didn't what saved Honda? You know good and well that Honda should have been killed, or at least 'blind' on top of everything for how close he was to the blast. The store wasn't even 'that' big and they had to collect the body parts for Grandpa and Yugi's mom because they had been at the bo-mb..." Bakura's words stumbled to a stop as Jounouchi's face lost all color to the point that the guy looked ready to faint. A realization struck him like a punch in the gut making him choose his next words with greater care. "Oh my God Jounouchi they didn't tell," Bakura began, softening his voice to try to ease Jounouchi back down from his growing distress. But the horror of the situation finally made itself clear to him as Jounouchi swayed.
"Parts? There were 'parts'?" Jounouchi heard a strange, strangled voice ask for him, unable to figure out where that voice came from. Bakura's eyes just became morose as he awkwardly looked into Jounouchi's own eyes while approaching Jounouchi. The teen looked ready to collapse at any second as he got his answer. "They were at ground zero... they... And Yugi..." Who was talking?
Malik wondered what they meant at first, and then realized that the bomb must have gone off in a way that blew apart the bodies. He hadn't crossed paths with Yugi's blood kin, and so it was easier for him to stand back and be analytical about the whole thing. Or at least that's what he told himself. But it wasn't beyond him to realize how it would hurt him if something like that happened to Isis or Rashid. That crippling pain that made him stand there in polite silence as Jounouchi crumbled to the ground.
Gods involvement or just Exodia violating a seal placed three thousand years ago, it was irrelevant when faced with the death of people. Yugi wouldn't have been focused on the bomb, since his awareness was limited to his physical mortal body. So it would have to have been a divine aspect that was working independently of himself. But that was Yugi and his awareness was limited at the moment, leaving only Kaiba with a still active divine aspect that could have intervened. But if so why? Why interact in only protecting Honda, who had no ties to Egypt, and abandon Yugi's mother and grandpa, who by the way, was possibly a reincarnation of a fellow Priest?
Set was supposed to lend aid to outsiders who stepped into the lands of Egypt, so aiding Honda wouldn't have been 'that' out of line. But perhaps it was all he could do now, between their discovery at the Virtual pods and now when Kaiba returned from America. It was distressingly possible that Set was going mad, or had already 'gone' mad. Set was a protector of Ra, but he was also a God of storms and chaos while Kaiba liked to plan everything. He was literally a divine paradox and unless there was a way to actually talk to 'Set' and get his take on everything? It was fully possibly that Set may have 'tried' to save them all and all he could do was release Exodia. Random chance.
"Does Yugi know?" Jounouchi asked with a hitched voice, looking at the gravel on the ground that mixed with the earth to the ditch he was facing. The cool night air took on the form of a blessing as his heated skin needed something to soothe it.
"That's-that's not something you tell someone unless they ask, so I doubt it," Bakura replied while he gently tried to ease Jounouchi forward in case the poor teen needed to be sick. It wouldn't have surprised Bakura if Jounouchi did, they 'were' putting a lot on the guy after all.
"We have to stop these freaks, 'Kura. We have to stop this type of pain being inflicted on others, to hell with Yugi or Kaiba being gods or not. No one deserves this kind of senseless shit," Jounouchi reflected. Seemingly no longer caring to keep internal thoughts internal, or maybe just too shocked to try anymore.