Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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"What did your sister say?" Anzu asked as the group piled into Bakura's apartment sans Jounouchi who had to go to work. The rarely used furniture was once again holding the weight of the group. Anzu, herself, gently but firmly guided Bakura to a chair with murmured promises that she would make the tea. While everyone else just draped themselves over the comfortable furniture as they came upon it.
"Mokuba's in a bad way... He's throwing tantrums and all around acting half his age," Malik answered getting everyone's attention with his awkward tone. Mokuba wasn't really his responsibility as it were. He was, after all, the baby of his two other siblings and while he did view it as a childish way to behave... He was fairly certain the phrase 'so is deciding to develop a split personality and go on a murder spree' would be used. Not that he 'decided' to have a split personality, that just happened organically on its own.
Case in point, watching as everyone as a whole turned to look at him with expressions of worry. "She wanted me to make sure we didn't all en mass go to the mansion; at least, without being forewarned."
"Well Yugi knew this was going to happen... " Honda leaned back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling. Seemingly expecting some great revelation to be written in it with the way he stared. "He sent a letter to his 'old man' before this."
"Yeah, Yugi did everything in his power to make the least amount of work for us. I can't get over how he just knew it would go down like this. Yes Isis told him, but he even admitted there were alternate possibilities that could have come about as well," Malik noted as the others nodded. Everyone save Ryou.
'No, he knew he would be shot, but he wasn't confident on what would happen next.' Bakura privately corrected as he ran his hand over his face and felt the weight of ages fall on his shoulders. He had managed to steal a disc off of Isis, an instinct he couldn't really stifle. But the village elder had spoken of how Isis had picked out of two discs. Leaving him unable to shake away the feeling that the second disc was important too.
"Perhaps that's another reason why Yugi wanted Rashid and Isis to be with Kaiba in these times. But I think we need to give Mokuba some semblance of normalcy, so we need to decide if we're going to discuss this group in front of him." Bakura pointed out, "because corporate espionage and being a satellite to weirdness is one thing. Being a target to both is another. Even if Yugi says that the people who kidnapped the Kaiba's aren't going to be a problem anymore."
"And if he's having a meltdown, well its not his fault really," Anzu agreed as she walked in from the kitchen. "Now his brother thinks he's an Egyptian Pharaoh again, Yugi is in a coma in the hospital and Mahaado is once more in his tablet. All the people he had in his life or let into his life are suddenly gone... Again. Cuz remember Colorado happened and that involved Kaiba and took him out of action for a bit as well."
"We might have to own up to explaining more of what's going on to Mokuba," Honda suggested with a rueful tone. "If we can expect this group to come after Yugi and now Kaiba as well, Mokuba needs to know. He needs to be prepared because we can't do what Yugi or Kaiba can do." The words tasted strange as it acknowledge that Yugi and Kaiba were able to go beyond 'normal'.
"Whoever they are, they have a presence in America. If they have one in Japan I don't know," Bakura began finally as he decided to shift the conversation.
With that he finally updated everyone about what happened to Monte and the twins in America. For the first time able to talk about the magic shop with its Egyptian protective sigils, the missing body and the grave. The geis they had that compelled this group to stay apart and the differing stories about what happened the night of a camp out. The gang sat there quietly, Anzu even abandoning the boiling water to add her own experiences and listen.
Though Malik slipped into the kitchen to finish preparing the tea and bringing it out for the group. It wasn't easy either, with Bakura being forced to do most of the talking since he understood English. Once Malik rejoined them he was able to join in on several points, even Anzu taking a turn as she was able to tell the story that the curse made her hear. It took several pots of tea, breaks, snacks, and finally ordering out before they could say they finished the tale.
"How are the three of you still standing? Wait, that was just the other day?!" Honda realized as he did the math about where the trio had been.
"Yes, I was literally trying to sleep from the jet lag when I was informed of the shooting." Bakura acknowledged, 'And I still need a few more hours...'
"So that's why you were running out of the building," Anzu realized thinking back on how she saw Bakura, just dead running out the door of the apartment building.
"I would suspect that whoever bombed the Game Shop was from out of the country. Either ignorant of how Japan deals with such actions, or because they had nothing to lose," Malik took over, allowing Bakura to rest his throat as he sat back in his chair and seemed to semi zone out. "Even when I came here I was aware of the laws, enough to know to avoid getting the police after me."
"Card games are not considered lethal weapons after all," Honda chimed it. "Its not like most people saw what Yugi and the spirit in the Ring were doing..."
"Can you imagine airports or national borders confiscating Kuriboh?" Anzu asked, thinking back on Yugi's fluffy little spirit. A comically heartening mental image of that little puff ball in someone's face with a 'you want some of this' expression.
"However; with Kaiba unsealing the ability to summon Ka beasts once more. If this group has anyone who can or knows how to teach summoning... they don't have to deal with guns, they themselves will be the weapons now." Malik pointed out darkly. "Kaiba sealed away the ability to summon Ka Beasts because he knew what it involved. But that didn't remove humanities' ability to do it through out the world. No different than tying up someone so they can't move. Once the ropes are removed the person is free."
"And Ka Beasts are not something I know with a great deal of confidence," Bakura admitted with a sigh. "I was possessed in those days, and the knowledge in and of itself was with the Priests of the Pharaoh. Summoning a Ka Beast out of hand was a rarity, and I suspect some myths and stories were born of such people accidentally calling forth such beings."
"Are Ka Beasts something everyone has? We might be able to help if we had one," Anzu pointed out looking between Bakura and Malik. But both guys shook their heads and gave a slight shrug.
"My siblings have their Ka beasts and I asked a similar question regarding that. One of the supposed main purposes of the Sennen Items was to see into people and be able to extract their Ka beasts. Without it, well," Malik shrugged, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "Everyone seems to have a Ka beast, at least as children. But if they keep that beast as they grow up or if it changes is an unknown to both of them."
"But... people don't try summoning something they don't know they have. So if someone with an average Ka Beast knew and tried to summon... Could they? Like if we trained could we summon a Ka Beast?" Honda asked.
"I don't believe so. Sister said that all people have Ka Beasts, however; a Ka Beast isn't something you're 'supposed' to summon. Think of it as stars on a monster card, anything below four can't be summoned." Malik explained, despite his own frustration over their inability to give a definitive answer.
"You're also forgetting something pretty important," Bakura warned quietly. "Ka Beasts are an extension of ourselves. Those 'beasts'? Are sustained by our own Life Force, they get hurt, you get hurt, they get defeated and you could end up dead. Some people, like Kaiba, use the Blue Eyes White Dragon which is 'not' his Ka Beast. If it gets banished, it would just wear him out, but if it was his Ka and destroyed in battle? Depending on the situation it could kill him. So before you get excited about 'summoning a Ka' just keep that in mind. 'Are you willing to die for this fight?'."
"Is that how a leader is supposed to talk? Shooting down everyone's enthusiasm?" Malik mocked as he sat back.
Bakura didn't even glance at him, for all intents and purpose he still looked tired. "Think of the question as a military recruitment question. Because that's what this group has turned it into."
It set the room into a quiet introspection, Anzu alone was sitting there with her take out tray on her lap. She stared down at the pile of noodles that she had been senselessly eating. She had created a visible dent into it, but that she wasn't even aware of the flavor of her meal just... Learn to call forth Ka beasts and put her life on the line or stay a cheerleader on the side lines.
One was dangerous, the other safety.
She tried to imagine the duels she saw a year ago, the clashing of Dark Magician against Blue Eyes, or how the Egyptian Gods towered over everything. There was no guarantee what her Ka would even 'be'. She tried to imagine how, instead of going to the graveyard, Yugi 'died' when Mahaado was sent from the field.
Her food became a rock in her stomach as she looked about at the room. Thinking of 'any' of them summoning a Ka beast and just falling over dead. Summoning a Ka Beast sounded cool, but the reality was terrifying. Though being guys, said guys probably weren't thinking of that...
Only Honda 'was' very much thinking of that. "I don't know if I want to be able to summon a Ka. If you asked me last year, I would be completely on board. The idea sounds incredibly cool. But I was blown back by a bomb, and having my knee shattered and going deaf... It changes your outlook on a lot of things." Everyone paused from their own introspective thoughts and looked over at Honda. But his gaze was over at the cane and notebook he still had to carry and everything they signified now.
"I've stared death in the eye, and maybe the only reason I survived was because I was fortunate enough to be close to Yugi. Close enough that whatever spared me did so. I want to say I'm brave enough to face down whatever this group pulls. I 'do'. But I'm not. I dodged a bullet, but that doesn't mean I want to take a chance at being shot again. I don't want you guys to think that I'm copping out because I'm scared. But say I manage to call forth a Ka from myself, or maybe a Ka from one of those tablets. Who's to say I have a worthwhile ability? What if I don't, what if I'm useless, but because I have a Ka someone decides its worth coming after me?"
"No one here thinks that Honda, he's at work. But there's no crime in having common sense and an awareness of our own limitations. Right now, we don't know enough to say if even summoning a Ka would be helpful. Because you're right, we could just be setting ourselves up for failure, or making ourselves a bigger burden for Yugi and Kaiba to deal with," Malik agreed. While using his chopsticks to lift up a wad of noddles that he could barely find the motivation to eat.
"We are so clueless about everything. Yet Yugi's trusting us to look after everything," Anzu commented as she put down the same bite for the fifth time.
"They worry so for the Pharaoh. I would have held them in scorn not so long ago, but knowing what we know now. Well..."
Bakura could hear his 'past' parents commenting in the back and it raised his hackles. Mostly having his 'parents' critiquing what he was doing was inspiring a strong 'go away' reaction. He didn't want to think of them as his parents, not with everything they represented to his life as a whole now. But... They were here, unlike his current mom who had died, and his dad who just didn't have the time to share. These two with their antiquated way of viewing his life and the world was all he had.
"You're right of course, and Malik is as well, you're not being a coward for thinking ahead. Actually I'm quite pleased that you're thinking this far beyond the idea of summoning spirits to fight battles. I was more worried that you would have the more child like view of how 'cool' it is. Want to go ahead and do it without fully thinking this through. Which you should, I think in the end, we need Yugi to discuss this with, or more importantly. We need Mahaado. He has the insight to what goes on as a Ka beast in the service of another." Bakura paused before adding, "when you do make sure I'm not in the area..."
"What ever you did it couldn't have been 'that' bad," Anzu began earning an elevated pale eyebrow.
"I killed him."
"... We'll drop you a line before we have that discussion, maybe tape it for you to look over later..." Anzu corrected and then crammed that uneaten wad of noodles into her mouth. She looked like a chipmunk, down to the puffed out cheeks and wide eyes.
"You know we've all done things that we regretted..." Malik began when Bakura zeroed in on him with a wordless expression. After a beat Malik recalled that he had killed his father and shut up from any further comments on the matter.
"So now? The hospital can only do so much to oversee Yugi and the same for the spirits. We're still in school for a little while longer so we can't really just hang around all day." Bakura pointed out as he leaned forward to take back his tea cup. "I'm going to need to talk to Isis and Rashid to see if they know of any prayers that might invoke Kaiba's divine assistance."
"Kaiba? Not Yugi?" Malik asked in surprise though his expression shifted slightly. 'True, Set was Yugi's 'General' so he might be more approachable in terms of a prayer to protect his Ruler.'
"We can't tell how far Yugi is to that state, while Kaiba is showing very clearly how strong he is," Bakura pointed out as he tasted the cooling tea and inwardly sighed with disappointment. "We're about to have two fully active Egyptian Gods walking the streets of Japan. I don't look forward to the coming months," he finally stated begrudgingly.
"Oh that's not so bad," Malik chuckled, "Kaiba's not really enjoying this I bet. Now when he accidentally summons Blue Eyes White Dragon and lays waste to something. I'm waiting for 'that'." The blond smirked into his food, while Honda just shook his head in quiet disbelief.
"Better pray you're not on the other side of whatever the dragon blows up."
"Better pray I don't mess this up," Bakura answered, his voice with enough bitterness to cause everyone to stop and look at him.
"Ryou..." Anzu began while Bakura shook his head.
"Forgive me, I'm just tired..." He began but found himself now the full focus of the room.
"That's understandable, you've been pushed pretty hard as of late..." Honda began. "I couldn't help, and face it Jounouchi could probably only do so much. But Yugi..."
"Yugi and Mahaado both died because of me, you have no idea how that feels." Bakura near jumped to his feet and began pacing the length of the room. "It is as though I am being given the chance at redemption and I am scared beyond death of failing. I'm the reason that a whole 'nation' lost their ruler, I'm the reason why Malik's people have spent three thousand 'years' living underground. Every crazed lunatic, myself included, has targeted him for things that he didn't have any part of!"
The others got to their feet, "So Yugi and Kaiba are Egyptian gods. Congratulations, it means we have an idea of what the afterlife is like. I've got a tribe of ghosts haunting me, and if I get this right, maybe I can get them into the afterlife. But if I mess this up..."
Bile rose in the back of Bakura's throat as the weight of everything began snowballing into his mind. The signs evident enough that Anzu rushed over and began pushing Bakura back to his seat. Amid instructions to just breath, she began stroking his hair like he was a rabbit. While Honda rushed Malik out of the room to get a wash rag or something cool to calm Bakura.
"Well, its not as though you're alone. You have us, you have Yugi's confidence, if not Kaiba's..." Honda pointed out. "Oh and thanks for pointing out the whole after life thing... Now I have to read up on that..."
The comment got Anzu elbowing the side of his thigh in annoyance as she continued to try to get Bakura to start breathing normal again.
'Normal'. Everything was normal...
Nothing was normal.