Chapter 4b
" We're stuck in a minor traffic." Seto looked at the speed. " Thirty miles per hour. On a highway. That's alright, I guess."
The eight of them, Yugi ( with Yami inside the puzzle), Ryou ( with his Yami inside the ring, having not come out for a long time ever since Seto revealed his identity), Honda, Jounouchi, Anzu, Malik ( with his Yami inside his item as well), and Mokuba were in Seto's van, with Jou actually sitting in the front because he felt like it. They were going camping since it was summer, and although Seto loved snow he wasn't able to keep it from melting.
Seto was hoping to speak with Yami Bakura but unfortunately the ancient spirit wouldn't come out. Seto briefly wondered whether he should go in there himself but decided against it. He wouldn't want to be stuck in there like Yami.
Seto wondered how this came to happen. He was actually friends now with Yugi and Co. Normally he would have resented it, but that's mostly because of Jounouchi. Now that he dropped the dream of returning home, he found life on Earth much better than he had before. Which was a good thing.
Quite frankly Mokuba had been almost annoying with his questions about Ancient Egypt. Seto supposed that it would be very interesting but Ancient Egypt didn't really leave a good impression on the young immortal. All those experiences with Banat, dealings with Belumfel when he was in his least rational moods, that nightmarish Anksuna, and trying to reach Malik, who was, of course, Yami Malik. Then he'll include that time when the Blue Eyes White Dragon nearly destroyed the palace, that incident with snow, the food fight with peasants, the explosion from the millenium items, the many duels that he lost with the Pharaoh, and in addition, that time when everyone in the whole world knew that there was a god among them. Of course now, everyone forgot who it was. They either thought it was Jesus or Moses. Or Buddha, for some.
Of course, that was when he got really sick. And thank the gods to have a little sympathy in them, sympathy enough to retrieve him from that cursed land. No, Seto did not want to be reminded of Egypt. Egypt was nothing special. The only reason it's so popular is because it's dead. Just like Greece and Rome.
After driving at a strolling pace the traffic sped up again and pretty soon Seto
was driving pretty fast. Ryou and Yugi looked out the window and there was
laughter as Jou whined about the cards. Seto smiled. After all these years, He
thought, I still don't practice, and while all these mortals favor the game I still
can't imagine what could possibly be so interesting and hard about it. Of course,
Yami always wins for some reason.
By the time they set up camp it was nighttime, and the stars glimmered in the
dark sky like zillions of diamonds. Seto and the rest sat around a large fire, upon
huge stones that the taller boys managed to roll over so they could sit on them.
Yami Bakura, Yugi, and Malik came out of their items and were also sitting around,
with Ryou and Malik very nervous.
Yami Bakura and Yami Malik did not happen to be interested in either beating up their hikaris or the others. Instead, they were gazing into the fires while there were random talks. Suddenly, Seto bursted out laughing.
" This is too much. This is so much like that time when I dressed as a peasant, and
they were circled around a fire."
" You were dressed as a peasant?" Yami Yugi asked.
" Oh, that was the time when you were...ano...with your wife." Seto chuckled. Yugi
turned and looked at Yami, who was blushing.
" Yami had a wife?" Jou asked.
" Ahh...that was...he's the Pharaoh, and pharaohs need..."
" Oh." Jou nodded.
" So, what about the fire?" Mokuba asked, as if nothing had happened.
" Well..." Seto shrugged. " Not much. I remember one of their songs. You know
that one, don't you Banat?"
" Me?" Yami Bakura blinked. " Which...?"
" Ashat komte."
" Ashat Komte! You know that song?" Yami Malik suddenly got excited. " It was
one of the most popular songs."
" Ashat Komte?" Yami Yugi blinked. " I've never heard of it."
" That's because you were a Pharaoh." Yami Bakura answered flatly.
" I do love that song. You actually knew it! But I thought you were a High Priest!"
" He was a rather young High Priest. Didn't you hear? That time he was nothing
more than a baby that has some wits and intelligence about him."
" Some wits, from you Banat." Yami Malik snorted. " He toasted you up good.
Even placed a curse on ye, otherwise you'll never have ended up in the Millenium
Ring."
" Can you see it for us?" Mokuba suddenly asked.
" Me?" Seto laughed. " I can't sing."
" Nonsense!" Yami Yugi laughed. " He's faking modesty. Seto Kaiba is the best
singer-he sang me to sleep once...of course, that was for a spell, and I woke up with
a migraine, but still, he has a wonderful voice."
" That was five thousand years ago, Pharaoh." Seto answered.
" Five thousand years! Look at you! Other than the fact that you're taller, you're
pretty much the same."
" I am?" Seto felt his face.
" Hai." Yami Bakura nodded.
" Then how come you didn't recognize me?" Seto challenged.
" Come on Seto, can you sing it? Onegai?" Mokuba pleaded.
Seto laughed and began the song.
" Heeeylo aya sonku te shei neiyo,
Ji ne na! Su kan te, lao me fa, ri negeeii la!"
Yami Bakura and Malik couldn't contain themselves and began singing along with Seto, clapping with it, because the song was both ancient, mysterious, and exciting, and they were exhilirated at the fact that a High Priest and a god actually knew it.
" Ren shang ka! Lei mei nat,
Su mei tei, a kaila!
Na fei lei, y me kan,
San da le, yitu Re!"
Although none but Yami understood the song other than the singers
themselves, they were still enchanted somehow by the melody. As Jou later put it, it
sounded " very Egyptian."
" Sei na meleth sene
Nut, reva kei saye!
Heeeylo, Aya sonku
Te shei neeiiyo!"
Yami sat smiling, next to Yugi, who asked him what the song was about.
" Peasants obviously sing this song." Yami told Yugi. " It's about life on the farm,
during the day. Since at night, they're singing."
" Ah..." Seto looked at Kuribo for a moment. " How did he get out?"
" Oh." Yami blinked. " I seriously don't know." He suppressed a chuckle as the little
creature nudged against Seto's arm and snuggled in.
" He really is a cute one." Mokuba giggled and petted Kuribo. Seto shot Yami a
distressed look and sighed.
" Goodness gracious." The immortal muttered. " Must I suffer this?"
" Suffer what?" Ryou asked in his British accent, and crouched down to pet Kuribo
along with Mokuba.
" Hey, hey hey! Stop that! He's tickling me!" Seto hopped up and dropped Kuribo,
who was hurriedly caught by Mokuba for fear he might explode.
" Ugh! Just like last time." Seto muttered.
" Last time?" Honda asked. " Whatdya mean?"
" Just last time in Egypt." Yami chuckled. " I remember that time clearly."
" Seto was in his chambers designing a monster when I ventured in. He quickly hid
it under his scrolls but it was too late, so I asked him what it was. He defended quite
well and tried to encourage my curiosity elsewhere but it didn't work, so what
happened was we knocked over a whole pile of papyrus, and out jumped twenty
three Kuribos."
" Whether it's because Seto was a god, or because he was a child, the Kuribo instantly grew fond of him and attached themselves to him until he could no longer stand upright, and so he fell on the floor, covered with Kuribo. It was really a laughing matter. Then Seto accidentally knocked over another papyrus during the struggle, and the Kuribo began multiplying. At that point I decided to abandon the High Priest and get out of there, even mischievous enough to close the door."
" You closed the door?" Jou cried.
" Hai." Seto nodded. " I'll get him for that one day. That's where Yami got the idea
of defense during the match with me and Pegasus. Of course, I got angry and the
more angry I got the more Kuribo there was, so the palace was filled with their
squeaks and the room nearly collapsed because there were so many of them."
Yami Bakura suddenly started laughing along with Yami Malik, and the
group turned to them to see what was so funny.
" Seto!" Yami Bakura cried. " Poor poor Seto! Do you know that in real life, when
you have too many Kuribo they give off a horrible smell?"
" Don't I know it!" Seto laughed. " I had to endure that for quite some time! It was
suffocating!"
Yami sat back with his hikari and watched the group tease each other.
Seto never was like this before. He mused. He always dreamed of going home and never like Egypt much. I wonder what changed.