What Is Forever?
By: Neko-chan
A/N: Hmmm...before I went on the internet, I was watching reruns of Yu-Gi-Oh!. (Sadly, I have to watch dubbed 'cause I haven't been able to get my hands on the subbed and/or original Japanese; would my wonderful reviewers like to help Neko-chan with this problem???) It was the episode when they're all underground in the caves and Jyou is fighting in the graveyard duel. LOL. It's also the episode where Yami Bakura keeps on setting off traps. (Seeing him run around with a skeleton attached to him was _hilarious_.) Is it is just me or do people agree with me and think that he was setting off the traps on purpose...or was he really that inept of a Tomb Robber? I prefer to believe that latter, however. D
Bakura: NANI?! What was that, Neko-chan?!
...I said that I think you stink as a Tomb Robber. No wonder you died. You couldn't even tell where the traps were! *cracks up* LOL!!
Bakura: *fumes silently*
*smirk smirk smirk* Bakura--zip. Neko-chan--lost count after two hundred. *cheers*
WARNING: This story will contain YAOI. If you don't like to read yaoi, then please leave NOW. Understand? I don't want complaints in the reviews telling me that you didn't know that this story was yaoi. All I'll do is point and laugh at you and then point to this warning--which has WARNING and YAOI in capital letters. It won't be my fault you were too stupid to read this. [Bakura: And, once again, Neko-chan loses yet another reviewer with her insults.] HEY! No, I didn't! The SMART people that LIKE yaoi will read this and they'll know. 'Sides...why would I want a review that can't even read a warning that's all in caps? *huggles all her _smart_ reviewers that reads her a/ns and her warnings*
Chapter Five
They had left him food. And they had left just as silently, seeming to blend in with the darkness surrounding the bedchamber. It was eerie...how silently they moved, how silently their whole movements were. He didn't bother speaking with them--by listening to the different conversations in the throne room, he had learned that the Pharaoh's closest slaves were all mute. So how could they talk if they had no tongue? Yuugi shuddered.
He didn't want to eat the food. He wasn't hungry and it might have had other...things...added to it. No, not poison. Yuugi knew that Yami wanted him and the others far too much to allow poison to be put into the food. But drugs... Drugs would have been allowed by the Pharaoh. In fact, he might have even put drugs into the food himself. So how could Yuugi eat the food with that threat hanging over him?
He had to stay focused. His mind had to remain clear. Others were depending on him...
"Good evening."
Blinking in surprise, Yuugi looked up to see Yami leaning against the door frame, a cruel smirk hardening his facial features. Yuugi just as quickly looked down, avoiding eye contact with the Pharaoh. He wasn't scared of him. No. How could he ever be scared of someone like Yami? All Yami would be able to do is to take away his life. But he still had his pride and his faith in his people.
"Koba--" Yuugi managed to stop himself. 'It's getting harder and harder to do, but I _must_ not speak my native language in front of strangers. At all costs, I must keep my country and my people safe.' His eyes darted up and once again fell to the marble flooring. "Good evening, Pharaoh," Yuugi said softly.
Yami titled his head to one side and stalked further into the room, gliding across the silk rugs as if he was part cat. His feet didn't make a sound. And the expression on his face and the look in his eyes would scare almost anyone who knew Yami. But, Yuugi _didn't_ know Yami... And so the small boy sat on the bed, watching the Egyptian king walk ever-so-closer.
"Why?" This time, it was Yami's question.
Yuugi looked at Yami, a confused expression flitting briefly across his face. "Why what, Pharaoh?" he asked softly, bringing his legs up to sit upon them. He wasn't mocking his new 'master.' He truly didn't understand what Yami was asking of him.
Another step closer. A silent step. A _deathly_ silent step. Crimson eyes. Hungry eyes. Terrifying eyes. ...hunting eyes. Hunting? A pause. Yes, hunting.
"Why aren't you scared of me? Why don't you shudder when I step closer? Why don't you cry out in anger every single time I humiliate you? Kaiba reacts to my taunts--he doesn't let his reactions show, but I know that each jibe cuts into him deeply. Yet you... You do not seem to react at all. Why?"
Yuugi frowned, searching for words that he would be able to say. Words that would be able to express his thoughts without mishap. _Were_ there any proper words for the thoughts that seemed to run through his mind--never ending, without stop, over and over and over again? His frown deepened. "I don't react like other people because this is what I was trained to do."
"Trained to do what?"
But Yuugi refused to answer the young Pharaoh. Yami growled in anger and crawled up onto the bed, making his way slowly towards the younger and much smaller boy. In a way, he looked like his true self. In another...he looked like a hunting lion. Yami finally stopped when the two were centimeters away from each other. Both tried to stare the other down with crimson or violet eyes--but both were too stubborn to submit.
"What were you trained to do, slave?" Yami growled out. He wanted to know. He _had_ to know. Something about this particular slave seemed a little bit...off. He didn't act like all the others and the thing that intrigued him the most was the fact that Yuugi wasn't scared of him. And Yami wanted to know why that was so. And he _would_ get his answer...at any cost. The Pharaoh waited for a minute, but still...Yuugi refused to answer. "TELL ME, SLAVE!"
Yami's golden hand whipped up and slapped the paler boy across the cheek, sending his slight body flying off the bed and making him land heavily on the cold marble floor. Slowly, Yuugi managed to push himself to his elbows. His entire left side hurt and he knew that he would have bruises come dawn. It wouldn't have hurt so much if only he had had the chance to set himself up to properly land. But Yami's slap had come out of nowhere. And he had never been slapped before.
"Answer me," Yami hissed out, crawling towards the edge of the bed. It was the very first mistake that the Pharaoh had made since entering the bedchamber. Yuugi noticed that Yami's weight was distributed wrong; and, with a feral grin of his own, Yuugi grabbed Yami's sleeves, pulled him off the bed, and kicked him overhead using his feet to propel the much heavier man. Trainer-sensei would have been proud.
Yami landed with a painful 'thud.' Unlike Yuugi, who had had at least SOME physical training, Yami had always depended upon his guards to protect him. Yes, he knew a little bit of sword fighting, but nothing of hand-to-hand combat. Which is what Yuugi excelled in.
"How DARE you," Yami snarled as he shoved himself up into a sitting position. His hair was mussed and the area from his temple to his lower jaw was red--it, too, would be bruised...much like Yuugi's side. "I AM THE PHARAOH!!!"
Honda closed his eyes and burrowed closer to Otogi. "Did you hear that?" he asked softly. "It sounded like Yami...but I've never heard him scream like that. I've never heard him put so much emotion in his voice before."
Otogi sighed and brought his koi's body closer to himself. "It doesn't bode well for whoever has angered him," he murmured into Honda's neck, nuzzling it a bit as he did so. Honda closed his eyes and brought his arms up to wrap tightly around Otogi's waist. He was safe. He was protected. No one and nothing could harm him so long as he was safe, safe in his koi's arms. "But don't worry, Hiroto. No matter _what_ happens, I won't let anyone touch you. I won't let anyone harm you. I won't let anyone take you away."
"I know, Ryuuji. I know." Honda smiled and wiggled even closer to his love. 'But...Ryuuji, there are some things that you can't protect me OR yourself from. Like the wrath of a Pharaoh.' The brunette shuddered as another of Yami's screams echoed throughout the palace. Whoever had angered the Pharaoh would probably be dead in the morning. Another shiver wracked Honda's body. "Ryuuji...please, help me forget about our past and the options in our future. Make me focus only on this moment in time...help me focus on _now._"
Otogi answered by bringing his lips down to meet Honda's in a bruising, crushing kiss. Soon, all the rest of the world fell away until only Honda and Otogi were left. It was calm, peaceful, loving. And filled with each other.
"How _dare_ you," Yami hissed again. Energy seemed to gather around him and a glowing eye appeared on his forehead. Though Yuugi had never seen it before, he recognized it by the tales he had heard. It was the Eye of Horus...and all quivered in fear when it finally appeared on the Pharaoh's forehead. But Yuugi refused to shake in fear. "I am the Pharaoh and you are required to do whatever I tell you to do. How DARE you rebel against me. I MADE YOU MY PERSONAL SLAVE!"
Yuugi glared at Yami from his sprawled position on the floor. Yami had finally done something that had made him angry. "I am NOT your slave. I am NO ONE'S slave. You cannot make someone a slave because each and every person has one thing that you cannot take away from them: Free will. I will never submit to you and I will _never_ be your slave. You cannot make me."
The young Pharaoh snarled in fury and mentally summoned his guards, nearly blasting their minds to ashes with the force of his call. Within moments, they arrived at his door, blades drawn and ready to sacrifice their lives for the only reason why they were still living--their Pharaoh.
"Take him away to the dungeons," Yami growled out, the red mark on his face making him seem even more feral than normal. "Let's see how much he decides to fight back after a couple of days locked in a cell. You'll soon change your mind and come back to me, ready to submit to whatever I want. I _will_ have whatever I want, Yuugi. I _will_ have whatever I want...slave."
Yuugi slowly stood and dusted himself off, looking proud and defiant. He didn't have to say it aloud--he knew that Yami could understand the look in his eyes. "I will NOT submit to you. You are NOT my master, nor will you _ever_ be my master. I, the Emperor of Nippon, declare it to be so."
A/N: Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Yup, you heard it right. Yuugi is the Emperor of Nippon! (And Nippon is what we call Japan nowadays. Nippon is actually Japan in Japanese. Ne...think I confused you enough? x.x;;...) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. But...what will happen next chapter??? Guess you'll just have to wait and find out.
And, for those who asked: Yup! Morgan Le Fay and Merlin are from Arthurian legend. They played important roles in the beginning of this fic, but I seriously doubt if you'll be seeing them again. But...eh. It's still debatable at this point of time.
So...read, review, and make Neko-chan a happy authoress! ^_^