Syaoran

Chapter 24-Mokuba

There's a Chinese philosophy, and if it isn't just Chinese, then be content that the Chinese do know it, and do not judge it because it's Chinese. There's a Chinese philosophy about perfection. It states that a perfect man is neither left or right, but exactly on the middle. And what Syaoran means by that, is that the man is not too rich and happy, so as to make others envious, nor poor and sad, to make others pity or scorn. The man must not be too smart, so that others feel threatened, nor too dumb, so that others despise him. And a man must not be too mean, so that others are afraid of him, or too soft, so that others take advantage of him.

Of course, the philosophy itself was so general that there were much more specifics to it, but just these are hard to accomplish. Julius Caesar was beloved ball all plesbians, but hated by all nobles because he was too powerful. Snow White was hated by her stepmother because she was too beautiful. ShiHwangdi was hated by all his subjects because he was too cruel. And undoubtedly, George Washington also had some enemies, but the textbooks don't mention it. Why mention personal relationships?

So as Syaoran had said, there never was anyone, mortal or immortal, who was capable of being right in the middle.



We waited anxiously for Yami to wake up but the old spirit wouldn't. Pegasus and those related to Clow Reed were not surprised.
" He's jealous of the Dark Magician now." Pegasus muttered.
" The guy's jealous of his own monster?" Touya blinked. " Weird."
" He's a five thousand year old Pharaoh." Kaho pointed out.

I didn't understand what they meant when they said that Yami was jealous of the Dark Magician. Isn't the Dark Magician just a card? But then that night the Dark Magician did help us, unless it wasn't he, so I do not know. I thought that time that Syaoran was just making up stories.

The story that Honda refused to listen to was an interesting one. Syaoran was looking at each card because he happened to like the drawings, while telling me the story.
" So Tarkot and the Dark Magician spent more time together afterwards," Syaoran continued. " The Pharaoh was greatly unhappy. After all, he did want Tarkot to leap from a slave to a noble, and that wasn't the way. But it's his Dark Magician that was getting in the way here, and the Pharaoh knew full well that without his monsters he wouldn't be anything. That time was the beginning of the Shadow Games-it didn't last long because it was too perilous, as I told you before."

" Now, the Dark Magician was created by a man named Thutmose, and iie, he's not a pharaoh. Thutmose was actually a shaman, who had created the tablet by accident when he mixed two ' chemicals' together and it got into the stone. Of course, that tablet was immediately sent to the Pharaoh, Yami's great grandfather, and was passed down ever since. So the Dark Magician was much older than Yami was, and I daresay quite fond of children. So was Yami, but Yami was a lot darker that time."

" So the end result was that there was this weird triangle, and iie, not some lousy normal love triangle that you see in movies and TV shows. This is a real triangle. You have the Pharaoh torn between caring for Tarkot and caring for the Dark Magician and hating both of them, you have the Dark Magician torn between the loyalty to his master and the loyalty to his new found friend, and finally you have Tarkot torn between listening to the Dark Magician's warnings or letting the Pharaoh live a short, but dignified life. You'll see."

" So is this the place where Tarkot challenged Yami?" I asked.
" Not quite." Syaoran answered. " Tarkot challenged Yami for several reasons. The first reason happened some time after the council of the fifteen Magicians, which you wouldn't have to know because that is not important. I certainly don't know what it's about. But it wasn't too important because the High Priest challenged Yami into a duel."

" That time the Dark Magician told Tarkot that the Shadow Games would be the end of the world, and if nothing goes wrong, the monsters will flood into this world. The Dark Magician was quite fond of Tarkot, and didn't want him to suffer like the rest of the humans will, and so told him. The mage knew that Tarkot would do something about it but wasn't too upset, since the Shadow World was no worse off than in the real world. But the monsters, as you can imagine, were tired of being thrown and ordered around. So they were planning a rebellion."

" So when the High Priest challenged Yami Tarkot immediately sensed danger. He told Yami that there was something about this game that wasn't right and he did not want Yami to go. Well you can't expect the Pharaoh to listen to that! And Tarkot was a slave. So Yami gave Tarkot a good scolding, and went off, and if it hadn't been for Tarkot commanding the Dark Magician to turn up when Yami sorely needed it, Yami would have lost. So came this nonsense about the Heart of the Cards, which works and tricks the mind. But in reality, monsters come and go as they will. If they like the master, they serve him or her well. There's no such thing as the Heart of the Cards. It's all mindplay!"

" Well, Yami took the credit to himself, naturally because Tarkot never revealed his little plot. And at that point Tarkot wanted to save Yami and began to practice. He practiced against himself at first, and then he unlocked keys and plots, and began to play with the servants, who knew a little more of the game than he did. Then he began to play against the scribes, and finally against Yami, only play, of course, but he realized that Yami wasn't playing at his best. So he began to get more scores, so as to encourage Yami to lift up his expectations."

" Yami thought that his little ' dream' would come true and Tarkot might have a chance, and to Tarkot's delight he did become more strict. When finally Tarkot felt he was ready, he challenged Yami to a duel."

" Well that didn't work! Yami won, it was rather close. I can't remember the actual score, but his Majesty won and that was all that matters. Of course, Yami got really angry at the fact that he was challenged by a mere slave, so there was more than just a lost cause as a punishment."

" Did he really whip Tarkot?"
" Well, if that makes you think less of him," Syaoran paused for a moment. " Don't let it. Because that's basically what Pharaoh's do. You have to understand that when you're leading a country, and the lives of thousands of commoners, nobles, and slaves are held in your hand, you cannot settle for morality to those who seem to betray you. What Tarkot did was a type of rebellion. Pharaoh's cannot just let it go away! If the country, first of all, falls into the wrong hands, the entire kingdom can die. And besides, if Tarkot was not as naive as he was, he probably could kill Yami once he got the position, so there was no threat. Because what Tarkot did was challenge Yami's position. He could very well be Pharaoh once he won. So hai, Yami did whip Tarkot, did lock him up in a dungeon, did abuse him. You don't need to know how that is, Mokuba." Syaoran paused for a while.

" But all this time I've never heard of Millenium Items." I muttered.
" Oh, the Millenium Items!" Syaoran laughed. " Now that's a different story altogether, and that was not part of our history."

I blinked. Syaoran sighed.
" It really wasn't his fault." He said. " Tarkot challenged him right in the middle of the council, but it was out of necessity. The Pharaoh was to leave right after and Tarkot would have had no time. Of course, the Pharaoh had to protect his dignity, and he came quite close to losing it. Imagine, nearly beaten by a slave! So Yami was very shakened. You can't blame him."

I decided not to go into the duel itself, and it was well that I didn't, because Syaoran seemed to be upset at the recollection, and he went downstairs in a bad mood.

" He's going to relive the whole thing, isn't he?"



Jou came in drinking soda the next morning. Yami wasn't waking up and we wondered how long it will last. Seto was talking quietly with Touya and Pegasus with Syaoran, and there was some words I could catch.
" Don't call me Syao-chan, ever." Syaoran warned. And I wondered, what's wrong with Syao-chan?

There was something that came up from the ground, and curled around Syaoran's left wrist.
" Ack!" Syaoran tugged. " What's this?"

It was a chain.

" Oh dear." Pegasus came and inspected the shackle. Then he turned to Yami.

" I think he did that." Pegasus pointed to Yami, well, not pointed exactly, but waved a little at him. Not waved, even. I don't know what he did.
" He got there already?" Syaoran asked weakly. Yami suddenly began to toss and turn, and the shackle began to sizzle. Syaoran screamed.
" It's getting tighter!" He cried.

Yue hurried over. It was the first act of kindness he had ever done openly. He touched the shackle and a blue aura wavered over it.

Syaoran was very nervous and edgy. Yue tried to open it.
" Use the Lock Card." He finally said.

Syaoran blinked, then hesitantly obeyed. The shackle opened, and Yami thrashed harder. Yugi tried to comfort him but it was of no use.

Syaoran rubbed his wrist and went over to Yami's side. Yami instantly reached into Syaoran's direction, but Li immediately stepped back.

" Ano..." Seto began, " I think Yami wants you."
" What if he wants to kill me, like he did before?" Syaoran asked.
" Oh..." Pegasus blinked. " He's past that. It's morning. You were brought before him."

We all turned to Pegasus.
" Nani?" Pegasus blinked. " Why are you all looking at me like that?"
" Pegasus, darling." Kaho answered. " You do freak anyone out sometimes."
" Ah." Pegasus smirked.

Syaoran ignored us then and advanced hesitantly towards Yami. Yami lunged at him but was held back by Yugi and Jou. Syaoran took a deep breath and pressed on. This time, Yami caught him and Syaoran lost his balance, his legs sliding from under him and he fell on top of Yami.
" Someone help!" He cried. " I can't get up. He won't let me go!"
" Don't try." Akira suddenly spoke. " Try, and Yami will squeeze Syaoran to death. He needs reassurance right now."

And Yami did. Because the ancient spirit of a Pharaoh was crying.



After some hours Syaoran had managed to sit up, but not without pulling Yami into his arms, because Yami wouldn't let him go and had him in a death grip. So Syaoran had to settle with having Yami in his arms, while trying his best to listen to whatever Kaho and Touya were saying.

It wasn't much. We couldn't do anything without Yami, because Yami has the most power out of all the millenium holders. Yue left as Yukito because he couldn't stand waiting any longer, and Kero followed. I think they were unable to face Syaoran. Akira, Ryou, Yugi, Jou, Anzu and Honda were trying to assemble the Duel Monsters Cards upon Touya and Kaho's request. The cards must be in a circle, they say, so that they can use each monster's powers, and each magical spell, to create an ultamite spell.

I looked at Syaoran, with Yami in his arms.

" Poor Yami." I said.
" Hai." Syaoran agreed. " In truth, he did try to kill me. Could have had it not been for the Dark Magician. I guess I forgot a few parts, because I was brought before him in the morning."

I could tell by Yami's face, his eyes squeezing shut, his body wrecked with sobs, that Tarkot must have been in a terrible shape indeed.