Syaoran

Chapter 25-Yami

I froze.

Tarkot was as pale as moonlight, his black hair covering his face, dripping with blood. All over his clothes his blood soaked in, and they were all torn to shreds. Tarkot was on his knees, his arms held up by the two guards. He did not raise his head at my presence.

I was not going to show my weakness for a slave, but inside my heart clenched. What have I done?

All the thoughts were forgotten. The humiliation. The offense. The whole duel. The crime and betrayal. Gone was the anger, the rage of blown pride. I only knew that I had done something terrible, but at first I couldn't grasp it. It wasn't until the next morning when I realized what I did.

By this time, Tarkot had been here for almost two years. He knew me well, and did not come near me again. I wasn't about to apologize to a slave, but not doing it made me feel ill at ease. For some time I did not see Tarkot again, and the Dark Magician never appeared at my command.

I found this strange, but since there was no more duels for a long time the nobles and I began working on the Millenium Items. They are to be filled with Shadow Magic, and wrought out of the finest, purest gold.

Tarkot approached me again. This time he had changed. No longer was he the innocent child that I once knew. His back and arms were lined with scars. At first he tried to tell me that the Millenium Items were of no use.

" Nonsense!" I cried. " Out with you, slave. These are matters beyond your comprehension."
" Oh, but they are not." Tarkot said, his voice lining with venom. " I know well what you will do. And one of those very items will trap your soul within, and you will never become the dead Osiris. Your name shall be forgotten, your body erased, never to be buried. If you do not heed my warnings, doom shall befall you."

I laughed at his face. Then I ordered him away. I was not going to make the mistake of hurting him again, but I wasn't going to humiliate myself by listening to him.



A year passed. Tarkot turned thirteen on the very day he dissembled the puzzle that was nearly finished. He hid the pieces away. I grew angry but decided not to tell the nobles who had done it. I did not want to make the same mistake again.

We found the pieces, but the last piece was destroyed, probably by Tarkot. I did not ask him. No need to feed my anger.

Several months passed when in the throne room Tarkot ventured in boldly once again. This time he looked terrifying. His eyes were golden and they glowed with power, and his black hair framed his face so he looked like a demon. He challenged me.
" Whoever wins, shall request or punish what they will of another." He said. I laughed again. I did not want to do this. But he drew out a sword.

The nobles gasped. One of the generals jumped to my aid. Tarkot wasted no time in slicing off his head. He held the bloody sword high in the air.
" Anyone else wish to defy me?" I swallowed at his words. So bold for a slave. Tarkot was one who was born in the wrong body. He should be meant to do great things. He has done great things.

" It will be done as you wish." I stood up, trying to appear amused and yet offended. I was scared. I was afraid for the child. I was afraid for my dignity.



Tarkot held his face high at his loss. He had every reason to be proud. I barely won and I was not proud of my victory. In fact I was relieved and shakened.

Perhaps that was why.
" Take him to the dungeons." I ordered. " Five hundred lashes!"

Five hundred lashes quickly became a thousand. I did not hear any screams. I did not hear any pleadings. I went back to my quarters to nurse my fear.

" That was a close game." Said one of the servants. " For a slave anyway. How did he get to be so good? Is he one of those princes that was enslaved?"
" Maybe." Said another. " He's quite terrifying. One would think he'd still have magic, but all know that slaves don't."

I swallowed and listened on.
" To think, only thirteen years old, and he challenged the Pharaoh twice." Said the third. " He must of done something with the puzzle pieces too, but the Pharaoh was nice enough not to mention it. The kid brought this on himself."
" Ay." Answered the first. " No doubt about it."

Somehow I thought that was a lie.



I was walking down the hallway when I heard voices.
" He's doomed." I heard Tarkot's voice. " I couldn't save him."
" We didn't expect you to."

Was that Akira? How did he get into the palace?
" He's a very good man." Tarkot answered. " He never wanted to do anything wrong."
" This is not wrong?" I heard a sound of cloth. " Look at you. Your skin is marred."
" They'll heal."
" But you've endured a lot of pain."
" I shan't any longer. It's not worth it. I do not want to see the pharaoh suffer. Yet I know he will. The Shadow Games would be the end of him. I want to die before that."
" How long does he have?"
" Half a year."
" That's plenty of time to warn him."
" He would not listen to a slave. They are working on that last piece of the puzzle. Luckily I disassembled six of the pieces. But they'll find them, like they always do."
" Didn't you melt it?"
" The last piece was too hard, it took nearly all of my energy."
" Well, maybe you can do another one."
" I can't Akira." Tarkot whispered. " I am weary. I do not wish to follow a lost cause. I should have known I cannot accomplish anything."

And then there was silence.


" Get him!" Cried a guard outside. I woke up and blinked.
" Let go of me!" I heard a boy cry, and there was sobbing. I quickly dressed.
" Take him into the palace. He's one of the slaves."
" Isn't he the one that challenged the pharaoh?"
" Ay, the idiot one." Answered the first guard.
" Throw him in the dungeon." Said a noble. And Tarkot was.


Slaves ran about.
" There's a kid who fainted!" They cried. I turned around. Who fainted?
" A slave, I heard. Name's...Tar somethin." Said one.
" Poor guy." Said another.

Instantly I felt something cold tug at my heart. I hurried to the slave quarters. The slaves moved aside for me and I opened the door to Tarkot's room.

It was small. It only consisted of a badly made bed and a small cabinet, nothing else. Tarkot was lying on the bed, his face delirious.
" He wouldn't listen." He mumbled. " Mama, he wouldn't listen. Tried to, tried to,"
" Tarkot, Tarkot!" I shook him. Tarkot just turned the other way, mumbling and sobbing, crystal tears rolling down his cheeks. " He wouldn't listen to me. I couldn't win against him. I lost. I'm a failure."
" Tarkot!" I shook him again.
" Mama, the palace was a good place." All of the sudden the words changed. " People work hard but it was a beautiful place. The Pharaoh was a good man. It's a pity he is fated so."
" T-Tarkot?" I blinked.
" Papa, you would have loved this place..." Tarkot muttered. " Everything was of marble, just the way you liked it. And there was always something going on. You loved excitement, remember?"
" Tarkot, stop this, please,"
" Shaknet, you could have been one of the singers. The singers get good food and clothes. They wear gold, and you can sing for the Pharaoh. You and Sakto. Janmose, you could be a soldier..." The boy rambled on.
" Enmut." Tarkot suddenly started to tremble. " Enmut, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to abandon anyone. It's just that I was so scared. I was so scared and so alone. I'm so sorry..."
" Tarkot..."
" I just wish that everything could have worked out. But Ra is waiting for me." Tarkot opened his eyes. " Ra is waiting for me. He is setting into the world of the Dead."
" Tarkot, Tarkot, No! Tarkot, please tell me everything. I'll listen this time. Tarkot!" I felt I was losing him, and not caring if anyone saw me I grabbed his shoulders and sobbed. " Tarkot! No, no, please don't go. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Tarkot, I'm so sorry for everything. I'm so sorry for not listening to you, for yelling at you, for punishing you, please, forgive me!"

Tarkot did not hear me. Instead he looked at me with the fading golden eyes, and before he could speak he stopped breathing.



I was bitter. Tarkot received a proper burial, as much as I could manage. I sent some jewelry into the pyramid. He was to lie right by my side. He had tried; that was the point of it all. He tried to help me. Whether or not he did it did not matter.

Seven days later, almost a week after the funeral, which was held in secret, the week being complete in three more days, the puzzle was finished. The nobles immediately challenged me, and I realized why Tarkot had told me the Shadow Games will be my doom. For the monsters revolted against me and I lost. The nobles overthrew me. They sentenced me to eternity in the Millenium Puzzle.

Even as my soul was ripped from my body I was silently laughing. What a fool I had been. For two whole years Tarkot had done nothing except try to warn me of my peril. Two years, and he had done everything possible-challenge me, warn me directly, try to destroy the peril. And in those two years I have done nothing except ignore him and punish him for trying to help me simply because I was trying to save my dignity. I even killed him.

How could he forgive me? Of course he couldn't. It was clear that he never will. And as I was surrounded in the black darkness of the Millenium Puzzle I laughed out loud so all that bothers can hear.

" I deserved it." I said. " I deserved it all."