M-Sama: Alright everyone, sorry about the wait. To tell the truth, this fic is getting harder and harder to write as the story progresses…Please. Your enthusiasm for the story is all that keeps me going. It sounds lame, but it's true. R, whoever you are, sorry I was so oversensitive. If you like my stuff, by all means tell me so, I promise not to freak out again. Maria, I inserted you in this chapter because I needed a name. Ed & Ego, I've read some of your stuff. It's funny as hell. It means a lot to me that you like this fic.
Answer to some commonly asked questions; I WOULD NEVER DREAM OF SETTING DOMINO CITY IN AMERICA! Sorry if that's what is sounded like I was doing. As for the dub/jap names, the names used in this fic were taken off the video game "Forbidden Memories," because that was all I had to go on concerning their characters. (Yes, I watch the show religiously, but those are a different set of characters. Stop confusing me!) If Jonouchi and Anzu show up later, rest assured they will be called by their proper names.
As for the king's name, because he was Twelfth dynasty I guess his name would be Amenemes XVII. Only the founder of the line got to pick a name, all of the line had to bear the same name, just different number.
Also, the guy with the tattoo is not Malik's brother. At the time this story was set, Malik was not born yet. He is just some random member of the Istar family, Malik's father, or grandfather, or something. ^^;;;;
If you like this story, nothing would make me happier then for you to review it, except for you to tell all your friends to review it too. The more you review, the more energy I have, the more I write and the faster the story goes.
Anyway, enough idle chit-chat. On with the show.
Chapter 9: The Demon in Bondage
The air was full of the crackle of magic. The huge white beast boomed into existence over Memphis, wings thundering, shining like the moon in the night.
Earlier that day, High Priest Seto Sutekh-Sokar had received a dispatch by way of a shadow messenger. Shadow messengers were only used on the most important occasions, for although they could travel great distances in an instant by way of shadow realm shortcuts; they were extremely difficult to control. Although Seto had a little trouble figuring out just why this message had been so urgent. Sure, the idea of a thief who knew duelist magics was intriguing and very important, but honestly, was did it justify the panicked terms the resident priest had used to beg for his guidance?
Anyhow, he would find out when he got there, he supposed. There had better be something more to this story, or he was going to be very grumpy that he had been woken up for this.
The Blue-Eyes let out a resounding roar to announce it's master's arrival. It is such a shame that no one now lives who remembers this sight, for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in full flight, magic crackling down it luminescent sides like lightning and the intense strength of the High Priest's magic making those sides as solid as anything in the real world, the pure might displayed in those booming wings and the all-seeing burning of those blue eyes, was one of the most fantastic visions the world has ever seen. Of course, Seto intended as much. He revered his dragons, and was not shy about displaying their might to the world.
The worried little priest was at the entrance, wringing his hands. Seto didn't even bother trying to talk to him, past the essential formalities. He turned directly to Maria, the priestess in charge of the maidens, who was the first to hear the stories of a phantom, and had rigged the trap that had eventually caught the thief.
He had been sneaking around the library, she said. This particular temple, as the central shrine of Memphis, was one of the few places that had a map to Narmer's tomb, where the Thousand Years treasures rested. There were so many alarms and traps guarding that scroll that had been foolish for the thief to try it, no matter how prodigious his talents concerning the dueling magics.
Seto doubted he would have trouble getting through their differences, but he was not tempted to try. A thief who knows the duelist magics, hem? Any idea where he learned it?
Maria was sorry, she didn't know. None of their threats had managed to get a straight answer out of him, and he laughed at the threats of torture.
"Why were his hands not cut off, as is the typical punishment for thieves?" inquired Seto, a rather nasty smirk on his face.
Maria replied that this thief was so extraordinary she did not think it wise to spoil him just yet. He may prove useful.
Seto did not reply. They made their way into the temple, ignoring the whines of the priest who hovered around them.
All Seto's reserves faded when he got a good look at the thief, bound hand and foot with Maria's new Chain Energy spell, a unique spell that traps rather then destroys. He relaxed inside the bonds, flexing his lean muscles. It was easy to see why the maidens had thought him a spirit. His hair was a lion's mane of pure white; his skin seemed to glow in the light if his magic bonds, and his eyes…Those eyes those of a destroyer, one who would rob you of your very soul. He looked like a god of death, come up from the underworld to slay those he would. He stood in his bonds and smirked, challenging someone to stop him if they could.
But in Seto Sutekh-Sokar, the hell demon met his match. Seto was not intimidated, though he knew why others would be. There were no monster tablets here the thing could call on, and those chains wouldn't give. He could glare all he liked; it made no difference one way or another.
Seto was intrigued. "You are correct Maria, this is quite a sight. Although he is clearly not a spirit. Heh, we have nothing to fear from him."
The thief chuckled. "Simpleton, you know not what you look at," he said. He snapped his terrifying eyes open, his voice cutting the air like a knife. "Release me now, or regret it for all eternity."
"Heh," said Seto. Cold flames smoldered in his blue eyes, clashing with the demon light in the brown ones of the seraph assassin, clashing and defeating. "Oh, the earth father quakes where I stand." He grinned a very nasty grin. "I hear tell you know a little something about summoning the duelist monsters. Care to prove it?"
"I would only be too glad," said the thief with a smirk. "Although I would require freedom of motion for a proper demonstration."
"Where did you learn to duel?"
"From the gods in above and below the earth."
"You mock me," said Seto, narrowing his eyes. "Dangerous play, peasant."
The thief fell silent. Peasant, he says. Ha. I am no more a peasant then that Pharaoh he so worships. But I will be silent now. I will play his game.
But the powers of shadow give special senses to those that master them, and Seto heard everything. "Cocky boy," he said. "I can tell by looking at you that you have no blood worth mentioning. You're nothing more then a common thief, but there's something about you that intrigues me. You say you can duel?"
"You have no idea."
"Indeed. Let's make a little wager. Let's have a little duel. If you lose, you have those strange eyes of yours gouged out, your hands cut off, and will be thrown out into the street to starve."
The thief gritted his teeth. "And if I win?"
"Well, you shall not be mutilated. What more then that, you'll just have to find out, won't you?"
The thief was not smirking now. His eyes were hard. He was startled to discover he could feel fear, he, who really had nothing to loose. "I agree," he said.
"Very well," said Seto. He turned to Maria. "Get some real chains. He's coming with me."
"May I ask why?"
"I want to present him to the pharaoh, before we duel. I think my revered king will think all this very amusing."
"Amusing," wasn't quite the word to describe the Pharaoh's feelings towards this situation.
Tèana found it damn right appalling, and said so--loudly. Seto stated that according to the law, the boy should have had his hands chopped off the instant he was caught, and that would have been that. At least this way he had a way to earn his life back.
"I know that," said Tèana, "but I still don't like it. Not one little bit."
The king stood up. In that strange, deep voice he proclaimed that he would preside over this duel. It would be fought on a time limit. At the end of the appointed time, the duelist with the most life would be declared the winner.
They walked to the dueling stadium. A servant walked up with an hourglass full of fine sand. The king declared the sand would take ten minutes to empty from one glass compartment into another. Tèana, dressed in her dancing finery, took the hourglass and turned it over. The duel had begun.
It was a close match, although Seto didn't seem to be trying. He made simple plays, then sat back and watched as the thief tried to come up with ways to counter them. The thief was inexperienced at formal dueling, and knew of more ways to use the monsters against humans than against other monsters. However, he was quick; his eyes burned as he conjured huge monsters with much more magic power then he should have had, considering his inexperience.
Seto was amused. This duel wasn't so much a real battle, as Seto testing the strange peasant, seeing how much he could conjure and how much power he had. This boy was undisciplined, but he knew some very advanced moves.
Sometime while all this was going on, Jono showed up and inquired what Sir Wears-A-Dress was doing with that creepy dude out there. Tèana explained the situation, and exactly what she thought about it. Jono loudly agreed with her. What did that purple-big-head think he was getting at, playing with a dude's fate like that?
"This is a shadow game," said the King grimly. "They both agreed to it. Shadow games are commonly fought with such high stakes."
"For no terribly good reason!" cut in Tèana.
The king was silent. He did not look at his friends.
Out on the battle floor, the duel raged on. Seto had just merged his Mystic Horseman with his Battle Ox, producing the Rabid Horseman, which was wreaking havoc among the thief's creatures and wearing down his mental energy. He was having more and more trouble conjuring his monsters, and his hold on life was slipping.
But he was a cunning white fox. There was one beast at his disposal that could win the duel for him, if he could only find the strength to conjure it…
His mother was laughing at him, beautiful face an insane mask…she'd be waiting for him, her silly boy, never worth anything…
Worthless? WORTHLESS?!
And with a tremendous pull at the fabric of reality, almost fainting at the effort, he called the Red-Eyes Black Dragon into the real world. It destroyed the horseman just as the last of the sand drained from the glass.
"I win," said the thief, his umber eyes dark bonfires, alight with victory and suffering. That unholy smirk crossed his face one last time; he sunk to his knees, and fainted.
Seto smiled a little. It was still not a nice smile. He snapped his fingers and the dueling stones levitated back into the storage rooms. The floor was cracked and there were char marks on some of the pillars. The place would have to be repaired again. It had to be repaired a lot these days. Less effort was required to make the monsters real, although the magic pull was becoming draining. Seto had a headache; such as he should not have had after only ten minutes of dueling. He supposed he must be getting old, or something.
He walked up to the king, his hard eyes still holding traces of that smirk. "So, your majesty," he said, "what do you think?"
"Truly, he is something else," said Pharaoh in that deep, rich voice of his. "What will you do with him now?"
Jono came running up. " 'Ay, ya creep! What was with that?"
"I was testing him," said Seto. "I wanted to see what he really was."
"And what is he?" asked the king.
"Not what I thought," said Seto.
"You thought he might be a scion, a child of magic," said the king.
"Just as I suspect with you, your majesty," said Seto. "He might be, but there is a great deal of human in him, more so then with you."
The king's eyes lit on fire. "I am my father's son," he said, his strange voice cracking like a whip. "Are you questioning my lineage, challenging my right to succession?!"
"By the secret name of Ra, no," said Seto, his tone meaningful. "Who knows better then I that you are the rightful king? Forgive me, I meant nothing by my blatant statement."
"You are forgiven," said the king. The king and queen may be his parents, but there was more involved in it than that. He was too strange to merely be a precocious boy, and both he and Seto knew it.
Tèana and Jono watched anxiously as the silence dragged on.
Finally Seto raised his head. "Well, what shall we do with our thief? He has more power then most advanced apprentices and even some full priests I've known."
"He would be a valuable asset," said the king, "if he could be trusted. But his soul will never yield to orders, and he will turn on us the moment he sees the chance."
Seto smirked. "There are ways of making him trustworthy, your majesty."
The king nodded. He knew. There were two spells that might work, Mind Control and Change of Heart. Change of Heart was the kinder of the two, but it left margin for free will, within a certain limit, and chances were Seto wouldn't take any chances, not right away.
"Shall I present him to you afterwards?" asked Seto, taking this as a go-ahead.
"No, he is your responsibility now. Trouble me no more with him."
Indeed, the strange thief would trouble no one for a very long time. Seto kept him under Mind Control, with the intensity of the spell depending on how much ingenuity was required of the little puppet. Seto would keep him brainwashed, and unleash him at targets or send him to use his thieving skills to spy out places and hear things. But inside that imprisoned mind, the fiery soul of the demonic seraph refused to be extinguished. He knew something was not as it should be, and he raged within the narrow confines of his awareness. He sought the Millennium treasures. He wanted their power. That was all he knew. That was all he had to cling to in his years of confinement. And that was what would be his doom, when all the worlds were shattered and Armageddon seemed inevitable…