Yu-Gi-Oh!
Balance

CHAPTER FIVE – WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER?

Yugi could feel whatever it was that he had eaten for breakfast that Friday morning churning in his stomach as him, Marik, and Hermione made their way through the hallways of the school to get to the Ancient Egyptian Magic classroom. Seto and Bakura joined them shortly, but he hardly noticed. He was worried about what Shadi would do during the class, that he hardly noticed where he was going.

Aibou, watch out!

CLANG!

Yugi crashed headlong into a suit of armor, nearly knocking it over. Backpedaling, he rubbed his forehead, muttering under his breath as everyone sweatdropped.

"Yugi-kun, are you okay?" Seto asked, helping him steady himself. Yugi shook his head, voicing his concerns. Hermione put her hands on her hips, an annoyed look on her face.

"Oh, please, Yugi!" she exclaimed. "He's a professor! Why would he do anything to harm us?"

"Hermi-chan, may I mention Professor Quirrell?" Marik asked. She did not have a response to that, and kept her mouth shut for once. Yugi just shuffled his feet, his face scrunched up in thought.

"I mean, I know Shadi isn't an evil person," he began, "but I don't like his method of twisting the truth to get the results he wants. I… know he won't try anything, but I can't help but not trust him."

"But, Yugi-kun, I'm sure he has his reasons for doing what he did," Bakura interjected, "but we can't really dwell on it now. We're going to be late."

They took off down the hallway, with everyone forcing Yugi toward the center of the group so he would not collide with anything again. It took a moment, but the five of them finally came upon their Ancient Egyptian Magic classroom. Two floor-based torches framed either side of the door, and the top of the doorframe had a distinctive Egyptian design to it.

"Well, he didn't take long to move in," Marik commented dryly as they entered the class, only to get elbowed by Hermione.

The interior of the class was much like that of an Egyptian tomb, with rough stone walls carved with hieroglyphs. Many of the students that were already assembled in the class were shifting nervously in their seats, looking about as the fire light from torches that littered the room cast threatening shadows all about. A nervous gulp escaped from Seto of all people as they made their way to seats in the back of the room. About a handful of other students came in after them, but despite this, it was a fairly small class compared to others.

The bell rang a moment after everyone was assembled, and Shadi emerged from the shadows of the room, still wearing his sand stained robes and white turban. He rested his hands on a wooden desk at the foot of the room, his almost pupil-less brown eyes taking in the faces of each student (he lingered a bit on Yugi, Seto, Marik, and Bakura) before he started to speak.

"As you already know, I am Professor Shadi," he stated. Yugi would have never imagined how strong his Arabic accent would be when speaking English. "Also as you might have noticed, I do not hail from this country. I have faith that my manner of speech does not throw any of you off."

Shadi swept his eyes over the class again, stopping occasionally at a student that had their wand out. A few students twitched in nervousness. Yugi was just wondering where this was all going, keeping a hand close to his Millennium Puzzle. He did not have to look at his companions to know they were also keeping close contact with their Items, except Hermione, who did not seem the least bit perturbed.

"Egyptian magic," Shadi continued, "is the most ancient magic known to muggle and wizard alike, dating back over five thousand years. Most of the earlier magic used by the Egyptians were incantations and potions – methods not requiring a wand. This year and the next we will be focusing on these more ancient spells, so if I see one wand out in this class, I will have to assume that you intend to use it on someone for a destructive purpose."

All the students that had wands out immediately stuffed them into their robes or bags, hiding them from view. Shadi nodded, satisfied.

"Thank you. Now, as you may have guessed, because Egyptian magic was used long before any of the Latin-speaking powers came into being, none of the incantations we will learn in this class are in Latin. Therefore, this first term we will be covering the basics of the Egyptian language. Nothing extenuating at first; just some basic words and simple phrases. Enough so you'll be able to read and say the proper words for the incantations without tripping over your tongue."

Marik sat back in his seat, a satisfied grin on his face. The first term was going to be a breeze for him; he already knew Egyptian. Yugi, Seto, Bakura, and Hermione glared at his extreme confidence. Though their respective other selves knew Egyptian as well, they did not. At least they did not have to travel too far to find a tutor.

"Second term," Shadi continued, not noticing them or not caring, "will be dedicated to basic… mythology of Egypt." He looked like he really did not like using that word, not that Yugi blamed him. Most things he himself had written off as untrue or myths ended up being reality eventually. "Magic was believed to be a blessing from Thoth, the wisest of the gods, and his greatest student, the goddess Isis. In order to understand the meaning behind many of the spells you will learn, it is necessary for you to learn what the ancient ones believed in.

"Lastly," Shadi kept going, pausing a moment to take a breath, "the third and fourth terms will be dedicated to the basic incantations and potions respectively. I will warn you: this will not be an easy course. Though you may find some spells similar to what you are learning in other classes, the lack of a wand and the difference in languages will most likely confuse you. I honestly do not expect all of you to still be here at the end of the year."

With that said, Shadi took his hands off the desk and instead filled them with a leather bound textbook: Deciphering Ancient Hieroglyphs, one of the four textbooks they had needed for that class. Almost immediately, students pulled out their own copies, to his satisfied nod. He turned, and with a well-chosen word of Egyptian, torches sprung to life before him, illuminating a dusty old chalkboard. Taking up a piece of chalk, he was about to start writing on it when he paused, turning back and focusing on where Yugi and his friends were sitting.

"And, back there," Shadi began, so everyone was sure he was talking to them, "no cheating."

It was amazing the relieving effect this seriously spoken joke had on the rest of the class. A handful of the students chuckled, glancing back at them. Hermione was appalled he would even suggest such a thing. Bakura was blushing while Seto was hunched over, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Yugi just rolled his eyes. He should have known the Egyptian man would say something.

-.oOOo.-

After Ancient Egyptian Magic, it was off to double Potions with Slytherin for Yugi, Marik, and Hermione. They barely arrived in time, having gotten turned around twice no thanks to Peeves, the school's obnoxious poltergeist. Professor Snape gave them a reproving look as they entered, but did not say anything. Thanks to Yugi and Yami Yugi, the formerly cruel Potions Master had mellowed out after finding out the hard way what it felt like to be one of his students. Since then, he had judged all students the same, even those from his own house. This was something Ecillia found out the hard way as she tried to suck up to the professor and only ended up getting threatened with a detention.

After Potions, it was off to lunch before getting the afternoon off. Draco had fallen behind the others a bit, stopping to tie his sneakers before he tripped over the laces. When he got back up from tying it, he saw that the others had disappeared from sight, and he immediately went to catch up with them. Suddenly, however, the white robed Ancient Egyptian Magic teacher appeared before him, as if out of nowhere. He stopped in his tracks, looking up at him. The man was truly creepy up close.

"Err… can I help you?" Draco asked, trying to be friendly.

Shadi stared at him a moment, before asking, "Tell me, Draco Malfoy. Where did you get that feather of yours?"

Draco was about to ask how he knew his name, but thought better of it. He was a teacher, after all, and had access to the list of students in the school.

"I found it, outside," he answered. "Why?"

Shadi did not answer him. Instead he asked, "Do you know what it is?"

Draco frowned. Just where exactly was this conversation going?

"A feather…" he replied.

There was a long pause, during which the Egyptian man just stared down at him. Draco wished he would at least blink once; that stare was starting to get on his nerves.

"And…?" Shadi finally asked.

Draco twitched; his nerves had reached his limit. He edged around the professor, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice as he said, "Look, I'd really like to keep this conversation going, but I've gotta go now bye!"

He took off toward the Great Hall, not caring how much of a rush he seemed to be in. After a moment, he turned to make sure the professor was not following him, only to find that the corridor was deserted. Draco stopped in his tracks, wondering where the heck he could have gone.

"Draco-kun!" Marik shouted from down the hall. "What the hell are you doing?"

"C…coming!" Draco shouted back. He looked around once more before heading off in the direction of Marik's voice.

-.oOOo.-

Yami Yugi sat stretched out on the grass, in his spectral form, watching with a gentle smile on his face as his hikari played Duel Monsters with Harry near the shore where they had first arrived at the school what seemed like ages ago. He smirked slightly as his aibou made a crushing play, nearly destroying the younger wizard's chances of winning.

Eventually, his thoughts started to wander, and he found himself thinking of the dementors that surrounded the school. Such horrible creatures; it was a wonder why anyone put up with them at all. Then, his thoughts drifted further, coming to a rest on the morning they left, and how he had gotten caught sleeping with his hikari. Yami Yugi did not understand why everyone made such a fuss over it. Technically, he always slept with his aibou; he did not have a Soul Room in his mind for nothing! It was not just that that bothered him, however, but also what Professor Trelawney had said. He had to be more honest with himself. He hoped that did not mean what he thought it meant.

"May I intrude upon this brooding session, Pharaoh?"

Yami Yugi turned to see Aishisu bent over, hugging her knees as she stayed upright on her own two feet. The priestess was also in her translucent spirit form, as was obvious, considering Hermione was sitting next to Seto a slight distance away, comparing Arithmancy notes. He nodded for her to sit down next to him, and she did so, unfolding her legs as she plopped down on the grass.

"Honestly, Pharaoh, what's wrong?" Aishisu asked. "I haven't seen you thinking this much since you found out you were going to be crowned at fourteen."

"A lot of things," he answered, lamely. She raised an eyebrow at that. "Okay, I'm thinking about what Trelawney said."

Aishisu rolled her eyes. "She is a kook, Pharaoh, but she was right about one thing…"

She trailed off, and he turned to face her, when he suddenly found her finger poking his nose.

"You need to be more honest with yourself!"

"Meaning?" Yami Yugi asked, pushing her finger away.

Aishisu shrugged. "Well, simply put, Pharaoh, you're changing – on the inside and outside. Everyone's noticed but you, because you wont admit it to yourself."

Yami Yugi frowned. She was not making any sense; would he not know if he was changing or not?

"Seto told me – you know, the high priest one – he told me what happened in your first year here," she continued. "About how you and your partner have a complete bond now. You haven't noticed, but it has been changing you. Slowly, yes, but you are different from the rest of us."

There was a sudden groan as Harry lost his duel to Yugi, and Ron jumped up to try his luck.

"I still don't understand," Yami Yugi replied, waving to his hikari as he turned and gave him a thumbs up. "How can I be different from you and Seto and the tomb robber? We all underwent the same ceremony, and we all ended up in our Items. I'm the same kind of spirit you are."

"You were," Aishisu stressed. She held up a hand then. "Pharaoh, look through my hand. How well can you see the tree beyond?"

Yami Yugi looked. Through her translucent hand, he could make out the maple tree near the lake easily enough, and conveyed as much. She then took his hand, and held it up where hers had been.

"Now how well can you see the tree?"

Yami Yugi blinked, hardly believing what he was seeing. All he could make out of the tree through his own hand was a faint outline, very little coloring, but that was about it. Through his hand, it did not look like a tree, but a vaguely green and brown blob. He shook his hand out of her grasp, staring down at it as if it would go back down to its normal translucency. It did not, however; how could he have missed something like that?

"How long have I been this… solid?" he asked, his brain still trying to get over the shock.

"I noticed on the train, so I have to assume this is a recent change," she answered. "The one change that stands out the most is how far you're able to travel away from your light."

The spirit of the pharaoh looked to where his aibou was playing a magic card against Ron, several yards away. Hermione was only about six feet away from them, if that.

"I guess the thinking is, that you two are so close, it doesn't matter how far apart you are," she concluded. She smirked a bit then. "As for how you're changing on the inside… well, you've already demonstrated that."

Yami Yugi glared at her as she started giggling. He stood up, muttering that he needed to go for a walk, before taking off, following the school around until he found himself near the front entrance. Pausing a moment, he looked about; maybe he would go visit Hagrid. After all, the giant of a man never seemed to mind when Harry and the others stopped in to visit. Maybe he would not mind a five thousand year old pharaoh dropping in to get things from a male point of view.

The pharaoh approached the door of Hagrid's hut and was about to knock when a voice above him called down, "Don't bother, he's not home."

Yami Yugi looked up to see Yami Bakura – in control of his hikari's body – sitting on the branch of a tree near the forbidden forest, a leg dangling casually over the side. The tomb robber had a bored but distant look to his face as Yami Yugi approached, and he did not even make the usual snide remarks he normally did when in his presence. He waited a moment, waiting for that sarcastic remark; but it never came. Shrugging slightly, he turned to make his way back to the others, when the tomb robber finally spoke.

"It sucks, you know," he said. Yami Yugi frowned up at him.

"What does?" he asked.

"Eternity," the tomb robber replied. There was a long pause, before he continued, "I promised myself I would never hear their screams again, you know."

Yami Yugi crossed his arms. "So, you saw that when the dementor came in on the train," he stated. "I thought so, but I didn't want to say anything."

The distant look on Yami Bakura's face deepened. "Yeah," he said quietly, "I saw them all dying again. My mother… my father… my sisters… Ninety-nine faces disappearing into a sea of death and destruction before being molded together in a ceremony of dark alchemy."

Yami Yugi looked down at his Puzzle, disgusted by the thought. He had never known that the Millennium Items had been made through a ceremony of dark alchemy – a ceremony requiring the blood and bone of ninety-nine sacrifices to be melted together with gold. The thief's village of Kuru Eruna had been the sacrifice, and all had been slaughtered except for one, small boy: Bakura. Some how, the boy who would become the greatest tomb robber in the ancient world had escaped from the palace guards, and from the village. The only one of his priests who had known of the incident had been his uncle and Seto's father, the former high priest and original owner of the Eye, Akunadin. The only reason he knew about it now – too little, too late – was because his hikari had heard the old priest talking about it when he had traveled to the memory world. Yami Yugi felt guilty anyway; even if he had known sooner, he still would not have changed the past.

Yami Bakura jumped off the branch he was sitting on, approaching him with his hands in his pockets.

"This is the point where I insult you and everything you stand for right?" he asked. "You'll forgive me if I take a rain check; I'm not in the mood."

"Oh?" Yami Yugi asked, as the tomb robber started to make his way back to the castle. "And interrupt your daily routine of insulting me?"

Yami Bakura paused again, before turning back to him. "You know, this is completely random, but now that I think about it, I'm glad I took up residence in Ryou instead of the Eye."

The pharaoh raised an eyebrow at that. The tomb robber really must have had a lot on his mind; he referred to his hikari by his first name!

"Why's that?"

"'Cause I never wanted to live forever," he replied. "Now, when Ryou dies, I'll go with him. That'll be nice. I wont ever have to hear their voices again."

Yami Yugi just stared as the tomb robber continued his way back to the castle. He stayed standing like that for a long time, realizing just how incredibly insignificant his problem seemed now. Though he hated to admit it, he felt… well, he felt sorry for the tomb robber.

"By the way, how's your boyfriend doing?"

Yami Yugi jumped, surprised. He tripped over himself when he landed, and ended up crashing to the ground. Rubbing his head, he heard a sharp howl of laughter coming from above him, and looked up to see the tomb robber holding his sides in mirth. Apparently, instead of going back to the castle, he had looped around Hagrid's hut without him noticing, coming up quietly behind him.

"This is great," Yami Bakura stated. "Not only do I get my daily insult in, but I scare the shit out of you too. Thanks, pharaoh, I feel much better because of you."

Yami Yugi just glared. Sometimes, it was really hard to feel sorry for him.