Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, or any YGO-characters. But I DO own my OCs!
A/N: Finally, after weeks I managed to write the fourth part of this fic. As you might've noticed I promised for it to be updated a long while ago. I'm sorry! I truly am, please believe me. Anyway an explanation is below (second AN) and now on with the ff, kept ya waiting long enough, eh?
Note: This fanfic's rated PG13 for a reason!
Chapter 3
It was three years since the incident at the temple of Seth, in Nubt¹. Bakura was by now a sixteen years old man and physically he was what could be called everything a woman could desire (not that he cared).
The cut across his face had healed within a short time and now, three years later there was only a deep scar left to remind him of the night he had first felt that there was something like fate.
Right now he was planning, along with Thail and some other trustworthy men, another raid, which was to take place at the grave of Sethos, former high priest of Seth and father of the current high priest of the god who was Osiri's brother.
The man, who had died at the age of almost sixty, was a victim of the break-in three years ago, when he was murdered by one of the thieves.
After the ceremony of mummification the dead body had been brought to a grave near the family residence in Thebes and at the same day his seventeen years old son Setho was pronounced new high priest of Seth.
The small group around Thail had heard many stories over those three years, of those poor tomb robbers who had tried to enter the grave and had either never come out to see the light again or in a state far worse than death.
The only explanation for this was that a Millennium item had been placed in the tomb which protected it from any harm, Thail and Bakura had agreed on this, deciding they would raid the mummy of its priceless possession against every common sense that might have seeded in any of them.
They called themselves madmen, so why not prove it to everyone else as well?
Fear! Helplessness! Terror!
All this was there. One could feel the tension lying in the air, smell it and definitely see it.
People were in panic and running around, hoping to escape the nearing disaster. Everywhere mothers were looking for lost children and merchants tried to pack all their goods so they would not loose any money.
They were running from the pharaoh, or rather his guards!
Once again the famous thief Thail had dared to challenge him. And once again the criminal and his companions had succeeded, won over the man in power and made him look defenceless, vulnerable and most importantly human.
The pharaoh, reincarnation of the god Horus, had decided that this time the robber had overstepped the line and now his guards had set out to find the traitor to their kingdom.
They were riding the famous tireless desert-horses, breed to withstand the burning sun, and they did not show consideration for people standing in their way.
All in all, the greatest search for one person ever, was a reckless, catastrophic failure leading to infuriate the pharaoh even more.
It was just a day since the raid had taken place in Thebes and the grave had been ridden of everything valuable.
What had been thought to never happen had been done; Thail had once again proved that he stood above any curses, however powerful they might be.
What the people didn't know though was that it hadn't been the famous master thief who overcame the curse, but the man whom he had taken with him as a child to care for him like a son. But how would they know, if Thail himself didn't know that Bakura had in fact betrayed him.
It was true! The item known as the Millennium Ring had been stolen, taken by his rightful owner, the one who had been foreordained to receive greater power than most.
Right now this man was at his hiding place, he had split from the rest of the thieves, told them he had to relax after such an energy draining night and would inform them of further actions on his and Thails side.
Thail hadn't been seen by any of the other thieves since they had invaded the tomb but none cared, they knew he was somewhere else celebrating his victory with a couple of willing women and wine.
Bakura oon the other hand was wandering grounds near the shore of the Nile, away from the papyrus filled swamp area in one of the numerous acacia-forests the last pharaoh had let his servants plant.
The young man was wearing his long, blood red coat over a white linen shirt and a kilt that barely covered his knees. His face was shadowed by loose strands of his hair. The expression on his face was indifferent and cold while he clutched something to his chest with his right hand, the other was hidden under the cloak he had only thrown around his shoulders. He continued walking and only after what seemed to be hours he suddenly stopped, standing there between all those trees, casting darkness upon the ground and when his head fell back a deep, loud laugh emitted from deep within him. Clutched in his right was a golden item, a large ring that jingled after the sudden change of movement.
When his deep laugh ended Bakura smiled, it was a sad smile, only tugging at his lips not lingering for long. Grunting he sat right there beneath the acacias and his left arm snaked out from beneath the rough fabric he was wearing.
He held a bundle, a round ball of white linen with red stains.
Gazing upon it, Bakura whispered a small pray to the gods before slid the "ring" over his head and then opened the knotted ends of the cloth to look within it. Inside was not silver, not gold nor bronze or anything valuable at all. It was a head!
An exact, neat cut had separated it from its trunk. The mass of jet black on its scalp was tangled, messed up, the once blue eyes were a cloudy grey with a veil of dirty yellow upon, the mouth slightly open, blood had dried within it and a brown crust covered the thin lips.
Bakura saw nothing within this thing that reminded him of his master but the eye of Horus, by now glowing no more, was proof enough.
The burning rage within him released itself through a massive scream, echoing over the trees and probably farther. But the sudden moment passed shortly, leaving a hard breathing Bakura upon the ground with silent tears streaming down his tanned face.
"Why him?" he whispered, "Why did he go in there, he should have known… he wasn't its damned owner. I AM its owner, I'm its true master, its holder, he was a fool. Damn idiot!"
It had been five weeks by now and Ryou was still in coma. Bakura wondered if his feeling was wrong and the boy had not changed at all. He had visited once again but had left when the small kid with the Millennium puzzle had come by, dragging a slightly taller but still small ex-pharaoh behind who had been quick to tell Bakura that he thought it was him who had tried to kill Ryou.
The tall man had snorted, amused by the king of games. He had been in no mood to fight, leaving the two others confused.
Almost four years later…
The Millennium Ring was secure around his neck, hidden beneath two layers of cloth which as well hid his features. His rough hands kept the fabric in place and his downcast eyes found the way without complications.
He was headed for the palace, out for the pharaoh.
Within a year after Thail's death Bakura had gained the status of the pharaoh's arch-nemesis, the most famous person right after the monarch. There had been nights over nights of raiding, robbing, stealing when he had perfected his skills and slowly learned how to correctly use his Millennium item.
But then, the pharaoh had died. Not by murder or illness but while sleeping peacefully. More than a year the tomb robber had not appeared again and only when the Egyptians were already beginning to tell tales of his connection to the dead ruler he had begun to reclaim his position.
While the pharaoh's son, Bel-Um-Fal was still very young when he took in his fathers place, he did so without problem. He was known to be just and a skilled player of the Shadow-games. Considering this outstanding and superior attitude the folk grew to love their latest pharaoh quickly and soon Bakura was once again the nemesis who could not be beaten in wit and most definitely strength by the pharaoh.
But a final match between these two was destined, those two rivals who hated each other for reasons that were different as day and night, just like themselves. The day approached and both tried to perfect their abilities.
"Damn it!" Bakura swore and glared accusingly at the still body in front of him. Again he was in the hospital, not by choice this time, though. The doctor had phoned him in the morning, asking him to come. As the old man had told him they had sensed unusually high activity within Ryou's brain and they thought he would awaken within the day.
It was by now midday and nothing had happened, infuriating Bakura immensely. The beeping sound the heart-monitor (what a silly name) made drove the white haired ex-thief almost nuts and he could barely restrain the need to kill something, someone… anyone.
At that moment the beeping changed slightly and breath caught in his throat, the stiff Yami's eyes shot upwards, watching in amazement as cold, ice blue eyes opened to size him up.
(¹) Today Nubt is known as Naqada, a city that lays 24 km away from Thebes and during the New kingdom that's where the real temple of Seth was. I thought it would be better to stick to the reality in this case, I like to be exact. And just for further information, during the time this ff is set in Pi-Rammesses is the Egyptian 'capitol', it's not Thebes.
A/N: Hmm… this chapter was kind of disturbing, don't ya think? I've no idea how the description of Thail's uh… head came to be, it just popped into my head and I couldn't help but write it. You know this when you see something within your mind so clear as if it's real even though you've never seen something alike. As well I left some things open, eg. Thail died, obviously (poor Thail, I liked him ;-;) but I didn't write how exactly he died. Honestly, reader I hope you can fill in that gap on your own, what would a story be without any imagination from your side, huh?
Anyway, once again I wanna apologize that it took me so much longer to write the next chapter but I had serious writer's block and I've to do a lot of work for school and do my job as well. It's kind of hard and for a long time I was simply drained of any creativity concerning writing. But I promise that the next chapter will be out sometime around Christmas. It might take a few days longer or not. But it WILL be out before January the seventh, that's when school starts again and I do think that the sixth chapter will only be out by eastern (sorry).
I hope you enjoyed the fic and if you did please tell me, if you didn't please tell me as well. What I'm trying to say is: REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!
Let's see, what about five reviews until Christmas???? Please, I'm desperate. -.-'''