Chapter Five--Awakening

Yami glanced about himself uneasily, feeling the familiar slight mental strain of maintaining a solidified form in the Shadow Realm. In this plane of existance, he was every bit as mortal as Yugi, Ryou, and Malik.

The figure before him seemed perfectly at home, sighing and stretching luxuriously with a quirky little smile playing across his lips. Yami had ascertained that this figure was, quite obviously, not Kaiba, but had somehow or other taken the brunette's form, and done a damned good job of it too. The spirit had once developed a small amount of affection for the boy, and had long since commited every detail of the CEO to his memory. This...person had done an exemplary job in imitating Seto Kaiba, physically, but their essences were very much different.

Oddly enough, it was familiar somehow. Yami no longer felt any fear of the situation, only confusion, and anticipation. He wondered what the imposter had planned with this game of his.

Seth continued to lay on his back, watching Yami with hungry eyes. The pharaoh was thinner now than he had been, and lighter skinned, but the long, delicate limbs and moody crimson eyes were the same. He sighed, breaking Yami from his thoughts and rolled over onto his side.

"I have already explained the rules, yes?" Seth asked innocently, pulling his first card from the deck that still sat between them, though they were situated on the inky black 'floor.' He placed the card face down, careful not to touch it with his injured hand, lest he bled on it. "Is this arrangement alright with you? Or should I find something more suitable?"

Yami snorted. "You bring me to Kaiba's mansion against my will by using some sort of psychic attack against me, you force me into a dark duel by threatening my host's well-being, and you pull me into the Shadow Realm only to inquire about whether or not I am comfortable here?"

"Naturally." Seth replied. "I consider it entertaining a guest. You should be comfortable because with your level of intellect...we could easily be here until morning." The tall spirit rested his slender fingers on the edge of the card. "I trust you are still curious?"

Yami chose to ignore the comment insulting his intelligence, and nodded curtly. "Let us get this over with so I can return home. I've had enough of this."

"Trust me, pharaoh. When this night is over, you will never have enough. You will beg me..." Seth flipped the card over. "...for more, every time. As you did before." He finished with a purr, reaching out to tap Yami lightly on the nose. He looked down at his card, and scowled. "Dark Clown Master-Saagi. 600 attack. Your turn."

"Hn." Yami reached forward, and carefully slid a card off the top of the deck. He glanced at it, and smirked. "Devil Franken. 700 attack. Now, give me a hint."

"Very well." Seth thought for a moment, tapping his fingers lightly against the surface the two of them were seated on. "You and I are cut from the same cloth, so to speak, and now more than ever. However, we are completely different. We share some of the same vices, but used that knowlege against one another more than once. We clashed often, as only a son of the desert and a creature of the northern world would. Your turn."

Yami furrowed his brow in confusion. He seemed to feel that way a lot lately. "You speak in riddles, paradoxical phrases. How what you just said is a hint, I don't know." Yami drew another card. "Critter. 1000 attack."

"Dark Hypnotist Lucifer, 1500." Seth said softly, placing the card in front of him.

Yami frowned. "What happens when you draw a card higher than mine in attack?"

"It is purely up to me." Seth replied. "I can ask you a question, or help you along. Tell me, do you remember much of your past? Or have the memories of Yu-gi's superimposed upon your counsciousness?"

"What do you know of my past?!" Yami barked. "And none of that is your business. But if I must answer, I would say no to both. When I awakened, I could remember nothing. I have slowly begun to recover..." He trailed off into silence, staring off into nothing. Sparse details of his life in Egypt were leaking into the forefront of his mind, like a small trickle of water. "I remember Egypt....Khemet, as it was called then, I think. I was pharaoh at one point in time. And something happened that killed me...but saved countless others in the process." He put a hand to his temple. "I can't remember..."

Seth sighed, resisting the urge to pull the other into his arms. Sex wouldn't be as much fun if Nahkti was unaware as to WHO was fucking him mercilessly, so he was going to try and jog the pharaoh's memory a bit. "Do not be concerned with that. " He drew another card. "It will come to you shortly. For your sake, it had better. Gargoyle Powered. 1600."

Yami drew a card. "Minotaur. 1700."

"My past is closely interwined with yours, despite what you may want to believe." Seth continued, pulling himself to a sitting position. "I was the person closest to you then, but at the same time the individual most likely to put a knife in your back. Your turn, again."

I used to, all the time. You begged me every time, in the end, to finish you off. I loved to make you scream in ecstacy when I finally let you have your release. Aa Perti, you must remember the many nights we spent in your chamber together...how we passed the rainy season...

"What was that...that you told me before?" Yami asked quietly, internally damning himself for his poor recall time. "About the rainy season?"

Seth sighed. "That would not be following the rules, if I told you."

"Could you forget your 'rules' for a moment?!"

"No, we will play this game to its end." Seth scowled, looking positively demonic. "It is not any fault of mine that you have exceedingly poor observational skills."

Yami grabbed the Kaiba look-alike by the collar. "What the fuck do you mean by that?"

Seth growled and slapped Yami again. This would turn out to be rather violent if both parties weren't careful.

"Listen..." Seth said, irritation seeping into his voice. "I honestly have no liking for your temper and lack of patience. If you want to leave here AT ALL I highly recommend that you take your place and speak in turn, otherwise, you may not be in agreement with the results of this..." He shut his eyes and pulled both their essences back into the living realm. "Perhaps this is a more ideal environment for you, since the Shadow Realm seems to make you slightly agitated." He rubbed the palm of his hand against his thigh, trying to soothe the stinging sensation.

Yami held his hand to his cheek, confident that his eye would be bruised within a few minutes. Inwardly, he seethed in rage, unused to being struck. No one had ever hit him before, not even his...parents.

But that wasn't entirely accurate. There was one person whom HAD slapped him on more than one occassion, (from anger or otherwise) and he had allowed it...even enjoyed it.

It couldn't be...

"Draw your final card, pharaoh." Seth whispered, seeing something in Yami's eyes change. "You are one card away from the end."

Yami reached forward with a trembling hand and rested his fingers lightly on top of the deck, seeing that Seth had already chosen his card. "What is yours?" He asked shakily. He had an idea of the identity of his captor, but was reluctant to believe it himself.

Seth smirked. "Vampire Lord, 2000." He placed the card down on the oak floor. "Now you."

"Very well." Yami swallowed and pulled his final card, and gasped. "It's..."

Seth gathered up the cards from Seto's deck and placed them back inside his coat. "It is what?"

"The Blue Eyes..." Yami murmered, holding it out for the other's inspection.

Seth took it from him. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, 3000. Looks as if you have won, Nahkti." He placed it with the others. "What do you wish to know, or do?"

"Tell me everything." Yami said, gazing at the Seto-facsimile. "Who are you, really?"

"I am who you think I am, my pharaoh." Seth sighed, relaxing, slipping back to his original appearance. "It has been a long time, love." He reached forward and took Yami's wrists in his fingers, noting the other's accountably blank expression and limp body. The priest rose to his feet, bringing Yami up with him. "I know you must be reeling from shock, but we do not have that sort of time. Come to bed with me, Nahkti..." He smiled, drawing the pharaoh close to his chest, who wrapped his thin arms around the brunette's torso instinctively. "...let us make up for the time we have lost."

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~Nakoruru~