Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dawn of Fate
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O_O
This chapter killed me. It's so long for one of my chapters...
@_@
Anway, no Q&A this time; one, because most of you seemed to have the same questions, and two, because I am so SICK of typing right now. I hope this chapter will answer your questions. Also, be forewarned, this chapter is a MAJOR spoiler for the Egypt Arc of the manga. Just giving you fair warning.
This chapter is dedicated to Jenniyah and her scantillations site, without which, this chapter wouldn't be possible.
Read, enjoy, and then review!
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN - PHARAONIC VENGENCE
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The palace was crumbling.
As horrifying as that was, the great palace of Thebes was returning to the sand, and there was not a thing that High Priest Seto could do about it. He winced as another column crumbled into dust, his cape whipping about from the after shock. He did not have to be facing the... CREATURE - for that was all he was to him now - behind him to know that he was reaching out a decaying hand to him.
"The previous pharaoh, Akunamukanon, was my brother," the creature explained, the white mask it wore hiding the entirety of his decrepit face, with the exception of the emotionless Millennium Eye. "Seto... you have royal blood within you!"
Seto felt his breath freeze in his throat. Royal... blood...?
"The pharaoh and my destiny are like the light and the shadows," the creature continued. "But, from the awakening of the Powers of Darkness, the world will enter a new era! Killing the hated pharaoh... we can rule the world, Seto!"
Rule the world... Seto did not know how he felt about that. Taking the pharaoh's place... he had to admit, it was an intriguing thought, but ruling over a world of darkness...?
His thoughts were jarred back to the situation at hand as a whole section of wall fell to the ground in pieces. Seto shielded his face, gritting his teeth as he came to what would be the most important decision of his life. He could not afford to entertain the thought of what it would be like to rule the world; he had much more important things to worry about…
Like, Kisara...
"Soon, that girl will die..." the creature rasped behind him. "That is the moment you will house a God! With the White Dragon, you will become pharaoh!"
Seto grit his teeth, his hands balled up into fists. "I will not fall to your level..." he uttered under his breath, before whirling on the creature behind him. "I will not sell my soul to the darkness!"
With that said, he took off into the crumbling palace, missing the look of distain that the creature seemed to be giving him.
Seto ducked under fallen columns and dodged pieces of falling ceiling as he progressed deeper into the palace. Guards that were fleeing urged him to turn back, but he ignored them. There was no way he could turn away. He had to get her out of there; it was his own greed that put her there in the first place!
Finally reaching her cell, he rushed up to the bars to see that she was backed up into a corner, staring at the cracks creeping through the walls of the small room in horror. She turned when she heard his footsteps; elated beyond words to see someone she was familiar with. Seto did not spare the time to find the keys, using a blast from the Millennium Rod to take care of the lock on the cell instead.
"Kisara, are you all right?" he asked as the door swung open.
Kisara looked about fearfully. "Why is this kind of destruction...?"
She was cut off as a chunk of ceiling inside her cell toppled to the ground, smashing her cot. Seto grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the small room.
"No time," he said, "Come!"
Kisara, however, pulled away slightly. "By any chance, was this the work of the demon I house?"
Seto was caught off guard by the question. She thought she housed a demon... or did it just seem like it was a demon to her, because of all the suffering she endured because of it? He never thought anyone could view something of such immense power as anything but a blessing; so for her to call the White Dragon a demon was... confusing.
"No, that's not it," he answered. "This disaster is the work of those that are under the control of the diabolical darkness... the demon that is called 'humans'..."
He turned to her, seeing her confused expression, and returned it with the gentlest one he could manage, given the circumstances.
"Don't worry," he assured her. "You don't have a demon inside you."
Seto took her by the hand then, silently marveling as they ran back through the toppling palace at how soft her skin was. Maybe... just maybe if things had been different... if they met during another time... another place... maybe...
The almost unrecognizable entrance to the palace came up before he had time to entertain those thought. They turned around as they emerged, watching as a split second later, the doorframe caved in, sealing that exit. Seto stared at it for a long moment - what had once been his home... now gone... He shook his head, before turning to Kisara.
"Leave," he urged her. "Leave this palace immediately, and go to where the flames of war cannot reach you!"
Kisara looked up at him for a long moment, before smiling happily at him. "Thank you, Priest Seto!"
Seto turned his back to her as she ran, closing his eyes and muttering a prayer for her safety. If he managed to survive this, if they managed to win this war against darkness, then he promised he would seek her out, and...
He did not get a chance to finish that thought, as a deep chuckling reached his ears. Snapping his eyes open, he saw that the... creature was still there, blood-red cloak and stark white hair billowing in the breezes of destruction. The creature reached out a decaying, demanding hand to him.
"Why...?" he demanded, anger seeping into his voice. "Why did you let the girl escape? You could have taken the girl's God with the power of the Millennium Rod and become pharaoh!"
Seto turned away, his jaw clenched as tightly as his fists, before turning back to the creature with a glare powerful enough to give the pharaoh pause.
"Because... my father already bravely gave up his life on the battlefield long ago," he snapped bitterly.
There was a long moment where the two men just stood there, staring at each other. Then, the creature seemed to glare, before rearing back, his hands sparking with purple lightening of dark destruction.
"Fine then," he returned coldly. "I will take God!"
Seto paused a moment, before realizing what he was trying to do. He turned in horror to see that Kisara had stopped running when she heard the creature speak, and was staring at him in morbid horror, too afraid to move.
"Kisara!"
Too late...
The creature's powerful magic hit Kisara head on, ripping through her body as if it were nothing. She did not even have a chance to scream as her light was forcefully taken away from her. Her long, white hair fell about her face in a cascade as Seto watched her tumble to the broken earth... and not move again...
"KISARA!!!"
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~.oOOo.~
The memory had come unbidden to Yami Seto's mind as he stared at what could only be Kisara in Fleur's body; and if the look on his hikari's face was any indication, he had accidentally projected it to him as well. Seto just stood there in numb shock, staring at his other half before getting it in his head that he should help Kisara stand up straight. He did so, with her uttering what he recognized as the Egyptian equivalent of a "thank you", and turned to the high priest.
"Take over," he said dully. Yami Seto blinked; it was not often his hikari just let him take over...
"Are you sure...?"
"Yes," Seto replied, an unnerved look appearing on his face. "I need to think."
A moment later, the high priest was in control of the body they shared, and he winced as Seto slammed his Soul Door shut. He sighed - his hikari was either confused or not in a good mood, though in this instance he would not had doubted it was both - before looking down at Kisara. She smiled up at him warmly, and Yami Seto felt a pang of guilt and sadness hit his heart.
"There's... there's so many things I want to say to you..." he began, remembering to speak Egyptian. "But... how... how can you be here? The White Dragon... your kaa..."
Kisara cast her eyes down at the mention of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. "The White Dragon was only half of my kaa. The other half... what made up me and my baa, were not needed for its creation," she explained, before looking up at him again sadly. "I've wandered around for centuries, Priest Seto, since that day; traveling from host to host, existing as the White Dragon had when it was within me. Most, like Fleur, were not even aware of my existence because of this."
Yami Seto could hardly believe what he was hearing. Here he was, reunited with the one person he had ever remotely cared about from the past, and he could only be with her when his hikari's girlfriend was unconscious? Well, he supposed that would not matter much; the way Seto was going, he would never have a body separate from him like the pharaoh and the tomb robber.
"But, why didn't you rest?" he asked after a long moment. "What made you keep traveling all these years?"
The bright smile that came to Kisara's face nearly made his heart melt. "You, of course."
"Me?"
Kisara giggled, before bravely poking him in the chest. "Yes, you," she replied. "I saw the look on your face when I... died. I knew you would blame yourself for what happened."
Yami Seto frowned. "But it IS my fault," he returned. "If I hadn't brought you to the palace -"
Kisara cut him off, holding up a hand to his mouth to keep it shut. "I have a feeling, even if you had not found me, the darkness would have eventually. None of us were safe during that time."
The high priest swallowed painfully as she took her hand away, his throat tightening from the memories of that day and the days that followed.
"It didn't matter anyway," he said quietly. "They all died, and I was left to pick up the pieces. The only reason I'm here now is because my grief over betraying everyone tied me to the Millennium Rod." He closed his eyes, a rogue tear escaping from them. "Pharaoh, Aishisu, and the tomb robber wonder why I'm so much different from when we were in Khemet... it's because I don't want them - any of them - to see my shame."
Kisara reached up again, this time resting both hand on either side of his face. He opened his eyes again, gazing down at her sadly as she gave him an encouraging smile.
"That's why we're here now, I believe. To make things right this time," she said, before backing away a bit. "Fleur's consciousness is stirring; I won't be here for much longer."
As if invited, Yami Seto leaned down toward her, capturing her lips with his own in a kiss five thousand years overdue. Eternity seemed to pass just like that, but it was not long enough for the high priest, and soon he found himself holding onto her unconscious body. He waited for Fleur to wake, all the while wishing that he had been able to use his own senses to feel that kiss...
~.oOOo.~
Weeks passed since the first task, and while the whole month of November had been unseasonably bright and warm, the first week of the December days dawned cold with the first falling of snow. Yami Yugi propped his elbows on one of the windows in the boy's dorm, watching the white flakes dance as they descended to the frozen ground. Behind him, his little hikari was getting dressed for a Saturday of playing in the snow.
The pharaoh, however, had other plans; just as Yugi finished pulling his sweater over his head, Yami Yugi went over to him and swept him up in his arms. He squeaked, surprised, reaching out to wrap his arms around his dark half's shoulders out of reflex.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Yami Yugi smirked. "You and I are spending the day together."
Yugi's eyes widened, many thoughts of just what that might imply running rampant in his brain. The pharaoh raised an eyebrow at a particular thought.
"Koibito, I think you've watched one to many of Jonouchi-kun's videos."
Yugi's whole face turned red. "You watch them too!"
Yami Yugi smirked, before putting Yugi down. "Yes, but I'm actually not thinking along those lines at the moment," he explained, serious. "I still owe the tomb robber for what he did to us in the summer."
Yugi sweatdropped. "Mou hitori no boku... can't you just let it drop?"
The pharaoh gave him a patronizing look in return. "Now, aibou. Have you ever known me to back down from an opportunity to take the tomb robber down several notches?"
Yugi sighed. "No..."
Yami Yugi rubbed his hands together, an almost greedy expression on his face. "Now, all I need to do is figure out what exactly I'm going to DO to him..."
Just then, Marik ran into the room, a bit of an anxious look to his face. He instantly went to the trunk that rested before his bed, rummaging through the contents before pulling out the golden egg he had recovered during the first task. The champions had been told that there as a puzzle within the eggs, and the night of the first task - after Marik had recovered from his shocked state - him and Harry found a way to open their eggs, only to be greeted by what could only be described as high pitch screeching. None of them could figure out how that was supposed to be a puzzle, but it seemed like Marik now had and idea.
"What's up, Marik-kun?" Yugi asked, sitting down on his bed. The Gravekeeper looked up, surprised to see them still there.
"Oh... I think I might've figured this out," he replied excitedly. Yugi was about to ask how he did it, when his other cut him off.
"Marik, you wouldn't happen to know what the tomb robber is afraid of, do you?" Yami Yugi asked, a deceptively innocent look on his face. "Aibou doesn't believe me when I say that everyone has a fear of something."
Yugi sweatdropped. Why did he always get dragged into these things?
Marik blinked, surprised by the question. "The tomb robber? Oh, well, he said he was afraid of snakes."
Yami Yugi smiled sweetly as Yugi face-palmed. "Snakes, is it?" the pharaoh asked.
The Gravekeeper nodded, misinterpreting Yugi's reaction. "Yeah," he replied. "You should have seen him when we went up against those Death Eaters during Battle City this year. His reactions were PRICELESS."
Yami Yugi just had a predatory grin on his face that made Yugi feel very sorry for Yami Bakura. Marik missed it, however, as he said good-bye to the two of them and headed out of the dorm. The pharaoh turned his gaze to his hikari, and Yugi could have sworn he could literally see the gears turning in his other's head.
"We've got some work to do..." he said in a low, plotting voice. "First thing's first... lets see if Bakura has upset anyone in his hikari's house..."
~.oOOo.~
Bakura leaned back in the stuffed armchair he was sitting in, stretching his arms above his head before tossing his quill into the inkwell and gathering up the scrolls that consisted of his homework. Yami Bakura was sitting on the floor, resting his head lazily against the side of the chair, poking at the gradually dying fire with a fire poker. Bakura crossed his arm on top of the arm that his other was leaning against, craning his neck to tap the tomb robber on the top of the head with his chin before resting it on his arms.
"I'm done my homework," he said as Yami Bakura fought back a yawn.
"About time," the tomb robber grumbled. "Baka Snape... why's he always gotta give you the most homework?"
Bakura grinned. "Maybe he knows it annoys you when no one's paying attention to you."
Yami Bakura grinned as well. "Maybe I should show him annoying me is a bad idea."
Bakura giggled in return. "Why not? Yami Yugi-kun already played a Yami-no-Game against him."
The tomb robber snorted. "Screw the Yami-no-Game, I'd skip right to the Batsu Game. He doesn't deserve the chance to defend himself."
Bakura just shook his head, before standing up from his seat and letting out a mighty yawn. "I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted."
"Me too," his other yawned, also standing up. "Oui, Ryou, you... don't mind if I sleep outside of my Soul Room tonight, do you?"
Bakura blinked, caught off guard by the request. "Sure... I guess... but we'll have to share the same bed, unless you want to sleep down here."
The tomb robber shrugged. "Sure, whatever," he replied, before flashing one of his malicious grins. "Just don't think of grabbing me anywhere."
Bakura made a face as he started up to the boy's dormitories. "Why would I WANT to?"
Yami Bakura just sniggered as the two of them entered the fourth year Hufflepuff boy's dorm. He retreated into his Soul Room for a moment, giving his hikari privacy as he slipped into his pajamas. The tomb robber reappeared as soon as he was done, however, dressed in the same light blue cotton shirt and baggy, drawstring pants. He picked at the cloths, before shrugging.
"How long, 'ya think, before I get to wear my own clothes like his highness-ness?" he asked.
Bakura shrugged as he crawled into bed. "No idea. 'Night, Bakura."
Yami Bakura climbed in as well, settling so that he and his hikari were lying back to back. "'Night Ryou."
The tomb robber had to admit, as he started to drift off with a lazy smile on his face, that sleeping in a comfortable bed was something you certainly took for granted until you could not do it any more. He nestled his head deep into one of the pillows, enjoying the warmth that surrounded him, even if the sensation was only borrowed from his hikari. There was just one thing that was bothering him…
"Ryou, move your feet, they're ice cold," he muttered.
"You move yours," Bakura muttered back, already sounding half asleep. "They're colder than death."
Yami Bakura rolled his eyes. "VERY funny, Ryou, but my feet CAN'T be cold."
Bakura turned over slightly, fixing his other with a frown. "Well, if it isn't you, and it isn't me, what the -"
The young man was cut off by a loud, drawn out hiss coming from under the blankets. They both froze, their faces turning as white as their hair, staring at each other in wide-eyed shock. Gulping slightly, Yami Bakura sat up, took a hold of the bed sheets, and tugged them back...
~.oOOo.~
The grounds of Hogwarts were covered in a blanket of crystalline snow, which was sparkling beautifully under the light of the stars. The lights in Hagrid's hut as well as most of the rest of the school were out, as most everyone and everything had gone off to sleep for that peaceful and serene -
"FUCKING PHARAOH!!!"
The scream echoed throughout the school, causing some lights to flicker on as people were disturbed from their peaceful night's sleep... or, in some instances, disturbed from their thoughts...
~.oOOo.~
Seto jumped in his seat, startled out of his brooding by the shout heard all throughout the school. He leaned back in the chair, urging his heart to stop pounding in his chest. He REALLY did not want to know what that was all about, though he had a feeling that he would be hearing about it tomorrow. Sighing, he reached over for a fire poker in hopes of urging a little more warmth out of the fire.
"Are you okay?"
Seto nearly jumped out of his skin again, before turning a withering glance to the couch. Yami Seto was sitting there, his arms squeezed between his knees, his eyebrows raised as he waited for an answer.
"Very well, considering I've suffered from two heart attacks within the space of a minute," he replied scathingly. The high priest rolled his eyes, before a serious look appeared on his face.
"You've been distant since Kisara appeared..." he began, getting another glare out of his hikari. "I'm worried, that's all. I mean... you didn't even look at Fleur today, or anyone else for that matter."
Seto glared again, before looking away from him and propping his feet up on a table. Yami Seto frowned, resisting the urge to reach over and throttle his hikari. The two of them were silent for a long moment, with the high priest fidgeting like a little kid, before the silence was broken again.
"That thing... that creature... in your memory," Seto began. "Was that that thing... that Yugi-kun called 'Zork Necrophadisu'?"
Yami Seto flinched, looking away. "Yes... and no," he replied, knowing he would not be able to get away without answering. "He... was CREATED... by the God of Evil - Zork Necrophadisu - when he put the seven Items on what you know as the pharaoh's memory tablet."
Seto raised an eyebrow. "The thing with the slots for the Items in it?"
"Yeah."
Another long, deafening pause, before Seto broke the silence again. "Who was he before he put the Items together?"
Yami Seto squeezed his eyes shut, shuddering in anger and shame he thought had been buried in the sands along with his body. He gripped the arm of the couch, trying to keep his emotions under control.
"He... he was the former High Priest Akunadin," he answered, his voice shaking, his throat tight. "He was the original holder of the Millennium Eye, the brother of the old pharaoh - Panseru's father... and he was my father."
Seto's head shot to where his other self was sitting, shock clearly written on his face. The high priest did not look at him; his jaw was set, and it almost seemed as if he were trying to keep himself from crying. He looked away once again, sitting back in his seat heavily.
"You... knew your father...?" he hazard to ask.
Yami Seto sniffed out of reflex, shaking his head. "No, not really," he answered quickly. "When he returned after acquiring the Eye... well, I was just a kid. When I saw him again, I thought he was a monster." He laughed humorlessly. "Wasn't far from the truth. Anyway, I blocked the memory of my father from my mind; convinced myself with my mother's help that my father died in battle. In a way, he sort of did."
Yami Seto looked over to his hikari, slightly surprised by the lost look on his face. Seto put a hand over his mouth, as if he were thinking deeply. After another long moment, he sighed and stood up, looking down at his dark half.
"At least you didn't kill the man you knew as your father."
Now it was Yami Seto's turn to look up at his hikari in surprise. What was that supposed to mean? His hikari never killed anyone... did he? He stood up, looking at the younger man eye to eye.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked. "You didn't kill Gonzaboru; you wouldn't be able to keep something that serious from me."
Seto narrowed his eyes, glaring, gritting his teeth. "You're supposed to STAY out of my mind, remember?" he snapped.
Yami Seto snapped at that too. Before Seto could even blink, he was toppling over the table he had previously propped his feet up on, a glaring red mark staining his face. He looked up at his other self in horror and surprise, having never counted on ever being struck by the high priest. Yami Seto lowered his hand, his other hand curled into a fist, his teeth clenched so hard they could have cracked.
"Wake up, hikari!" he hissed quietly. "In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of stuck with each other no matter what. We're supposed to help each other, but if you keep blocking me, I can't do much to help you!"
Seto looked up at him, incredulous. "HELP me? Did I ever ASK for your help? I don't need yours or anyone else's so called 'help'."
Yami Seto narrowed his eyes. "Hikari, you keep thinking like that you're going to die a very lonely man," he returned.
"Whatever," Seto snapped, getting back on his feet. "You should know by now, the only things that matter to me are Mokuba and Kaiba Corporation."
The high priest crossed his arms. "Oh, and what about Fleur?" he shot back at him. Seto paused, not having an answer for that. "What, is she nothing more than a fling for you?"
"Of course not!" Seto snapped, a little too loud.
"Then you should know by now that there are quite a few more things that are important in life," the high priest returned.
"Oh, yes," Seto replied dryly, "there are so many things that are so important... until someone comes around and takes everything you hold dear away. Your freedom, your brother, your life; and now you have to do everything his way or he'll rip those things you hold dear to pieces in front of you. And then, when you're given the one chance, the ONE CHANCE, to get back at him, to prove that you're better than him, and you take it. You succeed... no, beyond succeed. You POUND him into the ground; you humiliate him so much that he can't stand to live any more. And when he's gone, all you can do is laugh about it, but deep inside something dies, because you know you're supposed to be sad or regretful because if it wasn't for you, he'd still be alive, and... and..."
All throughout his rant, Seto's normally cold exterior slowly started to degrade. Yami Seto watched as his hikari gradually changed from a stern businessman to a scared nineteen-year-old child. By the time he reached the end of it, he could not continue not because he ran out of words to describe what he had been through, but because his throat was so choked up from trying to stop the tears that were running rivers down his face anyway.
Yami Seto rushed forward, grabbing a hold of his hikari. Seto did not even seem to realize what was going on as the high priest guided him around the table and helped him sit down, letting him take out his sorrows and frustration on his transparent shoulder. They stayed like that for a long moment, until Seto finally cried himself to sleep. Yami Seto pulled up the younger boy up until his hikari was stretched out on the couch with his head resting on his lap.
The high priest sighed, brushing his fingers through Seto's hair. Despite the fact that he knew his hikari would either hate him or ignore him when he woke up, he knew he reached a new level of understanding with him...
...and that was worth seven arguments.
Dawn of Fate
.
.
O_O
This chapter killed me. It's so long for one of my chapters...
@_@
Anway, no Q&A this time; one, because most of you seemed to have the same questions, and two, because I am so SICK of typing right now. I hope this chapter will answer your questions. Also, be forewarned, this chapter is a MAJOR spoiler for the Egypt Arc of the manga. Just giving you fair warning.
This chapter is dedicated to Jenniyah and her scantillations site, without which, this chapter wouldn't be possible.
Read, enjoy, and then review!
.
.
.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - PHARAONIC VENGENCE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The palace was crumbling.
As horrifying as that was, the great palace of Thebes was returning to the sand, and there was not a thing that High Priest Seto could do about it. He winced as another column crumbled into dust, his cape whipping about from the after shock. He did not have to be facing the... CREATURE - for that was all he was to him now - behind him to know that he was reaching out a decaying hand to him.
"The previous pharaoh, Akunamukanon, was my brother," the creature explained, the white mask it wore hiding the entirety of his decrepit face, with the exception of the emotionless Millennium Eye. "Seto... you have royal blood within you!"
Seto felt his breath freeze in his throat. Royal... blood...?
"The pharaoh and my destiny are like the light and the shadows," the creature continued. "But, from the awakening of the Powers of Darkness, the world will enter a new era! Killing the hated pharaoh... we can rule the world, Seto!"
Rule the world... Seto did not know how he felt about that. Taking the pharaoh's place... he had to admit, it was an intriguing thought, but ruling over a world of darkness...?
His thoughts were jarred back to the situation at hand as a whole section of wall fell to the ground in pieces. Seto shielded his face, gritting his teeth as he came to what would be the most important decision of his life. He could not afford to entertain the thought of what it would be like to rule the world; he had much more important things to worry about…
Like, Kisara...
"Soon, that girl will die..." the creature rasped behind him. "That is the moment you will house a God! With the White Dragon, you will become pharaoh!"
Seto grit his teeth, his hands balled up into fists. "I will not fall to your level..." he uttered under his breath, before whirling on the creature behind him. "I will not sell my soul to the darkness!"
With that said, he took off into the crumbling palace, missing the look of distain that the creature seemed to be giving him.
Seto ducked under fallen columns and dodged pieces of falling ceiling as he progressed deeper into the palace. Guards that were fleeing urged him to turn back, but he ignored them. There was no way he could turn away. He had to get her out of there; it was his own greed that put her there in the first place!
Finally reaching her cell, he rushed up to the bars to see that she was backed up into a corner, staring at the cracks creeping through the walls of the small room in horror. She turned when she heard his footsteps; elated beyond words to see someone she was familiar with. Seto did not spare the time to find the keys, using a blast from the Millennium Rod to take care of the lock on the cell instead.
"Kisara, are you all right?" he asked as the door swung open.
Kisara looked about fearfully. "Why is this kind of destruction...?"
She was cut off as a chunk of ceiling inside her cell toppled to the ground, smashing her cot. Seto grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the small room.
"No time," he said, "Come!"
Kisara, however, pulled away slightly. "By any chance, was this the work of the demon I house?"
Seto was caught off guard by the question. She thought she housed a demon... or did it just seem like it was a demon to her, because of all the suffering she endured because of it? He never thought anyone could view something of such immense power as anything but a blessing; so for her to call the White Dragon a demon was... confusing.
"No, that's not it," he answered. "This disaster is the work of those that are under the control of the diabolical darkness... the demon that is called 'humans'..."
He turned to her, seeing her confused expression, and returned it with the gentlest one he could manage, given the circumstances.
"Don't worry," he assured her. "You don't have a demon inside you."
Seto took her by the hand then, silently marveling as they ran back through the toppling palace at how soft her skin was. Maybe... just maybe if things had been different... if they met during another time... another place... maybe...
The almost unrecognizable entrance to the palace came up before he had time to entertain those thought. They turned around as they emerged, watching as a split second later, the doorframe caved in, sealing that exit. Seto stared at it for a long moment - what had once been his home... now gone... He shook his head, before turning to Kisara.
"Leave," he urged her. "Leave this palace immediately, and go to where the flames of war cannot reach you!"
Kisara looked up at him for a long moment, before smiling happily at him. "Thank you, Priest Seto!"
Seto turned his back to her as she ran, closing his eyes and muttering a prayer for her safety. If he managed to survive this, if they managed to win this war against darkness, then he promised he would seek her out, and...
He did not get a chance to finish that thought, as a deep chuckling reached his ears. Snapping his eyes open, he saw that the... creature was still there, blood-red cloak and stark white hair billowing in the breezes of destruction. The creature reached out a decaying, demanding hand to him.
"Why...?" he demanded, anger seeping into his voice. "Why did you let the girl escape? You could have taken the girl's God with the power of the Millennium Rod and become pharaoh!"
Seto turned away, his jaw clenched as tightly as his fists, before turning back to the creature with a glare powerful enough to give the pharaoh pause.
"Because... my father already bravely gave up his life on the battlefield long ago," he snapped bitterly.
There was a long moment where the two men just stood there, staring at each other. Then, the creature seemed to glare, before rearing back, his hands sparking with purple lightening of dark destruction.
"Fine then," he returned coldly. "I will take God!"
Seto paused a moment, before realizing what he was trying to do. He turned in horror to see that Kisara had stopped running when she heard the creature speak, and was staring at him in morbid horror, too afraid to move.
"Kisara!"
Too late...
The creature's powerful magic hit Kisara head on, ripping through her body as if it were nothing. She did not even have a chance to scream as her light was forcefully taken away from her. Her long, white hair fell about her face in a cascade as Seto watched her tumble to the broken earth... and not move again...
"KISARA!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~.oOOo.~
The memory had come unbidden to Yami Seto's mind as he stared at what could only be Kisara in Fleur's body; and if the look on his hikari's face was any indication, he had accidentally projected it to him as well. Seto just stood there in numb shock, staring at his other half before getting it in his head that he should help Kisara stand up straight. He did so, with her uttering what he recognized as the Egyptian equivalent of a "thank you", and turned to the high priest.
"Take over," he said dully. Yami Seto blinked; it was not often his hikari just let him take over...
"Are you sure...?"
"Yes," Seto replied, an unnerved look appearing on his face. "I need to think."
A moment later, the high priest was in control of the body they shared, and he winced as Seto slammed his Soul Door shut. He sighed - his hikari was either confused or not in a good mood, though in this instance he would not had doubted it was both - before looking down at Kisara. She smiled up at him warmly, and Yami Seto felt a pang of guilt and sadness hit his heart.
"There's... there's so many things I want to say to you..." he began, remembering to speak Egyptian. "But... how... how can you be here? The White Dragon... your kaa..."
Kisara cast her eyes down at the mention of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. "The White Dragon was only half of my kaa. The other half... what made up me and my baa, were not needed for its creation," she explained, before looking up at him again sadly. "I've wandered around for centuries, Priest Seto, since that day; traveling from host to host, existing as the White Dragon had when it was within me. Most, like Fleur, were not even aware of my existence because of this."
Yami Seto could hardly believe what he was hearing. Here he was, reunited with the one person he had ever remotely cared about from the past, and he could only be with her when his hikari's girlfriend was unconscious? Well, he supposed that would not matter much; the way Seto was going, he would never have a body separate from him like the pharaoh and the tomb robber.
"But, why didn't you rest?" he asked after a long moment. "What made you keep traveling all these years?"
The bright smile that came to Kisara's face nearly made his heart melt. "You, of course."
"Me?"
Kisara giggled, before bravely poking him in the chest. "Yes, you," she replied. "I saw the look on your face when I... died. I knew you would blame yourself for what happened."
Yami Seto frowned. "But it IS my fault," he returned. "If I hadn't brought you to the palace -"
Kisara cut him off, holding up a hand to his mouth to keep it shut. "I have a feeling, even if you had not found me, the darkness would have eventually. None of us were safe during that time."
The high priest swallowed painfully as she took her hand away, his throat tightening from the memories of that day and the days that followed.
"It didn't matter anyway," he said quietly. "They all died, and I was left to pick up the pieces. The only reason I'm here now is because my grief over betraying everyone tied me to the Millennium Rod." He closed his eyes, a rogue tear escaping from them. "Pharaoh, Aishisu, and the tomb robber wonder why I'm so much different from when we were in Khemet... it's because I don't want them - any of them - to see my shame."
Kisara reached up again, this time resting both hand on either side of his face. He opened his eyes again, gazing down at her sadly as she gave him an encouraging smile.
"That's why we're here now, I believe. To make things right this time," she said, before backing away a bit. "Fleur's consciousness is stirring; I won't be here for much longer."
As if invited, Yami Seto leaned down toward her, capturing her lips with his own in a kiss five thousand years overdue. Eternity seemed to pass just like that, but it was not long enough for the high priest, and soon he found himself holding onto her unconscious body. He waited for Fleur to wake, all the while wishing that he had been able to use his own senses to feel that kiss...
~.oOOo.~
Weeks passed since the first task, and while the whole month of November had been unseasonably bright and warm, the first week of the December days dawned cold with the first falling of snow. Yami Yugi propped his elbows on one of the windows in the boy's dorm, watching the white flakes dance as they descended to the frozen ground. Behind him, his little hikari was getting dressed for a Saturday of playing in the snow.
The pharaoh, however, had other plans; just as Yugi finished pulling his sweater over his head, Yami Yugi went over to him and swept him up in his arms. He squeaked, surprised, reaching out to wrap his arms around his dark half's shoulders out of reflex.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Yami Yugi smirked. "You and I are spending the day together."
Yugi's eyes widened, many thoughts of just what that might imply running rampant in his brain. The pharaoh raised an eyebrow at a particular thought.
"Koibito, I think you've watched one to many of Jonouchi-kun's videos."
Yugi's whole face turned red. "You watch them too!"
Yami Yugi smirked, before putting Yugi down. "Yes, but I'm actually not thinking along those lines at the moment," he explained, serious. "I still owe the tomb robber for what he did to us in the summer."
Yugi sweatdropped. "Mou hitori no boku... can't you just let it drop?"
The pharaoh gave him a patronizing look in return. "Now, aibou. Have you ever known me to back down from an opportunity to take the tomb robber down several notches?"
Yugi sighed. "No..."
Yami Yugi rubbed his hands together, an almost greedy expression on his face. "Now, all I need to do is figure out what exactly I'm going to DO to him..."
Just then, Marik ran into the room, a bit of an anxious look to his face. He instantly went to the trunk that rested before his bed, rummaging through the contents before pulling out the golden egg he had recovered during the first task. The champions had been told that there as a puzzle within the eggs, and the night of the first task - after Marik had recovered from his shocked state - him and Harry found a way to open their eggs, only to be greeted by what could only be described as high pitch screeching. None of them could figure out how that was supposed to be a puzzle, but it seemed like Marik now had and idea.
"What's up, Marik-kun?" Yugi asked, sitting down on his bed. The Gravekeeper looked up, surprised to see them still there.
"Oh... I think I might've figured this out," he replied excitedly. Yugi was about to ask how he did it, when his other cut him off.
"Marik, you wouldn't happen to know what the tomb robber is afraid of, do you?" Yami Yugi asked, a deceptively innocent look on his face. "Aibou doesn't believe me when I say that everyone has a fear of something."
Yugi sweatdropped. Why did he always get dragged into these things?
Marik blinked, surprised by the question. "The tomb robber? Oh, well, he said he was afraid of snakes."
Yami Yugi smiled sweetly as Yugi face-palmed. "Snakes, is it?" the pharaoh asked.
The Gravekeeper nodded, misinterpreting Yugi's reaction. "Yeah," he replied. "You should have seen him when we went up against those Death Eaters during Battle City this year. His reactions were PRICELESS."
Yami Yugi just had a predatory grin on his face that made Yugi feel very sorry for Yami Bakura. Marik missed it, however, as he said good-bye to the two of them and headed out of the dorm. The pharaoh turned his gaze to his hikari, and Yugi could have sworn he could literally see the gears turning in his other's head.
"We've got some work to do..." he said in a low, plotting voice. "First thing's first... lets see if Bakura has upset anyone in his hikari's house..."
~.oOOo.~
Bakura leaned back in the stuffed armchair he was sitting in, stretching his arms above his head before tossing his quill into the inkwell and gathering up the scrolls that consisted of his homework. Yami Bakura was sitting on the floor, resting his head lazily against the side of the chair, poking at the gradually dying fire with a fire poker. Bakura crossed his arm on top of the arm that his other was leaning against, craning his neck to tap the tomb robber on the top of the head with his chin before resting it on his arms.
"I'm done my homework," he said as Yami Bakura fought back a yawn.
"About time," the tomb robber grumbled. "Baka Snape... why's he always gotta give you the most homework?"
Bakura grinned. "Maybe he knows it annoys you when no one's paying attention to you."
Yami Bakura grinned as well. "Maybe I should show him annoying me is a bad idea."
Bakura giggled in return. "Why not? Yami Yugi-kun already played a Yami-no-Game against him."
The tomb robber snorted. "Screw the Yami-no-Game, I'd skip right to the Batsu Game. He doesn't deserve the chance to defend himself."
Bakura just shook his head, before standing up from his seat and letting out a mighty yawn. "I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted."
"Me too," his other yawned, also standing up. "Oui, Ryou, you... don't mind if I sleep outside of my Soul Room tonight, do you?"
Bakura blinked, caught off guard by the request. "Sure... I guess... but we'll have to share the same bed, unless you want to sleep down here."
The tomb robber shrugged. "Sure, whatever," he replied, before flashing one of his malicious grins. "Just don't think of grabbing me anywhere."
Bakura made a face as he started up to the boy's dormitories. "Why would I WANT to?"
Yami Bakura just sniggered as the two of them entered the fourth year Hufflepuff boy's dorm. He retreated into his Soul Room for a moment, giving his hikari privacy as he slipped into his pajamas. The tomb robber reappeared as soon as he was done, however, dressed in the same light blue cotton shirt and baggy, drawstring pants. He picked at the cloths, before shrugging.
"How long, 'ya think, before I get to wear my own clothes like his highness-ness?" he asked.
Bakura shrugged as he crawled into bed. "No idea. 'Night, Bakura."
Yami Bakura climbed in as well, settling so that he and his hikari were lying back to back. "'Night Ryou."
The tomb robber had to admit, as he started to drift off with a lazy smile on his face, that sleeping in a comfortable bed was something you certainly took for granted until you could not do it any more. He nestled his head deep into one of the pillows, enjoying the warmth that surrounded him, even if the sensation was only borrowed from his hikari. There was just one thing that was bothering him…
"Ryou, move your feet, they're ice cold," he muttered.
"You move yours," Bakura muttered back, already sounding half asleep. "They're colder than death."
Yami Bakura rolled his eyes. "VERY funny, Ryou, but my feet CAN'T be cold."
Bakura turned over slightly, fixing his other with a frown. "Well, if it isn't you, and it isn't me, what the -"
The young man was cut off by a loud, drawn out hiss coming from under the blankets. They both froze, their faces turning as white as their hair, staring at each other in wide-eyed shock. Gulping slightly, Yami Bakura sat up, took a hold of the bed sheets, and tugged them back...
~.oOOo.~
The grounds of Hogwarts were covered in a blanket of crystalline snow, which was sparkling beautifully under the light of the stars. The lights in Hagrid's hut as well as most of the rest of the school were out, as most everyone and everything had gone off to sleep for that peaceful and serene -
"FUCKING PHARAOH!!!"
The scream echoed throughout the school, causing some lights to flicker on as people were disturbed from their peaceful night's sleep... or, in some instances, disturbed from their thoughts...
~.oOOo.~
Seto jumped in his seat, startled out of his brooding by the shout heard all throughout the school. He leaned back in the chair, urging his heart to stop pounding in his chest. He REALLY did not want to know what that was all about, though he had a feeling that he would be hearing about it tomorrow. Sighing, he reached over for a fire poker in hopes of urging a little more warmth out of the fire.
"Are you okay?"
Seto nearly jumped out of his skin again, before turning a withering glance to the couch. Yami Seto was sitting there, his arms squeezed between his knees, his eyebrows raised as he waited for an answer.
"Very well, considering I've suffered from two heart attacks within the space of a minute," he replied scathingly. The high priest rolled his eyes, before a serious look appeared on his face.
"You've been distant since Kisara appeared..." he began, getting another glare out of his hikari. "I'm worried, that's all. I mean... you didn't even look at Fleur today, or anyone else for that matter."
Seto glared again, before looking away from him and propping his feet up on a table. Yami Seto frowned, resisting the urge to reach over and throttle his hikari. The two of them were silent for a long moment, with the high priest fidgeting like a little kid, before the silence was broken again.
"That thing... that creature... in your memory," Seto began. "Was that that thing... that Yugi-kun called 'Zork Necrophadisu'?"
Yami Seto flinched, looking away. "Yes... and no," he replied, knowing he would not be able to get away without answering. "He... was CREATED... by the God of Evil - Zork Necrophadisu - when he put the seven Items on what you know as the pharaoh's memory tablet."
Seto raised an eyebrow. "The thing with the slots for the Items in it?"
"Yeah."
Another long, deafening pause, before Seto broke the silence again. "Who was he before he put the Items together?"
Yami Seto squeezed his eyes shut, shuddering in anger and shame he thought had been buried in the sands along with his body. He gripped the arm of the couch, trying to keep his emotions under control.
"He... he was the former High Priest Akunadin," he answered, his voice shaking, his throat tight. "He was the original holder of the Millennium Eye, the brother of the old pharaoh - Panseru's father... and he was my father."
Seto's head shot to where his other self was sitting, shock clearly written on his face. The high priest did not look at him; his jaw was set, and it almost seemed as if he were trying to keep himself from crying. He looked away once again, sitting back in his seat heavily.
"You... knew your father...?" he hazard to ask.
Yami Seto sniffed out of reflex, shaking his head. "No, not really," he answered quickly. "When he returned after acquiring the Eye... well, I was just a kid. When I saw him again, I thought he was a monster." He laughed humorlessly. "Wasn't far from the truth. Anyway, I blocked the memory of my father from my mind; convinced myself with my mother's help that my father died in battle. In a way, he sort of did."
Yami Seto looked over to his hikari, slightly surprised by the lost look on his face. Seto put a hand over his mouth, as if he were thinking deeply. After another long moment, he sighed and stood up, looking down at his dark half.
"At least you didn't kill the man you knew as your father."
Now it was Yami Seto's turn to look up at his hikari in surprise. What was that supposed to mean? His hikari never killed anyone... did he? He stood up, looking at the younger man eye to eye.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked. "You didn't kill Gonzaboru; you wouldn't be able to keep something that serious from me."
Seto narrowed his eyes, glaring, gritting his teeth. "You're supposed to STAY out of my mind, remember?" he snapped.
Yami Seto snapped at that too. Before Seto could even blink, he was toppling over the table he had previously propped his feet up on, a glaring red mark staining his face. He looked up at his other self in horror and surprise, having never counted on ever being struck by the high priest. Yami Seto lowered his hand, his other hand curled into a fist, his teeth clenched so hard they could have cracked.
"Wake up, hikari!" he hissed quietly. "In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of stuck with each other no matter what. We're supposed to help each other, but if you keep blocking me, I can't do much to help you!"
Seto looked up at him, incredulous. "HELP me? Did I ever ASK for your help? I don't need yours or anyone else's so called 'help'."
Yami Seto narrowed his eyes. "Hikari, you keep thinking like that you're going to die a very lonely man," he returned.
"Whatever," Seto snapped, getting back on his feet. "You should know by now, the only things that matter to me are Mokuba and Kaiba Corporation."
The high priest crossed his arms. "Oh, and what about Fleur?" he shot back at him. Seto paused, not having an answer for that. "What, is she nothing more than a fling for you?"
"Of course not!" Seto snapped, a little too loud.
"Then you should know by now that there are quite a few more things that are important in life," the high priest returned.
"Oh, yes," Seto replied dryly, "there are so many things that are so important... until someone comes around and takes everything you hold dear away. Your freedom, your brother, your life; and now you have to do everything his way or he'll rip those things you hold dear to pieces in front of you. And then, when you're given the one chance, the ONE CHANCE, to get back at him, to prove that you're better than him, and you take it. You succeed... no, beyond succeed. You POUND him into the ground; you humiliate him so much that he can't stand to live any more. And when he's gone, all you can do is laugh about it, but deep inside something dies, because you know you're supposed to be sad or regretful because if it wasn't for you, he'd still be alive, and... and..."
All throughout his rant, Seto's normally cold exterior slowly started to degrade. Yami Seto watched as his hikari gradually changed from a stern businessman to a scared nineteen-year-old child. By the time he reached the end of it, he could not continue not because he ran out of words to describe what he had been through, but because his throat was so choked up from trying to stop the tears that were running rivers down his face anyway.
Yami Seto rushed forward, grabbing a hold of his hikari. Seto did not even seem to realize what was going on as the high priest guided him around the table and helped him sit down, letting him take out his sorrows and frustration on his transparent shoulder. They stayed like that for a long moment, until Seto finally cried himself to sleep. Yami Seto pulled up the younger boy up until his hikari was stretched out on the couch with his head resting on his lap.
The high priest sighed, brushing his fingers through Seto's hair. Despite the fact that he knew his hikari would either hate him or ignore him when he woke up, he knew he reached a new level of understanding with him...
...and that was worth seven arguments.