I'm really sorry it took so long to upload this chapter! My school is loading up the work, and I had a small writer's block. Oh well, I hope this chapter makes up for my delay.
An extra note, this chapter re-posted, getting rid of a few typos and a really bad sentence structure at the end.
Memories of the Shadows
A Yu-gi-oh fanfic
Disclamer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh and most of the other things in this fic.
/Hikari to Yami/
#Yami to Hikari#
{Thoughts}
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Chapter 8- Manipulation
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Malik Ishtar walked out of the airport, suitcase in hand, and swore.
'Did an ice age pass while I was away?!' He exclaimed, huddling in his jumper. Isis appeared behind him and laughed.
'It's getting colder Malik, you'll have to get used to the snow.' She grinned good-naturedly.
'But it's not even winter!' He snapped back. 'I want nothing to do with this damnable snow!'
'Stop pouting and let's get home.'
'Home used to be a lot warmer.' He hmphed, crossing his arms with a sulky look on his face. Isis laughed at her brother's stubbornness.
'Malik!' A voice came from behind them. Malik and Isis turned to see Yugi and the rest of the gang approach them.
'Great.' Malik rolled his eyes. Isis elbowed him in the ribs.
'About time you got back!" Yugi commented, finally reaching the two Egyptians. 'Things have been happening.'
'Things?' Malik raised an eyebrow.
'Yeah, what things?' Jounouchi added, still blinded to the problem that was at hand. Yugi stared at Jou for a minute, then he remembered that he, along with the others, was oblivious to the magic that was going on.
'I'll explain later.' Yugi sighed, shaking his head.
'So, how was your trip back to Egypt Malik?' Anzu asked.
'Uneventful. We got there, we picked up our old crap, we came back and found this frozen tundra.' He glowered. 'I would rather hear about what's happening here.'
'Well, they can explain these events while were walking.' Isis said, picking up her suit case and starting to walk in the direction of their house. The others followed.
'Um, Malik. Do you still have the Millennium rod?' Yugi asked as they walked along. Malik looked at him in a shocked way for a while.
'No, why?'
'Shit.' Yugi said to himself. Seems like they were right about that. Whoever was doing this was using the rod.
'Yugi swearing? The world must be coming to an end.' Malik faked a shocked face.
'Magic is afoot here, and we don't know who is doing it. However, now we know that whoever this person is, they have the Rod.' A worried expression crossed Yugi's face, as did it cross Malik's. Out of all the others, he knew the most about the Rod.
'I should have taken it back to Egypt and discarded it there.' He growled to himself, before looking up. 'Could it be the Priest Seto?' He asked.
'No. Kaiba hasn't been.... Well. He's had a breakdown or something like that, and would be completely unable to use magic.'
'But the Rod doesn't need a host to use it's powers.' Malik said, knowing well it's powers. 'And isn't it unusual for the great Seto Kaiba to suddenly break down for no particular reason?'
Yugi looked shocked, his suspicions renewed.
#Priest...# Yami snarled from his soul room.
'Hey! Stop lagging behind you two!' Isis called, supported by the voices of the others. Malik and Yugi looked at each other, then stepped up the pace to catch up with the others.
'By the way, where is Bakura?' Malik asked.
'.... I have no idea.' Yugi said confusedly. 'He should have been here by now. Yami Bakura would not be able to resist mocking you.'
'Perhaps he's preoccupied?' Malik questioned, but both he and Yugi doubted those words.
---
Yami Bakura tried not to breathe. He could feel his opponents footsteps thump on the floorboards. He tried to immerse himself in the shadows without actually going into the Shadow Realm; that would mean certain death.
'Come out and play Bandit King! Or have you mellowed over these few millenniums?' The voice sent chills down Yami Bakura's spine. The High Priest had lost none of his former glory, unlike the Pharaoh and himself. He knew he had to move from his hiding place, but when? He slowly slid his foot along, edging his way around the back of the cupboard. Each footstep was carefully weighted, each floorboard probed for steadiness. Sound could betray his location to Seto.
'I tire of this game, show yourself. You shall not be hurt... That much.' The sadistic voice of the High Priest echoed. Yami Bakura could tell that he was in the room. He stopped and tried to make no sound at all. His breathing shallowed so that it almost stopped. He heard the echoes of footsteps throughout the room, then they subsided. He waited for a few minutes, before deciding that the Priest had left the room. He began to edge towards the window, his only escape.
'Hello Thief King Bakura.' Came the voice of Seto. Yami Bakura's head jerked upwards and he stared into the cold, ice-blue eyes of the High Priest. Seto crouched on top of the Wardrobe, his arms resting on his knees. 'So nice of you to enter my new abode. You were uninvited, but nether the less...' He smiled cruelly. Yami Bakura glared back, he would not let this opponent get the better of him.
'I'm surprised you decided to crawl out of that hole you came from.' He retaliated. 'Afraid of choosing a host that was normal?'
High Priest Seto grinned, then tilted his body. The wardrobe rocked, then fell onto it's face, and Yami Bakura found himself in the open. Seto stood with a calm, calculating confidence on the back of the fallen wardrobe.
'Once you remove the shadows, we see the frightened child you really are.' Seto walked slowly, purposefully towards Yami Bakura, twirling the Millennium Rod in his hand.
'You would know all about frightened children wouldn't you? It was your kind that made the shadows in the first place!' Yami Bakura growled, waiting for the right moment.
'Evil lied in that place, it was a necessary sacrifice.' Seto stood over Yami Bakura now, the calm smile still on his face. Yami Bakura suddenly spurred into action. He grabbed the hidden dagger from the side of his boot, then he gracefully and fluidly twisted himself from his crouching position, his blade aimed at the High Priest's throat. There was the sound of metal on metal.
'You honestly thought that I wouldn't expect a dirty and underhanded trick form you?' The smile was still etched on Seto's face, the blade of his Millennium Rod halfway through the blade of Yami Bakura's dagger. 'You're predictable. What happened to the devil that was the King of Bandits, the being that the Pharaoh feared the most?'
'He moved aside, letting the corrupted Priest take his place!' Yami Bakura flicked his wrist, and he felt the blade of his dagger snap. Without looking, he let go of the hilt and fled towards the door. He knew that he had no chance against the High Priest, and so he ran. He sound of his feet thumping along the floorboards echoed throughout the house.
Seto snarled, and his hand slowly touched the small cut on the side of his cheek. Had he not possessed such quick reflexes, the tip of the dagger would have now been imbedded in his eye.
/Could you please be careful with my body, it's the only one I have./ Kaiba contacted him from his soul room.
'The Tomb Robber shall not get away with this.' Seto said in an outraged voice to both his Hikari and himself. He murmured a few words and the shadows engulfed him.
Yami Bakura leapt the last few stairs, the front door clearly in his vision. He sprinted, trying to reach the door before the High Priest reached him. Then the shadows unwrapped themselves, revealing High Priest Seto standing before him. Yami Bakura noticed the small cut on his opponent's left cheek. It brought him small satisfaction, and the icy glare that was on Seto's face could kill. Skidding on the floor boards, Yami Bakura headed for the backdoor. He increased his speed, feeling his muscles strain. He was within a few feet of the door, he had escaped. Then, there was pain.
'So close, only to fail.' Seto, the cold smirk once again on his face. Yami Bakura yelled in pain, falling to one knee, only to feel more pain. He looked at his right foot, and saw the Millennium Rod imbedded in it, pinning it to the floor. He tried to pull it out, but when he touched the smooth, golden surface of the Rod, his hand filled with an enormous amount of pain, as if it had been set on fire.
'I suppose that my death is imminent.' Yami Bakura closed his eyes, and waited for the end.
'Death? No.' A small, sadistic chuckle escaped from the High Priest. 'Aside from the fact that my other says that bloodstains are hard to clean, I have other uses for you.' The grin became a wide smile. Seto lifted the Millennium Rod, the eye symbol glowing brightly.
And in that moment, Yami Bakura felt pure terror.
---
'Arrrggghhh!'
'Miss me?' Yami Bakura grinned as he noogied Malik's head. The others sighed deeply at this spectacle.
'He was bound to appear sometime.' Jounouchi placed his hand over his face.
'So, where were you?' Yugi asked curiously.
'I had other matters to attend to, searching for the mysterious magic user and the like.' Yami Bakura relinquished his hold on Malik. Then, with a bow, he went back into the Millennium Ring. Ryou appeared shortly after, a confused look on his face. He then saw an outraged Malik.
'Oh dear.' He backed away. Malik stalked slowly towards him, and Honda was forced to stand in-between them to stop Malik. The others could not help but laugh.
And from the fine, unnoticeable link that he had established, High Priest Seto watched, chuckled and observed. He would choose the right to strike, the moment when his targets are least expecting it.
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R&R Please