DISCLAIMER: Welcome! I am Nuin and I will be your guide as we embark on this wondrous tour of Yugi-Oh and Yaoi-land. Now remember that feeding and petting the characters is forbidden at all times. I do not wish for them to run off with any of you, which would result in disabling me from writing the rest of the story. Please keep your arms and legs inside the moving vehicle as I do not wish to receive any lawsuits containing dismemberment of tour-guests. Thank you.

WARNING: May I also kindly remind you that this story is in fact a Yaoi-story. Which means lovers of the same gender. Anyone with restrictions against this form of love is asked to please leave the premises as it will probably upset the characters. Now if you'll please turn to your right, I believe that we are in for a treat as the characters begin on a new story.

Blah denotes explanation at the end.

Born to Servitude.

By Nuin

07. Moonless Night.

The night was perfect. A moonless sky hung darkly above their heads, no Thoth to cast his rays to earth this night. The shadows would be free to roam the lands...for this night would enter into the Shadows and let the monsters play their game with mortal minds. A mortal soul would find its destiny tonight, be it survival and power or defeat and eternal damnation.

Seth wandered down the silent hallways, not a soul was out tonight and with good reason, no one wished to be caught in a Game of Shadows at the risk of loosing one's soul, by pure accident and sheer idiocy. But he had a reason to be out, he was to participate in the midnight game against one of the elder priests, a stupid ritual used to prove his worth as a High Priest.

Luckily he had left Jou behind in their adjoining chambers, he did not want the blonde to get caught in this. The shadows fed on souls, favoring the innocent and pure above all else and his slave would be a feast to them. Jou was not under any circumstances to move outside the chambers, he had made sure of that by placing guards at the doors to both his own and Jou's quarters. He had in addition made it quite clear to said guards, what their punishments would be, if they were to fail in keeping the blonde safe.

Pushing thoughts about Jou aside, he strode confidently towards the temples, where the games would take place.

He was to stay here, locked up like some pet animal. It was an order.

Now Jou wasn't the one take an order very seriously, especially if that order was given by Seth, the one he practically lived to defy. He just had to find a way to get out of the rooms. Seth wouldn't even tell him, what was so important that he had to leave in the middle of the night, not that Seth told him anything anyway. Usually he just pried the information out of Atemu in a 'subtle' way, but this time not even Atemu would tell him what was going on. It was so infuriating. His curiosity haven taken over, he decided to climb out the windows instead of sneaking past the guards. Why had Seth even posted them, when he usually didn't?

Dropping to the ground while curling his legs into a catlike crouch, he swiftly moved along the palace walls without being seen. He looked around and caught sight of the lights coming from the temples. Deciding that it was there the action was, he crept further along the walls to the staircases leading up to the magnificent houses of the Gods.

Silently snickering to himself on his successful escape he suddenly stopped, when he felt something cold and clammy surround him. It felt as if his throat was constricting and his mouth went dry. He remembered feeling this cold before and he did not like it, no, he hated it.

Trying to take his mind of certain memories he would rather forget, he idly fiddled with his new bracelets. Atemu had given them to him and had said that they would protect him. They were made of gold like so many of his other accessories, protective hieroglyphs engraved around the centre, where in the cuffed bracelets a shimmering emerald was encrusted surrounded by 12 small jade stones, one for each month of the year. Atemu had been very proud of himself when he had presented him with these bracelets, a slight blush across his cheeks. Jou smiled faintly at the memory.

But he was brought out his reverie, when he heard shouts coming from within the temple. His curiosity peeked and he ignored the cold dampness of what he was sure had to be the Shadow Realm, a place he had never wanted to encounter again. He slowly climbed up to the pillars at the entrance gate and passed the statues representing the Gods of Kemet. The shouts and commands were getting louder and stronger with each step he took, but so were the cold and emptiness he kept feeling. If it wasn't for his damn nosy attitude and curiosity he would have turned around long ago and fled back to his bed, hiding under the covers.

Yet he just couldn't let Seth and Atemu get away with not telling him about this.

Just as he was about to round a corner a surprisingly loud blast was heard and he bounded back hiding behind a nearby statue of Horus. He gathered his courage and slowly peeked around the corner. A large rectangular arena was situated in the middle of the temple with torches lined up around the edges, lighting up the darkness. Several priests were gathered around the arena watching the ongoing game in its middle.

Jou smirked, Atemu had his opponent cornered, his Dark Magician on the field along with two slate tablets faced down, hovering a few inches above the ground. Atemu's opponent had been the one shouting as his summoned monster had been destroyed by the Dark Magician leaving him with no protection at all.

But suddenly everything went ballistic as a monster appeared without having been summoned by the priests. It was glowing a radiant golden, loud screeches erupting from its throat. Jou knew this creature only all to well. He scrambled to a standing position and fled from the temple as Ra continued creating havoc among the priests.

Seth was furious, how could those imbeciles have let it get so out of hand? It was supposed to have been a simple session to test the basic knowledge that Panseru and he possessed of the Shadow Realm. But with the appearance of that unbelievingly powerful monster, tonight's match had ended abruptly. The priests had quickly dispersed the Shadow Realm forcing the creature back into the Darkness.

He was more than interested in what creature it was, it was more powerful than his white dragons, whom he had finally won over with so much hard work. But this monster was powerful beyond any words he could describe.

He turned round a corner and came to his quarters, the guards still standing. His orders were followed then, good, as he approached they quickly moved out of the way to let him inside. He quickly scanned the room as a reflex, not wanting any assassins lurking in the shadows. He then moved over the door adjoining his chambers with those of Jou. As he opened the door he heard a small whimper coming from the bed. He quietly walked over and found Jou tossing and turning in his sleep, silently whimpering, he was having a nightmare.

Seth placed himself on the side of the bed lightly brushing some stray hairs out of the blonde's face. This action slightly calmed the boy, but was also enough to wake him up. Two sleep filled amber eyes opened up looking dazedly at him, he couldn't help but smile at the image Jou made out like this, a little child with tussled hair and wide golden eyes cowering under his bed sheets. He continued to stroke the golden hair and leaned down to lightly kiss his temple, at which Jou blushed bright red. The torches lighting up the room were still lit giving the room a soft glow.

"What did you dream of?" He asked in a light tone to comfort the blonde.

But instead of giving him a straight answer Jou flung himself at Seth, burying his head in Seth's chest and cried his heart out.

"I miss my friends, my family...I miss them so much."

Seth didn't know what to say, of course Jou had friends and family at home, everyone did, but he had been taken away from them to be sold as a slave. He put his arms around Jou's shoulders lightly squeezing them to comfort him. Jou raised his head a bit and looked directly into Seth's sapphire orbs. He lowered his head again, somewhat shameful of what he wanted to say next.

"I know I wasn't supposed to go outside tonight..."

"But you did it anyway, am I right?" Seth should have known that when Jou was curious, he would stop at nothing to satisfy that curiosity. But how had he gotten past the guards?

"Yeah, please don't be mad...but I jumped out the window." Ah, so that was how he got out. Seth tightened his grip on Jou a bit urging him to go on. "And I went up to the temple...I could see the lights coming from there..."

"So you went out, when I explicitly told you not to and at that to the temple...how far did you come?" Seth was not entirely sure he wanted to know this. The shadows could have gotten a pretty good taste of him before he would even have had the time to discover it. His heart sunk at the possibility that Jou might have been hurt.

"I...went into the Shadow Realm and saw the ending of Atemu's duel, when Ra suddenly appeared."

"Ra?" Seth had never heard about this being before, could it be the giant that had interrupted Panseru's duel?

"Ra was the golden phoenix, he is a God monster, did you not know that?" Jou once again raised his head and found Seth looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"No...I have never seen this monster until tonight...but how is it that you know of him and the Shadow Realm, when you should not?"

Jou kept his head down, he felt like a little child being berated by its parents. "I've never told you this...not even Atemu, but I'm a duelist. Where I come from we also play the games, but they are not the Shadow Games, just a normal card game." How he wished he had his deck with him, if just to show them to Seth, so he had proof that he was not lying.

"You play the games?" Seth was startled by this revelation, never would he had thought this could happen.

"Yes, my best friend Yugi taught me..." Jou sniffed a tear away, once again hiding his face in Seth's chest.

"And your favorite monster...do you have one?" He actually wanted to know this, a duelist's favorite monster could say a lot about the person, characteristics, habits and persona alike.

"My favorite? The Red Eyes Black Dragon."

"A dragon? I can understand that, they are magnificent creatures, powerful, ancient and beautiful...You said it was only a...card game in your homeland...then how do you know about the Shadow Realm?"

Jou swallowed hard, it was time to spill everything, he had gotten so far and Seth was not mad at him yet. Gathering all his courage he cleared his throat.

"I entered a tournament with my friends. But so did a crazed maniac, he could summon the Shadow Realm. He sent several of my friends there. I went up against him trying to free them, it was then I experienced Ra's power on my own body. I died."

"But...you..." Seth eyes widened at Jou's last words, how could that be? Jou had said that Ra was a God and he had died, yet here he was alive and well, albeit a bit shaken.

"I died...but only for a short time...they said that my will to live was far stronger...but I lost the duel. I lost against Ra. And seeing that monster tonight brought it all back..." Tears flowed freely over his cheeks now and he clutched tightly to Seth's tunic. "I can't believe I forgot about my friends, it's been two months...they don't know where I am or if I'm even alive...I miss them so much, my friends, my father and Shizuka."

Seth felt a pang in his heart by the mentioning of what sounded like a girl's name.

"Shizuka?"

Jou looked up at him quizzically. "Shizuka? Oh...she's my sister...but I can't believe I forgot, what if they're looking for me? Who'll be there to comfort them and cheer them on? Do they even know that I'm gone?...Kami...I feel so helpless."

Seth just countered this statement by holding the blonde tighter to his chest, bestowing small kisses on the top of his head.

"Seth?" Jou looked up, tears brimming in his eyes. He noticed for the first their awkward and very suggesting position, but instead of moving away, he leaned closer to Seth, their faces opposite to each other. They could look directly into each other's eyes.

"Y-yes?" Seth croaked out, he had never been this close to Jou before, not without the two of them trying to rip each other's throats out. In truth he had never wanted to be this close to anyone, but he had let Jou come close. The blonde had wormed his way into Seth's life, making him feel complete for the first time in his life.

Jou smiled timidly, he had never been so shy before with his other boyfriends or girlfriends, so why now? Was it because Seth reminded him so much of Kaiba Seto? And yet they weren't the same person and never would be. He was attracted to both that was for sure, but Seth was here and Kaiba was not. He had actually once wanted to find out if Kaiba felt anything besides hate for him, if there could be at least lust in between that hate. But he would never find out now, would he? He didn't even know if he would ever get home. So he made up his decision to take the chance, what was there to loose other than his pride...perhaps his life? No, Atemu would never let that happen and Seth would not be that cold hearted.

He slowly inched closer eliminating the distance between them. "Seth...I...need..." He closed in and captured Seth's lips in a timid kiss, not sure if Seth would respond or not.

Seth himself was in inner turmoil, he felt as if he was about to take advantage of Jou, the boy wanted comfort, but not that kind. He was just unsure of what he really wanted, but what Seth had in mind would not help. All his thoughts were brought to a halt, when Jou kissed him and he felt elated. Jou had made his decision, now it was time for him to make his.

Slowly he began to respond by flickering out his tongue to gently trace Jou's lower lip asking for entrance. Being granted this, he slid his tongue into Jou's mouth fighting for dominance with the other's tongue. He gently guided the blonde down upon the bed drawing himself up to cover Jou's body and intertwined their legs within each other.

They had given up, the faint light of hope of Jou ever coming back had died from his friends eyes. They had spent the last two months searching for him, everyone they knew had berated them to give up, yet they hadn't. But now only he and Kaiba Seto were holding onto the hope that one day Jou might come back to them.

Yugi could see why many people had given up. Even Seto's detectives had advised them to not get their hopes up anymore, when they did have a small lead, it normally led to nothing. Most believed that he was dead and had even suggested that they hold a small funeral for him to show their respect. But even more people had just gone back to their daily lives, including his friends. He could understand that they had their own future to care about, but how could they just discard Jou like that?

He wished that everything could just be normal again. Jou would come bounding in the door in the morning, crying out that they were going to be late and they would laugh about it. At least he had Yami and Seto to talk with and his other friends. But if Jou were alive somewhere, who did he have to talk with?

Two bodies melted together, limbs intertwined in the throes of pure ecstasy. Hands touching every part reachable. The musky scent of glistening sweat. Kisses of excruciating fire and bliss. Gasps and moans erupting from breathless throats. Uncontrolled passion building in constricted chests, threatening to burst out. The younger panting and the elder growling. One word uttered in perfect completion.

"Seth!"

A/N: Thoth: Originally the God of the Moon, later he also became the god of scribes and wisdom. Description: A human body with an ibis head and a moon sphere placed on top of his head

Emerald: A stone that promotes love and protects against temptation. It strengthens the mind and memory og grants the ability to see the future. It was the favorite stone of the young queen Cleopatra and she was said to have carved emeralds in her image and practically used them as greeting cards.

Jade: A stone said to protect against accidents, prolong life and grant luck in games. In Egypt it was used to make scarabs, which were given the deceased on his further journey in the afterlife as the scarab is a symbol of resurrection. So if the dead were to have jade scarab with them they would be sure to be reborn.

Year: The ancient Egyptians were fascinated by mathematics and had already divided the year into twelve months, three weeks in each with ten days for each week. Which sums up to 360 days. At the end of the harvest season five days were added, bringing the year up to 365 days total. These five days were named Osiris, Seth, Isis, Nepthys and Horus' birthdays and referred to an era where the Gods still walked the Earth. A fourth of the days were left out making the year shift by one day, which is what later became known as leap year.

Horus: The son of Osiris and Isis, he fought against Seth to become ruler of the divine kingdom. He was the first Pharaoh.