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

08. Sacred Possessions.

The sounds of his bare feet against the heavy sands pounded in his ears. They were going to catch him this time. He was done for. The scar on his cheek still burned from the scorching pain that was induced on him. Yet another village that had discovered his blasphemous secret.

Soldiers were hot on his trail as he did not have enough time to cover them up. Ra, how he hated them all, those lapdogs to the Pharaoh. They too were hunting him right now, the keepers of the tombs. But there was no way his would give up this treasure. A treasure his kin, his family, his village had died to create. He only needed the other six and he could bring them to rest, their souls would be free.

He increased his speed and dodged several merchants in his path, making his way into the city. There were soldiers everywhere. Ra, damn it. He chose instead to go inconspicuous and crept through the crowded streets. A flash of gold caught his eyes, usually it would not have been anything out of the ordinary, since many wore amulets and bands of gold, but this was a shining crown of golden hair perched on top of a pale face. The golden youth was accompanied by a tall teen, no older than he, carrying himself with an air of superiority, royalty by standard of his clothes and accessories. But it was the staff strapped in the teen's belt that interested him the most. Pure gold, rare form...precious to him in a sense no other thief could imagine.

"Must you carry that thing with you everywhere?" Jou was not particularly fond of Seth's newly acquired object, the Sennen Staff, nor was he fond of Seth's obsession of carrying it with him at all times. It reminded him of how Yugi behaved around his puzzle, an obsession that had nearly killed Yugi, Honda and himself in the fire at the warehouse, where Yugi had duelled against Bandit Keith.

The staff itself reminded him too much of Marik's Darkness and his ability to command the Shadow Realm, something he would rather forget.

"Yes." That was his answer? If only everything else was so simple. "It is part of me now. It gives me strength to withstand the shadows and power to command the beasts within them." Jou mentally sighed, of course it had to be about power, he guessed some things would never change, no matter how much time would pass.

"You're as obsessed with that thing as Atemu is with his puzzle. Why were they even given to you?"

"They were gifts from the priests, an old society of duellists, who served under Panseru's father. He was the one, who had them made. It would have been disrespectful not to accept them." Seth snorted, fingering one of Jou's golden locks.

Jou growled slightly jerking his head away from Seth's touch, while displaying a sly smirk. "I thought there was to be no public displays, where servants to the Council could see us?" Kami, how he loved the way Seth's sky blue eyes laughed at him, when he openly did not. Seth was mischievous at heart and even though they had to act as if there was nothing between them, he could not help but tease Jou to the point, where all Jou could think of was how fast they could get back to their chambers.

So what if he was extremely horny, Kami knew he had fantasized about Kaiba Seto enough times. But the fact that Seth, Kaiba's past self, was more open to him and kinder than Kaiba had ever been, made it so much more delicious. He knew he had been taking advantage of Seth at first, as a substitute for what he could never have with Kaiba. But Seth had his own qualities that distinguished him from Kaiba and made him unique. While Seth did not hold the same place in his heart as Kaiba Seto did, there was no doubt that maybe he could in time.

"So, maybe they would think that I am considering having your hair cut, it is getting rather long, soon I will not be able to see your eyes." He chuckled and once again took a lock of golden hair between his fingers. "It would devastating not to see them light up when you laugh."

"Kami, you're over-dramatic." He sighed and leaned into the touch.

"It is not as if we would be banished were we to display our feelings." At Jou's puzzled look he smiled softly and grabbed his hand leading him along the road between the various shops.

"You once told me that not everyone in your country accepts our kind of relationship." Jou nodded in recognition. "Kemet is tolerant, we accept that there is prostitution, adultery and relationships between the same genders. It is the choice of the single mind. But we are expected to stay true to our wedded opposite and frown upon same gender couples."

Jou frowned. "But that's contradicting yourself."

"I know, but we choose not to look to much into it. After all the Per'aa has several wives as well as his harem, he is expected to create an heir to the throne. But the other of his wives might be wedded to him for pure political reasons. Panseru already has three wives, his sister Neferusat, the Het princess and one of the Medjaiu. The last two marriages are for political reasons, they were married to keep the peace between our countries."

"...and his sister?" Jou couldn't imagine being married to his sister, sure he loved Shizuka more than life itself and would protect her from anything, but marry her? That was just weird.

"He married his sister for religious reasons as it is written in the ancient scrolls and legends. The grand god Usir was married to his sister Ast and she gave birth to Hor, who became our first Per'aa after defeating my brother by name, the god of Desjeret, Sutekh."

"So are you going to marry some woman? I know you don't have a sister."

"I suppose I will eventually, I have to carry on my bloodline. I have been able to put it out because I am a priest, blaming it on the fact that my religious duties should come before family."

"And...what about me?" Jou wasn't certain he wanted the answer to his question. Would Seth have to leave him were he to marry?

"I would never let you go, Neferu Nub. I might have a duty to fulfil, creating an heir. But the mother of my child would never have my heart as long as you are with me." He smiled gently, caressing Jou's hand with his thumb. Seth suddenly stopped as if he had finally found what he was looking for. He stepped inside a small shop, which was nothing compared to its surrounding neighbours. It was shabby, yet cozy and held an aura of ancient mystics.

A sudden thought struck Jou as he entered the shop. "Why was it you wanted me to come with you?"

"I want to buy you a sa for protection. I saw that Panseru has given you protective cuffs, but a sa is more effective."

"Jealous?" Jou couldn't help but grin, Seth acted like a jealous teenager wanting to outdo his rivals, which was in fact what he was doing.

"...No." Seth hesitated, a small tint of red on his cheeks.

A shuffle of material alerted them to the presence of the shopkeeper, a man around his forties with gray-streaked black hair and beetle-black eyes looked expectantly at them. When he saw Seth, he immediately bowed down to his knees.

"Hi n-ek! Neb i, Set Hem-Netjer." (Hail! My Lord, Priest Seth.)

"Ueben, khenemes Shepeses!" (Rise, friend Shepses.)

Slowly getting up from his position on the floor, Shepses carefully looked over the two arrivals. "What brings my Lord Seth to my humble shop, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes, my old friend, there is indeed something you can do for me. I wish for a sa for my slave, it is to protect him. So it should preferably be an ankh made of mefkat with the necessary protective incantations and inscriptions." Seth knew exactly what he wanted and he knew that his old slave would have what he needed, Shepses was a reliable servant, who had been given the right to keep a shop.

Shepses merely nodded and disappeared further into his little shop.

'Snip...Snip...Snip.'

Humming contently she cut out the article and glued it into her scrapbook. It had to be the best one yet. The blue eyes of the person in the picture looked directly at her this time. He wasn't glaring, but had a rather neutral look to his face. The article itself was to her a masterpiece, it contained the story of the blonde's disappearance at little over two months ago and that the police, private detectives and even some of the idiot blonde's friends had given up on finding him. Not that they ever would anyway.

She smiled as she turned to look at her book collection, containing several volumes of spell books, ancient manuscripts and incantations from as far as Africa. It was good to have a rich father, who shared her passion for the old world, be it Japan or the even the Aztec-civilization. If it hadn't been for him, she would never have found the incantation that would have gotten rid of that pestering dog. The dog that would never bother her and her love again.

A light lit up in her green eyes as she thought of her love, she just had to find the right way to approach him. Perhaps she would give him her condolences, then he would open up to her and she could comfort him. Perfect.

"Midori? Dinners ready!" A female voice suddenly yelled from downstairs. "Come help set the table, will you?"

"Be right there, 'Kaasan." She smiled, closed her book and hid it in its secret compartment in the shelves, before she walked out of her room and went downstairs.

What took them so long? He had been waiting in the shadows for quite some time now. This was probably the best chance he would ever get to steal the staff. He needed it and all he had to wait for, was for his two victims to be occupied for a moment. He brushed some of his tell-tale white hair out of his deep brown eyes, wanting to get a clearer view of the two when they left the shop. Finally they were outside and he moved silently behind them, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

His attention peeked up at the blonde's mentioning of the Pharaoh and his golden puzzle, could it be one of the items he longed for? If it was so, he would need to get a lot closer than just to steal the staff. If he wanted the puzzle as well, he had to get inside the Pharaoh's palace. Perhaps he could even so lucky that the other items would be there. The man he had killed to get the treasure he currently carried with him, had been a priest to the Pharaoh doing a blessing of a new temple nearby. Then maybe other priests at the palace would possess the other items. He would have to get in first.

He would have to find a way. The palace was packed with guards and there was no way he could take on all of them. There had to be another way. Perhaps he could gain the trust of one of the palace servants. He just had to try.

He chose to stay behind them, hoping to catch more of their conversation, maybe there would be something he could use to his advantage.

Jou kept fingering the amulet, the small ankh between his fingertips. He smiled, a jealous Seth was fun and getting presents weren't bad either. He continued to walk beside Seth as the other studied the various stands for anything he might want to purchase. A sudden chill ran down his spine, he felt as if he was being watched. He turned his head but couldn't see anything suspicious in the close crowd. There were too many people around.

A flash of silver disappearing in an alley caught his attention. He stopped for a second, he could have sworn he had seen Ryou. He mentally berated himself for his wishful thinking, wanting to see his friends and turned to fall into step with Seth once again. He got a concerned look from his companion, but he dismissed him with a smile. He looked back one more time only to see a glimpse of silver and brown fade away.

By Ra, that had been close. The blonde had nearly caught him following them. He had seen the curiosity in the other's eyes as well as some form of recognition. Yet he had never seen the other boy before in his life. He would remember having seen another blonde besides himself. He slipped out of the alley and started to follow the couple, this time at a safe distance.

Suddenly he was grabbed from behind by a pair of arms holding him around his midsection. His head whirled around to look into the face of a soldier. Just great. He had been caught by the same ugly wretch, who had tried to capture him before. The man grinned crookedly down at him, showing the few yellow teeth he had left in his mouth.

He was about to elbow the other in the stomach, when an idea struck him. He let his arm fall to his side in a sign of defeat and allowed himself to be dragged off by the foul smelling soldier, who could really use a bath. It wasn't what he originally had planned, but at least he was going to get inside the palace. The only thought that nagged in the back of his mind was; How was he going to get out again?

END OF ARC I.

A/N: Kemet: The Ancient Egyptian name for Egypt, the black land that surrounded the Nile

Neferu-sat: Neferu meaning beautiful and Sat meaning daughter. Neferu-sat means Beautiful Daughter.

Het: The Ancient Egyptian name for the Hittite kingdom, a kingdom located where Turkey is now.

Medjaiu: The Ancient Egyptian name for the Nubians soldiers working in Egypt. It could also be Nehesy or Iunet, though the last two names were mostly used in the term of Nubian general inhabitants. Nubians inhabited the kingdoms Kush and Wawat, south of Kemet.

Usir: The Ancient Egyptian name for Osiris.

Ast: The Ancient Egyptian name for Isis

Hor: The Ancient Egyptian name for Horus.

Desheret: The Ancient Egyptian name for the desert, the red lands, surrounding Kemet.

Sutekh: The Ancient Egyptian name for Seth.

Neferu Nub: Atemu Panseru called Jou this endearment in chapter 3, meaning Golden Beauty.

Sa: Ancient Egyptian word that means Amulet.

Shepses: A verb meaning to be nobel.

Ankh: The symbol of life and protection, it was often used to describe the eternal life of the Gods.

Mefkat or Turquoise: A soft stone, varying in colours from blue to green nuances, said to change colour and even crack if the bearer becomes really frightened or is in grave peril. It protects and promotes loyalty. It also stands for virtue and purity.

Midori: Jap. Meaning the colour Green, fitting?