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.

Born to Servitude

By Nuin

10. What are the odds?

Seth and Jou were surprised, when they saw one of the healers storm out of the room, where Seth's newest slave was held. Stepping forward and grasping the healer by his shoulders, Seth inquired what was going on. But the healer's only response was a sharp look at the High Priest, before freeing himself from his grasp and storming off again. They both stared at the healer's retreating back with confused looks, then shared a glance at each other. Suddenly a loud crash followed by several voices screaming sounded from the room next to them.

Rushing to see what was going on, Seth and Jou halted in the doorway a surprised expression of their faces. On the only bed in the room a boy with silvery-white hair and chocolate brown eyes was cowered in bandages and looked more like a wrapped up mummy than a injured teenager. Perhaps the healers had gone a little overboard in their caring? But currently said boy was screaming his head off, yelling at the healers to get away from him.

Jou chuckled at the sight of an almost incapacitated mummy wrapped albino screaming and raving at a team of slightly horrified healers, all of whom were backing away ever so slowly to evade the tiny range of space that the screaming teen could reach. The teen on the bed stopped his ranting as he heard the faint chuckle emitting from the doorway. His eyes widened as he saw the High Priest looking intently at him and kept still, he at least knew not to upset his 'superior' further on the other's territory.

'Ra, why do you have a grudge against me?' These two were the last people in Kemet he wanted to see right now, the cousin and High Priest of the Pharaoh and the blonde, who had nearly seen him following them. Yet as he thought it over, this would mean that he would be able to get closer to them and eventually steal the Staff. He just had to gain their trust and then get out...of...wherever he was right now. He would figure that out later, but he had to get a hold of the seven items at all costs.

"What is going on here?" Cold, harsh and businesslike, to Jou it sounded like he was standing right beside Kaiba Seto and he was more than willing to let himself drift off into that little dream space, where he was home again with his friends. Seeing the look-a-like of Ryou, who could obviously only be the insane and suspected homicidal spirit of the ancient Tomb Robber, had yet again crushed his hope of ever coming home again. It was as if the past was making fun of him by appearing in the forms of his best friends.

"Hem-Netjer. This boy, he is your new servant is he not?" One of the healers had boldly stepped forward, approaching the High Priest, as he pointed to the mummy boy on the bed.

"Yes, that he is." Seth raised an eyebrow in further inquiry, he did not feel the need to express him with words, when a single gesture could do just fine.

"He is impossible, he will not allow us to tend to his wounds and there are numerous of them. It would be of no interest to anyone if they were to be infected."

Seth glanced at the youth, once again raising one eyebrow, a slow smirk spread across his face. "I do not see how you could tend anymore to his wounds, when clearly his wounds has been wrapped so as to make him look like an ui."

The healer blushed bright red in embarrassment, not happy with the obvious condescending tone of the High Priest's voice. He looked away with no wish in daring the authority of Seth or to be on the receiving end of his superior's anger and wrath.

"Very well then, have him sent to my chambers once he is fit enough to work. Have you an incline as to when he will be well?"

"In a week or two, he had several severe wounds that will take some time to heal. He may be able to do some light work, but nothing more in the first weeks." The healer kept his head down, but his eyes were upon the High Priest, Seth nodded in acknowledgement and turned to Jou.

"Come now, we will take our leave." And with that he walked briskly out of the room, Jou following in his path.

What were the odds of something like this happening two times on one day? He cringed at the awful nasal voice of the just as awful girl, who was yet again clinging to his arm. What had she said her name was, Mado...Midara...Midori, yes, Midori. Did she not know the meaning of the word no?

"Come on Seto, go out with me." That would a no to his question. "You're not still moping about that dog." What? She was insulting Jou again? He desperately tried to get her to loosen her death grip on his arm, still while looking as if he was calm, yet disgusted, which he in fact was. He sneered slightly, it usually worked to intimidate his opponents. But she just clung even tighter to him, was she trying to rip his arm off? Preoccupied with getting the infernal girl to let go of him, he didn't notice the group approaching them from behind. "He was nothing but a waste of space anyway."

'SMACK'

Midori cradled her face in her right hand while glaring at the small form standing in front her with a murderous look on his face, tears spilling from his amethyst eyes. His lips curled into a snarl something which was so uncommonly seen on the otherwise so happy and sweet teenager.

"DON'T YOU EVER DARE TALK THAT WAY ABOUT JOUNOUCHI-KUN AGAIN." Yugi yelled at the top of his lungs, clenching his fists at his hips trying not to strangle the girl in front of him. Then he added in a hushed voice. "You don't know anything about him."

He abruptly turned around leaving the stunned crowd of students behind him. As he stormed off in fury he could feel the connection with Yami flare. 'Yami?'

'Yes, Aibou?' Confusion and concern were evident in Yami's voice.

'You have my permission to banish her for all eternity to the Shadow Realm for all I care. You can even let Yami Bakura in on it too, if you want. Because if she ever says another condescending remark about Jou-kun again, I'll kill her myself.'

'Aibou!' The slightly scorning and surprised voice of Yami rung in his head, making him chuckle with mirth at the thought of Yami sounding like a mother-hen scolding her chicks. Yami could be so protective sometimes, not wanting to taint his light with his dark presence. It was sweet and he couldn't help but feel honoured that an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh would go to the extreme to protect him and his friends. Yami was one of his best friends, he was the reason he even had friends to begin with. When he had first completed the puzzle, he had had the gut instinct and undeniable wish to believe the old myth surrounding the golden object that you could wish for anything in the world and it would come true.

What he had wanted more than anything else was a friend, for someone to accept him for who he was and he was rewarded with Jounouchi Katsuya, his onetime bully. Jou understood him nearly as well as Yami did, they shared everything, even the one time where Yugi closed his connection with Yami, to speak with Jou about his small crush on his darker half, his spirit. If it was even possible to love someone without a body of his own. But he knew he could do no otherwise. Yami was the one to complete him, two opposites to make on whole, darkness and light, dead and alive, mortal and immortal, Yami was the one. He knew Jou was open to listening to him, well Jou did swing both ways, his 'friendship' with Mai had proved that, but Yugi knew that Jou preferred his own gender, especially someone like Seto.

Jou hadn't said anything about loving Seto, but he found him attractive and in Jou's little black book that was worth something. Jou was just very particular with choosing, when it came to those, he perhaps could see as potential dating material. Oh, he was by no means a virgin, he had had boyfriends and occasional girlfriends before, but it was not all of them he had sex with. Some he just went on two or three dates with, others he had stayed with for months. But they had to have held a special place in his heart for him to have shared something like sex with them.

Kami, he missed his very best friend so much. He missed the talks they had, sure Yami, Anzu, Honda and all the others were great, but no one understood or could relate to him the way Jou did. After all they both had the hots for people who didn't know anything about their feelings. Though it seemed to clear up for Jou, Kaiba Seto had shown more than usual concern for him that any friend would do for another. He himself and Jou were close and it seemed as if Seto had wanted something more, but was afraid to show it.

He had even heard from Mokuba that Seto was acting nothing like he usually did, often all he did was staring of into space on his days off from work. Yugi had been shocked, when he heard that Seto, being the workaholic that he was, actually took days off. But that only increased his suspicion about Seto's motives to help them, which all in all led to the conclusion that Seto's feeling towards Jou weren't so hostile as they all were led to believe. Everything from the way Seto moved to way he spoke, when he was with the gang, gave Yugi all the more reason to trust his beliefs.

He shrugged to himself, being alone in the crowds of teenagers and adults had taught him how to decipher a person from their body language and tone of voice. It had helped on numerous occasions, when one of the school bullies had tortured him, simply by studying them he knew what they wanted from him. It was always about what they had wanted, but what he wanted right now was for Jou to come back and everything would be back to normal and then he could set Jou and Seto up on a date and everything would be fine.

Yugi could hear the soft, comforting voice of Yami in the back of his mind whispering sweet words to make him feel better and it did, more than Yami would ever know.

Finally those idiot healers had left the room, he was tired of having them hovering around him every second of his stay there. He quietly planted his feet on the floor, wincing as a stab of pain shot through his back. Trying again to move without causing himself more pain, he made his way over the small table below the window, he had seen the healers put the few things he owned there and the ring had to be among them. He needed to see that it was still there, it gave him comfort and the knowledge that one day he would bring freedom the those who had been sacrificed to make The Seven.

He searched through the tattered clothes that the healers hadn't bothered to throw out, it had to be here. He had made a quick survey of the two golden wristlets and the small amulet he had carried with him since he was a child, they were not as important as what he was searching for now. True, he was glad that the charms he had been given by his mother were still there, but he simply had to find the ring. Where was it?

After finding nothing in his possessions, he made a beeline for some of the other tables in the room, all of them were carrying vials with some sort of unknown liquids, to him at least, fresh bandages, bowls of water and several cloths, but there was no sign of his most prized possession. He searched the entire room in the frail hope that it had been hidden from prying eyes. No such luck.

It was gone.

Someone had taken it.

That damned priest.

A/N: Hem-Netjer: Servant of the God.

Ui: Ancient Egyptian for Mummy