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

12. Ancient People Are Weird.

Rustling of papyrus and clothes were heard, an exasperated sigh was uttered and then the flinging of objects across the nearly vacant room began. The only occupant of said room was at the moment one very irritated High Priest, since he had thrown out everyone else just moments before. He slumped down on the floor with several scrolls surrounding him in large mountains, not having the urge or the patience to put them back in their proper order and place. Seth ran a hand over his face wiping off imaginary drops of sweat and closed his eyes in the attempt to gather his thoughts.

He had been in here all morning and had gone through almost every scroll there was to be found, but none of them had contained the information he wanted. He had so far spent two days searching the rooms of the library one by one, each time he had ended up throwing out the scribes in a fit of anger and loss of patience and then found himself sitting in a mess of scrolls littered all around him. He let out a varied string of foul curses, wishing damnation on everything from the gods to the smallest straws of grass.

He sighed and tried to find some form of order in the huge dump he had successfully created. He snorted, he would just have the scribes clear it away when he was done, they knew far better than he, where every piece of papyrus was meant to be. It wasn't as if it were the first time he had done something like this. He slowly rose from his position on the floor and walked over to the tables settled around the room, he still had a few scrolls that he hadn't checked over yet, perhaps he would finally have some luck in this quest.

He had started out in search for a spell, which could make those things possible that Jou had described to him. He wondered why he was even doing this, perhaps it was to help him in his effort to comfort and assure Jou that it would possible for him to go home, then instead draw out time in the hope that Jou would change his mind and stay with him. Though it was his deepest desire to just find a spell that would make Jou forget everything about his home, he knew he would never be able to cast it and keep his conscience guilt-free. Yet he would do about anything to keep Jou here.

He knew this search was also to satisfy his own curiosity, how was it possible for someone to travel through time?

Seth quickly scanned the last scrolls contained in the room but to no avail, there was absolutely not proof of the existence of such a spell that would send a traveller through time, well at least not in this room and there was several storage rooms as well, several places left where the specific scroll with the specific spell he was searching for could be located.

He decided to take a break and get something to eat, perhaps he would even have time to spend some of it with Jou. He was about to leave the room, when he noticed the female standing in the doorway. What was with her and turning up at the most annoying hours of the day? She would undoubtedly take up several of those minutes he could have spent with his golden beauty.

"What do you want, Isis?" He growled sending her at the same time a scathing glare.

"Hem-Netjer, is that a way to greet a fellow priest and caretaker of the one of the Seven?"

"I do not know, is it?" He smirked, at least he would be able to get some of this frustration off his chest.

She just smirked back, the Tauk was gleaming against her collarbone and stood out against her white clad form. A long white tunic covered her slim body, its design was simple, nothing extravagant, the only ornaments on it were the golden embroideries along the sides and on the hem. Her arms were adorned with golden bands as well as her wrists. Her ears were pierced with two large golden hoops each and her fingers were littered with bejewelled rings and on her small feet were a pair of golden embroidered sandals. Her midnight black hair was let loose for once, usually it was hidden beneath a shawl of fine linen, and several gold strands had been entwined with the black locks.

"Seth, this will lead to nothing." Her expression turned from smug to sad in a matter of seconds, her voice sounding like she was bringing news of a great tragedy.

"What do you mean?"

"You will not be able to keep him here." Her sky-blue eyes were sad and full of compassion as she walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder in what she hoped would be a sign of comfort to him.

"W-what?" He croaked out, not sure if he liked the way this conversation was headed.

"Your young slave, the golden one. He will leave, because he has a part to play out and you cannot stop him."

"And of course you, in your great wisdom and knowledge, have foreseen this...and may I ask how exactly do you know this." He spat and pushed her hand away.

"My item has told me of the events that have passed, events that are and events that are to come and it would be best for both of you if you were to let him go." With that she left Seth behind, his eyes wide and baffled, he looked down to his hand. She had placed a scroll of papyrus in it.

Curious he opened the scroll and if possible his eyes widened further. It was the incantation, the one which would grant a person the opportunity to cross the borders of time and space. At least Isis was good for something. Even before she had had received her item, she had had the uncanny ability to appear at odd times and speak in riddles, as if she knew something others did not. This time however she had been quite clear with her choice of words. Jou was to leave for the sake of both of them. Normally he would believe in the path that was lain out before him, but not this time. He would oppose his fate and he would do anything to keep Jou with him, where he belonged.

He looked down at the papyrus once again and decided to hide it for good measures, just to have it in case Isis was right, but also so that Jou wouldn't be able to stumble upon it accidentally. And so he left the room with the precious scroll hidden beneath his robes, leaving the mess for the scribes to clean up and not caring that it would take them hours to finish organizing the scrolls again. He had after all done it twice already.

Green eyes glittered in the light from a single candle, the flame wavering in the slight breeze coming from the half-open window. Her lips curved in a devious smirk as she thought of how much she was going to enjoy this. She picked up the old dusty volume and turned to the page she had sought out beforehand. The manuscript she held in her hands had been copied many times before, but it was obvious that it dated back more than five thousand years and had originally been written on a papyrus scroll. The words was written in hieroglyphs and set in such an order that it was impossible to deny that it had belonged to any other than royalty. But the incantation was working none the less, she was exuberantly happy that she had relented in her father' wishes to learn how to read and write the Hieratic language, if not, how would she ever have gotten rid of the pestering animal?

However she had another problem to solve, the damned little tricoloured freak, who had dared to break her apart from her sapphire-eyed god. Just because that inbred, ill-mannered blonde was his friend, he had had the gall to strike her. She would get back at him that was sure.

As she began chanting the string of words that would rid her of the midget, she could feel the magic surging in the air around her. She concentrated on the person the spell was meant for and was quite surprised when she found him so quickly. She continued her endless chanting, her voice increasing in power as did her magic. She had come to the crucial part, where she had to concentrate solely on that one person and his soul's spiritual signature, it was the only way to make it work. Sending a soulless body back in time would not make that person suffer, they would not have a soul which could be scarred.

Suddenly she felt like she had collided with a wall, it was very...very strong and just the sheer power of the spirit which rested within that tiny body was enough to make her forget her train of thought. Who was this brat? No one she had ever met had had such a unique spiritual signature. It was to powerful for a mere mortal to have. Come to think of it the dog had had quite a special signature as well. Though not a powerful as this one and she could simply not get through the walls protecting the soul. Then all of the sudden she was forcefully pushed away with the power of an ancient soul, so old that she swallowed nervously in the prospect of being the recipient of the ancient spirit's power and magic. This was not the young soul of a teenager, but that of an age-old soul, who practically had the power of a deity.

She reluctantly withdrew, when she found that she would not be able to barge through the protective walls the ancient one had build around his young charge's mind. She silently cursed, she had not foreseen this happening. How was she going to carry out her revenge on the annoying brat now? Somehow she would and then her love would be hers for all eternity, no one would ever dare come between them again. Not if she had anything to say about it. No one would dare. No one.

Jou fiddled with the small charm around his neck admiring the shades of the blue stone change in the light of the sun. He was sitting outside on the cool green grass of the royal garden. Seth was currently somewhere else, Jou didn't know where as the priest had foregone to mention that. But he wasn't worried, Seth had given him permission to wander about today and he had gratefully accepted it. It had been some time since he had been on his own without Seth as a constant shadow trailing him or in most cases dragging him around.

And he needed to work a bit more on his tan.

He had successfully repressed all thought of going home to the back of his mind, well at least in the presence of Seth. He was stuck in quite a dilemma now. He still wanted to go home, even though he knew he had not means to do so. Yet how could he leave Seth behind, the man loved him for crying out loud. He knew he had to go home sometime, he didn't belong here but at home with his friends and family...and Kaiba Seto. When he got back home the first thing he would do, and damn the consequences, was to thoroughly suck the tongue and breath out of one CEO, Kaiba Seto. He wanted to know if Seto would taste a sweet as his past incarnation, if his skin felt as good as Seth's and if those long fingers felt as good entwined in his hair as Seth's did. If only he could have them both that would be perfect.

A thought struck him like lightning from a clear sky, Yugi's darkness, Yami or Atemu possessed the Sennen Puzzle and Atemu could take over Yugi's body from time to another. What if Seto were to have the Rod, Seth had it now, wouldn't it mean that it was Seth who would be imprisoned into the Sennen item, just like Atemu had been? The Staff had belonged to Marik, but his Darkness was one that he himself had created out of hate. It would mean that perhaps Seth was still dormant in the staff and that if Seto somehow got a hold of it, then Seth would be able to come out as well. And then Jou would have both his family, his friends and especially Seth...and perhaps Seto as well?

He was jostled out of his thoughts when the sun was blocked by a shadow standing over him. He looked up to see Bakura looming above him with a devilishly snide smirk planted on his pale face. The white-haired boy plopped down beside him and then shot him an innocent smile, brown eyes wide and curious. Jou felt somewhat unnerved by this, he was used to Bakura Ryou's darker half being a down right devil in human flesh. Bakura leaned closer into Jou's face, still an innocent smile on his face. Jou could feel his right eye twitch nervously, he gulped and blushed slightly at the proximity of the other boy.

"So..."Bakura began.

"Umm...yeah?" The twitch became more violent.

"What did you mean about being from the future?" Bakura smiled sickeningly sweet.

"Uhh...w-what are you talking about?" He began to laugh nervously and put a hand behind his head to further the image of him being completely ignorant about the matter. Bakura didn't buy into it for a second. He edged closer to Jou.

"You know what I mean. I heard it the other night or did you happen to forget that your master had put me in the other room?" Bakura's smile turned and twisted into a smug smirk, he knew that he had Jou cornered now and the golden blonde wouldn't be able to back out of it. He continued. "You were trying to go home, from what I heard, and you thought that my Ring would be able to help you, yes?"

"..." Jou just sat there, his eye twitching nervously every second.

Bakura just went on in his rampage against Jou. "Well, you did not do a good job about it, now did you?" A more sinister and evil smirk spread across his face, wrinkling the scar on his cheek as a dimple graced the corner of his mouth. This smirk however reminded Jou instantly of the Yami Bakura he knew, the homicidal maniac possessing one of his friends.

"Perhaps I could help you there." It wasn't a question, though more of a statement, Bakura was confident of his abilities.

"You would do that...why?" Jou arched an eyebrow, clearly not believing the other's sincerity. 'As if Yami Bakura could ever sincerely mean to help someone out the 'goodness' of his heart.'

"You helped me, did you not. When I was injured. Why should I not return the favour. I can help you use the power of the ring correctly." So it was a blatant lie, but it would help him in getting closer to the ring once again and then just wait for the right moment to steal back what was his.

"Umm...okay."

Bakura could laugh of the stupidity and naïveté of the blonde, so trusting and he had fallen directly into his little trap.

"Very well then, do you have the ring on you now?" He dearly hoped so, it would mean that he could get out of here faster than anticipated. It would mean that he could get away from the damned Pharaoh and his damned hands and his damned silky voice. He shuddered involuntarily at the thought and felt slight shivers running up his spine. He had to get out of here, he didn't know how much longer he would be able to resist that DAMNED Pharaoh.

"No..."

Damn, damn, damn that stupid boy, then he remembered that the Priest had taken the ring. Well the boy would just have to get it back wouldn't he? There was no way he was leaving without it. He may be willing to leave behind the Puzzle and the Staff, just to get away from the Pharaoh, but leave the ring was not an option, he had killed a man to get it and he would keep it.

"Well, do you think you can get a hold of it?" The blonde seemed to contemplate his options then nodded slowly. Good. "Then when you have it, come into my room, yes?" The boy nodded again. And with that Bakura was away as he scampered across the grass and disappeared into the palace. Jou just sat in the same spot looking baffled at the retreating back of the albino and wondered what he had gotten himself into this time...and how would he get the ring away from Seth?

He may very well be able to finally go home and if Bakura decided to divulge more of the powers of the Sennen items, then perhaps he would be able to use the Staff to lure Seth out the golden object.

Then he looked up to find another shadow looming over him. This wasn't the figure of Bakura, but that of a young woman. He smiled slightly in greeting and she returned the gesture. She kept standing though and looked at him solemnly with her blue eyes.

"I am Isis." She answered to his silent question, he nodded in agreement.

"Jou."

"I know, as I have know from the start, who you would be."

What? he was sure he knew from somewhere, he studied her face a bit closer and realized, this was Marik's older sister that was why the name Isis had sounded so familiar to him. The woman with the Sennen Tauk, which he found hanging from her neck.

"You are confused, yes?" She titled her head and smiled sweetly at him again. Confused would be a very mild term to describe him with. So he just nodded, not knowing where she wanted to go with this train of thought.

"I know many things, Jounouchi Katsuya." How did she know his full name, he hadn't mentioned it to anyone but Atemu and Seth the first time they met. "Still confused, I see. I am sorry for that. Neb i, Per'aa, always did say I speak in too many riddles." She giggled slightly.

"What is it you want from me, Lady Isis?"

"Strange...so similar to what the Hem-Netjer said just a while ago...You know...he loves you dearly and is not yet willing to give you up. But it would be best for the both of you if he did. It would spare him the grief."

"Grief?" Jou asked confused, why would Seth feel grief if he didn't leave.

"Yes, he will feel a grate grief if fate does not have its way. I trust you do not wish this upon him?"

He gulped. "Of course I wouldn't, why would I want to do such a thing to him, I like him."

"Only like, young one? Perhaps you should keep 'only' liking him, it would be better for you both..." With that she left him, leaving him more confused than when she appeared. He took himself to the head, he needed something to eat, to which his stomach growled appreciatively and rather loudly, and he needed some time to think, especially about how he was going to get the ring away from Seth or if it was even possible to do so. Well, at least he got one thing out of this, he was now very certain that ancient people were weird.

A/N:

Ancient Egyptian Lesson of the Week. (Revision)

Hem-Netjer: Priest.

Neb I, Per'aa: My Lord, the Pharaoh.