Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh isn't mine. If it was, I'd be as rich as Seto Kaiba himself. (Well, probably not, but you get the idea…) And this fic is beta-read by Pamster. Thanks a lot to her for checking it and her advice.

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Chapter 44: Fathers

-o-

Silently watching his son, Akunadin took a step closer to Set and the old priest now found that the sight of a broken man was confronting him. Set's tears were almost enough to reach Akunadin's heart as the young man fell to his knees, Set not noticing that his face was resting in a pool of blood as he pulled Neith's body close. Or at least what appeared to Set to be Neith's body. For who cared about one measly household slave? It was Akunadin alone who knew the truth. Illusions were a powerful thing, especially when backed up by the kind of power the Dark Priest had received and did not hesitate to use in such a manner.

Akunadin left his son alone to grieve quietly before coming up behind Set. As far as his son was concerned, that body was Neith, right down to the tips of her fingernails. With a twisted grin concealed beneath his white mask, Akunadin withdrew what would be the final nail in the coffin from his robes and looked down at Set.

"I hate to show you this, but I found this on the floor. Atemu demanded I show him proof? Well, this is my proof," Akunadin said surely.

The old priest then handed the knife to Set. It was silver with a gold handle, devoid of any gems, yet sublimely elegant. Dried blood clung to the blade as Akunadin watched his son gaze up at it, silently contemplating what had happened. It would drive Set to the brink of sanity, seeing the murder weapon, Atemu's weapon.

"Where is my son?" Akunadin gazed down at Set, who grew impatient with him. "I asked you a question!"

"I… It isn't good I fear to say. Set, I wouldn't see him if I were…" Akunadin began to reply, only to be interrupted, just as the old priest knew he would be.

"I don't care. Give him to me," Set demanded, a cold fury in his voice.

Akunadin gazed down at Set, who was taking off the golden pendant Neith wore. The old priest found it hard, seeing his son this upset, but he would use any means necessary to force him into killing Atemu and taking his place. Akunadin then got up and left, heading into the nearby study that had recently served as a place to house the young child.

-o-

By the time Akunadin returned, Set was gazing up at the old priest. Akunadin could see that the pendant his son had been removing from the dead body now hung around his neck. But Set was now more focused on what he held in his arms, the dead body of what appeared to be a young child.

"Sobek, what have they done to you?" Set whispered, expectantly holding out his arms.

Leaning down, Akunadin handed his son the small animal, a freshly killed gazelle, and pulled himself back up. Set was holding the limp gazelle like he would a child. His entire manner struck Akunadin as oddly strange and gentle. Not what one would have expected of the usually sullen man.

"Why did Atemu do such a thing, Akunadin? He's just a child. He never hurt anyone!" his son whispered. Set was rocking back and forth, holding Sobek close to his chest.

A sorry sight, indeed, Akunadin thought, But if this is what it takes to force his hand then it's all worth it.

The Sennen Eye the old priest wore revealed the fragile state of Set's mind, which itself shrouded a deeper feeling; that it was indeed Atemu who was behind everything. It was just as he had hoped!

That was when Set rose to his feet, an impassive look on the young man's face as Akunadin saw that his son was walking straight towards him.

"What are you doing?" Akunadin questioned.

"I know you can take me to Atemu. Do it now," Set demanded, looking straight at his father. "I've never asked you for anything before, do this for me now, take me to that murderer."

Akunadin silently watched Set for a moment before stepping back. Opening another portal, the old priest felt an enormous rush of satisfaction; his plan had worked perfectly! Set now wrongly believed that all his loved ones were dead by Atemu's hand. Now all that was left was that girl with the white dragon. Akunadin rested his hand paternally on Set's back, his son not tensing to the contact as the two of them disappeared through the portal.

-o-

Atemu jumped as the heavy doors to the audience chamber were blasted off their hinges. The guards and those few priests that remained immediately jumped and sprang to attention at the noise. Now back in the royal palace, Atemu and his remaining priests were preparing to face the horror that was the evil god Akunadin had unleashed. But now the young Per A'a found himself confronted by a different threat.

Watching on as the dust cleared, Atemu discovered that it was Set who had made such an entrance. The tall Hem Ntjr was glaring at him with a hatred he had never seen before, something he felt was more down to Akunadin then anything else.

Rising from his throne, Atemu slowly walked up to Set, much to the dismay of everyone else present.

"You killed them, Atemu! Just like I'll kill you!" Set cried.

"What are you talking about?" Isis asked, and Atemu wondered the same thing.

"I know what you did! Look at the results of your work! He was only two months old!" Set yelled, clutching a long-horned animal close to his chest. "Wasn't it enough for you to kill my wife! Why'd you have to take my son away from me as well? He was the only thing I had left!"

Atemu looked at Set, his face falling, suddenly feeling a great deal of pity for the grief-stricken young man.

"Set, can't you see…" Atemu began to say, but the Per A'a fell silent when he saw Akunadin. The traitorous priest was walking up behind Set, any expression he may be wearing totally unreadable behind his mask.

"Don't you pity me; don't you dare!" Set snapped.

Atemu glanced at the dead gazelle, Set and then at Akunadin. Now he understood; it was Akunadin who had brought all this upon them! Akuandin would fool his own son into thinking his wife and child was dead? What kind of a man was he?

"You would murder innocent men, women and children to fulfil you sick fantasies? I'm ashamed of you, traitor!" Atemu yelled, glaring hatefully at the old priest.

"I'm not the murderer here, but at least I'm honest," Akunadin replied, a note of sarcasm in his almost unnatural voice.

Set, in his rage, seemed to have forgotten what Akunadin had done to Neith, Subira and a lot of innocent people. It was a shame; they were all little more than pawns to the Dark Priest. Atemu knew he had to get Set to calm down. In the state he was in, his old colleague would harm not only others but himself as well. He had to get Set away from Akunadin at all costs. Perhaps then he would be able to help Set, even after what his rival had done.

Atemu immediately nodded his head, several guards rushing towards Set from all corners of the room. They piled on top of the tall man, who growled angrily beneath the mountain that covered him.

"Get off me!" Set exploded, using the Sennen Rod to hurl back the guards. They hit the floor painfully as Set glared at Atemu. "You, my dear Per A'a, are nothing but a coward who hides behind his throne and his priests like a scared child hides behind his mother's skirt! You will duel me now, and I won't take no for an answer!"

-o-

Moments later, Set was glaring hatefully at Atemu as he held his son in one arm and the Sennen Rod with the other. Now Set felt that he would finally be able to get vengeance for his dead wife and son, both of whom would finally be able pass on to the Afterlife in peace.

Finally, I'll be able to do this one thing for you both. Please forgive me for not being there the one time you needed me, Set thought, thinking of Neith and Sobek.

"I'm taking you down, Atemu!" he proclaimed soon after, drawing a finger across his throat. "Dious, my Ka; I want vengeance! Off with his head!"

"Goddamnit Set! Wake up already!" Atemu implored, sounding somewhat exasperated.

Set's black-armoured Ka hovered behind the tall Hem Ntjr, a burning black flame surrounding its sword. It went halfway up Dious's arm, a result of all the hatred Set felt towards Atemu. That was when Isis ran towards Set, a desperate look on her face.

"Set, can't you feel it within yourself that Neith is alive?" the priestess asked Set. "I know she is; I saw it!"

"You're nothing but a lying witch, Isis! How can I possibly believe in anything that you say?" Set retorted. "If Neith is alive then where is she? Answer me that! I saw her dead; you can't erase something like that!"

Set glared at the priestess, Akunadin standing quietly behind him.

"Set, stop being so stubborn and open your mind!" Shadah snapped.

Set gritted his teeth, but his face turned blank when a strange feeling flooded the young man's heart. He felt scared and alone, as if in a dream. Almost absentmindedly, Set's hand clutched at Neith's pendant and immediately an image of the underground prison beneath the palace flooded Set's mind. Was that where all the answers were? Set immediately turned around and fled from the room, heading towards the place he had been shown.

-o-

Earlier that day…

When Akunadin had set his evil plans into motion, the old priest had spirited Neith, Sobek and the weak girl who housed the white dragon Ka, Kisara, away. Akunadin had taken them to the hidden underground chambers he had used with Set in their training of prisoners Ka. He had then shoved the reluctant brunette towards the door.

"Inside, now," Akunadin commanded her.

I must obey him, Neith thought.

Thatwas the first thought that entered the brunette's mind as she blankly nodded, slowly moving through the door being held open for her. The only thing Neith could think about, as she entered the room, was to obey her master. He knew what was best for her and Set; he was Set's father, after all. He would make sure that everything was all right.

But then why did she feel so sad?

"Sit here," Neith was then told.

The young woman's soulless body seated itself upon the cold wooden bench and Neith waited for a new set of instructions. It was as if any free thought she had was flying above her, pushed out of her body and held hostage by the darkness Akunadin had woven, unable to get back in.

The notion of resistance entered what little free thought Neith had left but it was useless. She was worried almost to the point of madness about Set. What had happened to him? Where was he? All Neith had were her thoughts. She wanted to do something, anything, to find out what had happened to the man she loved.

Neith then felt her mind slip back into non-resistance. No, Akunadin knew what was best for her and her family. Never could she say 'no' to him or his son. They were men; they were her masters.

A son. Where's my son? she wondered.

Neith suddenly felt the necklace and pendant she wore being torn roughly from her neck. Akunadin would know what to do with it; it was right that he should have it. Her only duty was to look after her husband and their son; her own life paled in insignificance.

"Hmm. These could prove useful," Akunadin said thoughtfully.

The old priest was holding Neith's jewellery aloft, inspecting them with the Sennen Eye; a precious bundle safely cradled within his other arm. This was wrong. Neith knew that she wanted Akunadin nowhere near her son. But he had to have Sobek; he was his grandfather.

"Here, take him, woman." Neith was handed the small child, who was wrapped up in layers of fabric and sleeping quietly.

Her son.

For the first time in a while, a smile came to Neith's face. Sobek was her most precious possession, one she had to care for at all costs. The young woman held her son silently, cooing to him, her mind still a mess of jumbled thoughts and images. Set had to survive, he had to. Their son needed his father.

"I want you to sit here quietly and take care of your son," Akunadin told Neith, his hand outstretched as he held open the door. But then the old priest froze and looked back at Neith coldly. "Take good care of that precious child, my dear. Now that Set has him you aren't needed any longer. So obey me or face the consequences."

Neith nodded blankly, still focused on the small child held in her arms.

Akunadin then left; leaving Neith alone, save for her son and the sleeping girl in the corner.

Neith knew what would happen; Akunadin would kill her if she tried to resist. Not that she would. It was pointless to try. She would have to hold out and hope for the best.

-o-

Soon enough, Set had reached the prison door he had sensed something was behind, only to have been refused entry. Luckily, the young man had something up his sleeve. Even without Neith's pendant, Set had experienced a strange feeling that his wife was not dead, even though he had seen her body with his own eyes.

Set had then called up the Ka Neith had given him and waited to the side as it had undone the enchantments that bound the door tightly shut, keeping someone out, or perhaps meant to keep someone in.

That was when Set had discovered the truth, relief flooding his tortured soul as he looked into the room into which Akunadin had locked away his wife, their son and the unconscious Kisara.

-o-

"Neith. Neith! Come on, wake up!" a voice called.

Focusing on the distant yet familiar voice, Neith felt a hand slap her hard across the cheek. Then something cool was pressed to the side of her head, its engraved eye feeling oddly familiar. Whoever it was seemed so familiar and Neith, eventually waking out of her stupor thanks to a flash of light, felt somewhat giddy as she stared at the one who had awoken her.

"Set, I… What's going on?" the young woman questioned, looking around at the bleak cell. "What am I doing here?"

Neith then realised that she was holding Sobek in her arms as Set cupped her head, his face close.

"You're alive; I never would have thought it possible," Set breathed, holding Neith close. "You're alive; you're both alive!"

Neith's hand reached up to brush the tears from Set's face as Set held her to his chest. The young woman felt a sense of déjà vu, as if she had not fully awoken yet.

"Set, what's going on? Why are you acting like this?" Neith questioned.

"Everything Akunadin told me was a lie. Atemu was right all along. I've been such a fool," Set murmured, a hand brushing Neith's hair. "Once again, I have let my personal grievances cloud my judgement. What an idiot I've been, allowing him to manipulate me in such a manner."

"Lord Set, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself," Kisara announced. Neith turned her head and saw that the white-haired girl was stood to her right, looking at the two of them.

"Oh, I don't blame myself, Kisara. Not in the least!" Set replied, Neith suddenly noticing that he was no longer holding her. "The one at fault is that wastrel who dares to call himself my father; my real father, the one I knew, died years ago. As if such a pathetic worm that gave in so easily to such insanity could ever be related to me! Hah! I find it quite ridiculous!"

Neith then watched on as Set bent down to look at Sobek, a wistful smile appearing on the Hem Ntjr's face. Set gently stroked Sobek's downy hair with a finger, and that was when Neith noticed the dead gazelle that lay conspicuously on the cold damp floor.

"Besides, no real father would ever abandon his son the way he did," Set whispered.

Neith nudged Set gently to get his attention.

"Set, what is that animal doing there?" she queried.

"It's nothing; don't worry yourself about it. It's merely another one of Akunadin's deceptions," Set replied, but Neith had detected the fake tone in his voice. What was he hiding from her?

That was when Neith clapped sight on the figure standing by the door and she screamed in panic, recognising the one who had taken her, Sobek and Kisara; the one who had fooled her husband into thinking she was dead. As soon as Neith had seen him she had felt a deep-rooted fear, even if she now knew Set was here to protect her, Neith still feared what this madman might do to them.

"So, you've finally found out the truth have you, son?" Neith buried her face in Set's sleeve as the young man's head swirled around to confront the intruder.

"Ha! You are not my father! You're insane to have done the things you have. At least you saved me the trouble of having to find you so that I can smite you down like the dog you are, Akunadin!" Set proclaimed.

A deep laugh rumbled from behind the white mask Akunadin wore. Letting Neith go, Set lifted the rod and turned around, about to strike, when suddenly Akunadin raised his hand and began chanting. Set fought hard as he felt his will being tested; he would not give in easily. Set reached to the Sennen Rod with his other hand, holding it in front of him like a magical shield.

"You can think what you like, boy, but I will always be your father and I will not be defied!" Akunadin roared.

Neith and Kisara watched in horror. Set was shaking from the exertion of holding the magical attack at bay, sweat dripping off of him, but he held his ground. What happened next occurred so fast that the two women behind Set hardly had a moment to breathe as their eyes took in the climax of the battle between father and son.

"You are not my father! You're very presence defiles his memory you evil beast, now die damn you!" Set growled through his teeth.

Set then unsheathed the dagger that lay sheathed inside the Sennen Rod and leapt at Akunadin, plunging the blade deeply into the chest of the man who had been his beloved mentor and had become his greatest enemy, all in the span of hours. Akunadin removed the mask; his face had contorted into a hideous mix of pain and joy. The old man's red eyes locked onto his son as he reached out to Set's shoulders.

"Is this your answer? You can't deny it, Set, you came from me; you're a part of me. Your blood is the same as mine, your body my offshoot. You must…" the old priest then choked as something rose within his lungs. "My son! I truly love you from the bottom of my heart. The blood flowing inside you is my love and my hatred of the Per A'a. You must become the king of darkness, Set!"

Akunadin pulled his son to his chest, the blade of the Sennen Rod lodging deeply into his chest as he held onto Set, as if giving the young man the affection he had held back from expressing all those long years ago when he hidden his identity from his son. Set cringed from the contact and felt a great weight upon him, greater then just the weight of his dying father's body. It felt as if something was trying to enter his mind. Set screamed as he let go of the dead body still clinging to him. He raised his hands to his temples and was about to scream again, only he mysteriously fell silent.

Set then lowered his hands and turned to face the frightened women behind him. They looked up, petrified of the man stood before them. He looked like Set, but both Neith and Kisara could tell it no longer was the man who had fought off his father's advances. A wicked grin curled on the thin lips of the blood stained Hem Ntjr as he lifted the Sennen Rod in front of him, Akunadin's blood still dripping off its tip.

-o-