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.
Summary: Set has lost everything – his wife cruelly taken away, the Per A'a must learn to cope with life after such a tragic event. Then Shadah's ghost arrives with a request. Will something happen that will affect the future?
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Chapter 48: Soulless
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Soon after awakening, Ife was creeping through the partly lit corridors. It had been an exceedingly hot night and the girl had been unable to get to sleep.
Gazing down the corridor, Ife paused as she heard her father's angry voice. He was shouting at someone, obviously upset. A terrible thought then flew through the girl's mind; her mother had been expecting her sister. Was it something to do with that? The brunette crept up, peered around the corner and saw her father yelling at Isis and a middle-aged woman with brown hair.
"What do you mean, 'she's dead'? What kind of a midwife are you?" Set shouted angrily, slicing his hand through the air. "I should take off your head for your woeful incompetence! But that won't bring back my wife, will it?"
Ife watched on as her father jabbed his finger at the midwife. Hovering next to her father was Isis, a priestess who was hidden beneath a white veil. The black-haired priestess then looked directly at Ife, her dark blue eyes piercing the girl's soul.
"Set," Isis whispered.
"What is it?" Set snapped. "Just shut up and be quiet!"
Isis then nodded directly at Ife, who turned around and fled back to her room as fast as she could as Set called his daughter's name.
"Ife! Ife!"
The young girl knew that it had to be something to do with her mother. Father rarely got so openly upset in front of people that he would act like he had done. Had her mother died?
Ife continued to cry as she pushed open her door and ran over to her bed. Grabbing the dishevelled sheets and pulling them close, the girl continued to cry into them. She did not know what she would do now. How could it be that mother had been alive yesterday but was dead today? Ife had always felt closer to her mother, her father usually too busy with work, though the girl knew he did love her. And now she felt as if her entire world had been torn from beneath her feet.
Continuing to cry, Ife sniffed as she felt her father's hand rest comfortingly on her shoulder.
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"Set, don't you want to hold your daughter?" Isis asked the Per A'a a few days later.
The priestess and Set were sitting in the lotus garden that had grown to become Set's favourite sanctuary, and Isis had a feeling it would become used by the Per A'a a lot more often after what had happened. Her eyes flickered from Mana who was standing back inside the palace, a child in her arms, back to Set.
Isis sighed and began to walk towards the quiet man. She would never have expected to lose such a good friend, not in these kinds of circumstances, if it had not been for the Tauk around her neck. But she was not the only one who was suffering. She could only imagine how Set felt right now.
"Not really," Set replied simply.
"But Set, she is your daughter," Isis replied kindly, not wishing to agitate her ruler. "She needs you."
Set eventually looked at the priestess. Isis thought she could guess what was wrong; seeing the girl reminded Set of what he had lost, but she hoped that eventually Set would come to terms with his grief and start warming up to the infant, who after all had done no wrong.
"Something troubles me, Isis. You wear the Sennen Tauk. Why didn't you tell me or put a stop to it?" Set asked. "Really, you're pathetic."
"Do you think it's easy?" Isis replied, placing a hand on the Tauk around her neck. "I saw it when she was already with child; there was nothing I could do to stop it. Telling you or Neith would only have upset you. This gift of seeing the future is as much of a curse as it is a blessing. Try living with the fact you know how you'll die and that it's only a matter of time."
Set remained quiet.
"Why did she have to die, Isis? Answer me that," he then demanded. "She did nothing wrong, she lived a good life."
"Neith was a good woman, a real friend. I know nothing I say can make you feel any better, but try to take some comfort in the fact that she did love you," Isis replied gently, resting a hand on Set's shoulder.
The Per A'a looked down at the hand Isis had placed on him, gently shrugging her off his shoulder.
"I know. But please, just let me be by myself for a while. And cancel all my appointments for the next week; I need some time to spend with my children," Set announced.
Isis knew Set would hole himself away with the rest of his family until he felt somewhat better.
The priestess then looked down at Set from where she stood. The man was attempting to cope; Set was holding himself in, trying not to show how he felt to others. Sooner or later Set was going to break, especially when he saw the child who had been left alive when Neith had so cruelly been struck down. Isis felt sad for the Per A'a, but she felt equally sad that there had been nothing she could do. It also worried the priestess that Set had dropped the matter of the Tauk so quickly. The least she had expected was for Set to go quiet. But then, he had lost his wife.
The priestess walked back over to Mana and the two women walked inside, leaving Set to his thoughts.
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A week later…
Set was looking up in wonder at what he was in the process of creating, a chisel in his left hand and a hammer in his right. He was surprised that he was able to sit here in peace and work after all that had happened to him and his family. All he had left of his lotus was the child who had survived. A child that every time he looked at her reminded him of what he lost.
The young man felt so conflicted. Eshe, the name he had given his little miracle, meant life. Set felt that it was fitting that something that had come through death be referred to as such. He had been forced to name her himself, the girl's mother unable to do so. His little Eshe, besides the other children, was all he had left to remember Neith by. Even now he still felt cold towards the child. How could he be expected to love or care for her when he had just lost her mother?
It was heartbreaking for the Per A'a. Set kept on having images of his mother's death from loneliness. Would he go the same way?
"Father, are you all right?" Sobek asked.
Set's face immediately fell and he looked over his shoulder at his son. He could not get like this in front of his children; they needed him to be strong. The least he could do was to pull it together for their sakes, if not for his own.
"What are you doing here, Sobek? I though I'd told you no one was allowed in here?" Set replied. "Please, I need to be by myself for a while. I'm thinking about something."
The Per A'a heard his son come closer, disobeying his wishes. But Set was too weak and tired to resist.
"I do miss mother, as must you; if not more so. I'm here for you, father, if you ever need anything." Set felt his son embrace him as he spoke, but the Per A'a was cold to the touch.
"Please, my son; I know you only want to help me. We've all been through a tough time, but I'd feel a lot better being left on my own for a while," Set requested. "Go and see how your brothers and sister are coping. I'll be all right; I promise."
Sobek gave his father one last glance before turning around and leaving the room. He had seen what his father had been creating: a memorial to his dead mother. The young teen silently walked down the corridor, striving to hold back his tears.
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Soon after…
Staring at the open balcony from his room, having just returned so he could get some sleep, Set found himself unable to get to sleep. There was a strange, almost familiar presence in his room. It was not malevolent, but nor was it friendly. It seemed to fall somewhere in between, halfway between good and evil, a true neutral force. It reminded the Per A'a of someone he had known long ago, but he could not quite place it.
"Set…"
Hearing a voice call his name, Set swirled around and came face to face with a man from his past. Well, not truly a man; more like a ghost or a phantom of his former self.
"Set, you know why I'm here." Set gazed wistfully at the bald priest. "You called upon me so I came."
"I know. I haven't forgotten," Set replied.
Set gazed at the earthly remains of Shadah and thoughtfully considered what had happened. All he could remember was being informed of the man's death, Shadah's grotesquely misshapen body lying alongside Karim's on the ground below the palace bridge, when he had returned to his senses before Atemu and he had said their last words to one another. He had no idea of why they had been there, but they seemed to have fallen. Akunadin had forced him to confront Atemu on the bridge. Was it possible something had happened? Even now, he had no idea of the truth behind that incident and Shadah himself refused to talk whenever questioned.
Set looked down at the Sennen Rod he held, his face going thoughtful.
"You charged me to guard the Sennen Items until Atemu returns to this world, did you not, Set?" Shadah questioned. "It is my sworn duty never to rest until the old Per A'a returns and can claim his memories. You promised me that the Items would be returned once their current owners pass away. You claimed that your vision of Atemu inspired you to create the clan of grave keepers, which Isis also agreed to. To that end, you've even set up a new clan to guard Atemu's memories until he is able to see the light once more."
Turning away, Set threw the Sennen Rod onto the bed.
"Set, I know you have enough on your shoulders at the moment without worrying about anything else," Shadah spoke. "You have born the burden long enough. The Sennen Puzzle has already been dealt with; I can take over the responsibility of guarding the rest of the Items. You need to rest; you've been pushing yourself too hard."
"Shadah, I am still a capable man. Do I look old and incapable to you?" Set asked. "No? Then don't tell me what I can and can't do. Though thank you for the offer. You shall get the Rod when I die and the same goes for everyone else. Why must you always complicate things?"
"Per A'a, the Items are too dangerous to be allowed to remain in mortal hands. You may be wise and capable of handling the awesome responsibility of the Sennen Rod, but clearly the others are not. The temptation is too strong for the darkness inside of humans to resist," Shadah replied, remaining calm. "But per your request, I shall return at a later date. Atemu would be proud of you, you know."
Set scoffed and turned his back on Shadah, who disappeared as Set continued to think.
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