Sakkaku
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Chapter 1
xXx
Joey had had to live with the horrible knowledge that he had killed Yugi for almost a year now. Even if it had not been his mind, it had been his hand that spelled out his doom. Because of his weakness… his best friend was gone. Gone. Dead.
He almost felt like he deserved this punishment. A mere week after the duel, one of the Rare Hunters had found him and brought him to Egypt. He was thrown in the dungeons of the palace that Marik and Bakura had claimed.
He wasn't starved or tortured physically, but mentally he was slowly dying. Yugi was dead, his friends and his sister were gone. He didn't know what had happened to any of them, with the exception of Téa. He'd heard that she had already been in the palace when he was brought here. He hoped she was being kept in a nicer place then this.
He kicked aside a rat.
Speaking of rats… the one he really wanted to be kicking was the one standing outside his cell, smirking. In one hand he was holding Joey's usual meal of bread, soup, and water. In the other, he was holding Joey's dueling deck.
Joey ground his teeth, willing himself to use the patience he'd been forced to learn. Every day this happened. The Rare Hunter in charge of the prisoners had claimed his deck as his own… and Joey didn't want to imagine the horrible uses his monsters had been put to once they were summoned from the Shadow Realm. Once, he'd caught a glimpse of the Flame Swordsman cleaning off his sword, looking back at Joey with a look of utmost sorrow.
He didn't have to think very hard about what could have been on the sword.
He did wonder from time to time why he hadn't been killed, or sent to the Shadow Realm. He still didn't know why, other than the troubling reason that Bakura and Marik enjoyed watching him suffer.
He ate in silence.
xXx
Téa was sitting in her usual position when Odion unlocked and entered her room with a tray of food. She had, indeed, gotten a far better room than Joey's small, dank cell. Marik and Bakura had allowed her to be put into an actual bedroom, and provided her with rather nice flowing robes.
The girl was sitting cross-legged on the bed, garbed in one of these snow-white robes when Odion approached her. Simple jewelry adorned her arms and throat. "Hello," she sighed, accepting the tray. They had done this hundreds of times, ever since Odion had requested to personally serve her. "Any news?"
"No," he said sadly. They had done this hundreds of times as well. "Joey survives."
She bit her lip and nodded, offering him a slice of white bread. He accepted, sitting gingerly next to her. "No news on the others, then?" she asked.
"None of them," he responded.
"None of them," she repeated. "I hope they're okay."
"I have faith in them," Odion said, staring at the wall. "And I have faith in Master Marik and Master Bakura."
"We say this every day," she said, a sob catching in her throat.
He closed his eyes. "And we will continue to say it," he told her firmly, "until their good is unlocked once more."
They ate the rest of the meal in silence.
xXx
"A toast!" Bakura said delightedly to Marik.
"For what?" the man laughed.
"For taking over the world, what else?" the white-haired spirit laughed. Though, the term 'spirit' could not really be applied here anymore. With the magic of their Millennium Items, they had separated their bodies from their hikaris. The 'weaklings,' as they called them, had been lucky enough to earn a whole wing of the palace. Bakura and Marik took better care of them than most prisoners, at least, each refusing to admit tenderness.
"As always," Marik said with a demonic grin, clinking his glass with Bakura's.
They ate the meal in rowdy happiness and noise.
xXx
"Blue Eyes," Seto Kaiba murmured, studying his three greatest beasts. They lay spread out in front of him on his desk, the rest of the dueling deck set carefully to the side. "You've never let me down before."
He picked up the middle Blue Eyes and turned to face the center of the room. He held the card before him, as he would hold a weapon. "Come forth!" he commanded in a ringing voice.
A black vortex appeared… swirling. A dragon's roar echoed faintly. Wingbeats sounded. And finally…
The Blue Eyes White Dragon swooped out of the path to the Shadow Realm, pounding its feet firmly on the floor. Seto let out a gasp and sunk to the floor. The dragon turned to look at him, almost tenderly.
"You've done well, Blue Eyes," he said, holding out the card. "You may retreat now."
He closed his eyes to shield against the white light. When he opened them again, the Blue Eyes was gone.
He dragged his body to Mokuba's couch, the one he kept in his office for his playful younger brother. He allowed himself to collapse on it, breathing heavily. Shadow Realm summoning was so much harder than he'd imagined. He thought that the Rare Hunters could only do it because they had the power of three Millennium Items on their side.
Three… for a moment, he allowed his mind to wander. No one was supposed to know much about the Millennium Items, but as soon as he found out it was restricted information, he went searching. Marik and Bakura possessed the Millennium Ring, Rod, and Eye. They would have the Millennium Puzzle as well, but Wheeler had thrown it in the water. There it was lost, along with the body of the so-called Pharaoh. The other three Millennium Items had apparently been gathered by Marik's sister and that Egyptian, Shadi, and taken away. Seto didn't know where… but neither, apparently, did Marik or Bakura. For that he could be thankful, at least.
In any case, he'd been practicing the art of summoning monsters from the Shadow Realm. Dueling had become a plaything for the rich, and a weapon for the dark. Seto wanted to be prepared for the eventual day when he would have to fight. And he was afraid that day would come far too fast.
With a sigh, he gathered up his deck and stowed it in his pocket. He headed outside to go find Mokuba. They needed to have an important talk. Seto knew he was under suspicion.
Marik and Bakura would be coming for him before long.
xXx
Far out in the middle of the desert was an oasis. This one was larger than most, and had been the home to the two boys for many months now. They had been pulled from a watery death by an old friend… someone they hadn't expected to see.
"I wonder what happened to Mako?" Yugi mused sadly as he splashed a bit of water on his face. The water rippled, then stilled. Next to him, he saw his yami's face reflected in the water. He'd always been able to see his reflection, but just recently had he and Yami gained separate bodies, using the power of the Millennium Puzzle. He glanced over at his yami's physical form, seeing the worry in his eyes.
"We haven't heard from anyone," Yami responded sadly.
"He saved our lives," Yugi said somberly, remembering…
Yugi grabbed the Millennium Puzzle and managed to fix it around his neck before the anchor dropped, plunging him into the sea. He flailed helplessly for so long, sinking… sinking… his lungs were about to burst.
Then, out of nowhere, a hand reached out. Impossible muscles snapped the chain around his leg, and the same strong arm towed him up to the surface.
He took in great gulps of water as the man dragged him behind a ship. In the distance, he heard sounds of… another duel?
His eyes finally focused… "Mako?" he coughed. "Mako Tsunami?"
The black-haired sea duelist gave him a warm smile while pounding him on the back. Then his face darkened… "Yugi? What in the seven seas happened?"
Joey's voice floated across the waters… "COME ON, KAIBA!" he hollered. "DON'T LET THAT BAKURA SCUM BEAT YOU! YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
Yugi's eyes widened. "Joey is free…" he mumbled. "But why is he rooting for Kaiba? What's going on? Why is he calling Bakura scum?"
As he hastily summed up the situation to Mako, trying to peek around the ship, awful cries reached his ears. Dragon roars, beastly shrieks of pain… and the worst.
"HE'S GOT KAIBA'S GOD CARD!" Téa shrieked, her voice showing utmost fear.
"OBELISK THE TORMENTOR! I SUMMON YOU TO THE FIELD NOW!" Bakura's triumphant roar.
"Oh… gods…" Yugi breathed. Mako stared solemnly.
Things happened in a whir. Bakura and Marik, holding aloft the three God cards triumphantly. Mako, dragging Yugi off to safety in an abandoned warehouse. Days of waiting for news… then Mako's decision.
"They're taking over the world," he told Yugi seriously, dark blue eyes flashing. "I have to find my father. It's more important than ever now!"
Yugi's eyes filled with tears. "Good luck, Mako," he said, sniffling.
A few days after that, Yugi and Yami made their slow way to Egypt, hiding out in the middle of the boiling desert. They recognized that there was nothing they could do but wait. Wait for an opportunity to fight back.
They'd made good use of their time, at least, exploring the mysteries of the Millennium Puzzle. They learned the art of illusions just in time to put up a barrier of water when the tomb robber came exploring. Bakura had apparently previously transferred a portion of his spirit to the Puzzle, and the two had discovered this just in time. They threw up a widespread illusion of water, death… drowning, and when Bakura moved into the Puzzle he assumed that they were truly dead. He checked back several times, but eventually withdrew his spirit entirely from the Puzzle piece.
Later on, they'd figured out how to separate bodies. The two of them had lived in this oasis for a long time now, starving for information.
"He did save us," Yami agreed, breaking Yugi out of his reverie. The young hikari reached up and grabbed his yami's hand.
"I don't know what will happen," he whispered when Yami looked down at him in surprise. Yami's face relaxed, then hardened into the familiar fighting mask.
"Someday we'll fight back," Yami vowed.