Disclaimer: Not mine.
Thanks for the nice rewievs! This is making me way more confident that my fics actually are readable! Thanks to;
SoulDreamer: Thank you. And I will, but Bakura is proving troublesome... but hopefully I will be able to get on with chapter four, since I have a lot of ideas in my head for this fic.
KNT: Thanks, and I'll do my best!
Seren147; Of course it isn't a one shot!
The Uncreative One; Glad you like the fic and plot, it's fun when you somehow manage to write something a little original at least, ne?
Stupid computer is fighting with me... bleh. Hopefully chapter four will get out soon. But as said... the meeting between Bakura and Ryou is proving difficult to get down. Ah, well, hopefully I'll squeeze it out soon, because I want to continue!
Chapter 3: Clearing Night Sky
Intense light blasted them right in the eyes, forcing them to shield the sensitive organs. When the light seemed to become a little less harsh, they lowered their hands and looked around, gaping as they found themselves in the middle of a town.
But it was clear no one had been here in a long time. Actually, the town showed signs of having been attacked, and there was a definite... creepy feeling in the air. Both boys brought up their arms to embrace themselves, trying to bring back some warmth into their bodies, even though the sun was shining harshly down on the ruins. The sunlight seemed cold here, sucking out all warmth. A soft wind started up, wailing between the collapsed houses and garbage littering the ground. And...
"Yuugi-kun... there's skeletons here." Ryou pointed at the bits and pieces of whitened human bones lying around, most of them centered in the main square of the little village.
"Let's leave. I don't like the atmosphere of this place." Yuugi said in a hushed voice and they walked away slowly, wanting to run, but their legs didn't seem to want to obey.
They didn't straighten themselves up and walk quicker before they were out of the ruins' proximity and were walking over loose sand again, instead of hardened dust. The warmth of the desert seemed to magically appear too, sending sweltering waves of sunlight and heat over them, the sand burning below their feet.
It was hard to say how long they had been walking, but it felt like forever when Yuugi finally looked up and spotted the dark shadow on the horizon, which quickly showed itself to be the silhouettes of houses. Another village, thankfully. They stumbled into the small settlement, gasping tiredly and shaking their heads, sending small droplets of sweat flying.
None of the boys looked so good, with a thought to their fair skin, so they both looked a little like cooked lobsters. All of the people had frozen in their movements when Yuugi and Ryou walked into their little village, and now stood staring wide-eyed at the two strangers in their midst.
But one of the visitors looked strangely familiar, not that they had ever seen that person in the flesh, and now he was in front of them... what could have happened? A shudder suddenly went through the crowd while a collective gasp made it sound as if there had been a short gust of wind, and then there was a flurry of motion around the two boys. Bowls with water were pressed into their hands, and long pieces of cloth dumped over their heads and around their shoulders to shield them from the sun, then all the people dropped down onto the ground prostrating themselves. Yuugi blinked and stared confused, what... wait...
Glancing at Ryou confirmed it.
"They think you're Atemu, Yuugi-kun. Better not say anything contrary, or they might think you're an impostor or something!" Ryou hissed when it looked like Yuugi wanted to correct the villagers for their little faulty thinking.
Biting his lips Yuugi knew Ryou was right. But pretending to be his other half could be just as potentially dangerous. Ah, nothing for it now. Straightening under the cloth he was wearing he smiled at the people lying on the ground.
"Thank you. We were attacked by bandits, and lost our horses. Your help is greatly welcome."
Yuugi didn't really want to make them to part with anything, since they seemed to be poor enough, but other clothes would be really helpful. Neither he nor Ryou would stand out so much then.
"We had to make do with some gifts from another country, but we would be thankful if you had some clothes you could spare us and our companion." Yuugi was inwardly surprised at how easy the "we" came out when talking about himself. But he had been thinking of how Atemu would handle this, especially when he was Pharaoh, and this simply rolled off his tongue.
"Bu.. but great Pharaoh! What we could offer would hardly be worthy of your splendid self and your honored Priest. We couldn.." the man's horrified sputtering was interrupted when Yuugi smiled gently and raised a hand to calm him.
"Worry not. We know you will provide us after your best abilities. This will be enough."
Ryou was, simply put, amazed. And a look at Yuugi confirmed he too was quite stunned. The likeliness between Yuugi and Atemu was even clearer now that Yuugi was carrying himself differently, and the duel with Atemu had really driven that point home; Yuugi was the King of Games, no doubt about it.
And this little stunt had made it almost fascinatingly clear how easy it could be for Yuugi to impersonate Atemu, at least to some extent. Yuugi looked over at Ryou from where he was changing from his own clothes into the ones provided by the villagers and grimaced.
"I don't like that way of talking Bakura-kun. It doesn't fit me. I..." Yuugi stopped and sighed, righting the cloak that now hung around his shoulders. Ryou snickered.
"You sound like Atemu on a really bad case of... homesickness? day. It's funny." Ryou grinned and put on the tan robe, pulling his hair out from under the cloth and let it fall onto his shoulders, then wrapping the piece of cloth they had given him to protect his head around his thick fluff of pale hair.
"Ha ha. Really funny, Bakura-kun." But he couldn't help but smile, because it was kinda funny. Ryou smiled and shrugged.
"Anyway, Yuugi-kun, I think it'll be easier if you called me Ryou. Didn't you say my other half's name was Bakura here, too? Then it may possible be smart to not use it and invite trouble."
Yuugi smiled, slightly startled, and nodded.
"If you don't have anything against it, Ryou-kun, I'd be happy too." He said brightly and looked questioningly at Ryou, silently asking if he was ready. Ryou nodded, but Yuugi was now really looking at what his pale haired friend was wearing...
He muffled the first few snickers in his hand, before full-blown laughter spilled out, high and bright, and probably the most happiest any of his friends had heard in a long time, if they'd been there to hear it. Ryou scowled at the Pharaoh's omote.
"What? You aren't looking exactly normal yourself." He said irritated, still scowling. If Yuugi was going to continue to make fun of him for the rest of their trip...
"Ah, no," a few stray giggles escaped before the spiky haired boy could contain them, "it's just that you're wearing almost what Bakura did in the Dreamworld."
Ryou blinked and looked down at himself, confused. Well, he wouldn't know anything of what Bakura had been wearing, now could he? He hadn't been allowed to...
Breaking that train of thought he looked down again. Simple loincloth wrapped around his waist and kept into place by a sash, a thin, sandy-colored coat also held into place by the sash and then an outer coat which flared around his legs, tan in color. Simple but quite nice.
"He was wearing something like this?"
Yuugi nodded with a grin.
"Yup. Just that his outer coat was red and had white markings on... and he wore a lot more gold." Yuugi said with a snicker and Ryou chuckled too. That would fit Bakura all right.
Next day dawned bright and sunny, waves of heat already dancing in the air, making it look like they were underwater. The red cloak Yuugi was wearing swirled around his legs, head protected by simply having thrown a part of the cloak over his head, like a makeshift hood. The loincloth and cloak, and not much else, made it easier to bear the warmth.
Nonsensically, Yuugi remembered Kaiba-kun's incarnation here, and wondered how he could stand the heat, wearing so much cloth... and Mahaado too...
Shaking his head he smiled at the man leading the horse they were borrowing (most likely forever and that didn't really sit well with any of the two young men, with a thought to that horses weren't exactly cheap in this day and age) to get to the capital. When they carefully had questioned why the villagers had believed Ryou to be a priest, they had said it was very noticeable; the white haired youth was wearing a Sennen Item after all.
It really wasn't smart to travel in the day, but it was just half a day's ride to the capital from this village, and they wanted to get there as quickly as possible, so they could scout out the lay of the land so to speak, and decide their next course of action. They didn't know how Atemu would react to find them here... would he even remember them?
Yuugi gave wide berth to that thought, avoiding it as much as he could and concentrated on another problem instead; where would they find Bakura?
As a thief he would hardly be easy to find, otherwise he would be caught easily. And he had termed himself "touzokuoh", so they couldn't disregard the possibility that there could be some truth to that overblown title.
The day before:
Dawn had hardly broken when the Pharaoh of all of Khemet rose from his slumber and donned his usual clothing, the Puzzle the last thing to be hung around his neck. There was a lot of things to be done, and time was unfortunately always short.
He was lucky to have such a competent group of advisors and priests. The sound of cloth-clad feet on stone suddenly echoed in the hallway, and Atemu didn't even have the chance to turn around before the tan and brown whirlwind was past him, cheerfully shouting to him as it whirled down the corridor.
"Good morning, Pharaoh-sama!" Mana's bright voice was soon overlapped by another, deeper voice, accompanied by much heavier footfalls and the body of Mahaado angrily striding down the corridor.
"MANA! Come back here! You have lessons to start! Good morning, Pharaoh-sama." Mahaado stopped briefly to bow before his ruler, then continued. Atemu cast an amused glance after the two and mentally counted down to when...
"MA-NA!" the angry roar could be heard easily as well as some far-off giggling and then Mahaado was off in earnest after his errant pupil. The young Pharaoh shook his head and sighed. /Not a calm moment in this place./ he thought with a smile and strode into the audience chamber, ready for the day to begin.
Lunch and the afternoon rest were just rolling lazily past. No one ever tried to do anything around the hottest hours of the day, as it just didn't pay off. Atemu walked idly down a corridor to the council chamber for his daily meeting with his priests. Just as the large, heavily decorated doors were opened for him, he felt a strange flutter in his chest.
Frowning, he absently rubbed the golden plate covering his upper body. Strange... he'd felt that flutter earlier today, but then it had been more of a jerk, and a silent click, as if something had snapped into place. And he couldn't throw off the feeling that he was more than he had been before, that something he'd been missing was back again. But that feeling was distant, and he wasn't sure he really was feeling it...
Suddenly his ruby-violet eyes widened and he grabbed at the cord usually hanging around his neck, holding the Puzzle in place. What the...
Looking down wildly, he saw something he'd probably never thought he'd see.
The Puzzle was literally fading away slowly, right in front of his disbelieving eyes. Trying to grab the Item made no difference; it was as if it wasn't there anymore. Looking up at a surprised shout from Mahaado, the priest was apparently in a predicament like his own. And they were the only ones. No one could do anything; they were forced to watch helplessly as the Ring and Puzzle slowly faded away, bottoms first and the cord holding the Items last. The silence as the last glow had disappeared was absolute. Atemu's eyes narrowed angrily.
"The Tomb Robber. I don't know how he did it, but he did it. That goddamn THIEF is responsible for this!"
At the same time, down in the illustrious capital city below the palace of the Pharaoh's country, a silvery haired man sneezed violently, and had to give up on a target he had been shadowing for a while just because of that.
"Dammit. And I was so close." He muttered sullenly, then shrugged and weaved through the crowd, his various gold ornaments clinking silently.
Today had been a strange day, and it was probably best to get back home before anymore strangeness made him trip up worse than he already had. It had started somewhere earlier in the midday, before the sun had been at its' highest point. That feeling was still curling in his chest, warm and comfortable, as if the sun was warming him from inside out. What was disturbing was that it was faintly familiar, and he couldn't put his finger on why it was so.
And it hadn't receded as the day advanced either, only stayed just as faint, gaining a momentarily strength shortly after it had appeared, but after that it had kept itself at the same level. And he didn't like things that he couldn't explain. Something was going on, and he better find out soon, or he would not be happy.
The present:
The walls of the capital city of Khemet rose in the distance, Ryou and Yuugi both happy to be here. While it was cool to be somewhere as interesting as ancient Egypt, the view of sand, sand and yet more sand wasn't very stimulating.
They weren't sure what they would do when they finally came to the city, but something would hopefully reveal itself. Poor planning, but what could you do?
Ryou smiled happily, the distant bond with Bakura, or Ba-khu-ra, as the villagers had called him, was growing stronger, so the tomb robber was probably in the city or at least in the vicinity of it. While he was scared things would be as they had been before they had been separated, it was still comforting to have that familiar tugging inside his chest, and that slight presence that meant Bakura was connected with him again.
Which was actually a little strange, now that he thought about it. Both Atemu and Bakura were free spirits now, enjoying afterlife peacefully, so why would they still be connected with the Items? More help from their mysterious benefactors?
Or was it simply so that the two spirits still were connected with their Items, and their lighter halves, and as such the connection easily slipped into place with just the smallest of urging?
And he was beginning to feel guilty. They were here, about to rip their other halves from well-deserved (questionable in Bakura's case) peace and quiet (relatively at least), and bring them back into life again, and possible new adventures (but hopefully not). Did they really have the right to do that? Was it really their place...
"Ryou-kun."
The blue-eyed boy looked up sharply at the hand on his shoulder and soft voice of Yuugi calling him.
"We can't think that we don't have any right. They are the other half of our souls, and at the very least we should be allowed to stay with them, if they won't, or can't, go back with us. I... I will be sad if we have to leave our friends and family behind... but I know I won't really be able to live without the other me. And I know you feel like that too, Ryou-kun. If anyone has right to do this, it's us."
Ryou met Yuugi's tremulous smile with one of his own; apparently he wasn't the only one having second thoughts and guilt plaguing him. He didn't want to say it was good he wasn't alone in his doubts, but at least they both cared enough about their other halves (themselves?) to want them to have peace.
They were right up at the gates now, anxiousness churning inside them, but Yuugi straightened and looked forward with a confidence he didn't feel he had. If they could get past without him being taken for the Pharaoh, it was fine, but if they didn't...
"Hoy, there!... Pharaoh-sama? What are you doing out without an escort?" the guard's face changed quickly from stern and interrogative, to concerned and flustered.
"Ah, we took a ride early this morning, to inspect a village close by, and as we didn't want to overwhelm the villagers, we did not take an escort with us." Yuugi looked sternly down at the guard, hoping he would let them go without any further trouble.
"Pharaoh-sama! That was highly--"
"Are you questioning your Pharaoh!?" Yuugi barked out, his nervousness at impersonating his other half and irritation at the guard making the order slip out easily and with unusual force. Wincing, the young man was certain he had blown it, but the guards at the gate quickly bowed.
"Of course not, Pharaoh-sama. Let us assemble an escort up to the palace."
While Yuugi would have loved to deny the guards this, he knew he couldn't and at the same time remain inconspicuous. So he nodded and smiled, and both young men pretended to wait patiently for the guards to round up their horses and arrange themselves around Yuugi and Ryou's borrowed horse.
The ride up to the palace went quickly, too quickly in Yuugi and Ryou's opinion. The guards that had escorted them bowed in their saddles and turned around, riding back to the gate.
The guards stationed at the entrance of the palace and around the courtyard looked suspiciously at them as they dismounted, but didn't say anything yet. Then Yuugi gasped as he felt the bond snap into place almost violently and a familiar voice floated across the courtyard to the two boys there.
"... really, I see no need for such drastic action, Seth. While they certainly are troublesome..." Atemu trailed off as that strange feeling he'd had since yesterday suddenly flared up, took hold of him and shook him like a leaf in the wind before letting him down again, foreign thoughts and feelings fluttering like delicate butterflies at the edge of his consciousness. So familiar... but...
His High Priest's drawn breath had him look up and meet the most intriguing pair of eyes he'd ever seen, (so familiar and yet alien) and...
Ruby-violet eyes widened in outrage and surprise.
"The Puzzle! Guards!" he shouted, and the two boys, particularly the one who looked like him, jerked as if they'd been hit by arrows and turned around and ran, quickly disappearing into the throng of officials and visiting ambassadors that always were milling outside the palace.
"AFTER THEM!" Atemu bellowed, he would NOT let them get away, especially not his look-a-like (why so familiar? Something tickling the furthest reaches of his thoughts...)...
"Pharaoh-sama? The other one, the one with white hair, he had the Ring. Seems the Tomb Robber wasn't involved in this one." Seth murmured, looking down at the irate ruler. Atemu's eyes narrowed and his lips settled in a thin line.
"Give me a goddamn horse! I'm going into the city!"
The stable hands almost tripped over themselves in their hurry to obey their angry Pharaoh, and the young man more or less ripped the reins of the horse they brought him out of the poor slave's hands and vaulted into the saddle, hands and muscles twitching in their want to spur the horse into gallop, but Atemu kept himself, barely, and trotted down into the city.
His guards had better catch those two...