Disclaimer: No luck with owning YGO, Mcdonalds doesn't pay me enough.
A/N (1): *____* People acually reviewed this? Either I forgot to take my meds OR I'm really excited. I'll take the second one for $300, Alex! Anyway, thank you all for reading this fiction. It was a pleasure to read all your encouraging reviews. And no, this will not be like "Simple but Complicated." I know the first chapter did sound similar to my previous Egyptian fic, but I promise it won't be.
A/N (2): My computer has a virus at the moment, so I'm having a real hard time getting this story up. I actually finished this chapter a week ago...*sweatdrops at angry reviewers surrounding her * I'm sorry!! It's a hard time on me too! I mean, I can't put anything in italic and I can't spell check. *tear* THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END! Anyone want to hide under a rock with me and my invisible barking cat? *silence* Fine! I get it! *cough* Okay, just read the chapter...
Title: Almost Royalty
Chapter II: Troublesome Situation
The garden was a beautiful sight, holding only exotic plants and flowers found in the treacherous Sahara. These organisms, which belonged to the vegetable kingdom, only bloomed on a full moon before the coming of a Nile flood. Fortunately for the Pharaoh, their abnormal blooming span befalled on the Festival of the Gods celebration.
"Coincidence," Yami reasoned, trying to erase from his mind the idea of them blooming when he, himself, was about to outbloom with his feelings for Anzu. "Only coincidence." He didn't know to whom he was trying to prove this to, especially when he believed this analogy himself.
"The last time I checked with the oracle, it's not normal for a person to talk to plants."
There, his infatuation stood, not a hint of weariness in her complexion from serving as a hireling during the Festival of the Gods celebration. It almost made him jealous to see her wear a smile when, in all honesty, there was nothing to smile about when you were a servant.
"Anzu..." The young Pharaoh tried to acknowledge her presence frigidly, though he found his heart lapidated in his throat. "I'm surprised that Seth actually dismissed you of your duties ere long." His cloudy violet eyes set upon the seas of her blue eyes.
Anzu nodded as she found her way to a wooden bench, "it was surprising at first, but I wasn't going to be the one to complain." She paused, letting a chuckle escape her lips. "It seemed he wanted some privacy with that new book he received from Reira."
"Reira's book, huh? Interesting."
Anzu wore a confused expression as she pulled some of her auburn-colored hair behind her ear, "if you don't mind me asking, what's so special about Reira's book? Seth won't get off the topic of its many powers."
Yami shrugged his shoulders to her dismay, "priests don't usually talk about Reira's mysterious powers, but from what I heard, the book was only a vassal to the millennium relic Reira possessed."
"Do you believe that?"
Yami held a small gold necklace, which had an upside down pyramid resting in the middle, and turned away from her. "I think that whoever possesses these millennium relics should know how to use them. A book isn't necessary to control one of the relics."
"So...Reira wasn't the destined owner?"
Yami shook his head, "no, destiny has chosen someone else..."
*~*~**~*~*
"What do you want me to do, Reira?" Seth closed his eyes firmly, trying to recollect what he had just read. "I know that you want me to fulfill what you couldn't, but how will I do that? If you couldn't control the millennium item, how....?" Seth clenched his teeth from finding no answers to his many questions.
"Damn!" Grasping onto the feeble book tightly, he angrily threw the book against the wall. "Damn your eyes, Reira! Even Ra knows that there isn't anything in there that could help me!" Seth's angry ranting stopped when he noticed that a folded note had fallen out of the old book. "What's that?"
Falling to his knees, Seth crawled forward to get the small piece of papyrus. Once in his hand, he slowly opened the message to see four small symbols that translated as........
"LOOK TO THE DEAD"
*~*~**~*~*
"What's wrong, Yami?"
Yami's eyes casted upon Anzu's worried face, "nothing. I....must be tired from the feast." Although he was troubled by their previous conversation, he didn't want to worry Anzu with his senseless complications--she had her own that didn't need to be extended.
"Rest your eyes then."
"No!" He bellowed unexpectedly, making Anzu startle in shock. "I mean, don't leave...."
Not saying a word, she retreated back to where she was standing. It was only then that a silence swallowed their conversation, an ususal characteristic to their usual playful banter and light talk. Finding the silence quite uncomfortable, Anzu tried to make conversation with, "do you think Seth will make a good priest?"
A litany couldn't answer this question. "Only time will tell, I suppose."
"How much time will you give him before you know?"
"Until sunrise," Yami joked, but grew serious once he saw no expression written on her face, "It's hard to tell at this point. Naturally, he's a good priest for being dedicated and passionate with his work, but then.....then comes the unnatural part. He's ruthless. This, by all means, defeats the purpose of becoming a compassionate priest to those who really need his support and comfort."
"I...understand." She tilted her head down, letting her bangs fall before her eyes.
A sympathetic smirk stretched across his face. He knew that Anzu was so caught up in seeing the goodness in people that she wouldn't stop looking for that particular "goodness" inside Seth, even through the countless times he's witnessed her cry due to the sadistic nature of Egypt's future priest.
Understanding how touchy the subject really was, Yami decided to leave it alone and open up another conversation. "Isn't this the same garden we walked through when we first met?"
She lifted her head up, "yes, why do you ask?"
"Just wanted to know if you remembered," his smile influenced her lips to curl upward as well.
She stood up and looked around the garden, "it's sort of sacred, huh?"
"In a way," he paused to let out a chuckle, "yes."
She hugged herself tightly and looked around, "it holds a sense of symbolism too. These plants.... they have grown since that day, and they continue to sprout new buds..I don't know about you, but I get a feeling that these plants represent our growing relationship with one another."
Though Yami was slightly baffled that she had the same feelings about the garden, he responded with a firm "beyond a doubt." This response made her break into a warm smile, which prolonged the young Pharaoh's stare upon her fragile figure.
"You know, Yami, speaking of the garden," she strided forward, "why did you bring me out here?"
*~*~**~*~*
"Look to the dead..."
Seth repeated to himself, almost mechanically. Though he had received a sign from his former master, he still couldn't put the many pieces of the puzzle together. One of the pieces didn't fit right. That piece was the question of why he had to follow in Reira's footsteps. Reira was a great priest with many mysterious powers within his possession. Seth couldn't understand why Reira couldn't control the power of the millennium item. "It doesn't make sense.." Seth brought himself to his feet and paced around the room, "if fate had wisely chosen master.....why couldn't he fulfill his destined destiny?"
Seth stopped his hasty pacing and ascended toward an aperature in the room. This particular aperature was shaped into an oval and it gave the viewer a decent representation of the cenotaphs and monuments built in honor of some of the greatest pharaohs in Egyptian history.
"Wait..." Seth's eyes focused on the cenotaph of one of his former friends, Bel Saf. "Look to the dead..." A swank of understanding brandished his thoughts as his eyes fluctutated from the pyramid to Reira's book that rested crisply on the dusty floor. "It's the tomb....Reira wants me to look in Bel Saf's burial chamber."
*~*~**~*~*
"Well," Yami fumbled for the right words, "it has been awhile since we've last spoken."
Tea knew that he was giving her a false response by the way he lost his composure, but she simply played along with it as if he was telling the truth. "Yes, you've been so busy with the celebration that we haven't had a decent conversation since the last full moon."
"A Pharaoh's work is never done."
Tea sighed sadly at his presumptuous statement. She knew that being a Pharaoh was a lot to put on one's shoulders, especially a youth, but that didn't mean that you had to give your whole life away as if it was a task, rather than an assignment. "Sometimes you just got to let yourself go."
"There's no time for that," she turned away from him, "Anzu...I know you see me as a normal person, but I'm not. I'm the Pharaoh of Egypt and there's no time to actually live my life the way others do. I have responsibilty...and not just for myself. I'm responsible for everyone in Egypt. I can't just throw that all away by--where are you going?"
Anzu couldn't listen to him anymore, she needed to get away. This wasn't Yami talking, she knew it wasn't....there was something wrong. Why didn't he want to tell her? They practically told each other everything. "I'm sorry," she turned around and bowed, "permission to leave, Pharaoh."
Yami folded his arms and cocked an eyebrow up, "don't be like that, Anzu."
"Well, since you're Pharaoh, you shouldn't be treated as a normal person." Anzu's words became as cold as her eyes, "I bid you good night, Majesty." She gave the Pharaoh one last emotionless glance before turning around to leave.
"Wait." Refusing to end their conversation on such unfriendly terms, Yami hastily stepped forward to catch and forcefully hold her hand. "I'm-" She pulled back unpredictably, holding her hand once free from his seizure.
"Anzu?" Yami sent her a confused gaze, that is, until he caught sight of a large discoloration that ran from her wrist to just short of her elbow. "What happened?" He sputtered hesistantly while breaking the distant gap between them.
"It's unimportant..." She placed a hand over her forearm to conceal the abrasion, but that didn't stop Yami from taking hold of her arm. "Yami, it's okay. I was just carrying a pile of robes to the wash room when I lost my balance and fell on my arm-"
"A fall couldn't cause what you have on your arm." Yami tilted her arm to the side to get a better glimpse of the swelling. "You were physically injured." Not letting go of her hand, Yami lifted his head to look into her azure eyes. "Someone did this to you."
*~*~**~*~*
"Forgive me, Bel Saf," Seth whispered, pausing a moment to pray for his soul. "I only intrude to bring peace to your spirit and those still living. The gods of abeyance will awake again and this time...I will be ready to face them, for I am the true destined one."
Without another word, Seth grabbed a lit torch off its sooty pedestal and advanced forward to unlock the doors of his sealed destiny. As he moved further into the corridor, he remained cautious when touching the walls or doors within the chamber, for the builders created traps to keep tomb robbers away from the priceless treasures buried with the human body.
"There..." Seth stopped shortly at another corridor. "This must be the burial chamber." Stepping over the remains of two human skeletons, Seth walked into the Bel Saf's burial chamber where only a large funerary box and a few small possessions rested free from strife. "So, we meet again." The Priest walked forward, covering his mouth from the decayed fumes that had penetrated the chamber. It was the wretched smell of death.
Placing down the torch, Seth gazed at the casket before finally holding his breath to open it with his two hands. Once it was opened, he was greeted by the mummified body of his beloved friend, Bel Saf, but no millennium items. "WHAT? Where is it? Where are the ancient relics!?" Seth grabbed the torch and let his eyes wander around the room for any sign that the relics are or were in the chamber.
"Reira, you said look to the dead. The millennium items should be here! They should be with the Pharaoh!" Seth stopped, realizing the mistake he made. "The millennium items....they must go wherever the Pharaoh goes....and that's now with....Yami..."
*~*~**~*~*
"You are mistaken," Anzu pulled back her hand, "don't turn this into something it isn't."
Yami knew there was something wrong when Anzu broke the stare between them. Being her friend for more than three years, he knew that Anzu wasn't telling the truth when she didn't look him in the eye. "Anzu, why are you hiding this from me? I...care about you and I don't want to see you hurt by anyone."
The silence between them brought Anzu to the realization that this conversation was more than just a verbal battle of tongues. It was a dispute upon trust...and they were both losing. "Yami," she broke the silence with a whisper, "it's better that you don't know."
"It was Seth, wasn't it?" Yami questioned while lifting her chin to his range of view.
She bit her lip and nodded adamantly, but soon broke down into a torrent of tears. "H..e...wanted m-me to...stop...seeing..you.." She fell to her knees and pushed her head into her hands. "I...dissented...with his decision..and..." She sobbed harder, giving into her emotions entirely.
Bringing his arms around her bewailing form, he whispered softly, "don't shed tears for him." As Yami comforted her, he couldn't help but think about what Seth told her. Why would he not want her to talk him? It wasn't like he was going to corrupt her into thinking modest of the priest.
"I'm sorry," she sniffed sadly, "I shouldn't be-"
"Don't." Yami looked down at Anzu, who was now wiping the excess tears from her eyes. "We're friends." Though Yami felt better in knowing that Anzu had stopped crying, he felt guilty in what he had said to her before."I'm sorry about before. As normal as I want to be, the public will always see me differently. I wish I wasn't Pharaoh. Why wasn't I born poor? It wouldn't have made a difference. Being Pharaoh is the same thing as being a slave. You're bound to your work and you're always taking orders from someone. Why...why does fate treat us like so?"
Even with her teary complexion, Yami found Anzu breathtaking as she tilted her head to look at him. "Fate has a destined path for us, Yami" she responded, making the Pharaoh sigh solemnly, "we must learn to live with it."
Yami closed his eyes and breathed, "fate will not ruin what I have claimed for my own." ***
"...and what is that?" She questioned, making Yami unfurl the violet orbs that were his eyes.
Anzu gasped as she saw a mirror image of herself within the inner depths of Yami's oculus.
*~*~**~*~*
Pharaoh Yami's tomb lay only a mile's walk away from where Bel Saf's burial chamber was. As Seth approached Yami's tomb, he noticed that a few slaves were still working on the interior. Accompanied with the slaves were two higher officials. Noticing Seth before them, they bowed and asked, "how may we be of use to you, Priest Seth?" in a very respectable tone.
Seth hid a smile and answered with a question of his own, "has the Pharaoh's burial chamber been built yet?"
One nodded, while the other official pointing toward a set of stairs that descended underground. "Thank you, gentlemen. I shall put in a good word with the Pharaoh." Bowing again, they brought their attention back to the slaves, while Seth climbed down the steps in search of the burial chamber.
Unlike Bel Saf's tomb, Yami's burial chamber was well lit, considerably due to the construction still in development, and the smell of death was not present in the air. Drawing nearer to Yami's chamber, Seth's thoughts centered around the question of "am I ready?" and "what if I'm not the destined one?" Already confident in himself, Seth pushed onward, rejecting what his thoughts were trying to do to his fearless stride. That's when an open room came into view....
"I can sense it.....they're here." Seth whispered, refering to the millennium items.
Stopping in front of the chamber, Seth took in one last breath before prospecting what was written in Reira's book. Inside, the chamber had pictorial notations encircling the room and stopping at a large slab of concrete that rest in the middle of the room. Seth's eyes widened insubstantially as he walked toward the bar of stone.
There, in front of him, were the millennium items. Each item, though different in size and shape, embodied the eye of Ra and were repressed in a gold wrap similar to the feathers of the omnipotent one. Illuminating the room with their lustrous essence, Seth could only gaze in awe and wonder how Reira felt when he was subjected to their glory. "Wait...Reira..." Seth's eyes transfixed to to the millennium item that was shaped like a rod. "Reira picked that one."
Remembering Reira's last line to his book, Seth whispered to himself, "maybe I should chose a different one." Placing his hand above the millennium items, Seth tried to sense which one he wanted out of the six. His hand stopped above the rod. "Is it possible that...I was destined to have the rod as well?" Seth reached forward slowly, his hand shaking nervously with each passing second the millennium rod wasn't in his hand.
"Yes," his hand wrapped around the handle, "I....feel it.."
Gripping the relic tightly, he brought it toward his face to examine the small notations circling the eye of Ra. The notations were of some ancient writing he had not seen before. "Very old indeed, almost as if they were made by Ra himself..." That's when the rod almost came to life, flashing a deep light upon the eye of Ra as if he had activated something within it. "Wha-" Before Seth could finish his sentence, the rod shot a stream of light toward him, where it created its own eye situated on his forehead.The pain was unbearable, but Seth took it as if it was an obligation. Almost as if he knew what the pain was going to feel like..
Seeking to hear its victim's helpless plea, the eye upon his forehead began to burn. It was the second wave of pain. The first conducted by Ra, the second became the job of Slifer, the Sky Dragon. "AH!" Seth cried as he tightened his grip on the rod. "I...must...not give UP!" Though Seth was slowly falling to his knees, his will to overcome the power of the rod grew stronger. He was not going to let the power overcome him like it did to his master. He needed to control the power.
The rod grew angry....it was time for the last god of abeyance to try his strength....
"AHH!" Seth clenched his fist tightly as the third wave of pain shot through his forehead. "I can't..." Seth tried to fight off the darkness of the Tormentor, but the darkness started to encircle him. "Master! Help!" The light, that represented his will, was gone. The darkness of the god had prevailed. "NO!"
Feeling the last bit of his fight sound off with his scream, Seth was taken to the world of oblivion by Obelisk.
~To be continued....~
This chapter was actually supposed to go on a couple of pages, but I found it to be too long. *sigh* So, what did you think? Too slow? Confusing? Time for the author to retire from fanfiction and go knit a sweater? Seriously, I wanna know!! BTW, I'll leave you guys with a question. *clears throat* If Seth's destiny was to follow in his master's footsteps and lock away the three gods, why were they (the three gods) found within the millennium rod? Oh yeah, how good is that! So good that I don't even know the answer. *walks away to go ponder about it*
A/N (1): *____* People acually reviewed this? Either I forgot to take my meds OR I'm really excited. I'll take the second one for $300, Alex! Anyway, thank you all for reading this fiction. It was a pleasure to read all your encouraging reviews. And no, this will not be like "Simple but Complicated." I know the first chapter did sound similar to my previous Egyptian fic, but I promise it won't be.
A/N (2): My computer has a virus at the moment, so I'm having a real hard time getting this story up. I actually finished this chapter a week ago...*sweatdrops at angry reviewers surrounding her * I'm sorry!! It's a hard time on me too! I mean, I can't put anything in italic and I can't spell check. *tear* THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END! Anyone want to hide under a rock with me and my invisible barking cat? *silence* Fine! I get it! *cough* Okay, just read the chapter...
Title: Almost Royalty
Chapter II: Troublesome Situation
The garden was a beautiful sight, holding only exotic plants and flowers found in the treacherous Sahara. These organisms, which belonged to the vegetable kingdom, only bloomed on a full moon before the coming of a Nile flood. Fortunately for the Pharaoh, their abnormal blooming span befalled on the Festival of the Gods celebration.
"Coincidence," Yami reasoned, trying to erase from his mind the idea of them blooming when he, himself, was about to outbloom with his feelings for Anzu. "Only coincidence." He didn't know to whom he was trying to prove this to, especially when he believed this analogy himself.
"The last time I checked with the oracle, it's not normal for a person to talk to plants."
There, his infatuation stood, not a hint of weariness in her complexion from serving as a hireling during the Festival of the Gods celebration. It almost made him jealous to see her wear a smile when, in all honesty, there was nothing to smile about when you were a servant.
"Anzu..." The young Pharaoh tried to acknowledge her presence frigidly, though he found his heart lapidated in his throat. "I'm surprised that Seth actually dismissed you of your duties ere long." His cloudy violet eyes set upon the seas of her blue eyes.
Anzu nodded as she found her way to a wooden bench, "it was surprising at first, but I wasn't going to be the one to complain." She paused, letting a chuckle escape her lips. "It seemed he wanted some privacy with that new book he received from Reira."
"Reira's book, huh? Interesting."
Anzu wore a confused expression as she pulled some of her auburn-colored hair behind her ear, "if you don't mind me asking, what's so special about Reira's book? Seth won't get off the topic of its many powers."
Yami shrugged his shoulders to her dismay, "priests don't usually talk about Reira's mysterious powers, but from what I heard, the book was only a vassal to the millennium relic Reira possessed."
"Do you believe that?"
Yami held a small gold necklace, which had an upside down pyramid resting in the middle, and turned away from her. "I think that whoever possesses these millennium relics should know how to use them. A book isn't necessary to control one of the relics."
"So...Reira wasn't the destined owner?"
Yami shook his head, "no, destiny has chosen someone else..."
*~*~**~*~*
"What do you want me to do, Reira?" Seth closed his eyes firmly, trying to recollect what he had just read. "I know that you want me to fulfill what you couldn't, but how will I do that? If you couldn't control the millennium item, how....?" Seth clenched his teeth from finding no answers to his many questions.
"Damn!" Grasping onto the feeble book tightly, he angrily threw the book against the wall. "Damn your eyes, Reira! Even Ra knows that there isn't anything in there that could help me!" Seth's angry ranting stopped when he noticed that a folded note had fallen out of the old book. "What's that?"
Falling to his knees, Seth crawled forward to get the small piece of papyrus. Once in his hand, he slowly opened the message to see four small symbols that translated as........
"LOOK TO THE DEAD"
*~*~**~*~*
"What's wrong, Yami?"
Yami's eyes casted upon Anzu's worried face, "nothing. I....must be tired from the feast." Although he was troubled by their previous conversation, he didn't want to worry Anzu with his senseless complications--she had her own that didn't need to be extended.
"Rest your eyes then."
"No!" He bellowed unexpectedly, making Anzu startle in shock. "I mean, don't leave...."
Not saying a word, she retreated back to where she was standing. It was only then that a silence swallowed their conversation, an ususal characteristic to their usual playful banter and light talk. Finding the silence quite uncomfortable, Anzu tried to make conversation with, "do you think Seth will make a good priest?"
A litany couldn't answer this question. "Only time will tell, I suppose."
"How much time will you give him before you know?"
"Until sunrise," Yami joked, but grew serious once he saw no expression written on her face, "It's hard to tell at this point. Naturally, he's a good priest for being dedicated and passionate with his work, but then.....then comes the unnatural part. He's ruthless. This, by all means, defeats the purpose of becoming a compassionate priest to those who really need his support and comfort."
"I...understand." She tilted her head down, letting her bangs fall before her eyes.
A sympathetic smirk stretched across his face. He knew that Anzu was so caught up in seeing the goodness in people that she wouldn't stop looking for that particular "goodness" inside Seth, even through the countless times he's witnessed her cry due to the sadistic nature of Egypt's future priest.
Understanding how touchy the subject really was, Yami decided to leave it alone and open up another conversation. "Isn't this the same garden we walked through when we first met?"
She lifted her head up, "yes, why do you ask?"
"Just wanted to know if you remembered," his smile influenced her lips to curl upward as well.
She stood up and looked around the garden, "it's sort of sacred, huh?"
"In a way," he paused to let out a chuckle, "yes."
She hugged herself tightly and looked around, "it holds a sense of symbolism too. These plants.... they have grown since that day, and they continue to sprout new buds..I don't know about you, but I get a feeling that these plants represent our growing relationship with one another."
Though Yami was slightly baffled that she had the same feelings about the garden, he responded with a firm "beyond a doubt." This response made her break into a warm smile, which prolonged the young Pharaoh's stare upon her fragile figure.
"You know, Yami, speaking of the garden," she strided forward, "why did you bring me out here?"
*~*~**~*~*
"Look to the dead..."
Seth repeated to himself, almost mechanically. Though he had received a sign from his former master, he still couldn't put the many pieces of the puzzle together. One of the pieces didn't fit right. That piece was the question of why he had to follow in Reira's footsteps. Reira was a great priest with many mysterious powers within his possession. Seth couldn't understand why Reira couldn't control the power of the millennium item. "It doesn't make sense.." Seth brought himself to his feet and paced around the room, "if fate had wisely chosen master.....why couldn't he fulfill his destined destiny?"
Seth stopped his hasty pacing and ascended toward an aperature in the room. This particular aperature was shaped into an oval and it gave the viewer a decent representation of the cenotaphs and monuments built in honor of some of the greatest pharaohs in Egyptian history.
"Wait..." Seth's eyes focused on the cenotaph of one of his former friends, Bel Saf. "Look to the dead..." A swank of understanding brandished his thoughts as his eyes fluctutated from the pyramid to Reira's book that rested crisply on the dusty floor. "It's the tomb....Reira wants me to look in Bel Saf's burial chamber."
*~*~**~*~*
"Well," Yami fumbled for the right words, "it has been awhile since we've last spoken."
Tea knew that he was giving her a false response by the way he lost his composure, but she simply played along with it as if he was telling the truth. "Yes, you've been so busy with the celebration that we haven't had a decent conversation since the last full moon."
"A Pharaoh's work is never done."
Tea sighed sadly at his presumptuous statement. She knew that being a Pharaoh was a lot to put on one's shoulders, especially a youth, but that didn't mean that you had to give your whole life away as if it was a task, rather than an assignment. "Sometimes you just got to let yourself go."
"There's no time for that," she turned away from him, "Anzu...I know you see me as a normal person, but I'm not. I'm the Pharaoh of Egypt and there's no time to actually live my life the way others do. I have responsibilty...and not just for myself. I'm responsible for everyone in Egypt. I can't just throw that all away by--where are you going?"
Anzu couldn't listen to him anymore, she needed to get away. This wasn't Yami talking, she knew it wasn't....there was something wrong. Why didn't he want to tell her? They practically told each other everything. "I'm sorry," she turned around and bowed, "permission to leave, Pharaoh."
Yami folded his arms and cocked an eyebrow up, "don't be like that, Anzu."
"Well, since you're Pharaoh, you shouldn't be treated as a normal person." Anzu's words became as cold as her eyes, "I bid you good night, Majesty." She gave the Pharaoh one last emotionless glance before turning around to leave.
"Wait." Refusing to end their conversation on such unfriendly terms, Yami hastily stepped forward to catch and forcefully hold her hand. "I'm-" She pulled back unpredictably, holding her hand once free from his seizure.
"Anzu?" Yami sent her a confused gaze, that is, until he caught sight of a large discoloration that ran from her wrist to just short of her elbow. "What happened?" He sputtered hesistantly while breaking the distant gap between them.
"It's unimportant..." She placed a hand over her forearm to conceal the abrasion, but that didn't stop Yami from taking hold of her arm. "Yami, it's okay. I was just carrying a pile of robes to the wash room when I lost my balance and fell on my arm-"
"A fall couldn't cause what you have on your arm." Yami tilted her arm to the side to get a better glimpse of the swelling. "You were physically injured." Not letting go of her hand, Yami lifted his head to look into her azure eyes. "Someone did this to you."
*~*~**~*~*
"Forgive me, Bel Saf," Seth whispered, pausing a moment to pray for his soul. "I only intrude to bring peace to your spirit and those still living. The gods of abeyance will awake again and this time...I will be ready to face them, for I am the true destined one."
Without another word, Seth grabbed a lit torch off its sooty pedestal and advanced forward to unlock the doors of his sealed destiny. As he moved further into the corridor, he remained cautious when touching the walls or doors within the chamber, for the builders created traps to keep tomb robbers away from the priceless treasures buried with the human body.
"There..." Seth stopped shortly at another corridor. "This must be the burial chamber." Stepping over the remains of two human skeletons, Seth walked into the Bel Saf's burial chamber where only a large funerary box and a few small possessions rested free from strife. "So, we meet again." The Priest walked forward, covering his mouth from the decayed fumes that had penetrated the chamber. It was the wretched smell of death.
Placing down the torch, Seth gazed at the casket before finally holding his breath to open it with his two hands. Once it was opened, he was greeted by the mummified body of his beloved friend, Bel Saf, but no millennium items. "WHAT? Where is it? Where are the ancient relics!?" Seth grabbed the torch and let his eyes wander around the room for any sign that the relics are or were in the chamber.
"Reira, you said look to the dead. The millennium items should be here! They should be with the Pharaoh!" Seth stopped, realizing the mistake he made. "The millennium items....they must go wherever the Pharaoh goes....and that's now with....Yami..."
*~*~**~*~*
"You are mistaken," Anzu pulled back her hand, "don't turn this into something it isn't."
Yami knew there was something wrong when Anzu broke the stare between them. Being her friend for more than three years, he knew that Anzu wasn't telling the truth when she didn't look him in the eye. "Anzu, why are you hiding this from me? I...care about you and I don't want to see you hurt by anyone."
The silence between them brought Anzu to the realization that this conversation was more than just a verbal battle of tongues. It was a dispute upon trust...and they were both losing. "Yami," she broke the silence with a whisper, "it's better that you don't know."
"It was Seth, wasn't it?" Yami questioned while lifting her chin to his range of view.
She bit her lip and nodded adamantly, but soon broke down into a torrent of tears. "H..e...wanted m-me to...stop...seeing..you.." She fell to her knees and pushed her head into her hands. "I...dissented...with his decision..and..." She sobbed harder, giving into her emotions entirely.
Bringing his arms around her bewailing form, he whispered softly, "don't shed tears for him." As Yami comforted her, he couldn't help but think about what Seth told her. Why would he not want her to talk him? It wasn't like he was going to corrupt her into thinking modest of the priest.
"I'm sorry," she sniffed sadly, "I shouldn't be-"
"Don't." Yami looked down at Anzu, who was now wiping the excess tears from her eyes. "We're friends." Though Yami felt better in knowing that Anzu had stopped crying, he felt guilty in what he had said to her before."I'm sorry about before. As normal as I want to be, the public will always see me differently. I wish I wasn't Pharaoh. Why wasn't I born poor? It wouldn't have made a difference. Being Pharaoh is the same thing as being a slave. You're bound to your work and you're always taking orders from someone. Why...why does fate treat us like so?"
Even with her teary complexion, Yami found Anzu breathtaking as she tilted her head to look at him. "Fate has a destined path for us, Yami" she responded, making the Pharaoh sigh solemnly, "we must learn to live with it."
Yami closed his eyes and breathed, "fate will not ruin what I have claimed for my own." ***
"...and what is that?" She questioned, making Yami unfurl the violet orbs that were his eyes.
Anzu gasped as she saw a mirror image of herself within the inner depths of Yami's oculus.
*~*~**~*~*
Pharaoh Yami's tomb lay only a mile's walk away from where Bel Saf's burial chamber was. As Seth approached Yami's tomb, he noticed that a few slaves were still working on the interior. Accompanied with the slaves were two higher officials. Noticing Seth before them, they bowed and asked, "how may we be of use to you, Priest Seth?" in a very respectable tone.
Seth hid a smile and answered with a question of his own, "has the Pharaoh's burial chamber been built yet?"
One nodded, while the other official pointing toward a set of stairs that descended underground. "Thank you, gentlemen. I shall put in a good word with the Pharaoh." Bowing again, they brought their attention back to the slaves, while Seth climbed down the steps in search of the burial chamber.
Unlike Bel Saf's tomb, Yami's burial chamber was well lit, considerably due to the construction still in development, and the smell of death was not present in the air. Drawing nearer to Yami's chamber, Seth's thoughts centered around the question of "am I ready?" and "what if I'm not the destined one?" Already confident in himself, Seth pushed onward, rejecting what his thoughts were trying to do to his fearless stride. That's when an open room came into view....
"I can sense it.....they're here." Seth whispered, refering to the millennium items.
Stopping in front of the chamber, Seth took in one last breath before prospecting what was written in Reira's book. Inside, the chamber had pictorial notations encircling the room and stopping at a large slab of concrete that rest in the middle of the room. Seth's eyes widened insubstantially as he walked toward the bar of stone.
There, in front of him, were the millennium items. Each item, though different in size and shape, embodied the eye of Ra and were repressed in a gold wrap similar to the feathers of the omnipotent one. Illuminating the room with their lustrous essence, Seth could only gaze in awe and wonder how Reira felt when he was subjected to their glory. "Wait...Reira..." Seth's eyes transfixed to to the millennium item that was shaped like a rod. "Reira picked that one."
Remembering Reira's last line to his book, Seth whispered to himself, "maybe I should chose a different one." Placing his hand above the millennium items, Seth tried to sense which one he wanted out of the six. His hand stopped above the rod. "Is it possible that...I was destined to have the rod as well?" Seth reached forward slowly, his hand shaking nervously with each passing second the millennium rod wasn't in his hand.
"Yes," his hand wrapped around the handle, "I....feel it.."
Gripping the relic tightly, he brought it toward his face to examine the small notations circling the eye of Ra. The notations were of some ancient writing he had not seen before. "Very old indeed, almost as if they were made by Ra himself..." That's when the rod almost came to life, flashing a deep light upon the eye of Ra as if he had activated something within it. "Wha-" Before Seth could finish his sentence, the rod shot a stream of light toward him, where it created its own eye situated on his forehead.The pain was unbearable, but Seth took it as if it was an obligation. Almost as if he knew what the pain was going to feel like..
Seeking to hear its victim's helpless plea, the eye upon his forehead began to burn. It was the second wave of pain. The first conducted by Ra, the second became the job of Slifer, the Sky Dragon. "AH!" Seth cried as he tightened his grip on the rod. "I...must...not give UP!" Though Seth was slowly falling to his knees, his will to overcome the power of the rod grew stronger. He was not going to let the power overcome him like it did to his master. He needed to control the power.
The rod grew angry....it was time for the last god of abeyance to try his strength....
"AHH!" Seth clenched his fist tightly as the third wave of pain shot through his forehead. "I can't..." Seth tried to fight off the darkness of the Tormentor, but the darkness started to encircle him. "Master! Help!" The light, that represented his will, was gone. The darkness of the god had prevailed. "NO!"
Feeling the last bit of his fight sound off with his scream, Seth was taken to the world of oblivion by Obelisk.
~To be continued....~
This chapter was actually supposed to go on a couple of pages, but I found it to be too long. *sigh* So, what did you think? Too slow? Confusing? Time for the author to retire from fanfiction and go knit a sweater? Seriously, I wanna know!! BTW, I'll leave you guys with a question. *clears throat* If Seth's destiny was to follow in his master's footsteps and lock away the three gods, why were they (the three gods) found within the millennium rod? Oh yeah, how good is that! So good that I don't even know the answer. *walks away to go ponder about it*