Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. I give up.
Something happened yesterday that none of us were prepared for. Father, our five High Priests, our High Priestess, Mother, Shimon, Mana, and I were having one of our usual meetings, in which we talk over recent events, political standings, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda... They should be called 'Bore Meetings,' not 'Board Meetings'.
So anyway, we were holding it in Mahaado's bedchamber, for he seems to be getting sicker by the day. He was shivering even though it was boiling hot, and the rest of us were wearing as little as possible, except Akunadin, who was in full robes, because... that's just what Akunadin does.
But I'm rambling. I'll cut to the point now. As we were discussing how to punish a band of thieves we'd caught with the help of Isis's Sennen Tauk, a man burst in.
"You! Akunamukanon! Pharaoh!"
Father turned. "Who are you?"
"You don't remember me?"
Father's face suddenly became clouded, and everyone else looked worried. Seto whispered to me, "He's the Emperor of China. You were just seven the last time he came, and I was nine. He threatened to attack the kingdom if Egypt didn't give his country a large amount of our prized goods."
"Why have you come here?" Father asked, voice shaking.
"TO KILL YOU!" There was a flash of light, and Father's form became limp, falling to the ground.
Karim and Shaadii, closest to Father, each dashed forward to catch him.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?" Shaadii roared, eyes flashing. Mental note: NEVER get on the bad side of ANY High Priest/ess. They can deal with things calmly, but when they're mad, watch out and run for your life. Literally.
"What have I done to him? What do you mean? I didn't do anything. MAGIC extracted his soul from his body, and there's only one way to get it back. But I don't think any of you really want to risk it, do you?"
For a second we were silent. The only way to retrieve Father's soul was to verse him in a shadow duel. The loser would pay with their soul, causing Father's to come back. So either way we'd get Father's soul back, but if one of us lost...
Shimon, Mana, the six High Priest/esses and I made eye contact with each other, one at a time, as Mother watched. We all knew that this duel had to be fought, and we were silently deciding who would go up against this man, a master dueler from what I'd heard.
The nine us us have a way of communicating without words that's just unbelievable. Mahaado, Shaadii, Karim, Akunadin, Shimon, and Mana all stepped down nearly immediately, Mahaado, Shimon and Mana because they were all weak in various ways. Mahaado was sick, Mana injured, and Shimon was getting old, making them all vulnerable to fainting from the mental and physical stress. Shaadii, Karim and Akunadin aren't bad duelists; rather, they're excellent, but Seto, Isis and I are the ones with the truly extraordinary gifts.
Seto and Isis looked at one another, looked at me, and each took a step back, electing me to duel the man.
"I'll fight you," I said, facing him. He just laughed.
"A boy? Is this really the best you've got?" That bugs me. Yes, I'm short, and no, I don't have a beard, and no, my voice is not as deep as I'd like it to be, but that has nothing to do with my abilities. Isis apparently felt the same way.
"You may not think him so small on the dueling field!" she snapped, eyes blazing. She looked like she wanted to tear the Emperor to pieces.
"Don't talk back to me, filthy female! You shouldn't be a part of any High Court!"
That last comment angered us all very much, and it took all of Seto, Shaadii, Akunadin, and my strength to keep Karim from lunging at the man. Only when Isis shouted, "Karim, stop! It's not worth it!" did he stop trying to break free of our grasp.
"But Isis, he-"
"You'll get the revenge you seek when Atemu slaughters him alive in their duel." Turning to the Emperor, she hissed, "You'll regret that."
"We'll see," he replied. "Let us proceed to the throne room." Our throne room often doubles as a dueling hall of sorts.
Shaadii and Seto helped a shivering Mahaado out of bed, and supported him to the throne room, easing him onto the floor with his back against the wall.
We began our shadow duel, and the Emperor was a more challenging opponent than I could have imagined. Great beasts of the earth were his main monsters, and he favored trapping mine over spelling them. My monsters are prominently spellcasters, mystical beings, and magicians, useless if trapped despite their magic.
He hit me again and again with powerful attacks, until I could barely stand. I was prepared to give up, but through my blurred vision I saw something that gave me the courage to carry on dueling.
Mahaado was shivering so fiercely his whole body shook, and without a word Isis stooped down on his right and put her arms around him to try and warm him, keeping her fierce eyes glued to our duel. Mahaado's shivers died down a bit, but not much, and Mana knelt on her teacher's left side, hugging him tightly despite the pain it caused her burned back. From a mixture of that pain, and seeing her beloved trainer so sick, and the life-threatening situation I was in, she began to cry, and Mother sank to the floor, pulling Mana into a hug.
Shimon put a comforting hand on Mother's shoulder and Shaadii held both of Shimon's from behind him, as Isis and Karim laced their fingers tightly together. Seto and Akunadin fell to stand behind Shaadii and Karim respectively, and they all watched me, stone silent but for Mahaado's shivers and Mana's sniffling.
I caught sight of Seto. His face was gray, his mouth pursed in a thin line. But it was seeing his eyes, piercing my own with a blazing inferno of stinging ice, that strengthened me enough to make my move. These people were my family. To let them down was to let all of Egypt down.
I closed my eyes, putting all my faith and trust into my monsters, and in my ability with them. They hadn't let me down before, and they wouldn't let me down then, I knew it. My heartbeat sped up, and the blood that coursed through my body was driven by a white, blinding anger that I felt leap up from deep within my soul. This man wanted to kill my father. He would pay.
And he did. I heard Isis gasp, Mana whimper, and Seto cry out as Osiris rose behind me, a great red mass of raw power. Enraged heat spread through my entire body as the huge god bore down on the Emperor and his monsters at my command, ignoring the man's pitiful cries for mercy, its terrible teeth slicing through the man's very soul. The shadows, monsters, and the Emperor disappeared. I rushed to everyone else, but suddenly I became too dizzy to walk. I would have collapsed and passed out on the ground had Seto not caught me.
"... Seto..." I gasped out, panting for breath.
"Don't talk. Breathe," he ordered, and I obeyed, swallowing air in thin gasps until I thought I could talk.
"Thanks, Seto-"
"Don't. I should be thanking you. You just saved Egypt from some serious trouble."
Just then Mahaado doubled over, clutching his stomach and throwing up. Mana performed a neat little spell (correctly, might I add) to clean it up, and Isis and Karim supported Mahaado back to his chambers. We all followed, Seto and Shaadii helping me to walk.
As we entered Mahaado's bedchamber, my father's form was beginning to stir on the floor.
"Father!" I exclaimed, and Seto and Shaadii helped me over to him.
"Son? What happened?"
Mother answered him, "Our son just saved your soul in a shadow duel against the Emperor of China, using the god Osiris."
He looked from me, to Mother, about the room to Isis and Karim helping a shaking and sneezing Mahaado into bed, and a look of utter disbelief crossed his face. He turned to me.
"Osiris?"
I nodded weakly, and Seto tightened his grip on my shoulders as Shaadii strode over to Mahaado's bedside, a worried look on his face.
"That's two gods in the space of a week, at age fourteen."
I nodded again, my eyelids drooping.
"I think I should bring him to his chambers, Pharaoh," said Seto. Father nodded, and Seto helped me down a few halls to my chambers and into bed.
"Thanks Seto..." I mumbled as I fell asleep.
The next thing I was conscious of was the sound of raised voices out in the hall.
"Stop it, Muka!" my mother's voice yelled. "He saved your life! Why are you acting like this?"
"He saved my life by summoning a monster I've never even seen! And it obeyed him without a second thought, didn't it?"
"What does that have to do with your mood? Stop it, Muka!"
"What does it have to do with my mood? EVERYTHING! I'm LIVING in my fourteen-year-old son's SHADOW!"
"You are NOT!"
"I am, and you can't deny it! You know perfectly well that he thinks of our evening meal debates as mere games, while I have to practically neglect my food just to keep up with him! Shadow power leaps into his hands! How old was he the first time I lost a duel to him? SIX? SEVEN? And did you see him dancing with Mana at the festival? He did it flawlessly, on his FIRST TRY! THAT DANCE TOOK ME TWENTY YEARS TO PERFECT, AND THAT WAS WITH YOU TEACHING ME!"
"Well, if this is how you're going to act about our son's gifts, then you're right. He IS going to be a far greater Pharaoh than you could ever dream of being!"
I stuffed my face in my feather pillow, not wishing to hear any more, and fell back asleep.
I'm still in bed now, but not for long. I need to go talk to Seto about this, now that the sun has fully risen. Poor Seto.
Atemu
Well, Spirit Seer, Karim doesn't really get a lot of screen time, so... I have basically given him a personality that seemed to fit from what I've seen. I think I'll give it a try with the two of them... maybe not... possibly... I dunno. Right now I sorta have a lil more of them together, but it's still a possibility. Yeah. Mahaado really should get better before he does anything else, shouldn't he? Poor dude. I torture him...
I'm glad you think so, Ksaturn.
GottaLoveJoey, Jou's not an ancient Egyptian character, so I have no intention of putting him in here. I've tinkered with a few of the timeline-type details, and obviously a few of the relationships, but nothing major. Well you see, I gave Seto a sensitive side because in ancient Egypt he's not without his huge ego, but he also is very dedicated to serving Egypt and his Pharaoh, so that's where that's coming from. He doesn't ever really HATE Atemu or Yuugi; rather it's shown quite a few times that he respects them; he just wishes they'd -profanity not fit for rated PG fic- off and let him be the world champ at dueling. Actually I've read the first chapter of Swappers, but to be honest that storyline doesn't really appeal to me. I'm not saying it's not good, or well-written; I'm just saying that the plot doesn't appeal to me personally. No hard feelings? Thanks for reviewing!
We'll never fully understand males, norestar-angel. Oh well. Glad you liked it!
Glad you like the pairing, Black-Caracal! Lol. I guess it's not a popular pairing because, like, no one ever does it. Ah well. 'Tis the life of a lowly fangirl, ne?
See y'all next chapter!