Destiny and the Dragon
Author's note: Argh! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. First I had to go over to New York for a friend's Bar Mitzvah for a few days, and then, when I got back, my computer wouldn't let me log in for a few days. Combine that with the fact that this chapter is twice the length of the others, and you get one prolonged update. My apologies to everyone for keeping you waiting.
Copyright info: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did, though , you can bet we'd see a lot more Seto Kaiba(and, considering he already appears a lot, they'd probably have to rename the show "The Seto Kaiba saga", or some other, less crappy, title.).
Continuity info: First, I'm using all Japanese names, as well as personalities (in short, Jounouchi isn't going to have that heavy New York accent, and Bakura won't be British). Thus, Joey is Jounouchi, the Millennium items are sennen items, and so on. Finally, the actual continuity is kind of a mixture of the manga and anime. This takes place after Battle City, but the Noa saga did not occur. However, in the manga, Yugi immediately uses the God cards to open up the doors to Yami's memory world. In this, like in the anime, he must wait until the appropriate time. Also, this is going to act as an alternative to the Memories arc in the manga so I can add my own little spin on the ancient past. Enjoy.
I want to run away,
I want to know the truth
I want to know the answers,
I want to shut the door and open up my mind.
-"Runaway Reanimation", Linkin' Park
Chapter 6: The Flame that Forever Burns
By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon
Kisara could only stare in shock at her mirror image, dressed in the tattered robe, covered in wounds and blood. "THERE SHE IS!" Kisara heard a distant voice shout.
Both Kisaras turned to face the voice. They were greeted by a mob of villagers, dressed similarly to the injured Kisara. Holding sticks and torches, they soon began running toward the injured girl. Suddenly, everything froze. Yami Yugi was the first to react. "One more aspect to this you forgot to mention, Priest?" Yami Yugi asked tensely.
"This portion of the memories is over, Pharaoh. You may resume your turn." Seto said.
Yugi did so. "Alright, I'll play two cards face down and then summon Giant Soldier of Stone in Defense mode." He announced.
Giant Soldier of Stone:
Atk: 1300
Def: 2000
Seto drew, and the scene around the group resumed. The villagers charged at ancient Kisara. The girl was too exhausted from the chase, and could no longer run. She decided instead to attempt to reason with her attackers. "Please," she begged, "why are you doing this?"
One of the villagers, a muscular tall man with an eye-patch on his right eye stepped forward to answer. "Your Kaa is a danger to everyone in the village. We must kill it, and to do that, we must kill you."
The Egyptian Kisara backed away slowly in fear. Honda clenched his fists. "Those creeps! Picking on a girl like that!"
Jounouchi placed his hand on Honda's shoulder. "This is all ancient history, Honda. There's nothing we can do."
"STOP!" A voice cried out.
The entire group recognized it instantly. "Seto?" The modern-day Kisara questioned.
The patch-eyed villager turned to confront the newcomer. There stood a man who looked identical to Seto Kaiba, dressed in blue armor with golden trims, as well as his white robes and cape. He strode toward the villager with the patch. "What is the meaning of this?" Seto's look-alike asked.
One of the villagers began to answer, when, once again, the scene froze. Seto smirked. "Ah, good, my turn now."
With that, he placed two cards face down. "That's all for now." He said.
Yami Yugi pondered over this move even as the ancient memories resumed. "Why didn't Kaiba attack? His La-Jinn is strong enough to destroy my Giant Soldier of Stone, and he would've been able to attack me directly with Battle Ox. He's up to something."
As he finished gathering his thoughts, Yugi drew his next card. Suddenly, the villager who had been frozen mid-sentence before resumed what he was saying. "High Priest, this girl possesses a Kaa too powerful to control. The dragon of the blue flame exists within her, and only through her death will it leave us. We must kill her so that it will leave our village in peace."
High Priest Seth glared at the man. "It is the responsibility of the Pharaoh's priests, not the villagers, to deal with Kaa."
When the villagers did not respond, Seth finished with a yell. "UNDERSTAND?"
The villagers then began to nod frantically, murmuring nervously. Seth moved through the crowd, stopping at the injured young girl. "Are you alright?" He asked, his tone neutral.
She prepared to answer, only to collapse from exhaustion. Seth knelt down and lifted her into his arms. As he walked away, he looked back at the villagers. "Consider yourselves lucky; I'm letting you off…THIS time. However, do something like this again, and you will have far more to worry about than this girl's kaa."
His threat delivered, the priest walked off, and the scene again froze. "My move." Yami Yugi stated.
"I could attack," he thought, "but with three face down cards on his field, it's almost certain that's exactly what Kaiba wants."
Deciding to play it safe, Yami Yugi simply summoned Mystical Elf to the field in defense mode.
Mystical Elf
Atk: 800
Def: 2000
"That's all for now." He said.
With that, the memories resumed. This time, however, they were in a small room. To the right side of the room, the memory version of Kisara lay silently. Seth, as well as a short boy with raven-black hair dressed in a white toga with a golden necklace, stood by the injured Kisara. "Will she be alright, big brother?" The shorter boy asked.
Seth nodded. "She'll be fine, Mokuba. She just needs to rest."
Mokuba turned to the exit. "I'll go get her some water!"
With a wide grin, the boy ran outside the room. Seth smiled at his brother's young energy, and then turned his attention to the bedridden girl. "If what that villager said is true, you may well be the key in obtaining the final piece of the puzzle."
As the scene again froze, Seto looked forlornly at the frozen Seth. "If only I hadn't been so foolish…" he thought to himself.
"This is Mokuba Kaiba to Kaiba Corp. HQ, do you read?"
Isono, one of Kaiba Corp.'s top agents, looked frantically at the two-way radio into which he was now speaking. He had been looking for Mokuba for some time now, fully aware of what Seto Kaiba would do to him if he discovered his younger brother had gone missing on Isono's watch. "Master Mokuba, where on Earth are you? Do you realize how much trouble you could get us both into?" he asked, making no effort to hide the panic in his voice.
"I'm in Seto's private helicopter, and I think I know what the deal is with that news broadcast." Mokuba responded.
Isono wasn't sure what Mokuba meant. He was too busy to watch the news. "I don't care, get back here at once! MY JOB IS AT STAKE!" He cried frantically.
No response. Isono massaged his temples. He had to get back in control, and to do that, he needed to calm down. "Where are you, Master Mokuba?" He asked quietly.
Still no response. Isono found he was quickly losing his patience again. "I am at Domino Square!" Mokuba declared at last.
Before Isono could respond, Mokuba said, "I'm going in!"
With that, a loud click on the other end informed Isono Mokuba had hung up. Isono promptly erupted into a string of profanities. His job was as good as gone.
As Mokuba hung up, he looked at the titanic bubble of darkness that stood before him. He was afraid. He was terrified. However, he was willing to face that fear for his brother. Seto had always rescued him, whether it was from Pegasus, Malik, or the Big Five. Now, it was his turn to do the rescuing. "Ready or not, here I come…" he said.
With that, he pushed forward on the control stick of the copter, diving into the darkness…
Seto returned his attention to the duel. "I can't lose my focus, not now." He mentally reminded himself.
He drew the next card and grinned. "It's time to get this duel moving!" He announced.
The others all looked tensely at him. "I'll activate the trap card Deck Summoner!" He cried.
With that, one of his face-down cards flipped up. From it, two beams of light emerged. "By permanently removing two cards of my monsters from play, this card allows me to special summon one level 8 monster from my deck. You all know who it is!" He finished.
The two lights absorbed La Jinn and Battle Ox and combined into a single ball of energy. From it, a pair of silver blue wings emerged, followed by similarly colored arms and legs. Finally, with a deafening roar, a serpentine head emerged as well, completing the form of Seto's legendary monster. "COME FORTH, BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!" He cried.
Blue Eyes White Dragon
Atk: 3000
Def: 2500
On command, the entirety of the titanic dragon emerged from the orb. Kisara was taken aback. The creature's body was the exact same color as her hair, its eyes the same color as hers. She could feel a deep connection with the beast as soon as it emerged on the field. "Blue Eyes White Dragon…" she repeated involuntarily.
As the serpentine beast emerged from the ball of light, Seto's expression was not its usual look of prideful admiration that Yami Yugi had seen so many times before when the dragon had been summoned. It was, instead, one of deadly determination. It was an expression Yami Yugi knew well. However, it was rarely used in association to the Blue Eyes, with which Seto had such a deep bond. Furthermore, the last time it had been used with such intensity was a situation Yami Yugi still shuddered to think of. "When he threatened to commit suicide back at DuelistKingdom, to save Mokuba…" he reminded himself.
Seto thrust his hand forward, his palm open, in Yami Yugi's direction. "BLUE EYES, ATTACK HIS GIANT SOLDIER OF STONE!!!" He shouted.
Roaring mightily, Seto's legendary monster drew back its head, its mouth sparkling with blue electricity. Then, it thrust its head forward, and from its mouth, a thundering bolt of blue energy burst forth. Yami Yugi's Giant Soldier of Stone was engulfed by the blast, its body charring to black and being blown to dust by the force of the attack. "This ends my turn now, but soon, you will face the same justice as your monster, Pharaoh." Seto threatened.
With the change of turns came the now-familiar occurrence of the memories around the group to resume. However, this time, they would have another observer…
Seto Kaiba lay slumped against the wall of Seth's soul room. When Seth had revealed what Yami had done in Ancient Egypt, it had shocked Seto. Even now, the idea of the pharaoh being a murderer surprised him. That shock had given the High Priest the edge he had needed, and he was able to thrash Seto harshly. Now, he lay injured and barely aware of the events transpiring about him. He knew all that was happening, but could not react to it. However, when the memories began to replay again, he was finally able to gather enough strength to fully absorb them. He immediately recognized the scene playing before him.
Kisara lay on the silk-covered bed, tired. Cuts and bruises were all over her body. High Priest Seth kneeled down to the bed, applying a damp tissue to the girl's cut cheek. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Better." Kisara said, weakly.
"Good." Seth replied curtly.
He stood up to go grab a roll of bandages nearby, but was stopped when Kisara grabbed his arm. Seth was surprised. "Wait." Kisara said.
Seth stared at her for a few moments, then attempted to rise again. "Please, wait." Kisara pleaded. Seth sighed.
"What?" He asked, flatly.
"I never got to thank you." Kisara said.
"It is my duty as High Priest of the pharaoh to protect the innocent. There is no need to thank me." Seth said.
"Yes, there is. You saved my life from those villagers." She said.
Seth kept his face stern. "Thank you…" Kisara said, shakily, "…for everything."
Seto immediately recognized this as the flashback he had experienced when the sennen rod had acted up back at the museum. Suddenly, his body felt stronger somehow. It wasn't enough to allow him to stand, but somehow, it allowed him to feel more confident that he could win this battle within his own mind. Turning his head to look at his ancient double, he pondered over what he had been told before being put in this miserable condition.
"I trusted the Pharaoh. He and I were
friends who would gladly give our lives for each other." The priest said, his
eyes conveying sadness the likes of which Seto had never seen.
"However, one day, I had decided to take my younger brother with me to the Pharaoh's palace. He had always wanted to go. However, on the way there, we encountered the Pharaoh himself. I didn't understand why he was there, until…until he…"
The words seemed too painful to speak. However, it was not difficult for Seto to interpret their meaning. The pharaoh had murdered Seth's brother.
That realization had been Seto's downfall in the fight, allowing the priest the chance to beat him into the broken state he was in now. Now, as his strength slowly returned to him, he planned his counter-attack…
Back at the battlefield, Kisara could only watch as the ancient version of Seto cared for the ancient version of herself. Looking at the two, she wondered how much of what she felt for the present-day Seto came from this ancient past. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, as Yami Yugi made his move. "I'll play the magic card Sacrifice Reduction! As long as this card is on the field, I can reduce the number of sacrifices needed to summon a monster by one. Thus, I only need to sacrifice my Mystical Elf to summon THIS!"
With this cry, Yami Yugi's Mystical Elf disappeared from the field. In her place, a purple glow now emanated. It soon began to take form. As it did, light began to shoot from the shape in all directions. At last, in a violet flash, the Dark Magician emerged.
Dark Magician
Atk: 2500
Def: 2100
Jounouchi jumped into the air. "YES!" He hollered.
"Now Kaiba's really in for it!" He finished as he returned to the ground.
Kisara looked at the hollering young boy. Her face looked unusually calm, despite all that was happening. "Don't be so sure, Jou," she analyzed, as if she had seen this kind of thing before, "the Blue Eyes does have more attack points than the Dark Magician."
Jounouchi nodded. "I know, but whenever Yugi's gotten his Dark Magician on the field before, he's always been able to pull through." He said.
Kisara's expression didn't change. "True, but Seto will protect that Blue Eyes fiercely. Yugi will have a hard time getting rid of it."
Jounouchi wanted to ask her how she knew so much about dueling, but chose to be silent. He wanted to focus on the match. He knew Kisara had a point, though. Kaiba had always been protective of his Blue Eyes, and it did have more attack points. Still, Yugi had always pulled through before. This time would be no different, he hoped. Still, there was a fire in Kaiba's eyes, in his dueling style, that Jounouchi had never seen, not even when he had dueled Yugi to save Mokuba from Pegasus. "Be careful, Yugi." Jounouchi said reflexively.
Yami Yugi nodded. "That will end my turn, Kaiba."
Seto drew, and as the world of his own memories came back to life, he pondered over Yami Yugi's previous move. "His Dark Magician is 500 points weaker than my Blue Eyes…that face-down card may be a trap of some kind to destroy my dragon when I attack…"
Seto drew, and grinned. Looking to the memories, his mood quickly changed. He recognized the marketplace that led to the Pharaoh's palace instantly, and his whole body tensed in recognition. Yami Yugi and Kisara both noted this. "This memory seems to have particular significance to the high priest…" Yami thought.
Walking through the market place was Priest Seto. Skipping along beside him was the Egyptian version of Mokuba. He seemed quite happy. "I can't believe you're going to finally take me to see the Pharaoh's palace, brother! I'm so excited!" the boy practically sang.
Seth grinned at his joyous little brother. "Well, Kisara needed a day-off from baby-sitting you while I was away with the other priests, and besides, if I didn't take you, you'd never stop asking me to." He said.
Mokuba could only laugh. As the two brothers drew closer to the palace, the crowds began to dissipate. At last, it was just the two of them. As they continued to march towards the palace, Seth became increasingly uneasy. The silence was maddening, and something in the air had the priest on edge. It didn't make him feel any better that rumors had been going around of a villainous tomb-robber who had managed to pilfer the tomb of the Pharaoh's father. He himself had found no trace of a forced entry, save the missing sarcophagus. He thus felt relieved when, after quite some walking, he saw his old friend, the Pharaoh. Mokuba immediately kneeled in respect. Seto bowed slightly. "Greetings, Pharaoh. I did not expect to meet you here."
There was no response from the spikey-haired monarch. Eyes covered in the shadow of his hair and golden headband, he began to walk towards Mokuba. Seth did not know what, but something about the Pharaoh was wrong. "I would like you to meet my younger brother Mokuba." He said, unease evident in his voice.
The Pharaoh smirked cruelly. Suddenly, in a single swift motion, he pulled out a knife from his shoulder, and before Seth could react, swung it straight into Mokuba's heart. The Priest's face widened in horror. The knife dug deeper into the boy's chest, allowing even more blood to spill from the wound. Mokuba stopped breathing before he even had the chance to scream. His face of terror quickly turning to one of rage, Seth whipped out his sennen rod, hoping to exact revenge on his friend-turned-murderer. However, the Pharaoh simply turned to him. He uttered, "I'm not finished yet," and disappeared in a flash. For a moment, Seth only stood there, numb and unmoving. At last, his senses returned to him, and he rushed to Mokuba's crumpled, bleeding body. "No…" he whispered, "No, no, no, no, no…" he continued to say, cradling the limp child's body in his arms.
Yami Yugi looked as if he had seen a ghost. Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu looked sick. Kisara looked mournful. Seto, however, showed only rage. "Do you understand now?" He asked.
Yami Yugi returned his attention to his opponent at that. His face still held a look of incomprehensible shock. He had just seen himself murder an innocent boy… a child who held no threat to him. "NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND MY NEED FOR REVENGE?" Seto shouted at Yami Yugi.
Yami Yugi could only stare silently at the blue-eyed champion. He could not find any words to say. What COULD he say? He had no memory of the ancient past, no way of knowing for sure whether he truly had murdered the Egyptian version of Mokuba. He could only imagine the torment of the High Priest. At last, Seto broke the silence. "THE TIME OF JUSTICE IS AT HAND! BLUE EYES, ATTACK AND DESTROY HIS DARK MAGICIAN!" Seto cried, trembling with fury and excitement.
Yami Bakura was rather frustrated with this newest development. He had hoped Kaiba's younger brother would not show up to the Shadow game. "It seems a new development has risen." Yami Bakura's cloaked partner said.
The thief grunted in frustration. "I guess we'll have to step in early." He said.
To be Continued…