Disclaimer: Much as I'd love to, I don't own any characters to do with Yu-Gi-Oh! But I do own the extras in this fic like the healer and such that may or may not pop up. I do own the plot – swipe it at your own peril!
To all my reviewers thanks so much I love reading the reviews sorry I shocked everyone with my nasty cliff hanger at the end of chapter 3 but what good would a story be without a few shockers? Hehehe ahem anyway I'm supposed to be the nice Hikari here right my Yami?
Yami KITG: …
Yami Seirei: What's the matter?
Yami KITG (in dangerous voice): You stole Yami's soul…
Yami Seirei (breaking out in a sweat): Um well I uh…It's essential to the plot! Aaaaanyway I didn't steal it that baka healer did! (righteous look)
Yami KITG: Whaddaya mean 'that baka healer stole it?' YOU'RE THE AUTHOR!
Yami Seirei: Oh yes well err good point…
Yami KITG (Pointing rabid hamster at Yami Seirei): GET ON WITH THE FIC!
Yami & Yugi: Yeah get on with it!
Yami: And gimme my soul back!
Yami Seirei: Yessir!
Chance Encounter – Chapter 4
Yugi looked on in shock at the scene before him. The healer had vanished and Ishizu was sitting in stunned silence. The pharaoh was laid out on the couch very still and pale in spite of his dark skin and looked as if he had died. The only indication of any life was the steady rise and fall of his chest.
"What's going on?" he whispered and his small scared voice brought Ishizu out of her shock.
"Pharaoh?" she whispered looking across at the unmoving form of Yami. Slowly she rose from the bed and Yugi still being weak from his illness lay back down on the pillows again and watched as Ishizu made her way over to the pharaoh.
She sat next to him and hesitantly shook him a little.
"Pharaoh?" she said a little louder but there was no response, no movement came from the still body and Yami's eyes remained closed.
"Pharaoh please wake up." She begged shaking him a little harder but all that succeeded in doing was to make Yami's arm flop off the side of the couch and dangle in the air.
"No…please Ra, make him wake up." Yugi prayed from where he lay watching fearfully. There came the sound of running footsteps and the door burst open to reveal Yami's best friend and high priest Seth along with the rest of the advisers who stopped short when they saw the scene in front of them.
As there was no one else in the room, Seth automatically presumed that the boy in the bed must have something to do with the fact his best friend not to mention the fact he was the pharaoh of Egypt, was lying flat out on a couch not moving with Ishizu beginning to sob over him and the slave in the bed. He made a movement towards the bed but was halted by Ishizu's voice.
"Stop, the boy has nothing to do with this! There was a woman, a healer. She gave some potion to the pharaoh to heal the boy of his sickness, it did heal him but she came and stole the pharaoh's soul. She MUST be found Seth."
Seth's face fell.
"His soul was taken? How? Why?" there was a quiver to his voice. He loved Yami as a brother would and the sight of him lying there so pale and still made his insides churn.
"I don't know Seth, she said it was payment for the potion but I think there's more to it than that."
"Where is she?" growled Seth.
"She lives out near the Sphinx but very well hidden, I didn't get a chance to ask the Pharaoh where the entrance was as I was not expecting this to happen."
She hung her head in shame. Why had her Millennium Tauk not showed her what was going to happen? Maybe this healer knew how to block the power of the Millennium items? If that was the case then they were dealing with a very powerful force here.
"Seth! I think this healer can block the power of the Millennium Items. Please be careful."
Seth drew out his Millennium Rod and gazed at it. Was it possible that there was a being powerful enough to block such power? He looked at Ishizu.
"Your Tauk?"
"Showed me none of this."
"This is bad, very bad. It sounds as if this healer has been planning something for some time."
"It would seem so. It seems we would need our pharaoh's talents to command the creatures from the Shadow Realm. However I have some of my own creatures I can call on with my Armlet though I do not have as much power as the pharaoh."
"Well just be careful please Seth, I don't know what I would do if.." she broke off unable to say the words 'If you didn't come back.' Seth meant the world to her and if she lost him, well she didn't want to think about it.
"I'll pray for your safe return." She said and turned back to look at Yami's still form unable to watch Seth leave. She didn't want to think that this may be the last time she would see him.
"No I have to have faith in his abilities." She told herself and after waiting till the group had left, the advisers having said not a word but leaving silently with Seth, she got up from the couch and fetched a golden silk sheet to place over Yami. This she did and then summoned some servants to transfer the pharaoh to more comfortable quarters.
When they arrived, she swore them to absolute secrecy on pain of death if they should so much as breathe a word to a mouse in the palace about what they had seen.
The servants hurried to do Ishizu's bidding and soon the pharaoh was settled in his chambers on his bed. Ishizu made sure he was as comfortable as possible before leaving the palace's most trusted guards at every exit. The only people to be admitted would be Seth if, no when he returned and herself.
The guards nodded grimly at the instructions sensing something was very wrong but knowing better than to speculate on it. They took up their positions and stared straight ahead.
Ishizu left the Pharaoh's rooms and made her way back to where the young one was. She didn't even know his name yet, none of them did! Well she would find that out first.
She opened the door and looked across to the bed. It was empty.
Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes scanned the room. Where was he? He had seemed so weak a moment ago. Then she saw him.
He was standing on the balcony looking out towards the dessert. Her heart went out to him, He was so small and frail looking standing there. She cleared her throat slightly and the small one turned.
She gasped when she saw the look in his eyes. Determination, anger and something else, sorrow.
"Little one are you alright?" Ishizu walked up to him and as she did his legs buckled from under him. He was still very weak.
"Why did you get out of bed?"
"I'm sorry." He whispered, "I just wanted to see. This is my fault, if I hadn't fallen in front of the pharaoh that day, if I had just taken my punishment, none of this would be happening!"
Tears were running down his face and he sobbed into Ishizu's shoulder as she carried him back over to the bed.
"Tell me little one, what is your name?"
"Yugi."
"Well Yugi, this was not your fault, don't ever think that. This healer I believe was just waiting to steal the pharaoh's soul and this was the perfect opportunity to do it."
Yugi relaxed against Ishizu's shoulder and allowed himself to be put back to bed.
"Dark Magician Girl are you there?" he whispered hoping his friend would come but she was still too weak to leave the Shadow Realm and could only look on sadly as her young charge closed his eyes to sleep again.
The Dark Magician was prowling the Shadow Realm looking for the creature who had told him about the healer. When he found him, he was going to know the true power of the shadows when he commanded them. He hunted for a long time until he finally saw the culprit.
"YOU!" the Dark Magician shouted at the creature and turned. There was a look of 'Oh kuso' on the monster's face before he was hit by the Dark Magician's dark magic attack, which blew him a long way and into a wall that the Dark Magician made appear.
"Because of you, the pharaoh's soul has been stolen!" the Dark Magician advanced towards the monster who shrank back in fear under the wrathful gaze of the pharaoh's faithful friend.
"P-please I just did as she asked, I was to tell you about her and she said she was going to help you! I had no idea she was bad!" The monster snivelled into his hands and the Dark Magician though still somewhat wary, suspected he was telling the truth.
"Very well, I give you the benefit of the doubt. You can do a favour for me now, you can gather as many monsters as you can find. The high priest Seth has gone after this healer woman but I fear she will be too powerful for him and without the pharaoh, I cannot be summoned to help anyone. Seth will have the Blue Eyes White Dragon but I think he will need more than that."
"Yes yes! I will help you, I'll be glad to!" said the monster and rushed off to do the Dark Magician's bidding.
By this time, both he and the Dark Magician Girl had gained enough strength from the shadows to be able to materialize in the real world again though the Dark Magician could not emerge unless the pharaoh summoned him so he had to be content to watch the Dark Magician Girl go and bide his time to see what happened.
The Dark Magician Girl emerged as soon as she was able to and rushed to Yugi's side. He was still sleeping and she brushed the bangs away from his face.
'Wake soon young master,' she thought 'I fear you will be needed soon. You have more power inside of you than you can ever imagine and I fear the time is coming soon when you will need to use that power to it's full extent.'
The Dark Magician watching from the Shadow Realm nodded having heard in his mind what the Dark Magician Girl was saying. Yes the young one had immense power stored up inside of him. He had tapped into a small amount when he managed to summon the Dark magician Girl to him.
"I wonder if he knows himself?" he wondered. It was doubtful he did. He hoped when the time came that this young one would be able to control the power he unleashed – if it came to the fore.
'Whatever happens,' he thought 'We must get the pharaoh's soul back.'
In her lair under the sands of the dessert, the healer was watching a party of travellers approaching. She was interrupted by a creature appearing before her.
"Yes?" she said clearly impatient.
"It is done your highness, that baka Dark magician fell for it and now believes me to be helping him."
"Excellent. Now go and gather my forces but make sure that Dark magician thinks you are on his side." The creature vanished and the healer smiled to herself.
"Soon I will be strong enough to claim my rightful place as the queen, pharaoh and you? You can meander round my shadow maze forever!" She threw back her head and laughed as she looked down into what seemed to be a pool of water in a stone bowl but when one looked closely, the water was shadowy and a figure could be made out to be wondering round in a seemingly endless maze of corridors and dead ends.
"My maze is infinite pharaoh and no one, not even your Dark magician friend is going to be able to set you free! One more soul is all I need to grant me full power and then I shall rule in my rightful place." Once again she laughed and returned to watching the party approach the Sphinx.
"Welcome Seth," she smiled and then her expression twisted and became evil. "Who would have thought that the final cause of the pharaoh's downfall would be the soul of his best friend? Yes welcome indeed – to your doom!"