Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.
My Notes: I have no idea where this is going anymore. And I'm not sure I like this chapter. But that's only because I have no idea where this is going.
Dead Memories
Shadi had entered into a dark room full of hanging paintings. Though many of these pictures were on the walls relatively close to him, a few were hanging from the ceiling. Each of the pictures were translucent causing a semi-transparent labyrinth to form within. Light came with each of the pictures, as if they were self-illuminated. But many of them were considerably brighter than the others, which seemed to depended on the vividness of the painting, Shadi observed. The only other noticeable item of interest was that the pictures were all moving. Each frame contained some movie reflection from Kaiba's life playing itself out.
Shadi walked forward, trying to avoid coming into contact with any of the pieces. If I am to discover the truth of my inquiries, I will have to dig deeper than this. These seem only to be surface memories. Some of the events I have seen today are here. The robed man tried to avoid the framed picture displaying the violent outburst of Kaiba at his industrial spy. Who knows what I may alter through my presence? Speaking too soon, Shadi collided with one of these paintings.
"Not only do I find your story so completely unbelievable, but to accuse me of being some incarnation of a priest in Egypt is equally ridiculous!" Shadi found himself in Seto's body as he was chewing out Yugi Moto. "To spread your tales is one thing, but to plant delusions in my brother's head that I'm dead..."
"But Kaiba, I didn't..." Yugi pleaded.
"Did I say you could speak Yugi? No! To think that you and your friends had the nerve to see me. And then poor Mokuba! I still haven't convinced him that I'm actually still among the living! He keeps crying ghost and crying to himself, when I am right in front of him. This is not amusing and I do not find his joke of yours even remotely funny! I personally will see to it that you, your friends, and this game shop be torn piece by piece and my lawyers will drain you dry for this slander!"
Shadi thankfully fell out of the memory. He shuddered as he felt the energy draining from his body; each breath labored. His rage! If he is the incarnation of the High Priest, then where does this rage come from? He shakily got up to his feet, glad to have gotten out of that before it really turned ugly.
A door lay in the distance. It stood alone in the dark, apart from the moving façade. Shadi saw that the door was well-polished and inviting. He braced himself for the unexpected as he opened the door.
He was standing on the deck of a small ship. The Egyptian could feel the rocking of the surface. The sun was illuminating the entire ocean landscape. Kaiba was steering this boat from the comforts of a small chair with a steering wheel and whole panel of controls in front of him.
"You better get down. Everyone else is down below," he yelled to Shadi over the roar of the water. Shadi nodded his thanks but Kaiba's attention had returned to piloting his craft. Heading towards the rear, passing a small seating section, the Egyptian found a ladder and climbed down. Sliding open the glass door, he found himself in a small living area with connecting kitchen area. Seated all around him were doppelgangers of Kaiba, each conversing with one another. Three were sitting on the sofa, while two were seated at the counter, and one was in the kitchen. Though it was unnerving seeing so many clones of the identical person, Shadi knew that they were simply different aspects of the one personality evident from their conversation of self-inflated rhetoric.
Shadi felt a tug from his Millennium Ankh, pulling him slightly forward. Ignoring the carbon copies, he tried to make his way from one end of the deck to the other. None of them moved to get out of his way, so actually bypassing them proved to be difficult. But it wasn't as if they were barring his way either. Passing an indoor steering section, Shadi descended into the sleeping quarters of this small vessel. To his right, a massive bed was tucked against the wall. To his left two other sleeping quarters along with a bathroom. But the Ankh seemed to pull him towards the right. Pass the bed was what appeared to be a trapdoor with an old rusted handle. He pulled it up and open.
Small graven steps appeared. The air was rank with decayed earth. A torch was lit but the light it gave paled with the darkness within. The robed Egyptian had little choice. He took the light and began walking down. Hours passed with no end in sight. How far did Shadi walk? It did not matter, for all he wanted was to keep going. In time, the stairs gave way to a small cavern. An image was craved on the front wall.
"White Dragon!" Shadi cried out. The infamous creature gazed out at all with its deadly gaze. A sign! An altar stood before the image of the dragon with incense sticks. There was nothing else in sight so Shadi was slightly befuddled. Should I? He walked to the simple altar and lit some incense and uttered a short prayer.
A great roar was heard around, a terrible echoing that reverberated in Shadi's ears. The melting of the rock image did little to comfort the visitor as a real dragon stood directly before him. The gaping maw of the beast opened in another roar allowing full inspection of its deadly teeth. The cavern was breaking apart as the dragon began moving all about. The nostrils of the beast smelled prey and the unmistakable blue eyes of the dragon gazed in Shadi's direction.
I have no defenses against such a fortification! This was a mental defense that wasn't supposed to be broken. Watching the claws of the beast clomping forward, Shadi feared that this would be the end.
Sunlight was seen however and both man and beast sensed this. The white dragon, as if knowing that it shouldn't kill the unexpected intruder, turned around, stretched its wings, and flew off into the distance. Shadi breathed a sigh of relief. What have I uncovered here? A great hubbub of people was heard coming from a city composed of brown abode buildings. What memory lies buried here?
As Shadi walked among the people, he discerned that his own clothing did not seem out of place. Many of the people wore white robes to reflect the sun's heat, though some of the men went without shirts. Brown was the color of the poor. From his own memory, the city appeared to be Heliopolis or even Memphis as a great temple complex resided on the far end of town, close to the river.
What does this mean? Is this the proof that I've been waiting for? How can I deny what I've seen? A throng of soldiers, armed with spears, marched past him. They were hurrying towards the temple as well. A palanquin, a carriage carried by four strong men, was being used for someone of importance. Scores of men followed as well. Many of the city's inhabitants stopped and stared, but few dared to tag along. Shadi, hoping that these events could not affect him, ran after the procession.
A slight incline of stairs rose elevating the temple from ground level. Mammoth pillars stood forward where pictographic inscriptions were carved, that only the priests and scribes could read. The detachment of soldiers stood here forming a loose parameter. The palanquin was lowered. Out came, dressed in his finest purple ceremonial dress, the High Priest of Egypt. The resemblance to Seto Kaiba was unmistakable, even underneath the the ornate headgear. Shadi was not astonished by now, but it did leave him dismayed that he was last to notice.
"Have you dispatched messengers to the Pharaoh?" Kaiba's predecessor asked an attendant coming out of the temple.
The man bowed his head. "Not yet, your eminence."
"And why not?"
"We wanted you to confirm the gods will in this latest prediction."
The High Priest grudgingly acknowledged. "My reputation would be tarnished if this did turn out to be a false prediction." He was escorted inside the temple building. Shadi naturally followed him inside.
The air was cool inside. The sound of lapping water was heard flowing from the various pools within. There was some local fauna being tended by the virginal priestesses who greeted the High Priest, whom he just brushed off. Entering the main hall, he rushed to his quarters to purify himself before meeting the gods. Washing himself three times over, and then anointing his body with holy oils, the High Priest deemed himself ready.
Guards were placed before the inner sanctum of the temple, who moved aside to allow the most pious official to enter. A small chamber was his entire domain, his office. The High Priest knew that whatever happened here was between him and his Pharaoh. Soaring in this small space were the gods of Egypt who stood encircling in the form of statues: Anubis, the Jackal-headed god of the underworld; Thoth, with his crane's head full of wisdom; Ra, the bearer and overseer of the sun; and Osiris, the pale-green one whom all Pharaohs wished to become in the afterlife. The walls were covered in writings and dipictions of the gods benevolence towards Egypt. The High Priest stood in the center of them all, made offerings of incense and settled himself down into a self-induced trance. Within the hour, he had an answer to his questions.
"Inform the Pharaoh. Trouble's brewing."