I don't own Yugioh. I do own Maria, Gold, silver, and this plot… which is co-owned by Rei…figures, but nothing more,
Woot! Very long chapter.
'Blah' mental conversation
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"Remember to scream. It'll only fuel the jailer more if you don't," Seto chuckled as the jailer snapped the whip, making it smack across Ishtar's chest and stomach. At first Ishtar refused to scream, but as the jailer started hitting the sensitive areas on his chest, arms, legs, and stomach, he couldn't help but scream, hating the high priest with every fiber of his being more and more with every hit.
Finally the jailer stopped, and with a wave of his hand, Seto unlocked the ankle shackles. "Rest up, this is only the beginning," Seto said as he strode out.
Ishtar didn't move or respond, having shut his mind from the pain, thinking that his father had done this to him. 'But that can't be, I killed my father…unless his soul is tormenting me,' Ishtar thought before drifting into a painful sleep, unaware of the blood trickling slowly down his body. It was morning when he woke up, snapping his head up and crying out softly at the lines of fire that raced across his skin.
Looking down, Ishtar winced at the sight of his blood caked chest and the various lines running over his body that had scabbed already. "Come out and keep me company," Ishtar whispered and then looked to the side as his ka appeared next to him. "Hey buddy," he murmured, not wanting anyone to hear him. His ka floated up and rubbed against Ishtar's bound hands.
"Yeah, I can't lower my arms, and they're currently killing me," Ishtar replied at the look his slime monster gave him, "If only you had some way to break the chains," Ishtar groaned and then laughed lightly as the slime monster zipped around him, tickling him to cheer him up.
"That's a cute ka you have," a little voice said. Ishtar, looking through the cell bars saw a child standing at the other side looking in.
"Thanks, he's a slime monster, nothing too noteworthy about him except that he can't be destroyed," Ishtar replied as his ka slid through the bars and zipped around the child.
"Yugi, where are you?" came Seto's voice. Ishtar's ka froze and zipped back into the cell, disappearing as he went back into Ishtar.
"Here!" Yugi called. A minute later, Seto appeared and scooped up the little boy.
"You know you shouldn't run off like that," Seto scolded, "Let's be thankful your mother didn't catch you wandering around alone."
"I wanna go back up to her," Yugi said. Seto shot a glare at Ishtar and disappeared.
A couple minutes later, Mahaado was kneeling in front of Atemu and Maria, preparing to depart for the Valley of the Kings. "Pharaoh I will personally take command of the troops stationed at your father's tomb," he pledged.
"Bakura can appear at any time. Take as many guards as needed. I expect your best," Atemu replied.
"We had the most ingenious traps, but Bakura managed to sneak past all of them easily. If the traps are repaired only, this will happen again," Shimon said.
Mahaado met Atemu's eyes. "There's a new trap that's certain to catch any thief," Mahaado replied.
"You better be sure about this," Seto sneered, "After all, this is your only chance to clear your name. Next time you'll be stripped of priesthood."
"Seto, that's for Atemu to decide," Maria said sternly. Seto locked eyes with her and then bowed in apology.
"Mahaado," Atemu said, distracting him from what Seto said, "Don't be blinded by your guilt. Just think of fulfilling your duties so you can return home."
"My lord," Mahaado replied, standing and walking out. He was walking down one of the outdoor corridors when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Signaling the men behind him to continue on, Mahaado faced the pot that grabbed his attention.
"Mana, you know you can't hide from me," Mahaado said, his eyebrow twitching. A giggle came from the pot and a blonde head poked out of the pot.
"Master, you always find me," Mana said, climbing out of the pot, oblivious to Mahaado's annoyed state.
"How many times have I told you that if you're going to play in the palace, play with Yugi," Mahaado scolded.
"But I'm not playing!" Mana defended, "You're going to serve in the valley today, so I just came to see you off, that's all. Besides, Yugi's just a baby!"
"Yugi is five, you're twelve. There's not much difference," Mahaado said with a sigh, "Besides, shouldn't you be practicing your magic?" "You'll never become a full-fledged sorcerer if you keep putting it off," Mahaado scolded again, but not as angrily as before when he saw Mana's mouth open.
"Lighten up Mahaado, Mana can miss a day. However, I think she should practice twice as long tomorrow for calling Yugi a baby," Maria said coming up.
Mana opened her mouth to protest, but stopped when she saw that Maria was only teasing and giggled. "I was never like that," Mahaado said.
"That may be, but don't get mad at Mana for hiding in those pots, for Atemu used to hide from his father when he was little," Maria pointed out.
"But…" Mahaado started, but stopped as Mana giggled again.
"Mahaado," Maria said on a softer, more serious note, "I know what you're planning, but you must be careful. Magus of Illusion is not yet strong enough to defeat Diabound alone."
"Maria, Bakura's ka grew with hatred, right?" he asked and saw Maria nod in response.
"Not just hatred. A ka grows with strength from the heart," Maria replied, "…why?"
"Then in place of hatred, I have my devotion to you and Atemu and even Yugi," Mahaado stated, grabbing Maria's hand gently and kissing the fingers, "My faith in you three cannot fail! This happened because of my failure. Atemu swallowed his sadness at seeing his father desecrated and forgave me, allowing me to live. I'll stake my life to see my duty through."
Maria looked at him and then hugged him tightly. "Oh Mahaado, you're a good friend," she said with a sniff, "Here, take this. If you need comfort or assistance, don't hesitate to call their names."
Mahaado returned the hug and wiped the stray tears away. Opening his hand, his eyes widened at seeing Maria's medallion of Gold and Silver that they had made for her the day after she came to the palace. "Maria, I can't take it," Mahaado said, "It's too precious to you."
Maria shook her head and stepped back, refusing to take the medallion. Mahaado understood then and put it on. Giving Mana a quick hug, Mahaado hurried to catch up with the reinforcements.
"Maria, why did you say that Mahaado's ka wasn't strong enough?" Mana asked, "Mahaado's magic is incredible!"
"I know that, that's why he was chosen to study the highest level of magic," Maria said.
"But Master hasn't used his magic for a very long time," Mana declared. Seeing Maria's confused look, Mana decided to elaborate. "Master hasn't used his phenomenal magic since he put on the Millennium Ring. He only uses summoning magic now," she said, slightly giggling at Maria's very surprised look.
Towards evening, the guards and reinforcements at the Valley of the Kings gathered for night assignments. "All right, listen all of you!" the second in command guard announced, "Priest Mahaado himself will be guard the tomb of Akunumkanon until dawn. The rest of you lot know your usual assignments. Let no creature near this holy place!"
As a chorus of cheers filled the air, and the guards walked off to their respective tombs, none noticed at the rim of the valley, sitting behind a rock, was none other than Bakura. Biting into some garlic, he looked at the entrance to Akunumkanon's tomb and smirked at seeing Mahaado near the entrance.
"Well well, a stray priest," he murmured. Looking back down, Bakura's smirk grew wider seeing Mahaado head into the tomb. "It looks like he's going to inspect the tomb," Bakura observed and looked around at the nearby guards. "Five guards. This will be easy," he laughed.
Not even a minute later, Bakura was heading down the tomb hallway, licking the blood off of his fingers. The first four died quietly enough from caved in skulls or snapped necks, but the fifth one caught sight of him and was about to call for back up before Bakura ripped out his throat. Coming to the first trap, Bakura stopped short. There, on the other end of walkway that spanned a bottomless pit was none other than Mahaado.
"I've been waiting for you Bakura," Mahaado said.
Bakura would have replied, but a rumbling sound and then a dull boom reached his ears. Listening, Bakura heard the muffled voices of the guards saying something about three days and a soul. "It's just as I thought," Bakura said suddenly, "Akunumkanon's body isn't here at all, right? Not that I need his bones."
"I ordered Akunumkanon's body to be reburied elsewhere. This is your tomb, Bakura," Mahaado replied.
"Don't boast yet, fool. Do you think I really fell for your 'trap?' I don't want to grind that dilapidated corpse up, I came in here for the item around your neck!" Bakura growled.
"Even if you steal the ring, you cannot escape this tomb. It's our graves."
Bakura let loose an evil laugh. "Who do you think I am?" Bakura demanded, "I am the Thief King Bakura! No mere tomb will hold me!" "I showed you just how weak your ka was in the palace. You're done for this time because you don't have your precious queen to save your hide!" Bakura sneered.
"Do you really think you'll beat me?" Mahaado asked in an amused manner.
"What are you talking about?"
"In here I can release my full magic without harming anyone not in this fight. My magic has kept the darkness of the Millennium Ring at bay. This ring is too much for you!"
"Is that so? I think you better think twice about that statement. Diabound! Let's show this priest just how much we've improved!" Bakura commanded, his powers swirling around his body as the said ka appeared, looming over the walkway.
"Each time my hatred for you scum grows, Diabound evolves and becomes stronger," Bakura triumphantly explained at Mahaado's dumbfounded stare.
Mahaado closed his eyes and gripping Maria's medallion, remembered their parting words. "Then I'll release all of my heka and the powers of the Millennium Ring," Mahaado replied, the magic swirling around him creating a strong wind, "Now my spirit, come!"
Bakura's eyes widened as the Magus of Illusion appeared. What used to be a knee-high midget of a mage, it was now exactly Mahaado's height. "Well well, looks like your runt of a ka grew some," Bakura chuckled, "Now I know this is going to be fun. But of course, Diabound has evolved more than yours! You and your puny ka will sleep in here forever!"
"Bakura, even if you managed to defeat me and take the ring, you won't be able to escape. While we've been talking, workmen have buried the entrance under hundreds of tons of stone. The only way out is into the darkness of death," Mahaado said, gesturing to the bottomless pits on either side.
"Then I'll make a counter-prediction. I'll kill you, take the ring, and escape unscathed!" Bakura snarled. Diabound! Attack with thousand poison fangs!"
The snake lunged at Mahaado's mage, and moved so rapidly, it looked like hundreds of snakes were attacking at once. The mage watched calmly and dodged at the last second, zipping behind Diabound. While Bakura started in surprise, Mahaado quickly chanted a spell to strengthen Magus' attack. The mage didn't miss, his blast hitting Diabound in the chest.
"And now I add more magic to my ka to fuel a second attack. Thousand magic blasts!" Mahaado commanded, the Mage blasting Diabound with a thousand explosions.
Bakura snarled and fought to keep his balance. Issuing an order to Diabound mentally, Bakura wiped a trail of blood from his mouth. "I see, by giving your heka to your ka, you can magnify the power of its attack. That's not something any mage or priest can do. You're a spirit sorcerer," Bakura observed, looking at the blood on his hand and then licked it off.
Mahaado didn't reply, feeling that Bakura wasn't done talking. "However," Bakura continued with a smirk, stepping on a concealed button "just as a mage has ways of fighting, so do thieves."
Immediately, the blades that were secured to the wall came loose at the switch's command and started swinging. Mahaado had to concentrate on dodging the blade coming right at him and was forced to stay in a crouch between two blades. "Isn't it ironic that once I rob a tomb, I know all of its traps by heart and can use them to my advantage?" Bakura asked smugly as he jumped onto one of the blades.
"Except poison clouds eh Bakura?" Mahaado mocked with a laugh. Bakura's face twisted into an ugly expression. "I could kill your helpless form right now," he snarled.
"Magus of Illusion! Attack Bakura!" Mahaado ordered suddenly, the mage immediately rising from where he was shielding Mahaado and readying to fire a blast.
"Oh no you don't," Bakura said and pointed towards the ceiling. Mahaado looked up and spotted Diabound right above him, poised to attack. "Diabound, kill them both!" Bakura ordered.
Diabound let loose its spiral wave attack, engulfing Mahaado and the Magus of Illusion. "You can regret your decision in hell! You'll never catch the great Bakura in a thousand years!"
Mahaado groaned as the attack ended. He was surprised that he was still alive but then figured that it was due to the powers of the Millennium Ring. Shifting his gaze to his mage, Mahaado noted that it wasn't moving, its eyes dark. 'Great, my ka's energy is expended,' he thought and then remembered a spell that he had come across once.
"HA! I'll kill all of you priests one by one and gain your items. It's all going according to plan!" Bakura crowed, jumping off of the blade and landing safely on the walkway.
"I-I won't let that happen Bakura," Mahaado said, staggering to his feet. Bakura was shocked that the stubborn priest survived Diabound's attack somehow. "There is one great spell that a spirit sorcerer can cast only once. I will give my life to fuse my ka and ba together." 'Atemu…Maria…my soul is your eternal servant,' he thought before chanting in a language other than Egyptian.
'Seth? What is he chanting in?' Bakura asked.
'He's chanting in the language of the gods. He must be a really powerful mage to know that language,' he replied.
Bakura rolled his eyes and then stared in complete shock and amazement as Mahaado turned sideways and was sliced to ribbons by the blades on either side of him. Mahaado's soul shot upward and collided with the Magus of Illusion, but Bakura didn't notice.
"Eh, one down, though it wasn't my doing, not that I'm complaining," Bakura muttered, stepping on the button again to stop the blades. As the blades stopped, Bakura took a step forward and froze. Mahaado's ka was standing there, in a ready position. 'His ka is still here? But Mahaado is dead!' Bakura thought. "It can't be!" he muttered and then, "It's just an echo! Finish it off Diabound!"
The mage's eyes snapped open, and Bakura realized too late that the face under the armor was Mahaado's…not the blacked out Magus face with the glowing eyes. "Black Magic!" Mahaado said, shooting a huge ball of energy at both Bakura and Diabound.
Bakura was thrown to the side along with Diabound as the blast hit behind Bakura. Trying to regain his footing, Bakura put his foot down and felt the edge of the walkway as the force of the blast pushed him over. With a cry, Bakura plummeted out of sight.
Mahaado floated to the edge and looked over. As he suspected, Bakura was nowhere in sight. With a sigh, Mahaado looked towards where his body had stood, seeing only blood and grimaced at seeing shapes doused in blood that he figured were pieces of himself. Going over, he saw they were the Millennium Ring lying there with its cord snapped and Maria's medallion lying not far from it, its chain undamaged somehow. Picking up the medallion, Mahaado tiredly cleaned it off with magic and taking off his hat, slid it around his neck and then replaced the hat. "The Ring can stay here for all I care," Mahaado muttered.
Closing his eyes, Mahaado realized just how tired he felt and chanting one more spell, brought his body back together so that they could retrieve it later. Finally gave into the tired feeling, Mahaado fell into a deep sleep as he was pulled into the stone slab that the guards had erected. When morning came, a shout woke the guards who were taking their turn sleeping. Gathering in front of the stone slab, the guards stared in fear and then grief as the sun illuminated the face of the slab, revealing an image of Mahaado as the Mage of Illusion.
"Come on, let's get the slab to the palace," The now captain of the guard said after a long pause. Putting it on rollers, the Valley guards slowly towed the slab to the palace in the predawn light.
Atemu, Maria and the priests entered the throne room curiously. Atemu had roused Maria and the priests, saying that some of the guards had come from the Valley of the Kings. Taking a seat in her throne, Maria noted that the guards were lined up on either side of a cloth-covered object.
"Your highnesses, this tablet has the results of the battle between Bakura and Priest Mahaado," the head guard said, motioning for the soldiers on either side of the tablet. The soldiers grabbed the cloth and pulled it off after a slight hesitation.
"What!" came the unison cry from the priests at seeing the Magus of Illusion on the tablet, with Mahaado written in the corner. "Mahaado," Maria murmured, tears streaming silently down her face.
"With the rise of the sun…the stone tablet…" The guard that spoke trailed off, too grief stricken to continue.
"Never mind that! Did he kill Bakura?" Seto demanded, "Was the Millennium Ring stolen?"
"We can't be sure. We have guards watching the tomb entrance, but Bakura hasn't emerged yet," one of the guards answered.
"That's enough Seto!" Atemu snapped, "Now's not the time for that! Don't you have enough respect to grieve, even though you two weren't close?"
"…" Seto bowed his head and gazed at the floor in shame. Atemu got up and walked to the tablet.
"Maria, come see," Atemu said suddenly. Maria looked at him confused but came over anyway. Atemu pointed at up towards Mahaado's face, and Maria saw it. On the tablet was a splash of color in a circle. It was mostly blue, but a curve was yellow, and the opposite curve was gray.
"He kept the medallion," Maria said quietly.
"There's more," Atemu said, gazing at a short inscription in the bottom corner. As both read it, they could almost hear Mahaado's voice uttering the words: 'Atemu…Maria…my soul is your eternal servant.'
"Atemu, do you think his body is intact in the tomb?" Maria asked.
"Knowing him, if he ended up dying and then fused his spirit and soul together, he would have restored his body," Atemu replied, "We'll go in a day or two to see if his body is good enough condition."
"Why would his body need to be in good enough condition?" Karim asked, coming up.
"His body has to be intact in order for his body to be mummified," Maria replied, "All of you have priest tombs."
"So why are going in a few days?" Isis asked, approaching also.
"Bakura may still be in the tomb waiting for us to unplug it so he can escape," Atemu said with a touch of bitterness.
…
Bakura felt something hard underneath him and groaned as pain came to his body full-force. Rolling carefully onto his back, Bakura found a wall and eased himself into a sitting position. "Now I know that I definitely broke something," he groaned, opening his eyes finally and looking around and then up. "How the hell did I manage to survive that fall?" Bakura wondered out loud, looking up at the now crack-sized line of light.
"You weren't supposed to, but I decided to save your life. I think it's a bit better than dying of a snapped neck," Seth replied dryly, appearing to the groggy thief.
"So that's why my neck feels sore," Bakura commented, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well I healed it as best as I could. Healing someone isn't exactly easy for the god of chaos," Seth snorted.
"Yeah I know. By the way, did you make this rock shelf?" Bakura asked.
"No, you landed on it. That's how you snapped your neck."
"Ah," Bakura sighed and pooling his depleted energy, summoned Diabound. "Hey, how are you feeling?" Bakura asked his ka.
/Like hell/ Diabound replied/but I can fly us out of here./
"Good," Bakura said. Diabound scooped him up carefully so as not to hurt his master further and flew straight up. Clearing the walkway, Bakura looked down and spotted something. "Diabound, take me down to the walkway," he commanded. Diabound spread his huge wings further to slow down and circling, set Bakura down gently on the walkway.
Bakura winced at the pain in his body, but ignored it otherwise and walked towards the figure lying on the bridge. "Fool," Bakura spat, seeing Mahaado's lifeless form, purple hair hanging in front of his face. Bending down, Bakura picked up the Millennium Ring and using his coat, rubbed some of the dried blood off of it. "One down," he murmured, sliding the item into a pocket and returning to Diabound, who then flew them out of the tomb and to Kuru Eruna.
As Diabound circled, looking for a big enough place to land near Bakura's sleeping house, Bakura spotted an two all too familiar black horses inside one of the buildings. "Diabound, just land me. I can walk. It's my upper body that hurts," Bakura ordered, immediately feeling Diabound descend. As Diabound set him down in the main street and disappeared back into Bakura, Bakura walked towards his sleeping house.
"Didn't I tell you to stay away?" Bakura asked a minute later as he entered his room and saw Rei waiting for him.
"There's trouble in Thebes and I had to get away," Rei replied, immediately going over to him and inspecting the damage, "What happened to you?"
"Got into a fight with one of the priests. He killed himself to fuse with his ka, attacked me, knocked me over the edge into a bottomless pit and would have died if it weren't for sheer dumb luck that I didn't break anything vital when I landed on a rock shelf. Any more questions?" Bakura asked sarcastically as he let Rei tend to him.
"No, but you do have broken ribs, a very strained neck, and a dislocated shoulder," Rei replied, busy taping Bakura's chest.
Bakura nodded tiredly, but jumped, adrenaline spiking as Rei popped his shoulder back in. "You could have warned me," he growled, cradling his shoulder.
Rei gently pried her brother's hand away and tearing her galabia, fashioned a sling out of the torn part and put it on Bakura. "There, nothing I can really do about your neck though," Rei said sitting back on her heels.
"Thanks. That reminds me, where's your lackey?" Bakura asked.
"That's why I left Thebes. Two days ago, Ishtar had gone to the market, and saw two of the priests supervising the search for you when he was returning. My guess is that he panicked and fled, but got caught and was hauled off. When he passed the house, I heard him whistle and immediately left for here," Rei explained.
"Why would they haul him off?" Bakura asked curiously.
"I don't know, but I think it has something to do with kas."
"What makes you think that?"
Rei gestured to her side as her ka appeared next to her. "I sent Dreadscythe to scout while I packed. She heard Priest Seto and Priest Shaddah talk about ka strengthening the lowlifes that they were dragging out of the houses."
"And they're probably going to train the kas to make them strong enough to defeat Diabound…not like it'll happen," Bakura snorted, relaxing on his bed, "Once I'm better, I'll go rescue Ishtar."
"Well, knowing your stubbornness and resilience, you'll recover quickly if you rest up," Rei said, smoothing her brother's hair before leaving. Bakura smiled softly and fell into a comfortable sleep.
…
About a week later, the prisoners were led into a huge chamber with a bottomless pit taking up most of the room. What caught their attention though, was that there was a huge platform suspended by magic over the pit that they were currently being herded onto. Ishtar was among them, his back and font cut open from whiplashes and his pants were also ripped in gashes, but he didn't care about that.
Not moving once he was on the platform, Ishtar looked around by only moving his eyes. He could tell that something was about to happen, and he wasn't going to let it catch him off guard.
"Listen up scum," Seto said, appearing on a smaller platform several feet higher than the prisoners, "You all know what a ka is, so you're going to fight with them. It will be a battle royal, no rules."
"What's in it for us?" the prisoner next to Ishtar demanded.
Seto looked at the prisoner, and then his gaze shifted slightly to lock gazes with Ishtar. "What's in it for you? Well, how about if you are the last one alive, you go free," Seto replied softly, but everyone heard it.
Ishtar gave a light snort. He was positive that there was more to it than the pompous priest said, but still…he wanted his freedom. As Seto ordered the battle to start, the prisoners summoned their kas and started battling. Ishtar, however, calmly observed the kas and merely sat down, not bothering to summon his ka.
"What's the matter boy?" a prisoner that was much older than Ishtar sneered, "Don't know how to summon your ka?"
Ishtar blinked up at him, narrowing his eyes. "I know how to summon my monster, but I'm not wasting my energy on a pitiful fool like you," he replied, a growl putting an edge to his tone.
"Well then I'll just have to knock you off that nice little edge that you set yourself on," the prisoner retorted, him and his ka lunging towards Ishtar. Ishtar watched, calculating. When the person was close enough, Ishtar's ka erupted from his body and stretching, engulfed both, forming into a ball.
"Then I guess you are a fool for not thinking of all of the possibilities," Ishtar replied, standing and going behind the ball. Giving it a swift kick, Ishtar watched the slime ball bounce over the edge. "Shit, that's my ka as well," he muttered after a second before whistling, causing his ka to release the other prisoner and his ka and zoom back up to him.
"One down, and forty-eight to go," Ishtar said patting his ka. That week of almost non-stop torture made his ka grow. Now it slightly resembled a humanoid. The slime monster went in front of Ishtar and looked for its next victim.
Seto looked down from where he had summoned a chair to watch the Battle. Finding the blonde boy and his ka, Seto smirked, seeing with satisfaction that the slime ka had grown a lot during that one week. "Seto, how is the recruiting going?" Akunadin asked coming up.
"Within thirty seconds the one prisoner you had you eye on was knocked over into the chasm," Seto replied with a snort, "That blue slime-like ka seems to be indestructible. Just now it was sliced to ribbons, and it looks like its going back together." "By the way, how is that girl I found?" Seto asked, returning his attention to the battle.
"Isis said she'll be all right. She said that Kisara, the girl, was just severely and cruelly mistreated before you intervened. She just needs a few days," Akunadin replied.
Seto nodded and standing, went to go do his priestly duties. As he left, Seto failed to notice lilac eyes watching him. Once the priest left, Ishtar looked at his ka. "Now my slime defender, transform to your true form," Ishtar commanded. His ka immediately started twisting and grew sleek, became humanoid except for the waist down, and grew a sickle for a hand.
Towards the end of the day, Seto returned and observed the results of a day. Blinking, Seto was amazed to see the blonde actually killing his opponent slowly with his bare hands while his ka sliced the other ka to ribbons. Finally breaking the other prisoner's neck, the blonde threw the body carelessly into a decent-sized pile of corpses. "It looks like I won," Ishtar spat, turning and glaring up at Seto.
"It appears so," Seto replied, brandishing his Millennium Rod.
"What are you doing?" Ishtar demanded, "Let me go! I participated in your sick battle, so now I want to leave."
"I guess I forgot to tell you that you'll be set free after we seal away you ka for future use," Seto said, turning the rod so that it faced Slime Defender, "Now, say goodbye to your ka."
"I don't think so! Slime defender! Use your special ability and mimic a monster!" Ishtar ordered. Slime Defender twisted into a blob and then formed into a slime version of Dreadscythe. Seto in reply summoned Duos and sliced 'Dreadscythe' into ribbons.
"Are you done playing?" Seto asked, watching the slime monster turn into a ball.
"No." At that refusal, Ishtar's ka immediately responded to Ishtar's thoughts and started transforming, growing bigger and bigger until it formed into Diabound.
Seto took a step back, amazed that this boy would know about Diabound…unless he knew Bakura. 'Duos, before that slime monster can attack us, attack the boy. It seems that he's using a huge amount of energy to control such a massive transformation,' Seto mentally said to Duos. Duos nodded, and with lightning quickness, maneuvered around the slime monster and struck Ishtar. Ishtar crumpled like a leaf, but before Seto could catch the ka, it zoomed back into Ishtar's body. With a growl, Seto summoned guards and ordered them to take him back to his cell and chain him up so he couldn't escape.
…
A few hours later, Ishtar stirred and immediately realized that he was chained to the wall like he had been for the past week. With a sigh, he slumped against the wall and was about to go back to sleep when a voice cut through the silence.
"Oh no you don't. I waited a goddamn hour for you to wake up, and now you're going to stay awake," the voice growled.
Ishtar raised his head and opening his eyes, looked at the shadowy figure in front of him. "Who…"
The figure chuckled, interrupting Ishtar, and moved into the patch of moonlight. "Bakura," Ishtar said in realization.
"What the hell did they do to you?" Bakura asked, acknowledging Ishtar's small greeting and started working on Ishtar's chains.
"They tortured me for over a week and then forced me and about 49 others to battle today," Ishtar replied as Bakura finished picking the locks and he and his arms tumbled to the ground from the sudden lack of support.
"Ka strengthening?"
"Yeah," Ishtar said as he stood and accepted his shirt and cloak from Bakura and put them on, "I really hate them now because of it."
"Which priest did it?" Bakura asked.
Ishtar thought on it as they headed over to the bars and Bakura set to work picking the lock with his good arm. "It was priest Seto. So, what happened to you?"
"Almost broke my damn neck and dislocated my shoulder to get this," Bakura replied as he held up the Millennium Ring that was hanging around his neck.
"At least you got it."
"Yeah," Bakura agreed as the door swung open, "Well, let's not stall. I want to get at least another item tonight, and I suspect you want revenge." Grinning at Ishtar's eager nod, Bakura led the way out of the dungeons and up onto the palace wall.
Meanwhile, Maria knelt at the altar of the temple with her head bowed. Even after he attacked the palace and then killed Mahaado, Maria found it hard to believe that Bakura did those with his own free will. Just something about the way he had hesitated a few times in the palace directed her thoughts. It just wasn't like him to change his behavior so suddenly.
"Hu, Imhotep, Isis, Maat. Ipy, Ra, Sia, Thoth. Please come help me fing the answers that I seek. You all have the wisdom and intellect that will put my mind at ease," she prayed. At first, nothing happened, but then Maria felt that she wasn't alone in the temple like she had been a minute ago. Looking up, her eyes widened when she saw a glowing, door-sized rectangle. Going up to it curiously, Maria reached out to touch it and yelped in surprise as she was pulled into the light. "Where am I?" she murmured, looking around at her white surroundings.
"This is a realm between your realm and the realm of the gods," a regal voice explained. Maria turned around and immediately knelt in a bow when she saw the eight gods that she had just prayed to.
"You need not kneel or avert your eyes. In this realm, we are equals," Isis said gently, helping Maria up.
"All of you replied to my prayer?" Maria asked in awe.
"Yes," Ra replied as he stroked the head of the phoenix Winged Dragon of Ra that was currently perched on his shoulder, "It's not often that a royal asks for help so sincerely."
"So tell us, what would you like to know?" Imhotep asked.
"Well, I want to know why Bakura changed priorities so fast. It's not like him."
Maat took the feather of truth from her headband and made it float in front of her. The other gods added their magic, causing the feather to project a vision from several nights ago. Maria watched, horrified as Bakura made a deal with Seth to spare his life. The image then changed to show Bakura becoming enslaved to Seth.
"Bakura didn't know it, but he basically dug his own grave making that deal with Seth," Ra said quietly once the visions ended.
"What do you mean?" Maria asked, tearing her thoughts from replaying those visions.
"Bakura will disobey Seth so greatly, Seth will punish him by shocking him to death," Thoth answered.
"What does he disobey Seth with?" Maria asked with a sinking feeling.
"We can't tell you that, for you'll find out soon enough," Isis replied, removing a necklace with a beautiful stone on it from her neck. "At that time, if you wish to save Bakura, you'll need this. It will enable you to temporarily borrow and use any god's powers. You'll just need to call the name of the god or goddess," she finished, putting the necklace around Maria's neck.
As Maria adjusted the necklace, the Winged Dragon of Ra suddenly warbled a note and ruffled its wings in an agitated manner. "Come, we've been away for far too long," Ra said after calming the phoenix.
The other gods nodded and started disappearing. Maria looked around and saw that the doorway to the temple ha reappeared. The doorway had barely closed when a bloodcurdling scream pierced the air. Maria ran out of temple and barely jumped out of the way in time as two midnight black horses barreled past, who she recognized as Anubis and Sekhmet.
"Are you all right?" Atemu asked, coming to a stop on Star, apparently ready to chase the horses down.
"I'm fine. What happened?" Maria asked in reply.
"Bakura tried to take Akunadin's Millennium Eye but didn't when Akunadin yelled in pain. However, he and another male stole Seto's Millennium Rod," Atemu replied, "I need you to stay here with Yugi. Osiris can take Diabound."
"But, Bakura's truly not that bad. I see that now. Oh Atemu, please don't kill him," Maria murmured after Atemu had galloped off, summoning Osiris as he went.
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YSF: So the chase begins! Only three chapters left, and then I'll make a sequel. I need your help to think of a title for the Sequel. It has to be catchy and interesting though. And as always: All I ask is that you review. It doesn't have to be a long review, you can just put nice or good in it and I'll be happy.
And again by the way, if anyone would be so kind as to read my best friend's fic: Immortal Death by Night Spirit1. She needs five reviews, so please help her out. It's really a good story.