FANART TIME! Not much though, but I guess you could call it an almost spoiler. It's a pic of Priest Mokuba in action (kinda) Check it out (remove the spaces): www . deviantart . com / deviation / 18324385 /
Yami Yugi: Hey everyone! Guess what? I'm back with another chapter!
Yugi: (sarcastically) Woohoo.
Jou: (sarcastically) Yippie.
YYY: Oh come on guys! You know you have fun with me…
Yugi and Jou: …
YYY: You know you love me…
Yugi and Jou: …
YYY: You know I'm the one that signs your paychecks…
Yugi and Jou: You are the greatest author ever and we love working with you!
YYY: (sigh) Let's just get on with it. Sorry, no reviewer response this time, but I'll make up for it next time. Promise! But still, thanks for all the wonderful reviews and for putting up with my slow updates for so long. You guys rock!
Disclaimer and Warning: I refuse to type this one more time! You know by now what I do and don't own. Get used to it!
Chapter 15
He moved silently down the dark stone hallway, wrapping his dark cloak closer around him. He mumbled something to himself in an annoyed tone and quickened his pace. The place just -had- to be underground. They could have made it up above the ground like normal people but no. It had to be dark and fifty degrees bellow zero at all times.
He growled and made it to the end of the hall. He pushed open the door and entered a dimly lit room.
"You're late."
"Screw you."
The other man chuckled. "Now, now, let's not be rude. Come. Sit. It's time we got started."
He sneered at him and sat himself on the opposite side of the fire in the center of the room.
"So then my Bandit friend, what information do you have for us," the other asked folding his hands and letting his chin rest upon them.
The bandit made a face at his leader and spoke. "Well, the full Seven have been assembled."
"Oh?"
"Yes. The final two area pair of thieves. I think their names were Bakura and Ishtar. They are also the masters of the Wind and Fire Elementals."
The leader smirked. "Now this is getting interesting. So everyone is assembled. Then it should be staring soon."
"Yeah. How long it takes, however, depends on how attached they are and how strong their hearts are. But they will all turn in the end. In fact," he cracked a smile, "Ishtar, the master of the Fire Elemental, has already begun to crack. But the others have had their slaves much longer, but show no signs of change."
"Yes, I suppose their hearts are stronger. We will merely have to wait for them."
"Yes, we could do that," came a woman's voice. The two men looked at their comrade who, up until now, had remained silent. "But that could take a long time. Do you really feel like waiting?"
The leader looked interested. "And what, exactly, do you have in mind?"
She smirked. "Just a little push to help them along."
The four slaves lounged in the shade of a large tree in the courtyard the next day. Bakura and Ishtar were in Priest training with Yami and Seto, leaving the four to entertain themselves.
And it wasn't working.
"Hey Ryou."
"Hmm?"
"Hey Ryou."
"Yeah?"
"Hey Ryou."
"Yes?"
"Hey Ryou."
"What?"
"Hey Ryou."
"…"
"Hey Ryou."
"Damnit! What is it?"
"… hi."
"HI?"
Yugi and Malik sat back, leaning against the palace walls and watched as Jounouchi got his face pounded into the ground by the white haired boy.
Malik yawned and stretched. "Well, that was almost mildly amusing for a second."
"Yeah, kinda," he responded not really that interested. It was a very boring morning where everything seemed kind of hazy and unimportant. Almost dream like.
"Owowow! That's my leg!" came Jounouchi's shouts from the background.
"I hope they get out of training soon," Yugi stated, ignoring the commotion in the background. "It's boring without them."
Malik humphed. "They can stay in training for as long as they like."
The other quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Cause my master's a weird jerk." At this Yugi somehow appeared right in front of his face in a millisecond. "What?"
"What's the problem?" he inquired. "You two have a fight or something?"
Malik shook his head. "No. Well, yes, but that isn't the problem."
"So what is?"
He shrugged. "I dunno. I just get the feeling that he hates me."
"What?" came the chorus of three voices, Jounouchi and Ryou suddenly part of the discussion. "Why would you think that?"
He shrugged again. "It's kind of hard to explain, but I just think that he does."
"I seriously doubt it." Ryou said. "I mean, he might act really mean to you at first, but that doesn't mean he -hates- you."
Jounouchi nodded in agreement. "That's right. Like, Seto was a total jerk to me when I first met him. Well, he's still a jerk, but that's not the point because even though he is sometimes mean, it doesn't mean he hates me."
Yugi looked at him. "Seto? Since when are you calling him Seto?"
The blond blushed. "Uhh… Since yesterday… he said that's what he wanted me to call him so…"
"Yes!" Yugi exclaimed happily before glomping his friend.
"Whoa, wait. What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh come on," he whispered in his ear. "You know you like him." The older boy blushed even harder.
"Uh, guys. Back to the subject at hand please," Ryou said.
"Right," Yugi said, returning to the previous conversation. "So come on. Spill it. What gave you the idea that he hates you?"
He told them what happened the previous day and by the time he had finished, they were all shaking their heads in disappointment.
"Malik…"
"How could you."
He jumped. "What? It's my fault? What I do?"
"You scared the hell out of him, that's what."
He looked at them. "Uh, yeah. That was the point. It was supposed to be funny."
"Malik!" Ryou whined.
"What?"
He sighed. "You know what? Follow me. We're going for a little walk."
"O-kay," he gave him a weird look which grew when he saw him climbing the tree.
"Well, come on." He followed him up the tree. Yugi and Jounouchi stayed on the ground, both wondering what the white haired boy was up to.
Once the two were a very high distance up, Ryou turned to Malik. "Okay, now watch this." He walked backwards, putting a few feet of distance between the two on the branch.
But as he walked, his leg got caught on a stray branch, causing him to trip. He quickly put his arms out for balance, but couldn't get his footing strait fast enough, and fell off.
"Ryou!" Malik ran forward in a panic. The only reason they were up there was because of him. If Ryou got hurt because of it, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.
He reached the spot where he fell of and looked down, only to see Ryou smiling up at him from the branch bellow.
"Gotcha." He grinned.
Malik blinked at him before glaring down at him. "You little, you scared me!" he jumped down to him and grabbed him by the front of the shirt.
"Whoa, slow down," Ryou put his hands up in defense. "Now, how do you feel right now?"
"Like I'm going to kill you," he growled.
"Angry?"
"Hell yes!"
"Well that's how Ishtar felt after that little stunt you pulled yesterday."
He blinked for a few moments, realization dawning on him. "Oh…" he let go of his shirt. "I really screwed up, huh?"
Ryou smiled and shook his head. "Nah, you just made a little mistake. Nothing you can't fix. Now come on, let's get down from here."
Malik nodded and started climbing down the tree.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Yami sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Hitting you're head against the wall isn't going to help us any," he muttered.
"Don't care. Bang. I figure if… Bang. I hit my head… Bang. Hard enough… Bang. I'll pass out… Bang. Thus ending my misery. Bang."
The Pharaoh took his finger and thumb and applied pressure to his temples. It had been a LONG day and Seto trying to get himself to pass out wasn't helping any. Then again, he wasn't that far behind him. Ishtar and Bakura were… He couldn't think of a word to describe them.
Childish, impossible, and a downright pain in the ass were words that came to mind though.
For what must have been days (although really only a few hours) they had been trying to train them to become proper priests. Key word there being "trying."
Problems started right away when Ishtar refused to actually put the Millennium Eye into his eye socket. After a large amount of arguing, they had to give in, but for the Eye to work properly, they had to go through a ceremony so it could work outside of a body which took up a large amount of time and energy. By the time they were prepared to start training, the two thieves complained about being too tired.
Even when they did start it was just a big mess. Bakura was pretty decent when it came to hand to hand combat, and was very skilled with a bow and arrow, but when it came to magic, which was what really counted, he was next to hopeless. Ishtar was even worse as he couldn't even handle hand to had combat, much less magic.
And so five hours later there they were. Bakura and Ishtar staring in shock, Yami just about ready to give up, and Seto succeeding in tunneling through the wall with his head.
"A simple energy spell," Yami muttered. "You invoke the power of the Item you hold, and pray to the Gods to enhance your spiritual energy. The most basic of magic. I mastered it when I was five. So tell me…
"HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE TO GET US LOCKED IN A ROOM THAT DIDN'T EVEN EXIST FIVE MINUTES AGO!"
Bakura blinked and looked around the room. "Just gifted I guess."
"Argh! Seto, move over." He came up next to the High Priest and proceeded to bang his head against the wall as well.
"Hey, do you guys hear something?" came a muffled voice from above them. The four stopped and looked up at the ceiling.
"You mean like some kind of banging?" came another voice. "Yeah. What do you think it is?"
Ishtar jumped up. "Hey!" he shouted at the ceiling. "We're down here! Let us out!"
"Huh? Who was that?"
"It… kind of sounded like Ishtar… Yugi, how about you do some digging?"
There was a shifting sound and s oft rumbling from above. A second later the four jumped back as the ceiling caved in, allowing a steam of light to pass into the chamber. He approached under the opening to see the faces of four curious slaves looking down on them.
"Hey, need some help?"
"Eight little sleepers snug in their beds
Who knows what dreams now run through their heads
An amazing adventure in far away lands
Love and romance in the palms of their hands
But sweet little dreamers the end is now here
A nasty little nightmare draws ever near
So sleep well children in a warm embrace
The romance is soon over leaving death in its place."
A dark violet light glowed in the darkness of the night around the bodies of four masters. It lingered for only a moment before fading away. And within the darkness outside the palace walls a woman laughed into the night, a shorter figure beside her also with a fading purple glow about her.
"Good job my pet," the woman said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulders. "Now, Pharaoh, it is time for you and all you're little friends to put on a show which the world will never forget!"
YYY: Hehehe. Okay, so not much development (or answered questions) in this chapter. If anything, I probably gave you guys even more to wonder about. But yeah, You'll probably get a few answers in the next chapter (maybe) but it all depends on what I come up with. See you then! (whenever that might be.)