Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. But I can't say I wouldn't like to.

A/N: This takes place some time before the Egypt Arch saga. I imagine around half a year before. Again, I hope any anti-Semitism is seen as proving a point that is not anti-Semitic.

Serq is evil and I love it. Everything about the staff is revealed in this chapter, everything about Serq's behavior and everything else too. Also beware of AU and mention of slash. Also I kinda indulged some of my AU fantasies with Habib's illusion. I'm only human after all.

Also I'm beginning to wonder what type of message I'm sending. It seems to be that all families are different and exotic northerns are evil. Oh dear me.

Mock Forms
Chapter IX: Black Magic

Safiya ran over to Bakura and shook him by the arm as hard as she could. "King! King!!"

Serq cocked his head to the side and smiled. "It won't do you any good. He can't hear you."

Safiya turned quickly to Serq. "What have you done to him!?! What did you do!?!"

"Do you see this?" He said rose his staff to show her from across the field. "This is a staff that I created using the same book that was used to create the Pharaoh's necklace. It's magic, powerful stuff." He paused for a moment and smiled as he gazed at his staff. After a long minute, he turned back to her. "Though there was something that was... a little too... messy for me. The human sacrifices that is. The only way to create something that powerful is to use humans you see."

Safiya stared at him for a moment. "You..."

Serq rolled his eyes irritably. "No! I guess it's asking too much for you to listen. Having bloody hands isn't something I was planning on having. I used the bones of this city. They were... lying around after all." Serq said and a choked laugh.

Safiya whimpered quietly. The boy was mad. No, he was beyond that. "You're a monster!! How could you defile a village for something like that!?!"

"You're going to hurt my feelings." He said with a fake pout. "This staff gives me power. In fact at this very moment, your little boyfriend is locked inside an illusion created by my sennen staff."

"You trapped him in an illusion... that you created..."

"Are all of you so perceptive? I didn't create it. He did. I simply sent him to his greatest fear. And I plan on doing the same thing to all of you. I am not having my plans spoiled by some nosy peasants and a slave." Serq snapped as Jono and Habib caught up to them.

Jono snarled. "Let the thief go!"

"Or what? You'll send out that lizard of yours again. I'm sending all of you to an illusion and finishing you for good. I don't need the aggravation of having loose ends."

"You helped us." Habib said. "Or are all Noddians snakes?"

"Ooo... Noddians. I haven't heard that in a while either and dragging race into this, too. This is quite a treat." His smile faded and was replaced with an irritated scowl. "I sent you on your merry way hoping that you wouldn't bother me again. But I guess my mercy wasn't good enough for all of you."

Safiya clung to Bakura's arm. Her ka hovered overhead close to Diabound. Jono and Habib hurried to Safiya's side and summoned their ka's. The Red Eyes hissed and Chimera roared at Serq as they flew low trying to shield their masters. Jono walked right through his toward Serq. "Leave my sister out of this! You have your staff! What do you need the thief and us for!?! You've seen how things work! You have the bureaucracy wrapped around your finger!! We're no threat!"

Serq smiled musingly. "You mean the priest?" Serq laughed to himself. "Yes, the innocent admiring little brother does suit me, doesn't it?"

"I guess... Though I think you'd make a much better lap dog."

Serq laughed. "Lap dog!?! I don't think you under..." Serq paused and looked at the Jono and Habib. The blond had stepped through his ka and where was it!?! The red eyes swooped down and lunged at the staff. Serq fell backwards still clinging to it. He turned to see that his ka snarling as he was trying to get away from Chimera. He had transformed back in the confusion. He turned to the thief who still seemed to be in the trance and rose to his feet. "You tricked me!! How dare you trick me!!!"

Jono cursed under his breath and turned to Habib. "What now?!"

"I'll tell you what now!" Serq barked across the field. The boy was clearly irrate. He wasn't used to not getting his way or being outwitted. The black eye on his forehead flickered violently and began to grow. "I've teach you for tricking me."

Safiya clung to Bakura and Jono tried to shield the others. It was too late though. Serq had all ready used the staff against them.

Atem cocked his head to the side and looked out into the desert. "Shimon?"

"Yes, my lord?"

Atem squinted as he looked out over the balcony. "Are any of the priests out of the city at the moment?"

Shimon looked over at the young Pharaoh with some confusion. It was getting late in the day and if they were, it would have been unusual. "No sire, all of the priests are in their rooms at the moment. Though I think Lord Akunadin is out in the Church of the Ra."

"I mean are any of the priests out in the desert?"

"Out in the desert?" Shimon seemed even more confused. "Why would they be out in the desert, sire?"

Atem turned back to his advisor. "No reason in particular. I have to go handle some business. Mind the throne while I'm gone." Atem said and began toward the corridor.

"But... yes, Lord Pharaoh."

Atem walked quickly down the hall. He had seen something in the desert. He wasn't sure what exactly but his instincts were telling him it was a ka duel. With all of the unusual occurrences, he had to consult the priests. He wasn't going to let his one go. He turned at the end of the hall and stopped at Mahado's room. He paused for a moment and knocked. This was going to be awkward.

Mahado answered lazily. "Yes..." His eyes widened and he stood up straight at the sight of Atem. The priest's face was at that moment a beet red and looked as though he could faint. "My Lord Pharaoh! I'm sorry... I didn't think it was... I thought it may have been... what can I do for you?"

Atem sighed to himself. "Something's bothering me."

"Bothering you?"

"Yes... it's about those prisoners from the other day. Something is bothering me about them."

"You don't think they were innocent?"

"No, something else is bothering me..."

Mahado thought for a moment. "My Lord, I spoke with the girl. I don't think she meant us any harm. She seemed good hearted and her ka was as gentle as any would hope."

"It's not the girl."

"The older brother then?"

"No."

"The slave or the thief?"

"No, it's was something about that situation."

Mahado furrowed his brow. "What are your thoughts?"

"Strange things have been happening in Egypt of late."

"Indeed. The peasant's dueling. That rogue thief spreading propaganda and raiding tombs. The slave rebelling. Nothing like this has happened before."

Atem paused. Nothing had happened like this before well not before that new architect. The architect. He hadn't gotta along with that boy. However with everything else, he hadn't had any time to do anything about it. He had charged him with attacking the peasants but he hadn't done it. It was proven in trial. Though... he had only been acquitted because of Priest Set's comments. As a matter of fact, Set's outrage had helped the boy a great deal. "Where did Set find the architect?"

Mahado thought of a moment. "I don't know. I never asked him. He just came back with him after he took that mission leave in the northern states."

Atem's head felt like it was spinning at the moment. He had assigned a completely unreferenced foreigner to a position of not just power but resources. The bureaucracy would have his head if he weren't God on earth.

"I think I remember Set saying something about false allegations of theft from the boy's previous employer."

Atem turned quickly. "Who was that?"

"Some nomadic king in the northern states. Set assured me that it was false. The systems up there are somewhat crude and run by barbarians. He said it was based on superstition. Something about the boy being from a cursed people or something to that affect."

Atem looked at him shocked. "And you didn't think this was anything worth mentioning!"

Mahado stepped back cautiously. "It's all hearsay, my lord."

"Hearsay. It was hearsay in Egypt with the slave, too." Atem muttered angrily. "I can't believe I was so stupid."

"You aren't stupid, my Lord."

"Not now, Mahado. Where is the architect?"

"I'm sure, he's in his room. I haven't seen him most of the day." Mahado said calmly as he followed the distressed young Pharaoh.

Atem opened the door to Serq's room. Sure enough, the boy was nowhere to be found. He looked around. The small room was cluttered with papyrus pages. Atem picked a few up and looked at him. They weren't architectural. Most were designs for what seemed to be sennen items.

"Pharoah Atem," Mahado said and handed Atem another papyrus paper. "I think it's a map."

It was a map. The paper was a drawing of the city in great detail and the desert surrounding it. A line was drawn through it leading to an X in a mountainous region of the desert. Atem couldn't imagine what he would want there. "Is there anything there, Mahado?"

"No, just an old city. It was abandoned years and years ago when you were an infant. It's a hard life out in the desert."

Mahado grasped and Atem turned. "What is it?"

Mahado picked up a large book that Serq had wedged between a desk and the wall. "This is one of the sacred books from the temple. Why is it in here?"

Almost on cue, Akunadin rushed through the door and seized the book. "Where did you find this?"

Both men stared at the elder priest wide eyed. They weren't used to being scolded and he seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"Out with it! I've been looking for this book was almost a week now! It's been in the library of the temples since before I was born and all of the sudden it went missing!! Where did you find it!?!"

Mahado cleared his throat. "I just found it in here, Lord Akunadin. Maybe the architect was borrowing it for research and you forgot."

Akunadin looked insulted by the very idea. "Why would I lend this book to the architect? It's a spell book. It's the very book used to create those items that we save Egypt with! I'd hardly let this out of my sight!"

Mahado turned to Atem. Atem was staring at the priest as well. They both turned back to Akunadin. "He stole the book. Priest Akunadin, I think the boy is trying to create a new set of sennen items and I think he's doing it out in the desert."

Mahado and Akunadin both stared hard at the Atem. "Are you sure?"

"I think I am. Mahado and I are going to the X on his map. We need to have a talk with Serqmaaker."

Safiya stood stiffly refusing to open her eyes. The explosion of magic had passed and she felt that she was more or less all right physically. Though that wasn't the greatest of her fears by a long shot. Serq had more than rattled her and to open her eyes would send her to the illusion. She whimpered and took a deep breath. She could do it. She knew she could. She'd come this far to save the Thief King and she wasn't letting Serq stop her. She opened her eyes and looked around. Blackness. She took another deep breath trying not to panic. Serq was certainly good at create this deepest, darkest fear concept. In her case, an emphasis on darkest was in order. Safiya was always afraid that she might one day finally go blind. Her eyes had been fine for more than four years now but the lapse of her sight in her childhood, and all through it, had always weighed on her. She swallowed hard. Serq was near. He was only so far in front of her. Her brother was there and the king and Habib as well. She thought for a moment. Perhaps she could do this. Her illusion was simply being without sight. The others more than likely were in illusions of a grander scale. She needed to help them.

She closed her eyes again. There wasn't any point in keeping them open if she couldn't see. First thing, she needed to find her ka. Without her ka, she was useless. It was their ka's that bound them. She took a deep breath and tried to find her. She could imagine the creature but her presence wasn't in it. She knew the feeling of her ka. It was a warm sensation. She knew that if she could feel her ka, she could feel the others. She drew the picture of the field, the village, her family and her ka in her mind. It was there. She knew it. It was there. It was.

Safiya opened her eyes. The gentle warmth was present and there she was. The Dancing Faeries floated before her in the darkness. They didn't say a word but smiled cheerfully and flew around her excitedly. She had done it. She hadn't broken the spell but she had found her heart, her ka, in the darkness. She did a spin and giggled to herself. The ka's glowed joyfully and clapped as they smiled to each other. They were a trio after all. Much like Safiya herself, her ka couldn't seem to be just one person with one role.

"I'm so glad you're here. We need to help my brother, Habib and the King."

The faeries nodded to Safiya and smiled.

"We can't go together though. We have to split up. I think we can because we won't be apart. This is all an illusion and if it's an illusion, it isn't real."

The faeries cocked their head and leaned in with interest. Her ka seemed intrigued.

"One of you will go to my brother, another to Habib and I'll go to the King. I'll send messages with all of you. I hope it works. You don't look up to dueling but hopefully. You won't have to."

Saifya nodded and the faeries disappeared.

"NO!!!" Jono screamed as loudly as he could as he thrashed against the weight of the guard. The guard snarled and pinned the young egyptian against a nearby abode. Jono grabbed at the guard and wall of the adobe trying to get away. He was sobbing hysterically as he scrambled to get to Habib.

The guard was growing irritably. "Be quiet! You're lucky that you aren't being charged for the same crime as him!" The guard said and threw him to the ground. Habib looked back at him concerned; as another guard began pulling him away.

Jono felt a lump welling in his throat as he pulled himself up. He tried to stay calm but it was far too late for that. Habib was being arrested. Two offenses for a slave would no doubt bring about an execution. He couldn't help but think that somehow the thief had been involved, that he had told someone about what he'd seen in the dungeons of the palace.

"You have no idea how lucky you are that the Pharaoh is letting you off." The guard echoed. "If I were him, I wouldn't be so lenient on sodomites."

Jono snarled as his coal was smudged and runny from his watery eyes. "You don't know anything about this!!"

The guard snorted. "I think the God Seth taught us all we need to know."

Jono snarled. How dare he. How dare! How dare he compare him to Seth! How dare he compare him to that incestuous dog! "You... You know nothing... nothing!"

The other guards glared at him. One still holding Habib over his bound hands. "How dare you insult the sacred stories!" One of the guards said. "I've had enough of this. We've been putting up with this long enough. We've been far too lenient on these Hebrews and their supporters."

Jono felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of the words. He knew very well where he was going. He wanted to charge him. He wanted to get in the way. He wanted to do all he could to stop what he knew that guard was about to do. But he couldn't. His legs refused his wishes and he was paralyzed for that moment.

"NOOO!!!" Jono cried drowning out the weak scream from Habib as the guard stabbed him from behind.

If he did live long after, it wasn't apparent. The young Hebrew went limp almost at once and landed in a heap on the ground. Blood rushed from the open wound after the guard freed his spear. He showed no remorse as he eyed Jono who was only feet from him. "Maybe now, you'll stop your blasphemy." The guards said firmly and strut away.

Air caught in his throat and hung as though he were choking. He had never felt so weak in his life as he did at that moment. He moved closer and knelt down beside Habib's limp body. They had abandoned him as though he meant little more to them than garbage. Jono would have been insulted, enraged and even vengeful if he didn't feel so empty. He put his arm around the other man and bent down resting his head on his shoulder. He didn't know what to do. He'd done so much to stop this from happening. He had tried so hard to keep their heads down. To keep him safe.

"All of this time."

Jono turned quickly at the sound of the familiar voice. "Saf..fiya?"

"You were... and all of this time... I thought..."

"Safiya." Jono felt his heart pounding. His sister's face spoke for itself. She had the same disgust that the thief had shone but something else was there as well. Betrayal.

"You... you never told me!"

"Safiya... I-I.. meant to. I just... didn't..."

"You lied to me. You lied!"

"I was going to tell you."

"No... you weren't..."

"Big brother!"

Jono turned quickly away from Safiya and to the sound of the voice. A small winged faery flew toward him and stopped. Its voice was that of Safiya. "Safiya?"

"No! I'm your sister!" The first Safiya said angrily.

"Don't listen to her. It's me, Jono. You'd know my ka anywhere."

"She is not! I am!" Safiya cried. "I'm your sister! This is an illusion! Your sister would never forgive you for this! You know it! You know her!"

"No, she's not! I'm Safiya." The faery paused. "You're my big brother. I don't hate you. This is an illusion."

"An illusion?"

"Yes!"

"No!" The illusion protested.

"You know everything that will happen because it's your fears. You know what she isn't going to say. You know what she'll do because it isn't real."

"You know because you know your sister. You know that I hate you for this."

Jono looked down at Habib and to Safiya. It was his fears. Persecution, rejection, death. They were all his fear realized. In fact, he couldn't remember going back home after the fight with Serq. He couldn't remember being caught by the guards. He had surrendered to it so willingly with no proof at all.

Habib stepped out of the adobe on the west side of the city. He honestly couldn't remember how they had escaped Serq and the situation that had developed. Frankly, he didn't really care to know. He was just happy to be home and away from the trouble that the Noddian had caused. Safiya was out as well. She was dragging Bakura by the hand showing him the neighborhood. Habib was almost sure the thief knew the neighborhood well enough without a proper tour but he didn't seem to object to being lead around by Safiya.

"Habib!" she smiled and turned hiding that she was holding the thief's hand behind her back. "I thought you were out with Jono."

He raised his eyebrows. He had just come out to look for Jono. He was nowhere in the house and he assumed that he was out with Safiya. "He isn't with you, then?"

Saifya seemed confused by the question. "No... I thought he was with you. We... I was trying to spend some time alo... showing Bakura the neighborhood."

"Oh..." Habib was not a slow man. He got the message; even if, Safiya was too embarrassed to say it out loud. She was avoiding her brother to spend time with her friend. "Right... Hope I'm not interrupting." He said with a cheeky smile.

Safiya blushed and the thief looked to Habib as if he had said something rather crude. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut short.

"Safiya!! Get away from him!!!"

All three of them turned quickly to the left. Jono was stomping down, from what seemed to be the main strip, in a mood. Safiya shuddered and the thief cursed under his breath. "It's fine. I'll talk to him." Habib said and smiled to Jono. "I was looking for you!"

"I'm sure you were." He said in almost a roar and pinned Habib against the adobe. The scene almost seemed to freeze for a moment. What had happened was more than unexpected. Jono had never in all of their years together ever lay a hand on him. They had wrestled for fun as children and adolescents and Habib had slapped him on the back of the head as almost scolding him but they had never fought. "How long were you planning on hiding it from me!?!"

Habib's mind was racing. He somehow knew what he was talking about. The murder. The prisoner he had killed in the ka duel. Jono knew. He had found out. "I...I was going to tell you."

Bakura snarled, "What's wrong with you!?!" Safiya, at that point, was scared half to death by the attack and clinging to Bakura's chest.

"He's a murderer!!" Jono barked to the others.

The mood changed immediately. Bakura moved a little to be more of a shield to Safiya as she just stared in shock. "Habib..."

"He fought in some kind of arena in the dungeons and murdered a prisoner!"

Habib was shaking at this point. They knew. They knew everything. They knew about the death of that prisoner. They knew how he had killed another human being. He had killed someone.

"Habib!"

Habib turned quickly still pinned against the wall. Down the street was a small hovering ka. It was Safiya's actually. He could feel it. He turned to Safiya then back to the ka. "What?"

Jono snarled and pounded him against the wall to distract him. "Don't turn away from me!!"

"Habib! Don't listen to him!"

"How are you here?"

"Habib, this isn't real. Serq has you trapped in an illusion."

"An illusion?"

"This isn't an illusion! She's lying!!"

"It is. I know you wouldn't hurt anyone Habib and if you did, Jono wouldn't be like that. You know it!"

"What does she know!?! You know very well that murder is a sin, Habib! You know what I'd do!!"

Habib stopped for a moment. Jono had just said it was a sin. He had been thinking exactly the same at that moment. He looked over to Safiya and Bakura. Jono had left them alone. He'd never leave them alone. He'd never trust Habib alone to keep "the thief" off of her. The ka was right. He come out of nowhere and jumped him without even asking. Over ten years and he didn't even ask. Jono was quick to judge but not that quick.

Safiya and her third ka tried their best to dodge the havoc that was around them. Safiya had never seen anything so horrible. People were being killed left and right. Guards butchered children and adults alike. "We need to find King and quickly."

Thank you for reading and remember to review.