Author's Note: This story is not entirely spent in the Sennen Puzzle. I have to make connections between Domino City and the Sennen Puzzle. And who knows? We may travel somewhere else. It depends on how my improvision is going. Most of my stories are improvised and I'm always surprised where I end up. And conveniently, it all falls into place! :) I hope it will do the same for this story. So far so good! Please review and tell me what you think. I'd love to hear from people.
Perhaps no matter where he was, his destiny follows. It was as if the God of all Fate does everything in its power to make sure he would not get away with leisure. Every moment was always stricken with the taste of what-seems-to-be adventitious occurrences, reminding him again and again of whom he was and what he's to do here in the contemporary world. One would believe that he can perform his destined duty while, in an intrinsic case of life, relieve himself in tranquility, but it seems he always has stress in his furrowed almond eyes. Yuugi saw this often. Whether he was in school, hanging with his friends and family, or going out, he would notice the Pharaoh from the side: the spirit's head bowed, his eyes were narrowed into contemplative slits, and he would remain rather quiet and lost in his thoughts.
Then there are days when the determined high school duelist would drag the Pharaoh out of his troubles and bring him into the carefree life of being a typical teenager. Well, for the young tri-colored doppelganger, his definition of the carefree fantastic fun life of being youthful is the arcade. Who would not agree? Surely, he expected the Pharaoh to agree with this idea strongly (because after all, the Pharaoh is the King of Games). Sometimes the Pharaoh would surprisingly tag along with Yuugi's kindness and engage in activities with Yuugi's friends. And of course, the other percentage of the times, he would urge Yuugi to go on with normality and assure him that he was fine. At least, he wanted to appear okay to Yuugi. He was selfless. He wanted Yuugi to continue with his normal life, preventing the intervention this destiny was becoming. Besides, Yuugi only had one life to live; he's not as blessed as the Pharaoh to be given another second chance at life, especially spent 3,000 years later in the modern world. It was remarkable! He gets the taste of ancient times and contemporaries, even though he was still foreign to his ancient memory with exception to the obvious, being Pharaoh of Egypt.
As of now, his mind is currently filled with the mysteries of what had occurred the night before. Nevertheless he did try to not appear so troubled, especially when Yuugi awoke that morning. The tri-colored Pharaoh sat upon the matching seat of Yuugi's work desk, his chin propped on the exterior of his hand as he watched Yuugi get ready for school. He had not realized that his expression was obviously thoughtful and had caught Yuugi in his peripheral vision, staring in curiosity. Suddenly, he brusquely removed his resting head off of his hand and before he could say anything, Yuugi was the first to speak:
"Is something the matter, Pharaoh? You're awfully quiet."
Oh, the wonders of sharing one body. Not only are their thoughts keenly sensitive to each other, but also their emotions and senses. Yuugi had felt the troubled aura emitting from the Pharaoh's sentiment.
The spirit ran his fingers through his hair, struggling to answer his aibou's reply. It's tough to be considerate of Yuugi when he knew that it was futile to avoid bothering him with his thoughts.
"You need not worry, Yuugi. I'm still a bit tired, is all," the Pharaoh explained, which he had to admit was not a very good answer, catching Yuugi's grimace.
"Why? You didn't sleep well?" Yuugi inferred with the saddened, innocent-like look on his features. It was the face of a child in the notion of disappointment when a parent promised something but ended up being cancelled for inconvenience. Every emotion painted on the tri-colored teenager was pure and so real, that the Pharaoh believed that it was the most powerful epitome of expression. The face of children is what touches people the most. There's no slightness or gray area to their thoughts and feelings; it was sole and honest.
And because of that, it created another problem for the Pharaoh to give a white lie.
Standing up straight, he approached the young school boy and placed a hand on his shoulder, a smile taking place on his usually stringent features. "It's alright, Yuugi. We have been through this countless of times. I can handle myself," he assured, receiving a childish pout from the young Yuugi, only making the Pharaoh chuckle as a result.
"Yeah, I know. But…" Yuugi protested, only letting his words drift off into uncertainty.
'It's not fair.' The Pharaoh thought to himself, rehearsing the words Yuugi said so many times as his reasoning. It may not be fair, but he cannot complain. This was his duty; he could not stray from what he is fated to do, even though he was already becoming attached to Yuugi, his friends, and life here in modern Japan.
Removing his hand away from Yuugi's shoulder, his smile transformed into a grin, which usually appears more like a smirk because of his narrowed almond eyes. "Right now, your education and your life are important. So go out there, have fun, and make me proud," and with that, the Pharaoh pushed Yuugi along, out of the bedroom and jumpstarted him down the stairs. He watched Yuugi climbed down the stairs, receiving a panicky aura prick into their shared senses and laughed after he read his mind, that Yuugi was getting late for school.
Of course, since Yuugi was the holder of the Sennen Puzzle, the Pharaoh's bind spirit follows wherever Yuugi goes. From the side, within the puzzle, he watches Yuugi go about in school and other normal activities. In school, Yuugi was ironically not the brightest kid. Learning the structure of the school and how it operates, he understands what Yuugi is saying when he mentions homework, exams, projects and other academics that are crucial to his grades for when he goes to college and ultimately, his future. When exams do come, he recalls Yuugi being such a wreck, worrying over and dreading when the test days arrive; he would study afterschool with his friends. However, the two slackers of the group Jounouchi and Honda would most of the time sidetrack Yuugi's studies and play games instead. It would be no surprise that his exam scores are not ones to be proud of. One would have thought that his mind so capable of playing various forms of games, would also perform well in school with his complex thinking. But studying really makes all the difference, so the Pharaoh concludes.
With this, he decided to do some studying as well. Especially when Yuugi has history homework, the Pharaoh would join in his studies and learn a thing or two on the curriculum. There are times he would delve more into the material by reaching other sources, such as the central library in the city. After meeting with the museum curator, Ishizu Ishtar, he had wanted to learn more about himself. It was unfortunate though that when he did go to the library to look for more information on the "Great Pharaoh", there were hardly any documents. The only archaeological findings of his past were the items and that stoned carving at the museum. Destiny was really trying to make it difficult for him.
So, whenever he can, even the tiniest bit of relevant information would be embraced by the Pharaoh. Yuugi knew this, so he often did tell him things he particularly thought were useful.
Coincidentally, today during Yuugi's last period, he had a history teacher and their subject was on ancient Egypt. The Pharaoh, from adjacent, watched Yuugi take hard-core thorough notes on the subject, jotting down everything he could get from the teacher's words and what was written on the board. He was guilty seeing Yuugi this way, so determined to help the Pharaoh, though he was very grateful as well. He did not stop him because he knew that it would pay off later; this active note-taking would reflect on his grades for the quarter.
Oh! He spoke too soon. He heard Yuugi's words echo in their minds and he knew it was directed to him: "Hey Pharaoh…"
This startled the spirit for a moment, quickly regaining his composure as he looked to Yuugi. "Yes?"
"Would you like to attend class for just one period?"
This surprised him, a little, because he somehow knew that Yuugi would go this far to helping him.
"But what about you?" this reaction from the Pharaoh only made Yuugi laugh .
"I can still listen. I'm not going to be in the puzzle waiting. I'll stay by your side…like you stayed by my side when I need it." Yuugi quickly turned to the ancient spirit with a large smile and then presumed back to looking towards the front of the classroom. From a third person's perspective, seeing Yuugi turn his head to the right and smiling for no reason would appear strange, especially since they could not see the Pharaoh like Yuugi can. The Pharaoh nodded his head in great gratitude and performed the switch. Their souls swapped places: Yuugi taking the apparition form and the Pharaoh was existent. Opening his crimson hues, he adapted to the school environment. Looking around a bit, he can see Anzu to his left, really caught in her notes like Yuugi was earlier. In other parts of the classroom, Jounouchi and Honda were a bit far but taking notes as well, seeming to be paying more attention than any other school day. This made the Pharaoh realize: they all want to help the Pharaoh.
So, with the pencil in his hand, he hovered over, presuming to taking notes where Yuugi left off. Listening to the teacher give his lecture, he was fascinated, even though 90% of the information were hardly anything about the "Great Pharaoh". Actually, so far, there was no mention of the dubbed title "Great Pharaoh". It goes on about the pyramids built as tombs in tribute to the Kings of Egypt, leaders such as Tutankhamen and Akhenaton who made strong impact on the building of the Egyptian kingdom. And of course, a strong relation to his ancient past were the deities that the Egyptians worshipped, how they revered them and performed rituals; many of the cults took the form of animals and symbolized Pharaohs, priests and priestesses in a mythological sense. However, these information of the belief in Egyptian Gods related to what he knew so far, especially in the mentioning of the Sun God Ra, much like the Winged Dragon of Ra. To be able to make these connections of the world of Ancient Egypt was good enough, for he was able to piece it together somehow.
Still…he wanted to be sure.
Slowly, the Pharaoh raised his hand, immediately catching the teacher's attention. "Yes?" the instructor spoke, gesturing for the Pharaoh to stand, since it was the Japanese system to stand when one wishes to speak. "What is it, Mr. Mutou?"
With that, all eyes were on "Yuugi". He can see from the corner of his eye the shock in Yuugi's friends' faces. They knew that this was not Yuugi anymore, that it was the Pharaoh's spirit. It was then, standing tall over all of the other students in the classroom that he noticed Seto Kaiba was also in the room. He had forgotten that he was a student here! But seldom did he come to school. So…why today? He saw the glare coming from the CEO's features, the resentment he had for the tri-colored duelist and the sarcastic rolling of his eyes (though he can tell he was very much interested to what "Yuugi" had to say because the Pharaoh knew Yuugi rarely spoke up in class. He was still a timid one.), but the Pharaoh ignored. He needed to ask this question, for the possibility of the teacher giving him an answer was opportune.
"Is there accounts that hold information on the "Great Pharaoh" of 3,000 years ago?" he inquired.
There was a rather long silence that filled the classroom. He furrowed his eyebrows when even the teacher was silent for a moment. He prayed that she knew something but this lingering silence suggested otherwise. She was as lost as he was; this made it certain that nearly every record did not survive the present day. However, even as baffling as this question may seem, the teacher smiled joyously, happy to see that someone was being attentive on the lecture and making connections.
"Well, Mr. Mutou, that is a very good question," she said in a soft tone, placing one hand on her hip and the other reached the back of her head, probably scratching by the way her arm was moving. "Judging by your inquisition of the subject, it would seem that there are some since you mentioned it, meaning you caught this idea from somewhere, yes?"
Oh, right! He had forgotten. However, he can counter that reply. This teacher was an intelligent historian, he knew, because the way her lecture was structured: it flowed easy, like she was storytelling the events.
"Yes, I have learned from an Egyptian native of the Great Pharaoh. But she herself had said that many records of his days were lost. Only the stoned carving at the Domino City museum and this pendant I have around my neck prove evidence," he explained, his face never faltering by the stares of Yuugi's peers and teacher. "That is why I am asking if there are truly any written records, perhaps."
"Quite frankly, it is unfortunate that none has really been found. Scrolls made from the papyrus plant has been found but whatever form of ink they used were not preserved well, so it was illegible even to the experts…" the historian continued, her hands placed upon the history reference book open wide on her desk, skimming through it and still shaking her head. "But that is an excellent question, thank you Mr. Mutou. You may take your seat now."
"Good question." The Pharaoh heard Yuugi say in the back of his mind. It indeed was; the instructor went on about the subject with a jubilant attitude, encouraging more of her students to take "Yuugi's" example. Looking around the classroom, he spotted Jounouchi and Honda looking in his direction, giving thumbs up. Then to his left, he sees Anzu staring at him with a small smile on her features. She lifted up her notebook, which was bombarded with notes, just like Yuugi.
"Hey Pharaoh. I hope this session is helping you a bit," she said in a bubbly tone. The Pharaoh simply nodded his head and smiled in return. He knew he would be dismayed in the end. This journey was meant to be tough; if there are records still out there for him to access, that's just giving away all the answers to expedite his journey. He supposed his destiny had to be a struggle to overcome; because with each victory, it builds him up for the finale. Judging from the strange "dream" he had last night with the mysterious Ka and familiar voice, he could only guess what awaited him. He had to be prepared; at least, he had a feeling. He knew that the end was drawing ever closer and…he had a feeling he knows what is going to happen once they reach the end. He knew that Yuugi knew; they share the same thoughts after all. However, he knew Yuugi would not bring up this subject, because it would spare the vain white lies that come after.