Holocaust of Rome, a YuGiOh! fanfic by Tsunami Storm
Chapter 2: A Stitch in Time
"Seto! Wha-what's wrong?" Mokuba cried, falling to his knees next to his brother- who was now on his own hands and knees, gasping for breath and gripping his heart.
Seto tried to answer, but the only sound that came was a cry of pain. Seth put a gentle hand on his hikari's shoulder and used his power to determine the source of the problem. He gasped and staggered back, his face a mask of horror.
"What is it, Seth? What's happening to him?!" Mokuba cried, fearing the worst.
The former pharaoh could not answer right away, his disbelief blocking his vocal cords. Finally he gasped, "Oh gods. It is Soul Rot."
"Soul rot?" Mokuba breathed in confusion. He didn't know what that was, but it sounded bad. "What's that?"
Seth closed his eyes and bowed his head. "It is the worst form of torture devised by the ancient Shadow mages. The soul of the victim will slowly disintegrate until there is nothing left, and the person to whom the soul belongs will experience nothing but unimaginable pain until nothing remains of them."
"You mean he's- he's dying?" Mokuba gasped, turning back to his other brother.
"No. It is worse, much worse. Death would almost be preferable to this. Soul Rot does nothing to the physical body. It eats away at the soul- causing unbearable pain and suffering- until nothing remains of the victim but a shell. I suppose in this modern world you would call it 'brain death'. The victim would still live- his heart would still beat and his brain would still perform some of the basic functions- but he would not be there. He would be an empty vessel." Seth explained, his countenance downcast. "Sleep provides no reprieve either. Soul Rot plagues the victim with the worst night terrors conceivable. He will be forced to relive his worst fears and nightmares, and find no rest nor respite from sundown to sunrise." Seth continued, his eyes fixed on the floor.
"Who? Who could've done this?" Mokuba breathed, but Seth shook his head.
"No one that we know. As you probably already know, Shadow magic passed from this world long ago, and only a select few are still able to practice it. Myself for instance." Seth explained, giving a small smile to his little brother. Mokuba looked up at his oldest brother in shock, and even Seto looked at his yami in surprise from his position on the floor.
"I am a Shadow mage, after all." Seth elaborated, looking down at his distant descendants. There was a glimmer of regret and guilt behind his sapphire eyes, but Mokuba didn't notice and Seto was in too much pain to comment on it at the moment.
Suddenly Mokuba had an idea. "Hey, if there were sorcerers back in your time that could cast Soul Rot, wouldn't there be some kind of counter-curse or something? Maybe something that could reverse it?" The boy asked hopefully.
Seth closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. "I wish that were the case, Mokuba. But there is no way to reverse the curse when it has already begun to take effect. And the only way to stop it is to find and destroy the Shadow mage that is casting it. Only then will we be able to reverse the damage that has been done." He put a gentle hand on his hikari's shoulder for a second time and willed a good portion of his energy to transfer to his double. Mokuba looked at him in confusion and Seth explained, "I have transferred a portion of my spiritual power to him in an effort to buy some time. We must get to the bottom of this crisis as soon as possible, or Seto will be doomed."
-The next morning-
"A'ight. Get ready ta lose, my friend!" Joey called out as he took one of his cards off the playing field. "I sacrifice 'Masaki the Legendary Swordsmaster' [1100/1100] an' summon my 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' [2400/2000] in Attack mode!" He crowed, slapping down the card and watching in fascination as a miniature dragon materialized on his side of the field. Quickly regaining his strategy, he slapped another card down next to his dragon. "An' just in case, I'm equippin' him wid 'Dragon's Hidden Treasure'. It boosts his Attack an' Defense by 300!"
Mahaad smiled, a challenge glimmering in his dark blue eyes. "In that case, I shall call my 'Shadow Ghoul' [1600/1300] in Defense mode, and equip my 'Shadow Magus' [2500/2100] with 'Book of Arcane'. I think it is fairly safe to assume that you know what this does, so- go, my Shadow Magus, and destroy his Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Madoha!"
The tiny version of the purple-armored spellcaster twirled his staff behind his back before pointing it at the dragon, sending a burst of Black Magic at it and smirking triumphantly as the Red-Eyes blasted apart into thousands of tiny shards. As an added bonus, Joey's Life Point counter ticked down to zero, ending the game between the two friends.
"Wat was dat?" Joey asked as the miniature Ka vanished from Mahaad's side of the playing field, unfamiliar with the term his friend had used. "I thought it was called 'Black Magic'?" He looked at the former Bearer of the Millennium Ring, and the man smiled. "My mistake. That is the Egyptian word for that attack. For a moment, I thought we were dueling at the palace of Thebes. My apologies for causing confusion."
Joey shrugged. "Nah. It's aight. I got da gist of it anyway from wat yer Ka did. Nice duel, Mahaad! Yer really good!" He congratulated, offering his hand to the magician, who smiled and shook it. "Thank you. You did very well yourself, Joseph- considering this was one of your first 'friendly' Shadow Games where you summoned all of your Ka yourself. I am impressed."
Joey beamed at the praise, then picked up his Graveyard pile and reshuffled it into the rest of his deck. Across the table, Mahaad did the same. Joey looked up at his opponent again. "I don' tink I'll ever get da hang a' dis ting." He muttered, holding up the Millennium Key that was hanging around his neck from a thick chain.
Mahaad laughed. "Believe me, Shada had the same problem when the Item first chose him. You just have to get used to it, that is all. The gods know I had troubles with the Millennium Ring."
"Really?" Joey asked, genuinely surprised. "But yer one a da most powerful magicians I know!"
Mahaad smiled. "Thank you for the compliment, but it is true. The Ring was especially- dark. It contained quite a bit more of the Shadows than some of the other Items, second only to Seth's Rod. It takes a strong heart to command the Items. I was fortunate enough to possess a heart such as this, or the Shadows would have controlled me and not the other way around. As with my predecessor."
Joey looked down at his Millennium Item warily, and Mahaad laughed again. "You need not fear the Shadows now, Joseph. The Items have lost their power to steal souls, though they can still judge them." Joey looked alarmed at this, and Mahaad continued. "Yes. The Key judged your soul when you first received it. The fact that you stand here today is testament to the strength of your heart. The Key deemed you worthy, and that is why you are able to use it." He told the young man, a glimmer of pride in his sapphire eyes.
Joey exhaled in relief. Then a thought occurred to him. "Hey, if da Items're s'posed ta judge souls, den how come Bakura- er, Akefia was able ta use 'em? I mean, he stole da Ring from you." He stated, and Mahaad turned pensive, looking down at the ground.
"I do not have an answer to that, Joseph." The spellcaster replied after a moment. "It is a mystery that confounds me to this day. Though I do have a theory." He supplied, and Joey waited patiently. "It may not have been Akefia that was wielding the Items themselves, but Zorc manipulating the Items through him. The young man was just a vessel for the darkness. An unwilling pawn."
Joey nodded. That made sense- in an odd, roundabout way.
"Seto?" Seth asked quietly as he knocked politely on his hikari's bedroom door before quietly pushing it open to let himself in. "How are you feeling today?"
Seto glanced over at his yami weakly from his position on his bed. "Like I got torched by a flamethrower, dunked in acid, then run over by a bus. How do you think I feel?" He grumbled, but there was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes behind the pain.
Seth laughed. He still has the energy to make jokes. That is good. There may yet be hope for him. "Yeah, I thought so. Though I have never experienced it myself, I am told that wine helps to lessen the symptoms you are experiencing, so Noah helped me raid your cellar." He admitted, not ashamed of his 'snooping' in the slightest. He took a bottle of red wine from somewhere behind his back and two wine glasses, pouring the drink into both before offering one to his double.
Seto smirked. "No hint of an apology in that confession, I see." He teased, and his yami shrugged, still smiling. "Believe it or not, those were almost all gifts. We never use them, given the fact that I don't drink and Mokuba's underage."
"Well, so are you, according to the laws of this time.* You are not even in your twenties yet." Seth reminded him, and Seto shrugged. "That's the other reason." But he accepted a flute of the red liquid from his yami anyway, taking a small sip. "I expect you're used to it, since you grew up with it." Seto commented when he grimaced at the taste and caused his yami to snicker.
[This is going by the legal drinking age of 21 in America, which is where I live. I'm sure in Japan the drinking age is probably different.]
"My apologies, Seto. I merely found your expression amusing." Seth answered, attempting to straighten his face. Then abruptly his expression sobered. "I was mistaken yesterday. It is not Soul Rot that you are experiencing, but it might as well be. Almost all of the signs are the same."
"I know." Seto agreed. "I'm being erased from existence because of something that happened to you in the past. Or one of our other ancestors. But I don't blame you for not recognizing it. You're not a doctor or an expert on the space-time continuum." He confirmed, taking another sip of the wine. Seth looked alarmed at his statement. "I overheard you and Mokuba talking about it yesterday."
"Ah yes. Your exceptionally keen hearing. I had forgotten." Seth laughed, relaxing again.
"I wonder why it's slower, though." Seto commented, and Seth raised an eyebrow. "Mokuba loves the 'Back to the Future' movies, and in the first one the main character gets erased from existence because he accidentally interfered with his parents' first meeting. With him, the symptoms seemed much quicker and more severe.*" He looked at his hand. "I mean, I don't even look transparent yet."
[Ah, a kid after my own heart. I love the 'BttF' trilogy too!]
"Well- as you probably already know- Hollywood's version does not get much right." Seth laughed, sitting on the edge of his hikari's bed. "They probably sped it up a bit so that the audience would notice the change. Also, the time frame in between the 'interference' and the present is different. The situation in that film was only a generation apart. What we are talking about could have happened five millennia ago-" Suddenly he gasped. "That is it! It has to be!" He shouted, startling Seto and making him jump, then wince.
"What is?" Seto asked, not liking being left in the dark.
"That has to be the connection! I cannot believe I did not see it before!" Seth continued, berating himself as if Seto had not spoken.
"Didn't see what?" Seto asked again, a bit irritated now.
"Yesterday Mokuba asked me about my reign in Egypt, after seeing the genealogy of the pharaohs that I reconstructed. He was confused as to why the line stopped with me, and I told him of my child's fate. They were taken from Our world." He explained, bowing his head.
Seto gasped, horrified. "Seth- I'm so sorry."
The former pharaoh raised his head, wiping away his tears. "That must be the cause of what is happening to you. Somehow we must find a way to restore the bloodline that connects you and Mokuba to me." He pulled out his new cell phone and dialed a quick number. "And there is only one person I know that is sufficiently skilled in the art of time-travel that can accomplish this."
Dr. Itonami's cell phone beeped in her pocket, and she answered it on the second ring. "Hello? Oh, Seth! Hey!" She greeted. "What? Oh no, that's terrible! You should've called me sooner!" Pause. "What? What does time-travel have to do with any of this?" Pause. "Oh. Well you still should've called. I'll be there as soon as I can, I think this qualifies as an emergency. See you soon, and keep- him- warm. I don't care what he says. I'm the doctor here, and I know what the symptoms can be like. How? A magician never reveals her secrets, Seth. You should know that by now!" She teased and hung up, looking over to the receptionist. "Sakura*, can you clear my schedule for the rest of the day? Something's just come up."
[Same Sakura from 'Flower of Life'. Strongly based on the Naruto character of the same name.]
The pink-haired woman nodded. "Of course. Good luck!"
"Thanks!" Hana called back, already running out the door. "I owe you one!" And with that she bolted out of the clinic doors and down a narrow alleyway, disappearing into a Shadow portal just as a young man with wild white hair ran up. "Huh. Thought I'd felt the Shadows for a second." He mused, then shrugged and grinned smugly back at his pursuer. "You're going to have to do better than that to catch me, hikari!" He laughed as he dashed off up the sidewalk, leaving a panting Ryou in his wake.
"No fair, yami! You've been running for endurance ever since you were little! And gimme back the Ring already!" He demanded, showing a surprising amount of backbone against his 'dark' twin.
Not in five thousand years. Akefia thought teasingly as he ran, occasionally glancing back at his hikari. The teen was too soft for his own good sometimes. He needed to get stronger- physically and emotionally- hence the cat-and-mouse chase all over Domino. Akefia would never admit it aloud, but he was worried. Almost like a premonition, he felt that something bad was going to happen to one or more of his friends, and he didn't want his gentle 'light' to get hurt too. Plus he still enjoyed sneaking people's items right from under their noses. Nowadays he would return the items- eventually- but it was always worth it to see the flabbergasted looks on people's faces when they realized their stuff was missing.
'Take what ya can, give nothin' back.' Akefia quoted mentally as he ran up and down the streets of Domino, occasionally ducking into a dark alleyway in an attempt to test his twin's intuition. I love that phrase. He laughed to himself, jumping up onto an awning and from there wall-kicked onto a flagpole- on which he perched like the smug bird that got the juiciest worm.
"No fair!" The hikari puffed again, glaring up at his double. "You win again, 'Thief King'." He conceded, bending down and putting his hands on his knees.
"What? Giving up already, Ryou? Aw, but I was just starting to have fun." He whined, but dropped the Millennium Ring to its rightful owner anyway. To his amusement, it dropped right onto the boy's neck and hung there as if it had never left. "You'll never get stronger at this rate, hikari."
Ryou looked up. "Is that what this is about? Training me? You could've just told me!" He huffed, exhausted and exasperated now that he'd found out what the point of the chase was.
Akefia laughed. "Yeah, I suppose so. But where's the fun in that?*"
[Oh Kefi. Quit teasing your hikari. I know it's fun, but that doesn't mean it's nice! Well, 'once a thief, always a thief' I guess.]
"I'm here!" Hana breathed as she stepped out of a Shadow portal in Seto's room, making the young man jump and wince again. "What can I do?" She asked, looking to her 'brother'. Seth explained the entire situation to her and she nodded, a plan already forming in her mind.
"Well, it's obvious that I'll need help on this quest. I'm not strong enough to go alone. No one is. The question is, who will my team be?" She asked, cupping her chin.
"I know I'm going." A young voice came from the doorway, and everyone turned to see Mokuba standing there, determination burning in his eyes like a dragon's unquenchable fire. "I know what you're gonna say: That I'm 'too young', 'too small' or 'too weak' for this. But that's where you're wrong. I wanna save Seto just as much as anyone here."
"I wasn't gonna say that, kiddo. More like 'Welcome aboard'. I'll need all the help I can get." Hana smiled, grateful for the boy's help.
Seto coughed a weak laugh from his bed behind them. "You'd- go even if I forbade it, Mokie."
The raven-haired boy giggled. "Yeah, probably."
Seto turned to Hana then. "I'm s-sure I don't have to tell you to take care of m-my little brother on your journey, but take c-care of yourself too. Y-you mean a lot to me, Hana." He breathed weakly, spasms of pain punctuating his words so they came out in a jagged fashion.
"Careful Seto, you're sounding dangerously close to affectionate. You have a crush on me or something?*" She teased before opening another portal and disappearing through it, Mokuba right on her heels.
[I was just teasing Seto about the 'crush' thing. I don't think he cares for anyone that way, and neither do I. I mean, I did- once upon a time- but he's long gone. *sniff* I miss you, Akhen.]
Seth chuckled and shook his head. "That Hana. She will never change."
Seto- meanwhile- was pensive. Do I have a crush on her?- No, it's just very strong feelings of gratitude for all the times she's saved my life and Mokuba's. I owe her a lot, a debt I hope to repay one day-
Hana walked to the end of the hallway and knocked on the appropriate apartment door. She heard a crash of glass against wood and an angry voice yell, "We don' want any a' th' crap yer sellin', so scram!"
Despite the rude answer, Hana knocked again, not to be dissuaded by something as little as that. She rearranged her face from a disapproving scowl to a friendly smile as the locks clicked and the door opened ever so slightly- wide enough for someone to peek out, but not enough to let a thrown bottle through.
"Hana?!" Joey breathed in surprise, unlocking the chain and stepping out into the hall to greet his friend- but not before closing the door. "Wha- wat brings you here?" He asked, turning a bit pink in embarrassment.
"Does a girl need an excuse to visit a good friend?" She teased coyly, but then grew serious. This wasn't the time for jokes. Seto's very existence hung in the balance. "I need your help. You're one of the top three duelists in the world, and your skills will definitely be needed in this venture. I can feel it."
Joey nodded, completely serious. "Anythin' ta help out a friend. Wat should I bring?"
"As much as you can fit into one knapsack, including your deck and the Millennium Key. You won't need your Duel Disk, though. It won't work where we're going. Pack for warm-to-hot weather mostly, but bring some heavy clothing just in case. I'm not sure what to expect."
Joey nodded again. "Who else is comin'?"
"Well, you and I, obviously. I already asked Téa and she said she'd help. I left Mokuba at Yugi's house to ask him, but I doubt he'll take much convincing. And that's it. I think we can take on just about anything with a kick-butt team like this, right?"
Joey grinned. "Ya got dat right!" Then a shout came from the other side of the doorway. "Hey, boy! If yer goin' out, make yaself useful fer once an' get some sake on yer way back!"
Joey scowled back at the door, his good mood forgotten. "I ain't goin' out. If yer too drunk ta buy yer own booze, den sleep it off. I ain't gonna let ya drink yaself ta ya grave, old man!*" He yelled back through the door.
[Aww, Joey actually cares about his loser dad. He's such a good son! (sort of)]
"Lazy, good-fer-nothin' brat!" The voice growled loudly, but then fell silent as its owner passed out.
Joey shook his head. "Wish ya didn' hafta hear dat. Pathetic drunkard." He frowned, embarrassed. "Weren't fer him, I'd invite ya in like a decent host, but-"
"Don't worry about it, Joey. It's fine. We'll just meet up at the Game Shop later to hash out the details." She waved off his apology. When he still looked upset, she put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I've known my share of drunks, too. It was always a madhouse in the taverns back in Egypt, believe me. I'm used to it."
That surprised him. "But- I thought ya lived in da palace!" He spluttered.
"I did. Doesn't mean I couldn't sneak out to see my friends." She winked mysteriously.
Joey laughed. "Yer sometin' else, Hana." He shook his head. Then another thought occurred to him. "Hey, how'd ya know where I live? Nobody knows 'cept Tristan!"
Hana smirked as she approached the corner of the apartment building. "Easy. I followed your aura.*" Then just like that, she disappeared into another Shadow portal.
[Hana, you liar. You used to live right next to him in 'Flower of Life', and you know it. XD]
After everyone had gathered at Yugi's house, Hana explained in more detail what they were attempting to do. Joey was once again flabbergasted by his friend.
"You can TIME-TRAVEL?!" He shouted in disbelief, and everyone had to cover their ears at his volume.
"Jeez, Joey, yell a little louder next time, why don'cha? My ears are ringing!" Téa complained. He grinned sheepishly. "Did ya try answerin' dem? Might be sometin' important." He joked, and received a response in the form of a playful slap upside the head.
Atem rolled his eyes at the blond, then interjected. "Indeed. Hana was always quite skilled in passive forms of magic. As I recall, at the peak of her training she could journey as far as a week up or down the time-stream." He smiled proudly at his sister, who blushed.
"Thanks for the praise, otouto-sama, but the fact remains that I'm not skilled enough to travel back any further than a week. And our destination is five thousand years into the past. No mortal is powerful enough to do that." Hana answered. Then she looked back up. "That's why we have to go to the Domino Museum tonight and appeal to the divine ones who do possess the ability." She answered cryptically.
-Hours later, Domino Museum basement-
"This statue is supposed to go on display tomorrow as part of the Egyptology exhibit anyway, so I'm sure no one will mind if I take the covering off a few hours early." Hana muttered mostly to herself, but her friends still heard it. She grasped the bottom of the enormous sheet and pulled, unveiling a titanic statue of a man with the head of an ibis (crane). It was carved from a stone that looked blue in color, and sat on a throne of the same material.
Hana knelt down on her right knee before the figure and instructed her friends to do the same. Then she looked up and nodded to her brother beside the statue. He nodded as well, then held aloft a blue-colored Duel Monsters card [Giant Divine Soldier of Obelisk] and invoked the power of the Shadows. Everyone but the siblings reacted in shock as the statue came to life and looked down on them all with a kindly, somewhat amused regard*.
[I guess it's a good thing for the structure of the building that Thoth was merely amused by my little stunt. Well, I had to talk to him somehow, didn't I?]
"My Lord Thoth-" Hana began.
End of chapter 2
Next chapter teaser: Kidnapped!
Some concepts in this chapter were borrowed heavily from a great story that used to be on here, 'Soul Rot' by 'sirensbane'. That was one of my favorite stories of yours! Why'd you have to take it off?!
Remember back in 'Empire of Shadows' when I said that I lost a lot of my documents when my flash drive snapped off? Well, this chapter suffered a bit too. So if it sounds wonky, blame that.
See you next chapter!
God Bless!
Tsunami Storm