4.
Fates
questions
unsettling hearts, battle of secrets
damages of the hearts
Or is it only a small black spot on Ra's burning wings—?
To summon the daylight, I am
the wing
the soul
the core;
The melody that will last five thousand more years.
BAKURA, CLAD IN A BEAUTIFUL RED SILK-AND-GOLD-STRANDS-ACCENTED ROBE WHICH WAS previously worn by the Pharaoh's father in the day of his funeral, stood like an epitaph on the courtyard. Next to him were countless of dead guards, covered in blood, their face unrecognized and most of them had their upper body badly damaged—either holed or simply scattered into piece, their heads decapitated: from those dead heads could be clearly seen vacant, blood-covered eyes. Their blood-clad flesh scattered as pulps on the once-so-noble ground.
"I call upon the darkness—a welcoming ceremony of blood for Your Highness, Dark Lord Zorc Necrophades," he spread his hands with a menacing smile. His brown skin was a pure sight of horror covered in blood. His mint-green eyes were like those of an undead's. We could easily imagine a dark fog surrounding his arrogant figure, although it was clearly not there. His aura was pure evil, and he made sets of teeth clattered by his presence alone.
Pharaoh Atem, along with his five priests, rushed toward the courtyard to handle the mess, although it was already too late. He had his battle robe on—a shining armor made of fine black steel covered his body—he also had the Millennium Puzzle with him.
"Darkness… darkness for Your Highness Dark Lord Zorc Necrophades," Bakura stood still, and the Pharaoh witnessed as he slayed more upcoming guards, which were, in their skilfullness, looked almost hopeless against Bakura's might.
Priest Seth had just arrived with Kisara, who screamed in the sight in the bloody sight and hid her face behind the Priest's wide shoulders. She was unable to speak a word; the massacre had made her stomach hurt, and her sight slightly blured she wished she was blind.
To everyone's surprise, the dead-looking Priest Aknadin—with his still-bleeding right eye socket and his Millennium Item in his right hand—clad in the same blood-tainted white robe Priest Seth had seen him in earlier this night, walked toward the hostile silver-raven-haired thief and bowed before him like an obedient servant. His knees bent at a severe angle, almost croching, and his voice was hoarse and bore a strange quality to it, like an echo that split the voice into two parts.
"We shall have all of them taken care of, my mighty lord."
Priest Seth took his Millenium Rod, ready to call the spirit of the black dragon and fight Bakura's evil force, in hope to vanquish it—but Priest Shada, from the opposite side of the courtyard, stepped forward and shouted—"Seth, I will take care of him. Save the spirit!"—and the turned around to meet the Pharaoh's eyes—"Your Grace, please, let me. May the blessing of the gods always be with you!"
The Pharaoh, Priest Seth, and his remaining priests in the exception of the converted Priest Aknadin knew that was the last time they'd witnessed the thoughtful and mighty Priest Shada alive. As their hurried steps merged into the troublesome air, in Priest Shada's ears were left only the fading echoes of those steps and voices. He stood there, readying himself as a living sacrifice— even in his calmness he'd known that Bakura's might would end up surpassing his very soon. His eyes were staring at the sky, and his figure stood still, as if standing against the wind that carried the thick scent of blood.
At least he was still alive— for now.
PRIEST SETH AND KISARA HELD HANDS EVEN TIGHTLIER THAN BEFORE, THEN HE LED HER OUT OF the destroyed courtyard—in the background were overlapping voices of agony and death, just like the ones he'd heard as a young man when he visited the dungeon. He tightened his grip and pretended as if he was unable to hear any of them.
Bakura had dispatched his evil spirits to ruin the entire palace, using Priest Aknadin's body as a medium—like a gate—so that the spirits could easily enter the concrete universe.
Soldiers got slaughtered, countless of them, as they tried to protect the Pharaoh for his safe escape. The priests took him to the Sacred Tomb, for they thought the place might be his secure last stance from Bakura's merciless infliltration. The tomb's corridor was equipped with giant guillotines, and its strong gates were almost impenetrable.
Just when they thought things could not get any worse, a swarm of undead enemies rammed through the doors. One of the priests activated the guillotines but they were as well as useless compared to the dead soldiers' agility. Although most of them got sliced into pieces, too many of them managed to escape the massacre and headed straight towards the Pharaoh's stance. In that grave condition, the high priests sacrificed their lives one by one to buy the Pharaoh more times, in hope that he would be able to escape safely.
Pharaoh Atem occasionally looked behind in horror, as he witnessed his beloved priests deceased one by one. Closing to the rear gate, Priest Isis, the last—and the only female—priest who'd stayed with him during the salvage, offered herself as the Pharaoh's final protector as she activated the last batch of swinging guillotines to differ the undead soldiers' attention.
Turning her head toward the Pharaoh one last time to bless him in the name of Ra, the sun god, she approached the corridor and summoned her mighty spirit, enabling the Pharaoh escaping safely toward the rear gate.
As the rear gate slowly closed behind him, Pharaoh Atem witnessed Priest Isis' slim figure got skewered by the swinging guillotines—her spirit soon got rendered into layers of thin air.
A figure in his black leather cape— Bakura — collected the Millennium Item from her dead body. In his hands were already some of the collected items as well. He was clearly following the Pharaoh and witnessed the massacres from the very first time. Half of his face was covered in blood, and his trembling hands possessed bluish tones.
It was easier to believe that he was a wraith instead of a man.
KISARA WAS CRYING. SHE CLUNG ON PRIEST SETH'S ARM AS IF IT WAS THE ONLY GUARDIAN OF her life. Something pierced her bare feet as she ran, and she screamed in agony.
Priest Seth stopped, went down on his knees to check her bleeding feet, removed the sharp object—apparently a fragment of chest armor from a dead soldier's body—and took her in his arms.
It was until under the silvery radiation of the moonlight the Priest saw the blood-covered figure of his father blocked his path, "Extract the spirit, my son, you can be the only ruler of this land," he spread his hand, in his face a menacing smile.
Kisara had already fainted, and from her limp body shone a rush of extremely bright light which slowly formed the shape of a winged dragon.
"There, my son, is the spirit that will lead you victorious. Bathe in it, my son, and be the ONLY RULER OF THE LAND!"
Priest Seth put the body down, was ready to summon the spirit of the black dragon using his Millennium Rod when the white dragon's spirit quickly leaped before him, protecting him from a fatal blow coming out of Priest Aknadin's mouth. The carnage he'd unleashed was colored in pitch-black, like vengeances of the dead souls being spitted altogether in the thin air. When the attack ended, the air still bore death's sour smell, although the previously dense carnage was slowly being dissolved into layers of thin gray fog.
When the fog started clearing before Priest Seth's eyes, all he could see were remnants of sadness, and those emotions alone got crystallized in Kisara's limp body, badly coated in blood.
He wanted to break his ribs, cork out his heart, and drown himself in the passage of time. He desired to be rendered into dust, slowly taking the form of a ghost, melting with the eastern sky's first light when the twilight arrived. He took a long, deep breath, and laid himself next to Kisara's body. He fell asleep before he knew it.
IT WAS IN HIS DREAMS THAT HE HEARD THE REMAINING WORDS:
"I've never adored…a man…as much as I adore you, my lord," Kisara said in her remaining might. She caressed the side of Priest Seth's face, wiped the tears on the edge of his eyes, "don't be…sad, my lord…, we will be… together…again."
There, among the remnants of the kingdom, he'd seen the concrete white dragon spirit: her skin was perfectly silverish white, so were her fine fins, and her eyes were distinctively as blue as a pair of aquamarine planted directly into their graceful sockets—the light she emanated outlined the wrecked palace, the cracked bricks which were used as parts of the palace's construction. Among the piles of bricks he'd identified the golden plate which was previously used as the center of the inner hall. Tears soaked his dead eyes, singing a requiem for his hollow heart as he commanded the spirit to unleash the final attack on his corrupted father.
"Stay with me, Kisara," he said, and in the speed of light he'd seen a divine, strong flow of blue wave in the shade of thunder engulfed Priest Aknadin's body, as if to cleanse him from the darkness as a result of his previous pact with Bakura's dark spirit.
The Millennium Items he'd collected fell from behind his thick cape, leaving the old man's dead body resting in peace. His purplish skin had switched back to its natural shade of caramel, and in his face there was a vague smile, as if he'd already slept in peace at last.
When he'd seen the golden rays of the sun slicing a bright line in the far eastern sky, still drenched in his sadness and guilt Priest Seth took Kisara's dead body in his arms, kneeling before a holy tombstone in which he'd just sealed the spirit of blue-eyed white dragon in.
We will be together again, the sentence reverberated in his head, leaving him still.
TO BE CONTINUED
Note for the Story:
Bakura's fate isn't sealed in this story because his life would eventually end in Pharaoh Atem's hands, and since he's not the core of the story, instead of our favorite Priest Seth, so the story only seals Seth and Kisara's fates.
Following this chapter would be an epilogue. Stay tune for the upcoming short update!
Author's Note:
Sorry for taking a very, very long time for update. This is my favorite version of the story, after several edits done. Hope you like it!
To all readers, thank you for those encouraging comments. I love you guys!