I disclaim yugioh, blah blah blah
Enjoy the Tendershipping Goodness!
Chapter Twelve
Atem tossed and turned in his sleep. Yugi had woken up some time ago and was back to watching over the Pharaoh, whose fever persisted. He sighed, pouring more wine into his mouth, hoping the alcohol would kill some of the germs plaguing his body. One of the guards cracked the door open.
"Hey, runt, how's the pharaoh doing?"
Yugi winced at the harsh tone, "His fever is getting worse. He needs medicine. And Water."
The guard snorted with derision, turning to leave.
"If you want to ransom the pharaoh, you'd be better off if he wasn't sick. And if he dies, and a rescue team came and they find out YOU'RE responsible for his death, what do you think they'll do to you as punishment?" Yugi reminded him, his brow furrowing into a half glare at the bandits disregard for the pharaohs life.
The thief scowled at him, his scarred face forming a terrible grimace.
"I'll see what I can do..." He muttered, shutting the door with a loud thud
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Yugi sighed, relaxing. He turned his attention back to Atem, who let out a series of coughing noises, his face flushed and damp with sweat. After what seemed only a second, the door squeaked open again. Yugi nearly jumped as a small pile of supplies was dumped into his lap by the figure of the scarred thief towering over him with that same scowl.
"There? Happy now?"
Yugi nodded dumbly "Y-yes, thank you..."
"Good, so make with the healing, brat" he said, leaving once more, this time, slamming the door shut.
Yugi set the supplies to the side, taking a drink of the water from the flask he'd been brought before tilting Atems head back, helping him swallow the cool life-giving fluid that would keep him hydrated. He coughed as he downed the liquid, turning and burying his face into the younger boys soft stomach. Yugi ran a hand through his hair, giving a sad smile.
"Hang in there pharaoh. Our friends are coming for us. We'll be back at the palace before you can say Millennium Puzzle."
"...COUGH!..."
Bakura ran a hand through the still sleeping Ryou's soft, white hair enjoying the silky texture. He looked so happy and peaceful curled up in the blankets and pillows like that.
Bakura himself felt content to lay there in the bed beside him, looking into that pretty face of his, cheeks stained a faint pink. Completely limp and defenseless and cute after a couple rounds of vigorous lovemaking.
That gave Bakura a pause.
Love...
Love was something he had been familiar with long ago, and was coming to know again, through Ryou. He knew the whitenette was completely head over heels for him, Ryou was never good at hiding his emotions and he had always found it amusing.
But was he in love with Ryou?
Certainly these feelings he had for him were much stronger than those he remembered having with past partners...He Remembered distinctly how angry and hurt he'd felt when He and Ryou had first been taken prisoner. The sound of Ryou calling his name for help still left a heavy sense of helpless agony in his chest whenever he thought about it.
It reminded him of the pain he'd felt when he'd been a child, watching the pharaohs soldiers shove his parents and brothers into the cauldron that forged the millennium items. The loss of his family had nearly killed him.
If he lost Ryou...
"...Kura..."
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The thief king turned at the sound of the voice. Ryou's eyes were open a crack, barely enough to see past his eyelashes.
"Yes, Ryou?"
The youth curled up closer to him, nuzzling into his chest "Love you..." He muttered, still largely asleep.
Bakura chuckled. "I-"
A knock came from the door, interrupting him before he could finish his sentence. Bakura sat up, turning towards the noise "Who's there?"
"Mahaad. Bakura, I need to speak with you."
Bakura sighed, turning back to Ryou, " Go back to sleep, Koibito, I'll be right back."
"Kay..." Ryou muttered, his eyes sliding shut again. Bakura rubbed his arm briefly as he stood, completely nude, and pulled on his shendyt before going over to the door and opening it "What is it?"
"Did I wake you?" Mahaad asked, seeing his mussed state
"No, I was already awake," Bakura said, running a hand through his hair. "What is it?"
Mahhad cleared his throats and pulled out the Spell book "Well, I was reading over some of this text and I'm having trouble figuring out a couple of these magicians glyphs... I've compared them to several others, and I still can't figure it out."
"Why does that matter this late at night?" Bakura demanded, annoyed at being dragged out of bed/
''Because I think I can figure out some of these locator spells if I can get them translated" Mahaad said, flipping through the pages.
"I thought we agreed to let it wait until morning" Bakura muttered, rubbing his temple.
"My conscience won't let me sleep knowing I could be working to save my king."
"You'll find your pharaoh BETTER if your properly rested," Bakura stated "Perhaps the gods will grant you a vision and explain what they mean. If not, I'll look them over with you IN THE MORNING. Good night."
And with those parting words, Mahaad was soon left alone in the corridor looking at the door of the room that been given to the white-haired Ryou while Bakura had been out gathering intel. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as his body sagged with mental and physical exhaustion. He really hated to admit it, but, evil aside, Bakura was right, he needed sleep. Perhaps a good rest would freshen his brain and help him figure things out better in the morning...
As he turned to trudge down the hall towards his own bedroom, he froze.
Morning...
Sunrise.
That was it!
The glyph with the line through the middle wasn't indicating death after all, as he had originally theorized, thinking the circle was perhaps symbolic of the heart. And if it meant sunrise, then maybe-
He beamed with enthusiasm, turning back towards the bedroom, opening the door and beaming like the sun "Bakura, you're a genius!"
"Tell me something I don't know he waved dismissively heading back towards the bed.
Mahaad shut the door and ran down the hall back to his study.
He had work to do!
Morning came, breakfast was served, and the council sat down at the long meeting table. Mahaad looked tired, but thoroughly pleased with himself as he spoke to his fellow priests, along with Mana, Bakura, Kaiba, and the remainder of the geek squad (minus Joey, as he was too badly injured to get out of bed, and was currently being watched by Ryou) about his discovery.
"...And With the help of the item that Bakura brought me, not to mention Bakura himself, I've managed to procure a divination spell that will locate the Pharaoh and allow us to pursue him post haste."
"Well done, Mahaad" Shimon said with a nod, "How soon can you perform the spell?"
"I've already begun working on it. I just need something of the pharaohs to finish it."
"Something of the pharaohs?" Tristan asked.
"Part of the pharaoh," Mahaad clarified "Like a few drop of his blood or-"
"Oh! A DNA sample! That ought to be easy!" Tea said optimistically
"Yeah, how about some hair? He's probably got combs and stuff in his room right? Or on the throne?"
"Brilliant suggestion, Tris." Mahaad said, his grin broadening, "Mana, go the pharaohs bedchamber and fetch his majesties brush."
"Yes, Master Mahaad" she said giving a salute before rushing off to do as she was told.
Shada gave a pleased nod as the peppy girl left, turning back to his fellow priests.
"Once the spell is complete, the location of the pharaoh will be revealed, and we can rescue him from the clutches of those thieves."
"Yes. An exceedingly simple task," Seth agreed.
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Tea held a hand to her chin, thinking frowned, "Maybe this is TOO easy...
The guardians turned to her " What do you mean?" Aknadin asked, arching a grey eyebrow at the brunette.
Bakura, who had been leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed behind his head, leaned forward.
"She means, old man, that those fools that have kidnapped the pharaoh probably expect you to locate them, and will be anticipating our eventual arrival. They probably mean to ransom him."
"Isis?" Mahaad asked, turning to the priestess.
Isis closed her eyes, consulting her necklace. He brow furrowed and she nodded, "My millenium necklace tells me Bakura and Teana are right. With the Pharaoh sick, we cannot afford to-"
She was cut off by the sound of Karim standing, " If a ransom is what they are after, then we'll give it to them. We must rescue the Pharaoh no matter what!"
"No. Seth said, giving him a hard look, "I admire your loyalty my friend, but we can't afford to do such a thing, even with the additage of the thief kings hoard into our coffers."
"That must say a lot, considering how very MUCH I had in my hoard..." The thief said giving him a sour look at the reminded of the loss of his ill-gotten, but hard earned, fortune.
"We are in the midst or rebuilding both our city and the palace. We have no gold to spare for a ransom," Seth continued, steepling his fingers contemplatively, "Therefore, in the event of the ransom demand, we will need a negotiator."
Kaiba smirked, just oozing smugness
"That's where I come in, then...:
The priests looked over at him, "What?" Shimon asked, his expression confused.
Tristan and Tea caught on at once and exchanged knowing smiles with Kaiba
"So that's why Shadi brought you here!"
"This'll be quick."
"You're darn right it will, nerds."
Seth, who had some idea of what his modern counterpart was through a few distastefully to-the-point conversations, ascertained Kiaba was a business man, and knew many things about bargaining, negotiating, and getting the upper hand in tricky to hopeless situations. Only on a much grander scale than he was use to with common street merchants.
"Kaiba will be going with you as the negotiator. He's an expert on such matters," Seth said, " Isis and Karim will stay here with me to help oversee the reconstruction and protect the city. The rest of you will go to help the pharaoh. Agreed?"
The guardians muttered amongst themselves for a moment before nodding.
"Then it's settled. We'll leave as soon as the spell is completed," Bakura said, leaning back in his seat again.
Mana skipped back into the room, opening the door with a loud bang as it hit the wall, waving a gold-plated object in her hand
"I've got the pharaohs hair brush master Mahaad!"
Yugi sighed with relief as Atems fever dropped in a matter of hours upon taking the medicine they'd been given. His coughing was even starting to subside. One of the guards-apparently they took shifts watching them-opened the door. This one was a woman dressed in a tiny tunic and a shendyt, looking like an ancient parody of a tube top and a skirt. She had black hair and piercing green eyes.
How's his majesty doing?" she asked in an authoritative, bored tone.
"He's getting better. The medicine is helping" Yugi said, taking a swallow of water.
"Good. We plan on ransoming him for a LOT of money. The healthier he is, the better."
"Why?"
"Why? What do you mean 'why' ?" She asked, putting her hands on her tips and giving him a baffled, annoyed look.
"Why do you want to ransom him?" Yugi clarified, looking up at her as she took a few steps closer.
"Because" she stated, sounding exasperated.
"Because why?"
"Because that's what thieves DO."
"That's not a very good reason..."
"No, I don't think you'd think so," the woman said scowling at him. "YOU live at the palace. YOU don't know what's it's like to scrape by and beg to make a living. When I was younger, I had to do things that would curl your hair just to eat. Money is hard to come by to us lower classes. Thieving is the only way to make even a decent living these days..."
The woman's tone was casual, but honesty weighted her words. Yugi felt a pang of guilt in his gut.
She was right. Who was he to judge her when she'd had such a bad life that she had resorted to thieving just to keep herself alive and retain her dignity?
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Yugi wasn't the only one feeling guilty. Atem had awoken while the two of them spoke and had heard what she said.
Based on her age, she appeared to be somewhere in her thirties, she had to have been under his fathers rule.
He sat up, "I'm sorry for any hardships you went through..." He said, coughing, climbing to his feet.
The woman scoffed, "I don't want your-" She was interrupted as Atem noisily removed his jeweled bracelets and the gold crown-like band that adorned his head, handing them to her with unsteady illness-weakened hands.
She looked at the gifts with wide, surprised eyes and looked at him, confused. He got on one knee and bowed formally
"Please, take these... I offer you my most humble, sincere apologies for any hardships you suffered during my fathers-or my- reign. I wish to beg your forgiveness..."
The woman seemed flustered and unsure what to say or do.
"I...you...I Have to go..."
She shuffled out the door and slammed it shut, sliding the locks in place.
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Atem sighed, visibly drooping.
Yugi stood and went over to his friend, wrapping his arms around his waist as he laid his head on the royals back. "It's not your fault, Pharaoh."
"It is Yugi." Atem insisted "My father is the one who placed high taxes on the people and put them in such straits. As Pharaoh, it my responsibility to take care of my people. I'm obviously not doing a very good job...Look At what my people are reduced to. And..."
"And what?"
"And now it may be to late to fix things," Atem said, burying his face into the palm of one of his hands, distraught at the thought.
Yugi pulled the Pharaoh to his feet, turning him around and placing his hands around the millennium puzzle, which gave a soft glow.
"There's ALWAYS time, Atem."
Atem looked down at his closest friend, his amethyst eyes shined with determination. He smiled as he cupped Yugi's hands with his own. Covering them completely.
"You're right, Yugi. There's always time...and Hope."
Yugi nodded "Once we're free, we can make everything right."
"I hope so Yugi. I hope so."
Bakura watched as Mahaad added the hairs they'd gotten from the brush into the potion. He alone had been allowed to watch, in case he recognized the location.
The contents of the bowl swirled around and gave off a dull grey light as the spell went to work.
Bakura hm'd in thought as they waited
"You know, the last time I saw this spell was when I was a boy...Father Used it to find my brother when we couldn't find him after a game of Hide and Seek."
"Where was he hiding?" Mahaad asked, looking up at him from the bowl
"Inside a vase" Bakura said with a chuckle, raising his eyes and locking them with the sorcerer, " He'd fallen asleep waiting for me to find him"
"He. Mana use to do that all the time," Mahaad said with a small smile, " I remember when we were children, she-"
"Shh. The location is coming in" Bakura shushed, holding a finger to his lips.
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The image in the bowl defined as the light encompassing it dimmed and faded. Both men leaned over it. Bakura narrowed his eyes.
" I should have known...
Mahaad looked over at him, "You recognize it?"
"Of course I do, that's Anubis's Peak," Bakura said, as if it were an extremely stupid, obvious question.
"Anubis's what?" Mahaad asked, raising an eyebrow
Bakura shook his head, glancing up at him " You wouldn't know...It's A hidden stronghold deep in the desert. We thieves call it Anubis's Peak because it is on a high cliff and the only god statue there is that of Anubis. It has been a safe place for thieves for generations.
"I see. How far away is it?" Mahaad as, looking into the bowl.
"On horseback, it would take at least a day and a half. But horses can only go so far. There will be many jackals there, prowling in large packs. On foot, in that area, if the jackals don't get you, you'll have to avoid the booby traps. Assuming you can get past all that, it would take nearly a day to get to the cliff and climb up. Luckily there ARE secret passageways around, and if we can, I'll try to lead you to one."
Mahaad nodded, " hank you my friend, You are-"
"I am NOT your friend, Mahaad," Bakura said in a perfectly friendly tone as he looked up at the magician, straitening. "I am doing this for my own reasons. There are several extenuating circumstances which you are not privy to. Our relationship is that of temporary allies until said circumstances are resolved and nothing more."
Mahaad frowned at this, but said nothing about the correction.
"Let's go tell the others so we can get the necessary supplies gather and go..."
"Splendid. Let's."
End of Chapter Twelve
yeah, I know, it's short, but I've slaving over it all month and I just can't think of anything else to put in it.
so, I hope quality makes up for quantity.