Mahado looked at the boy his apprentice had brought in. he was definitely a natural mage, though why the boy had such fury towards him when they had never met he had no idea.
"I am glad to see that the anti venom didn't go to waste," he said dryly.
The glare, if anything, grew stronger.
"I am curious as to why I have never heard of you. And I am most certain that I would have heard of a boy with such powerful magic by now," he commented.
"You probably have heard of me, and wondered why I had yet to be picked up by your precious guards," said Horus, annoyed.
Mahado finally noticed his eyes.
Startling green eyes and long black hair kept in a rather loose ponytail... As well as being a clear mage...
"You're Horus of the Desert," he said finally.
The boy seemed amused.
"So you have heard of me. Good."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't arrest you on sight," he said annoyed.
"One, because I just took out an entire ring of slave traders dealing in shadow mages. Two, I barely survived being poisoned by what I assume was scorpion venom. And three, because I really doubt you would be able to hold me even if you did call the guards."
Mahado sensed the boy's magic, and reluctantly admitted he had a point. The boy was too strong for the usual magic inhibitors to be of any use, and to be frank he had never once used his magic unprovoked.
He was at a loss for what to do.
"I have only one question. Why are you still glaring at me when I saved you life?"
"You really want to know? Ask your precious guards why they slaughtered an entire village to create seven cursed items that would place the world on the brink of destruction," Horus told him flatly.
Seeing the surprised look on their faces made almost all the crap he went through worth it. Almost.
"You're lying!" said Mana, though she didn't sound like she was absolutely sure of that.
"I was there. My brother and I watched the pharaoh's personal soldiers slaughter our friends and family. If Bastet hadn't intervened, we might not have lived."
Without warning, a loud cat like yowl was heard. A black cat with glowing silver eyes was watching the scene, it's tail whipping back and forth lazily.
Even someone as young as Mana could tell that Bastet was with them at that moment. And she was watching Horus.
Atem was curious about the boy Mana had brought back with her. He was obviously a mage, so he took it for granted that Mahado was going to take him under his wing.
He went to see the boy, who had awoken a few hours ago.
Only to find a horrified Mahado and a shaken Mana. The boy was on the bed, and he didn't look happy. Wondering why the two were so shaken, (and wanting to know more about the boy, whose eyes intrigued him) he asked Mahado how the boy was doing.
Mahado took one look at him, and in an uncharacteristic move, managed to keep his pharaoh from getting anywhere near the boy.
"What's going on?" he managed to get out.
"That boy...has absolutely no love for the Royal family. Particularly anyone related to the Pharaoh. You should not get anywhere near him for now."
Atem was fifteen, and like all teenagers, when told not to do something he wanted to do it even more.
So, late that night, he managed to sneak into the infirmary and found a knife thrown very, very close to where his right ear was. The boy was wide awake and glaring.
What bothered him was the fact that he wasn't glaring at him, but his Puzzle which he inherited from his father.
"What...?"
"I know who you are, little godling, and I want nothing to do with you or your...family. If you don't want to have another knife thrown at you in a place that will leave you desperately trying to breathe, then you should leave before I really get annoyed."
The boy's tone was flat, calm and absolutely serious. He fled before the boy with the haunting green eyes threw another sharp blade at him.
It took three days before he was able to walk again. The poison had been stronger than he had anticipated.
And he was quite ready to leave. Every night, without fail, the soon to be Pharaoh Atem would peek into the room. Horus had no doubt why the boy kept sneaking into the room. He, like many others before him, had become bewitched by his eyes.
Horus was the only boy in Egypt with such green eyes. Though to be fair his brother had crimson eyes the color of blood. And albino hair.
It would be the last night he would stay in the palace, if he had any say about it.
Atem, like clockwork, came into the room. He saw Horus standing, and prepared to duck. Horus had a rather disturbing aim with his blades.
"Are you leaving?"
Horus shot him an annoyed look.
"Why do you hate me?"
"Your father slaughtered our village, and the only reason we survived was because of Bastet. If you expect me to be grateful that your people showed me some kindness, then you will have to wait a long time before I show my...gratitude," said Horus angrily.
Atem clearly didn't know about the origin of the gaudy pendant around his neck.
Bastet, who had kept sharp watch over her precious one, yawned. While she didn't like Ra's toy, even she was wary of the little godling.
With that puzzle he could easily keep her at bay long enough for Ra to show up and chase her off.
Fortunately, her chosen child had already insured that the brat wouldn't use his puzzle on him. And had scared the boy from getting too close to him.
Atem seemed surprised by that. But before he could even attempt to come closer, there was a loud blast against the castle gates. Someone had used shadow magic to attack them!
He ran outside, determined to see who was so stupid as to attack them with the Millennium Items.
Only to turn when he heard a sharp crack and a cat laughing at him. Horus of the Desert was gone.
"Explain to me again how the hell you got captured by the Pharaoh's little brat?" asked Bakura, annoyed.
"Some asshole hit me with scorpion venom. I had the bad luck of collapsing in front of her. Oh, and apparently my little nickname has made it as far as the palace."
Bakura snorted. With features as usual as bright green eyes he wasn't that surprised the palace had heard of him. It was well known that the previous Pharaoh had favored both boys and girls.
If Horus had fallen in the city he would have been snatched up to the Pharaoh's harem in a heartbeat. Bakura thanked Bastet every night for sending his brother to him.
Horus was his light in the darkness of his life. Without Horus, he would have been more cruel than even his own tales told.
Because of his brother, he only killed when he needed to, not whenever someone pissed him off. Though there were times he was sorely tempted.
Five years had passed since Horus encountered the Pharaoh. And the amethyst eyed ruler couldn't get the boy off his mind. Those emerald eyes haunted his dreams. And his exotic features would bother him.
The fact that no one could find the one who distracted them while the boy escaped annoyed him greatly.
Mahado knew exactly why the Pharaoh was so determined to capture the infamous Thief King and his Mage brother. He wanted to see Horus again.
And that was something he couldn't let happen.
Horus hated the Royal family for the destruction of Kul Elna, the village of Thieves.
It had taken some time to find the village that the boy had mentioned, and it had taken even longer to find out that he was telling the truth about who destroyed it. Which meant that someone in the Royal Palace had knowingly sentenced a hundred people to their deaths for a forbidden Ritual.
No wonder Ba-Ku-Ra and Horus hated them so much.
The only reason they had failed to capture the King of Thieves was because Bakura had done something the Pharaoh had failed to do.
He had captured the loyalty of the people through genuine acts of kindness.
And Horus, well he never attack innocent civilians and always protected the children from the cruelty of the nobles.
"Today's the day, right brother?"
"Today we raid the pharaoh's tomb and make our stand," said Bakura.
It had taken Horus a month to locate the tomb of the pharaoh who had ordered the destruction of their village. Defiling a pharaoh's tomb was tantamount to a death sentence, but he didn't deserve a peaceful afterlife in their minds.
Besides, Horus had been learning magic for years...it was time to put those skills to use.
Horus teleported them to the site using a spell he had perfected the month before. Bakura went to work. He did the thieving, Horus did the distracting and the damage.
It was a system they had worked out since Horus had a run in with the new pharaoh after the arena incident. Horus ducked as Bakura took out the traps, often stopping him to get the snakes that had been placed in a pit to let them pass. The darts that came flying out of the walls were stopped by Horus' shield. It wasn't until they came across a tablet with a shadow beast that the two actually had to work at breaking into the tomb.
"Maha Vialo! Come forth!" cried Horus.
"Diabound!" cried Bakura at the same time.
The two unleashed their Ka beasts. It was the first time Horus had ever used his true Ka beast outside of practice with his brother.
Maha Vialo was a sorcerer type beast that only grew stronger the more spells were cast on it. In addition to being able to handle almost any equip spell cast, it's natural ability allowed it to power up slightly with each spell. On it's back were two scythe like wings that could allow it to fly, if it so chose.
Daibound was a creature that grew with any being it absorbed. Horus liked it because the thing originated from the spirit of a snake, which meant he could talk it into playing pranks on his brother. The two got along great.
The creature in the tablet was the Reaper of Souls, a most potent and terrifying beast. Horus cast spells twice on his partner, and prepped it for Diabound to absorb it. It was their usual method for the stronger beasts.
Horus was powerful enough and crafty enough for him to cast spells on Maha Vialo before the other monster attacked and to wound the opponent so Bakura could come up from behind and injure it to the point that Diabound could absorb the power.
It was thanks to those tactics that they even dared to attack the tomb head on.
"Bakura, on your left!" yelled Horus.
Bakura did a duck and roll, avoiding the scythe. Horus cast another spell, and his Ka beast grew bigger and stronger. Maha Vialo struck the creature again, and this time the shriek was much louder.
"Diabound, attack!" cried Bakura.
Diabound struck again, and this time began to absorb the beast with a rapid pace. The creature's cries were met with deaf ears as Bakura and Horus checked for more traps.
"I see nothing over here and my spells tell me that there isn't anything," said Bakura. He was a passable hand at spells detecting traps.
"Same over here. Think that was the last barrier?"
"Possibly. The palace magicians are fucking lazy," said Bakura with a derisive snort. At least Horus kept improving his traps and barriers every time he learned a new trick.
When Bakura found the sarcophagus, he was half tempted to desecrate the body. Horus stopped him with an annoyed twitch.
"Don't bother. You know those things aren't air tight, so the best thing we could do is dump it in the river and let it dry out before we take it with us."
Horus knew the spells on the sarcophagus. They protected against everything imaginable...but the people who created the spells never thought to guard against water. Why would they bother, when the tomb was dry as a bone?
"So we take this stupid thing with us, poke a hole in the seal and dump it in the river? That's perfect!" cackled Bakura.
"It would ruin his body and make his after life hell. At the very least it would insure his corpse rots," said Horus with a smirk.
"You see this is why I take you with me on high stakes robberies! You come up with the best revenge ideas!"
"...I thought it was because I'm the only one among the two of us capable of taking out a Palace Priest with magic and the fact that three gods favor me?" said Horus with a quirked eyebrow.
"Details. Come on, let's give the Pharaoh a piece of our mind!" cackled Bakura.
Atem was in shock. He had just learned that his father's tomb had been vandalized and robbed. Whoever did the deed must have had a shadow mage on them to get that far in without getting killed.
Suddenly there was a commotion outside, and the guards went on alert.
The doors burst open, revealing a white haired man with blood red eyes on a horse carrying the sarcophagus of his father.
"Greetings murderers and thieves! I come bearing gifts to those who murdered my village!" said Bakura with a cackle.
Another horse came in, this time with a familiar face. Horus, the emerald eyed boy who haunted Atem's dreams, rode in on a black stallion. He came to rest next to Bakura, and his eyes were cold.
"Really brother? What have I said about melodramatics?" he asked with amusement.
"Bah, they didn't even appreciate it," said Bakura.
"Of course they wouldn't. They probably find such common things beneath them," said Horus.
"YOU! How dare you desecrate the Pharaoh's tomb?!" demanded an old priest.
"Consider it the beginning of our revenge. After all, your precious Pharaoh ordered the deaths of our village with no provocation or reason. All for those tacky baubles you cling to for your powers," said Horus with a derisive snort.
Several of the priests (and the lone priestess) touched their Millennium Item without thinking. The priestess actually flinched, because she could hear the howls of the souls trapped in the items from their making.
The youngest priest bearing the Rod started to unleash his Ka beast. Horus sneered at him.
"Go for it...if you don't mind your beast being absorbed by my brother's," he smirked.
The two brothers quickly took flight, having done what they came to do. The gold they pilfered was distributed to the poorer villages after making sure that it wasn't cursed.
Anything with spells on it was left in Horus' special room that even Bakura couldn't get to. Bakura had almost no head for money, which was why Horus was the one to handle the cash and goods they stole. He was rather good at it.
Bakura managed to break the Pharaoh off from the main group, while Horus continued on. It wasn't until the two met back up at the rendezvous point that Horus learned what his brother had done.
"You managed to get him to fall off a cliff? How high was it?"
"Barely three times your height. Unless he lands wrong the most it will do is keep him out of commission for a day or two," snorted Bakura.
"Something tells me Horus or Bastet would tell us if you accidentally killed that idiot. I mean really, who else other than him has that weird hairstyle?"
Bakura snorted in amusement. Horus had a point, because the current Pharaoh had the most bizarre hair style and color in the land. Even his white coloring wasn't that strange, since most assumed he had been through a near death experience that prematurely whitened his hair.
"You do realize that once he's recovered that they'll probably figure out where our secondary main base is and come at us right?"
"Possibly with homicidal tendencies once they learn we dumped the real casket in the Nile River," nodded Horus sagely.
There was a reason why no one was ever stupid enough to piss off Horus. The last person who did so ended up going insane had to be taken out before he killed someone. Horus was the master of Revenge pranks and attacks. Not even Bakura was dumb enough to set off that side of his brother.