Horus stared. Why did these idiots believe his brother had killed that priest? They wouldn't dare touch a Millennium Item with a stick unless it was to seal it away and free the souls trapped inside!
It wasn't until Bakura showed up with Diabound that he knew. Something had managed to take control of his brother...and was forcing him to wear the Item that had been taken. He went to the tablet that held Bakura's Ka beast and stared.
Diabound looked like he always did, but for some reason the spirit had been tainted. He was about to confront his brother when he sensed someone coming up from behind him. He drew his best dagger and stabbed behind him without blinking. He heard a pained gasp and found one of the little godling's priests trying to capture him. It was the fool with the Millennium Key.
Horus went to snatch the Key from the fool who would die soon anyway, since the knife went into his stomach. But the moment his hand touched the Key, he felt something painful from the center of his navel. It was excruciating!
Sensing that he wouldn't remain in Egypt much longer, Horus shouted out the incantation that would send his treasure to the Shadow Realm until he could retrieve it. It was a last ditch measure to keep thieves from touching the cache.
Maha Vialo appeared beside his partner, and nodded. He vanished, taking the large amount of gold and scrolls with him.
Horus kept a firm grip on the Key, and as the shadows whirled past him, he saw images.
It was then that he knew what was happening. Someone was forcing him back to the world he had left, and they didn't care how much pain they put him through to do it.
Horus did something most people wouldn't have the ability...or pain threshold...to do. He kept his eyes open all the way through the trip. It went against every instinct he had as a human to close his eyes against the pain. He saw new dynasties rise and fall with depressing regularity. He saw the rise in technology and magic, and half remembered words came back to him.
And the worst part of all...he saw his birth parents. Their lives and their deaths. He saw himself being left on a doorstep without so much as a by-your-leave, and his aunt throwing him into the cupboard. He saw himself, a barely six year old boy falling into the same time stream.
The two timelines gaze met, and Horus remembered everything he had forgotten in nearly fifteen years. The child that was was given a precious gift. The gift of language and body memory.
It actually explained a lot about how he was able to survive in the desert when he first fell on his brother. And how he knew the old tongue without having ever spoken it before.
Horus landed painfully on cold stone, before a tablet he recognized without being told. The man before him wearing the Key was very, very shocked at his appearance.
"It can't be... The Dark Mage of the Desert?" he whispered in disbelief.
Horus looked up and saw his hand on the Key. He jerked it back as if stung by lightning.
"What...What year is it?" he rasped. He knew he had been screaming throughout the forced trip. His throat had almost lost it's ability to speak from the soundless scream.
The strongest of the Tomb Keepers glared at him, before answering.
"It's five thousand years into the future...you should not be here."
"What specific year is it Tomb Keeper?!" said Horus.
"19XX," he said flatly, not understanding why it was so important.
"Fuck! Nine years... It's nine years since Bastet claimed me!" said Horus in shock.
"What are you talking about, Thief?" asked the Tomb Keeper. (If you haven't guessed by yet, Horus is with Shaadi.)
Horus sat down painfully, his legs unable to hold his weight.
"Bastet...she claimed me and threw me into the past to meet with my brother. If she hadn't, I never would have lived," said Horus.
Horus knew that he couldn't survive outside the chamber without recovering first. He looked at Shaadi and said "Can we call a temporary truce until we can figure out what we can do to prevent the Pharaoh from finding out I'm here?"
"The Pharaoh has only recently awoken in the body of a child shorter than he was in life. It is unlikely he would even recognize you to begin with," said Shaadi.
"As comforting as that is, we still have a problem. Someone forcefully dragged me from 5,000 years in the past back into modern times...which hurt like a bitch, by the way...and chances are good they may try to take the Millennium Items."
"What do you have in mind, Thief Mage?"
"A truce. In exchange for letting me hold the Key, which I won by right of combat by killing the previous holder, you leave me be. I will neither help nor hinder the Pharaoh."
"What could possibly convince me that you would keep your word?" asked Shaadi. He wasn't about to give the Key up to someone known to hate the Pharaoh.
"Simple. My brother wasn't the one who attacked the Pharaoh in the last battle. Someone or something took control of his body. And at this point I get the feeling both of our objectives are the same Keeper. We both want the Millennium Items laid to rest once and for all."
Shaadi seemed surprised. Horus gave him a blank look.
"Honestly Keeper, did you really think my brother and I were trying to collect the Items solely for revenge or power?"
"To be blunt, yes. Neither of you held any love for the Royal family and seemed rather determined to bring it crashing down."
"As amusing as it would be to see that happen, our first and main goal was to retrieve the Items and lay them to rest. We were there when they were made, Keeper. We don't want our family and friends to suffer in that cursed form any longer than they have to."
Shaadi's eyes widened. He was unaware of that particular fact. Though it explained much.
"In any case, we got our revenge on the Pharaoh who ordered the destruction of the village already."
"You said your brother was more interested in retrieving the Items so they could be laid to rest," said Shaadi.
"The one who sealed them away for 5,000 years wasn't the one who ordered the Items to be created. It was his FATHER who ordered the priests to create the Items."
"What have you done Thief?" asked Shaadi.
"We only poked a hole in the sarcophagus and dumped it in the river. Having to suffer through an eternity with a moldy corpse is payment enough," shrugged Horus.
Shaadi stared at him.
"You actually broke into his tomb, poked a hole through countless spells designed to prevent it from opening, and dumped it in the river?"
"Shaadi, have you ever actually looked at those spells? There is a weak spot at the base of the damn coffin, which is made of wood I might add, and there was nothing about preventing water damage in any of the inscriptions."
Shaadi went over what he knew of the burial rituals, and reluctantly admitted the Insane mage had a valid point.
He looked at the boy in the eye and said "Do you swear on your Ka that you will not harm the Pharaoh?"
"All I care about at this point is rescuing my brother. The Pharaoh is the last thing I want to deal with at this point. If he's still around once the Items are gone, then I'll consider what to do with him. Which is why I said I would neither help nor hinder him," said Horus.
"Then we have an accord, Thief. You may reclaim the Key, since it is yours by right of combat. You may also stay the night, but I want you gone by noon," said Shaadi. Say what you will of the Thief brothers, but they kept their word.
It took Horus a good five hours to re-acclimate himself in the present era. And the only thing he could think of was that he missed the past already. The present was far too loud for his tastes.
Though at least he didn't look like a total idiot. Thanks in part to his natural ability to understand most languages if he just sat still and listened, he could now speak almost perfect Arabic along with his former native tongue, English.
That didn't mean he had to like speaking in a tongue that he had forgotten.
He followed his instincts, sensing mages heading towards specific places. This was how he found himself close to a bank. He grinned. While he didn't feel like robbing goblins (he knew what they were. Any decent mage who had been in contact with the shadow realm could tell you they were goblins. Well, that and he had already robbed a few wizards on the way there) he did want to know whether he could get some more cash or at least a way to exchange it for whatever currency they used in present day Egypt.
"Can I help you?" asked the bored goblin.
"Where do I exchange currency, and how much would it cost to open a deposit account?" he asked bluntly.
The goblin took a long look at him and said "You're a thief aren't you?"
Horus stared at him bluntly and replied "Only a fool would try to rob the people who can help him blend in. Some idiot dragged me through time, and now I have to adjust back into the world. Besides, I already robbed a couple of people on the way here, so that itch has already been taken care of."
The goblin blinked.
"Fair enough. The exchange line is three goblins that way, and if you want to open a vault you can always go to the claims office to see if you have an account already open."
"Thank you," said Horus, and he handed the goblin ten of the gold coins he nicked from the oblivious wizards. The goblin gave him a toothy grin, pleased by the gold. Clearly this boy knew the ways of the goblin clans.
Paying someone who had helped you was always a good way to earn their favor. Even if the gold was stolen from a wizard.
Once he was well stocked on modern currency, he asked where the claims office was. Soon he was staring down a rather bored goblin who was watching a potion.
Horus barely tolerated making potions. Bakura was always the one who had the talent. Horus was passable at best.
He dropped three blood drops into the small bowl, and then poured it onto the parchment. The ink lit up and then moved as if it had a mind of it's own.
When it stopped, he had to blink twice before he realized what he was seeing.
He still had living family...and they were all descended from him. Strangely, this wasn't nearly as surprising as one would think, since the two brothers often frequented brothels a few weeks after their big scores.
There were three names, one of which indicated that the relation was through blood adoption.
Marik Ishtar
Isis Istar
Rashid Ishtar
The goblins eyes were on another name entirely.
He swore in goblintongue, as he said "You're the missing Potter heir?!"
"Huh?"
Horus had honestly forgotten about his birth name. He liked the name Horus better than whatever his parents had called him.
"You," the goblin pointed at him, "Are the missing heir to the Potter fortune...and the Boy-who-lived. Otherwise the parchment wouldn't say Lily and James Potter. How the hell did you end up in Egypt?"
"Bastet claimed me, threw me a few thousand years in Egypt's past, and then some idiot had the bright idea of dragging my ass back by force. I had my hand on a rather powerful magic item at the time, so I ended up here instead of whatever ritual circle they used."
"Bastet...as in the Cat Goddess herself?" asked the goblin, paling.
"The same. I have three gods interested in me, one of which is the god of Chaos himself. Now who the hell is this Harry Potter and why should I care about him?" he asked pleasantly.
"Harry James Potter...the last child of the house of Potter and the boy-who-lived. He is supposedly 15 this year, and for the past four years has been missing from the school his parents went to when it became clear that he wasn't present for the sorting ceremony when he turned eleven. According to the magical population, he is known as the boy-who-lived because he defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort when he was barely a year and a half old."
"And I should care about him...why?"
"If you are in fact Harry Potter, then you have a claim on the largest vault in Gringotts, and are the richest man in Europe. If the Ministry learns where you are, they'll do anything in their power to get you under their thumb."
"In short, avoid Europe unless I want to deal with idiots," said Horus amused.
The goblin grinned.
"Indeed."
"Now, about these three. Is there any way I can contact them?" he asked, pointing to the three names under his.
"The Ishtar clan has long been a family of mages who guard the tombs of the kings. Though this does explain why we kept getting some of the Potter family magic from them... If you wish to contact them, you can either try to speak to Isis, or you can go directly to their underground catacombs and try to locate Marik."
"I get the feeling Marik would be easier. Besides, I have something that would interest them more than a missing ancestor who is still alive," grinned Horus.
"You might want to change your name. Horus isn't nearly as common these days," advised the goblin.
"Seth, then. Knowing that one, it would probably amuse him greatly."
"Very well, we shall reopen the vault under the name Seth then. That should keep the Ministry off your back until they figure out who you are. It doesn't hurt that you are older than you should be," said the goblin.
"Why are you so helpful anyway? From what I remember of goblins you barely tolerate humans."
"You're going to be pissing off the Headmaster of Hogwarts, thwarting that idiotic Ministry, and undermining Europe's largest source of business. Plus there's the fact that you look the goblins in the eye and tip very well for a human. So long as you don't try to steal from us, we'll keep your secret," shrugged the goblin.
"How about this. I swear not to try and steal from the goblin clans as long as this information is keep secret. Besides, it's easier to steal from those pathetic wizards outside than it is from a goblin," said Seth.
"Deal."
Isis didn't know why, but when the Tauk suddenly started having kittens over something she knew without a doubt that the game had changed...and that a very powerful player had just entered the game of shadows. The question she had was which role did he play?
She nearly jumped when Shaadi appeared. He was missing an Item.
"What do you want Protector?" she asked bluntly. She did not like him. He gave her the creeps.
"A new player has entered the shadows. However he has agreed to remain neutral against the Pharaoh," said Shaadi tonelessly.
"Who is he?"
"The most powerful Mage in the Kingdom... Horus of the Desert. Though something tells me your brother Marik will meet him before you do. He has reclaimed the Key."
Isis paled. It was bad enough her brother had access to an insane alter ego who wanted to kill the Pharaoh. But to add the infamous Horus of the Desert into the mix? That was just asking for trouble.
"Why is he here? I wasn't aware he had been reincarnated with the Thief King!"
"He wasn't. According to him some fool brought him straight from the past to the present... though from what he has said, he originally came from this time period," said Shaadi.
"How bad is he?"
"He hates the Pharaoh, and from what I recall he considers the Thief his brother. He has also admitted to desecrating the Pharaoh's father's sarcophagus...though even I wasn't aware of such a glaring problem with the coffin's spells," admitted Shaadi.
"Huh?"
"He said he poked a hole in the bottom of the sarcophagus and dumped it in the river as revenge for something the former Pharaoh did to his village," said Shaadi waving his hand like it wasn't important.
"So why have you come to tell me now?" she asked.
"Because he happens to have reclaimed the Key which he won by right of conquest. It recognizes him as it's master now."
"How dangerous is he?" she asked.
"He has agreed to not interfere. Beyond that, anger him at your own peril," said Shaadi blandly.
Isis watched as he left, and snorted.
"Jerk."