Seth went to Japan ahead of Marik, if only to scout out the competition they were likely to face. He had left a month before they had planned to crash a tournament the reincarnation of the High Priest, who Seth vaguely remembered being the cousin of the Nameless Pharaoh through the father, was hosting. The only thing he could think of was that this Seto Kaiba clearly had Dragon Envy. The boy practically idolized Kisara, the only person he knew of who had the Blue Eyes White Dragon as a Ka beast.
Seth had decided to be the security for the only tablet that still had a picture of the Nameless Pharaoh. What Seth never told Isis was that he knew the name, he just didn't like to use it. Hell, he knew the true name of his brother, but he didn't use it very often.
Seto Kaiba came to see the tablet, more out of curiosity than anything else.
"So you're that pain in the ass' reincarnation. You seem to be more tolerable to be around than he was," said Seth.
"And you are...?"
"I go by Seth these days to avoid people from mangling my real name. As for who I am, I happen to be someone who actually remembers these dried up fossils."
"And I should care why?" asked Kaiba.
"Do you want the one you'll believe, or the one Isis will most likely give you that is wordy and extremely annoying to people who don't believe in magic?"
"The first, if you don't mind."
"Long story short, because of your past life and the fact that you want to actually duel the pipsqueak, you and your brother will be drawn into increasingly bizarre and strange events. This in turn will probably cause your younger brother to be kidnapped frequently for no other reason than the fact that you associate with this Muto kid, even if you are more his rival than anything else."
"Are you telling me that Mokuba will be put into danger because of Muto?" said Seto.
"That's the gist of it. I can tell you know how to protect yourself at least, but because of Muto, the crazies and whack jobs with magic will be coming after you simply because of a past you probably don't even believe in. And that, by extension of how much you care about Mokuba, means they will target him to get to you," said Seth flatly.
"Is there any way to avoid it?"
"Not if you want to deal with permanently losing your title to a runt who barely rises above four feet and his annoying as hell alter ego," said Seth cheerfully.
"Alter ego?" said Kaiba, his eyebrow twitching.
"The brat, from what I understand, gains several inches every time he duels seriously. Do I really need to elaborate beyond that?" asked Seth.
"...I had really hoped that was only my imagination. What other explanation was I going to get?" asked Kaiba out of morbid curiosity.
"It's your destiny and all that crap. Knowing Isis she would have tried to tell you all about your past self and how you had to believe it. Personally I find the speech a little too dry and boring. Besides, I get the feeling you would rather not believe in magic at the moment," said Seth.
"And suddenly I find your explanation much easier to believe," said Kaiba.
"Your best bet to keep your brother safe is to hire a bodyguard who knows magic or is at least familiar with dealing with mages," said Seth.
Kaiba sighed. At least someone had bothered to warn him about the dangers. He noted the knives that Seth carried with ease.
"You wouldn't happen to be up for a bit of guarding would you?" he asked tiredly.
"Would I have to deal with the midget directly?" Seth asked.
"Not unless you want to. I don't want my brother to have to deal with crazies if I can prevent it," said Kaiba.
"As long as Muto keeps his distance, sure. I can't stand the Pharaoh...guy was a real pest. But I will have to wait for Isis," said Seth.
Isis was a bit miffed that Seth told Kaiba exactly what he would be dealing with without once bringing up the fact that Kaiba had magic. She had hoped his sense of duty towards the Pharaoh from his past life would be kindled now, but clearly Seth had read the boy's personality better than she had. Seto Kaiba had no love for Yugi Muto beyond his interest as a rival, and was more interested in keeping his younger brother safe.
At least now Seth would be out of her hair for a while.
Mokuba quickly found that he liked Seth, if only because he was more interesting that his brother. Seth genuinely liked children, so the bodyguard thing didn't bother him in the least. And this way he could keep an eye out for his brother's reincarnation without having to deal with the Pharaoh directly.
Mokuba often dragged him into playing a rather odd board game with him, not that Seth minded. He was rather bored. And he was already lasting at the position longer than any of the other people had.
When asked by Kaiba why he was able to last so long, Seth admitted he was rather quick to stab anyone who tried to kidnap Mokuba.
"Anyone stupid enough to try and kidnap a kid is susceptible to being stabbed by me. I don't tolerate children being hurt in my presence."
When Kaiba did create the tournament Isis wanted (in exchange for the card she wanted Marik to keep his hands off of) Seth managed to get in on it.
Kaiba kept Obelisk, but Seth had his own rare cards. The only real issue he had was transforming the summons and spells into cards. That turned out to be a bigger pain than he anticipated. Eventually he broke down and went online to buy the cards he wanted. He didn't feel like buying useless booster packs and getting cards he had no use for.
Since he didn't want to get into trouble with his 'employer' Seth stuck close to Mokuba and trounced anyone foolish enough to duel him. Mokuba was definitely surprised by the theme of the deck itself.
"Charmers, really? Most people can't keep a theme deck like that, and the most powerful combo you have are the ones with Maha Vialo," said Mokuba.
"Maha Vialo can be a very powerful ally if you play him right, and he happens to be my Ka beast. In any event, Dharc and his family have always been good friends of mine, so it's only natural I use them to beat fools after my cards."
"If you say so. In any event, who were those guys in the tacky cloaks?" asked Mokuba.
Mokuba had noted an odd increase in people wearing really tacky cloaks, but had decided not to mention anything.
"Them? Probably Ghouls sent by my little brother to attack the Pharaoh. Though knowing Malik he won't bother you once he hears you're under my protection. In any event, I think we should head this way for a bit so I can pick up a card that I really don't want Yugi to get his hands on," said Seth.
"What card is that?"
"One my brother got his hands on, but I never took the time to swipe from him."
Two hours and one duel later, Seth barely managed to beat the Pharaoh to the god card known as Slifer the Sky Dragon. No way in Set's name was he allowing the Pharaoh access to a God Card! He was bad enough with the Puzzle.
Suddenly Seth froze. He felt the presence of someone he had tried to look for but never found.
He turned...and saw a shock of white hair and reddish brown eyes. The boy wore a familiar Ring which the last time he saw was on the neck of his brother. Mokuba noted his tension, but said nothing.
Seth fixed his features so as not to frighten the boy and decided to make the first move. He wasn't a coward.
"Hello. I believe we've met somewhere before, but I can't seem to recall where."
The boy look startled, but a large flicker of recognition came across his features.
"Strange, I feel like I know you, but I can't recall from where," said the boy. His eyes drifted to an odd looking scar on his head, saw the emerald green eyes and black hair, and something else clicked.
"I would say you were Harry Potter, but from what I know of him from the books he's supposed to be my age," said the boy aloud.
Seth chuckled.
"I go by the name Seth. It's either that or have my actual name mangled beyond recognition. And you are...?"
"Bakura Ryou. Um, I need to get going. Perhaps we can figure this out later?"
"Sure. Why not."
Mokuba waited until Ryou left, before he pounced on Seth.
"So, how do you know Ryou-kun?"
"I don't know him, per se, but I know the Ring he wears around his neck. If he isn't the reincarnation of my brother, I'll eat my deck," said Seth flatly.
"How could you tell?"
"The only person I know what that aura is my brother, and he happens to have white hair like Ryou. Plus there's the fact that his name happens to be very close to his."
"Your brother was named Ryou?"
"No, his name is Ba-Ku-Ra or his last name was anyway. He practically raised me ever since I fell on top of him in the middle of the desert," said Seth ruefully.
"You...fell on him? I so have to hear this!" said Mokuba with a grin.
Seth grinned as well, and told Mokuba about how the goddess Bastet, who ruled over Cats, Lower Egypt as well as the sun and moon, grabbed him from his family (though he called them that very reluctantly) home and dropped him in the middle of the desert right on top of his brother. Mokuba was laughing himself to tears when he learned why Bakura even kept him after being dropped on top of him. The fact that Seth was a bloodthirsty thief who had no issues with killing or maiming people didn't bother him in the least. Seto liked him well enough, and that was all the endorsement Mokuba needed to trust him. Very few people could earn Seto Kaiba's respect and trust in less than two meetings. Let alone be allowed to guard Mokuba, who he prized just slightly above his precious Blue Eyes cards.
"Well, since our day has been so profitable, how about we see how far you've come as a shadow mage?" suggested Seth.
"Whoohoo!"
Seth had, out of boredom mostly, begun to teach Mokuba how to use shadow magic like he could. Most people who had their soul literally taken from their bodies or had other trauma could use it. But very, very few had the capacity to use natural magic along with shadows.
Mokuba was one of those select few, which was why Seth had decided to teach him as his apprentice. He had kept all the scrolls from his days first learning magic, so the only issue was translating them for the boy.
Mokuba, unlike his brother, was all for learning magic. And unfortunately for Seto Kaiba, Seth was all too willing to teach the subject...and give Mokuba something to blackmail his brother with. Seth knew that dragons were real, but he didn't know where they were. Possibly under the control of the same people who tried to kidnap him twice.
It was with great pleasure that Seth destroyed any memories of the ritual from the old man and his accomplices, and a little shadow blast destroyed the book which he had found it with. Now he had to find Seth the old fashioned way, by actually looking for him.
Ryou was rather nervous, though why he couldn't say. All he knew was that the man who looked far too much like the missing boy-who-lived seemed more than familiar to him and he didn't know why.
Potter was supposed to be around his age, whereas the person who approached him was either nearing or in his twenties. A few months age difference was explainable, four or five years wasn't.
He took a sip of his Earl Gray (a rather poor attempt, but it was better than nothing) when someone casually sat across from him. It was the man from earlier.
Ryou didn't know what to say. What could you say to someone who gave you a bad case of deja vu?
"I'll get straight to the point. I have a good idea why you found me familiar...and I know about the spirit inside that Ring of yours," said Seth.
"Who are you, really? Why do I feel like I know you?"
"My name, back when we knew each other very well, is Horus. My old title was Horus of the Desert. As for why you felt like you knew me, that is rather simple. You, Ryou Bakura, are the reincarnation of my brother, who happens to be the King of Thieves back when the Items were still new."
Ryou's eyes widened. This...actually explained a lot. The name Horus brought a lot of memories that most certainly weren't his, but at the same time felt familiar.
"What can you tell me about the Ring?"
"It's cursed, for one thing. All the Items are, some more strongly than others. I assume that there is a spirit inside yours, correct?"
Before Ryou could answer him, he felt the spirit inside wake up. Clearly he took an interest in someone who thought they knew more about the Ring than he did. Ryou couldn't stop the dark spirit from taking over, though it did surprise him that Seth...or Horus, as he was once called...merely raised an eyebrow at the sudden change.
"I was afraid of this. Tell me, Ba-Ku-Ra, what do you remember of your past?" asked Seth.
"More that you do brat," sneered Bakura.
Ryou was the only one to notice the odd inflections Seth made of the name. It was the same name, only it sounded quiet different. From what he could tell that was a deliberate act on Seth's part.
"Oh? Then what is your real name?" asked Seth.
"My name is Bakura. What of it?"
"Your true name, not the one you are currently saddled with," said Seth impatiently.
"My name has been and always will be Bakura, brat," sneered the spirit.
"Your name is not Ba-Ku-Ra. That is merely a nickname that you have used to protect yourself. I know your name, Spirit. You are the Thief King of Kul Elna, Akefia Ba-Ku-Ra. You of all people should recognize me, even after five thousand years," said Seth calmly, but firmly.
Bakura stared at him. The name...it sounded so familiar. He stared at Seth rather hard, as if that could discern why the brat felt like a long lost friend or brother.
"How...How do I know you?" he demanded.
"You know very well who I am, Ba-Ku-Ra. Just as I know that had you retained your true memories, you never would have touched the Ring's powers, let alone used them so flagrantly. Clearly someone is suppressing your true self if you wear that accursed trinket," said Seth.
Bakura put his hand to his head. He could feel memories attempting to come forth, but something was deliberately trying to keep that from happening.
"Why? Why can't I remember? And why do you care about me?" he asked, sounding lost.
"Something...took possession of you all those millennia ago. I have an idea what, but I was never able to prove it before some idiot dragged me through the time stream to this age. As for why I care... Why did you care about a waif who crashed into you before you were to steal for your family all those years ago?" asked Seth.
Bakura could feel those memories. It was on the tip of his tongue. He could vaguely remember a painful crash...and a boy with green eyes and trusting gaze. A name came to his mind, and without questioning why he seized it before it could be taken away again.
"Ho...rus...?" said Bakura.
Seth smiled.
"So you do remember. Can you remember who I am?" he asked. This was better than he had hoped. Then again, Ba-Ku-Ra was the closest family he had ever had.
"You're...my little brother..." said Bakura.
Abruptly, Ryou retook control. He seemed rather startled by that fact.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" he asked. Normally he didn't curse but this definitely warranted it.
"I thought that accent was familiar. As for what just happened, someone has been tampering with the memories of Ba-Ku-Ra. That's the only possible explanation as to why he had such trouble remembering me."
"Why would he remember you?" asked Ryou, clearly out of his comfort zone.
"Because back when he was alive, I happened to be his younger brother," replied Seth, taking a sip of his tea. He grimaced.
"This is not proper tea. Hold on a bit while we go someplace where we can find a proper cup."
And with that, Seth sent the both of them through the Shadow Realm to a small cafe in London. Ryou's eyes were as wide as they could get.
"How...?!"
"I suppose a proper explanation is in order...but first, Waiter, can I have two earl grays?" said Seth.