Seth scowled as he walked through the hallways with Priest Shada by his side, his Millennium Rod clenched in his fist as he headed towards a familiar head of blond hair. Ever since the pharaoh discovered and released the captured, trespassing foreigner, he'd been paying more and more attention to that irritatingly obnoxious blond and less and less attention to his duties—and with how the two were practically inseparable, even with the blond posing as the pharaoh's 'personal servant', certain rumors were beginning to spread that Seth was not happy about in the slightest...

This (supposed) time-traveler was doing enough damage as it was just by existing where he shouldn't be, but did he really think he would be able to ruin the pharaoh's good name and then go back to his own time with no repercussions? (And of course, there was the sullying of his own good name as well when the pharaoh found out about his—completely justified, though Atem would hear nothing of it—treatment of his new favored 'guest', though that was just his own personal grudge against the blond, and as a priest he had to put matters of the country before his own personal matters at all times... or so he claimed, anyway.)

The pharaoh was currently in a private diplomacy meeting, meaning that Seth was finally free to approach the blond, a cold smirk on his face as he spoke. "Well, if it isn't the pharaoh's lapdog. What a surprise, seeing you apart from your master."

Joey looked up at the sound of Seth's scoffing voice. He had been dozing off outside the room Atem was having his meeting, since he wasn't allowed to sit in on it. "Hey, he wouldn't let me in, said something about it being private." The blond bristled at the mere sight of the taller man, remembering all too well the beatings he'd taken thanks to him. "And what's it to you? I'm not his lapdog," he looked away for a second, "We're um, friends." There was no way he was telling this bastard that they had become more than just friends. He wanted nothing more than to punch the man and wipe the condescending smirk off his face.

"Well at least you know how to follow orders like a good dog," Seth retorted with a smirk still on his face, enjoying the irritated expression on the blond's face far more than he probably should have—it wasn't even close to being the payback he deserved, but it was something, at least. "In case your memory span doesn't last beyond a minute, I will remind you that I'm one of the high priests—and therefore anything that has to do with the pharaoh involves me as well."

With that, his smirk fell into a scowl. "We still have no proof beyond yours and Mahaad's crazy claims that you really are from the future as you say you are, and I for one see you as just as much of a threat to the pharaoh's safety now as I did when you first snuck your way into the palace." Seth's eyes narrowed as he pointed the Millennium Rod towards the blond. "I'm going to reveal to the pharaoh the darkness that resides within you, and once I do, he will have no choice but to accept that I was right about you this entire time."

Joey balled his hands into fists, having to use every ounce of willpower he had to keep from socking Seth one. "Hey man, I have no intention of hurting Atem; I just want to go home." He turned his back to Seth, trying to get some distance between them before his willpower gave out and he really did punch him.

In the instant that the blond turned his back on him, Seth stepped forward and moved the Millennium Rod over Joey's shoulder so the blade rested against his throat threateningly. "I hope you realize that referring to the pharaoh with such disrespect is a crime punishable by death," he said in a low tone, his eyes narrowed.

Taking this as his cue, Priest Shada stepped forward, moving around to stand in front of Joey and putting the Millennium Ankh to his chest... before taking a step back in shock after a few seconds.

"What is it, Shada?"

"This boy... his Ka is... I've never seen anything like it before."

"Draw it out!" Seth commanded, uncaring of whatever pain it would put Joey through. Shada hesitated before nodding and doing as he was told, turning the Millennium Ankh against Joey's chest and beginning to pull out his Ka.

Joey let out an ear-splitting scream that half the palace probably heard. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest. "What th- what the hell are you doing?" he only just managed to gasp out. It felt like his insides were being ripped out of him.

Seth moved his Millennium Rod as soon as it became apparent that Joey was in too much pain to be able to do anything to stop the Ka removal process. Still, surprisingly enough, it seemed that the boy still had enough strength to coherently speak in the midst of the ritual, and inwardly Seth had to admit that he was impressed by the blond's tenacity—outwardly, however, he merely continued to smirk as he responded, "I'm having your dark Ka drawn out to reveal your true nature to the pharaoh."

And a dark Ka it was indeed: it began to take shape above Joey's body, blackness as dark as the night itself forming into the shape of a dragon with piercing, blood-red eyes... a Ka such as this could be nothing but evil, and yet for some odd reason Seth couldn't sense the same evil in this Ka as in the others from any other criminal they'd brought in. And that power... I can feel it even without the use of my Millennium Rod—how does this idiot have such a powerful Ka...? There was no other explanation save for the fact that he was a threat—he had to be, because there was no way that someone like him could possess a Ka more powerful than any of the high priests' Ka, especially one that wasn't evil.

Joey lay gasping on the floor. After a few minutes he shakily got to his feet. Once he was up he saw the dragon that had been forcibly dragged out of him. "Red-Eyes Black Dragon...was inside me?" Joey wondered aloud, confused and amazed. He had seen the Ka removal of the criminals but it hadn't seemed entirely real until he had his own monster here in front of him. Joey tentatively reached out a hand to touch the dragon, gently stroking the ferocious monster's nose. "Wow, you're real, big fellow." He was completely unafraid of the dragon and the monster showed no signs of hostility towards him. On the other hand, it turned and snarled at Seth menacingly, ready to roast him if he got near Joey.

He knows the name of his Ka...? Time traveler (which Seth still firmly refused to believe) or not, there were very few people who knew the names of Ka—names held power, and as soon as the blond uttered the dragon's name, it was immediately his to command... which unnerved Seth more than he was willing to admit. He'd been planning on sealing away the Ka to present to the pharaoh as proof that Joey was hiding malicious intentions, but he hadn't expected the blond to have such a close connection with the spirit that he would be able to subjugate it so quickly, and without the use of a millennium item at that... it was completely unheard of.

"You..." Seth could barely take one step forward before the dragon snarled at him, obviously ready and willing to kill him, and the priest's eyes narrowed in return. "Very well then. It seems that I have no choice—I'll have to seal away your Ka by force." With that, Seth raised his left arm, his DiaDhank opening as he spoke. "I summon the Ka lying asleep in my Shrine of Wedju! Come to our side and become our strength! Galestgoras, I summon thee!" There was a flash of light, and Seth's Ka appeared behind him, ready to do battle with Joey's Red-Eyes.

Joey blinked; he knew holograms couldn't exist this far back in time, so this monster must be real. He gave Red-Eyes one last pat before facing off against Seth. "Red-Eyes, Inferno Fire Blast!" The black dragon let out a stream of flames that hit the high priest's monster full on.

Seth cursed; clutching his chest with a pained expression as Galestgoras was hit by the flames from Joey's dragon. "You bastard... Galestgoras, take that dragon down!" Seth's Ka opened its mouth and fired a stream of black flames at Red-Eyes, though it was weaker than it should have been as it tried to recover from the first hit.

Atem rushed out of the room and into the hallway, his heart dropping at the sight of the dragons. " Seth! What in Ra's name is going on here?!"

"Ph-pharaoh! This isn't... he took command of his Ka and used it to attack me! Do you see his dark Ka; it's proof that he's had malicious intents this entire time!"

"Silence!" Atem was completely livid, his puzzle glowing dangerously to match his ire. He glanced over at Joey, his expression softening the slightest bit before speaking. "Joey. Tell me what happened here."

"He attacked me and did that Ka extraction thing to bring Red-Eyes out, now he's trying to blame me and call me evil or something just cause of the way Red-Eyes looks," Joey explained, patting the dragon on the wing affectionately.

Atem's irritated expression briefly melted into a smile as he saw just how close Joey was with his Ka—such a pure bond was rare enough to be more than enough proof that Joey was a good person, just as Atem had thought from the moment he met him. His frown returned as he turned his attention over to Seth, who quickly bowed his head in respect despite the irritated expression on his face. "Seth... while I understand that you have my best interest and the best interest of our country at heart at all times, I have explicitly expressed that I do not want anyone attempting to harm Joey, and that he is no harm to me or anyone else in this country. I will ask that you apologize to him for your actions and false accusations, and I want you to have his Ka sent to my Shrine of Wedju for safekeeping—and I will not allow any objections," he immediately added when he saw Seth opening his mouth to speak.

With that said, Atem turned his attention back to Joey, taking his DiaDhank off of his wrist and handing it to him with a smile. "Perhaps this is for the best, though I'm still not pleased that he forced you to go through that—at least now you will have a means of protecting yourself should anything happen. With the use of this DiaDhank, you will be able to call your Ka to your side at any time."

Joey examined the strange looking gold contraption. "Is this like a duel disk?" He put it on his left arm. "How do I use it?" He poked at it for a bit, soon getting bored with it when it didn't do anything. He turned to Seth. "Ha, you hear that, you big, stupid Kaiba-look-a-like?! You can't be an asshole to me anymore!" The blond said, probably being a bit childish about the matter.

Atem muffled a laugh behind his hand. "You use it by calling out your Ka's name-but obviously it wouldn't work if you already have your Ka summoned." He rolled his eyes in amusement at Joey's childish behavior, inwardly approving (after all, as pharaoh, he himself wasn't allowed to act in such a manner, even if he was tempted at times) but outwardly forcing a disapproving frown... though he supposed it would have had more effect if the corners of his lips didn't keep twitching. "Joey, behave yourself."

Seth was fairly certain that he was going to grind his teeth into dust at this rate, but as vexing as it was, the pharaoh's word was law-even if he was obviously biased in Joey's favor (though Seth couldn't possibly understand why the pharaoh would choose to stand up for that obnoxious, irritating idiot). With a huff, Seth recalled his Ka and turned on his heel, gripping his Millennium Rod so tightly in his hand that his knuckles turned white as he walked away without another word.

"Ha, I hope I never see that jerk again." Joey glared at Seth's back as he walked away. He then turned to Atem, putting his hands on the smaller boy's shoulders. "Why would you want me to behave? I thought you liked it when I misbehave." He gave Atem a light kiss on the lips, smirking mischievously all the while.

Atem's face turned bright red as Joey gave him a light kiss, his eyes widening and quickly darting around to make sure no one had seen the intimate action. Once he was sure that no one had seen anything, he let out a relieved sigh before flicking Joey's forehead, his expression a cross between stern and amused. "You're lucky no one was around to see that, otherwise I would have had to order your execution," he half-joked, before returning Joey's smirk with one of his own despite his embarrassment. "And yes, behind closed doors I do enjoy you misbehaving, so long as I have the pleasure of 'punishing' you in response."

Turning his attention away from Joey (mainly to stop the two of them from flirting before they ended up getting caught), Atem instead focused with a frown on the large dragon that remained behind Joey. "Seth was supposed to seal your Ka... but that would have involved waiting for a stone tablet to be brought here, and I think it's safe to say that leaving you two in each other's company for even just a minute longer won't end well..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "And we can't exactly have a large dragon roaming the palace halls... though he's surprisingly well-behaved for such a dark Ka—actually, it's surprising that someone as bright as you would have such a dark Ka; I can see why Seth jumped to the conclusions that he did, though I still don't approve of his actions."

Joey looked at Red-Eyes, petting his nose again. "So how are we going to get him back? Where does he go? Back inside me? This is all too weird."

Atem watched with a fond smile as Joey pet his Ka, laughing quietly as the blond spoke. "I can understand how this would seem strange to you—even most people in this time would find it strange. After all, normally only the high priests and the pharaoh are able to summon and control their Ka at will, and most need time before they can form a bond and learn the name of their Ka... yet it all came completely natural to you. I'm truly impressed," he said with a smile, tempted to reach out and pet the dragon himself but not wanting to touch the Ka without its (or Joey's) permission. "As for what to do... the only option is to have him sealed now that he's been released from you, but as I said, Seth is the only one who can do that, so I will have to call him back here, unfortunately—though I suppose I should have the stone tablet brought here first..."

Joey sighed. "Does that mean I have to see that asshole again?" He really had been hoping not to have to see him again, but if it was the only way to get what they needed done; he would just have to bear with it. "Do I have to be here when he does it? I feel it won't end well if we see each other again."

"Well, I suppose you don't have to be here... though I don't know how well it will behave if you're not here, especially if it still bears as much animosity towards Seth as you do," Atem responded wryly. "It will only take a minute at most, and then you both won't have to see each other until the day you leave."

Joey sighed again. "Well, ok, let's do this. Bring that asshole back here." The blond was not happy about this, but he also really didn't want his dragon on the loose.

Atem hesitated a moment, making sure that no one was around to see before he leaned up to press a quick kiss to Joey's cheek. "Thank you—you won't have to say two words to him, I promise, and I'll make sure he doesn't say anything to you either."

With that said, Atem went off to have some servants bring in a stone tablet, waiting until it arrived before finding and requesting (or forcing, rather) Seth to return for long enough to finish what he started and seal away Joey's Ka in the tablet. Thankfully, aside from an irritated glare and some grumbling, Seth didn't try to start anything, and as soon as the dragon was sealed away he left without even waiting to see that the tablet was safely carried away—which Atem didn't mind, since the less time Seth spent in Joey's presence (and vice versa), the better. "Would you like to visit my Shrine of Wedju? You can see where your Ka is being kept, and all of the other Ka that are being kept there as well."

"Sure, what kind of cool monsters do you have kept there?" Joey followed Atem to the shrine, marveling at all the stone tablets.

Atem laughed quietly. "Well, I suppose it depends what you find interesting, but I have various different monsters, ranging from ones like the Winged Guardian Dragon, Mystical Elf, and Kuriboh to the three nameless gods," he responded, coming to a stop in the center of the shrine and gesturing up to the gigantic trio of stone tablets on the wall before them, each depicting one of the three gods whose names were lost through the ages.

Joey knew that the monsters in question were Obelisk, Slifer, and Ra, but he also knew that if they were nameless in this time it would probably not be a good idea to reveal that he knew their names. "Are all of these yours, or are some of them the priest's monsters?" It was hard to believe that all these monsters could belong to just Atem, but he was the pharaoh, so it might be possible. But Joey thought he remembered Atem saying that some of them belonged to the priests.

"Everything within this Shrine of Wedju belongs to the pharaoh-the high priests have their own shrines surrounding this one which contain their monsters," Atem explained, smiling in amusement as he added, "Theoretically, since I've given you my DiaDhank, you should be able to summon any of the Ka lying dormant here as well... though I wouldn't recommend it, since there's no guarantee that they would obey you even if you did summon them."

"Wait, does that mean that I could summon the gods?" Joey stared up in wonder at the stone tablets. He'd never been able to summon one during the Battle City Tournament. It would be really nice to be able to, but Atem was right, he'd better not. He had no idea if he'd be able to control a god and he didn't want it going nuts and destroying anything.

"Unfortunately not," he responded with a laugh. "In order to do something like that, you'd need to know their names, and not even I know the true names of the gods... It's for the best that their names are unknown, though-the power that someone could have just from knowing the names of the gods... I don't even want to think about what would happen if one person were to obtain that much power for themselves."

Joey coughed. It was eating at him that he did know the names of the gods. So in theory he could summon them. "Well, about that," he started nervously, still not sure if he should tell this probably very important piece of information.

Atem looked at him in a mixture of confusion and curiosity, noting Joey's odd expression but unsure of what exactly it meant. "Hm? Is something the matter, Joey?"

Joey looked away, speaking rather quietly, "I actually know all three god's names." He didn't think it was that big of a deal until he had learned that to control these ancient Egyptian monsters he needed to know their names.

Atem stared at Joey in shock, unsure of whether or not he'd actually heard the blond right. "You... know their names...? But how? There's no way..." However, he knew Joey would have no reason to lie about something like this... "If that's true, then you have to swear to me never to speak their names aloud, no matter what. Is that understood?"

Joey was surprised at how serious Atem suddenly was. "Um, okay, what will happen if I do? Sometime bad, I'm guessing?" He only knew the god's names because of the tournament. If Odion had had a real Ra card and not a fake he'd even have owned a god card for a short time.

Atem frowned. "'Something bad' wouldn't even begin to cover it... These are gods, Joey-their powers are limitless, and all that is needed to obtain and control their powers is their names. Were you to say their names aloud and the wrong person heard you and managed to get my DiaDhank from you, they could destroy the entire world if they wanted to."

Joey stared in wide-eyed horror at the thought. "I could really do all that, just with their names?" He clutched the weird gold duel disk with a bit of apprehension. Maybe he shouldn't even have this thing if it could do that much damage.

Atem gave Joey a reassuring smile, briefly reaching out when he was sure no one was looking to give Joey's hand a quick squeeze. "You could, but I know you wouldn't, so there's nothing to worry about." The pharaoh trusted Joey without any question, and he had no worries about Joey doing anything wrong, nor did he worry about anyone making Joey tell them the gods' names-after all, there was no way that anyone would even know that Joey knew their names in the first place, and he could tell by Joey's expression that he wouldn't go and casually mention the gods' names anytime soon.

Joey squeezed Atem's hand back. "Now that Seth can't do anything to me, I don't feel that there's anything for me to worry about." He gave the pharaoh a big toothy grin.

Atem laughed quietly, returning Joey's grin with a smile of his own. "Even just with your own Ka, he wouldn't be able to do anything to you. After all, yours may very well be one of the most-if not the most-powerful Ka in here, save for the gods themselves. It's clearly a reflection of your strong spirit," he praised, before adding quietly so no one else would hear as he eyed Joey with a slight smirk, "Strong of body and strong of spirit, good looking, a fun personality... you really are quite the incredible person, Joey."

Joey blushed at the praise. "Thanks, you're pretty awesome too." He glanced around to make sure they were alone in the shrine. They were, so he planted a big kiss on Atem's lips. "To completely change the subject," he suddenly started, "Where's Mana? I haven't seen her in a while."

Atem blushed heavily at the sudden kiss but was more than happy to reciprocate, especially since he knew that they were both alone (though he was grateful that Joey had been thoughtful enough to check before kissing him). He blinked in surprise at the random change in subject before laughing quietly. "It's hard to say; she comes and goes as she pleases. I'm sure she'll end up finding us again herself if we can't find her."

"Well, if you don't have anything else planned, why don't we go try to find her?" Joey was bored and it gave them sometime to do.

"Well, my meeting was cut short thanks to yours and Seth's fight, but I'm sure the diplomat is already making his way back home, so... sure, why not," he responded with a smile and a shrug. "We can search in the usual places that I find her-come on, I'll lead the way."