A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

A/N: only 3 pages originally and finally able to extend it to 4! woot woot!

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The illusion didn't speak much, making faint displeased sounds in the back of his throat when someone attempted to talk to 'him'. Unbeknownst to the cabin crew that 'Lord Kaiba' was an illusion of the real teenager. Mahaado still had some difficulty discerning between Yugi's 'polite' Japanese speech and Kaiba's 'rude' one. His long experience listening to Yugi speaking to him gave him a firmer grasp of the polite style of Japanese speech than Kaiba.

It was only because Kaiba reverted back to his original Egyptian language while in the Inn that Mahaado had been able to converse at such depth with Kaiba. Mahaado missed hearing his native language, so hearing and speaking to Kaiba had been soothing. Well, not being kicked, threatened, cut to pieces and so on, but simply 'talking' had been pleasant. He let the illusion walk by Mokuba's side after the plane landed, and into the 'li-mo' before they rode back to the mansion then releasing it. Mokuba took off like an arrow to check on his older brother, while he escorted Yugi back to his room.

Neither Yugi nor Mokuba had slept well since the whole ordeal began, so it wasn't surprising to Mahaado that Yugi went to bed. He trusted Mahaado to look after Kaiba and was already stripping out of his day clothes as he got close to his room. Normally, since the Pharaoh grew out of being a prince, Mahaado didn't pick up after him. Pharaoh used to have servants who did such duties, and he supposed that the servants that worked under Kaiba would also perform the same tasks. Besides given that, as soon as the Pharaoh climbed into bed for his nap, he grabbed that toy...

Mahaado went to check on Kaiba. Because, yes, Maha the Dark Magician Tiger 'was' a Mahaado repellent.

So to Kaiba he went, joining Mokuba who was sitting beside his brother in Kaiba's bedroom. Mahaado had no problem simply floating there, allowing the brothers to be alone despite Kaiba's state. But when Mokuba began to sniffle, Mahaado guided a tissue box close to the child, startling the boy. The child looked about the box, as though he expected the mage to manifest right there. Going so far as to call out to the magician to show himself, which Mahaado did, on the other side of Kaiba's bed.

"I'm here little one, I'm sorry if my actions startled you," Mahaado spoke, his tone gentle and quiet. He sat in his Dark Magician form, restricting how much of his face was visible when he turned his head.

"No, it's ok... though I've probably bugged you enough as it is, with my questions about your past," Mokuba confessed.

"No, I understand why you would ask such questions," Mahaado replied gently, which earned him a look from Mokuba.

"Really?" Mokuba asked in suspicion, his feelings closing up to protect his brother.

"Because when you look at your brother, you look at him with admiration and respect. But when you look at Seth, you look at him with a wistful longing," Mahaado explained, watching as Mokuba's expressive face turned towards the floor in front of him. "There is something in your brothers' ancient past, that you are looking for, isn't there."

It wasn't a question; it was a fact, as Mokuba had never seen his brother so alive in all his life. Kaiba was always responsible, with burdens and internally directed emotions, save when dueling, that was when his brother came to life. But even then, it was a hunger for conquering a lust to find something new to hate, Yugi hadn't been wrong about that. Yet Mokuba had never been able to really turn the tide in his brothers' feelings. Sometimes he wondered if he rebelled more if it would help, or make his brother feel more alone.

"Brothers talk to each other, but Big Brother won't talk to me," Mokuba admitted sadly. "I guess he's assumed the role of parent for so long he doesn't know how anymore. Now he could be dying and there's nothing I can do about it either."

"He's not dying Mokuba. When a person is dying they can not summon Ka anymore. Thus take my presence as incontestable proof that your brother lives," Mahaado replied. He decided that perhaps he should give some instruction to the small boy, so that Mokuba could understand the situation better, and not be alarmed by other possible events. "Mokuba, despite your brother's loathing of it, I think I shall teach you the basics of Ka, and Ba, the understanding of where we, the Spirits of the Stones, came from. In doing so, perhaps you will learn how to adapt and perhaps even use the knowledge to your favor."

Mokuba blinked, before looking up at Mahaado, curious about what the mage meant by that. He understood to a degree, that Mahaado's soul was sealed inside a stone tablet in Egypt. That he could be summoned by someone who knew about him and was strong enough to summon him. Though Mokuba didn't understand what defined 'strong enough' in terms of summoning. But even as he started to get into the idea of learning these things, he turned to look fully at Mahaado.

"Granted your brother originally sealed away the ability to summon Ka. With this latest incident, he's been forced to release those restrictions. At the very least, you will be able to learn the responsibilities that came with summoning," Mahaado began, before shifting himself around so that he could face Mokuba.

"Hey, before you do that, can I ask you a question?" Mokuba asked, a thought that had been bugging him in the back of his mind suddenly shoved it's way to the front of the pack. When he saw Mahaado's nod in reply he asked, "why does Yugi look as tall as Big Brother on that giant rock? If Yugi was a kid like me when he died, wouldn't he have been as short in the picture as he would have been in real life?"

"Size denoted rank in such writings," Mahaado explained. "We wrote our gods as having greater size then us mortals. By displaying himself as tall as the Pharaoh, he was saying in a way 'we are equals you and I'. I word it that way, because for us, Pharaoh was a god, people did not declare themselves as great or greater then the Pharaoh or the Gods." But as the words left his mouth he thought to elaborate a bit more. "Well for us 'Pharaoh' means a bit different than it does for you. For us, 'Pharaoh' was more the title of the highest of Priests. You could say our rulers were Priest Kings, Kings who came to power due to their relation to the Gods. But this modern world usually mistranlates it to only 'King'."

"So my brother got beaten by a ten year old Egyptian kid with no memory about who or what he was, or his relation to a children's card game..." Maybe there was something to Kaiba's obsession with Yugi?

"I... I wouldn't say it quite 'that' way, Mokuba. That comes out sounding very demeaning..." So now Mahaado understood why it was for the best, that he be involved in Mokuba's life. Gods forbid the boy growing up talking like 'this' to everyone he met. "I suppose this is what happens when I let Kaiba be in charge of a childs' upbringing."

"Hey! My Big Brother has done a great job raising me!" Mokuba protested; it was a pity that Mahaado wasn't taking him seriously.

"When we were young, your brother always scolded me for pampering the Prince, and yet, seeing how you are. I see what type of influence your brother is without me," Mahaado noted calmly, but he saw the spark in Mokuba's eyes. Clearly the boy was about to ask about past stories, and the boy didn't fail to deliver.

"When did you both become friends?"

Mahaado turned to look down at Kaiba's sleeping form, and wondered that question himself. When did he begin to trust the other? Oh sure, he accepted that Set was a part of the group now easily, whatever made the prince happy was more important to him. Was it in the hours that Set stayed by his bedside when the prince was occupied?

"Lesson first, Mokuba. I'll teach you about Ka and Ba, then I can tell you stories later." Mahaado was used to a certain student opting to find ways out of her lessons and had a feeling this wasn't going to be any different. "Now the first thing I'll have to warn you, is that I'm going by how things were 'before' your brother took the throne. He changed things to hide the Pharaoh and keep him safe, so what the modern history books might tell you, isn't exactly how it was."

Mokuba got up and went to sit on the other side of the bed, so that he could face Mahaado better.

"First, think of your body as an example. In our religion, we were all made like pots or boxes by the hands of the Gods, our souls, our Ba, are housed within these shells. Our Ba is what you might consider a life force, an energy or light that exists within. With training, a person can strengthen the light to the degree that it pushes the shadow outward, into the visible world. But the cost is that it takes a great deal of focus and strength to do such an act," Mahaado paused, giving Mokuba time to process the information.

Mokuba blinked once, looking up at Mahaado, before turning to look at his brother and thought about what he had been told. He had talked to Jounouchi and Malik before, seen the files and the videos. So he knew that no matter how much his brother might have adored the Blue Eyes White Dragon, in truth it wasn't that dragon that was his brothers'. So it must have been a partnership in the same sense as Yugi's bond to Mahaado. But then... "So in terms of the game, life force is the life points and the summoned monster is the expression of the duelist? But what's the difference?"

"The difference is found in the fact that if a person's Ba drops to a certain level, they can no longer sustain the Ka's presence. If the attack is... well strong enough, it will eliminate the Ka rather than banish it and damage to the Ba can cause a person to die. But because it's a Ka battle, not everyone can see it thus a person could fall dead just standing on a side of the road. For the untrained around them unable to see the Ka's it would appear that a person merely dropped dead." Mahaado watched as the thoughts floated past Mokuba's face as the child sat there, trying to grasp the concepts.

Perhaps in this modern age, Mokuba would be viewed as too young to be taught such concepts. However, for Mahaado, Mokuba was considered old enough to know some of these matters. Moreover he needed to understand that while others may view it as a simple game, there was nothing safe about Ka. Despite his youth, Mokuba's eyes lit with an understanding that most may have missed right from the start.

"Even Kuriboh? Despite walking around with Kuriboh, if something happened to it, Yugi would get penalized for it huh?"

Mahaado nodded, "Fortunately, Kuriboh is such a weak monster, with such a merciful effect that the Pharaoh wouldn't suffer from it. Even so, having a Ka take the blunt of an attack might save your life. Since it has a power that you may not have on your own. The one who carried the Blue Eyes White Dragon for example, had no power on her own, but with the Dragon revealed she could destroy a would be attacker before they got to her."

"Say, can a person have a strong Ka or a magician type Ka without being born with magic themselves?" Mokuba asked.

"If people can have dragon's for Ka I see why not," Mahaado answered..

Mokuba continued mulling thoughts over in his head, wondering if he could learn to summon a dragon, or if he could learn magic. It would be so neat, and perhaps he could use those talents to make his brother smile. Like summon Blue Eyes, or find a way to use magic to control people so his brother wouldn't have to work so hard.

"Very well then, I believe I am done for now. When I have learned enough of your language to go further into depths I will. Until then, so long as it's within reason, I'll tell you stories from my past."

Mokuba's eyes shined with the possibilities that offer provided him.

"Well, when did you decide you wanted to learn magic?" Mokuba asked, getting comfortable in his seat.

The confused blinking of Mahaado's eyes startled him a bit that Mahaado didn't just launch into an answer. In fact as he sat there, Mokuba realized Mahaado appeared to be trying to 'remember' and that seemed impossible given the topic and Mahaado's career choice!

"I-I was born one. I guess."

The pair sat there with Kaiba sleeping peacefully beside them as Mahaado tried to remember if he was ever given a choice. "Well, I guess I should start by explaining, there are two maybe three different types of magicians back in my time. Often, my master for example, were taught magics from text. They would study the text in scrolls and books to learn spells and how to channel magics, it was very difficult and time consuming. I remember hearing how my master strove day and night to master the arts under his master." Mahaado explained introspectively.

"While like you asked there are those I would suspect who would have magicians' for a Ka, but without a proper teacher they may never have been able to tap into their own arcane abilities."

"And you had both, a magician Ka and a magician teacher?" Mokuba prompted only for Mahaado to shake his head. Thinking back on his own master was starting to make him uncomfortable, yet the child was asking so he felt obligated to answer. After all if the boy, because he started questions with magic ones, might actually want to learn. Best to let the boy know what it was like to start off with before he tried to dream of something he may not see through.

"Its possible that a person with no teacher could just have an easier time learning the text or be born with magic yes. Mana would be a perfect example, my apprentice was born with her Ka being a magician and she learned from texts despite not having any inner magic. Its just that in my situation I had no choice, when the High Priests found me they dictated my future role in life as a Magician. I just happened to have a Ka that was a magician, and was already born with innate magics."

'Mana' 'apprentice' were buzz words that Mokuba picked up on until he remembered Yugi's Dark Magician Girl card, and realized Mahaado was talking about the Blond spellcaster. "Wait so, she wasn't born with magic? How can she be your apprentice then?"

Mahaado was a bit taken aback by the question, simply due to the simplicity of the answer, blinking at Mokuba before answering. "Being born without magic but wishing to learn is no crime, she wished to learn and begged me most ardently to teach her. So I did."

Mokuba smacked himself in the forehead as he got his answer, realizing how stupid the question was given everything Mahaado had already explained. "So your master had no magics, didn't have a magician Ka, but became a Master Magician. And your apprentice had a magician Ka, but no magics and..."

"And became your brother's High Magician." Mahaado inserted for the child.

"Became Big Brothers' High Magician, and you were born with a magician Ka, and actual magic in your blood. Its strange to think there aren't more magicians or that it would have lived longer than it did..." Mokuba noted thinking of everything that Mahaado had done already and how nice magic would be.

"Well, without teachers or the texts it would be harder to teach magic... and without proper training you could easily end up with would be magicians killing themselves by doing something wrong.." Mahaado pointed out rationally, while Mokuba looked at the still floating tissue box.

Lifting up a small hand, he poked at the box and how it hung in midair as solid as a wall before suddenly floating back to where Mahaado had picked it up from. "Can you tell me what your lessons were like?"

Mahaado reacted with a startled jerk of the head, blinking in mild alarm before forcing himself to settle down and shake his head 'no'. "My training, were your brother awake to say anything, is not something that should ever be discussed. However; I am more than happy to tell you what it was like to teach Mana and the outcome of her misfired spells."

Mokuba blinked in confusion before nodding slowly giving up his question for another similar answer. Strange to see such a reaction out of Mahaado and he wasn't going to dig deeper given the reaction. He wasn't stupid after all, and he recognized trauma from his time with his brother...

How messed up was Ancient Egypt that his brother and Mahaado ended up this way anyways?