Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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In a way, Bakura found himself grateful that Jounouchi had passed out as they stood there in the chill air. It was like a soft reset on the Luck duelist, providing a distraction on the deaths of Yugi's grandpa and mom, from the physical devastation of that bomb. It meant not explaining that the bomb had blown Yugi's grandpa and mom into pieces while that Honda 'magically' survived. He should have been blind, as well as mostly deaf at 'best'.
They had dumped far and away too much on Jounouchi and out of all of Yugi's modern friends, Jounouchi was probably the worst choice to talk to. Hot headed as Jounouchi was, he needed Honda to be his level head, as much as he needed Yugi ground them. In a way finding 'anyone' trying to revive Zorc and letting Jounouchi beat them into submission would probably be very cathartic for the blond. But Bakura knew it was going to be awhile before they found anyone of rank or the one to have made the call.
"Let's take a short jump to the hotel, because its probably a 'lot' colder there than here and we're not dressed properly. We'll just jump, see if there's anything to pick up then we go back to my apartment and see where these pieces fall." Bakura finally suggested, giving the other two a direction they could focus on.
The pair of blonds nodded in agreement, the small magical jumping device was brought out and the trio took hold of it. Allowing Bakura to 'take the wheel' as it were in their jump, and allowing for a thoughtlessness that was reassuring. If Bakura was doing all the planning and thinking it meant all the more uncomfortable aspects of leadership was also in his hands. Freeing Jounouchi from the anxiety of thinking about something more grotesquely grander than a card game. While letting Malik nearly freeze to death as they hit the Autumn weather of Estes, Colorado.
"OH MY GODS THIS IS COLD!" Malik blurted out the moment the air touched his skin as his poor under dressed body reacted in shock. He held their magical jumping tool in his hand due to yanking it out of the others' hands the moment the cold hit him.
Jounouchi wanted to snicker at the sleeveless outfit that Malik wore, as it was now biting the Egyptian in the ass 'so' hard at that moment. However; it 'was' stupidly cold for what he was wearing as well and he couldn't quite get a snicker out without it being clear that he was shivering as well. So he instead stood there trying to look around without being obviously cold.
While Bakura soaked in the feeling of being washed of that horrible evil that had been clawing at him from the moment he arrived in America. The air wasn't just cold, it was a blissfully refreshing sensation as the evil was left behind. This area felt cleansed of what he had felt in California in the same way the world smelled after a storm. The freshness as dust and dirt was washed off and everything allowed to be cleansed.
There were no initial words for him to express the realization that the evil that was lurking in America was absent here. A storm 'had' arrived and cleansed the whole place of whatever influence that Zorc may have had. If Set was doing this on his 'own' when going after Kaiba, could he literally cleanse the whole world of Zorcs' influence on his own? Was he 'that' strong? And yet he didn't come here to push away Zorcs' influence. He wasn't trying to 'help' and unless Kaiba got off his ungodly high horse they weren't going to find out what Set wanted.
If Kaiba was an Avatar, an Incarnation, or just a Pawn of Set, there was no way to miss the fact that Set 'was' active and connected to Kaiba. But if that was the case, it would also have to hold true for Yugi as well, and given 'his' Egyptian self?
"Aren't you freezing 'kura?" Malik asked between chattering teeth as he noticed Bakura's transfixed stare on the large mansion before them.
"We're leaving." Bakura said reaching for the magical tool in Maliks' clenched hand without preamble.
"Woah, you were serious about us only being here for a moment huh," Jounouchi noted as he gladly took his ring in hand.
It took less than a second it felt, when the trio reappeared in Bakuras apartment and began removing their shoes. Well, Bakura and Jounouchi did, Malik just stood there shivering and rubbing his arms for a good two minutes before he finally bothered. Bakura took his shoes and dropped them off at the door before he made his way to the kitchen. "I'll heat some water, we can have some warm tea to shake off the cold."
"That would be much appreciated," Malik called out as he deposited his shoes next to the front door of the apartment. He didn't even 'have' winter wear clothes that was suitable for that type of cold, how was he going to survive? He had goosebumps all along his arms, his teeth were chattering in his head and all in all that was sudden. But even as he shivered he was caught in the thought of how quickly Bakura was willing to ditch the jump and leave. Making him wonder about what the snow bunny saw when they arrived. Because he saw 'something' even if Malik had spent the whole, brief, time shivering he saw that Bakura noted something.
"I'm good, I'm going to check on the rest of the gang," Jounouchi called out as he slipped his shoes back on. The longer he stayed in the apartment the more of the conversations they had in California came back to him. "Ask Mahaado if I run into him about seals on graveyards maybe." He added before he waved his byes to Malik and left the apartment.
Malik sat there blinking at Jounouchis' abrupt departure in mild concern before turning to see if Bakura noticed, but the guy was still in the kitchen. Leaving him thoughtful on why Jounouchi would just depart like that, after all they were supposed to be discussing what they had learned so far. He sat there feeling the fabric of Bakuras' couch against his arm as he huddled against the seat. His toes, which hadn't froze up, sticking out over the edge of the seat cushion.
The apartment was quiet and peaceful, the spirits were beginning to return settling about in the building as they often did when Bakura didn't need them. While the sun was creeping closer to the west , so strange to go from the deepest night to the earliest of evening hours. The vast change of the suns' position was almost disorientating.
So Malik sat there and watched its golden glow creep along the floor from a window in his view. The sun was Ra and Set rode by his side to protect him from Apep, that was the belief of the distant past. Now the world knew the Sun was just a giant ball of gas on fire hanging in the air with the world floating around it on a set path.
The modern world had so many convenient explanations about how the world worked, science was the new magic. Yet was there a science for the magic in the cards they were carrying at their hips?
"He left." Bakura broke into his revere, the snow white haired teen was holding a tray in his hands. The teen didn't ask as he walked across the room and placed the tray with two cups on the small table before the couch. He spoke with a quiet confidence before he began making tea like a proper human, none of that American crap.
Malik sat there patiently waiting for Bakura to continue, realizing that the Thief King was busy processing information in his own way. So when the first thing the snow bunny said was about Jounouchi it confused the blond for a bit.
"We shouldn't have tried to push the Gods route on Jounouchi. It was pretty insensitive of us."
Malik found himself blinking a bit in confusion at Bakura while he was stirring the green tea leaves into the blonds cup. He would have made his own cup, yet it seemed that Bakura was using the ritual of making a normal cup of tea to get his thoughts in order.
"I mean, we were essentially demanding a guy, who has lived a very normal average life until now, to accept that one of his friends is possibly a god. Its not the type of discussions you just 'have' on a night walk to a graveyard while hunting murderers. I doubt Jounouchi was in a good place mentally to have that discussion to start with, considering what happened. And for us to try and validate our own point of views, to force him to agree was pretty harsh." Bakura continued to explain as he passed the steaming mug to Malik. "We have to be more careful, he needs to be eased into this."
"God or not, maybe just a super powered being, either way you look at it, he 'has' to get over this, 'Kura." Malik argued as he accepted the mug and relished the warmth. "He goes charging into a duel and expects only a hologram? He's not going to like the reality."
"But just telling him and expecting him to accept everything as the truth and change who he is fundamentally?" Bakura countered calmly. "Won't happen, he's the 'luck' duelist, he'll push his luck and go blindly into it. Just to prove us wrong or to reassure himself of the nature of the world."
"He should expect this, he saw the powers being used when the items were still around, how much hand holding are you suggesting he get?" Malik retorted as Bakura stirred his own cup.
"We all have our limits on what we can accept, what we are willing to face. Its no different than a group of warriors willing to take on another group of warriors. Sure either side may have a mage or two, but its even footing. But a group walking in on a full grown dragon or a God while unprepared is completely different." Bakura pointed out patiently as he watched the tea leaves swirl in his cup.
Malik gave a soft 'humph' as he sipped his own drink, before throwing in some honey and began stirring.
"Set was in Colorado."
Malik started and his head snapped up to look at Bakura in amazement as he heard the confirmation. The Thief King was staring off into an internal distance while sipping more deeply into his drink, wincing at the heat as he intentionally burned his lips.
"The feeling I got when we arrived in California, that pervasive evil that is seeping into the land was gone at the hotel. The whole place was awash in this cleansed feeling, I think if you two were more sensitive or less cold you might have felt it yourselves. It was incredible, but it was also confirming and I can see where this is going to become a problem if we try to bring Jounouchi in on this." Bakura explained, his fingers woven about the mug to soak in the warmth it provided. "Set was 'there' actively doing 'something', though 'what' I don't know. We know that the seal on the Ka's have been repelled and Kaiba was out of it, but 'not' possessed."
Malik began to smirk at the victory of their suggestion trumping Jounouchis' resistance, yet it was the look on Bakuras' face that stilled any words. So instead he redirected his thoughts towards what they had been discussing before. Since they knew it 'was' Set who had appeared in Colorado, what would it mean for all of them? If he had the power to cleanse the world of the taint from Zorc, why not just give the planet a good spiritual washing? Why was Set allowing for Zorc to continue to run about unabated?
Only to have the suggestion that maybe Set was going mad to wiggle its way back to the front of his thoughts. The idea of a God of chaos and storms losing his mind turned the sweetness of his tea into something bitter. Set had only seemed to be active at two points since his death in his original life time. Once when he controlled Kaiba into killing the elder Kaiba, and now the hotel. Bakura never noticed Set's presence at the Game Shop after all, if Exodia did something because Set willed it or in defiance. They didn't know.
"Set possessed Kaiba before, do you think maybe he tried to do it again?" Malik asked finally as a thread of thought started to take notice by the rest of him. "Set defends Ra, but Kaiba doesn't really 'protect' Yugi. Perhaps the original case was to protect, not so much Kaiba, as to ensure that Kaiba was in a position to help Yugi. After that he let the dice fall where they did. But if Zorc is starting to possibly become a threat again..."
"Then maybe he's trying to possess Kaiba to do what Kaiba refused to do before when the Items were around?" Bakura suggested, the idea alone causing him to take a huge pull of his tea, burning its way down his throat.
"'Kura?" Malik worriedly spoke the name knowing the tea was far too hot to just down like that. Yet Bakura didn't react like he just poured flavored hot water, leaves included, down his throat.
"Yugi as Atem, as a God of creation 'and' destruction. Ok, so if the Other Yugi is just an aspect of Yugis' past and is gone, and there's no signs of a higher presence. Does that mean 'all' of Atem is in Yugi, unlike Set who seems to be split between himself and Kaiba?" Bakura asked, watching the slowly retreating light of the room. No lights had been turned on, just a pair of teenagers sitting in the growing darkness of an apartment.
It allowed Malik to ponder in darkness as horror began to creep in, a horror that, just maybe, Jounouchi was right about his resistance. Maybe for the wrong reason, but right in his unwillingness to accept this. Kaiba could resist Set, if aided by them, Kaiba could maybe resist Set's influence and the worst of it could be mitigated. Just as it was now with Kaiba recovering while Mahaado used his magics to hide the situation. If 'Yugi' was fully a God with no checks or balances? A god who could destroy the 'world', and be allowed to confront this group?
"My Gods, 'Kura..." Malik forgot the cold completely as he turned in his seat to face Bakura for some type of confirmation that he was wrong. There was a rock in the pit of his stomach as he tried to remember all the myths passed down about Atem. Tried to remember something simple, small that Atem might have done and was coming up horrifyingly short.
"You realized it." Bakura replied as he finally put his empty mug down, leaning back in his seat and staring ahead at his own memories. "Atem doesn't do anything small. Our faith was that our Gods were half human half animal more often than not. Atem was the first to be fully human upon creation, yet its his 'ending' when he 'returns to the form of a snake' that is important. That's all there 'is' Malik, as a human he created the universe, when he becomes the snake the universe 'ends'. He's not a guardian like Set, or a magician like Isis, teaching, healing, all of those things belong to lesser gods."
"'Kura... He can't right now... But if he can and 'does' awaken to that level of power." Malik felt a new cold take over, recalling his lust for the power of the puzzle when he came to Japan the first time. These people were looking for Yugi for a 'reason', wanting a Gods' might and clearly Kaiba was not the type to give them what they wanted. Were they expecting Yugi to somehow 'create' a new God or a new form for Zorc?
Did they figure out that Yugi was Atem and decided they wanted him to create something for them? Did they mistake Zorc for Atem or wanted Yugi to somehow create something 'for' Zorc? Atem created the universe or created gods, either way, what he created was far above anything that could be controlled by mortal means. Just recalling the story of Sekhmet, the daughter of Ra, who went on a genocidal massacre made Malik shudder.
"Yugi could end up being an unintentional nuke used to take out a fly." Bakura put the words out in the open for Malik to feel the actual weight of it.
"But what is Kaiba's purpose? Someone as strong as Yugi wouldn't 'need' a guard, even Ra had his weaknesses and flaws. No one 'ever' messed with Atem." Malik pointed out as the shadows on Bakura grew longer.
"I don't know, because he's associated with Ra, not Atem though Atem 'is' merged with Ra in some points of time." Bakura sluggishly replied, before blowing out a breath towards his bangs and feeling a few hairs pushed from his face. "Maybe Set protects Ra from Apep and protects the world from Atem."
"Huh... how would that work?" Malik asked putting his own half empty mug down.
"There's a saying among cooks. 'You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs', which means to create, you must destroy. In this case, if Set is creating and destroying, Atem may not have a need to do so himself." Bakura explained quietly.
"But... he's not, or at least he's resisting it as Kaiba," Malik pointed out.
"And if Yugi takes charge now, he may not be able to do anything without destroying the world." Bakura agreed as the village leader got metaphorically comfy in the room.
"Perhaps that is why he is the 'King of Games', if he uses games as his means of interaction, he can skip the more dangerous aspects of his divine right."
"You have a point," Bakura acknowledged, turning to look at her, while Malik voiced his confusion over Bakuras' random words. "The village elder suggested that Yugi's title may be a means to interact without going to extremes. Which makes sense, creating games and the outcomes being milder forms of destruction."
