Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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From the entryway of KaibaLand, the road split in various directions with holograms of duel spirits visibly peeking from behind trees or buildings. A glimpse could catch a mounted knight strolling through only to disappear behind a tree. Even though the tree was obviously not big enough to obscure the horse as they rode. But the sound was great enough that the clop of the horses' hoof was audible even after the pair disappeared. A pleasant illusion that the hologram was real and still there, just invisible.
Fairies danced in the air, goblins wandered about while the guests walked about in wide eyed surprise at their surroundings. Dragons and massive birds never seen on earth soared over their heads as they walked about. Children cheering as they chased or attempted to give chase to their favorite spirit while their elder siblings lost their cool, hip detachment to join in the chase. A hand reached out of a trash bin and reached for a newly emptied cup.
Trees moved a little, mostly unfurling vibrant colored flowers that flowed down vines that hung down creating the most intoxicating scent. An archway of bright colors and the sweetest scent, if it was a hologram with a quiet method that Kaiba used to pump the fragrance in was probably hella expensive! If it was just some Japanese tree thing, well the group didn't know but it didn't matter. All this was even better than what was advertised!
There were benches for sitting at regular intervals, some just open to the sky above others had to block out the Florida sunlight. While the food carts were stocked with various foods, from cutely designed cotton candy snacks that looked too nice to eat, to light and fluffy balls of bread. Large tables with employees quickly making such interesting food the guests weren't really sure of. But it smelled amazing and even if they had a good breakfast...
Malik exchanged a glance at Bakura, his eyebrow going up in curiosity how these men weren't moving. They were dressed in what Malik associated as modern upworld clothes, jeans and t-shirts. They were also the ones that Mahaado had pointed out as the ones Yugi noted were here to cause Kujaka trouble. Both Bakura and Anzu seemed as baffled as they sat on the bench watching and watching...
"Mahaado?" Anzu finally broke the growing silence, causing Mahaado to turn and look down at her patiently. "What are you doing?"
Mahaado blinked once before shrugging slightly, "I was instructed to enjoy myself so I am showing them an illusion."
The three living teens blinked almost as one in curiosity each trying to figure out what illusion Mahaado had up...
"Can... could you please show us?" Bakura asked, feeling a pit in his stomach as he realized just what might be up. Even Anzu seemed to realize what was possibly going on, given the slight pallor of her skin as she began scanning the environment even more.
The magician frowned slightly, at the thiefs' voiced request... But he was friends now with the Pharaoh and Mahaado gave a mental sigh, "as it would please you. The illusions will be obvious to your eyes so that you may see them, and I will explain anything else you may question."
It was the only warning Mahaado gave before the area became swamped with his magic.
"Oh my..." Anzu began, her tone hushed and reverent as she saw the changes to the area. From the trees with their beautiful vibrant curtain of flowers, to the very obvious Japanese street food vendors working their trade. Duel spirits appeared to be drifting about the area as easily as though they were really here, and maybe they were? Mahaado might have been able to lull some, she wasn't sure. Baby Dragon was standing at a vendor stand, his front paws on the table and trying to nip food from the vendor as he was moving takoyaki to their containers.
'This is terrifying,' Bakura realized as he looked around. From the obvious sights, to the sounds to the scents all of this was so realistic, and Mahaado was creating it. Being dead the spirit didn't know what modern foods or plants from different parts of the world smelled like. But he was emulating something amazing and it struck a cord with Bakura. 'He's supposed to be stopping them and he starts with this? Swamp them in an illusion so they never find Mai? Is that it?'
It was a possibility, this would be benign and leave Mai to do as she wished... But Bakura had been at school and knew a fraction of what Mahaado was capable of when he wasn't restricted by Yugi or Kaiba. There were times the girls were sent screaming out of the restrooms for something they did to Anzu. While Bakura was never able to find out 'what' exactly Mahaado 'did', it was enough to hear the terror to which the girls had left.
So now with the beautiful flowers, the clear references to the Asian marketplaces and the Ka Beasts flitting about... Saying Bakura wasn't a little worried would have been a terrible understatement. The guys in question were just the average looking American guys to Bakura. They didn't appear threatening really, and he couldn't think of anything they could do... 'And that's what makes them dangerous.'
"This stuff is beautiful, Mahaado," Anzu praised as she looked at the trees. "I don't recognize the blooms, but their color and the fragrance is incredible..."
"Especially since I wouldn't think you can smell..." Malik noted as he leaned back in observation. "So no one else can see them, but how do you avoid them causing distress to the people around them?"
Answered with a smile, Mahaado merely gave this knowing little smirk that seemed so out of place of his usual stoic, neutral expression.
"Given how long you've behaved, and at least this isn't the school..." Malik admitted with a slight shrug. 'I would love to see some of the stuff he can get up to, since I missed the school stuff.' Malik thought as he admired his surroundings. 'This' was going to be more interesting to look at than the stuff Kaiba had put into place. But it was magic, something that Kaiba couldn't reasonably use for something as mundane as a theme park.
The path they stood on was changing though it was slow, as Maliks' footstep produced a sound akin to the slightly shift of sand under foot. The sky was a little off color as well as he saw it, though it could have been easily just the haze from the heat of the state affecting his vision.
But he doubted it.
"This smells so real and is making me so hungry," Anzu confessed.
"Then partake of the food Lady Anzu, they are as real as you or the others." Mahaado advised easily enough. "The illusion merely shows what is happening, not necessarily now or later, yet you may insert yourself in that moment and partake as you wish. Though I advise that you have the coin for the food. The Pharaoh will be ill at ease at theft," the magician instructed as three stunned expressioned teenagers stared so very hard at his back.
"So they're real, the food is 'real', but its an illusion and they're not really here..." Anzu repeated, as much for her own state of mind as for the fact of what Mahaado said.
The food stall was an illusion but the food was 'real'?
Anzu walked in front of Mahaado, and the guys wanted very much to stand with her. But Anzu was the one closest to Yugi in Mahaado's mind, he often referred to her as 'Lady Anzu', showed respect to her. Even if it was the old mentality that she could be the Great Queen were they all in Ancient Egypt. While the guys had their less savory connection to Yugi and thus it was safer to stand back.
"Is the food real? Or is it an illusion?"
Mahaado blinked, not entirely taken aback by Anzu's stunned expression as it transformed into determination. "When I lived, my Ka was called the 'Illusionary Magician' but it was not my original Ka. That one went nameless, until Pegasus discovered it, and thus gave it the moniker 'The Magician of Black Chaos'."
The name sent all the alarms in Bakura's mind screaming into action all at once. The weight of such a name not lost in the slightest. 'Black' could easily be associated with the fertile black soil of the Nile. Symbolic of life itself it was not out of the question to suggest the name implied 'Life giving Chaos.'...
'But Mahaado isn't being the least bit nice, is he?' Bakura ruminated as he stood there and looked behind him at the illusion. The paths were also a little off, he could see the way the path began to angle off to the side, so Mahaado 'was' planning to lead them somewhere. What plots of land that were cultivated as plants were also a little wilder than what they should have been. So much so that Bakura was faintly concerned that he saw roots moving below the leaves at a near by bush.
"Mahaado, can people hear us? Since we're discussing some very unusual topics for the area, even if we're speaking in Japanese." Bakura began when Mahaado glanced at him for a moment confused before frowning.
"Oh, I see, no everyone understands what we're saying, though I can block their ability to hear us if you choose."
"Yes, please!" Three voices spoke up in resounding union, as they gazed at Mahaado in degrees of shock.
"I'm going to assume that Yugi doesn't want you killing these guys. So what are you planning? If we can ask?" Malik asked as he watched the crowds walk through the illusion of the food vendors.
But Mahaado didn't answer, instead he smirked and just began to follow the men as they began walking along the road. Ahead of the men, more spirits began to slip into and out of sight, while flowers began to manifest eyes of various hues as their center.
'Oh geeze Mahaado don't do anything too insane,' Anzu thought as she followed the magician even as she found her eyes redirected to the vendors more often than not. 'They're here but not here, and if I want I can just enter whatever state they're in to eat...'
She couldn't tell if this was a moment in time that Mahaado created an illusion of, if it was just an illusion all together? Her memories went back to the duel against Pegasus when they tried to protect Yugi from Pegasus' ability to read minds. It was the only time that she recalled Yugi summoning 'that' card, though she vaguely recalled it from the deck that Yugi carried. All straps and incredibly long flowing black hair, he had given her a sense of danger. Which was impressive coming from a card at least at the time.
"You know, if you just gave being alive a chance... I'm sure you and Yugi could go around and enjoy various foods and really immerse yourself in the world that Yugi knows." Anzu began as she started walking next to Mahaado.
'This is true, but there is no physical pain in this state,' Mahaado thought to himself as he continued walking along. The tombkeeper and tombrobber were quiet for the most part, observing the world Mahaado was weaving as they walked. 'Not more, at least for now let them get comfortable to the way the world appears to them 'now'. Expose them to more than this so soon and they would start to ask questions... Though what other things should I visit upon them?'
"So now I'm curious about what Mahaado could do to our little problem if he was left to his own devices." Malik thought aloud for Bakura, "the only downside I can imagine is..."
Malik grew pale under his naturally pale skin as Bakura, who had remained quiet, nodded in silent acknowledgment.
"Exactly, if they summon their 'own' Dark Magician's its possible they could do the something near the same if not exactly. Which could also be how they're managing to capture all these people. We just don't know yet."
Anzu turned to glance over her shoulder at the guys, and she was openly pale at the horrible thought they had instilled in her own mind. 'That much power? Could they have 'that' much? I mean Yugi would already be unhappy if he had to face Mahaado, but I don't know if he could handle one of the other Dark Magicians just because.' she thought to herself.
Song birds sang overhead, one landing on a branch to a tree the group was walking under. Beautiful feathers and a song so clear it was questionable if it was a real bird or something that Mahaado created.
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Walking along the wonderland that Mahaado was creating was truly interesting. Everyone unaffected by the spell walked through illusions, and the targeted men never noticed. Even if it happened right in front of them! Mai even crossed their paths on her search, Valon at her side, yet Mahaado apparently had hid the trio from anyone seeing them...
"Mahaado?" Anzu asked as she watched the pair walk by, this disturbing dark mist clinging to Mai. From the top of her head to the soles of her sharp white boots, the woman looked almost consumed by this unsettling mist. Valon was better off, but the mist was close to him, he could have been standing in a wind that was blowing it off of Mai and onto him.
"Yes, Lady Anzu?"
"What's that mist thing around Mai and Valon?" Anzu asked, glancing up at the Magician.
"That is how my spells are trying to communicate Lady Mai's plight to you."
'Oh well of course, how silly of her to even ask. We should just all know how curses look...' Malik thought to himself. Even opened his mouth to say it out loud until he saw Bakura's expression as the older teen looked at him. The 'go ahead and insert your foot, I want to know what shoe leather tastes like' look.
He didn't snark, instead he rolled his eyes and sulked in the back. 'I'm not going to keep apologizing for my mistakes 'Kura you guilt ridden bunny boy.' But the mist 'was' distressing... "I don't understand, granted Yugi wasn't a God, but he beat my insane side, why is she still plagued by the Penalty Game?"
Mahaado paused and turned to study Malik for a moment, then he resumed his walk, though his tone took on the tone of a teacher. "The Shadow Games are meant to be under the divine providence of Gods. When the Pharaoh calls one into play, He is weighing the soul of the person. His Will brings forth the negative part of them and He challenges that part to a game. If the person can overcome that darkness, the Pharaoh is defeated and the person moves on. However, if the person loses, their Penalty will be designed to help them overcome that negative part. With as much force as is required to help the soul be cleansed of its corrupted aspect." Mahaado paused and glanced over his shoulder, once he saw Malik nod in understanding he resumed.
"You targeted, not her outwardly destructive side, you went after her internally destructive side. A woman consumed by vanity would be one thing, shattering the Game would see her free easily. A woman consumed by a fear of abandonment, who lives a life that leaves her often alone would compel the Games' punishment to pursue her still."
"Oh no! Mai!" Anzu covered her mouth at the horror.
Malik turned a little pale and looked down for a moment. "I think sister told me about walking into Mai's dream once. It... she didn't give me details but it.. I wouldn't do something like that."
"Its not a mortals place to decide the punishment, that is the providence of the Gods." Mahaado pointed out.
"And Valon? It can't be like a cold... it can't spread..." Anzu began but her voice lacked so much conviction that when Mahaado turned his gaze to her she could only whimper. "It is..."
"Do something! You're powerful enough," Bakura demanded, and for his part Mahaado didn't look scathing when he glanced at the thief.
"Were it my or the Pharaoh's free choice we would. But she must ask for such things, Pharaoh explained that admitting her fear is a weakness she hasn't overcome yet. For some they must walk deep into the river before they will call for help."
"And calling attention to it too hard may make her shut down..." Anzu realized aloud in hurt. "Poor Yugi, he'd probably love to help her, but if she doesn't ask..."
"I am glad that you understand the Pharaoh's Tears."