Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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"As for being Gods, one thing to keep in mind, is that we're talking about what could be in the minds of people unwell enough to kill the innocent. There is a necessity to try to understand what such a group could be thinking at this time." Isis explained in her most gentle voice she could, not wanting to overwhelm the young man. Because approaching 'God' as a topic was like trying to navigate a mine field from time to time. "And, remember that Bakura is a reincarnated Egyptian and Malik is also Egyptian, its not too surprising that the pair may start to go deeper into Egyptian ideals off the cuff."

"Well, Seto's ego is akin to that of a God... I remember when we all met for the first time back then," Rashid noted politely as he looked at the ceiling.

"It was about time someone came around who could keep up with your physically active lifestyle," Isis noted nodding, acknowledging their long ago shared childhoods before lightly scolding Rashid. "At least you stopped trying to tackle poor Mahaado, finally allowed his back to properly heal."

"That being said, they were and still are, normal people Jounouchi. Regardless of how this group may misconstrue things or the attacks they pull. Yugi and Seto need us, all of us to deal with this group. They may have an advantage, but friends and family are key to stability, without it the world would be in a much darker place." Rashid offered as insight to the blond, as a reminder of the importance of friendship. "We were not here when the Other Yugi first woke up from his long sleep, who knows what might have happened had he not all of you."

Though seeing Jounouchi suddenly go white as a sheet made the pair have to wonder what 'had' happened before their arrival. As Jounouchis' eyes were clearly mentally scanning the memories of those days and not liking it.

"If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have even friended Yugi. Nice though he is, the Other Yugi was crazy dangerous when he first was freed. We 'thought' it was just Yugi, that if you pushed the right button it was a type of berserk mode. But everything happening now while he was in 'that' mindset? Oh hell no, he was crazy, dangerous, and skilled beyond belief! I'm 'glad' he limited himself to card games because what he was doing with everything else was nuts! Who knew liquor could be used to 'cook'."

"... Does wine count?" Isis asked a little perturbed by Jounouchis' words.

"He killed a guy by making said guy douse himself in vodka then lit him up," Jounouchi elaborated.

Isis and Rashid sat there would mutually stunned expressions as they tried to reincorporate the innocent little Prince they adored with 'that' mental image. Wondering if the ages exposed to the evil of Zorc had somehow twisted the Pharaoh. Perhaps only having been released via Yugi had saved the Pharaoh from becoming a monster worse than Maliks' darker side. Since, unlike Malik, the Pharaoh clearly had several abilities that would have made him a threat to all.

"Clearly my point has been proven, no matter how you may think. All of you are very special and important to Yugi, and in these trying times it is more than ever important. Even if its as a cheerleader, better to lend support than to watch the world fall to evil." Isis noted with a soft sigh, as she tried to expel the terrifying thoughts in her head.

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It had been sometime since Jounouchi had left, with Malik returning shortly there after though it seemed they hadn't crossed paths. Now all the men on the boat were sound asleep and Isis laid staring at the ceiling and found herself pondering a great many things. Given what Jounouchi had said, it was safe to assume that the darkness 'may' have been eating away at the Pharaoh. If that was the case, then it was possible that Yugis' return to form could have been set back further than they would currently like. It also explained why the Pharaoh sealed away Zorc with the intention of not being restored until the world was in its death knell. No one would be around to be hurt if he 'did' fall.

But that was only one possibility in a sea of them, and out of all of them Isis knew this best, despite her ability to see the future. Even if Seto scoffed at it, it was more so because he never really saw it in action save when tainted by Zorcs' touch. There was a voice in the back of her mind suggesting that she return to using her ability. Hopefully ferret out some thread that they could use to guide them from the vast ocean of possibilities. But if she was to be honest, the years of misinformation that Zorc had fed her made her hesitant to do so. Breaking her confidence with the realization that she had just given up, willing to just roll over and let Malik and Rashid die in this life time. How she gave up on Mahaado back in the past and all of it being due to Zorc.

There was this heavy weight at the base of her stomach that held her pinned in the bed and staring up at the ceiling of her room. It oozed its way through her limbs to settle down in her joints keeping her on her back. Doubt filled her thoughts as she thought about the nature of her past predictions, how the little ones all came true. Yet Seto defied it, and through his defiance gave confidence to Yugi that the end didn't have to be that way. If she used her ability, would anyone 'believe' her? Would they think her just an Egyptian Cassandra?

On the other hand, did it even matter? Her duty was to her family, but also to the Pharaoh himself. So it didn't really matter if no one else believed her, so long as Yugi was willing to take the time to hear her out. She forced herself to roll over onto her side and stare at the wall in front of her as she thought about what Malik told them.

"Set was in America. The spirits are being shut out of this graveyard and there was a priest who put a seal on it. Beyond that we don't know details because the spirits 'Kura was talking to are of a different faith. But Set was definitely in the same area as Kaiba, and apparently he has this cleansing effect on an area on arrival. 'Kura was talking about how the town we went to made him feel nasty with evil, but that place with Set? He likened it to being cleansed."

'Set was in America' that one line stuck with Isis the most, as she recalled when Set abandoned his post and fled the palace. So what was going on now with him? The Other Yugi was clearly the memories of the Pharaoh, while Yugi was the modern incarnation. But Yugi had sealed his soul in the Sennen Puzzle, Seto never did any such thing, so while Yugi could be considered split between two places. Set and Seto 'had' to be bodily in Kaiba Mansion at the moment. Didn't they?

But it left her wondering, was it Set who split Yugi? Could he have some how violated the original seal and extract the Pharaoh and cause the split to happen? If so, why? The question made her wary of trying to look into the future in as much as look into the past. She needed to understand Set's plans before she could figure out the future. He was now associated with Chaos, and if she was going to try and dive into the visions of the future she need to know what he was doing. Lest he knock her off course just by breathing, so to speak.

Only she was a priestess to Yugi, in essence she was only supposed to contact 'him' not Set, and if he wasn't here...

In frustration, she pushed herself into a sitting position and shivered from a chill that had nothing to do with the here and now. Regardless of what Set was doing, the anguish in Jounouchis' voice wiggled its way into her mind again, making her remember why she was even contemplating looking into the future. Even if she couldn't give him anything concrete, perhaps it would be enough so she would know the words to say to help the guy. It was only a matter of time before Anzu would be in the same boat with Jounouchi, and despite not seeing them, there 'were' others in Yugis' group. Perhaps it was time to see what the future was planning on throwing their way. She had to take a page out of Seto's book and believe that there was more than just negative futures.

But not in her bed, she would have to set up a meditation spot and preferably not in her bedroom. For which everyone sleeping was a bit of a blessing since it afforded her time to be alone while she worked. She pulled back the sheets and climbed out of bed, grabbing her night robe and slipped it on. True she didn't have a large flame to use, but that was vanity, she could just use the flame of a candle and get the same results. Wasn't like little Mana was going to come barreling into her chamber on the run from another failed spell.

Isis walked over to her drawers and pulled out a small hand towel and then she went over to the small cabinet of supplies she kept in her room for emergencies. While each room had a kit, Isis had always thought it would be considered 'strange' if it was known she kept a candle. In hindsight she couldn't even understand why she opted for it when she was on a 'boat' where water would snuff out the candle in a heartbeat. The kit hadn't been touched since she had been welcomed onto the boat after the debacle of Battle City when she still had the Tauk.

Which at the time she didn't need the candle, she used the Tauk exclusively...

It was the difference between having to read a whole book to find a sentence and having an index that listed it.

'It made us all so very lazy, so complacent,' she thought as she took the kit with her to the meeting area. 'I hope ocean water doesn't do anything to candle wicks...'

She put the box and towel down before leaving for the kitchen to get a cup of water. Just in case, because it was always smart to treat fire with respect. Better she use the water from the sink rather than the ocean to douse a flame. Once she was back to her seat, she placed the kit before her and opened it. The white candle was still wrapped in its clear plastic, there was a small holder tucked in near by and a small box of matches in the other corner of the box.

As she sat there, for the first time in either life times she felt fear, it had been so long since she had used her ability. She had used that crutch for so long, that she bore a fear that perhaps her ability was either tainted or just shriveled dead now. She unwrapped the candle and placed it into the candle holder and placed on the table before her. A glance inside the cup she brought noted the lack of strong motion from the water. So she decided it was safe to light the candle, as the holder wasn't meant for being on the ever in motion waves of the ocean.

She grabbed the box of matches and as she pulled out a single stick. Striking it against the side of the box, she took comfort in the soft hiss as the match lit up. As apprehension turned into excitement for a moment, the chance to use her ability untainted for the first time in ages filling her. But no, she had to calm down and not let her mind get taken by flights of fancy. She relaxed as she lit the candle before blowing it out and placing it with the discarded plastic from the candle to the side and out of sight.

Isis took a deep cleansing breath while she lifted her hands and held them so to create a type of frame around the small candle flame. Her eyes followed the flames and then looked deeper into the flame while it danced on its wick. The soft sound of the little candle wasn't anything like the sound of a flame going on a bowl with oil as its source. But below them was an ocean of water, that became the 'oil' in her minds eye. The small candle flame rose up and enveloped the room, warming her in a sudden rush of heat that was suddenly blown away in a cold wind. The 'wind' was strong enough to make her blink and when she opened her eyes again she found herself somewhere other than where her visions would normally 'take' her as it were.

She found herself hovering in the air high above the boat, with the ocean roaring below her in huge waves that seemed to reach for her and the sky. Spread before her was a landscape in the form of an enigma. She recognized the harbor where the boat was docked, yet the city looked as though it had been taken apart and put back together with pieces not of Domino. Cast off to one side was a slab of land that seemed to have been ripped off from the main land like a fork that jabbed out a piece out from a cake. While everything else was a mashed up variation of Ancient Egypt and Modern Japan, buildings from both eras sitting side by side, or worse was the seemingly half melted union of modern concrete and ancient stone.

She searched the sky line for some sign of what had caused this, while all the tall proud skyscrapers that once existed appeared like melted candles dulled down unevenly by some intense flame. Somehow she felt that, at the very least, Kaiba Corp would still be standing in this strange mutilation of a city, as though Seto wouldn't allow it to fall. So much that whatever this 'was', would be unable to violate the place. And yet Isis couldn't see anything in the area where the towering building normally stood.

Finally she lowered her eyes to the harbor once more and amid the fluttering of her dressing robe, she caught sight of the Pharaoh. Somehow just seeing his presence was enough to comfort her enough to wish that she could approach him. With that desire to reach him made, she lower down as smoothly as an elevator, allowing her to actually look at the Pharaoh. For he was dressed as he did in Egypt, his hair was once more in its spiky style, making her lips slide into a warm smile.

Only to be stolen as she got closer and noticed... things...

His royal robes were red, not by design rather what seemed to be in a massive stain, and as she approached she could see rips in the robes. Worry filled her heart as she finally reached the proverbial 'ground floor' and her stomach dropped out of her body.

"Isis."

It was the Pharaoh's voice, the depth and strength, tired, pained, and now that she was here she could see how he was actually faded. More spirit than a physical presence in this strange world and in every conceivable way 'dead'. His forehead bore the crown of Egypt, but blood poured out from behind it, bathing the Pharaohs' face in his own blood.

He looked at her with a comforting expression despite his grievous wounds reaching up with his burned away lower palms. She pulled away in alarm, which quickly turned to shame as she realized she was pulling away from her Pharaoh. His eyes was sympathetic though he kept reaching for her neck, and she steeled herself for what her Pharaoh wished. What remained of his hands were cold, lifeless and clammy, but gentle all the same. He held her neck and she felt seeming ghost hands pull back towards him, with an hideous feeling darkness festering between the palms of his hands.

As she watched he brought it to his own neck, and the flesh encircled in his gold collar dissolved like acid. Horror filled her as she shook her head in desperation, unable to even find the words to beg him not to do this self harm. He didn't wince though, just patiently took on this wound while fresh blood spilled down.

Stomach rolling from the violence that seemed to have consumed the Pharaoh she had to fight letting her eyes go further down. Not an easy task for he was as short as he had been during the Battle City, as though the growth that Yugi had attained didn't reach the Pharaoh's spirit. But again, he had died about this age, so perhaps he really couldn't age further up. But in her mind she began placing each of the Sennen Items and recognizing the appropriate wound on the Pharaoh.

Isis wished that this was just an illusion meant to show her something, yet when his amethyst colored eyes clearly focused on 'her'...

His eyes reflected slight amusement, his right hand lifted up and touched the edge of his now mangled throat and began going to other wounds. He moved as though it was normal to have holes in him and her eyes filled with anguished tears. Despite being wordless, he looked away and settled his focus towards something behind her. His personality one of quiet patience and, desperate to not see his mangled form, she turned to see what he was looking at.

Reaching the other horizon she found a dead sea. As far as she could see there were bodies, piled high upon each other and of both Egyptian and Japanese clothes and skins.

A wordless wail filled with tears and anguish, carried on a heated wind filled her ears as it carried the stench of the dead and the bloody desert sands. Above the sky a storm boiled while a bolt of white hot lightning tore down the sky silencing the wail. The storm set forth a harsh wind driving away the stench of death. Only the sea kicked up the corpses into the air in a toss of limbs and torsos. Yet at the edges of her vision she could see flames licking the landscape. The flames began to consume the land around her, flames of bright gold that began purifying the landscape of her vision.

As the horror was purged in fire, she began to see the long absent scene that often played in her mind when she would gaze upon the future in her youth. Before the vile corruption of the Sennen Tauk entered her life.