Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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"I'm so glad we're in California," Anzu finally spoke as she looked around at the town that they had materialized in. A nice, friendly, open park with wide open areas and just hilly enough that it was explainable how the trio could have gotten there. But the park had just enough variety of people that she could see that would help the pair with her not stick out as much. There was just enough out of the conventional 'norm' that Ryou's white hair and Malik in general could be viewed as normal.
So long as they were from a 'public' school it would be fine, she told herself. Though she was going to have to be quick to ferret out the name of a public school that the pair could claim to attend in the first place. "So which one of you has the map of the town?" She asked and watched as both heads ducked down. 'Men...' she thought to herself. "Seriously? You don't know where we're going?"
"I know the way to get there, just... Look I know the names of the roads," Bakura argued with a disgruntled sigh not wanting to admit to the spirits help. "We couldn't use the same place as we first did because that was in the busy part of town. A park is more ideal for this time of day," Bakura pointed out as he began to look around.
"The spirits know where we're going as well, so my money is that when they catch up with us they're going to direct Bakura." Malik pointed out with a shrug as he looked about, thus missing Bakura's head sinking into his hands.
Anzu looked a little baffled and gently patted Bakura on the shoulder in support, as the poor thief looked so painfully resigned to what Malik had said. But the fact that they were 'here' in California, without planes or ships was amazing. She wasn't going to deny the fact that magic was certainly an interesting and exciting force. It just seemed so useful to use, on several levels given what she had seen Mahaado do doing Kaiba's recovery. It was strange to think that Ryou wasn't more excited by all the applications the Spirits presence could have. They just needed to find a way to allow the spirits to travel between the living world and the afterlife freely!
Yugi pouting about how Kaiba was playing 'dress up' with his Maha had been amusing and endearing. When he managed to get Mahaado to appear, the change in attire had been startling. Anzu had gotten so comfortable with seeing the lavender and amethyst hued robes of the Dark Magician, or the pale off white and gold of his High Priest robes. For Mahaado to appear in what Kaiba apparently decreed that he wear was startling. Just learning that altering forms of dress as well as the appearance of physical builds were things that he could just 'do'? Never had Anzu felt more interested in learning to be a 'true' Dark Magician Girl until that moment. While she was never going to give up her dancing, just the thought of a little added spark was exciting.
Only seeing Mahaado in formal business attire while Yugi grumbled at the clothes and how Mahaado would look better in black. Anzu opted to keep an eye out for some different men's fashion as the subtle realization that she was going to be the 'only' sane person to help Mahaado bloomed. All the while had Mahaado sat with them bearing all the patience of a saint while trying to be engaging in conversation... "Soo... Hey, Mahaado has been stuck in... what exactly for all these years? A tablet?"
"Yes, my Tribes maintain them, they're large stone tablets that had images engraved upon them when a soul was sealed within." Malik explained as he got distracted by the sight of a couple of motorcycles that looked more impressive than the one he had.
"Soo when no one is summoning Mahaado he's... what? Just sleeping in a tablet? How does he do that?" Anzu asked considering how she could physically touch Mahaado unlike before.
"Magic?" Malik suggested with a faint shrug as though this was absolutely normal, despite the fact that it wasn't. After all, who knew how exactly the Sennen Items sealed a soul into stone?
"Well, I was just thinking, the Sennen Items all had souls trapped in them, and are now free to a point. What about people like Mahaado? Do 'all' the tablets have human souls in them? Does this mean that all the monster cards in the game have souls connected to them?" Anzu asked causing both guys to stop, look at each other and back at her.
With Malik bearing a thoughtful expression and Bakura looking more like he was trying to suppress some sense of pure horror.
"There are more cards than there are tablets, but I don't see the reason for interest," Malik commented taken by her serious expression. Clearly she was putting some time into these thoughts and not just bouncing random ideas.
"But doesn't that mean that 'all' those souls are sleeping? Not just Mahaado but that all of them were one time living, breathing people who are trapped in those tablets? I mean, what happens if something or someone destroys a tablet for example." Anzu's inquiry managed to make both teens give up on the thought of walking as the horror of her thought path fully hit them.
"Destroy the stone, you destroy the soul. They're not the same as the Sennen Items, the process of creating the tablets was simply to cut the stone into proper shape and the magic was cast upon them. While the corpses of the Thieves were sealed as part of the recipe for the Items, the same as putting eggs in cake batter as opposed to putting a candle on the cake." Bakura explained before his head sank into his hands again, "did I just associate the fate of souls to baked goods?"
"You did, we're proud of you, move on," Malik quipped primly knowing how Bakura was likely to sink into more appalled emotions if allowed.
Anzu blinked at the pair while distantly noting how Malik was a better mental health provider than the country of Japan. True that 'help' was about as callous as telling someone to 'get over it'. But that was merely a distant thought as the one taking up a good chunk of her awareness was, "so he goes to the afterlife right? Like whatever it is that Egyptians had for one is where he goes right? 'All' the souls sealed in the tablets end up in the after life?"
"If that was the case, why would my tribes waste our lives protecting them? No, its no different than failing the Scales. They just stop existing," Malik answered with a 'come on you know better' look on his face. Watching as Anzu went shades of white and then a small tint of green, making him regret when he had to talk of his homeland at 'all' around these Japanese types. At least Bakura had sense. "Look the records stated that they 'only' sealed criminals in the Tablets so no one is going to care about the souls of the corrupt. The only ones that would need protecting then are the three Gods, Mahaado and the Blue Eyes White Dragon." Though now that he said it out loud, maybe Anzu 'had' a point to her concern.
"Sooo someone steals or destroys a tablet that being is doomed, even if they haven't woken up since they were first sealed? Isn't there anything that can be done?!" Anzu asked at the thought of people like Mahaado locked in tablets for eternity and then just destroyed... No.. Just no...
"You shouldn't worry too much about it, Anzu," Bakura attempted to assuage the girls' alarmed feelings. "The sealing wasn't like that normally, Mahaado's tablet and Blue Eyes White Dragon are really the only ones you need to be concerned over. The rest only had a portion of their soul sealed, the rest of them would have passed on in accordance back then."
Malik nodded as the color slowly began to return to Anzu's face and he resolved not to talk about 'anything' regarding Egypt. At least so long as people working on their first incarnation and Japanese by birth were present. Yugi and Kaiba was fair game though, if he could spend any time around the pair sans Mokuba. As such he turned his attention back to this city as the sun had passed its highest point and was working its way slowly down. The city looked different with more color for him to see and a larger variety of people.
"No Malik, you don't get to investigate California because we already have a reason for being here," Bakura automatically announced without even seeing the Egyptians' face.
"How about after we're done finding Travis?" Malik asked as he watched some people with paler skin though the facial structure was closer to his people than others walked along chatting.
"I am 'not' Isis, you want to do a world tour, ask her. I should be spending today studying and I'm not because of life." Bakura was completely nonplussed about where this conversation was going while Anzu began smiling a bit.
"Wow, considering how the two of you met, you make for the best of friends," she commented with the smile turning into a grin. "Seriously, especially since Ryou didn't even 'meet' you until after the fact as I recall."
"And I got the scar to prove it," Bakura quipped as his hand ghosted up to said scar on his arm as he reached the sidewalk and began leading the way.
Malik remained tight lip about the matter, sulking a bit at the tone Anzu had taken, the 'you're a cute kid' tone. He wanted to remind her that he once held sway over her life and death, and even traveled in her body. But there was no way he could think of bringing up the topic without causing things to get awkward. Just getting Jounouchi to do 'anything' when they brought up Gods and such made him stay wary of bringing Anzu into the mix.
"Its just that, didn't Catherine's letter mention she traveled and saw lots of people laid out before Tablets? What if they were getting 'their' souls sucked into Tablets." Anzu brought up her tone thoughtful and introspective as she returned to the topic that caught her focus before. So she didn't see the expressions of stunned horror on the pair's faces as they realized they had completely forgotten 'that' little fact about Catherine's' letter. The signs that maybe there 'were' efforts to recreate the event that made Mahaado a Duel Monster for eternity.
"They can try, but it would not succeed until they have a set of Sennen Items, since it was the items that released the ability to even 'seal' the Ka's of others," Malik pointed out, trying to sound confident, yet there just wasn't a way he could think to do so. This sudden out of left field idea had him feeling nervous and actually shaken at the thought. Just rows of tablets that could or could not have a soul trapped inside. The notion that they might not ever know and the damning consequences if there 'was' a soul and it was allowed to be destroyed. "Even if that was the case..."
"But you said it sealed 'parts' of the soul, if this group is actually trying to recreate the Tablets without the Items.. Even the idea of 'detachable parts of a soul' might not be considered and they could be shoved completely into the tablets if at all." Anzu firmly pointed out, unlike Jounouchi who had wanted to back peddle from the darker aspects of the situation. Anzu seemed hell bent on getting completely informed about this and how it would affect things.
"And what do we do about the Tablets in an off chance that there was 'any' level of success? We can't just destroy them in a passing hope that the souls of their victims would be protected or safe. Instead of, you know, obliterated," Bakura added as his stomach twisted at the thought. It wasn't as though Catherine bothered counting considering her situation and because she only saw 'one' area. Who knew if there was more?
Mahaado probably knew, but again, he never spoke on the matter.
It was growing into a maddening realization that someone who probably held an insane level of insight on what was going on. Was 'not' being bothered for that knowledge. Though in retrospect 'would' he?
It seemed like a hideous oversight on Yugi's part 'not' to grill Mahaado for everything he knew when this all began. But when Bakura tried to put himself in that mindset, why would Mahaado even know? The magician wasn't summoned by the leaders of this group instead he was an unexpected gift to Pandora, wasn't he? Mahaado was capable of casting 'real' spells, giving the Book to Pandora seemed almost laughably stupid in comparison. For that matter did they even know Mahaado 'could' be summoned?
"But why give the Book to Pandora? It seems foolish to give an enchanted item to someone who is clearly not mentally well. For which it would explain why Mahaado might not know a great deal of what's going on. Pandora was fixated on Catherine there's no reason to believe that he was deep enough in the group to know beyond that. Because how could Yugi 'not' dig for information out of Mahaado?" Bakura asked aloud as his poor bunny brain ran circles trying to figure that out.
"He tried, but its tricky," Anzu explained with a faint shrug as Bakura nearly whiplashed himself to look at her fully. "The way Mahaado explained it was that yes, he's the original true Dark Magician. When Pegasus made the game itself, the copies of his original card are not 'him' he only inhabits the first one. Like a phone line between his tablet and whoever summons him, while the copies can develop their own personalities over time. Through their bonds with whoever takes them in for lack of better word."
"The copies that Pandora has had evolved personalities over time, but the one thing that Mahaado has over a copy is that he can override them. He can take over their forms at will, so the Book could only influence 'him' because he's a real soul, 'not' a copy created via Pandora having a card of him. Which also means if someone else gets the book and maybe tries to summon a Fairy. If there is no fairy type Tablet the book wouldn't be able to work." Anzu finished reciting her eyes having drifted to look at the vivid blue sky as she walked.
"Hence why Pandora could call Dark Magician out..." Bakura nodded as that part of the riddle was answered. "So he could really not know what was going on with this group unless he was with someone else other than Pandora at first. Though I can honestly believe he would just go back to his Tablet and sleep when not on call."
"Yeah, that pretty much fit with what happened. Mahaado has variations of appearance due to the print of the Cards. But he said that while he doesn't object to the alternate colors he was given because of Pegasus. He only manifested in his Yugi themed colors as a reflection of his rebellion against serving Pandora," Anzu answered while her nose scrunched up in amusement and smug satisfaction. Once Yugi had explained what Pandora 'did' to his Dark Magicians upon their first meeting. A year ago, and she wouldn't have been very interested. But now having met Mahaado and realizing that it had been a real soul created 'by' Pandora that the stage magician had tortured?
Smug Anzu was smug.
Take 'that' you Spirit abuser!
"When did 'this' conversation happen?" Malik asked, floored at such a conversation having even taken place. Not to mention the casual way Anzu described everything, it was something he felt would have been better done in a group discussion.
"Oh that was a while ago, before even Kaiba's trip to Canada, Yugi and I were doing homework together." Anzu replied with that same tone before adding, "but is that really important to discuss right now?"
"She has a point, after all if there are humans already being kidnapped and forced to try and be sealed into Tablets... Our time table is even tighter, we're no longer just trying to stop the Items from being recreated. We're going to have to save other humans from possibly being trapped in Tablets. Though a question that follows is 'what next'?" Bakura noted as he was free from being the one to drag the conversation back onto the topic at hand. But when he saw the confused looks on the other two's faces he sighed. "What do we do with the Tablets? If they 'do' carry trapped souls, we can't just leave them be or destroy them. Won't the tribes be offended to have to look after 'more' Tablets?" He elaborated for the pair.
"That... man, this group is terrible," Anzu replied as her expression became more thoughtful as she pondered the issue. Shivering in the fall air at the thought of innocent people being trapped in stone for eternity.
While Malik walked along wondering how to approach his tribes about it. Space was going to be an issue yes, yet it was pointless if the tribes refused. But also, how many tablets could possibly already exist that these people were making? It would be easy for him to say there was room only to be made into a liar if they were prolific. That was going to end up being another thing on docket of discussions he was going to have with those grumpy old camels. He could feel it in his bones.
"Its not going to be fun, and until we get an actual 'count' I can't really say for sure how they'll react. Right now if I was being vain I could say sure, there was plenty of space for us in the Underground. But if these idiots are prolific, then we might actually 'not' have a lot of space, especially from what I faintly recall of that letter." Malik confessed before adding, "and really in this day and age where 'could' we store a bunch of stone Tablets that hold the souls of victims for eternity?"
"I need something more uplifting to talk about, otherwise I'm going to carry our topic into this shop which isn't going to help us." Anzu announced as she tried to shake off this dark cloud of topics that had drifted over them. Somehow the trio of them had managed to walk a surprising distance carried by their dark conversation. The idea that people were being kidnapped and shoved spiritually into stone, and could end up never passing over? Uh uh, it was a dark topic and one she would rather have after finals. If she was meant to help distract from any slip ups about where they came from she needed her perky cheerleader self.
The guys looked at each other, feeling lost at what would be 'more uplifting' considering all things. Though she had a point, some people carried their thoughts on their sleeves and their plans need an upbeat Anzu. "Like what?" Malik asked finally.
"Like," Anzu began, only to fall silent for a moment, before a smile crossed her face. "Like, did you know that Kaiba had a pet name in Egypt? Just like how Yugi calls Mahaado 'Maha', Kaiba had one as well!"
"But his name was already short, how can you shorten 'Set'?" Bakura asked confused, "I doubt anyone would call him 'Sss'."
"Nope! They called him 'Seth', though only Yugi and Mahaado used that name, everyone else in the gang called him 'Set'." Anzu positively gushed at the memory, "Mahaado even showed an illusion of what the three of them looked like when he was a kid. And you guys, Yugi and Kaiba were SO adorable. I mean it, Kaiba looked a bit like Jounouchi with his hair length, but yeah, so cute! Baby Yugi was hugable!"
'Dark cloud gone,' Bakura thought amused as he nodded along, trust a baby version of Yugi to get Anzu back on a more happy mental track.
