Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

A/N: I miss this series, for all the camp and stuff I wish it continued. I say after been at this for over 15 years working on this one fic. (Dies)

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"Well that was fun! I hope you guys learned something, because all I got from it is that even slight of hand can be incredibly entertaining." Anzu finally announced as the trio got out of ear shot of the shop. The sun was lower in the sky, as evening was starting to encroach on the land a brilliant warning of vivid golds, reds and purples to alert them that it would be evening soon enough back home.

"It was certainly enlightening," Bakura agreed while the Spirits floated about him concerned expressions on all their faces.

"Wish it was for me, I get the feeling that you weren't half as fun about the explanations as he was," Malik teasingly grumbled. The man had a way with words, grandiose postures and motions, he had demoed several simple slight of hand stunts. While it paled beside the grand wonders that Mahaado could do, the joy and passion that the man showed was palpable.

"Some of you need to stay here, wait until the owner leaves and follow him," Bakura ordered several of the spirits. The comment earning him a surprised expression from the living pair he walked with. Given the sudden snap to instructions Bakuras' authoritative tone was startling.

"Oh, that's right, all those Egyptian symbols all over the place," Anzu noted thoughtfully. She 'had' been curious, but it would have been out of character for her to inquire. "I'm sure they have a meaning given how you both reacted sooo..."

"They're protections that are guarding the business, hence why the Spirits couldn't come in with us," Bakura explained. His hand slipped into his pocket and he idly fingered the small folded note that Reece had slipped to him. "Symbols are useless if they're not put in the right order or activated. Which the fact that it 'was' and 'is' on..."

"Hence why you want your spirits to follow him?" Malik noted with a nod of the head as he forced his attention to stay on the group rather than the motorcycle he saw off to the side. "Honestly I was taken aback that he knew the ancient greeting. But mixing and matching features..."

"Yes, I think that its more that his wife has connections to both John and Egypt rather than Mr. Santiago. More so with the fact that those Egyptian pieces that he has on display were handmade pieces," Bakura added thoughtfully. "All made with the same type of protections on them, if I'm reading them right anyways."

"Though no one from my Tribes were ever allowed to leave, so the fact that she knows and taught our language." Malik brought up as Bakura turned their footsteps towards the park where they first arrived.

"So we have a regular couple that somehow has access to Ancient Egyptian protective magics and a bit of the language?" Anzu asked as her gaze was taken in by the way the colors in the sky shifted. Japan or America, sunrise or sunset, just the natural beauty of the environment was breath taking.

"Yes, though now the mystery is 'what happened to Mr. Santiagos' wife' because I can't imagine a suicide having 'that' great an effect on the man. Sure there would be a sense of loss and mourning, but I doubt Johns' death was 'that' recent." Bakura agreed as they followed the concrete path up into the park proper. "Yet his death drove his sister into a state of shock? No something more is going on here."

Anzu shivered at the word 'suicide' and shook her head at some inner thought before speaking. "If his death was faked, I guess this 'high priest' might be thinking they were doing the right thing. But there 'had' to be a better solution! I just want to give this guy a slap in the face for hurting Mr. Santiago he's such a sweet man."

"Won't find out until the seal goes down, and while I can't believe I am about to say this about a 'high priest'," Bakura began. "Its possible he wasn't aware of the protections around the place. He might have assumed that this spirit would be able to interact with the family and its not happening."

"You're right, we don't believe it." Malik replied before swiping at Bakura's bangs.

Bakura jerked his head back midswipe before revealing the note he had gotten, "Reece slipped this to me, and I'm curious as to what it says."

With that Bakura pulled out the folded sheet of paper, the pair stopped walking and turned towards the teen with their attention captured. It was folded into a small triangle, a simple white sheet of paper folded neatly and cleanly. Yet with each fold that was undone by Bakura, there was a soft almost baited breath on what they would find in it. It was almost silly to expect much, it was just a sheet of paper from a sales associate from a shop after all. What could he possibly have to say?

A question answered when he finished opening up the sheet, and its words were enough to cause Anzu to tear up and look away.

"Thank you for coming in, the bosses have not been the same since Johns' passing. His sister went into a coma and your visit has been the first time Mr. Santiago shook off his gloom."

"I take it back, this High Priest is an asshole," Bakura corrected himself with a small grumble as he folded the sheet up in half. Really hating the fact that he had even been forced to read that 'aloud' for Malik.

"Or not. We should talk to Mahaado about this," Malik suggested thoughtfully. "After all he's a priest."

"... why not Isis or Rashid? They were priests too, I mean we all know why we're excluding Kaiba from this mix but-" Anzu began, getting curious about the fixation on only Mahaado.

"Because they're just adults now," Malik replied cutting off Bakura with a shrug, earning stares from both members of the party. That were living, the rest of the party included the rest of the spirits and several natives spirits who just thought to hang out and REALLY MALIK?!

"You're excused from communicating with any of us," Bakura snarked shaking his head in disbelief. "I was 'going' to say that it was because, their duties were different. Isis was a Seer, and Rashid was more about enforcing laws. Mahaado actually had graves as part of his responsibility, he wasn't just Yugi's bodyguard or Magician. He was the Captain of the Guards, both of the palace and the royal tombs."

"Really? Poor guy had a lot on his plate, I don't feel bad for Kaiba anymore he's just a General. But Bakura how did you know all this stuff? Besides being a reincarnation," Anzu asked, floored by poor Mahaados work load back then. Maybe being a spirit 'was' a better existence for him, less work all in all. It was terribly dark to realize that Mahaado's whole existence was tied to either ensuring that Yugi was safe or dealing with the dead.

"Umm I was plotting to assassinate Yugi so yeah... I did my studies," Bakura muttered as his ears started to burn with embarrassment.

"So let's go back home and discuss this in a nice warm mansion with Yugi," Malik suggested with roll of the shoulders. "Not like Kaiba's up so lets bother the Pharaoh for a bit."

"We can do that?" Anzu asked a bit surprised, "we can teleport from here to the mansion?"

"Sure, anywhere so long as there are three of us," Malik answered as the wind drifted by rustling the tips of his hair and his words away into the park. "After all, the time difference... Oh... that's right." And Malik recalled finally that when they got back the time would be much different for Yugi than it would be for them.

"We can do that tomorrow," Bakura amended with a faint nod, "Though yes, we should return now before we disrupt our own sleep patterns too much. So lets go back to my apartment."

Bakura pulled out the small trinity of rings and allowed the spells that Mahaado had used to wash away their presence and allow them to be teleported without raising questions among the surrounding populace. With all three holding their own rings, they were swept away to Bakura's apartment, in the darken hours of night.

Once the apartment's surroundings finally settled for them, Anzu released her ring and looked about for good measure. "Well, we're back! Uh I'm not sure if I was any help for you guys?"

"You were a great help, I couldn't have asked for a better copilot while 'escorting' Malik here around," Bakura answered with a pleased smile. "And you're quick on the pick up which was also valuable! Now if only we 'had' a four ring teleport, but its not like we ever thought we would need to abduct anyone else in this."

"Yeah, and we're sorry you had to be dragged in anyway. Given what we've been hunting down, there's always a danger element. I'm glad you weren't exposed to anything and that it didn't get serious," Malik agreed happy to not have to deal with Jounouchi's inability to tolerate the possible status that Yugi or Kaiba was living in at the moment. After all, having someone basically trying to say your faith was fake just to feel better 'was' annoying.

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Normally Kaiba would have 'loved' the peace and quiet afforded when everyone was out of the mansion. Mokuba knew better than to disturb him when he was busy and the stillness was always appreciated. Despite the enjoyment he normally obtained from playing games, the fact that the 'computer game' before him? Was Mahaado's method of bridging the waking world with this dream world office. That he was, essentially, controlling an illusion of himself, looking through the world via a computer screen. A headset with mic allowed for him to hear and report back to Mahaado what to say regarding situations.

Yet this wasn't 'normal' rather he was sealed up trapped in his own mind while his body continued to recover. Despite the painfully few minutes he could afford now to wake up due to blood loss. While after school hours he could settle down at his 'desk' in the real world and let Mahaado pass everything to him so he could get his work done. Watching as a real computer scrolled words he was typing in the dream world. Looking at contracts and designs with a discerning eye and wondering if it would make any difference if he had Mahaado bring them into this world.

On the side there was a list of the final people to be weeded through regarding his tournament, as well as catering services that were competing to host the event. Though seeing his 'hands' moving on the screen was becoming irritating. What with the fact that his 'body' was in bed and he knew Mahaado was sitting at the computer himself. Which was another large thorn in his side.

Mahaado, he who knew little Japanese and could not read a word of it, was at his computer trying to type. Hence why this was taking so painfully long to Kaiba, watching as the Magician struggled through trying to make sure each keystroke was correct. The CEO just typed too fast for him to fully figure out where he was meant to tap on the keyboard. Not that Kaiba could entirely blame the magician, now with the unwanted memories of how different Ancient Egyptian was from modern Japanese.

Coupled with Mokuba's visits to check on his older brother, despite now using a slang form of 'big brother' for Yugi and Mahaado. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, while Mahaado finally began putting away all the work he had finished. Files were saved on the computer, papers were slipped into folders and put away with all the efficiency that he had learned to count the Magician on.

There was no pretense about the form Mahaado used or the way he made things happen when he returned to the office. By now the servants were all gone, and the magician was free to go and check on his precious Pharaoh and Mokuba. For now Yugi took over in Mokuba's nightly routine, making sure the child was washed, fed, homework done. So appearing in Mokuba's room and finding the boy sound asleep was a reassurance to the elder Kaiba. The child didn't seem to be reacting negatively to the temporary absence of his older brother.

But it felt more like he was a ghost in his own home, his presence left no impact or mark and it was enough to annoy him. Which was the excuse he gave himself when Mahaado finally materialized inside Kaiba's Spirit office. Somehow, just being alone with the Magician without threat of outside interference brought up such a strong sense of nostalgia in Kaiba. Since he had been forced into this state, there was a quiet desire to reconnect with the magician. It just so happened, that the particular emotion was on a page that was under about a couple of million sheets of paper that had the word 'pride' stamped boldly that stopped him.

Hence Mahaado didn't expected anything, but, the cold, disapproving stare he often got from the General. Once he settled the real world affairs that Seto had assigned him he had materialized himself in Seto's dream office. Hence he stayed his place, between the thick, plush chair that Kaiba had ordered to always appear and the stern wooden desk that he sat behind.

Mahaado had yet to figure out why the type of chair mattered so much to the man. Clothes he understood, since it was a matter of presentation to the outside world, but this was spirit room. It was the way Seto wanted it to be, and of all places, it was his office in the mansion. From the desk, the rug, the bookshelf even the image of the lawn outside the window was all Seto's doing.

It wasn't as though it was Mahaado himself doing it, Seto so desired for the Magician to have a seat and this was his Spirit room after all. The magician wasn't going to ask questions though, he merely stood there and awaited permission to sit before Seto. He was already dressed in a more modern attire that pleased the snark dragon. A 'pants suit' as he had been informed was its name, and currently in Seto's favorite colors to a degree. The blue of the tie was darker, the lining was black and just a few other odds and ends to make it less like Seto played 'dress up' with him.

Again.

Much to the chagrin of their Pharaoh.

"I humbly apologize for my inability to type at the speed you do, I regret that you will not allow me to simply use my magics to cover such inconveniences."

"Is Japanese really that difficult for you?" Kaiba asked keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

"Ahh, well I had been sitting in on the youngest classes in Mokuba's school..." Mahaado confessed with a faint shrug, "Also Mokuba had occasionally been attempting to teach me some of the basics in the words before this happened."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed slightly as they had begun to lower in thought and found that Mahaado had buttoned the collar of his shirt all the way up. How could the magician talk with it buttoned so? It was tight against the throat and it began to make Kaiba's neck hurt just looking at it. "Doesn't it hurt to breath or talk with the shirt buttoned up so high?"

Mahaado blinked at the shift of conversation, lifting his hand up and touching his throat where said button rested. "Well, as I neither breathe nor have much physical sensation in concerns to texture..." But Seto seemed offended by the button, and so he quietly undid said button with deft fingers.

"If you're not breathing, how are you talking?" Kaiba finally asked, a part of him growing terrified at the possible answer, was it because this was a Spirit room? What about the real world?

"How does a Kuriboh purr without a mouth?" Mahaado automatically countered.

"Your mouth is moving, I can see it plain as day," Kaiba growled. The growling wasn't going to soften either as he saw the mildly chastising expression on Mahaado's face.

"Yes, because even I understand that if I just let my voice manifest, it would distress our Pharaoh and everyone else that I communicated with. Further more, the numbers that are aware of what I am are very small," Mahaado explained. As a method to demonstrate he had stopped moving his mouth all together, allowing the sound to just enter the air while he sat there straight faced and zip lipped.

"Well you need to stop it! There is no excuse for allowing your magics to literally take over and do everything for you! You're coddling Yugi with your magics, 'and' avoiding integrating with the rest of the world!" Kaiba snapped in irritation, an argument he used to have back when the Prince was still tiny. Given new form because due to the situation that the magician was in.

"Seto, I'm dead." Mahaado retorted automatically, his tone the more accustomed to dealing with Mana when she was acting up. Still not using his mouth and letting the air fill with his voice reminding Set that he was a teacher. Yet with that one simple statement he was suddenly struck at how Seto reacted.

Seto sat back into his seat, his hand going to his mouth as though to hold in any further words, yet it was in his eyes that Mahaado saw it. The way Seto turned his gaze away in an effort to rein in some deeper emotion deeper memories. Setos' eyes glistened at the corners causing Mahaado to softened his own voice. "All that is left of me is my Ka and Ba. I have no body to speak of, you know this, you performed the rituals when you laid me to rest. You also saw the state of my body back in that Col-or-a-do place."

Seto didn't answer, he swallowed the pain and kept his eyes 'off' the magician in a desperate attempt to keep the sudden sadness from taking over. The reminder that not everyone he failed got a brand new life in an advanced civilization. Reminding himself that he wasn't in his physical body and that his emotions would be far and away more prone to revealing themselves here than 'out there'.