Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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Yugi walked up to Seto, the CEO had been recognizably quiet when he should have been conferring. Can't make battle plans if someone didn't contribute after all. "Are we having fun?" Yugi held no faith that there wouldn't be fiends starting to enter the hospital soon through the windows. If they didn't resolve the battle soon, putting the unaware in danger was going to become part of reality.
High above, the clouds had started drifting back to their original weather patterns, slipping away from Domino. He lightly kneaded the ball in his hand while he stood there soaking in Seto's state. That comforting familiarity that allowed him to just know how Seto was doing by standing there.
The way friends should. Even jaded, Generals turned Pharaohs turned CEO friends.
"Get out of my way Yugi," Kaiba growled, though Yugi could fathom Seto meant 'get behind me'. It left him with a slightly amused smile on his face though Setos' posture was so ridged that Yugi was concerned. On the edges of the city, the Demon had picked up on the pair, was trying to get in and therefore weaken Seto's established defensive line.
"Well first, Mokuba wanted to add this to the field..." Yugi held out his empty hand, before a Multiple card manifested.
"I don't need distractions Yugi, go back to watching over my brother," Seto growled, defensive anger in his tone. He didn't reach for the card and Yugi was left holding it for Seto for a beat.
"That is your choice, as it has always been," Yugi replied finally. The card exploded into a mixture of bright and dark stars, that rose up from his hands like miniature fireworks. 'But Seto, your choices are akin to bare feet and broken glass. I would prefer you would at least put on some shoes, but I guess your stubbornness is part of your charm.'
"Well I'm not too proud to refuse help," Bakura snarked as he began gasping from the strain he was under. "Some of us 'mortals' could use a hand so if you won't ask..." he called to Kaiba before falling back enough to look at Yugi. "How can I call on you?"
'That's it Ryou, I know you have it in you!' Yugi mentally applauded as he smiled, cocky confidence and held his hands out in a prayer position.
"Are you serious? We have to 'pray'?" Malik blurted out, "that ego of yours... I mean if not for Kaiba I would say 'your ego'!"
Yugi broke out in laughter at Malik before he spread his hands out one open the other holding the orb. He blinked as he felt it for the first time since he woke up, it tugged his vision until he was making eye contact with Anzu.
'Free the Emperor?'
That was the message, the prayer, yet... Yugi turned to look up at the Emperor before looking back at Anzu.
"That sword doesn't look comfortable or that he wants it. I get that the demon made him, but that... I just hate the idea that he's being treated like a work horse even now..." Anzu began before looking down in growing embarrassment. "Sorry, it sounds dumb just forget about it..."
"Its a great first prayer. It suits you perfectly as well," Yugi answered as the throny vines wrapped around the Emperors' hand began to peel and shred apart until the Fiend was able to drop that weapon finally. Flexing his hand and taking stock of his injuries as best as he could with Blue Eyes still trying to bite him.
Jounouchi and Honda were silent for a moment in just awe, it took a moment before either of them could grasp the idea. Anzu prayed to Yugi and Yugi answered?
Not in grand fireworks, the skies didn't open up with light pouring from the heavens, nothing spectacular, just free the Fiend?
"Well why not force it to o-," Honda began when he mentally smacked himself. 'Force it to obey' was the sentence. But this was Yugi, he was 'not' the type to enslave people and Honda was floored. He tried to think of a particularly good 'prayer' that could answer their situation, but every idea felt more and more like treating Yugi no different than treating a Duel Spirit.
'Do as your told because I'm your boss.'
"What is it that this Emperor would want then? As a creation of the Demon, you may have given him a form and identity, but does he have the capacity to think? Is he his own being?" Rashid asked, as the battle continued.
"Great question, Priest..." Bakura answered not quite mocking but certainly done with the day, before calling upward, "hey Emperor? Can you think for yourself yet?" It was such a thief question, no manners, no polite tone, absolutely rude and cocky. But he was so done with this, his vision was getting fatigue fuzz on the edges and he needed a rest.
It was a successful question though, because Emperor turned its attention down towards him after a few moments. Blue Eyes took the chance to continue trying to get the icky taste out of her mouth while the fiends slowly went into holding position. No longer pushing against the people before it, but still circling around the Emperor protectively.
Malik went back to looking after his sister in concern before finally asking quietly, "think it has a language? If its new it can't really know what its 'language' is... so how do we do this?"
"Yugi put Ryou in charge, trust your elder friend," Isis noted with a faint smile on her lips as she leaned against her brother.
"Trust the Bun? No." Malik retorted without any real bite to his words. "The Pharaoh has given you a great gift, the gift of life and self identity. Generally speaking you 'are' free to not pursue battle, especially now. When it would be far better to think of what you want to do with this gift," Malik called up to the Duel Spirit.
The chill crept into the air, mingling with the water as the seconds ticked past while some form of mercy kept the hospital staff from trying to reach the roof. Saying nothing of the lack of need for helipad for an emergency. While the Emperor stood there taking stock of its, his situation, flexing his once bound hand freely. The hated blade gone he could see where its nagging thorns had left their mark in his hand. His hand, his body, his... identity?
He looked down at the fiends who circled around him loyal to his presence and position, but who was 'he'? The enormity of the question suddenly hit him now that there was no one attacking him, and the chance to think for himself. He had a name, but what did it 'mean'? Beyond the building he had been sent to he could see a multitude of lights amid the darkness. While he towered over every one of these small creatures even as his brain recognized some as 'his'.
'I'm scared...' he thought, 'someone help me...'
"If that is what you want."
Among the physically small beings that stood there, two stood with a glow that he didn't understand, yet the one he recognized as the one who gave him existence shown with a grander light. It was also he who spoke.
"Yugi?" Jounouchi's quizzical tone mirrored several others at Yugi's sudden, and seemly random offer.
"A response to his prayer," Yugi explained turning slightly to look at Jounouchi with a faint smile. "All newborns are at the mercy of the world, all call for help in their moments of distress when they don't know how or what they need."
"He's 'praying'?" Mokuba blurted out in disbelief. "He can't pray, he's a fiend! You made him how can he pray?"
Yugi chuckled softly before shaking his head, before looking up at the Emperor.
'What am I to do? What is this world? Where is my place in it, what am I supposed to do with these lesser fiends?'
The questions began tumbling about and out of the Emperor as the Fiend dropped to one knee to the light he saw before him. Each question making him increasingly aware of his own ignorance and fearing the unknown about him. The light was warm though, it gave him comfort even in his wounded hand.
'I could place him in a card...' Yugi thought to himself as he stood there. 'Anzu has a kind soul, even though I know she wouldn't use a card like him in battle. She doesn't even duel really, he could learn a bit from her until I have a place for him. No, Anzu is kind, but school hasn't been treating her well I know that. Isis has a more mothering nature and maybe it would be better for Emperor to be given a motherly spirit to learn under.'
"This is the human world, and you've been made into a Spirit. Normally a being like you is born from a human soul, or will develop over being loved by many people who would think of you as your own person. Not just an image... Because of that you have a lot of questions that you will have to answer on your own. But I can give you time, just as I have given you a name and form, I can provide you with the time to learn who and what you want to be. The position of a ruler is often difficult and you should be given a little time to learn what type of Emperor you want to be." Yugi began as the Fiend reached for him with its massive hand.
'Give me this! I want to understand now, tell me what I need to know!' Emperor demanded, his aggressive tone desperate.
Yugis' smile grew tight as he looked down, sentences came to mind only to be discarded one after another. So many of them were dipped in the ink of power, say it and the Emperor would become nothing but a mindless pawn. Obedient and a product of what 'Yugi' wanted, but not truly itself.
"What is he saying?" Bakura asked uncomfortable with how the Fiend was reaching for Yugi.
"He's saying 'I want to understand now, tell me what I need to know.'" Yugi repeated, thankful that he could avoid condemning the spirit in doing it this way.
"He can't," Malik answered with a shake of his head. "I get that you want this handed to you, but its your life and your choices that define who you are and going to be." Malik explained, "Yugi can't tell you the answers to that because if he does you won't be you anymore. You'll just be what the demon made you to be. A puppet with strings, 'you' have to define yourself, he doesn't want to define you further than he already has."
'That is our little Prince everyone... He would have been the perfect ruler for our kingdom,' Rashid thought to himself as his breathing slowly began to calm down from the battle. Yugi, in profile, looked every bit their Pharaoh, even in that painfully thin hospital robe. No crown upon his brow, yet he had regained enough strength to stand on his own, relaxed, yet strong. Where once the small boy clung eagerly to Mahaado's side, or would 'tolerate' Set picking him up and carrying him. Now stood their Pharaoh, their God.
Then Rashids' gaze moved towards Malik and a more personal pride awoke in him. For Malik to step into the role of Yugi's personal speaker unprompted. He spoke with a modern flair, yes, but spoke while understanding Yugi's wishes and will over the matter. 'If this is your test, to see if you're ready to lead the tribes, Malik. Then I believe you are ready and worthy...'
What detractors against Malik among the Tribes would be forced to recognize his right to leading if this was going to be how Malik handled responsibilities. "Trust the Pharaoh's wisdom Emperor. Life is an experience meant to be lived, not dictated by a higher power, He would see you live and learn. Not leashed and forced to serve."
'I...'
'I'm scared,' was what Yugi heard the Emperor think, but already the Spirit was aware of the inferior position admitting fear put him in. "I will offer you this, I can; but this is your choice, transform you into a card. There by allow you to be carried around and learn the world around you without you having to directly interact. Until such time as I can put you in a more secure place where you can move about freely," Yugi offered finally, picking each word out delicately to ensure the spirit could make his own decisions.
"I'll look after him," Bakura spoke up, startling Yugi into looking over at him. "Out of everyone here, I already have fiends in my deck, and I know what it means and is like to be stuck serving that Demon. At least he won't stick out," Bakura pointed out, unaware of how he wasn't even an option Yugi had considered.
But his was an offer that Yugi wouldn't deny. With a nod Yugi turned his attention back up to the Spirit looming above him.
It was then that reality shattered, all the colors of night suddenly cracking and breaking by force. The scream that was ripped out of Seto throat was no trivial whimper it was the type of scream that Seto would rather die than give. His was also the only sound, there wasn't anything else around Yugi. Pure light that was generated by the mere presence of Blue Eyes was gone, cut off faster than a light switch, all that remained on the roof top with Yugi were his living friends.
"Big Brother?" Mokuba's voice was a cracked whisper lost to emptiness of space.
"The hell... what's..." Jounouchi's world didn't look right anymore.
With that.
The universe ceased to move.
Time stopped.
Everything jerked into stillness leaving only Yugi and Zorc standing as the only two aware entities in creation. Zorcs corrupt presence spilled out into the night, leaching its way into the very physical world. Slipping into the building and air as it formulated a pair of eyes so Yugi would have something to actively look 'at'. Sickly yellow eyes with orange veins brought down and low so Zorc could lean over and observe the small presence before it.
"I heard that you were 'shot'? I'm yet to be properly acquainted with modern definitions." Zorc commented with his voice sly and deep yet silent in that there was no physical weight to it. Not the type of weight expected from such a massive being. "You look well.."
"Yes, well, I am." Yugi replied to something only he heard. "Its been a while, three thousand years hanging on meat hooks. How's it feel to be loose again?" Yugi asked casually in the empty space where sound used to be. No breeze or any wind yet the words found their way to their ears as easily as if they were standing by Yugi's side. He wasn't polite, his tone and word choice made Kaiba and Bakura sound self effacing in comparison.
"All those years ago I had only 100 paltry souls and I was able to best your most loyal. Now the forces that serve me are legion! Do you think you can stand against my might with that pitiful godling and those frail humans?" Zorc asked stretching up to show off Its growing presence. If the Emperor was imposing and intimidatingly big. With the humans unable to fully say they reached his shins, Zorc surpassed that by the expanse of horizons.
"I am now," Yugi replied.
Zorc was more human in appearance now than It was back then, more full body human in fact rather than a bit of human bit of snake. Perhaps a sign of those who had summoned it, personifying what they probably expected of the demon. It was massive, imposing, the highest echelon of what a god could probably appear.
Night time distorted by its presence meant there was no solid way to confirm the color of its skin. Yugi let his gaze wander about Zorc, weighing the demon before him like a ripen fruit. His hands rested at his side, his weight wasn't being focused on a solid stance, just causally observing the being before him. Zorc's appearance almost had a generalized 'God' motif, his body was fairly rippling with muscle. So much muscle that it appeared to try and surpass Obelisk in physique with a face that was...
Perhaps that was it.
The face was inconsistent, molding itself over and over again in subtle ways that perhaps its mass of followers didn't realize. Zorc was attempting to manifest in some 'idolized' form thus this was how he was seen. Godlike, but the finer details were not nailed down, even his physical form would possible shift. If it weren't facing Yugi at the moment.
"The people of the world are free to make their own decisions," Yugi finally answered. "If they wish and ask for me to deal with you, then..." Yugi paused and gave a slight shrug.