Chapter 6

Kaiba Corps Station - Modern Era

Seto Kaiba had finally returned home and Mokuba could not have been more relieved and delighted to see the dimo-v safe and sound. When Seto opened the door, Mokuba ran to his brother's side and hugged him tightly.

"I was afraid you wouldn't come back," Mokuba said. The faint whiff of sand, spices, and another scent that Mokuba didn't recognize wafted off of Seto's clothes. He even felt sandy. There was grit on his clothes and the dimo-v.

"I knew I'd come back. Don't you trust me?"

"Yeah," Mokuba tried to hold back the tears but failed. To hide his embarrassment, he wiped his face on Seto's clothes. "Yeah, I trust you," Seto didn't return the hug, but patted Mokuba's head in brotherly affection.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Mokuba asked, stepping back from his older brother. Seto didn't have a chance to answer, because alarm bells started to ring in the holding chamber. The housing unit that took the power from the plana was glowing with a vivid red. The Kaiba brothers ran to see the reason for the alarm when a few scientists ran in.

"What's happening?" Mokuba said loudly, trying to be heard over the bells.

"Turn off those damn alarms, now!" Seto barked orders. A few people ran to do as he said.

"What's happening?" Mokuba repeated.

The alarm bells finally ceased, but the flashing red lights hadn't stopped.

"I thought this might happen," Seto said, tension in his voice. "Look Mokuba," Seto pointed to the plana's housing unit. Before their very eyes, the plana was dissipating. An ashy purple haze flew off of the plana as it faded away into nothingness piece by piece. Before Mokuba could get the unit open, nothing was left. The cords attached to the unit died as the power that had been sourced had disappeared.

"You thought this thing would disappear?"

Seto's look was pensive with an irritating hint resting in his eyes.

"I thought it would only have one round-trip in it," Seto said. "And I was right,"

"You knew this thing could disappear after being used and you went anyway?!"

"I said it had a 'round-trip' in it. Not a one-way ticket," Seto said, annoyed at Mokuba's accusation.

"That's not the point!" Mokuba yelled. "What if it wasn't a round-trip? What if it had disappeared while you were gone?!"

"Calm down Mokuba," Seto walked away from where the plana had been "There's no point to get angry over hypotheticals. Besides," Seto went over to the dimo-v and pulled out his duel disk and cards. "I got what I went for,"

"So you actually saw him? You saw the Pharaoh and dueled him?"

Seto nodded, but his face was unreadable.

"Did you, uh," Mokuba was afraid to say the word win or lose in case either outcome could have a negative response. If Seto had won, the end of Seto's obsession to triumph over his rival could leave Seto empty. Mokuba didn't tell Seto, but he sometimes compared his big brother to Alexander the Great. In the end, Alexander the Great had wept when he had conquered the known lands, for there were no more worlds to conquer. There would never be another rival like Atem. Yugi came close, but it had been Atem who had dealt heavy blows to Kaiba in their shared past. If Seto had lost, then the obsession would continue. Each scenario was equally bad for Seto in Mokuba's eyes.

"I got what I want for, that's all that matters," The implied drop it, wasn't said out loud.

So that's it? His big brother wouldn't bother with Atem anymore? No more simulations? No more seeking out methods to "revive" the Pharaoh? No more seeking after Yugi Mouto?

"Mr. Kaiba?" A female voice broke the brothers' moment. "You have another call from Ms. Ishizu Ishtar. I'm afraid she's being quite persistent,"

"Ishizu? What does she want?" Seto asked quizzically. She could be calling to annoy him about the dig he had started and shut down in Kul Elna. His drive to get the puzzle had undermined all of Ishizu's authority in the Egyptian artifacts office and her contacts in the Egyptian government. If that were the case, the first few times that Seto had blown her off, she would have given up…probably. He didn't think that she would continue to pester him over something as inconsequential as an archeological dig, but he didn't know Ishizu well enough to say for sure.

"Oh, yeah," Mokuba said, a lightbulb of memory flashing in his eyes. "She's been calling for days. Said it was really important. I told her you weren't available,"

Seto sighed. Ishizu always struck a chord in Seto that made him uncomfortable. When Seto was uncomfortable, it made him angry and irrational. She reminded him of defeat, both his and hers from their time in Battle City. He was lying if he said he hadn't been attracted to her. She was captivating, exotic, and fierce. But his annoyance with her outweighed his fleeting attraction to her by leaps and bounds.

"Let's see what's so damned important,"

Egypt – 5,000 years ago

Atem was free! Free to do as he pleased, when he pleased. Of course, he had a measure of freedom in the palace, but it was always scheduled around everyone else's time. His teachers, his parents, his mentors, even his friends… He'd never had the freedom to just… be. He couldn't recall a time, even when he managed to dodge his caretakers to spend time with his friends when he wasn't completely alone. He felt like he could breathe a little easier. Even when he snuck away from his handlers, he was always with Mahado and Mana. Even they had some time to themselves.

Sometimes, being the crown prince was a burden that was too heavy to bear.

He didn't want to think about what it would be like when he was Pharaoh. No one else could understand it. Only his father could share that insight with him, and so far, he hadn't shared his perspective with him. Perhaps he's afraid I can't handle it…

Shaking out of that line of thinking, he took the time to look over a few jewelry stalls. After a few minutes, Atem found the type of jewelry pieces he was looking for.

"Hey, kid," A gruff, impolite voice nabbed Atem's attention. "If you think you will steal from me, I'll make sure that you lose your hand,"

Atem raised his eyebrows. The only people who felt free to speak to him in such a way were close friends and family. This man was neither.

"You hear what I said, you little brat?"

"I wasn't planning to steal anything," Atem said, matching the vendor's eyes with his.

"Sure you weren't," The man snorted. "You got money?" The judgmental doubt that he spewed pissed Atem off more than anything else. If this guy would use his eyes, he'd see that obviously, Atem wasn't a street orphan. His clothes were dirty, sure, but they were made of a different stock than common people wouldn't have been able to buy. The gold bands on his arms, (that he'd admittedly forgotten to remove), screamed out loud that he was wealthy. Or that at least he had wealthy parents. Most kids in Egypt went around naked until puberty, sometimes afterward too. Only the wealthy wasted their money on fabrics that could be grown out of. Atem was certainly not going to let this prick speak to him in such a way, disguise or not. No one deserved to be spoken to so disrespectfully by a stranger.

He was going to teach this man a lesson.

"More than you could handle, you horse's ass," Atem seethed through his teeth.

The man rose from the seat he had been resting in. The wood stool groaned with relief. Atem noticed a wooden box next to the man that had toppled over in his angry outburst.

"Why you little bas—

Atem wiggled the coin purse that had been hidden on his waist in front of the vendor's face like a carrot. The clicking and clinking sound of multiple coins jiggling stopped the man's impending insult. His beady little eyes zoomed on the purse.

—tard…,"

"Tell you what," Atem wiggled the coin purse again. "How would you like to have your fat little fingers filled with all the money in this bag? Are you interested in easy money?"

The items Atem had been looking at were only worth a few of the coins that he carried. If the vendor listened to him, he had the opportunity to make enough money (by the sound of it) to last months. The vendor leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms, and stared at the money. Atem could see that this man's life centered around greed.

After a moment of consideration, he finally said, "What did you have in mind kid?"

"A game,"

Atem tied the coin purse back to his waist.

"A game?"

"That Senet board there," Atem pointed to the box that had fallen over. "If you win, you get everything in the bag. If I win," Atem's voice raced with confidence. "I get these two pieces, free of charge, and you get nothing but a penalty,"

"What kind of a penalty?"

"That's for me to know,"

Fat Fingers, or as Atem was calling him since he didn't care to learn his name, looked pensive. It looked like hard work was a necessary effort to allow this man to think. He looked Atem up and down as if weighing how serious he was. What possible penalty could a young brat hold over him? Senet was a fast-paced, easy game anyway, this whole ordeal would be over within less than twenty minutes and he had a…trick of making the throwing sticks land in his favor. Cheating? Absolutely. But the kid's arrogance pissed him off. It was time for someone to teach this kid a lesson, rich boy or no.

"Alright, deal,"

Atem reached forward over the vendor's wares and they gripped each other's opposite forearms, a sign of assent and agreement.

Atem was confident, sure, but Senet could be tricky. He was good. Very good. In fact, he had beaten everyone, his parents included, who had been brave enough to test his gaming skills. Of all the things that Atem excelled at, games and strategy were at the top of the pyramid. Senet was a game of luck. Two players each had five pieces on one side of the board. Both players had to get all of their pieces across the board to the other end. The first one to get all of their pieces to the other side would be declared the winner. Simple.

But not necessarily easy.

A roll of the throwing sticks could paint favor or displeasure for the player.

I haven't lost yet and I refuse to lose to this ass. Atem thought.

Game start!

Fat Fingers was a boisterous player. He guffawed and grunted each time he made a favorable play and swore and screamed whenever Atem caught up or surpassed his pieces. Atem kept silent, letting his playing do the speaking for him. A small crowd had surrounded them, brought in by the loud vendor who chose to stay for the change in the monotony. Fifteen minutes later, true to the vendor's prediction, the game was drawing to a close. When it came to the end of the game, there were only two pieces left on the board, one of Atem's and the other of his opponents. It could go either way.

Atem was sure that Fat Fingers was cheating and after a few early turns, he had figured out that he was using the sleight of hand to help the sticks land in his favor.

But Atem had his own tricks too.

He couldn't stand a cheater. He allowed for creative and innovative play, but there was a line that he wouldn't cross. It dishonored the game and the player.

Smiling, he squeezed one of the throwing sticks.

"This is it, you brat," Fat Fingers was smiling triumphantly. He was missing a few of his front teeth.

"It's not over, until it's over," Atem said.

He threw the sticks, waiting to see who would win.

"HAW HAW HAW HAW!" Fat Fingers smacked his forehead. "A four! You lose kid! Hand over the money,"

He moved to snap the coin purse from Atem's waist, not waiting for permission. In his other hand, he kept a rusty knife intending to cut the bag away from him if necessary. So what if the kid got cut a little? Or a lot? The brat deserved it.

"I see that being able to count isn't your strong suit," Atem said, smirking.

"Huh?"

"Look again, Fat Fingers," Atem pointed at the table.

He did and his eyes went wide.

"A five?!" One of the throwing sticks had split in two. Under the pressure of Atem's grip strength, one of the reeds had split. All of the reeds added together in the position that they landed in, gave Atem the exact number that he needed to win.

"So you can count," Atem said. "I was worried I would have to spell it out for you,"

"You… Th— that doesn't count!" Fingers said. "One of the reeds split! You have to replay!"

"It counts," Atem said. "The reeds don't lie. If you'd like to bitch about fairness, let's discuss you using a sleight hand?"

The crowd started to throw in their opinions on the matter.

"That cheater!" One of the men said. "I always knew you cheated at Senet, Chisisi! I just didn't know how,"

Chisisi, or Fat Fingers as he would forever be called in Atem's mind, started to look more and more uncomfortable as the crowd leered at him. Their jeers got louder and louder.

"My prize," Atem merely gave him an open palm, expecting him to hand over the two necklaces he had picked out. Reluctantly, Chisisi gave them to him.

"Of course," He said. "Two necklaces for you...Free of charge,"

Atem gripped the two necklaces with a smirk on his face that said everything. You're a low-life loser and a cheat. You get what you deserve…

"Pleasure doing business with you," Atem said with extreme displeasure. "I'll be back later for the penalty game," Atem got up and left without a backward glance. The crowd dispersed, no longer interested in the scene as Atem walked away. Chisisi yelled behind him – "Get out of here you! The game's over!" – and slammed his stall closed, rapidly taking his wares and running before someone in the crowd sought to challenge his cheating.

Atem, slightly overconfident, twirled the two necklaces around his finger and caught them effortlessly after throwing them in the air.

"Hmmph, serves you right, you ass," Atem said to the night around him.

He looked over the necklaces. He wasn't someone who cared for jewelry. He hoped he had picked the right ones. The things he wore were more of a status symbol, placed on him every day by others. If it wasn't done for him, he wouldn't have bothered with it.

He had planned this event for weeks. The trouble with being a prince and shopping was that people tended to either fawn things on you, or more likely, they would attempt to cheat you by overcharging you. It was easier to shop when you didn't draw so much attention to yourself. The hard part for him was that his countenance was so unique he would be easily recognizable.

He played with the braided gold. One of the necklaces was simply designed, it held a single red jewel, which was Mana's favorite color. His too. Would she like this? He thought with a little bit of apprehension. He'd never bought presents for someone before, but he found he enjoyed personally getting gifts to the people he cared about. The other necklace was for his mother. A slightly more ornate necklace with more than one jewel, but it housed a green sapphire in the center, his mother's favorite.

The hair on the back of Atem's neck rose. He stopped, the breath hitching in his throat. He reached towards the left side of his waist where his short khopesh lay. Gripping the hilt, Atem cast his senses trying to find the source of the unfriendly presence.

Where are you? He thought, willing whomever it was to appear. Come out and play.

"You little piece of trash!"

Chisisi appeared from the shadows, hands up reaching out for his throat. Atem dived and dodged, swinging his khopesh out, nearly disemboweling his opponent. He had failed to fatally wound Chisisi, which he was surprised to feel relief, but he had left a large gash in his belly that would require a surgeon.

"What—

"Take another step and you'll lose your life," Atem glared.

"What—" Was all Chisisi could utter. His hands went to his belly. "Y—You cut me?" His eyes went to Atem's blade. A kid who had money and a khopesh probably had a parent influential enough to ruin his business. Taking stock of his rapidly dropping chances of winning, Chisisi turned and ran. Atem cleaned the blood off his blade onto his clothes.

"Fucking coward!" Atem taunted. Sheathing his blade, he moved more quickly towards home. The sense of being watched hadn't left him, so Fat Fingers hadn't been the source, but Atem didn't think it was wise to continue wandering alone on the streets. He wasn't in a position to investigate the unwelcome presence. Unsatisfied that his question hadn't been answered, he ran home.

…

Unbeknownst to him, by the time Atem made it back to the palace, Mana was in a full-blown panic. Mana paced in her room for an hour before she ran to the wing that housed Atem's room. The guards knew her, they wouldn't give her trouble even this late in the evening. She decided to wait there for him after he got back from whatever secret errand he was on.

After what felt like endless waiting, a familiar figure finally appeared down the hall. His hair was brown, but his eyes revealed who he was even in the dim lighting. She would recognize him anywhere.

"Prince!" Mana yelled. She couldn't help herself, she ran at him and overwhelmed him with a running hug.

"Ooof!" He said. "Mana, I said it would be fine,"

"You're back! I thought that something had happen—

She looked at his clothes and her heart rate spiked. Atem looked uncomfortable under a gaze. She'd seen the outcome of his 'tussle' with Fat Fingers.

"Blood! You're bleeding! What happened?"

"Well uh—

"Are you hurt? I have a salve—

"Mana!" Atem gripped her shoulders and peered down into her eyes. "I'm fine. Lower your voice before you alert the guards around the corner," He pushed her into his room, closing the door firmly behind him. "The blood isn't mine. It was nothing I couldn't handle. Did you think I would wander Thebes without being armed?"

"But you—

"I said I'm fine,"

"What could be so damned important that you had to be stupid enough to to—

To her horror, she started to cry. She hated crying, but it had been happening more and more often lately. Crying in front of Prince Aknatem made it even more horrifying, even if he was her dearest friend.

"You tell me to help you with your disguise, which is fine. I get it. I'm your secret-keeper, but you don't tell me what you're even planning. You don't have to tell me everything, but when you go off and disappear for hours,"

"Mana—

"No! You're gone for hours! I don't know if you have been hurt, or taken, or killed, and if something had happened to you—something did happen! You're covered in blood!"

"It's not mine!"

'Covered in blood' was a bit of a stretch. Atem thought it wasn't all that noticeable, no one else he had passed seemed bothered with it. Cuts, scrapes, bruises, and black eyes were a normal occurrence in everyday life, even for an Egyptian prince.

"If something had happened to you! I would have blamed myself. Did you think of that? No, of course not! You only…only," She felt out of breath.

Atem took her hands in his.

"Mana," He said calmly, more collected than how Mana felt.

"It was important to me to be able to do this," He said softly. "I—

A sharp knock rapped on his door.

"Your Highness? Are you alright?" Apparently, their raised voices had collected unwanted attention from the guards.

"Yes!" He cried out. "Leave me be!"

He turned back to Mana to explain himself to her, to say something, anything to get her to calm down. She was a mess. A crumpled mess of female emotion and fear. He hadn't realized what his little shopping trip would have caused. He had almost killed one of his citizens. Chisisi wasn't someone Atem was proud of, but he was a citizen of Egypt nonetheless. He was someone that Atem was responsible for.

Mana was more than someone to whom he was owed a responsibility. She was his best friend. His secret-keeper. When he needed an outlet for fun or games, she was always there to cheer him. They made each other laugh. In an era where boys and girls weren't allowed to play together, they had a special friendship that most didn't.

"I'm sorry I made you cry," He whispered.

She cupped her face in her hands, trying to salvage some modicum of respect for herself, and wept. Atem didn't know what to do. What did a boy do for a crying girl? This is why boys and girls aren't allowed to play together! He thought exasperated.

Furrowing his eyebrows he did something he had seen his father do for his mother when she was overcome.

He pulled her to himself and held his friend. She crumpled into his chest.

Unable to hold up their combined weight, Atem fell back against the door and held a sobbing Mana.

"I—

"I'm sorry Mana," He said in her hair. "I'm sorry,"

Author's Note: 1) I don't think that the vehicle Kaiba used in Yugioh: DSOD was ever named, so I made one up. The Dimo-V is what I came up with. Dimensional - Vehicle, Dimo-V

2) Senet is a real game that was played in ancient Egypt. The rules can be found pretty much anywhere, but I found my source through the BBC. (Thanks Britania!) I hope I was able to convey the stakes of the game through my writing. For the sake of the story, it would take too long to write out the rules of the game here. Do your research if you're curious. The throwing sticks are the great-great-great-grandparents of dice.

3) It was historically accurate to say that most children in Ancient Egypt went wherever they went nude. Fabrics were expensive to buy and to make new material that would be too small once the wearer grew out of them was too expensive for most people. The ancient Egyptians were more economical.

4) It wouldn't be a Yugioh fanfiction without a high-stakes game. I had to write about Atem defeating one of his first-ever opponents. I hope you had as much fun reading it as for me to write it.

5) A khopesh is a sickle-looking Egyptian blade. Google it for visual reference.

6) Atem is around 12 to 13 here. I don't expect anything explicit between him or anyone else. At this point, he's still figuring life out. That being said, Atem has always been cocky and sure of himself in the manga. I imagine he would have been that way early in his personality.

7) Chisisi means "Secret" or "Deceiver" in ancient Egyptian. I thought it fit this character. Or you can call him Fat Fingers if you prefer.

8) I don't follow "Yugioh" past the DSOD movie and the original manga. If the plana was used for anything else besides Kaiba's personal dimensional warp-jumper, I don't know what else it would be used for. If it's seen in other Yugioh offshoots, I apologize. In this story, it's a one-use-only item for the sake of the plot.

9) The outcome of the duel between Seto Kaiba and Atem (in the afterlife) was never shown. It's the reader's discretion at this point as to whom the victor was. Personally, I think Kaiba lost, but I think he finally learned how to lose well.

10) It is true that boys and girls in Ancient Egypt weren't allowed to play together. They were each divided and taught to play games that were 'suitable' for each gender. i.e., girls could juggle, play 'house', and play music. Boys were allowed to play more athletic games: archery, chariot races, and wrestling. Something that crossed gender differences in Egypt was the love of board games, such as Senet, Meren, Hounds and Jackles, Asht, and other games. The friendship that Atem and Mana have is very rare for the time period, probably allowed because of their high status.

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