Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Perfect World ❯ Chapter 8

Rush! Fic Disclaimer: YGO belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I make no profit off this fanfic. Don’t steal my work! Chapter 8               Akunumkanon fell ill rapidly, as Aishizu’s vision into the past had verified Mahaado’s spoken words. He summoned the High Priest to the chamber to give him his last words.             “Please… take care of my son…”          &nb sp;  “With my life I will pledge so, Pharaoh…”          &nbs p;    Atemu was waiting when he returned. Strange. Mahaado was used to calling him Prince, and never even Yami, but for the Prince to trust him with his secret name….           &n bsp; Ah, that was worth something indeed!             “You look lovely.”              Mahaado frowned. “Lovely?” He was still wearing his priest robes, the golden shoulder guards and Hathor’s symbol, nothing special…              “You always look lovely.” Yami smiled. “Fitting, isn’t it?”           &nbs p; Mahaado touched his headdress with a slightly confused expression, which shifted into understanding.              “Hathor was Horus’s wife, was she not, my Prince?”              “Such a keen observation… and so fitting, Lust…”         & nbsp;   Mahaado half-smiled. “So it would seem so, Pride…”              Mana didn’t look up from her carving of a female Ka. “You two… bore me.”           &nbs p; Such a change had come over her, once she shifted. But it mattered little… in the grand scheme of things, what Item would fall to her?             Mahaado shot here a half-glare.           &nb sp; “Tis your own fault, you made yourself this way, Sloth…”           ;     Aishizu would make a good ally, and none other held her divination as power… Karim was perhaps too straight and loyal to bend into this realm of shadow, while Seto and Akunadin would be disposed of quickly…              That was the way the dice fell.             Which one would Mana choose?             “Apprentice Mana…”          &n bsp;  She looked up. Some servant-girl or the other was here… “Yes?”          &n bsp;  “High Priest Aishizu would like to speak to you.”           &nb sp; Mana hid a smile. “Very well.”           &n bsp; She held no Millennium, no Sennen Item. Perhaps Aishizu had seen their future… now that was interesting.           &n bsp;             She stepped down the hall to the High Priestess’s room and politely made her entrance. Aishizu was waiting.             She held out her hand expressionlessly.          &nb sp;  “You know.”           &n bsp; “Yes, I know.” Aishizu nodded. “And I know what I may become, but for the good of Egypt… we all make our sacrifices.”          &n bsp;  Mana – or Sloth, as she preferred, smiled.             “That’s all I’m worried about.”                She saw the Priestess’s expression shift into a malicious smile as the red stone crystallized in her body, quickly… but unlike the others, she had been prepared and would not fight the sudden change…           & nbsp; It was very strange, life, sometimes…          &nbs p;  I wonder, Mana thought, what she’ll become?             But as she gazed upon the face of the woman, she saw a strange tightening of the eyes and a hint of… oh, yes, that emotion she could understand.           &nb sp; Envy…           & nbsp;   Aishizu had always been jealous. This just heightened it. She loved Mahaado. Mahaado loved Atemu. He didn’t even notice her most of the time.             Now though, did it matter?             “Emotions. Such an unnecessary creation…”         &nbs p;   Mana half-smiled. “Come.”          & nbsp;  Aishizu took her hand, and with a strange smile, followed her. The girl was rather beautiful, blonde hair and bright blue eyes… or they would be that shade, as her Ka monster… they were all monsters at heart after all…           &nbs p; Surely, one doesn’t deny such gifts…           &n bsp;             Seto was not a happy camper.             He could understand cosmetic changes, but did Mahaado really need to dye his hair that irritating lavender shade? And as for Mana, who in their land had blonde hair?             Frivolous underlings!           &nb sp; Aishizu had been even more distant lately, but she had prophesized that their current Pharaoh would fall soon. Not that they needed a soothsayer, a look at the hacking frail old man that remained as Pharaoh was enough to convince even the most skeptical that he would not last long.             Shimon led them all in prayers and the ritual sacrifices, but nothing seemed to appease the Gods. Or perhaps, Pharaoh's time had finally come to an end.             It seemed as though there were something inside the Pharaoh’s heart, eating him… until there was nothing but a shell left.             How accurate.            &nbs p;  “Mahaado, how much longer will it take?”           &n bsp; The Priest smiled at the Crown Prince. “Less than two weeks, my Prince. However, there would still be the mourning period…”              “Thirty days at least… another moon to wax and wane…”          &n bsp;  “I understand.”          &n bsp;  Aishizu nodded, before the Tauk lit on her throat in a blaze of golden light. The others watched attentively.           &n bsp; “It will be much sooner… he clings to life but little… and the last thread is breaking as we speak…”                Well, that was news of great value. The Pharaoh would live only a day more? Yami and Mahaado shared identical glances of hate.             Aishizu shuddered slightly. Even if it were faked emotion, the intensity of the stare… Perhaps that explained their attraction, although like repelled like, or so the saying went in physics.             She excused herself and soon the evening meal was announced. Approximately halfway into the dancing, the Pharaoh gave a hoarse cry and tipped over into his wine. Terribly inelegant and distressing…          &n bsp;  Of course, what distressed the heart more was the realization that he was dead, not moments later. The Healers plied their skill upon the corpse through the night, but only a corpse remained when Ra rose with the sun boat to greet the dawn.             Foolish.              ;  In a rage, Akunadin nearly ordered all the slaves put to death, sure that someone had poisoned his brother, but the guards were careful in their investigation and Mahaado reported his observation not two days later.             There had been no poison. The Pharaoh’s heart had simply ceased to beat.             How tragic…           & nbsp; Be as it may be, the Prince Yami would be the new Pharaoh, as soon as the mourning period ceased. Preparations were made for burial and time stretched on, four moons rolling by like water.             There was nothing left.             And Pharaoh Yami greeted Ra on the first day of the sixth month…           &n bsp;   End Chapter Completed 10/9/05 Okay. Apparently it takes 70 days to mummify someone. And then we add 30 days of mourning after that… so saying it was four months before Yami became Pharaoh. What a long time… Phantomness: Admittedly, I’m naming the seven homunculi after the seven sins and each one will get an item eventually, now who to make the others?
*Ponders* And somehow, Akunadin and Akunumkanon are somewhat innocent in this fic…             &n bsp;            &nbs p;               ;                           &nb sp;             &nbs p;