Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Back To Ancient Egypt ❯ The Tears And The Promise ( Chapter 9 )

Priestess: You know what? Screw all of you lazy idiots who read a fanfiction that I've broken my back writing and don't even bother reviewing-not even one or two words!
I like this fanfiction, and I will continue writing it, and if you don't want to read maybe I'll just delete it and just email the other chapters to the very few people who did review.
For now, I will continue posting new chapters, just for the heck of it. Until I make a final decision, remember that each and every review counts!
Also, instead of a poem-which, if you haven't noticed, I haven't been doing lately-I'll be writing a flashback in every chapter, or as close as possible. It isn't necessarily in the beginning or end of the chapter-it can be right in the middle!

***

In whatever part of his mind that hadn't shut down do to hunger, thirst, pain, or something else; Touzoku Ou was rather surprised that he could ride so well when he was fairly certain he could pass out at any moment.

Feeling his presence, all the spirits were immediately surging back towards Kuru Eruna with the hopes that he would be returning-which was true, but not in the way that they hoped.

He knew that Atemu, Aishisu, and perhaps Seth or Mariku-though he doubted it(Akunadin had flatly refused to come for reasons only Touzoku Ou and unbeknownst to them Aishisu understood, so he and Shaadi had stayed behind)-could sense it as well.

"I don't like this," Mariku remarked. "It just…doesn't feel right. And why was Akunadin so freaked out?" He glanced at Touzoku Ou expectantly, wondering if he might reply. He didn't.

"Are you aware that you haven't spoken since you left the cell?" Atemu asked. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but it's kind of odd."

Touzoku Ou didn't even bother to glare at him. He felt-and probably was-ill from hunger and thirst, and if he was even conscious said consciousness was focused on riding.

Atemu scowled. One thing he was in no way used to was being ignored. And also, he found himself worried about Touzoku Ou. And that irritated and befuddled him more than anything ever could.

Touzoku Ou gazed up at the sun, acutely aware of the heavy air. He wondered if he could call back the memory of water with the talisman, like he had before, but then he remembered something else and his eyes filled with unexpected tears.

He blinked them away rapidly, trying to push away bitter memories. He couldn't cry. Not in front of them. And he never cried.

Anyway, crying meant losing water, and he didn't have any to spare.

With that thought, he made up his mind and grabbed the amulet. It numbed his hunger and thirst right away, but said bitter memories remained…

***

People whispered amongst themselves as the young boy wandered into the village. He was tanned and sweating from the hot Egyptian sun, face covered in dirt and dried blood. His hair was tangled and unnaturally white, his eyes deep and haunted.
His mouth and throat were so parched he paid no heed to the villagers and went strait to a well, sipping the cool water hungrily.
"Hey, boy! You cannot do that unless you intend to pay for that water!" shouted a merchant. The boyglared up at the man, his face twisting into an expression of rage. The man took a step back.
The child continued to wander, his throat now slowly recovering. Peoplemoved quickly out of his path-strangers werenot very welcome in their city, especially not those who looked so strange.
"White-haired devil…" a man said quietlyto his wife. "That child must besomething incredibly hellish to have that kind of hair color…" The child glanced at them, and the couple gasped and ran into a shop.
The childglanced down at his tattered clothes. He must have looked pitiful.
The names and insults followed him as he continued to walk through the city, and he refused to glance up at them. Finally, a man spoke up.
"G-Get out of our village, you evil thing! No one needs youhere! We have enough troubles without you being here!" he shouted, throwing a stone at little Touzoku Ou (oh, like you really didn't figure it out yourself!)
The stone soared through the air and hit him straight in the nose, causing the child to yelpin pain.Seeing no harm in it, the crowd began to fling stones as well. Rocks flying at him from all directions, the child fled.

By the time he had passed through the gate and was back in the desert, his body was covered in bruises and blood, pain surging through his limbs. He fell to his knees in the sand, flopping forward. His breathswereshallowand ragged, sand sticking to his countless cuts.
The city gates were now closed. Sitting up, he tried to brush the sand from his body, but the excruciating throbbing of his wounds made it impossible.
Tears fell from his eyes, making small pools in the sand. He curled up, wanting to die. His mother would have protected him…She would know what to do.
"Stop it…" he hissed. "Stop crying, you piece of shit! Get up!" He struck himself again and again, clawing at his bleeding arms. "You worthless boy! Stupid, stupid child!" Tears flowed openly down his cheeks, mixing with his cuts.
Horrible rage burned through him, filling him with energy he should not have had. He leapt to his feet and screamed at the gates keeping the village 'safe' from him-or so they believed.
"I hate you!" he howled. "I hate allof you! I want you all to die!Each and every one of you!"
Ghastlyenergy slammed from him with the force of a hurricane, and the village burst into flames. The screams faded swiftly as the village crumbled, and the child's laughter was the only sound as darkness descended upon Egypt.

***

"We're almost there," he announced, answering Seth's unspoken question-much to Aishisu's relief, as she knew above all how utterly impatient Seth could be. However, Touzoku Ou's words didn't deter Seth's impatience.

"How long is 'almost?'" he snapped. "Because if I have to wait one more-"

"Oh, we're here," Touzoku Ou announced. Everybody looked in the direction he was looking at, and their eyes (except Aishisu's) widened as they saw the ruins of an ancient village.

The buildings were crumbling into dust, scorch marks on every stone and brick, and only Touzoku Ou realized that hidden among the rubble was a massive temple in which he had lived for the past twelve or thirteen years.

The village was quiet as a tomb, silence emanating from every crack, every inch of it telling its own story in a language only Touzoku Ou could understand.

Atemu glanced at Touzoku Ou. He could easily sense the spirits all around the village, and it was an eerie feeling. He also knew that if Touzoku Ou hadn't been there, the spirits would have probably ripped all of them apart already.

"Three minutes," he announced, trying to sound as authoritative as possible-he did surprisingly well, considering. "That should be enough time, shouldn't it?"

Touzoku Ou didn't reply. Steeling himself, he got off of the horse and walked out a few feet-not quite out of earshot, as he was too hungry/thirsty to walk far, but far enough that there was room for all the spirits to clamber around him (which they did immediately) without injuring the others.

Atemu, Aishisu, Mariku, and Seth watched in astonishment and bewilderment (well, except Aishisu-oh, like none of you saw that coming!) as the spirits swirled around Touzoku Ou.

They seemed to be crowding one another, all vying for his attention, judging by the way Touzoku Ou's hair and cape flapped every which-way as if tugged by a million little fingers. When he spoke, probably in response to one of the spirits' questions, they had to strain to hear.

"No…" he murmured, feeling those damned tears prickle at his eyes. "I'm not. I just…" he felt his throat catch. "I'm just here to say goodbye."

The spirits swirled around him, panicked suddenly, bewildered, begging him to explain himself, pleading for him to say that he was joking. He trembled and lifted the hand with that damnable bracelet on it.

"It's this," he explained, his voice still so soft they could barely hear. Damn it, don't you dare start crying, he told himself. "It's cursed. Or it has a spell on it. Or something. It won't come off. And as long as it's on…I'm their prisoner. They can do whatever they want with me."

Even Seth and Mariku could feel the magnitude of the spirits' dismay and anger, and their desperate plea to find a way to help.

"Thank you, but none of you can't help me." Touzoku Ou sighed. "No one can."

Those damnable tears he had been holding in for years fell from his eyes. The spirits caught them before they fell from his cheeks, flicking them away, lending his dying-for indeed it was dying, slowly but surely-body all the strength they could give him.

"You have to stop destroying things," he told them once he had enough energy to speak. "It isn't going to help me out, and any damage you cause I'm going to be held responsible for."

He glanced at Atemu, Aishisu, Mariku, and Seth. So softly that if they did hear it they would be inevitably sure they had imagined it. "They'll hurt me."

The spirits tried to comfort him, useless though it was. He knew they could tell that hunger, thirst, pain, and the magic of the bracelet was leeching away his life-soon he would be dead, even if he were to be permitted stay here with the remains of his family.

Of course he wouldn't be allowed to-he would be forced to suffer for the rest of his rapidly slowing life, and he would have to die alone and unloved…and in anguish.

But afterwards…once he was dead…

"I'm going to see you again," he said with sudden newfound determination, lifting his chin. "I don't care if I have to fight Thoth, Anubis, Osiris, and Ammut all at once. I will see you in death-I promise."

Then the stubborn energy drained away and he felt like a weak child again. "I'm sorry I failed," he whispered. "I tried my best, but I couldn't avenge you…I couldn't free you." Tear after tear slid down his cheeks, caught and taken away by the spirits.

"Now you're going to be trapped here for eternity…but you won't be trapped alone. It won't be long now. You feel it too, don't you?"

He sighed bitterly. "I'm dying. No matter what happens now I'm going to die, and soon. And then…I'll be with you again. No matter what I have to do…"

The spirits engulfed him, pouring in all their strength and reassurance. They knew it wasn't enough, and so did he, but it was all they could give and he was grateful.

"Goodbye," he whispered, painfully aware that the one-minute limit would have to be up, and they caught a final tear. "For now."

Then he turned and walked back to where the other four (other nine if you count the horses) were waiting. Every step was an immense effort, but the energy the spirits had lent him had helped.

"It doesn't matter what you do to me now," he informed Atemu with a strength he didn't feel as he got back onto the horse. "It's over anyway. I got what I wanted."

Atemu stared at him in disbelief as he began riding again, obviously in the direction of the palace. He gave Seth a bewildered look which he returned, and Mariku gave the ever-calm Aishisu a questioning look that was replied with an ambiguous shrug.

Then they rode back to the palace, catching up with Touzoku Ou, who continued riding as if he weren't dead inside and dying physically.

But Atemu saw that he kept glancing back, more tears sliding down his cheeks-tears that would not be wiped away.

***

The moment the doors to the Great Hall opened, Akunadin and Shaadi tensed up and turned to look at it. Both were being driven mad with curiosity, but neither wanted to be the first to ask what had happened.

Touzoku Ou was the first to enter, his expression unreadable. He brushed right past them without a glance, walking the way he always did in spite of his limbs aching even more than they had when he had been pummeled with rocks as a child.

"My lord," murmured Shaadi, speaking as respectfully as he could possibly manage to speak under the circumstances. "What-ah-what happened?"

"I'm not sure I know," Atemu replied, staring at Touzoku Ou-or at his back, since he was walking out of the Great Hall. There was something unusual in the way he carried himself-he had always had a certain graceful self-assurance, as if he were some kind of god. But now he seemed…

Human.

And Atemu knew-or at least he and the rest of the world was very certain-that Touzoku Ou was not human. Not in the slightest.

"Was Kuru Eruna really as terrifying as the tails claim?" Shaadi pressed, rather forgetting himself in his curiosity. "Did you see the underground temple? Were there spirits? Were you afraid?"

"More so, no, yes, and hell yeah," Atemu replied, forgetting himself as week. He was watching Touzoku Ou, who had stopped walking.

Touzoku Ou swayed dizzily on his feet. The room was spinning, and he was feeling much too lightheaded to hear a thing that was being said.

Don't faint…he thought desperately. Please don-

He was cut off in mid-thought as his eyes rolled to the back of his forehead and he fell to the ground. Needless to say, he had fainted.