Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Back To Ancient Egypt ❯ The Necklace And The Discovery ( Chapter 10 )

Aishisu felt weak with rage and sorrow as she walked across the hall. She could picture very clearly the last time Bakura had visited Kuru Eruna. Then, also, it had been an occasion for goodbyes. But it had been a happy occasion, and the only tears had been ones of happiness.

She remembered Bakura's expression, she remembered his every word. He had told his family he was happy now, that there was no one left for him to fight and that he had wanted to see his family one last time before they were finally able to pass on so that he could ask how they felt about him being in love with Yami.

She, Kaiba, Malik, and Yami could sense the spirits' happiness and acceptance just as well as Bakura could, even if they couldn't hear the actual words the spirits were saying.

And even if they could; they knew little or nothing of Bakura's native language, for it was an ancient and now almost entirely forgotten language of spells and magic that even the gods themselves didn't know.

But understand or not, it had been a beautiful occasion-even Kaiba couldn't deny it. She clenched her fists and teeth. Who could do this? Who would take such a wonderful thing and twist it like this?

Her eyes widened and she stumbled, barely catching herself in time. Had she still been old, she would probably have broken something. No…she thought, remembering talk of four demons. Please…please no.

Before her mind could further explore the horrible possibility which had come to mind unbidden, she heard some disturbingly familiar moans dripping with evident arousal. Turning, she walked in the direction of the moans until she reached a door. Her fingers brushed against the knob when she hesitated. The moans became louder.

Aishisu took a deep breath and opened the door.

Her eyes widened and she gasped as she realized this was either Seth or Mariku's room, and that they were lying together on the bed-and when I say that they were together, I mean that they were together together.

Alerted by her gasp, they looked up from the bed.

She tried to run, but her damned teenage body wouldn't move. And her teenage hormones were raging wildly, something she was unaccustomed to.

"Um…I…umm…" she stammered, feeling like an idiot. (Well, what would you do?) "Were you…how long have you been…"

"A few months," Seth replied with a smirk, eyes gleaming.

"Want to join us?" requested Mariku, lips curved into a smirk even more devious than Seth's-and at the same time, even more seductive.

Aishisu's tan skin went crimson. "W-W-W-What?!" she cried. "B-B-B-But…But…"

"Come on," crooned Seth. "You enjoyed it last time."

She blushed harder-it was true, she had, but that had been a month ago and she had just been returned to a teenager. Besides, that hadn't been exactly consensual. Pleasurable, but not consensual.

"We aren't going to force you," said Mariku as if he knew what she was thinking.

With a smirk, Seth added, "We know you want to anyway."

Aishisu pressed her lips together tightly, trying to make her blush recede. She could feel their eyes roving over her, admiring the way the thin white material of her dress clung to her slender frame in a way that showed off her generous curves while still maintaining the quiet dignity her position deserved.

"But…you two are…"

"We aren't gay," Seth interrupted. "We just like who we like, boy or girl. We've always liked each other, and right now we like you too."

"And how long is that supposed to last?" she retorted, her mind racing. It was difficult to refuse when you're a hormonal teenager and two hot naked guys are asking you to have sex with them.

"Come on, Aishisu," said Mariku, his voice seeming to weave a spell of lust and desire around her. "It's already lasted since we met, it will probably last a lot longer."

"Besides," added Seth. "When you're old and ugly, and your bones ache all the time, wouldn't it be nice to have someone-two someones-who still care about you?"

Aishisu stared at him. It was as if they knew her secret, as if they could see into the deepest recesses of her mind and could understand everything.

And all doubt vanished.

"Yes," she murmured, just loud enough to hear. "I do." And she stepped forward, moving away from the doorway and into their embrace.

***

"Hide, my child" Taemestra commanded her son, pushing him into the secret entrance to the hidden temple.
"But-" he began, though his protests fell on deaf ears. Seeing some soldiers nearing, his mother whirled around and ran at them, screaming like a banshee.

***

Touzoku Ou was flung awake, screaming and sobbing, the memory of his mother's death as hideously clear as it had been on the very moment of that death. Once he got a hold of himself, he slumped back onto something soft and blinked at his surroundings.

Am I still asleep? He wondered, rising onto his elbows. Glancing down, he saw that he was resting on a mountain of cushions, and the rest of the floor was covered in them-silk, velvet, embroidered, cotton, it didn't seem to matter.

Glancing around, he could see that there were also boxes around him, and other various objects-none of which appeared to be particularly suited for a prison.

But it was still the cell, just an astoundingly crowded one. The door was even gone, and the massive chambers which seemed to be simply for security reasons (though he wondered why even they bothered if he couldn't escape anyway) were just as crowded as the cell, if not more so.

Glancing down at his hands, he noticed his fingers were stray inches from a plate of the small dough balls flavored with honey and rosewater that were so popular in Persia. Gulab Jamuun, or something like that. Though he felt weak in spite of his rest, he summoned the strength to lift it and take a bite.

Feeling energized, he had eaten every single one of them before the thought came to him-he had gotten stuck in the cell for stealing food. Didn't this count as the same?

Who cares? he thought savagely, grabbing another plate. The cramped, aching emptiness in his stomach was by now almost entirely unbearable. If he didn't want me to eat his damn food, he shouldn't have put so much of it here in the first place.

***

"Ugh!" shouted Seth, tripping over a blanket and landing in a pile of cushions. "You can't walk three feet around here without tripping over a damn pillow!"

"Our Monsters and soldiers brought down every cargo ship coming to and from Persia since the first attack and are probably bringing down more as we speak," Atemu reminded the disgruntled High Priest, before sighing deeply and knuckling his temples.

"We're giving the citizens everything they can fit in their houses, but with so many traitors there's still so much more and only so many places in the palace. Almost all of our dungeons are filled with prisoners, you know, and to put the items we took from the Persians in the cells of Persians would be pretty redundant."

"But putting them in Touzoku Ou's cell wouldn't?" Seth retorted, returning to his feet.

Atemu shrugged, removing his knuckles from his forehead. "We filled the stone-and-iron chambers his cell is in to the brim and there was still more. We had to do something, and he isn't Persian. Besides, he's been little more than an unconscious body for almost a month."

"Uh-huh," muttered Seth. "An unconscious body laid on a mountain of pillows, his hand next to plates of food near enough that he can reach it without moving an inch. You even had the cell door taken down, though I suppose the bracelet would keep him from moving around much…"

"Enough!" Atemu roared, and Seth blinked at the unusual outburst. The young pharaoh was clearly livid, breathing heavily with barely-suppressed rage. "What do you know of Kuru Eruna?" He practically snarled, the sudden change of subject causing Seth to blink again.

"Kuru Eruna…? What does that have to do with-"

"I suggest you answer me," Atemu hissed, fists clenched. His eyes flashed as he added, "Or I just might feel inclined to have you punished for your insubordination."

Seth gawked at him. Seth had never seen him look this angry at him before-Touzoku Ou plenty of times, but never him. Furthermore, he had never threatened Seth with punishment-though Seth and Mariku both tested his authority on a regular basis. And then he knew.

For all of Mariku and Seth's joking, and even the matchmaking they and Aishisu were planning, on some level he had never truly believed the Pharaoh was in love with the Thief-if he had, he wouldn't have felt so stunned.

He bowed his head as he had been taught from childhood, breaking their eye contact, and felt a sudden uncharacteristic surge of compassion. If Atemu truly loved Touzoku Ou-and it now entirely inevitable to Seth that he did-it was and would always be a forbidden love.

He is a lord among men, and yet he cannot have what he wants most…

"Forgive me, Sire," he murmured respectfully, something he did not do often. "But I know little about Kuru Eruna. It is believed to be a cursed place, and as we already know it is the haunted ruins of a village or something where Touzoku Ou resided. About fifteen years past, it was massacred-but no one cares to speak about it, so it isn't as if I know how."

Atemu pressed his lips together. He seemed deep in thought but, to Seth's relief, no longer angry. Then he sighed and shook his head. "I want to know everything about him while he lives still. He said himself that it shall not be long, and there are so many questions still left unanswered."

"I know what you mean," agreed Seth. "But…your Highness? I suggest you check on your thief sooner rather than later. By now, I should think that either he is awake or he is dead."

Atemu nodded gravely and Seth left, glad that Atemu was unable to see the smile which curved his lips at the sound of the young Pharaoh muttering the words, "My thief?"

***

Atemu had a finger on a feather of the bracelet as he walked forward, the feather's magic ensuring that Touzoku Ou wouldn't notice he was coming. As it turned out, it wasn't necessary.

The white-haired bandit was stretched elegantly across the pile of cushions he had been laying on, fast asleep-though, judging by the fact that most of the plates Atemu had set food on were empty, he hadn't been asleep all this time.

Atemu frowned suddenly, peering around-had the cell gotten bigger?

Yes, Atemu was almost certain the cell was at least four times as big. He wouldn't have been able to sit comfortably, much less lie down-so Touzoku Ou, who was six inches taller than him, certainly shouldn't have been able to.

Touzoku Ou's face-softly illuminated by the light peering from the tiny window-was calm, as if he were having a good dream-which is rare, I can tell you now. He seemed so much younger and more peaceful asleep-without even a trace of insanity, sorrow, anger, etc. marring his otherwise beautiful face.

Atemu sighed sadly at this thought, picturing the Thief King's dark blue eyes, and how eerie the expressions which filled them when he was awake were. He couldn't even begin to imagine what could have happened to him that had made his eyes so haunted, and at times so crazed…

But at the moment those eyes were shut, dark lashes not moving an inch. He looked so beautiful, so serene, so much more than when awake. What kind of man could Touzoku Ou have been, if…whatever had happened to him hadn't happened?

Atemu supposed he would never know.

One of the thief's slender arms was extended over his head, fingertips just brushing against the stone wall. Atemu blinked-had those broad, muscular arms slimmed? Or was it just a trick of the fading light? He hoped it was the second, but was sadly certain it was the first.

His other hand was at something around his neck (not the Millennium Ring) His tanned fingers were wrapped around it as if it were a million gold chams.

(I forgot to tell you- Egyptian money is davs, agribs, and chams. One silver dav is three copper davs, one silver agrib is twenty silver davs, one gold agrib is two silver agribs, one silver cham is twenty gold agribs, one gold cham is five silver cham. One gold cham is worth about six thousand dollars.)

Slowly, not wanting to rouse the Thief King from sleep that he obviously needed, Atemu removed his finger from the feather and took a step forward. Immediately, Touzoku Ou's eyes snapped open.

Damn, he's good! the Pharaoh cursed mentally, but it was too late to run.

The moment he saw Atemu, he jumped to his knees, putting his arms out defensively. "Listen, if you didn't want me to eat your food you shouldn't have left it here!" he cried automatically. Atemu blinked, and suppressed a chuckle-he wasn't in the mood to start a fight at the moment.

"We have so much food that some of the peasants are complaining over the fact that all the thieves are either dead, captured, or in Persia," he informed the thief. "Take all the food you want." He blinked at glanced around at the much-largened cell. "Why is the cell so much bigger than it was last time I checked?"

Touzoku Ou shrugged, though he was still wary. "I needed to see if I still had my powers, and I wasn't about to risk burning the food."

Atemu noticed the small blue stone hanging around the thief's neck, the item he had obviously been clutching. How long had he had that? Not when he was captured, since Atemu had spent four hours trying to pry off the Millennium Ring and would have noticed any other necklace which was clearly magic.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to it. Touzoku Ou seemed alarmed. His fingers closed over it again, hiding it from Atemu's view.

"It's mine," he cried automatically, as if afraid Atemu was going to take it from him-which just so happened to be quite an understandable fear, considering that even an infant could sense the magic emanating from it.

"I'm not going to take it," Atemu said. "I just want to see it." When Touzoku Ou shook his head, Atemu touched the feather. "Let me see the necklace."

It looked to Atemu as if Touzoku Ou was trying to burn him to a crisp with his eyes alone, but he lowered his hand just enough so Atemu could see the stone-though only Touzoku Ou himself could see or read the ancient inscriptions.

But the moment Atemu actually reached out a hand, Touzoku Ou's fingers immediately closed over it a third time. "Don't touch it!"

Atemu sighed. He's right, I have to learn to be more specific with the commands…"Touzoku Ou, put both your hands at your side and don't move until I tell you." It seemed looks couldn't kill, or Atemu would already be a rotting corpse.

Since they couldn't, Touzoku Ou was forced to lay his hands on the cushions at his sides and hold completely still-though Atemu could feel him trembling when he reached for the stone.

His fingers didn't make contact with the stone-only a fool played with magic he didn't understand-but it was close enough that he could feel warmth radiating both from the stone and Touzoku Ou's skin. The magic was plain, and he was almost certain it was of divine origin.

"Astounding," he murmured, wishing he had powers like Aishisu so that he could tell what the stone was and what it did. As it was, all he could tell was that it was a powerful amulet and that it filled him with awe and even a certain fearful respect-something the young Pharaoh was unaccustomed to.

Looking up from the stone to meet the bandit's eyes, he demanded, "tell me who in Isis's name did you steal this from, and you better answer truthfully!"

"I didn't steal it," Touzoku Ou replied, and Atemu lifted a skeptical eyebrow. Looking away, Touzoku Ou muttered, "It was my mom's."

Atemu was intrigued, but it seemed obvious that he wasn't about to tell him anything until Atemu forced it out of him and that was going to be tricky. Getting up, he informed him, "You can leave the cell now, by the way. We have so many things around here we could use a thief."

As he walked out of the dungeons, he once again pictured the mysterious necklace. Just something else to add to the long list of things I need to find out about him before he's dead, he mused, then sighed. What in the name of Horus have I gotten myself into?