Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Back To Ancient Egypt ❯ The Questions And The Rants ( Chapter 12 )

Priestess: I've received several questions on this being a Mariku/Isis(Aishisu) or Seth/Isis(Aishisu) It's both, and it's Seth/Mariku. This is not a love triangle! This is three people each romantically involved with two other people.
Have I ever done this before? No. I've done Seth/Aishisu and Mariku/Isis and Mariku/Kaiba but not all three together.
The only time I've had three people who are each romantically involved with the other two and not killing each other over it I was using three guys. But oh, well. I always like a good challenge.

Also, people have been asking me about the Egyptian money, and I realized I made a mistake in chapter 10. So I'll restate it, correctly:

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. Got it? Got it.

Fanfiction time!

***

"I'm getting sick and tired of this," Atemu hissed.

"Of what?" Touzoku Ou asked in an unreadable tone-though there was definitely some sarcasm mixed in there, though sarcasm strangely devoid of much malice. Atemu glared at the blue-eyed bandit, who met his eyes without a trace of fear.

Though the bracelet made Touzoku Ou kneel, his regally defiant air made it feel to Atemu as if he weren't kneeling at all.

Vaguely Atemu wondered if he would still seem like that if he were bound, gagged, and flung in a cart among fruits. The wild-haired Pharaoh grimaced inwardly at the thought-that was something Seth and Mariku might think of, but not him.

It seemed that sleep and food had been all the Thief King needed to make a full recovery, for he seemed as graceful and healthy as ever. Only something in his eyes betrayed that he was exhausted beyond belief and wanted nothing more than to end this conversation and get some sleep.

"'Of what?'" Atemu mimicked him, though from Touzoku Ou's infuriating indifference (did he have any idea how irksome it was that Touzoku Ou could seem completely impervious to anything Atemu did?) he may have replied with perfect civility and politeness and Touzoku Ou would have seemed more offended.

Or he would have passed out.

Considering everything, that was actually more likely.

"Of everything, that's what! I have two million things on my mind to deal with, and you just happen to be the cause of over a million of those things! One moment you seem like one person, the next you seem like someone different! One day I feel like I know everything about you, the next I feel like you're a complete stranger. Sometimes it takes all my self-control not to strangle you on the spot, sometimes I would be willing to risk everything just to help you. You're one huge mystery, and it seems like every day the mystery grows! I'm sick sick sick of it!"

Touzoku Ou lifted an eyebrow, seeming irritatingly unaffected by Atemu's outburst-'seeming' being the operative word here. "Ooh-kay…And you're telling me this why exactly?"

Atemu's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms, clearly determined to get what he wanted. "I want you to tell me everything about yourself-and I want you to tell the truth."

***

It was dark. Yu-Gi-Oh and Kaiba were completely blinded. Bakura could see in the dark, but it wasn't as if there was anything much to see. He didn't count rocks and of course his-friends? Comrades? It didn't matter really, not at that point-to be that much.
"Why that…that…" Kaiba trailed out, unable to find a decent insult for the jackass who had trapped them in there. He clenched and unclenched his fists, tiny sparks of silvery lightning glittering at his fingertips as he tried to keep calm and failed miserably.
Bakura lifted an eyebrow, seeing the miniature lightning bolts at the tips of his fingers. But the near-albino suspected he knew what would happened and remained silent as Kaiba started up again. "What I wouldn't give right now to just…to just…just…ugh!"
What had been a dance of white and blue glints flared into a stream of fire fire, slamming into the rocks keeping them trapped. Kaiba and Yu-Gi-Oh gaped as bits of dust sprinkled down from the edges of a gaping hole the blaze had created above them.
"D-Did I…?" Kaiba stuttered, looking at Bakura-he had learned very easily that the mysterious white-haired Spirit knew things other people didn't. Isis did as well, but she and Malik were busy trying to right the earth's ecosystems with their powers over the sun and moon and had avoided getting stuck underground.
Bakura nodded, and Kaiba panicked. "B-But I couldn't have…how did…that couldn't have been…I'm supposed to be the human one among these freaks!"
"Apparently not anymore," replied Bakura as he walked to the wall, testing the stability of the rocks-though he probably could catch himself easily if he fell, what was the point of taking chances?
"Great," Yu-Gi-Oh muttered. "Now everybody has a special power but me! And there's no way anybody can climb all the way up there!"
"You were saying?" Bakura called from the top of their tiny prison, peering out of the hole. He had already climbed all the way up.
"Come to think of it, Bakura doesn't have a 'special' power either," Kaiba pointed out, smirking at the expression on the ex-Pharaoh's face.
"He doesn't count in either of those statements," Yu-Gi-Oh retorted. "He's an inhuman freak with a deep-rooted and absolutely inexplicable hatred for all humankind."
"No, just you!" Bakura called back, and he had to work very hard to stifle his laughter at the cynical reply that Yu-Gi-Oh muttered:
"I feel so special."

***

Bakura half-smirked, half-sighed at the memory which came to him unbidden. Until just a few weeks ago-or over 3587 years in the future-that had been a humorous memory (all right, it had kind of hurt to be called an inhuman freak, but among all those disasters the entire thing was practically hilarious) but now Kaiba was dead…

"Do you see anything?" he called, and his wild-haired lover gave him a sharp glance.

"Yes, dumbass!" Yu-Gi-Oh called. "I see sand, villages, people, and the palace. No idea what's happening indoors because you're the one with special sight. What did you expect me to see? The evil sides sitting around plotting? They can be invisible you know!"

Bakura had forgotten about that. All of the evil sides could fly, teleport, turn invisible and/or shape-shift, blast, heal themselves with a touch, and apparently time-travel. They were super-strong, they never aged, they lived forever unless killed, and apparently even if they were killed it wasn't permanent.

Not to mention they can do anything we can, (except his god power of course) and Yu-Gi-Oh can't blast or do much shape-shifting. Neither of us are great at blasting-Isis wasn't either. Kaiba and Malik were the best at blasting, since their base powers (lightning and sunlight) could both be blasted. But they're both…

Trying to steer clear of that train of thought-why dwell on the future when the past is falling apart?-he called, "Never mind. Let's just head to the palace and step on it!"

"Bakura, I know it's risky, but I really think that at this point our best option is flight! They'd definitely sense us if we teleport, but can't you shield us with your magic?"

Bakura groaned, but he knew Yu-Gi-Oh was right. This was getting them nowhere fast-or at least, not fast enough for their liking. "Fine!" he called to the leather-clad Pharaoh. "Let's fly."

***

"What?!" erupted Touzoku Ou, jumping to his feet with flashing eyes. The room seemed to spin from the fast movement-this scared him, as under regular circumstances he could move faster than lightning and with boneless grace for hours without needing to breathe.

Pushing this thought aside, he glared at the still-young Pharaoh and shouted, "No! Never ever! There is no damn way! Forget it! Have I made myself clear?!"

Atemu's eyes flashed as well, though in my opinion his fury was less called-for. Raising the slender arm with the winged bracelet on it, he brought it down in a fierce motion which magically slammed Touzoku Ou back onto his knees-quite painfully, I might add.

Refusing to show how much pain he was in, or the fact that he had no greater desire than to stumble back to his cell and sleep, Touzoku Ou glared fiercely at him. "No," he hissed between clenched teeth.

"Seth is right, I've been much too lenient with you," Atemu spat, not seeming to hear him. Before he could continue his little rant, Touzoku Ou seemed to feel the need to interrupt.

"'Lenient?!'" he yelled. "Why you arrogant, self-righteous little…Do you actually believe that?! Of all the idiotic, simpleminded-"

"Get on with it before I kill you," Atemu interrupted.

"Kill me? Kill me? Isn't that what you're supposed to be doing, your Highness, instead of stalling until you know every damn thing about me? Because you know what? You don't know anything!"

He paused to catch his breath, and Atemu started up again (god, this conversation is really getting to be nothing but rant-this-shriek-that, isn't it?) "Well maybe I don't! And you know why? Because you have to be so fucking mysterious all the time!"

Touzoku Ou chose to glare rather than reply, so Atemu continued. "I try to figure it out, but it's impossible, and you certainly don't seem ready to say anything! Torture doesn't work, asking doesn't work, even the bracelet hasn't worked because you always seem to find some way to get around it! Not anymore. Now talk!"

"I don't have to tell you anything," Touzoku Ou spat.

Officially out of patience, Atemu touched the feather which caused him pain. Touzoku Ou cried out and fell forward, writhing on the ground in absolute anguish while Atemu watched expressionlessly.

"Now will you tell me what I want to know?" Atemu asked Touzoku Ou rose back to a kneel-and as I mentioned before, it was only a few seconds, the pain just made it feel like it lasted hours.

The white-haired rogue glared at him, blinking back tears of pain. He was furious with his actions, his words, and his deadpan tone. "No. I. Won't. Now will you quit doing that?"

The room was spinning, his entire body ached with unbearable pain, and he was going to pass out at any moment. He could only pray that Atemu had something-anything-better to do than continue to torture him. It really was torture.

"Idiot." Atemu clenched and unclenched his fists, fighting to keep a grip on his temper. "I don't have time for this right now."

And he didn't. Aishisu had predicted that the first candidate for their new High Priestess (though a man could just as easily try out, it had been decided that a woman would be better, as they already had five men not including Atemu and a woman would more readily understand why she didn't receive a Millennium Item) would arrive in…he glanced at the sundial and cursed mentally.

Oh, fuck, he thought, frantic. Somehow, I doubt a new High Priestess would be willing to stick around long if she saw the great Pharaoh yelling at a white-haired demon right in the middle of the Great Hall…

Turning back to the pale-haired bandit, ready to end the conversation, he realized from something in his eyes that Touzoku Ou seemed exhausted.

Those fierce haunted eyes seemed unbearably empty, and for the first time it actually seemed as if he was on his knees. He didn't seem tired like humans seemed tired, with dark circles and a slump and everything, but he definitely didn't seem like the strange godly being Atemu had spent the better part of a year trying to defeat.

And suddenly, Atemu was scared.

"You're tired," he said bluntly. It wasn't a question-or at least, it didn't sound like one. The last thing Touzoku Ou needed to know was that Atemu was praying to every god ever heard of that the Thief King would deny it.

Instead Touzoku Ou just stared at him, seeming dazed. That little attack had sapped the last of his strength, and he no longer felt capable of speaking.

Glancing around the Great Hall at all the cushions and sofas, he noticed a couch very nearby which was long enough for a six-foot-tall bandit and pointed to it. "Go there and lie down," he instructed, knowing without understanding where the knowledge came from that Touzoku Ou would not be able to rise with his own strength.

It hurt to see him walk. He didn't stumble or slump like one might expect him to do-his back was still perfectly strait-but he didn't move with that graceful confidence he seemed to have been lacking in the past week or so (as I said, an Egyptian week is ten days)

Instead, he moved like a regular person. Most people would have needed to see his expression to realize he was about to faint, but Atemu at least knew him well enough to know that much. If it weren't for the bracelet's order, he would have fainted after the first step. As it was, he collapsed the moment he reached the couch.

Atemu watched him, lying in slumber so deep an elephant couldn't have woken him. He had never seen Touzoku Ou so tired.

Or maybe he had, and just not realized it.

"Goodnight, my stubborn young thief," he whispered, and walked to meet the first new candidate for High Priestess. He didn't even here the five words whispered from behind him.

"And goodnight, my arrogant young Pharaoh."