Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Brother Down ❯ Pharaoh's Shadow ( Chapter 1 )

Summary: 3000 years ago, a boy-king ascended the throne at the age of 10. By 12, he couldn't be controlled. As power-hungry nobles and an enigmatic high priest close in, Yamiasis must find his little brother... before his enemies do. Assassination attempts, disguises, deceit, monsters and dark games of more than one kind.

Rating: PG for naughty words.

Disclaimer: This section speaks for itself.

Chapter 1: Pharaoh's Shadow

"Care to repeat that, Prime Minister?" a voice growled dangerously. A pair of furious, ruby red eyes flashed hotly in a well-lit and extravagant room, framed by styled gold.

Pharaoh's private study.

The elder man gulped once, but continued to press his luck.
"My king..."

BANG

The table creaked.

All the men in the room save one jumped, hearts racing, brows dotted with perspiration.

"Why, in Ra's name was I only told this NOW?!"

"P-Please, my king!"

"I don't even want to hear it," the boy-man raged, "I should execute the lot of you!"

The balding official paled to match the colour of his hair, his comrades as wide-eyed and shaken as he. "Please, Pharaoh... we... y-your father thought it w-was best-"

Red eyes cut his sentence short.

"Don't bring my father into this-" the voice cracked.
Yamiasis, hands fisted tightly at his side, tried to swallow his embarrassment and outrage.

Twelve years old and he was still pitifully short. Twelve years and his voice was just starting deepen, often squeaking at the most inopportune times. It was enough to make him pull his remarkable tri-coloured hair.

Two years since his father died, and four since his brother. The unexpected burden of kingship had been thrust at him abruptly.
Unwillingly.

He'd had no time to prepare. He had been raised to be Prince of Egypt, not Pharaoh.
He'd spent his days swimming leisurely in the Nile, hiding in the passages of the palace and playing pranks on the same old coots that were now breathing down his back.

'Here, Yami, why don't you wear this really heavy hat and sit on that throne like a good little doll' he thought bitterly to himself, All any of them want is to be the power behind the throne.

When he finally raised his head towards the scheming old men who sought his power, he fairly radiated ice.

These men had fought over him like vultures; Picking at his young flesh and naive mind. But he wasn't 10 any more. He was quick to learn.

"You will find him. You will bring him to me, unharmed. If he is not found by the next moon, I will have each and every one of your hearts ripped out and weighed before me, and then we'll see just how many of you actually have a beating heart in your chest," he spat, forcing as much venom as he could into the threat.

Imohenet, meanwhile, pressed his lips tightly together and lowered his eyes. Clasping his hands behind his back he battled against his fear and hate of the boy-king.
His comrades shifted nervously behind him.

"Your will is our command, as always, my king," Arasis, a nobleman of the lower Nile whispered shakily.

"Get out," was all the boy had to say, back turned, commanding those more than twice his age oh so easily.

Imohenet's nails dug into the fleshy palms of his hand.
One day, my pharaoh, I swear...

He and the others beat a hasty retreat.

Frigid blue eyes watched them go, then turned back to observe the young king before him.

"I said get out, Seti. If you think you're exempt from my commands, think again."

An elegant brown eyebrow arched.

"Now, Seti."

The elder boy regarded him coolly before bowing, more in mockery than in respect, and left, shutting the door lightly behind him. He nodded absently as the guards straightened to acknowledge the 16-year-old high priest and walked away without a word.

Alone, the boy-king turned and glared out into the night, drawing desperately at the darkness to soothe his torn emotions.

My brother...

Not Smenkare, the elder brother he had idolized from afar, but another.

One he never new he had... until today.

It wasn't fair. Apparently his "advisors" had known since his father's death day.
He could only guess at how close they were at finding him and the bastard that took him.

I'll find you, little brother. Where 'Kare failed, I will succeed. I'll find you and protect you. I swear it on my soul.

Gold ornaments of all sorts clattered to the floor and were swept into a small compartment in the wall.

Pulling out a dark-coloured set of clothes from the same hiding place, Yami remembered just in time to stick his head out the gilded doors and growl another threat.

"My Pharaoh-"

"No one is to disturb me," red eyes flared, "Is that clear, guardsman?"

"O-Of course-"

SLAM

The other guard opened his mouth to comment, glanced at the still vibrating door, and thought better of it.
Careless comments on the character of their king wasn't worth losing one's tongue over.

Pulling the cool fabric over his head, Yami took a deep, steadying breath as he caught his reflection in a low hanging shield.
Dark leather and silver buckles. He'd bought them himself in the city some time ago, incognito, of course.

He pulled up the hood of the shimmering cape that completed the outfit and fiddled idly with the silver starburst clasp. That, he'd ordered specifically from the silversmith. Set carefully in the middle was the Eye of Osiris, which almost seemed to wink at him in the flickering torchlight.

Half-lidded ruby eyes observed himself one more time. He'd never be able to wear this in daylight without gaining more than the wanted amount of attention, but the night was his.

He image in the reflection smirked.

Time to pay Digger a little visit.

Silently and expertly creeping out of the palace grounds, Yami soon found himself in the quiet streets of Thebes.

Not that it'd be quiet for much longer...

You just had to know were to look, and the young pharaoh had collected some surprisingly shady accomplices during the misadventures of his youth.

This area of the city, dubbed "Creeker" by the locals was built around a narrow branch off the Nile.
If you were halfway respectable, you'd never be seen here. But if you wanted anything that was less-than-legal, this was probably your best bet.

Leisurely putting on one of his more carnal grins, the already short boy slouched even more.
It was time to put on a show.

His silent and graceful stride dropped into a fidgety scurry as he darted through the growing number of rowdy bodies littering the fire-lit dirt road.

Purposely, he bumped into a number of the bystanders, careful to keep his head down and his eyes shadowed. A well-acted wince when the elder men cursed at him, a squeaky apology and then he was off again.

...Almost, anyway.

"Hey, what are you supposed to be, a dwarf?" a sneering voice jibed as his cloak was caught.

Greedy eyes blinked.

"Hey, this is some pretty expensive stuff yer wearing."

The group of four men muttered and laughed, reaching out grab the boy as well. "Bet it would fetch a pretty price." Eyes hungrily roved over his frame. "What else you got hidden under there?"

Yami, his feral eyes shining dangerously under the shadows, let out an exaggeratedly frightened whimper.

"N-No, my lords. P-Please, my lords. My m-master would b-be most unh-happy with me!"

"Your problem, brat, not ours," the men howled with laughter.

Unable to contain a snort of disgust, Yami twisted expertly out of the man's grasp, kicked the unfortunate rogue in the balls and ran.

As outraged roars (one unnaturally high) sounded behind him, the young king, careful not to loose his pursuers, led them into a narrow alley.

Staring placidly up the dead end, Yami turned to face his tormentors.

"Well, well, no where ta go and no where ta hide..."

The other three cheered their leader on (pointedly ignoring the limp in his step), eyeing their little prey with triumphant expressions.

But to their surprise their prey was not shaking with fear.

The boy was shaking with laughter that grew louder and louder until it filled the air.

"Oi, you crazy or something?" a lackey asked, wiping his hands on his tunic. That laughter was unnerving.

"No... but I suppose it depends on who you asked."

The thieves blinked at the voice.

Grinning, Yami had been careful to deepen the tone of his voice, if only to confuse his "captors" even more...

By Ra, my voice better not squeak anytime soon.

"I propose we play a little game," he purred.

Blood-coloured eyes glinted.

The screams of four men were carefully ignored in the din of the night's activities.

Digger, for the most part, considered himself to be a well educated man. Not that he'd ever had any tutors to teach him, he wasn't that kind of smart.

No, in his game, it was all about knowledge of people.

Who knew whom. Who loved whom. Who shammed whom. Who killed whom. Sordid affairs. Tragic tales. The dirt.

So, when some unknown decided to drop in on his supposedly secure hideout, he was more than a little...ruffled.

"Ooouufff-!" Digger grunted, back pressed hard against the wall.
"Look pa...a...aal....."

Silence from the other end.

Digger took a deep breath through his already open mouth and lunged blindly with his cane.

To his surprise, the figure dodged incredibly quickly and all he could feel was a brush of air against his legs as his visitor moved by.

"What are you, a munchkin?"

The pressure built against his back, double of what it was the first time, and Digger was sent careening face first into the opposite wall. His feet dangled inches from the ground.
"A-very-strong-powerful-munch-person-who's-extremely-talented-i n-the-dark-arts!"

Hey, no one said he was supposed to be eloquent.

He was dropped unceremoniously in a heap on the ground.

Mama always said I needed a new line of work, he mused ruefully as he rubbed his aching back.

I'm getting too old for this.

"So," the ratty man wheezed, "to what do I owe the honour of this visit."

Somewhere in the shadows, Digger just knew his unexpected visitor was smirking.

"You have a very... lovely home," his guest drawled, skirting the issue. His voice was deep and resonant, totally conflicting with the lack of height. Shadowed eyes the colour of dried blood flickered to the many gold articles that by all rights shouldn't be in the rundown excuse of an underground hideout.

Yami's eyebrow arched under the shadowed confines of his costume.

"This wouldn't happen to be from the palace, would it?" he asked, seemingly uncaring, as he carefully picked up an intricate, gold-trimmed vase.

"My info doesn't come cheap, little man," Digger smirked, shuffling over to the table, "Not even when it comes to vases."

The younger of the two waved a hand. "Never cared much for Master Juihara's work anyway."

Digger's eyes narrowed a fraction, but the smile never left his face.

Yami, placed the vase back on its stand.

"You'll have to forgive my intrusion," the boy-king said pleasantly, "I do commend your security system, though."
He glanced over to the four men moaning pitifully in the corner of the room. "My travelling companions were kind enough to test it and they give it their wholehearted approval. I think they particularly enjoyed the arrow trap."

"What do you want?"

The shadowed figure gave a low throaty chuckle in reply.
"Down to business already, Master Digger? We haven't even been properly introduced."

"You hold me at a disadvantage, I'm afraid, my friend," the ratty man replied just as pleasantly, sarcasm held carefully in check.

"My info doesn't come cheap, old man," that voice drawled again, amusement filtering through quite freely. "Especially when it comes to names."

Alright, the bastard is so smirking at me, the elder man groused to himself.

But it was a game to them. In the end, one of them would leave with more information than they had come with, and that was valuable indeed.

"I hear you're having trouble with a certain family, Master Digger. The Ishtars are quite influential..."

"They do hold the land if not the heart, Master Shadow."

Amusement again. Master Shadow?

"I would help..."

"For what price?"

"Price, Master Digger?"

"Am I to assume, then, that it is out of the kindness of your heart that you offer me your invaluable aid?"
Oh, watch the sarcasm.

"I only humbly ask a favour in return..."

The rich peasant snorted, grabbing a fine, stolen goblet from nowhere and pouring fragrant wine into it.

Yami regarded this man before him, dressed in dirty rags and drinking the best wine.

"Information, of course, Master Digger."

The peasant just smiled into his cup.

"There's a boy, roughly 12. He was taken by a man called Ahmidir at a young age. I want you to find him. Or the man. Both, really."

Digger's fingers twitched around his cup. "How do you expect me to find them with so little to go on?"

"Your expertise is information gathering, Digger. You'll find them if you're as good as they say you are. Besides, if I'm right, I suspect you've already been commissioned to look for them. I'm merely suggesting a change of alliance."

The little man was baiting him and he knew it. Digger's fingers twitched again.

"And what would you do about my problem, Master Shadow?"

Digger could sense the smile.

"It will be dealt with."

"And all I have is your word..."

Out of the folds of his cloak, his guest produced a leather satchel.

Clatter

"And my gold."

Jewellery flooded the dirt floor.

"And my name."

Digger could feel the gaze of the eyes that pierced his soul.

"It's Yugioh."

And he was gone.

Setting down his cup, Digger stared at the wall and rubbed his unseeing eyes in exhaustion.

King of Games...

Four men whimpered in the background.

Ah crap. What a mess.

-Author's Notes-

Well, that takes care of the first chapter. I still don't really know where this is going, but I've wanted to do an Ancient Egypt Yugioh fic for a long time. This thing isn't edited. Please tell me if you find any mistakes.
**Fanart muses run screaming in terror**

Parts of this will be based on concepts of King Tut's murder (which happened some 3000 years ago :). Smenkare, for example, was Tut's older brother. There'll probably be some Man in the Iron Mask in here too... considering the whole twins-ruling-the-kingdom thing. Watching Mummy/Returns didn't hurt either. :D

The name Yamiasis, I'm pretty sure I stole of someone else, but I can't remember who. If you know, drop me a line. I tried using Yahminep for a while, but I like Yamiasis a lot better. ^^ Kudos.

For those of you that want to complain about the name "Digger", it's more of a title than a name. Kind of like "Yugioh", ne?

I know next to nil about Egyptian life. Even less about their political system. Apparently there's a vizier, and Discovery Kids says there's a prime minister and a millitary commander. We can't forget the high priest, of course. ;)

Next chapter we'll get to meet the rest of the gang. More plotting politicians. Seto is a must see. And maybe a brief appearance by Bakura.
Beware of title changes. I'm not sure I like "Brother Down" (though I do love the song).

Ja mata!