Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Cries of an Ancient Heart ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Konnichi wa! Thanks to those who reviewed. In this chapter we finally learn about Bakura's past and about the Millennium items. There's quite a bit of death in this chapter too. Hum, do I sense a trend here? So far this is shonen-ai (Seto/Yami), but non-yaoi. Sorry to the yaoi fans, but I don't really know how to write a lemon/lime.

~*~

"words" - speech

'words' - thought

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape or form own Yu-gi-oh or any of the characters mentioned hereafter, except for, Siamun, Netikerty, Pamiu, Seti and Nachash. All of the other characters (though not their names) came from Yu-gi-oh or Forbidden Memories the video game.

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Chapter 3

Soon after the tournament Seth was inducted as the new High Priest of Egypt. Not surprisingly, he was rather proud of his accomplishment. All his life, people had thought of him as nothing but a spoiled, rich kid that couldn't do anything for himself. The few other children he knew used to tease and taunt him, because they their teachers favoured him. They all figured that his father had something to do with it, when in actuality he was simply very clever for his age. He wanted to prove to them that he'd worked for what he had and didn't need his father's name to stand on. He was finally happy, because now he had. He was only nine years old and he held one of the most important positions in Egypt, and he'd gotten it all on his own. 'That ought to shut them up,' thought Seth to himself as the ceremony was slowly coming to a close.

As one of his duties, other than caring for the temples and such, he was given the Thousand Year Rod to protect, as Pamiu had secretly done before. It was a small golden staff, with an orb at the top that had the eye of Horus marked on it and two wing-like pieces protruding from the sides. As soon as his fingers had touched the object he felt a sudden surge of energy flow though him. It was like nothing he had ever felt before; like there was something being woven into the very fibre of his being. Though he didn't know what it was, he knew that if he had anything to say about it, the object was never going to leave his side.

The years rolled by rather peacefully in Egypt. There were of course the usual conflicts with neighbouring countries, etcetera, but nothing out of the ordinary. Seth and Amun quickly became the best of friends, causing mischief here and there, but they never forgot their heated rivalry. If it wasn't Magics and Wizards it was something else; Sennit, a game similar to modern day checkers, Hounds and Jackals[1], archery, and heck, anything else they could find. Unfortunately, very game seemed to have the same outcome; Amun whistling innocently, avoiding eye contact with a rather peeved looking Seth. How they still managed to remain such good friends, was a mystery to everyone. Well, everyone except a certain brown-eyed queen, who warmly recalled her childhood days, when a certain future pharaoh and his best friend were exactly the same way. 'Not that they've changed much over the years,' she thought to herself. Sadly, however, all good things must come to an end and this peaceful time was not to last.

In the darker recesses of the happy palace all was not as well as it appeared to be. At the back of a small room lit only by a solitary flame two shady figures were engaged in a discussion. One was tall thin man, with beady eyes and a long hard face. He wore long dark robes and a tall headdress, of the same navy colour, with a Horus eye in the middle and a golden extension that was reminiscent of a, faceless, horned cobra. This man was the pharaoh's third in command, after Pamiu, his trusted Royal Vizier, Heishin[2]. The other was slightly smaller, with broad shoulders, and dark oily looking hair. He was dressed rather plainly except for a strange pendant that he wore around his neck. It was a large ring of gold, with five small spear-heads hanging from it and a triangle in the centre, also engraved with the Horus Eye.

"Are you ready, Nachash[3]?" said Heishin to the shorter man.

"Yes sir. I will leave tonight," he answered.

"Excellent. Now the pharaoh and the brat are leaving for Giza tomorrow. Keep close to them and when they have their guards down kill them both," commanded the vizier.

"Yes Master Heishin, I remember."

"Good, but don't forget the most important part of all. Bring me the Puzzle!"

A few days earlier.

A rather odd looking Hebrew teenager carefully walked into the back of a humble, but comfortable home, trying his best not to drop the batch of newly finished pots he was balancing. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown and his hair, which reached the middle of his back, was as white as the petals of an Egyptian lotus[4].

"Is that the last of them Baruch[5]?" asked a familiar dark haired man.

"Yes father, it is," said the boy, finally relieving himself of his load. The thirteen year-old wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. It had been a long day, and being the son of a craftsman wasn't easy. He always had to carry things all over their house/workshop, or deliver things to their customers, and if he wasn't doing either of those things he was learning how to become an expert craftsman, just like his father. His father made various things, mostly different kinds of pottery, but if he saw the opportunity to make a little extra money he could craft some very fine daggers. He could also make other things too, but nothing that would really help to put food on the table, so he really only did those for his own personal pleasure. Baruch recalled those memories fondly. When he was younger his father used to make small, clay, toy-people for him. They were all immaculately detailed and not one of them was ever the same. He remembered that when he would look at them it seemed almost as if the little people were alive and he would sometimes talk to them. He knew that he looked different, and hated it when people stared, so he preferred to keep to himself a lot and consequently the small creations were pretty well his only friends. He knew that it was strange, but they had been a great comfort to him after his mother had died. No, not died, had been killed. A scowl reached his face as he remembered that day, five years prior.

He was returning home with his mother from the market. She had needed help carrying some of her goods so Baruch had gone with her. At the time he was carrying a few too many things in his arms, as he had a tendency to do, and a melon managed to drop from his hand and roll into the middle of the street. His mother, a tall, dark-skinned half-Egyptian woman with short, dark, brown hair and kind honey eyes, saw him and went to go pick it up. Big mistake! Just as she bent down to pick of the fruit a small golden chariot, charged down the street at a terrifying speed. The driver didn't even hesitate. He just kept moving towards his destination, most likely the royal palace to speak of 'important' matters, with the pharaoh. Baruch slid to the ground and sat at the side of the street, the items he had held long since forgotten. He simply stared, mouth gaping at his mother's bloody corpse, her screams still echoing through the corridors of his mind.

Baruch came out of his reflections when his father called out for him. He released the fist he had unconsciously been clenching and went from the back, into their actual home. He was a bit unhappy when he saw the man who was in there with his father.

"Good evening, Master Heishin," Baruch started and bowed. He grimaced inwardly, though. He loathed having to act as if he thought that these so called nobles were higher than him. He hated nobles, but knew better than to disrespect this man. This man meant money. Whenever he would come by he and Baruch's father would have a private discussion and then he would give him a lot of money. Afterwards his father would sometimes leave for hours, sometimes days, even weeks, but there was always food on the table, so he tolerated him.

"Ah, Baruch I see that your growing into quite a fine young man," said Heishin patronizingly. The boy simply eyed him.

"Baruch," called his father again. "Here," he said handing him a large pouch of what appeared to be gold, "Go put this away."

"Yes sir," he answered taking the money and once again returning to be back.

"Alright Nachash," said Heishin to Baruch's father, "Meet me three days from now; the usual time, the usual place." With that he turned and left. Soon after, Baruch returned from completing his task.

"Father?"

"Yes, Baruch?" answered his father.

"Will you be leaving?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"A few weeks. Three at the most."

"When?"

"Three days from now."

"Alright."

"Take care of everything here for me," his father told him ruffling his spiky white locks. Baruch laughed and attempted to swat his father's hands from his hair.

"Of course."

Back in the Present.

"Oh Father, please hurry up. I can't wait to finally see Giza!"

"Calm yourself, Amun," said the pharaoh, his arms around his queen, "Patience is a virtue, you know."

"Your father is right," came another voice.

"Ishtal[6]!" announced Amun, running over to the white haired Egyptian, energetically. "Can we go now?"

"Yes Your Highness," laughed the man known as Ishtal. "Everything is ready Sire," he said turning to face Siamun.

"Thank you Ishtal, we will be with you in a moment," the pharaoh replied to his loyal personal bodyguard. Ishtal turned and left to wait for his master. "We'll see you in a few days Love," he said, his attention now back on Netikerty.

"Do be careful," she said leaning in for a gentle but passionate kiss.

"Yuck!" yelled the prince, holding his throat and apparently gagging. "That's so gross!"

"Is that so," stated the queen, leaving her husband's arms and going over to her son. "Then I don't suppose that you'll like this too much." Without further hesitation, she grabbed his face and landed a large kiss on his cheek.

"Ack!" he yelped wiping his cheek furiously. Both his parents only laughed.

"Come on," stated Siamun starting to leave, "We shouldn't keep Ishtal waiting." With one more, quick embrace from their wife and mother, father and son embarked on their journey, blissfully unaware of the danger that awaited them.

The trio had been traveling for most of the day, and currently Siamun and Amun were riding in front with Ishtal trailing a bit a far behind, for a reason though.

"Siamun," started the pharaoh. Amun was worried.

'Whatever this is about it must be very important.' Amun mused, 'Father never calls me Siamun, unless he's very angry or very serious and I don't think I did anything wrong. Unless, of course, he found out about that little prank that Seth and I played last week.' "Yes father?"

"Tell me, how do you feel about the Games of Darkness?" Amun was a bit surprised by the question so took a while to think about it.

"Well," he began, "I know it may seem strange, because I'm good at them and all, but I don't really enjoy them as much as everyone probably thinks I do."

"Oh, and why is that?" his father pressed.

"Well it's just that they're so dangerous, and I know that you have to play them all the time and I worry that you'll get really hurt sometimes," he said staring strait ahead. Siamun was taken aback. He hadn't realized how worried Amun was about him, all the time. Amun continued. "The stakes are just too high and it seems like things are getting too hard to regulate now. It just seem like there's too much potential for a real disaster."

"I agree," stated his father.

"You do?" Amun asked looking up at him.

"Yes. That's why I asked you in the first place. I wanted to see if you felt the same way, so I could decide whether or not I should give you this." That said he pulled out a large bundle of cloth, from a satchel, on his steed. Unwrapping it revealed a miniature, inverted pyramid with the Horus eye once again engraved on one side, and a cord looped through a hole on what would have been the bottom if the pyramid were right-side-up.

"What is it?" questioned Amun, gazed fixed upon the golden object.

"This is known as the Thousand Year Puzzle and it is one of the seven Thousand Year Items. Seth has one as well. You've seen it."

"You mean the Rod?"

"Yes exactly. The items were created long ago by a powerful sorcerer. He believed, as we do that the Games would become too dangerous and tried to seal the Shadow Realm away. Unfortunately, there were some that wanted the power of the Realm, for themselves and wanted to use the items to get it. So, he was killed before he could finish. He managed to seal the creatures into the tablets that we use today, but no more. His work and the items were lost for a time, but most of them have been recovered now. I've has been searching for his records on how to seal away the Shadow Realm, but so far I've been unsuccessful." He paused for a moment, and then continued. "Here," he said, leaning over and placing the puzzle around his son's neck, "I've always felt that this should be yours. I was originally planning on giving it to you for your tenth birthday, but I feel like this is a good time to do it and I've learned to trust my instincts. Besides, your birthday is only a few months away." He smiled. "Take good care of it."

"I will Father," Amun answered still somehow entranced by the item at his chest. "I promise."

A few days passed and the travelers are almost to the Pyramids of Giza.

"Father, how much longer will it take us to get there?" Amun whined as he rested in the Oasis they had stopped. It was getting late and they had to set up camp.

"About a day or two," he replied. Amun groaned, but smiled after. Even if it was getting a little boring, at least he and his father were getting to spend some quality time together. As said before, being royalty didn't leave a lot of free time, so it was a rare occasion when he and his father were both not busy at the same time and could spend it alone together. Well, Ishtal was still with them, but he couldn't really expect for the Pharaoh and his only heir to be allowed to go off traveling with absolutely no protection. So it was still a welcome change, he thought to himself as he sat near the fire that Ishtal had just finished building.

"I'll go see if I can find us any fish in the water hole," stated the guardian.

"Alright Ishtal, thank you," said Siamun as the other left.

"I hope he can catch something good," thought the prince out loud.

"Yes I do to-" Siamun stopped when he noticed something flash out of the corner of his eye. He quickly sprang to his feet and charged towards his son. "AMUN, look out!"

"Wha-uh!" Amun was winded when his father's body sent them both crashing to the ground. "Father what was that for?" he asked groggily pushing his father off of him. "Father?" He shook his shoulders. "Father, wake up!"

"I'm afraid that he won't be doing that any time soon," said a man who had suddenly emerged from the bushes.

"Who are you?" Amun asked turning around. He gasped when he noticed that everything around him had rapidly faded to black. "We're in the Shadow Realm."

"Very perceptive, boy," said the man.

"Tell me who you are, what you want and what you did to my father now!" Amun demanded.

"Temper, temper, my prince." Amun growled. "Really there is no need to get worked up. I'll answer your questions. My name is Nachash and what I want is the Puzzle, around your neck. As for what I did to your father, I used the power of my Thousand Year Ring to trap his soul inside this." Saying that he held up a small stone figurine that looked exactly like the pharaoh. Amun gasped again.

'The Ring must be another of those items that Father was telling me about,' he thought to himself.

"Now here's the deal I'll return your father's soul if you hand over the Puzzle."

"Never! Besides, I have a better idea. I'll play you for it. Magics and Wizards. If you win you get the Puzzle and if I win I get my father's ba[7] back!"

"Foolish boy! You've got a deal. Let's duel!"

The duel did not last very long. Nachash had obviously not known of the boys skill or he wouldn't have accepted the challenge. Simply put, Amun won easily. Nachash was angry now, humiliated by a child.

"I won the duel fair and square, so it's time for you to live up to your end of the bargain. Give me my father's ba." Amun demanded.

"Grr. You want his soul? Then take it!" Angry, Nachash purposely, threw the figurine to Amun, much too high and much too far.

"NO!" The world seemed to slow almost to a halt as he watched the small object fly though the air. He tried to catch it, but he turned too quickly and it caused him to stumble over his own feet and plunge face-first into the dirt. He felt his world shatter around him as he heard the small statuette crash to the floor and break apart. He looked up and saw the figure in pieces before him, just out of his reach. Everything suddenly felt so distant. He felt light-headed, and it took him a while to recognise the sound that was pouring into his ears. Laughter? A horribly, maniacal, cackling laughter from the man who had just taken away something that he held so dear. No. He could not… would not believe that.

"Bring him back," said the boy faintly.

"What?" was the response.

"I said, Bring Him Back!" he said again, with more force.

"Ha!" barked the murderer. "I wouldn't, even if I could. His soul is lost to this plane forever." He continued to laugh mockingly. Amun couldn't take it. He felt his anger rise and his heart pounding in his chest as a sudden power rushed thought him. He snapped. The Puzzle shown brightly and he stood, slowly and menacingly, which caused Nachash to cease immediately.

"I'll make you pay," he said, his voice low and crimson eyes filled with anger, locked on Nachash. "You don't deserve to live, but death would be too good for you as well." He raised his hand and a familiar eye glowed on his forehead. "So, snake, spend eternity in anguish, in the Shadow Realm!"

Nachash gripped his head. It felt like someone was running a hot skewer right through his brain. He screamed loudly, but his eyes quickly went blank and he fell to the ground, dead.

Almost a month passed and his father still had not returned home. Baruch had long since run out of money and business was slow. He'd ended up resorting to swiping a few things here and there to survive. The "skill" seemed to come naturally to him. Perhaps it was because he had spent his life as a craftsman's son and so his hands were precise and his fingers nimble. Still he was worried about his father. It wasn't like him to be gone longer than he had said he would be.

One night, Baruch was busy making his getaway after stealing some dinner. He ran all the way home and when he got there he was surprised to find none other than…

"Master Heishin, what are you doing here?" asked Baruch.

"Oh my dear Baruch," said Heishin feigning sympathy, "I have some terrible news."

"This is about my father isn't it?" he enquired.

"I'm afraid so." Heishin stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "I am so sorry to have to be the one to tell you this Baruch, but your father has been… killed." Baruch gasped and slowly let Heishin's words seep in. He had to hold on to his dining table and sit to keep himself from falling forward.

"How?" he managed to say, barely above a whisper.

"That Pharaoh and his brat! Your father was on this way to Cairo to run an errand for me and he must have run into them. They told the council that your father tried to rob them and that he murdered the Pharaoh. I am truly sorry." Baruch was in shock. He could hardly believe what he was happening. His father and his mother were both dead, and why? All because of those nobles; those nobles who only cared about themselves and didn't give a damn about who they stepped on to get what they wanted. They hadn't even given his father a chance to be judged fairly. His father would never have done something like that. He gritted his teeth and his body tremble with rage. Heishin took note of this with a twisted grin. "If you wish I can help you," he interrupted Baruch's thoughts, "I can help you get revenge for what they did to your father and in the process make you a very rich man?"

"Why-Why would you do that for me?" asked the boy, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Because I can't stand them any more than you can. I want to see that spoiled brat thrown from his high horse and forced to see what it's like on the other side." Heishin answered. "If you join me you can gain unimaginable power." From his robes he pulled the Thousand Year Ring.

"That was my father's!" exclaimed Baruch.

"Yes it was a gift from me to aid him in his endeavours. It will guide you too, if you will help me. Will you?" asked Heishin, slowly slipping the cord over the boy's head. Baruch stared at the ring as it started to emit an odd golden light. Images of his father and mother flashed through his mind and brought him to his decision.

"Yes I will help you."

To Be Continued…

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Authoress' Notes:

[1] I got that from my encyclopaedia, Britannica, at home. These are all games and sports played in Ancient Egypt.

[2] I'm sorry that I used the name Heishin, but I really didn't feel like making up another character or name, so I 'borrowed' this one from Forbidden Memories.

[3] "Nachash" is Hebrew for, "the serpent."

[4] White Egyptian lotus - water lily of Egypt to south-eastern Africa; held sacred by the Egyptians {a.k.a.: white lotus, Egyptian water lily, white lily, Nymphaea lotus} I typed in white Egyptian flowers on Yahoo and got this! ^_^

[5] "Baruch" means, "blessed."

[6] This is NOT Malik (or Terrance *spits on the name*) it is his ancestor.

[7] Basically your soul or part of it anyway. Nachash used soul because he's supposed to be Hebrew, not Egyptian and they had different beliefs.

Phew! Do you guys know how hard it is to work out plot holes? This chapter took forever to write. I'm exhausted. I really hope that it isn't crap!

Next chapter, Amun becomes the pharaoh and it's a lot harder than it sounds! There is also a tad bit more death. Actually, as far as I know, there should be at least one death per chapter from now on.

And now a rant: Was anyone else as angry as I was yesterday about the way the 4Kids hacked up those two episodes of the show AND about that high pitched, nasal voice that they gave Malik. What more can they possibly do?! -End of Rant-

Please review my work and tell me what you thought.