Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Distance ❯ Treasure (Peace Shattered by Oppression) ( Chapter 9 )

Youko: I am once again terribly sorry for the late update, but I think that right now I have an announcement that will probably make you very mad at me: I am starting to lose my interest in YuGiOh. The process is not yet complete, I still love the infamous psychos of the show (Bakura, Malik, Yami Malik), but this would mean that updates will probably come even more slowly than before.

Naoya: Finished?

Youko: Yes. *puts blindfold on*

Naoya: *BANG!*

Disclaimers: This fic doesnft belong to me, the characters do. Wait; nocspeak that last sentence like Yoda (who also doesnft belong to me-thank god) and youfll get the actual disclaimer.

Chapter 9

Akhenaton stared at the Chaos God in bewilderment-pawns? What did he mean by that? He pressed his shoulders back and puffed out his chest to look very much like how a chicken tries to look intimidating by fluffing its feathers out before he voiced his confusion.

gWhat do you mean, ethe first shipment will arrive soon?fh

gDo you know who Bakura is?h replied the silky voice. At this point, Akhenaton was getting annoyed by how Set was answering most of his questions-in riddles or with another question. But the gleam in those golden eyes made Akhenatonfs chest deflate to its original size; he was about to shake his head in mere defeat when the name clicked in his head.

The image of a man with white hair and a large scar running down the right side of his face probed its way into Akhenatonfs mind. Yes, he HAS indeed heard of who this gBakurah character was, he was someone who had been on the most wanted posters for the longest time, the list of his felonies growing steadily almost with each passing day. But for some reason, news of this gKing of Banditsh just disappeared altogether some couple of months ago. It was almost like this man just dropped off the face of the planet. Rumors were that he tripped some booby trap in an ancient Kingfs tomb, or he had just been killed by some foreign bounty hunter who wanted to keep a low profile. The manfs disappearance had made him a legend.

gYes,h Akhenaton answered Set. gI have heard of Bakura, the so-called eKing of Bandits.f He is notorious for pillaging tombs of kings as well as traveling merchants. He always works alone, but recently all news of him disappeared and his list of felonies just stopped expanding. Why do you ask?h

Set gave a soft, almost content poetic sigh and looked out the window of Akhenatonfs room. He stared at the moon with such an enamored look in his eyes, it seemed like he didnft hear a word that Akhenaton just said, or the words themselves made him stare at the moon so. Either that or he just figured Akhenaton an idiot for that question and was killing time since he, as a god, should know about every single person in the world without Akhenaton having to tell him.

gHumans are so easy to maintain, to manipulate,h Set whispered in almost a sing-song tone. Or rather, he always talked in such a method-like he was just merely singing a breathy song, each word he uttered striking haunting notes enough to send shivers down even the most brave of men. gYou give them what they hold precious or desire most, and theyfll be willing to do everything for you.h He turned his attention back to Akhenaton, and his golden eyes narrowed as his lips quirked upwards at the edges. Another chill went down the priestfs spine, and he could almost feel his goosebumps jump off his skin and fall to the earthy floor in his room. gFor you,h Set continued, gItfs this kingdom and its riches, your pick of women, the throne, the young Pharaohfs life, and, of course, that High Priest. You are truly a greedy man, but only because I said that I will give it to you, you have become like a lapdog to me in an instant.h

Akhenaton, insulted, dared to puff out his chest once more and ignored the heat that signaled how red his face was becoming from anger. gI beg your pardon, but what does that whole thing have to do with Bakura and everything else?h

The laugh that erupted from those full lips chilled to the bone, even on this warm night in Egypt. Setfs whole frame shook with laughter, but it was such a mirthless, such a cold and transparent laugh that Akhenaton didnft know whether he should join in or run in the opposite direction whilst flailing his arms and screaming. Neither of those choices, however, seemed too safe when in the question of the God of Chaos and Destruction, so Akhenaton chose the hidden door number three-stay there with his feet planted on the ground and stare at the god until he is finished.

gYou really are pathetic, like your father, no wonder neither of you got around to the throne,h Set chuckled. Akhenatonfs nostrils flared and it only succeeded in making the boyish god laugh more (as opposed to feel intimidated, as Akhenaton hoped but was sure would not happen). gYou have no idea of how to manipulate men fully. You see, the whole process can be worked the other way around.h

gWhat do you mean by that?h

gThreaten to take away the most precious thing that a man has, and he will also become your lapdog,h Set answered. He stood there for a brief moment to let Akhenaton marinate the philosophy in his mind, and smiled when the priest nodded in acknowledgement.

gBut we donft know if that Bakura has a emost precious itemf or not,h Akhenaton protested.

gIt is because he does that he has stopped his business. He is the type of man who will flaunt his newest haul in bars, so what has he gotten recently that he is absolutely hush-hush about? It is definitely something that he holds so dear that he is afraid of even letting people hear about such a thing. So he chose the best way to hide this treasure-he chose to disappear. And by the length of time he has not been heard from, we can just imagine how important this treasure is to him.h

gSoctake that thing away from Bakura, and hefll do as we bid?h Akhenaton inquired, his mind starting to jog now.

gNow you are truly thinking,h Set replied. As he said this, the golden-eyed god raised his hand to the dark star-filled sky and tore at it with his fist, pulling in a long majestic cape the hue of the evening. Wrapping it around him, he placed his palm over his face and ran it down-a sly soldier smearing battle paint onto his own face. When he removed his hand, he was no longer the youth with blue-black hair. He now wore the face of the High Priest-Seto. gThe moon is so nice tonight, letfs go out for a stroll,h he whispered, gesturing to Akhenaton. gSummon me a carriage.h

****

Somewhere in the outskirts of the capital rested a small, deserted town by the name of Kuru Eruna. Of course, the town was not marked on the map, nor is it a flourishing town. In fact, there were only two inhabitants in this town that had been completely wiped away from human knowledge since some ten years ago. The only house that was remotely intact and filled with a dim light was in the middle of the town, a fortress in the middle of walls of a citadel constructed by run-down houses.

The two inhabitants in the house were quiet tonight, like they usually were, but tonight they didnft even dare move around too much. These two didnft talk much not because they were at a silent war; they were doing this because they loved each other enough to know that one of them had a price on his head and the other was what people considered ga freakh in this country whose justice system came at the price of 99 lives. But tonight they were more quiet than the routine nights. One of them knew that something was coming, but what it was, he couldnft put his finger on it. The other watched him that night, over their dim candle and across their small wooden table, not speaking as his partner listened for suspicious noises. Minutes of vigilance soon turned into hours and the paler one put a hand to his mouth and yawned, casing the other to look up.

gYou can go to sleep, you know,h the darker one whispered, putting his hand over his loverfs.

gI want to stay up with you, Bakura,h replied the paler one.

gItfs fine, you wonft be able to fight when trouble comes anyway, Ryou,h Bakura answered. His red eyes traveled to the bulge that protruded from Ryoufs back as he said this. The reason why Ryou would be considered a gfreakh in the empire of Egypt was not only because of his pale skin and hair colour, but the one wing that grew from his back. The other had long ago been torn out by the man sitting across from him: Bakura. It was an act of love, claimed Bakura, a strange one, but quite the expressive one, if not completely domineering.

Upon the almost-snide remark, a small flash of pain flickered in Ryoufs eyes, akin to the dying flame of their candle, but he stood up anyway. As he got up from the chair, Bakura unseated himself as well and removed his long red jacket, placing it over Ryoufs single wing.

gHow many times do I have to tell you, when you are to move in front of a window, you should conceal your wing?h Bakura scolded under his breath. Ryou nodded in apology and pulled the jacket closer to his shoulders and bade Bakura good-night.

Just as he was about to descend down to their basement room, however, Ryou and Bakura were interrupted by an obnoxious pounding at their door. Bakura readied his dagger and motioned for Ryou to go and hide behind a wall and not make a sound as he went for the door. Cautiously, he opened the door a crack to meet with a pair of glass-like eyes, gold under the pale moonlight above.

gBandit Bakura, I presume?h came the silky voice.

gWhatfs it to you?h snarled Bakura.

gTime to pay your dues for all your sins,h answered the voice. Before Bakura could even retaliate, the brittle wooden door was broken down by the hand of the speaker on the other side and about five men came rushing into the tiny mud house. gGrab the pale one behind the wall in the next room,h ordered Set.

gDonft touch him!!h Bakura screamed, pulling out his dagger as he turned to summon his spirit beast Diabaundo. The surge of power built up within his body, but for some reason refused to materialize into the snake-tailed demon. gWhatc!?h

gIfve put up a barrier here,h Set replied, using the face and voice of the High Priest of Egypt. gYou cannot use magic here.h

gIfLL KILL YOU!!h Bakura shouted, turning his attention to Set instead and plunging the dagger into Setfs heart. A laugh erupted from his dark lips, but the smile turned downwards into a confused frown as the laugh transformed into a ghuh?!h Black blood spurted from the indentation the dagger made, and Set still stood. This time it was Setfs turn to laugh.

gItfs useless,h whispered the god through his mirthless laughs. gI cannot die, see this black blood? And I do believe you have forgotten your priorities.h His gold eyes narrowed into an even more triumphant smile as he heard loud pounding footsteps accompanied by several muffled cries for help. Seeing the expression on Bakurafs face turn even darker, Set whirled on his heels and was pleased to see the five men return carrying a struggling Ryou amongst them. gInteresting pet you keep here, Bakura,h Set remarked, inspecting Ryoufs one useless wing with curiosity.

gRyou is not a PET!h Bakura yelled, running towards the five men who held his treasure hostage. gGet your dirty hands off him!h But before he could even reach his second step away from Set, a pale hand moved in front of his eyes and Bakura fell to the ground on his knees, immobilized. gWhatc?h Bakura felt his vision blur as his face made contact with the floor and he struggled to move his head to see a distorted image of Ryou through his heavy eyelids.

gBakura!h Ryou screamed, struggling within the stronghold of the five men around him. Set grinned and ran a hand through the white feathers on Ryoufs wing and then moved towards Bakura, motioning for his minions to go out first with Ryou.

gPlace him in the cage,h he ordered.

gWhere are you going with himc!?h Bakura wheezed. Even his throat felt tight, and his lips too tired to speak. What was going on?

gCome and find us,h Set answered, turning Bakura over so that the bandit lied on his back. gMy name is Seth, and I am High Priest of the Pharaoh.h

gThe Pharaohch Bakura hissed, remembering the reason as to why his town was like this.

gThatfs right, the Pharaoh. Come and find me in the palace, but only after you go and loot from the late Pharaohfs tombclet me see exactly how good you are at your practice. Maybe then you and I can speak of the terms of to which I will return you your pet.h He snickered and stood up, his night-coloured cloak swishing majestically behind him. He could hear Bakura curse under his breath for one last time before he exited the house into the darkness, meeting up with Akhenaton, who witnessed the whole thing and was now staring fixedly at the creature theyfve captured in the cage. Set glanced at Ryou and then grinned, smearing his face again and wiping the mask of Sethfs face off his own (or perhaps this face itself wasnft his original one, either), returning to the black-haired youth whose face was more familiar with Akhenaton. gHe wonft be coming to the palace for yet another three months or so,h Set informed Akhenaton.

gWhy that long?h Akhenaton tore his attention away from Ryou and asked Set.

gWouldnft this be a wonderful birthday present Pharaoh?h Set chuckled, gAlong with another one Ifm sendingch

In another three months, it would be the Pharaoh, Yamifs birthday. The palace was already preparing for the banquet, and so were Set and Akhenaton.

To be continuedc

Hey all! Sorry that this chapter took so long, but there was actually a very long interval of time that passed from when I wrote the disclaimer to this chapter to the finishing of the chapter itself, and a lot happened during that time. For one, I went to Otakon and met Rica Matsumoto, Bakurafs (and Ryoufs) seiyuu (voice actress)! She was very nice and friendly, I got an autograph from her and she even laughed like Bakura for me^^. I also saw the music video to the song gFinal Distanceh by Utada Hikaru. Why am I saying this? I am saying this because it was because of her and that video that my love for YGO has been kindled slightly, so I hope to be able to work on these fics more (but then again, Ifm going back to school in another two weeks. =_=)

So I am sorry once again for the lateness of this chapter and the slowness of the overall fics. I am working hard on just about everything^^;;;;

Also, there is a fic that I am going to revise and work on which ties in with the gFDh and gDh fics, itfs going to be about Bakurafs relationship with Ryou in this universe.

Naoya: That will probably be posted in another three months.

Youko: Yeahcmaybec