Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Distance ❯ Venomous Treachery ( Chapter 3 )

Bwah, stupid HTML coding on my OS. It seems that the HTML coding will only work if it's saved in HMTL format on the family computer downstairs, not the one on my laptop…because a few chapters of "Final Distance" had to be saved in HTML format before I was allowed to upload them in FF.net, and they worked fine. I'm wondering if I should edit the chapter I posted of FD8…I hope that won't kill the reviews that were given for that chapter…

Disclaimer: Don't own the YGO characters…don't want to own Ptolemy, but it would seem that he's a part of my brain. Bleh.

Chapter 3-Venomous Treachery

"Psst, Seth," Yami whispered as saw Shimon walk out of the scroll room where Seth and Yami conducted their studies together, leaving them to finish their "class work." "Seth." The other boy, who was actually putting up with the mustiness and dank smell of the scroll room, completely immersed in his studies, looked up. His blue eyes looked blankly at Yami and he smiled lightly. "What is it, my Prince?" he asked, setting his scroll down. "Do you need help with your studies again?" His tone was teasing as he was long since finished with his own work but stayed behind as to keep Yami company since he knew that Shimon's lecturing can get quite boring at times. Whenever he stayed behind, the two often made faces behind their scrolls and a tablet, snickering at whose face was the funniest, resulting in Shimon's absolute exasperation. But it wasn't like Shimon can complain about it, either, for he couldn't have asked for a bigger honor as the Pharaoh's scribe. He was appointed to tutor Yami, the prince, and even though that was a handful, it was still the best teaching job in all of Egypt. And now that Yami has brought home his foreign friend, Shimon was delighted and also quite shocked that he was almost running out of things to teach Seth.

Seth had been staying at the kingdom for almost two moons now, and Shimon was quite pleased at the progress that the boy was making. He had started his lessons a day after he settled into the palace, and he picked up the Egyptian language within a week, an astounding rate. Later, he quickly caught up with Yami's studies and eventually had a chance of surpassing him, but he decided to stay behind a bit. The Pharaoh was very thrilled at the reports that Shimon brought back for him about the little servant's extensive essays and diagrams about religion, math, and architecture. Yami's studies were average, but not as good as Seth's, but the Prince didn't seem to mind as long as he managed to beat Seth in every game they've ever played each other.

"No," scoffed Yami, "I'm done with my work, thankyouverymuch." Seth covered his mouth delicately and chuckled, a motion that he picked up from the female servant that bathed him on the first day he arrived at the palace. A woman from the southern parts of Egypt, her name was Ishisu, a variation of the name of the goddess Isis, for she looked very much like the way the wife of Osirus did in paintings. She had acted like an older sister to him and often taught him small things that he couldn't learn from Shimon, such as certain roots that could be found in the fields and which ones are safe to eat, to use as medicine, etc. She was a priestess in training, but also did servant's work on the side since she wasn't here due to any royal blood running through her veins but because the Pharaoh discovered her affinity with magic on a trip to the south and brought her back. The only real reason why she had to do such servants' work was actually to humor Ptolemy, who was outraged that the Pharaoh had brought home "a stray."

"Stop it," Yami said, giving Seth a small whap on the back of his hand. "You look like Ishisu." He liked the woman himself, she was nice, but sometimes she was too nagging to his liking. Seth smiled and nodded. "What is it that you want, then?"

"Let's sneak out the palace after our lessons!" Yami suggested, his voice excited as his red eyes sparkled not only from the sunlight that was pouring in from the small window dug into the mud walls. "I found a place that's close enough to the palace so that we can get back quickly but can get away from all the guards! Then they won't give us grief about how loud we are during Micare!" The last time they had played the game, the guards as well as Ptolemy had yelled at them as their shouts got way too loud, and Akhenaton, Yami's cousin, had also charged out screaming and crying about how Yami didn't invite him along. Frankly, Yami was sick and tired of his cousin and uncle, who were so much alike in so many ways.

Seth considered the proposition and cocked his head, the longer parts of his bangs covering his eyes more than it usually did, and he brushed them away absently. Finally, after a moment of weighty silence that hung over the thick air mingling with smells of papyrus, Seth nodded. Yami beamed, his grin growing wider than it was before and quickly reached over to roll up Seth's scroll. "Great!" he shouted, jumping up from his seating cushion to the shelves to stuff their finished scrolls into their respective compartments. "Then I'll go and get ready! And I can also get some chuck bones," Yami said as he walked to the door of the scroll room, where he promptly bumped into Ptolemy. Seth made a small gasp that he tried to disguise as a cough inside the dusty scroll room, but it would seem that Ptolemy caught it and shot him a disgusted glare-not that the looks he gave Seth were never disgusted.

"Ah, my Prince…" Ptolemy said in his droning voice as he looked down at the boy with the tri-colored hair. "Where do you think you're going? Are your studies finished, I hope?" Yami sneered at him defiantly as he motioned for Seth to come to his side, his ruby eyes glaring up at his uncle. "Out," Yami answered, his tone bold to show that he wasn't going to back down, especially not in front of a man like Ptolemy.

"And only bringing that servant boy with you?" Ptolemy asked, faking concern for the prince's safety.

"Yes," Yami said, grabbing hold of a creamy-white wrist to pull Seth closer to him. He always believed in strength in numbers, no matter how much smaller he and Seth were compared to the long, gangling form of the current High Priest.

"And where would you be going, dear Prince?" Ptolemy continued his interrogation. Seth made a small sound of protest to Ptolemy's question and Yami stuck his tongue out at Ptolemy, a sign to adults in the palace that he was at the end of his temper. "None of your concern!" Yami shouted. With that, he and Seth squeezed between the narrow opening that the small door allowed with Ptolemy standing there, as skinny as the annoying man was. Ptolemy stood at the doorway minutes after the two boys ran from him, his eyes narrowing dangerously before he walked away after seeing the two of them split up at the end of the hallways, each to their respective chambers.

Ra was hanging high overhead, right in the middle of the heavens as the two boys snuck out the back of the palace, the prince dressed in a plain olive-green tunic and Seth following him. The place that Yami had "discovered" was on the outskirts of the palace grounds, a place that he would have to himself to do as he wished when he inherited the kingdom, completely untouched by anyone else in the palace, not even his own father. The land that was chosen was close to a cliff that dropped into the ocean's delta at the mouth of the Nile River, making it easy for irrigation if Yami were to ever choose to do such a thing when he obtained this place. As of now, this was the perfect playground for the young prince and his friend, untouched by the adults of the palace, and not even the guards came this far of a distance. There was simply nothing to steal in this field of wild flowers and untamed, tall grass.

Reaching their destination, Yami and Seth stood a few feet away from the edge of the cliff, enjoying the view before they faced each other, hands behind their backs. They nodded, signaling the start of the game, and a blur shot from their backs, their right hands indicating a number by their fingers.

"Four!"

"Two! I win!" Yami yelled triumphantly, a bit too loud even though there was the need to shout over the waves beneath them. They concealed their right hands behind their backs again and repeated.

"One!"

"Four! Darn it," Seth said as he looked at his finger and then at Yami's outspread five. Yami laughed, having won again and the two continued their game, their voices growing increasingly louder as the game became faster-paced. Eventually they tumbled onto the ground and laughed their throats dry and scratchy. Taking a break, Yami pulled out his pouch and pulling out a water pouch, taking a sip before offering it to Seth, who accepted it graciously, taking a sip to quench his parched lips, letting the water sooth his shouting-worn throat and handed it back to Yami. Putting that away, Yami then proceeded to pull out chuck stones from the very same pouch, standing up again. Seth followed the motion and stepped back a bit more, further from the cliff.

"Scared?" Yami teased.

"With good reason," Seth answered, "You can fall to your death, you know." Yami shrugged and stepped away from the cliff as well. He had been trained to not fear the idea of putting life on the line during a game due to his schooling in the Shadow Games, something that Seth was not at all familiar with.

"Let's see if you can beat me this time," Yami challenged as he rolled the five chuck stones in his hand, getting the feel of their weight. Seth stood his ground, steadying himself for perhaps a leap that he may have to do for those chuck stones. With a bony white blur, the five stones were in the air and both boys put out their hands to try and catch the chuck stones on the backs of their hands. Seth made a dive for one of them, but Yami, in his excitement, flung his hand upwards and knocked it away, a few feet behind him.

"That's cheating!" Seth protested, having caught only two. But because Yami knocked that one chuck stone away, they were tied for this round.

"It's a tie, don't get your tunic in a twist," Yami laughed as he sauntered towards the fallen chuck stone next to a few sprouting wildflowers. But as soon he reached his hand down to pick up the chuck stone, he drew his hand back up as quickly as though he had been burned. He screamed in shock and pain.

The wound inflicted, however, was worse than a burn.

"Yami?!" Seth exclaimed, running towards the prince and blanching as he saw a large black snake attached to the prince's wrist. Without a second though, Seth grabbed the dagger he kept to defend himself outside the palace and ran towards Yami, swinging it full force, aiming just right so that he cut off the snake's head in one swift slash. The remaining body of the snake wiggled on the ground for another second before it stopped dead, and Yami fell to his knees next to it, pulling the severed head off his wrist. His breath was heaving as he panicked.

"Don't panic!" Seth ordered as he moved towards Yami, pulling Yami's inflicted arm towards him.

"Easy for you to say!" Yami refuted as he saw a small purple cloud appear on his skin next to his wound, like a bad bruise. Blackish blood dripped from the two little holes. He whimpered in fear and disgust at the sight of such oddity happening to him. Seth bit his lip and pulled the drawstring off Yami's pouch, tying it tightly around Yami's arm, just a bit above the wound. "Do you have anything that's round and flat?" Seth demanded, his blue eyes looking up at Yami, trying to be reassuring. His strong gaze faltered a bit, though, when he saw that Yami's lip was turning a slight shade of blue. He knew that he was racing against time now. A tanned hand slipped inside the olive-green tunic and pulled out a cartouche pendant on a golden chain, the sign of royalty that Yami carried around with him always. Seth's slender, shaking fingers gripped it and he yanked it off in one hard pull, breaking the chain around Yami's neck. At first Yami had the urge to yell at Seth for pulling breaking his necklace, but he figured at in this sort of situation, Seth knew what was best.

Taking the cartouche pendant, Seth pressed it against Yami's paling skin, on the purple parts that was spreading around the wound and began to pull it, drawing lines towards the two small teeth holes. Yami watched through amazed yet blurry eyes as he saw that the purple splotch on his skin began to lessen in radius as more black blood oozed from his wound. After doing this for a few minutes, however, Seth saw that the poison had gathered at the opening of the wound and was threatening to clot, the venom of the snake being a blood type instead of a nervous type, thank Ra. This gave him a big advantage despite the bleak situation. He let out a small sigh of nervousness and lowered his head.

What happened next, Yami couldn't recall fully since his mind was burning not only from the sun but also the effects of the poison. His eyes felt heavy and he could only see a small amount of the orange light through the veil of his lids over his eyes as Seth's head dipped. But he remembered his breath hitching as he felt soft lips press against his wound and then a heat that shot through the iciness of the venom, then something like suction. Seth was sucking the poison out of his wound. For a few seconds that heat stayed there, then the mouth released the wound and Yami heard spitting before the mouth returned, fluttering closed over his wound and repeating the same procedure. For a while, the two of them just stayed that way, Yami's breath racing for reasons he didn't know why, but his heart felt at peace, not as panicked as he was feeling just moments ago when the cursed serpent had bitten him. He drew a long sigh, smelling the scent of lotus that Seth had because Ishisu had insisted that he always be bathed in water that was doused in bath oils with such a scent. Now he understood why, the scent suited the boy well. The mouth left the wound again, and this time Yami was feeling considerably better, but still feverish.

Searching around, Seth found a root that Ishisu had pointed out to him when she took him out on an afternoon stroll after her chores were finished. He had heard that it was good for snake bites, but he wasn't sure if it worked on all snake bites. A gamble was better than doing nothing, he decided, and he pulled the roots out. Rushing back to Yami's side, he poured water over the wound and then a bit over the roots to wash them free of the soil. Then he shoved the roots in his mouth, ignoring the bitterness that brought stinging tears into his eyes as he chewed it and then placed the crushed roots over Yami's wounds with delicate fingers. His hand went to the prince's forehead and he realized that Yami was still feverish and was in desperate need of a proper healer. Before hoisting Yami onto his back, Seth ripped a bit of his own tunic and wrapped it around Yami's wound, securing the crushed roots there. Then he hurried back to the palace, glancing back only once at the snake he's never seen before in these regions.

***

The pacing of the adults was driving him crazy. Absolutely insane. Why can't they just sit down and wait like civilized people instead of rambling around like caged animals? But what really bothered Seth was the look on Ptolemy's face. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it seemed as though the man whom he deemed almost as noxious as the snake that had wounded Yami. He had an unreadable expression, but for all Seth knew, it wasn't one of concern like the ones worn on Shimon and the Pharaoh's face. He wondered if he was the only one who caught it or if the others were too busy pacing and staring at the curtained door that lead to the healing room.

Minutes passed like hours and finally Ishisu lifted the curtains to the door, walking out with a sigh.

"How is he?" the Pharaoh inquired, stopping in his tracks. Seth caught a flash of excited expectation in Ptolemy's eyes, a look that he couldn't shake away.

"He's going to be fine," Ishisu answered with a smile. She looked worn out but quite satisfied with her work. Peering over the Pharaoh's shoulder, she walked over to Seth and grinned at him, her hands on her hips. "Good work," she said, placing a hand over Seth's silky brown hair. "If not for your quick thinking and first aid maneuvers, there would have been no helping him."

A hand reached out and grabbed Seth to his feet, and another hand connected with his cheek in a resounding slap. Ishisu gasped before Seth could register what just happened, and then he saw Ptolemy's infuriated face in front of his.

"What were you THINKING taking the prince outside the palace walls for him to be bitten by a poisonous snake?!" boomed Ptolemy.

"I…" Seth was stumped, his mouth unable to form any words as he placed a hand to his burning cheek.

"Stop it, Ptolemy!" the Pharaoh shouted, going to Seth's side. "Accidents can happen anywhere, with anyone. Will you slap me the way you did Seth if I were the one who was with Yami today? I will not tolerate you striking my son's servants like this!" Ptolemy stepped back, looking defeated and then lowered his head in what looked like shame. "I'm sorry, Your Highness," he whispered, "I…I guess I was just too upset to think. If the prince had been killed, I…"

"But he is fine now," the Pharaoh said, "And we should leave him to rest up." He gave a small push to Seth's back, encouraging the Belgae to go into the healing room to accompany the prince. Seth nodded and watched as the Pharaoh turned to walk down the hall back to the throne room where more work waited for him, Ptolemy following him.

"Ishisu," Seth murmured, tugging on the skirt of the healer. "Have you ever seen a snake that's completely black around this region?"

"No," Ishisu answered, wiping her hands of the smell of medicine that covered them. "But back home in the south, my little brother Malik once saw one…my father said that they are the most venomous of snakes in Egypt, but they only thrive in the south. Why?"

"Nothing…" Seth whispered, throwing a suspicious glance at Ptolemy before he bowed to Ishisu and entered the healing room.

Could it be…?

Upon entering the healing chamber, Seth's nose was tickled by the strong healing incense Ishisu lit to sooth the patient inside, easing him to sleep. Cough stifled, the boy tottered over to the Prince who had been laid on the healing bed. His wrist had been wrapped carefully in white gauze, and now rested over his chest, on top of the brown blanket that covered him. The strip of tunic that Seth had ripped and bound Yami's wound was discarded into a bowl by the bed, covered in the black-red blood that was now turning a sick color of clay. Seth crouched down beside the bed and turned the darker hand over to place the cartouche pendant and its broken gold chain into the palm of the hand. Stirring at the touch, one vermillion eye peeked open. Upon seeing Seth, the other eye opened and the owner of the fiery brilliance turned his head to look at Seth.

"Sorry to have woken you," Seth apologized.

"Oh, no need for that," Yami said, waving his unwounded hand. "I should be thanking you. So how long am I here for?"

"Ishisu said you should be here for another day or so," answered the fair-skinned boy. Then, considering for a few seconds, Seth swallowed hard before asking perhaps the most sensitive question he will ever ask in his relationship with the young prince. "Do you think that…the snake could have been planted there?"

"What, you mean like an assassin?" Yami replied, sounding almost humorously excited that he was already enough of a threat to someone that the person would actually want to kill him. Sure, there had been assassination attempts, only towards his dear father and all of them have been successfully foiled thanks to his six priests and his loyal guards.

"Yes…" Seth finally croaked after a long pause. The thick smoke of incense was sucked into his mouth, scratching against the roof of his mouth as it entered his throat, cajoling him to cough. He held it back, however, and it brought stinging tears to his eyes, causing Yami to snicker at the reddening face. But the snickering stopped as soon as the next sentence found its way out from where it seemed to have been clogged there by the smoke in the throat and off Seth's tongue. The boy immediately regretted making such a suggestion as soon as he saw Yami's reaction to the accusation he made.

"I think it's Ptolemy," he said. The snickering ceased immediately and Yami's mouth became a thin line. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he struggled to support himself up by his elbows. Seth reached out to urge him to lie back down, but Yami refused his help.

"That's absurd," Yami protested, his voice as thick the censure that permeated through the small healing room. "Why would my own uncle try to kill me?" Frightened by the predator-like stance that Yami was putting up with the way he raised on the bed, Seth shrank back like a frightened kitten.

"I…"

"No!" Yami shouted, coughing when he sucked in the smothering incense. His hands stretched out and grabbed Seth's with such ferocity it made the other boy yelp out in pain. Their joined hands trembled; Yami's in its hard clutch over Seth's, and Seth's in the stinging pain of the ensnaring grip. "That's absurd," Yami repeated, his red eyes locked on luminous blue ones. "As much as I dislike him Seth, I am sure he would not want to kill me. I don't want to hear it ever again." When he saw Seth try to pull away, he clutched harder.

"Promise me!" he shouted. Unable to withstand the pain or writhe away from it, Seth nodded rapidly, sighing deeply in relief a his hand was released.

"I…I promise," he reassured Yami. The Prince, now satisfied, lied back down onto the small bed. Seth watched Yami until the Prince fell asleep again after having strained himself so much, neither of them saying anymore. Only when Seth heard the soft breathing of Yami that indicated sleep did he get up and make his way out of the healing room.

For the next hour, Seth's palm bore the imprint of Yami's name on his palm, pressed in by the cartouche as though marking ownership.

For the next two years, Seth let everything that Ptolemy did slide…

…but that was only for the next two years.

To be continued…

Well…that seemed a bit shota there…damn. I guess I'll have to skip over the years really quickly; otherwise this fic will turn into a big shotacon fest.

The games that Seth and Yami played in here are actually games that the ancient Roman children played, probably having been brought over by the travelers and traders in Egypt. The game Micare is a game where two players put their right hands behind their backs and give a signal like a nod and then both players will shoot out their hands with a certain number of fingers extended. Each player shouts out a number at the same time the hands are revealed, trying to guess the number of fingers on their opponent's hand. Whoever guesses right wins.

The game with the "chuck stones" is called "Knucklebones," and it's a game where five chuck stones (it's actually the cubic bones on a sheep's foot) are thrown into the air and the players try to catch them with the back of their hands.

And there's a bit of snakebite first aid for you…take a coin and draw the poison out of the wound, then suck it out (but make sure that you don't' have cuts on your mouth). I'm sure there are roots that can help out in the wild...but I'm not sure which ones^^; It's always best to just take the victim to a hospital as soon as possible.

And due to the fact that I return to school on Monday (1/13), fics will not be updated as often…I think.