Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Distance ❯ Beginning of the End ( Chapter 7 )

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Chapter 7-Beginning of the End

The instant Yami opened the curtains to the scroll room; he had to choke back the urge to cough as dust flew into his face, nearly suffocating him. He blinked back the stinging tears that were brought to his eyes by the small specks of dust and pried them open, veiled a bit of tears. Through the gossamer blanket of saline, Yami saw the one he had been looking for-his High Priest. Said youth was currently sitting on top of a tall stool in front of the many shelves of the room, a scroll opened over his lap and several others at his feet as he studied, oblivious to the young Pharaoh who had just intruded.

"Seth," Yami said, knowing that Seth wasn't going to notice his presence if he just stood there. The voice broke the silence in the stale room, and Seth picked his head up from where it had been hanging over the scrolls and he turned his gaze to Yami. "Yes?" he asked, his one finger on the surface of the scrolls, a sign that he wanted this conversation to be short.

"You're late for the morning audience," Yami pressed, annoyed. He tapped his foot impatiently, hoping that perhaps the tapping will send enough tremors through the ground to jolt Seth's finger from the scroll so that he would give up on reading it today. But by the stature that he was giving Seth, it didn't take the dragon tamer long to see that Yami was annoyed, and he stood, sighing. "I got it," he said, "I'll go after I clean this mess up." His feet touched the ground lightly as he hopped off the tall stool, careful not to step on any of the preciously fragile scrolls.

"No, NOW," Yami ordered, thumb gesturing towards the Grand Hall. "The servants will clean this up." Seth wrinkled his nose and shot Yami a bit of a glare that was obscured by his long bangs and the dust that still lingered in the mid-day air. "What's the rush?" he inquired, going to the small table in the room to retrieve his tall priest's hat.

Turning, Yami lifted the curtains at the door again, lingering as he waited for Seth to follow. "No real rush," he answered, sounding faintly apologetic, "It's just that recently I feel like I have appointed a food tester instead of a High Priest." The statement in itself wasn't all false, either, to Seth's own dismay. For the longest time, Akhenaton would not give up on trying to poison Yami, sometimes poisoning his food, but most of all his wine. Every time dinner rolled around, Akhenaton would sit at a place where the food and wine would be passed to him first, whereupon he would poison it before handing it to Seth, who would always pick up the poison by mere scent alone and refuse to pass it to Yami. But due to his promise those five years ago, Seth never made a scene about the poisoning, nor did he indicate any hints of suspicion to Yami. All that was ever done on his part was to make up some pathetic excuse to eat the young Pharaoh's food and let him have his. This sort of action made Yami a bit perplexed as well as slightly annoyed; he trusted his people enough to not have to appoint a food tester, and he didn't understand why Seth persisted in these proceedings when nothing seemed be wrong with the food at all. In fact, he almost told Seth flat out that he was going too far when, on one occasion, Seth had ordered all the wine served to be dumped out, claiming that the grapes used for the wine had gone bad before the wine-making process. What Yami did not know was the fact that Akhenaton had poisoned all of the urns of wine when he sneaked into the kitchen that day. With each passing failure, Akhenaton was getting more and more hateful of Seth, but also weary of his method of murder. Perhaps it just wasn't working. Perhaps it was time to stop and move on. Perhaps he had to first try and get rid of Seth, and then try to get rid of Yami.

Swiftly waving his hand for the servants, guards, advisors, and priests to stand up from their bowed positions, Yami strode into the Grand Hall to settle down on his tall throne. Once he was on his throne, Seth bowed and stepped down to Ishisu's side, across from Mahaado, his place among the six priests. He crossed his arms and held the usual stoic expression he had when he was in crowds. He, for one, did not like crowds, and loathed the morning audiences more-peasants coming in to complain wasn't the worst of it, it was Akhenaton's useless interruptions that bothered Seth, and it seemed like today wasn't going to be much different since the man was standing there in the crowd of lesser advisors.

"The scrolls, if you will," Yami said, turning to Shimon. The stout scribe bowed deeply before turning to several other servants to take the first batch of scrolls for Yami to go over. Seth and Yami, though unbeknownst to each other, shared a collective mental sigh at the mountain of scrolls that reared its ugly head. It would seem that the day was going to be longer than the one before now that trading season was at its peak, signifying a possible raise in crime and other problems. Heaving an audible, physical sigh, Yami reached over and pulled a scroll that didn't seem to have that wide of a radius.

Just as he was about to unroll the scroll, however, a man burst into the Grand Hall, knocking down several guards at the front door and almost literally stepping over several unsuspecting guards inside. His screams were uncharacteristic with his large mountain-like size, and this alone made Yami put down his scroll immediately, eager that this hollering, arm-flailing intruder would bring an interesting turn of events to an otherwise boring morning audience. He stood from his throne and made a gesture for the guards to allow the man to speak since he seemed all too nerve wracked to be an assassin. With a moment's hesitation, the guards nodded and backed away from the man, who, upon seeing that the guards were no longer trying to arrest him, managed to calm down a bit.

"What seems to be the problem?" Yami questioned. He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he waited for an answer-patience was never his best virtue. The man huffed for breath and then finally fell upon his knees in front of the young ruler; a motion that he should have made the moment he ran through the gates of the palace. With his head bowed so deeply that it touched the ground, the man groaned and stated his purpose for storming into the palace like a madman.

"P-please help my children!" the man shouted, his head still bowed. "They're going to drown in the Nile!"

"Drowning in the Nile?" Akhenaton muttered, "What concern is that of ours? Why can't you jump in and save them yourself?"

"Akhenaton, no one gave you permission to speak," Yami growled, his crimson gaze falling upon Akhenaton, who bowed lightly in forced submissiveness and retreated back into his line of lesser advisors. Scoffing, Yami turned his attention back to where it was before it had been averted-to the man begging for help. "Why is it such a problem that you must run in here?" Yami questioned, somewhat perplexed at the idea that a man would be so aghast over a drowning. Sure, it was his family, and Yami was sure he would be just as frantic if his father or Seth had been drowning in the Nile, but… "Why didn't you go in to save them yourself or asked a friend to help?" Yami stated his thoughts quickly, afraid that with every moment that they spend here talking, it would bring this man's family closer to death.

"T-the spirits of the Nile! Th-they are p-pulling my children down!" the man explained, tears coming to his eyes. At that, Yami's eyes shot towards his priests, who looked at each other with worry and confusion. Spirits in the Nile were caused by dead bodies in the Niles, but they were not common, for the people of Egypt respected the Nile enough to not stain its waters with the bodies of the dead. Therefore it must have been done by some ignorant foreigner, but even then, burials of dead crew members onboard of foreign trading ships were regulated by the laws of Egypt. A few gears turned and clicked inside Mahaado's head and he whirled around on his heels, his large white cloak flowing about his and the Millennium Ring clanging against his chest in his large movement. "Weren't you the one who was appointed to regulate the burials of the foreign sailors, Akhenaton?!" he accused, glaring heatedly at Akhenaton. The tall-nosed man sneered at Mahaado, causing the priest to snarl. Ishisu stepped in between the two of them, her eyes going first to Mahaado with a reprimanding look and then to Akhenaton, the glow in them absolutely murderous and accusing.

"Enough, Mahaado," Ishisu upbraided. "Right now the matter at hand is to save the children and seal away those vengeful spirits so that they may not act maliciously ever again." She then looked over at Seth, who had his Millennium Rod out and ready since the mention of spirits in the Nile was heard through the Grand Hall. Lifting his head, his blue eyes peered at Yami's red ones, requesting permission to go and handle this. The request was granted immediately, of course, and Yami smiled at Seth.

"Go and handle this best you can," Yami said. "Guards, go and assist High Priest Seth if he is to find the children." The guards bowed at the order and marched out the Grand Hall to await Seth, who approached Mahaado.

"Mahaado, I'll need you to help me find the children by using your Millennium Ring to track their aura," Seth instructed Mahaado. The darker priest regarded Seth with uncertainty, but nodded nonetheless. "Their aura might be too small to trace…or even nonexistent now," Mahaado replied in a worried tone, his hands going to the ring to lift it up upon his splayed palms. "If not by their aura then at least by the aura of the demonic ka that binds them," Seth urged as he started for his chambers in the high towers east of the Grand Hall. Mahaado nodded and continued to concentrate as he tried to keep up with Seth's footsteps while not bumping into anyone on the way to Seth's room.

At about the fifth circle Seth and Mahaado made on their way up to Seth's private chambers, rays of black radiance spiced with small specks of gold shot out from Mahaado's Millennium Ring, illuminating the otherwise dimly-lit tower staircase, giving the already grim place an even more haunting note. The sight made Mahaado shudder, his usually calm and mature violet eyes softening from boy-like fright. Seth grimaced at the light, or rather, the blinding darkness that threatened to swallow both of them up. And the small specks of gold light gave him little hope, but he hung onto that hope and ran up the stairs, not caring now whether or not Mahaado was keeping up with him. "Where are they?" he shouted over the sound of his doors slamming against the stone walls of his chamber as he tore through the entrance to his own room. "They're by the delta of the Nile," Mahaado said, letting the Ring settle back against his chest, the golden ornament still swelling with power, the small spikes dangling around it floating erect in the direction of the red bird-like structure perched on the cliff near the delta of the Nile. Seth nodded and quickly pulled on the proper attire for a ritual of this sort, throwing off the rich purple garb that he usually donned-he hated that color anyway. Tossing his tall purple hat onto his bed, he grabbed a sash-like headdress that he wound around his head and folded just above his ears, letting the excess of it flow behind his ears. When that was done, he inspected his attire, making sure that every sash and belt was secure on his blue tunic, which he wore over his white robe. The final touch he added to his apparel was the usual pristine white cloak he always wore around, swishing it across his shoulders. He gave Mahaado a glare when he turned and saw that the other priest had just stood there dumbfounded the whole time and muttered a small insult under his breath before seizing his Millennium Rod and storming past Mahaado, back down the stairs.

"You're dressed like you're going to a funeral ritual," Mahaado commented, rushing after Seth.

"That's because I'm GOING to a funeral," Seth answered, annoyed. "If those spirits are too strong, it might be my funeral as well. I'll have to lure them out with my blood." Unsheathing the dagger from his Millennium Rod, Seth made a small cut across his left ring finger to test the dagger's sharpness. But the sight of his own blood made his heart stop and his breath catch. His blood had turned brown… From behind him, Mahaado made an audible sound of surprise, causing Seth to whirl around in fear and anger. He cannot afford to have Mahaado going around spilling his secret. "You saw nothing," Seth hissed in Mahaado's face. Violet eyes were surprised for a second, but then grew heavy in understanding, and Mahaado nodded, causing the ring on his chest to move a bit, catching Seth's attention. The gold light that emitted from the depths of the overwhelming darkness was all but gone now, and Seth hoped that he wouldn't have to fish more corpses out from the Nile than he needed. Grimacing at the thought, he picked up his pace and dashed out to the cliff of the delta, where a crowd of guards and servants of the palace as well as Yami had gathered, hoping to find the lost children. Seth furrowed his brows at the idea that these people were here-if anything, they should be at the opposite end of the river looking for the children. But when he approached the river, he knew immediately why the crowd had congregated here. Apparently, the restless spirits of the dead who were dumped in the Nile were so powerful they had reversed the flow of the Nile itself. This was not going to be an easy task.

With a heavy sigh and one swift jump, Seth landed on the top of the bird-like structure, standing tall at the head of the statue of the hawk-god Horus as he looked down at the swarming waters below. The Nile now seemed to have a dark life of its own now, the water flowing backwards and faces of the spirits who could not pass on screaming, tearing at the surface of the waters as though trying to break out of their murky, watery prison but with no avail. Pitiful screams rang through Seth's body, shaking his body as well as the bony structure he stood on, and he slowly unsheathed the dagger from where it lied hidden within the Millennium Rod, glad that the crowd was so absorbed on the sights below instead of on him. Usually he would have hungered for the attention to be on him, but not now when his blood was a dark shade of brown, almost nearing black. With a soft pull of his right arm, Seth made a cut over his palm and watched with horror and disgust as his blood, the color of dirtied mud, oozed from the cut his dagger made. Clutching his fist closed, Seth walked towards the edge of the frame of bones, steadying himself with some trouble now that the spirits below grew restless at the smell of blood.

"Everyone back away!" Seth shouted over the agonized cries of the beings below, and guards rushed over to push the on-looking crowd several feet back from the edge of the cliff. Nodding in appreciation, Seth opened his fist and swung his hand out so that the blood would appear like mud being thrown at the waters instead of stained blood oozing from a wound on his unnatural body. The creatures below went wild at the taste of blood, craving for more. In their insatiable greed, the creature erupted from the waters below to grab at Seth, to swallow the youth up. Their form surprised even Seth; he had not expected them to get so physically dense in such a short amount of time! Unable to react quickly enough to their attack, Seth was seized up by their slimy, leech-like…arms, if one could call it that. Within seconds, the lithe form of the High Priest disappeared into the abyss of cackling vengeful spirits, his white cape the only thing that they tore off and neglected.

"SETH!" Yami shouted, running to the edge of the cliff as the swarm of spirits ebbed away and settled back to their swarm beneath the water's surface. He gripped the edge of the cliff and hunched his back to look down, trying to catch a glimpse of the High Priest, for any sign of whether or not Seth was alive. He squinted as a speck of gold pierced through the pile of water ghouls, sending horrific cries from another world ringing through the walls of the cliff next to the river. Yami stepped back when the spirits began to squirm restlessly, as though suffering from indigestion, when Seth tore through the thick layer of phantoms with the dagger of his Millennium Rod in one hand and the pointed end of the sheath in the other. He was dripping with the putrid waters of the river that had soaked up the death of their corpses, but still alive. Taking one heavy step out from the shell they imprisoned him in, Seth turned, as though dancing, floating on the surface of the waters, and sliced through the onslaught of ghouls who still wished to devour his flesh. When those were rid of, Seth sheathed his dagger once more and raised his arms towards the heavens, the Millennium Rod clutched tightly in one hand.

"May your spirits find peace, wherever they may go," he whispered. A ray of light welled up around the Millennium Rod, growing in luminosity as Seth began to chant, showering over the mass of spirits who fell into decadence in the waters. He swung his hand towards the palace, and the thick tar-like substance that had just nearly killed Seth a moment ago separated from the waters, rising up in a mass of screams. One final shout of a spell from Seth's lips sent that mass to the palace walls, sealing those creatures into the stone walls of the palace like ghastly decorative carvings.

Once the darkness that blanketed the brines of the Nile lifted and was sealed, the reversed waters stopped flowing altogether, drawing astonished gasps from the spectators above. And, as though a heavy cloud had dissipated above them, the spirits of the dead whose vengeful auras have been sealed away emerged from beneath the waters, bringing up with them their decayed bodies as well as the children. A heavy shroud of sadness came over Seth's cobalt eyes as he saw the two children surface-he had been too late to save them. Slowly, he bent down and scooped up the children in his arms, the burden of guilt weighing him down despite how light the children actually were.

"Your bodies are no longer fit to house your spirits," Seth announced to the spirits around him. "Go now and unburden Hecete. Your bodies shall be cleansed according to your customs." Several of the spirits glanced at each other with some doubt, but then nodded and uprooted their lingering emotions from their flesh bodies, allowing them to ebb to the meager shores at the bottom of the cliffs, piling up within minutes. A sigh escaped Seth's lips, pressing on dead child's head against his chest, the sheer heaviness of the children laboring his breathing. He then raised his head and saw that his discarded cloak still fluttered overhead.

"Cleanse their bodies!" he shouted, his voice carrying out the canyon, magnifying as though shouting from one end of a trumpet. The white cloak stilled in the wind, and ripped apart from the center as it emitted the same blinding white light that Yami remembered so well despite the infrequency he's seen it. Two majestic dragons formed from the just previously flimsy cloth, one swooping down to pick Seth up upon its back whilst the other spread open its mighty wings, roaring, waiting for its command. The smaller one carried Seth out of the deep, narrow canyon of the river and the audience all watched with awe and some of them fear when Seth stepped onto the bird-like structure, the grime of the waters and the bodies dripping off his skin, his clothes long since soaked through. Ghastly blue eyes shone from beneath the veil of sopped brown bangs as he leapt lightly off the frame of red bones, walking past a splitting crowd to the man who now saw clearly that he'd lost his two children. Gingerly, the man held out his hands, arms out-spread to receive the children Seth fished out from the river. He bowed deeply despite the horrified whispers from the on-looking crowd. Seth bowed as well, his angle a bit more acute than the other's, his guilt weighing his back down. The man stepped away then, almost frightened by the mere presence of Seth, and the High Priest walked back to the edge of the cliff where his two dragons awaited, still in flight. One wave of Seth's hand and they heeded to the silent command, opening their mighty jaws and each projecting a massive ball of energy. A gigantic blue-white fire erupted over the still-wet bodies, drying them and burning them to cinders within seconds. The ghosts who had once inhabited those bodies all wept collectively, their eyes closing and hands clasped as the fire spread and swallowed them up, sending their souls away. Only when the fire cleared did the water start flowing the correct way again in the Nile. The dragons swooped back above Seth and once again draped themselves on his shoulders as the white cloak he always wore around.

Seth's job here was done. But the show was not over.

"Belgae demon…" Akhenaton whispered, drawing hushed murmurs from the crowd around him.

"Did you see his eyes? They were glowing…"

"How can we be sure that he was the one who killed the children and sealed their ka up as well?"

"He is so strange…sealing ka up in one thing, but being able to physically cut through them…he's a monster…"

Annoyed, Yami stepped out, his stance in front of Seth a protective one. "That's enough!" he shouted, his voice rumbling above the crowd, silencing what defaming words floated amongst those ingrates. "Seth had just restored the way of life for all of you! Is this how you thank him!?" His reprimanding speech did not draw cheers of gratitude from the crowd, however, only a few more hushed whispers before the crowd dissipated, fearful of Seth. It wasn't like Yami was expecting the crowd to cheer and lift Seth up on their shoulders; he knew that the major population of Egypt had always been quite xenophobic, and Seth just stood out like a sore thumb. And now such show of magical abilities will only make him more arcane in their eyes and more hated in their hearts. They feared him before, but now the fear will most likely turn into hate.

"Seth…" Yami whispered, going to Seth's side.

"I'm all right. We must pay our respects to Hecete for this mistake we had made." His tone was so soft, so flat that it was barely audible over the sound of the rushing waters below, and this bothered Yami. The look on Seth's face was tell-tale, but what exactly was it supposed to tell, Yam did not know. Neither was he sure of whether or not he wanted to know. It seemed like he was waiting for something.

"I'll have Akhenaton do that," Yami replied after a moment's thought. Turning, Yami regarded his sniveling cousin with a good amount of disgust at the fact that he still had the face to remain there.

"What are you doing, still standing here!?" Yami barked. "Go and get some offerings ready for Hecete! I want to see them on the altar of her by tonight!" Right away, Akhenaton bowed and scampered away, dashing back towards the palace. Having emptied his anger towards the crowd onto Akhenaton (who basically started those horrible whispers), Yami turned back to Seth, who continued to stare down at the Nile, at the clotted cut he had made on his palm. He seemed like he was in a trance or his own soul had been sucked away by his Millennium Rod. Such a sight made Yami apprehensive about touching Seth, afraid that the High Priest would fall over and shatter by the way he was just standing there. But when he did finally lay one tanned hand onto one pale, exposed shoulder, he had to suppress a gasp at just how much grime covered Seth along with the dried water mixed with a tad of salt from the mouth of the sea just beyond the delta. A flinch greeted Yami's touch, and Yami slowly added pressure to Seth's shoulder, turning the youth around.

"You did the best you could, Seth," Yami whispered, "There's nothing else you could have done." After a second of consideration, he gave Seth a reassuring pat on the shoulder, one that he would always give when they were young. "Why don't you go and get yourself cleaned up? Someone will call you when supper is ready." A mute nod was his only answer, and Seth bowed before brushing past Yami to go to the tower where his chambers were. Yami glanced down at the clear waters below for another minute, sighing, and then began his trek back to the palace as well.

With a scoff of disgust, Seth pulled his now blackish green clothes off his back, throwing them onto the ground as to not soil his bed with its sopping sliminess. That taken care of, he also yanked the restricting head dress from his head, letting it join the pile of sullied clothes before setting his Millennium Rod down onto his bedside table and going to a warm bath that awaited him.

At the same time, Akhenaton had finally gotten around to going into the kitchen to ask for some offerings he can give to Hecete, the goddess of the Nile River. He was quite reluctant to do something like this, believing that it was servants' work, something he was quite above doing. But then again, Yami seemed quite serious when he ordered him to do the offering ritual, and he did not want to test out Yami's wrath. "Where can I find some wine to offer to Hecete?" he asked one of the members of kitchen staff. The young girl preparing the fish for tonight thought for a second, her answer slow for she had never seen Akhenaton before and thus did not know of his stature. Just as Akhenaton's short temper was about to erupt, she shrugged and pointed at the wine cellar's door. "Why don't you go and get some from the wine that's being prepared for supper? No one ever finishes all that anyway."

When Seth stepped out of his bath, dressed in a pure white tunic, he nearly dropped his towel at whom he saw sitting on his bed.

"Set," he whispered, his blood freezing over inside his veins. He wondered what this creature wanted now even though in the back of his mind he knew full well what was going on.

"Quite a spectacle you put on there," Set whispered, his velvety voice purring, sending goose bumps over Seth's skin. "So tell me, is that your grand exit? To show people exactly how strong you are? OR is it something like a… `I'm so sorry I made a deal with Set, but I'm using my powers for good.'" The mocking tone sparked a bit of anger in Seth's heart, but the mere fright and doubt of Set's presence shadowed over that.

"What do you mean, `Grand exit?'" Seth asked, backing away from Set.

"You know what I mean…" the creature answered, gold eyes glimmering in the setting sun. He pushed himself off the bed with a light press of his hands on the soft mattress and edged towards Seth, his gold eyes never leaving Seth's blue ones.

Akhenaton stared at the mountains of urns that stored the wine for the whole palace. Not only were they for the supper tonight, they were most likely for the many suppers that will come within the next few weeks! A small inkling of hatred welled itself inside his heart and he pulled out the pouch of poison he had been using for the past month or so in order to poison Yami. But he had failed those times because Seth always switched the wine before Yami could drink it. If he were to poison all of these urns, then it would be a sure-fire way to get rid of the High Priest AND the Pharaoh. His hand shaking, Akhenaton pulled at the drawstrings on his pouch and opened one urn.

"No I don't know what you mean," Seth said. It was a blatant lie, but he didn't want to admit that he figured the time was just about up.

"Tell me, Seth," Set asked, his fingers going to the Millennium Rod, lifting it from where it rested on the bedside table. "Why do you dress in white? Is it to cover up your unclean impurity?" He unsheathed the dagger from the Rod and lifted Seth's one shuddering limp arm, opening his loosely clenched fist. He drew a small line over Seth's index finger and looked at the brown blood that oozed from the fine line.

Growling, Akhenaton clutched his fist around the poison pouch and yanked his arm back. Why was he wasting his time and efforts, anyway? It's not like Seth had been showing signs of being poisoned every time he drank the poisoned wine. Not even sesame oil can do charms every time. He didn't even look sick! And besides, Yami usually didn't drink until after all of his guests and servants drank first, his own strange sign of respect for his underlings. For them to start falling over would only give him away. Those thoughts having played themselves over in his head, Akhenaton pocketed his poison and walked out from the wine cellar with one jug of wine.

And just like that, the threat of Yami being poisoned was gone.

And Seth's blood turned black.

To be continued…

Sorry this chapter is so short…I had initially wanted it to much longer, but I didn't want to keep you all waiting, either. Thanks for your reviews again! I got ten within the first day I posted the last chapter up. Once the next chapter is up, I will be caught up with the pace of "Final Distance" and I will continue on it!

Oh yeah, just so all of you know, my updates will start getting slower because…well…

You know how they say that if you aren't asleep by the hours between 11PM and 1AM, you kill off about 30-50% of your T-cells? Well, apparently it's done a number on me cuz I stayed up all those times typing these stories up, and I got sick. So I can no longer stay up until 2 or 3 AM typing up updates, which will mean slower updates of my stories. I am terribly sorry…

Oh yeah, in case anyone cares, I do have a small art directory put up by my brother. The site is http://www.spores.net/youkofujima. Please go and check it out even though I really suck at drawing! Leave comments for the pics on the reviews for the fic, please!^^