Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Of Gods And Men ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Of Gods and Men

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/Stargate: SG-1 Crossover

Written By RogueMoon

Chapter One

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~Then~

The sun shone down upon the Pyramid, bringing fierce heat to those unfortunate enough to be working outside. For those inside, the sun was simply a source of light. Light brought to the world by Ra, God of all.

Most days that Ra spent upon this land brought only boredom to his being. But this day was different. Today, he would finally be able to start his experiment. The mortal Pharaoh Akunumkanon, who served Ra with a fierce loyalty the God found somewhat amusing, was awaiting the birth of his first child. Ra had plans for that child. An experiment in breeding. He had contrived to have the child born sickly so that it would quickly die unless he healed it.

Ra also had his queen create a special brood a decade ago. They were born without the genetic memory of his race and grown within a sensory deprivation tank, never gestating within a Jaffa. Ra wanted them uninfluenced. He wanted to see how they would develop if raised as humans, as if they were a human. That meant possessing a host that had as few memories and as little a developed personality as possible. For that, a Goa'uld would have to posses a newly born child. And what better child to host a God, than the child of royalty?

Ra's first Prime came before him, bowing, "My Lord, Akunumkanon requests an immediate audience with you. Shall I have him brought forth?"

Ra smiled and tilted his head in accent. His First Prime bowed again before turning to retrieve the humans.

Akunumkanon rushed into the throne room, falling to his knees in a floor-kissing bow when he reached the bottom of Ra's dais, "My Lord Ra, I beg of you, help me. My child has not yet been in the world an hour before his breaths shorten and his skin grows cold. I beg of you, Oh Great One, heal my child."

Ra pretended to be bored and unconcerned with the man, "And why should We concern Ourself with your child? His soul is weak and cannot stay in this world. Why should We help one so obviously unworthy?"

The Pharaoh sobbed, "My Lord, he is not unworthy! He has not had a chance to prove himself either way. And am I not worthy to have a child to raise to serve you? Have I not served you loyally? My wife cannot birth again without extinguishing her own life. Please, have mercy on my family and on my son."

The God smiled, "If We do this, he will no longer be your son. He will be Our son. You will not be able to ask anything more of Us, for We would be bestowing a great honor upon your family. Allowing you to raise the son of Ra as your own. Is this understood?"

"Yes, My Lord!"

"Then bring Us the child and We shall breathe new life into him. When he leaves Our presence, you are to raise him as if he were your own. You are not to tell him that he is Our son. That shall wait until We feel he has proven his soul to be worthy of such knowledge."

"Yes, My Lord."

Ra stood and walked down the five steps of his dais to where Akunumkanon lay prostrate and placed his fingers under the man's chin, forcing him to look up, "His name will be Atemu. You will know him as such."

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~Now~

"So, let me get this straight," Major Samantha Carter of Stargate team SG-1 said to Daniel Jackson, the resident linguist of the team. "Your friend, who works for this family, believes his boss is being controlled by Aliens."

"Yes."

"And he tells you because he doesn't think anyone else will believe him."

"Right."

"So why do you believe him?"

Daniel sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Because of who they are and where they live. The family is a very prominent and very old family of Egypt. They have owned that land for thousands of years. They have publicly recognized that there are at least three tombs on their land that have been cared for by each generation. It is highly likely that a Goa'uld is among them."

"Why haven't we heard of him before now?" General Hammond asked.

"Why hadn't we heard about Set or Hathor or Osiris? One was laying low and the other two were stuck in Sarcophagi. With a family that old, I doubt that he would be stuck inside a Sarcophagus. He's probably been laying low and using them to live comfortably."

"That makes sense," Colonel Jack O'Neill said, "It would fit with what we know of the Goa'uld. But why wouldn't they have tried to take over Earth? Or uncover the Stargate?"

"For the same reason Set had a hard time of it, his access to technology of sufficient strength was cut off. He can probably heal himself with the Sarcophagus but that may be about all the technology he has access to. I doubt he's even able to create Jaffa. I think Harem would have told me if people were going around with big holes in their stomachs."

Hammond nodded, "You've got some good arguments. The real question is how we go about finding out if there is a Goa'uld there. Relations within the Middle East are strained at the moment and a bunch of soldiers invading the ancestral home of one of Egypt's oldest families would not go over very well."

Daniel smiled, "So we don't send an army. We send in archeologists. My friend is one of the most trusted members of the staff. I could get him to ask the family for a favor that involves letting a friend and his three colleges come down there and do a few months of study on one of the tombs."

O'Neill snorted and leaned back in his chair, "Sounds just great. I'll get to be a scientist. My life will be complete."

"Then it's decided," Hammond said, leaning back in his chair. "We'll send the four of you just as soon as Jackson can get a hold of his friend and make the arrangements."

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Daniel sneezed. After two weeks of hounding his friend, the man had finally been able to convince his employers to let Jackson and a small team come to the property. It seemed the family was in the process of letting a couple of their own friends do a survey of the oldest tomb on the estate. Daniel and his team would be allowed to join them for a two-month stint. SG-1 was now on their way to the land owned by the Ishtar family.

Daniel sneezed again.

"Tissue?" Sugoroku Motou, the leader of the survey team, held out a handkerchief to Jackson. The Japanese man was in his seventies and it showed in his gray hair and wrinkled skin. But his eyes were bright with intelligence and awareness. He may have been getting on in years, but one would be hard pressed to make him act like it.

Daniel took the tissue, "Thanks."

"Are you allergic to the dust?"

O'Neill laughed, "No. He's allergic to travel."

Motou nodded in understanding, "I see. Is this your first time to Egypt?"

"Does Abydos count?" Jack asked with a grin. The other members of SG-1, aside from Teal'c, chuckled at the inside joke.

"Second time then," the Japanese man assumed. "This must be my eightieth trip. I've been practically everywhere there is to go. I know more about this land and it's history than even some of the greatest historians of our time."

Daniel rubbed his eyes to get the dust out, "I've read some of your papers. Rather far fetched on the whole connection to a card game theory."

"I could say the same about your theories on cross pollination of cultures."

"You've read my work?"

"What self respecting anthropologist hasn't?" Sugoroku snorted. "Really now. Just because you might not agree with a man, it doesn't mean you shouldn't at least give his theory a chance."

"Is that why you're on this trip? To try and prove your theory?"

Motou shook his head, "No… I'm here to see my grandson. He's a friend of the Ishtars. He plans on following in his Jii-chan's footsteps and become one of the world's leading archeologists. He asked me to come down and lead this survey so he could learn the ins and outs first hand. What about you? Ishizu tells me that one of her employees practically begged her to let you on this trip. Trying to prove your theory?"

Jackson nodded, "Yes, actually, I am. I've heard of the Ishtar Family Tombs and I was hoping that by going through one I might be able to find some evidence to back my theories. My friends are just along to give me moral support."

"Oh, don't be like that," O'Neill grinned, "We're here to be pack mules as well."

The group shared a brief laugh before the bus started down a steep path into a canyon. The ride got bumpy very quickly. The Ishtars lived on a strip of land about 100 miles south of the Giza Plateau, in a short, wind cut canyon. The land wasn't strategically located as far as modern warfare was concerned, and had been left alone by the government. The fact that the family was filthy rich and could pay off what officials they needed to, was something they kept rather tight lipped about.

"Your grandson is a friend of the Ishtars, you said?" Samantha asked once she had gotten used to the rocking of the bus.

Motou grinned, "Yes. Yugi has a way of making friends with the most unlikely people. The eldest son and daughter of the Ishtars were competing in a tournament with Yugi. They went against each other during the finals. Yugi won more than the tournament when it was all over. He gained two very loyal friends. I'm very proud of him."

"We can tell," O'Neill smiled sadly, thoughts of his own son filtering through his head.

"When did he become interested in archeology?" Daniel asked, trying to direct the conversation away from kids growing up.

"Oh, I'd say about two and half years ago. Maybe three. It was just after the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. He'd always had an interest, mind you. But a duel with the granddaughter of an old friend of mine seemed to trigger a passion for it. Especially with all things Egyptian."

Carter scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, "A duel?"

"Duel? Oh! Oh, yes… Sorry. I forgot you weren't familiar with the terminology. Duel Monsters is a card game. The one I have theories of being connected to Egypt. A 'duel' is when two or more people play against each other."

"I see. I take it it's a fun game?"

"Engrossing"

Further conversation was cut off by the bus coming to a stop in front of what could only be described as a palace. Columns carved to look like stylized Lotus blossoms lined the outside of the building that looked to be cut from the rock wall around it. A short flight of steps led up to a large doorway: the only obvious entrance to the building.

The bus driver put on the parking break and opened the door, "This is the site. The Ishtars home is further in. I'll be coming from there once a week to bring supplies. Everyone else participating in the survey should already be here."

The passengers knew 'get the hell off' when they heard it and grabbed their things. The driver left as soon as they were all out. Sugoroku didn't wait either; he headed inside as soon as his feet hit the ground. He had a grandson to see.

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Ryou studied the hieroglyphs intently, trying to make out just exactly what they supposed to be saying, "I swear, Yugi. Yami has no writing ability. This is just a bunch of poorly written poetry."

Yugi grinned, laughing at Ryou's comment and the annoyance coming from his other self, "Yami thinks you have no taste. He thinks his poetry is wonderfully written."

The 'tomb' Yugi and Yami wanted to survey belonged to Atemu. It was really the ancient Pharaoh's old summer home. Yami wanted to see if the possessions he had hidden within it before he was sealed in the puzzle were still there. And that meant going through and finding the correct phrase written on one of the walls just so they could find the secret door to Yami's old home. Yami had sealed all the things he valued most within a Sarcophagus and then hid the bulky thing in the best hiding spot he could think of. It didn't help that he had been in a hurry and now couldn't remember which hallway the door was hidden in.

Ryou turned to face his friend, an evil glint in his eyes, "About as wonderfully written as the ramblings of a psychotic monkey inebriated beyond the ability to move." The merging of Ryou and the Goa'uld known as Ba-khu-ra, the former spirit of the Ring, had given the albino a very wicked sense of humor. He would never have said anything like that before, he had been too timid.

Just as Yami and Yugi, the two now often acted as one. From what the humans had understood of the symbiosis, either the host or the Goa'uld would be in control. That they weren't supposed to be able to share. But their thoughts and feelings and even their reactions to situations had become closer, so much so that most of the time they couldn't tell who was in control at any one moment. Not that it really mattered anymore. Neither of the two tried to be dominant. There was no point in fighting with yourself if you were in agreement.

Yami glared out of his host's eyes as Yugi broke out in laughter. But Yami couldn't keep up the threatening look for very long. What Yugi felt, he felt. The older one gave up being mad and pouted, "It's not that bad… Besides… I wrote it when as a child. Before I learned the art of prose."

"Sure… What phrase are we looking for again?"

"Oh for crying out loud, Ryou!" Marik groaned from further down the hall. "You've asked that ten times now. Write it down already!"

Marik was supervising the survey. He trusted Ryou, Yugi and Yugi's grandfather, but the four others who were joining the team were unknowns. The heir to the Ishtar legacy didn't want anything to get out that shouldn't. So he came to supervise. And that led to helping. So he was stuck reading Yami's very bad poetry in search of the hidden door.

Yugi rolled his eyes and dug around in his fanny pack for a pencil and a pad of paper, writing down the hieroglyphs once he found them. "Here, shove this in a pocket or something," he said, handing the paper to his friend.

"Hello? Anyone in here?" a familiar voice called from the entrance, some eight rooms away.

"Jii-chan!" Yugi and Yami exclaimed as one, excitement running rampant as he jumped up and bolted for the door.

"He has far too much energy," Marik observed. "Time to be on our best behavior. That means only one person looking out from your eyes, Ryou."

"I know," the two replied together, exasperation in their voice. "As soon as I meet them the only one they will see is me."

"Which me?"

"Ryou Bakura, me. Not Ba-khu-ra, me."

Marik stood and followed after Yugi at a more sedate pace, "Just checking, my friend. I'm going to greet the idiots. You staying or coming?"

"Staying. I'd like to be whole for as long as possible."

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Daniel and the others had just gotten used to the lighting inside the tomb when a miniature whirlwind came out of a hallway and barreled into Sugoroku, "Jii-Chan!"

The old man grabbed the whirlwind, which turned out to be young boy, and spun him in a circle once before setting him down, "Ugh… That's all I can do at my age. You've made me look old with all that energy you have."

The boy continued to hug the man tightly and replied in English since that was the language his grandfather had chosen to speak in, "I missed you Jii-chan."

Sugoroku pretended to be skeptical, "Really? If you missed me so much, why did you make me fly all the way out here? Why didn't you come see me?"

Yugi let out a sigh in mock exasperation and hung his head, "Forgive me, oh old one. I forgot how much your bones ache when you walk…"

"Old one?!" Jii-chan exclaimed in mock anger, "Who's been teaching you such rudeness? Was it Yami? I'll punish the boy with a severely boring lecture!"

"Actually, it was Ryou," Marik answered, coming out of the shadows of the hall. "That boy has such a mouth on him."

Sugoroku nodded and gave a half bow in greeting, "Marik. How are you?"

"Well enough, considering. Those the rookies?" the blond tilted his head at the members of SG-1.

Daniel stepped forward with his hand outstretched, "Hi! Marik Ishtar, I assume. I talked with your sister. I'm Daniel Jackson."

Marik looked down at the offered hand and then back at Daniel, "I see." The blond turned around, purposely not shaking hands and headed back down the hall. "Campsite's this way."

"Don't worry," Yugi spoke up, startling Jackson. "He's like that to everyone he first meets." The short boy took the hand that still hung in the air and gave it a firm shake, "I'm Motou Yugi. Gomen… I mean, Yugi Motou. I keep forgetting that you westerners say your name backwards." He turned around and led the way to where camp had been erected. "It's going to be just us eight on this survey. We're to look over the hieroglyphs that decorate the walls and record the location of any that might be of interest to the Ishtar family. They have been guarding the tombs in this valley for thousands of years and have left this one alone for the most part."

Daniel couldn't help trying to read what he could of the hieroglyphs as they walked, "Why is that?"

"Because this is the most sacred of all the tombs. It is the Tomb of Pharaoh Atemu, whom their family served long ago and was entrusted to guard until the Pharaoh returned to them. But they were instructed to leave his tomb alone for he feared for their safety should they try to navigate the traps within before he came back. Only his presence would prevent the traps from activating."

O'Neill shared a glance with Carter, voice recognition devices coming to mind, then asked, "And how was that supposed to happen?"

"Which one? The Pharaoh's return or the traps only turning off in his presence?"

"Both."

Yugi looked over his shoulder with a grin, "Why, magic, of course."

"Of course."

Yugi's grin widened at the sarcasm, "You don't believe in magic?"

"Nope."

The boy laughed as they finally entered the room they had converted into a campsite and waved to Marik and Ryou who were searching through their bags, "What's the matter?"

Ryou looked up and smiled at the group, speaking with a British accent, "Hello. I'm Ryou Bakura. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Marik snorted and tossed a thoroughly searched backpack over his shoulder, "We can't find the map."

Yugi trotted over and picked up a backpack to help search, "Where did you last see it?"

"The idiot over there had it last."

"Shut up! I did not. I gave it to you because you wanted to make sure to mark the halls we already went through."

"And I gave it back to you when I was done."

"You did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

The two started shouting louder and louder, completely forgetting their search in an effort to drown the other out. Ryou had grown more… 'outgoing' under the influence of Ba-khu-ra.

Yugi picked up a brown paper bag and filled it with air. The loud bang that came from him popping it startled his friends into silence. It also caused them to go into defensive positions.

"Are you finished?" Yugi asked, annoyance thick in his voice. "Because if you aren't, I'd like to remind you that there are more people present than just yourselves. As for the map, it's right here." He picked the folded piece of paper out of a pile of books not two feet from the arguing boys. "Should I mark off the corridor we just finished?"

Marik frowned and sent a glare to Ryou. Ryou returned it before he nodded yes to Yugi, who carefully marked the corridor as being surveyed.

Daniel decided that now was a good time to find a place for his things. The room was large enough to give everyone breathing room. All of the walls were unadorned. "So what kind of room was this, you think?" he asked as he started to unpack his bedroll and books.

"Storage," the three boys responded absentmindedly as they went over which corridor to try next.

"Really? Seems big for storage. Especially in a tomb…"

Ryou glanced his way, "What did you say your name was?"

"Oh, sorry," He got up and walked over to shake hands and properly introduce himself, "I'm Daniel Jackson."

"It's nice to meet you. Do your friends have names?"

Daniel chuckled and glanced over at the other members of SG-1. The three were busy making up spots for themselves along the walls of the room. Jackson pointed at each in turn, "The guy with the bandana is Teal'c. He's from South Africa and has extensive knowledge in Egyptian Mythology. That's Doctor Samantha Carter. Like myself, she's very well versed in the translations of hieroglyphics. The guy over there looking bored is Jack O'Neill. He's-"

"A pack mule," O'Neill answered for himself. "I'm the pack mule of the group. I do the carrying and leave the rest to the scientists."

Daniel shook his head and Ryou grinned. The albino nodded a hello to each of the others. His gaze lingered on Teal'c for a fraction longer than it should have. The Jaffa took note of this, but did not say anything.

::Ba-khu-ra? There's something strange about the South African. I feel a presence within him. Much like I feel in Yugi.:: Ryou thought to himself as he straightened up the mess he had made when searching for the map.

::I noticed. Let the Pharaoh know and keep an eye on him.::

Ryou picked up a pad of paper and wrote a quick note in Japanese, then handed it to Yugi. The boy glanced over it quickly then met Ryou's eyes and nodded, "Right. Toilet Paper. Yeah, that definitely needs to go on the supply list. I didn't realize we were that low." He crumpled the paper in his hand and slipped it into the trash bag.

"Neither did I until I went to find more this morning. We only have six rolls left. That's not going to last as long for eight people as it did for three." Ryou replied, catching Marik's eyes and letting him know that something more was going on.

The blond shrugged, "The bus will come by in three days to bring supplies. He'll probably have some then and if not, we can tell him that it's one of the higher priorities."

"Speaking of priorities," Samantha interrupted, "Where is the bathroom and is there any way we can rig up a privacy curtain? It may have escaped everyone else's' notice, but I am the only woman here. I'm going to need to some space to myself."

The three boys looked at each other and gave a collective shrug. Ryou stood and pointed at a doorway in the south wall of the room, about twenty feet from the edge of the camp, "Bathroom is through that door. Ironically it's in a former bathing room. The tub is fed by an underground stream that flows north. The toilet is in an alcove north of that and the hole used opens up over the river downstream of the tub so it cleans itself and insures that the tub is never dirtied by human waste."

Daniel stood in shock, "You're kidding? They built that in a tomb?"

Marik shrugged, "From what we've found so far, we don't think this is actually a tomb. We figure it's actually a temple built to honor Atemu. We have kept good care of our property and been loyal in our duties, so I think confusing 'tomb' with 'temple' is a forgivable sin." The boy lied to cover the truth and then gazed at Carter, "As for the privacy curtain. You don't peek and we won't peek. Deal?"

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End Chapter One

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