Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Of Gods And Men ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 8 )

Of Gods and Men

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

Written By RogueMoon

Chapter Seven

::: :::

 

Then

He road hard, alone, the hours going by. The Great Temple would be leaving soon. In less than a day, at sunset, Ra's Temple would rise into the night and the chariot would carry the God to the battlefield where the demons of the north held sway.

Atemu had to get there before the temple left. He had to have answers. Seto's words echoed in his mind and he needed to know.

He knew now that Ra didn't care about him. It had become more than obvious that he was just another pawn to the God. If God he was. Atemu was beginning to doubt that as well.

All the things he had been shown, all the strange and wondrous magical items: the staffs that shot fire, the pool that could move a person from star to star, the sarcophagus that could bring a man back from the dead. All of it... it was not magic. Could not be. They were crutches. Crutches that Ra used to make himself appear more powerful than he was.

Why else would the demons be such a problem to the God of Gods.

A tear burned its way down his face as he thought of his father. His real father, not Ra. Ra could have saved his father's life, could have brought him back from the dead. But Ra didn't care. Akunumkanon was nothing more than a bug to Ra. His death in Ra's name meant nothing.

Atemu pushed the horse harder, the lights of the Great Temple growing brighter. Another hour and he would be there. Another hour and his life could end.

::: :::

The Jaffa took no notice of him. He was a god to them and known to be favored by Ra. So he passed their patrols with no issue. It wasn't them he worried about, truthfully. It was the other gods he may run into.

He didn't know if he would be able to bluff his way past Ra about his reasons for being there. The other gods, he could probably do so if pushed, invoking Ra's name to scare them. It was Hathor he needed to see. She would be the one to give him what he wanted.

He kept walking as if he had a destination he had to get to, ignoring those he passed as if they didn't exist. While he knew why he was there, he didn't really know where he had to go to find her.

“My son, we thought you had left,” Hathor's voice called to him from a side passage.

He stopped, controlling himself and turning to look at her, a polite smile on his lips, “I had, my Lady Mother. I just returned.”

The red-haired woman shortened the distance between them, “And why is that, my son?” she purred, her hands going to his hair as they always did when she saw him.

He glanced away, checking the hall before taking her arm and pulling her back into the passage she had come from. Her hands left his hair and she looked ill at ease, ready to call for the guards.

“Lady Mother, I returned for answers,” Atemu replied honestly.

Hathor looked at him oddly, the apprehension leaving her eyes as she finally smiled, “And what answers do you seek, my son?” Her hands returned to him, running over his shoulders and back into his hair.

He suffered the revolting touch and kept himself from throwing up as he answered, though a slight shiver of disgust ran through him. She would undoubtedly mistake it for pleasure, “I want to know the truth, Lady Mother. I want to know what I am. How the magic works. Ra will not tell me. He treats me as if I were another worthless slave... less than a Jaffa. I am tired of it, I have pandered to him for too long.”

He allowed his anger to fuel his words, his eyes flashing and his voice echoing. He could smell the pheromones that rolled off her, exciting his body in ways most unnatural. Normally he could counter them, keep himself from reacting. He chose not to. He would need all the help he could get to do this. Hathor was responding as he had hoped, an eager smile on her lips as she pressed herself to him.

“He has always kept us separated. Never told me why I was forbidden to be near you when not in public. Always watched us. I need to know why, Lady Mother. Before he leaves. What secret is it he wishes for you to keep from me?”

The queen pulled his face to hers and kissed him deeply. “Oh my son, we thought you but a pawn to his game,” she purred as she pulled away. “It pleases us that such is not the case. You always were so intelligent. Come, my son, follow us and your answers will be gained.”

She took his hand and led him quickly down the hall and to a secluded passage. He steeled himself and decided that he could deal with her touching him, taking him, if it solicited the answers he craved.

::: :::

“You should leave now, my son,” She said with a sad yet pleased voice. During the past three hours she had defied Ra's every instruction regarding her son. Including the most forbidden one. Though she had ensured that there would be no result of the coupling, no sense being stupid about it. And how eager her son had been! All these years he had been playing the game so well that she hadn't even been able to see his hatred for Ra.

He lay against her, panting, his head tucked into the bed pillows. She had shared with him and of course it had exhausted the poor boy. She was very good at her chosen pastime. But the multiple couplings had done more than allow them to share their host bodies, it had allowed them to share knowledge. She feeding him what he should have gained at birth. Not everything, of course, but enough to keep him loyal to her. And he showing her all his hate filled thoughts for the others of their kind; his need for her.

Ra had only succeeded in making an enemy of the boy he so favored with his actions. Keeping him from her had only made her all the more desirable to him. If she could have stayed on Earth, she would have. But she couldn't get away with that.

Only in this secret place had she been able to get away with defiling her son. Only here had she been able to give him the answers to it all. To make him a true god. A true Gao'uld. And when she and Ra returned to Earth, it would be Atemu who would remove the man from his throne. And she would finally be in control.

Her son wanted her so badly, she would finally be able to rule as she always should. Atemu's tactical mind and dedication to her paired with her ambition would make them unstoppable.

The Pharaoh huffed, his breathing evening out as he began to pull away. He didn't look at her, but she could see tears coming down his face.

A hand reached up and wiped them away, “Now, now, my son. We shall return, and when we do, you and I, we will overthrow Ra. We will have no hindrance to our being together.”

He gulped and nodded, his face still turned away as he removed himself from her bed, moving to pull on his clothing.

Hathor stood as well, going to a table and placing several items in a makeshift carry case, then returning to her son's side to help him with the rest of his outfit, ensuring it looked as it did when he first came to the temple.

With a smile of utter satisfaction, she then turned him to face her and kissed his lips once more. His body responded, leaning into her. She pulled away and then handed him the carry case, “All that we promised to give you for study while we are gone is here.”

He took it and nodded, then left in silence.

Hathor watched him go before summoning servants to draw her a bath and ready new clothes. The ship would take off in a few more hours and she would need to be ready.

::: :::

He was halfway home when the Temple rose into the heavens. The wind created by the speed of the horse scratching at the tears that engraved themselves on his face and tearing them away.

As soon as he got home he would take a bath. A bath to remove his skin of her touch. One that would sear his skin from all the scrubbing. He had gotten what he wanted, tricked the bitch. He had made himself nothing more than a whore to do it.

He wouldn't ever be able to look himself in a mirror again. Not without flinching.

But he had gotten his answers.

Atemu knew his heritage. And he knew he would have to continue to play along with Hathor when she returned. He would destroy his own soul, as he had destroyed the soul of the host body he held. Destroyed it to the point that he couldn't even feel another's presence in his mind. All to ensure that Ra died. To stop the evil of his race.

He couldn't let any other sons lose their fathers for what amounted to nothing more than a game created out of boredom.

::: :::

Now

Ba-khu-ra slowly summoned the Shadow Realm. Slowly because for some reason, the summoning was taking longer than it should have.

Yugi's body had just been removed in a flash of light and Marik was still passed out. The tomb robbers' only chance at this point was to have the protection of the Shadow Realm. The boy was sweating with the effort. Not even a sliver of darkness had appeared. Why was it so bloody hard to summon it?

Another flash of light and Marik was gone. Ryou was next. It was the only logical conclusion. And he didn't like it. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated harder. His heart beat rising, his eyes squeezing shut. What felt like minutes passed and he could feel the portal opening. A crack in a dam.

Like a dam bursting, the Shadow Realm suddenly engulfed him. He gasped in air as he felt himself slip into a different darkness.

::: :::

Carter studied the bio-scans of Yugi on the larger display screens while Thor brought Marik to the room. Like Yugi, he had been fed sedatives. Unlike Yugi, he wasn't possessed in the same manner.

The boy's cells did hold some of the nanites, but in comparatively smaller amounts than the other two. It would be safer to wake him, less of a drain on his body, than it would be to try and wake Yugi or Ryou. And since SG-1 needed answers and needed them fast so they could get back to the dig without setting off alarms with those below, They had decided to restrain Marik, put the puzzle on him and then wake him.

Teal'c and O'Neill checked the restraints for a third time. The boy was sitting upright in a chair, his arms, legs and waist bound. Finally satisfied that he couldn't get out, the team leader got everyone's attention, “Okay, I think we're ready to try this. Thor, you can put him back under if its needed, right?”

The Asgard nodded, “I can indeed, O'Neill. His body chemistry is not as upset as the other two.”

“Good. So, Teal'c? The necklace please?”

The Jaffa raised an eyebrow and lifted the puzzle, placing the chain over the sagging head of the boy, then backing up.

A moment later the puzzle flashed and a golden glow faded in and out of existence on the Egyptians forehead. Marik's head shot up, annoyance painting his expression as his eyes flashed, “I asked that you put me back with Yugi. Not with Marik.”

The voice was slightly different, deeper. But still belonged to the Arab.

Carter watched the monitors in fascination. As soon as the puzzle had been placed around Marik's neck, the nanites had appeared to polarize and move, coalescing. Most of them moved to the spine, imitating a Gao'uld clamped unerringly to its host. The ones that didn't go there, continued their filtering travel through the boy's system, slowly beginning to multiply.

Jack smirked, “We were going to, but we thought maybe this would get us more answers. Don't worry though, he's fine.” O'Neill pointed to the smaller boy, resting off to one side. “We haven't hurt him, he's just sleeping.”

The snake glowered at the man, sighing in resignation, “What do you want to know.”

“Everything. But lets just start with why you have Furling technology running around your bloodstream,” he tilted his head towards Carter, “It is their bloodstream, right Sam?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied absently, not even arguing with him about the particulars. She wanted to see how the nanites continued to react as the Gao'uld spoke.

Yami frowned, “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“He's telling the truth, sir” Carter responded before Jack could argue with the snake. “Thor is letting us monitor him with a lie-detector. And his is advanced enough to not make mistakes.”

Looking like a kicked puppy, O'Neill nodded, “Okay. Lets try something else... How are you controlling the kid without being... you know...” he pointed at his own neck, “all clingy.”

Yami titled his head, “Obviously, it is through his contact with the Puzzle.”

“Yeah, but how.”

He shrugged, “I'm not sure on the particulars. I am able to manipulate the prison enough to allow me this probation.”

“Prison? Probation?”

“Yes. The Millennium Items are a set of highly advanced prisons. They allow their prisoners to live in imitation of how they did in life but without threatening the life of their host by making it so the two cannot be separated.”

Teal'c stepped forward, “How did you arrive in this prison?”

“I was put here by another Gao'uld. Zork Necropolis.”

That brought silence from the room and contemplative looks from SG-1.

Daniel broke it with a simple, “Why?”

Yami smiled ruefully, “Because I wouldn't let him be Pharaoh and destroy my fathers kingdom.”

“So you kept him from taking over Ra's territory?” Daniel made a stab in the dark.

“No,” the snake frowned, looking at the linguist darkly, “My father was not Ra. My father was the Tuar'i pharaoh Akunumkanon. Nothing more than a slave to Ra. I could not let Necropolis destroy the only legacy Ra allowed my father to have.”

“Who was your mom? Your Gao'uld mom,” Jack asked, curious now.

Spitting at the ground, Yami responded hatefully, “The bitch Hathor.”

“Always good to know someone hates her.”

A bemused smirk passed over the prisoner's face for a fleeting moment, “Couldn't agree more.”

“If I may,” Teal'c looked over at Jack who waved at the Gao'uld in invitation. Nodding to O'Neill, he once more turned his attention to Yami, “Do you know how to leave the prison?”

He shook his head, “No. Well, technically, yes. We need to find the key to unlock them. That's all. Just the key. But we haven't found it yet. No idea what it looks like or anything. Probably have to find whoever the warden is supposed to be. Should have been out of here a good... oh, four thousand years ago. They're called the Millennium Items for a reason. The sentence is only supposed to last a thousand years.”

“Who is the Warden?”

Another shrug, “We aren't sure. Neither of us ever learned that much about that aspect of the items before we were imprisoned.”

“Neither of you?”

“Ba-khu-ra and I.”

“And you are.”

“Yami Yugi.”

A raised eyebrow. A moment of silence, “You were?”

A smirk at the insightfulness, “Atemu.”

::: :::

Ba-khu-ra opened his eyes, the darkness of the Shadow Realm around him. Ryou sitting next to him, playing with a Kuriboh that coo'd happily in his lap.

“How long was I out?”

“Not long. A few minutes.”

“That's good.”

“You exhausted us. Embedding the Ring, Fighting off the scarabs, summoning the realm.”

“Yeah,” he sat up.

“Thank you.”

He shrugged, “Wasn't nothing.”

No answer. Just a knowing smile.

“Wish we had the key.”

A hand slipped over his shoulder and Ryou hugged him from behind, his head resting on his other's back, “We'll find it. But first...”

“First we have to find our way to the others and stop the alien from turning their brains into slurpees. And play a nice long penalty game with Jackson-san and the rest.”

“I like Jackson-san.... and Teilk.”

Silence.

A sigh, “We can spare Teilk.”

A smile blossomed on Ryou's mouth and he replied softly, “Thank you.”

“You say that too much,” Ba-khu-ra shrugged the other off him and stood, mixing the two dimensions so he could see where they were going without leaving the protection the Shadows offered.

Ryou became transparent, no longer able to exist beside his yami. He could only do that in other reality. A shadow of his own body. Together, they headed for the door.

::: :::

Jack waved his hand around, “Okay now. Let me get this straight. You are Atemu, the Gao'uld whose temple thing we've been doing the survey of because you forgot where you left your sarcophagus which is acting as a safe for some of your things. You grew up serving Ra, but decided you'd rather try to kill him and all the other Gao'uld out there. But then you ended up in a fight against some idiot name Zork Neo-nazi-some-thing or other, killing him but getting yourself trapped in this prison. And this prison is some sort of advanced technology that lets you open a door to a pocket dimension called the Shadow Realm and inside it live these so-called 'monsters' that are reflections of the souls of the people who live in this dimension?”

“Correct, O'Neill-san,” Came the calm reply.

“Are you nuts?”

Yami thought for a moment, considering the question, “I am not clinically and legally insane, no.”

Sam glanced over from the monitors, “We've seen a lot of strange things, sir. Its really not that hard to believe. The Furling's technology is as advanced as the Ancients and the Asgard.”

More handwaving from Jack followed as he frowned and tried to stop Carter from continuing in a lecture that he'd understand about hundredth of. If he was lucky. Sighing, he gestured at Marik, “Teal'c, remove the necklace will you? I want to talk without the snake listening.”

Yami glowered but could do nothing to stop the Jaffa as he followed orders, restrained as he was. Marik's body collapsed back to sleep once the puzzle was removed. Or at least he appeared to have done so. Marik was very good at playing possum when needed.

Carter watched as the nanites dispersed more evenly into the boy's body, the concentration on the spine disappearing, “Sir, this is really interesting. And I think I know why Teal'c and I can detect the naqudah tracers when the Gao'uld are in control.”

“Oh? Do enlighten us,” the commander replied, standing up and turning to the Major.

Sam adjusted the monitors, placing two body scans side by side. One showed Marik as he currently was and one showed him while Yami had been in control, “This one is what the nanites look like currently. And this one is what they were doing while we spoke with Atemu. The naquadah tracers are so spread out in the bloodstream when the Gao'uld is not in control that we can't sense it. The concentration simply isn't high enough. It's only when the nanites imitate their prisoner's natural function that enough of the tracer is concentrated together for us to feel it.”

She waited for her commander to come back with something along the lines of 'say again, in English'. She was pleasantly surprised when he bit at his lip and then nodded, as if actually understanding what she had said.

Jack turned and looked at Daniel and Teal'c, “What do you think?”

“I believe MajorCarter is correct, O'Neill,” the Jaffa replied. “The-”

“No, no no! About the Snake heads Think we can trust them enough to let them be until we can find out more about whatever it is they're looking for? Now that we've found the nest and know we can remove them from their hosts easy, I was thinking it would be a good idea to help them look for whatever it is they're looking for.”

“Ah,” came the calm reply. “That is a sound plan of action.”

Daniel and Samantha both nodded.

“Great. Thor? Could you send all the medical info for these guys to Stargate Command, along with a quick update from us to General Hammond?”

The Asgard nodded, “I would be happy to, O'Neill.”

::: :::

Ba-khu-ra dropped the Shadow Realm, the effort of keeping it up too much for him while he tried to find a way out of the damn room. There were no door knobs and no obvious locks. And all the wall panels opened up to a bunch of colored crystals stacked up in nice neat rows.

None of the medical equipment had tried to pull him back to the experimentation table, so he still had his brains. But it had been another five minutes and despite tearing the walls apart (literally) he had yet to find a way out of the damn room.

He was almost relieved when he saw a flash of light and then found himself standing next to a chair that had Marik strapped to it. O'Neill and his group had guns out an focused on him. Yugi was slumped up against a wall near by and the puzzle was on a table just past that. The thief wouldn't be able to get to either target before being riddled with holes, so for the moment he raised his hands up in surrender. He did give them all a good glower.

Jack smirked and nodded to Teal'c, who took picked up the puzzle and placed it around Yugi's neck. Ba-khu-ra wasn't sure what game they were playing at, but was somewhat more relieved when Daniel began unstrapping Marik, who groggily began to come to. Yugi's body shifted, showing that he was beginning to wake as well.

When all three of the boys were awake and standing, O'Neill lowered his gun, “Here's the deal. And I'm mostly talking to the snakes. You can continue to do this survey of yours, to look for whatever it is you're looking for. We get to keep helping you. But we also get to keep observing you and if you try to pull anything Gao'uld-y, we get to take that prison of Yugi's neck to keep you snakes out of your hosts heads. We're going to be sending reports back to our superiors on your activity and you're going to be very honest with us about what secret things you know the snakes left behind in the area.”

Ryou smirked. They apparently didn't realize that his possession of Bakura was due to the Ring and not the Puzzle, “Agreed.”

Yami nodded as well, finally back in the body he belonged in, “Hai.”

Marik frowned and shrugged, “Whatever.”

The rest of SG-1 put away their weapons and Jack smiled broadly, “Great. Now lets get back down to that dig. Don't want anyone missing us.”

Another flash of light and they were all standing next to Shadi, who shut his cell phone and looked at his pharaoh with a questioning gaze.

::: :::

End Chapter.

 

Ooooo.... an update.