Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seth's Magical Adventure! ❯ Eerieness in the town ( Chapter 2 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, in any time period. Kazuki Takahashi does.

 

Seth found with sudden dismay that it took him less time than he thought to pack the supplies he needed for his trip, save the food he'd bring. He already told himself he'd collect that tomorrow, though part of him nagged himself to get it now while he had nothing to do. And Seth hated that. He even deliberately messed up his room just to stall for time as he went “searching” for his Millennium Rod, but unsurprisingly, he managed to find it. Now, Seth sat in his chair, counting his things miserably.

 

“Two sets of clothing, a case of healing scrolls, my rod,” Seth began without any interest, “And a bunch of stuff I probably don't need. Wonderful. Everything's been accounted for six times.” Sighing, Seth heaved himself out of his chair and went to the windowsill. He looked out, and caught the sun as it set for the night, turning the sky an inky black, with just a line of dark red over the horizon indicating the sun's position. As he stared, he thought quietly about Sith and began to wonder how she was faring, if she made it far at all. Then he slapped himself angrily.

 

“Oh, why should I care about that little wench, anyway?” Seth asked himself, his face in a deep scowl, “I didn't even want to go with her to the Lion's Gate! …but I suppose I feel bad knowing she's out there.” Seth looked down in deep thought for another minute, trying to figure out how he could justify to himself what he was doing. Thankfully, that wasn't too hard as he shrugged the next minute.

 

“Oh well, at least the pharaoh probably sent a few guards after her,” Seth finally concluded, opening the door to the dark hall once again, “It's no skin off my nose.” Feeling a bit better about his situation, Seth strolled proudly down the hallway towards the downstairs. He had a very odd grin on his face, and he became aware of it as a servant who had passed stopped to take a look, and then ran when Seth glared. Seth ignored it as he continued on. The farther towards the stairs he went, and then eventually down them, Seth noticed that the hallway was slowly filling with guards, servants, and a few others as they also made their way down the steps and into the large entrance hall. And soon he heard why. The dinner bell rung very loudly, sending a few poor souls that were too close scurrying around.

 

“Ow! Watch it, you fool!” Seth yelled as a young servant accidentally ran into him, nearly pushing him down the stairs. She apologized profusely and was gone in a flash. Seth mumbled angrily and dusted his robes off until he saw Mahaado, Isis, and Shaddah walking into the dining hall. He grinned evilly as they saw him as well, and chuckled when they all scrambled to get away from him, thereby practically throwing themselves at another servant who ducked just in time. Feeling like he now had as much control as he liked, Seth walked casually into the dining hall. He found Mahaado and Isis joined Karim and Akunadin at the highest table, along with the pharaoh himself. Shaddah wasn't there, though. He was talking to a group of guards farther back. Sith's seat was empty, too. And by the look of it, Siamun Muran, the vizier, was pretty confused and nervous as to why, looking at the empty seat next to him.

 

“Not my problem,” Seth reassured himself as he made his way to the table, “At least, not for right now.” He seated himself down next to Siamun and tried to avoid the old man's eyes. That worked for possibly two minutes until the question Seth feared came.

 

“Priest Seth, where on earth did Knight Sith go?” Siamun asked, keeping his voice low so the pharaoh wouldn't hear him, “She's always here for dinner. I wonder if she's all right?” Obviously, it was pretty clear that Siamun didn't know that Sith had already left for the Lion's Gate, and she wouldn't be back for some time. Seth twitched in annoyance.

 

“I'm… sure she's fine,” he whispered back, “The pharaoh suggested she leave for the Lion's Gate alone.” Seth hoped Siamun wouldn't ask anything else as he conveniently forgot to mention one detail, that he'd also been there. Siamun's eyebrows furrowed for a minute, and then he nodded wisely.

 

“Yes, yes, of course. I see now,” Siamun mumbled, mostly to himself, “Yes, the pharaoh must've had a good reason to suggest such a thing. Though I disapprove of someone so young going through that area of the desert, as it's quite dangerous…” Seth lowered his head angrily, having started Siamun on one of his lectures about the desert. He averted his eyes towards two large stone doors as Siamun continued on, hoping the food would arrive soon and shut the old man up. As if summoned by him, a servant walked out, announced that dinner was ready, and soon many more servants appeared, serving very generous plates of food. However, even as the guards were getting their food first, no one lifted so much as a finger until the pharaoh nodded approvingly. Then everyone began to eat… or just scarf down their food, depending on how hungry they were. Seth noticed that neither Mahaado nor Karim were eating much. They must've been nervous about the journey ahead. But Seth shrugged and ate his food without worry, until he caught Siamun talking to the pharaoh out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Yes, I sent Sith out,” the pharaoh replied calmly, looking down at his plate, “But it wasn't my first choice. I had wished for her to leave with a high priest, but the one I assigned her to…” The pharaoh sighed, obviously not wanting to give names or disgrace someone, as he finished with, “…became unable to help her.” Seth noticed a tone of worry in the pharaoh's voice as he spoke, and cursed again. Soon everyone would know that Sith, the highest ranking Knight to the pharaoh, was gone, and they'd all be asking why. Seth wanted to avoid that, and now he regretted going to the pharaoh for any help, as doing so only seemed to make his life harder.

 

“A high priest couldn't go?” Akunadin asked, from the other side of the pharaoh, “Why not? Surely one of them had the time to escort the knight.” Seth clenched one of his fists silently as the pharaoh shook his head.

 

“Not one,” he replied grimly, “I almost told her I'd escort her myself, but then I realized that'd defeat the whole purpose of her going. Still, I'm worried for her.” Seth swallowed his food hard, trying to forget everything. Which was impossible at this point. Akunadin frowned disapprovingly, apparently at the pharaoh's choice.

 

“The Lion's Gate is too dangerous for you, pharaoh,” Akunadin said plainly, sipping his water, “I understand your concern. Since I am the eldest high priest here… next to Siamun, of course, I feel it's my duty to scold the fool who backed away from their orders. Just tell me who they are, pharaoh.” Now Seth froze when he heard that, and found he no longer had any appetite. He also didn't trust the pharaoh to keep their meeting a secret, as he quietly put his fork down and ate nothing more. He instead kept his eye on the pharaoh. But the pharaoh said nothing more as he ate his food. After what felt like hours, dinner had finally ended, but Seth wasn't about to wind down for the night. No, if anything, hearing Akunadin only made Seth want to leave sooner. So, as soon as he hit the hallway, Seth darted back upstairs to find Mahaado and Karim, both of whom he hoped had gone to their own chambers. As if responding to his inner call, Mahaado just happened to be walking down the hallway. Seth grinned a bit, rushed over, and tugged hard on the poor priest's arm. Mahaado yelped in surprise.

 

“What!? Oh…” Mahaado's eyes narrowed as he turned and saw who grabbed him, “Seth… what is it?” Obviously, he wasn't happy to see his fellow priest. In all honesty, Seth felt the feeling was mutual. But he didn't have time for that now.

 

“New change of plan. We're leaving tonight,” Seth said quickly, trying to drag Mahaado down the hall. Mahaado blinked as he processed what Seth had said.

 

“What? Leaving?” Mahaado asked cluelessly, obviously forgetting what he had agreed to, “Oh! Wait, why!? Can't it wait until tomorrow?” Seth rolled his eyes and stopped walking, almost making Mahaado run right into him. He shook his head vigorously and fiddled with part of his robe.

 

“No, it can't. Everyone's getting suspicious about Sith leaving on her own, and it's driving me insane,” Seth replied quietly, “I think it was a mistake asking to not go.”

 

“I told you it wasn't a smart idea, didn't I?” Mahaado stated simply, and sighed, “At any case, I can't just leave. The pharaoh's called a meeting tonight in the audience chamber. We're all to attend. And no, I'm not going to cover for you if you try to run from it, either.” Seth growled angrily at Mahaado's unwillingness to help him, and decided a different tactic.

 

“But Sith could be in danger. Don't you want to go help her?” Seth asked. Mahaado bit his lip, unsure of what the right answer could be. Leaving the court would mean his job, but if Sith managed to die…

 

“No. Sorry, but our duties are here,” Mahaado said firmly, though there was still a shaky tone to him, “The pharaoh wouldn't just send her out there if he even felt a spark of death coming towards her. She'll be fine.” Seth twitched, running out of excuses.

 

“But what if she IS hurt?” he asked, as Mahaado raised a suspicious eyebrow, “How would he know if she gets hurt? He did say he wanted to send someone with her. Think of the good standing we… I mean, you'll have with Akunadin if we went to help her? We wouldn't be shirking our duties at all.” Mahaado seemed to consider this. He knew that the pharaoh would be upset with them missing the court, but if he knew of why they left… Mahaado kept in a sigh, as he knew Seth might be right about this.

 

“All right… we'll go and find Sith,” Mahaado finally decided, frustrated with how this was going, “Just go and get Karim, and I'll tell the pharaoh we're leaving.” Seth's eyes widened as Mahaado said that, and nearly tackled the man over as he turned to leave.

 

“NO!” Seth yelled, “Absolutely not! You can't tell him where we're going!” Mahaado grumbled and practically threw Seth off of him.

 

“Why can't we?” he asked, getting up and setting his robes straight, “For once, I'm actually agreeing with your methods. Just let me do the right thing and tell him where we're going.” Seth grunted with annoyance, and finally reached an idea.

 

“Fine, go and tell him,” Seth mumbled, as Mahaado turned to leave again, “But tell him that only you and Karim are going. Don't mention me.” Mahaado stopped, turned around, and arched another eyebrow.

 

“What? Why?” he asked.

 

“Because I'm the one who started this mess in the first place,” Seth replied grimly, “Do you know how stupid I'll look to him if I beg to be let go and then end up running off to find her anyway?” Mahaado gave an odd look, but nodded reluctantly anyway. Once again turning to leave, Mahaado quickly walked up the stairs and into the audience chamber before Seth could keep him any longer, leaving Seth to go and find Karim. Thankfully, that wasn't too hard, as Karim had managed to make it to his own bedroom before something stopped him. And, that something was Seth as he walked in. Karim was packing up for the trip tomorrow, completely ignoring Seth's presence. And just like Seth, he seemed to be making a big mess, though it was purely accidental as it was followed with sighing, shuffling, and a swear.

 

“Karim, what are you doing!?” Seth asked when Karim crammed three books into his bag, which looked like it would burst. Karim, who wasn't paying much attention, jumped when he heard Seth.

 

“I'm packing up for tomorrow,” he said sharply, calming down, “What is it? Is there some other lie you'd like us to help you with?” Seth glared at the older man, as he stuffed a scroll into the bag.

 

“No, but there's been a change. We're leaving tonight, as soon as Mahaado gets here,” Seth explained. Karim put the brush he was packing down, and looked at Seth curiously. He couldn't understand why they'd just up and leave.

 

“Why tonight?” Karim asked, “Did something happen?” Seth nodded, his mouth slanting a little bit.

 

“Sort of. Everyone's talking about their worry for Sith,” Seth replied guiltily, “I personally don't care what happens, but this is pulling way too much attention too quickly, so I'm going to see if I can make her come back.” He expected Karim to agree, or to even taunt him about how right they'd been about this, but what he didn't expect was a hysterical laugh. And it made him even angrier.

 

“Good luck with that one,” Karim said, controlling himself after a minute, “No one makes Sith do anything, except for the pharaoh. I doubt she'll even bother to listen to you.” Seth felt a pang as he knew Karim would be right. Sith left easily enough, but that was because whatever she and the pharaoh were talking about was urgent. But on her own, away from him, she wasn't as predictable.

 

“I have to at least try,” Seth said, as Mahaado walked in carrying a small bag.

 

“I've told him that Karim and I are leaving,” Mahaado said, and Karim nodded approvingly, “He seemed very relieved to hear that. Are you both ready?”

 

“Just about. I just need to fit my scales in here,” Karim replied, and when he couldn't fit his item into his bulging bag, he simply tied it to his belt. Mahaado looked at Seth, who waved dismissively, left the room, and came back carrying two bags. Seeing as how they were all packed, the three left Karim's room, and headed out towards the entrance chamber, and to the outside. Although Mahaado and Seth were walking straight towards the gates into the village beyond, Karim took a path veering toward the right. He spoke to a guard, and came back with three horses. Seth was almost glad to have brought both of them with him as they all climbed onto a horse each. The guard came and helped them saddle their bags to their horses, and left before they could thank him, leaving the three looking directly out of the gate.

 

“So, any ideas as to where we head once we're out of the palace?” Karim asked. Seth thought about it. The northern expanse was a good deal away, and they would have to go northeast once they were in the village, as they had left for the wrong gate. That would only take an hour or two at the most, leaving a good portion of the night to still search for Sith.

 

“She said something about the northern expanse and the Lion's Gate,” Seth relayed, and thought out loud at the same time, “I doubt she made it there, yet, though. It's a good five day journey to reach the Alewood jungle that guards the gate, and then another day to travel inside of the jungle.”

 

“If I calculate correctly, Sith might be near a smaller city that's banked just east of the Nile,” Mahaado added, “With any luck, she stopped there for directions and supplies.”

 

“That city has to be over 20 miles away, though. She's had all afternoon to get there, and I doubt she'd stop for long,” Karim finished grimly, putting a bit of a damper on the plan, “Besides, don't forget that there are many dangers out in the desert, the least being jackals, hawks, and scorpions. At worst, she might have even run into thieves.”

 

“You mean like Bakura?” Mahaado asked, “I've seen him running around here, if he spotted her, he might be tailing her.” Karim nodded silently. Seth, however, wasn't nearly as concerned as the other two.

 

“She can easily handle Bakura,” Seth replied, “Look, for now, let's focus on getting to the northern expanse. We can plan out everything else once we get there.” Before waiting to see if the other two responded, Seth trotted off down the road. For a minute, Karim and Mahaado exchanged worried glances, for both had a feeling they were forgetting something important.

 

“Should we follow him?” Karim finally asked, after neither of them could remember what it was they'd forgotten. Mahaado nodded firmly.

 

“We might as well. He'll get pretty angry if he finds out we're not following,” Mahaado replied nervously, “Though I keep feeling like something's wrong.” Karim nodded absently, and then seemed to shrug it off.

 

“It could just be nerves,” Karim finally said, though he seemed to be reassuring himself, “After all, we're heading to the dangerous part of the desert. I'm sure we'll be fine.” Mahaado seemed to agree with this, and before Seth went too far ahead, the two priests urged their horses to dash off on his trail. It didn't take long to find him, as he was less than a few yards away, talking to a guard. The guard seemed to be hesitant about something, and left as soon as Seth dismissed him. Seth frowned when he saw Mahaado coming up, Karim only a few feet behind.

 

“Bad news,” Seth said grimly, “Monsters are swarming in the northern expanse. They only open the gates twice a day, and no one is allowed outside after dusk, either. Nothing is opened this late.” Karim cursed, but Mahaado wasn't overly surprised. He looked at the sky.

 

“When do they open the gate next?” he asked. Seth grunted.

 

“Midnight,” Seth replied grumpily, “Not too long from now. We should hurry.” All three nodded, and rode through the deserted streets of the town. Navigation was difficult, because no one had any torches lit. Whatever the guard was arguing with Seth about, this had to be it. Mahaado and Karim looked around for anyone that might be walking, but Seth kept ahead.

 

“I just noticed how creepy it is at night,” Karim whispered, as they trotted past the tavern, “Now I can see why they've improved security. It'd be impossible to fight in town at night.” Seth rolled his eyes as he kept his horse forward.

 

“It's not impossible. People still hold fights out here,” Seth explained, “But I remember Sith talking to the pharaoh about the monsters. She said that some of them get stronger at night. Though why she didn't suggest lighting the town up is a mystery. Wouldn't that be better?” Mahaado sighed, and shook his head as they rounded the corner and down a narrow street.

 

“No,” Mahaado replied simply, “We don't have the resources for a permanent fire, and Sith can't hold up her spells forever. This is the best we can do, I suppose. I'm just wondering what Lion's Gate has to do with the problem here.”

 

“Maybe the monsters are coming in through there,” Seth concluded, “When I told them Sith might be faster alone, they went for that idea on that opinion alone. The pharaoh made it seem like time was pretty important. Sith also said that something was attacking her… old kingdom, and…” Seth was about to finish when his horse reared up and gave a mighty whinny. That shocked Mahaado's horse, and he was thrown off and right into Karim, who fell off of his own horse. Seth settled the horses and looked down. There stood two guards, spears pointed.

 

“Halt! Who comes to the gate!?” one shouted, trying to get a torch ready, “Do you not know that we open this gate twice a day?” He lit the stick and held it up just in time to see Seth scowl, and to see Mahaado and Karim try to get up behind him.

 

“T-the high priests!” the other guard exclaimed, and bowed, “Please, forgive us! We couldn't see you in the dark.” Seth's face didn't soften.

 

“Just open the gate and let us through,” he demanded coldly. The guards blinked, and then looked at one other, as though they couldn't figure out what exactly they should do. To them, rules were rules, and not even the high priests could be exceptions… could they?

 

“Sorry, lord priest, but orders are orders,” one guard piped, lowering his spear, “We're not to open the gate except on schedule. Even Knight Sith had to wait, and she was in a real hurry.” Seth growled angrily, trying hard not to climb down and throttle the guard, but Mahaado managed to intervene before Seth's temper could hit.

 

“Wait… Knight Sith was here?” Mahaado asked calmly, “How long ago?” The guards looked at one another again.

 

“About midday, or just after,” the first guard replied, “We had just begun to close the gates, and we almost didn't let her through. But when the pharaoh showed up, we didn't have a choice.” Even Seth's eyes widened as he heard the pharaoh being mentioned. Karim climbed back onto his horse and trotted over.

 

“The pharaoh was here?!” he cried, completely shocked. The guards nodded.

 

“Yes. He followed her out to the gates. He said he had a feeling he sent her out too late,” the second guard answered, and chuckled, “The look on her face when she found out he followed her was priceless. I thought for sure he'd keep following her, too, but he went back as soon as she was through the gate.” Karim and Seth looked at each other, but Mahaado was the one who managed to get the gate opened.

 

“That's why we're here,” Mahaado said, causing Seth to snap his neck around, “The pharaoh sent us to find her. He fears he made a mistake sending her alone.” Seth blinked, unable to believe what he heard. Mahaado just lied! Although some of it was true, the pharaoh didn't send all of them, and chances are he wouldn't have any idea what was going on if he was asked. The guards spoke to each other, and then seemed to have reached an agreement. One of them went to a turning wheel and spun it, causing the gates to rise. The other nodded when the gate was fully raised.

 

“There. I'll allow you three to go through,” the guard said, “Just be careful. Monsters are all over the place.” He gave a strong salute, and watched as the three priests rode out of the gate, and the gate once again rumbled shut. Eventually, the whirling sand made it impossible for him to see anything, and he turned to his cohort.

 

“Do you think it was safe letting them out there?” he asked, sitting back down. The second guard, who wiped his forehead with a cloth, shrugged.

 

“I'm not sure, but if the pharaoh ordered them to go, we can't stop them,” he replied plainly, “All we can really do is wait here for them to return.”

 

“Let's just hope they have enough supplies. The northern expanse is brutal,” the first guard said, sighing, “But they ARE priests, so they should be all right.” The two guards continued to stare at each other. Neither one seemed sure that the high priests would be okay, but neither voiced it. All they really could do was to wait.

 

-----------------------------(End chapter)

 

And another chapter is done! Now, our motley assortment of priests finally head into the northern part of the desert to search out Sith, and stop Seth's little mistake. But can they find her before something eats or kills her? And what will the pharaoh say if he finds out Mahaado lied? And, why did the guards say something so ominous? Did the priests actually forget something important? Find all of the answers next chapter, so click that Review button!