Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seth's Magical Adventure! ❯ Tis the Season to be Sneaky ( Chapter 24 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Takahashi does, and he wants to know why Mystics keep messing with his world.

 

The hole had led to the middle of a long, dark corridor around the outermost perimeter of the castle. The chill breeze from the outside blew in, blowing the torches that would have led the way out. Seth grumbled in displeasure as he stepped inside; absolute darkness and keeping a sense of direction and secrecy tended to work against each other, especially with him. But no one else complained, so after the initial grumbling was done, he kept his mouth shut. He didn't need another reason for anyone else to make fun of him. Or mock him. So, he simply followed everyone else as they piled inside. Sith and Sceppiro strode to the front, both of them looking down both ways of the hall. Seth couldn't see what they were looking for, but obviously it was something important. Finally, Sith turned to the small army.

 

“It's clear on both sides, but we're heading right. The audience chamber is on an upper floor,” she whispered, her voice unnaturally sharp and loud in the silence, “We'll split up when we reach the right floor and surround the room on both sides. Move out!” With that, she and Sceppiro walked ahead, everyone else following behind. The shuffling of forty pairs of feet sent them all on edge, but no one dared to draw a weapon. That would've been a very fatal mistake, especially in the poor light. Thankfully, the thick carpet adorning the right hall muffled their steps; after a while, it became almost impossible to hear, save for the steps of either Sith or Sceppiro's boots.

 

“Think we can do this the quick and easy way?” Bakura whispered to Seth, as they went along. Seth had tried to ignore the thief, but he found himself answering anyway. Only because he knew Bakura would keep pestering him if he didn't. He shook his head.

 

“Nothing's ever that easy,” he replied grimly, “And we're dealing with Espers. If anything, she's making it this easy on purpose.” But what Seth didn't say was why. Mainly because he didn't know that answer. He couldn't see Rath as someone purposely letting their enemies in unless there was a trap to pull. But no alarms had gone off yet. No nets had sprung up. And no other Espers had come to stop them. This really was too easy. This had to be a trap.

 

“I don't know. We were able to get in without much opposition,” the Incubus argued, hanging back to listen in on them, “You'd think she wanted us to come, but why would she want that?” Seth just gave the demon a very flat stare. That was his point to begin with. He turned back to Bakura, completely ignoring the demon's interference. The thief looked particularly thoughtful on that subject. Perhaps Seth had said something of importance.

 

“So this is a trap,” he finally concluded. There was no questioning tone; like Seth, he was sure something was up. The only problem was… “Does Sith know this?” Seth's lips thinned. She had made it clear they were to keep their guard up, so he did want to think she had some inclination to this. But she hadn't spoken about anything dangerous since they'd gone in. She hadn't stopped to search around. She hadn't even told them to be cautious. That was the only thing that slightly marred their conclusion. Normally, Sith was the first one to catch a trap.

 

“Let's hope she does,” Seth said grimly, frown deepening, “I don't like her, but I do know she wouldn't intentionally lead us into trouble. That's the one good thing about her: responsibility.” Bakura agreed, but dropped the subject at that. Sceppiro had already glanced back, aware of their little discussion, but he hadn't alerted anyone else to it. He shrugged and continued leading the way. Bakura took a deep breath as they slowly shuffled through the long hall. Closed doors had been passed, and Seth got the feeling Bakura was beginning to get the urge to break and enter. He didn't want to have to remind the thief that Sith lived here, at one point in her life. That'd stop the idiot right in his tracks. Silently, Seth chuckled. Unfortunately, it wasn't silent enough. Bakura caught it.

 

“What's so damn funny, priest?” the thief asked suspiciously. Seth shook his head, but his smug smile hadn't gone away.

 

“Nothing, but I can only see you picking the lock here,” he stated in amusement, “Sorry. Bad habit.” His apology wasn't enough, either. Bakura instantly became insulted. His white brows furrowed angrily, his nose wrinkling in disgust. He was trying to hold his anger back, so as to not cause a fight in the hall, but he couldn't help but want to strangle the priest for the horrible accusation. He huffed.

 

“For your information, not all thieves go around plundering just for the hell of it,” he hissed indignantly, “We're not so immoral that we'd steal from Lady Sith herself.” Seth just snorted again, though. Obviously, Bakura wasn't persuasive enough.

 

“Then what are they doing?” Seth asked, and pointed to a door just down the hall, where all five of Bakura's thieves were gathered, trying to break the lock. Bakura's eyes widened in horror, and he stormed over, smacking them all over the head. Many cowered; one actually fell down in shock. Seth laughed as he passed them.

 

“What the hell are you morons doing!?” Bakura demanded harshly, taking their tools away, “We're supposed to be winning a war, not filling our pockets with things we won't use!” Seth couldn't help but give another laugh. Bakura was notorious for stealing whatever he wanted. The guy emptied an entire tomb just for fun, and here he was yelling at other thieves for the same thing. Just because the castle happened to rightfully belong to Sith. The thieves didn't even agree with him, either. All of them managed to protest.

 

“But boss, we need the money!”

 

“Come on, there could be good shit in there! These are Espers!”

 

“You don't think they'd notice a missing drawer-full of silverware, would they?”

 

“Uh, didn't you do the same damn thing before?” Unfortunately, if any of them thought those protestations could help them or justify their actions, they were sourly disappointed. Bakura's brows pinched together in frustration. He wasn't in the mood for his team's antics. He smacked them all over the head again, causing another round of yelps.

 

“What I did doesn't matter, you bunch of whiners!” he exclaimed, “We're not stealing from Lady Sith and that's final! And if any of you lousy assholes try otherwise, I'll personally give you a scar that'll match mine.” That definitely shut his team of thieves up. Without even looking to see if they'd listen, Bakura stormed away, up to where Seth was walking, visibly laughing at the entire scene. He had expected to see some form of punishment for their attempt at crime, but to see Bakura treat them like children was priceless! It was very little wonder now why he called himself the best thief in Egypt. If every thief were as incompetent as those five men, he probably was.

 

“What a way to keep order,” he managed in a sarcastic tone, “Do you want to go get a wooden spoon for next time to spank them with, or should we just send them to their rooms?” Bakura glared at him. He didn't take the joke well.

 

“Shut up. At least I make people listen to me,” he growled, and glanced back over his shoulder. Seth snorted as the thief yelled, “I SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING, AND I SAW THAT HAND GESTURE, GARZA! DON'T MAKE ME GO BACK THERE!” Immediately, whatever was going on subsided. Bakura shook his head, keeping in pace with Seth, who was thoroughly amused now. He looked ahead to where Sith walked. She hadn't even noticed the disruption.

 

“Want me to get Atemu or Sith to deal with them?” Seth asked. Bakura just shook his head again and sighed. If he couldn't keep his own men under control, he'd be hard-pressed to find anyone else that could. And while at least Sith might've instilled some level of fear, eventually someone would try murdering her. Everyone would've definitely killed Atemu if he said squat about them. Neither alternative was worth the death.

 

“No… if Sith sees them and finds it a problem, I won't care if she kills them,” the thief mumbled in response, “Takes a load off my back, anyway.” Seth just patted his back sympathetically.

 

“Now you understand why I'm so cranky,” he stated, almost proudly. Bakura just snorted, and Seth assumed it was because his remark was humorous. But, then he saw someone walking to his left. And, unfortunately, that someone wasn't happy with what he said.

 

“I'd have thought you'd be cranky because of how many times you were nearly fired, not because of us,” Seth could've screamed. That voice belonged to Karim, and aside from Mahaado, that was probably the last person Seth wanted to see.

 

“W-where the hell did you come from!?” Seth demanded, nearly jumping in shock when he saw how close Karim actually was. If he'd been terribly insulted, it wouldn't have taken much to knock Seth out of his sandals and send the priest flying. Karim just gave a smug smile of his own, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“I was just talking to the people who annoy you the most,” he replied mockingly, “You know, Mahaado and Shaddah, and the pharaoh. You remember them, right?” Seth's face wrinkled. If Karim weren't so damn big, he'd give the man a good kick. But he was sure that if he tried, Karim would send him right into the carpet. So, he didn't.

 

“I'm not stupid, Karim,” he mumbled in discontent, “Now, what do you want?”

 

“I just hung back to see what the commotion was about,” the older priest replied easily, “A lot of people were wondering what was going on.” Seth couldn't help but grin. That was entirely Bakura's problem. And, because Bakura was right there, Seth decided to leave him with that problem. He pointed to the thief.

 

“It was his team,” he said simply, snorting as Bakura glared at him, stuffing his hands into his pocket.

 

“My team is made of thieves. I can't control each and every one of them!” he cried, trying his best not to sound overly pathetic, “I smacked them around for trying to break into one of the rooms.” Karim raised a curious, amused brow and just nodded slowly. He didn't understand why a thief would be stupid enough to steal while the queen was right there, but he didn't really need to know why. Some things, he felt were better left unknown. A laugh behind them told them that someone else had joined them for the conversation, as well, which annoyed Seth greatly. He didn't feel people should be butting in where they aren't concerned.

 

“Hey, it wouldn't have mattered if they succeeded,” it was Sceppiro, whom Seth swore was in front a while ago, “Everything in this castle is Rath's. If they want to disarm her, I say we let them rob the hell out of this place.” Bakura's eyes narrowed, unhappy with that logic, but his fellow thieves seemed ecstatic for the idea. They cheered and whooped in joy, running to the closest door as one took out a knife to pry the lock out of. Sceppiro just grinned, going back to the front of the army where Sith stood, wondering what the cheering was for. Seth bit his lip, and then snuck ahead just enough to hear what she was saying to her brother.

 

“What was going on back there?” she asked, her voice going flat, “Was it Bakura again?” Seth snorted again. As a thief, Bakura would probably be blamed for everything that went wrong while they were there. Even more so because he was the thief king.

 

“No. Some thieves wanted to help rid the castle of Rath's influence. They're going to steal some stuff from her,” Sceppiro replied. Which was a bad idea. Sith's eyes widened in horror, and she nearly dropped her sword. Seth had never seen her without her weapon, and guessed that she only really let go of it in times of panic. She sheathed it and smacked Sceppiro over the head, the older Esper nearly falling over.

 

“Are you insane!?” she demanded, “Sceppiro, they can't steal from us! That's still our possessions!” Sceppiro hadn't seen his sister in such a frenzy before. It was almost amusing, except that he knew she might cut his head off with her sword. He held up his hands in mock surrender, grinning all the while despite the grave he was digging himself into.

 

“Relax, little sister. Those locks are fortified with my magic. They can't break in,” he replied easily. But a loud click in the hall seemed to discount that, for he lowered his ears and said, “…they just broke in.” If Sith was ever about to lose it on someone for incompetence, now was the time. Her face grew a shade redder, and she crossed her arms stiffly across her chest, tapping one boot on the floor.

 

“Fix it,” she demanded. Sceppiro's own skin paled with that single, stern demand.

 

“What!?” he cried, unable to believe she was actually expecting them to stop their storming to fix one lock, “Sith, we're in the middle of a situation here!”

 

“Fix it,” she said, even more forcefully than before. Seth actually felt bad for Sceppiro. Anyone who actually disobeyed the knight's orders rarely lived to tell of it. And for whatever reason, the pharaoh either ignored it entirely or never found out that she actually killed insubordinate soldiers. Sceppiro sighed heavily and nodded, stalking over to where the thieves were trying to open the door. Despite them having broken the lock, the door was obviously much heavier than they anticipated. Locking it, luckily enough, wasn't hard. Sceppiro pushed them all aside, closed the door, and recast the spell. The moans and grumbles of displeasure almost made Bakura laugh. He had stolen many things and broken many locks, but he had never seen the victim actually lock it all back up. In front of his would-be robbers, no less! Without even looking at the five thieves, Sceppiro stalked back to Sith. Bakura stopped him along the way.

 

“Don't worry about those morons. They wouldn't have figured out what was most valuable anyway,” he assured. Sceppiro just nodded, wondering why Bakura even brought them if he was implying how stupid they were. He continued on to where his sister stood waiting, and Seth decided to stop watching them at that point. He turned to Bakura, who just shook his head as they began walking again. Obviously, not even Bakura was particularly amused by the thieves' antics.

 

“Why'd you hire them if you don't like them?” Seth asked curiously, feeling that was a valid question for the situation. Bakura just sighed heavily.

 

“They're dumb as horse shit, but they are loyal,” Bakura replied, sounding just a bit too exhausted for Seth's comfort, “Besides, it's not bad having a couple of thieves on your side. We have a lot of inside information, stuff you'd never see.” That part was too true. Normally, Seth frowned upon criminals and vagabonds, but there was something to be said about sneaking around, completely undetected. Besides, when it came down to it, Seth had to admit that thieves weren't entirely bad people. Only those who killed were evil. Unfortunately, Bakura had killed before. Nothing could wipe that stain away, no matter how loyal he'd become to the kingdom.

 

“Inside information, eh?” Seth repeated, just a bit disgusted at the fact that he found himself interested, “Care to share any of this? Anything you'd think would be useful?”

 

“Not much that I haven't already explained,” Bakura replied sadly, frowning slightly, “I'd need some time and free reign to understand the dynamics of the castle. And I wasn't around Rath enough to understand her weaknesses. She made sure of that.” Seth couldn't help but feel disappointed. Thieves were only so useful, and right then, Bakura wasn't proving much more than the fact that he was really strong. And, with more than fifteen Espers on their side, strength wasn't anything they were worried about. He didn't like thinking Bakura was useless, but unless he provided them with something more than strength, he kind of was.

 

“Well, do you sense anything wrong here?” Seth asked, and Bakura tilted his head thoughtfully, “Think about it. You're a thief. Isn't it weird that this is so easy?” Bakura considered that carefully. And he found Seth was right. It was too easy for them. He stopped, doing it so suddenly that Karim and Seth almost ran into him. They stopped as well, both looking at him with worry. Clearly, he was seeing a problem somewhere.

 

“Normally, opposition isn't welcomed, but this is eerie,” Bakura whispered, and both Seth and Karim leant closer to listen, “There hasn't been a guard in sight. No Espers whatsoever.” Bakura's lips thinned as he tried to figure out what that could've meant. No guards… no movement… Rath was clearly expecting them… She hadn't retaliated when Cyd shot his cannons. She was giving them a sense of security. But why?

 

Bakura looked up ahead to where Sith and Sceppiro were. They had gone farther ahead to look for danger before leading the troupe onward. He narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong with that. Sith was saying something, but her expression was one of bewilderment and worry. Something was worrying her, and Bakura forced his sense of hearing to reach farther out. He succeeded, and heard her say that the stairway should've been there, that there was no intersection there. They were far ahead…. and now it hit him. They were in the intersection. Sith looked down at something on the floor, and Bakura followed her gaze. It landed on a golden strip across the floor, a thick one. Bakura knew what it was. He had seen it when the castle was morphing in and out of shape. He now knew why Rath made this so damned easy. He pushed Seth aside, rushing through the crowd gathered.

 

“Sith! Sith, stop!” he called, as everyone either stared or moved aside before he pushed them away, “SITH, GET BACK HERE! BOTH OF YOU, STOP! IT'S A TRAP!” Sith finally heard his frantic shouting, and turned to him, but she was too slow. By the time she took one step, it happened. The golden strip slid into the right side of the hall, and a wall slid into view where the strip used to be. Sith and Sceppiro had been separated from them. Bakura screamed furiously, slamming into the wall, unable to slow down. He pounded on it, screaming for Sith and Sceppiro to respond, but the wall was impossibly thick. Atemu ran up beside him, putting on hand on his shoulder to try and calm the outraged thief down.

 

“Bakura, stop it or you're going to harm yourself,” Atemu said gently, “Sith's okay. They'll be okay.” But, Bakura wasn't convinced in the least. There were just two of them, and at least four dark Espers waiting to destroy them both. The odds alone said they were in serious danger.

 

“They are NOT okay! They're in trouble!” Bakura growled back, “All because I didn't sense that stupid trap in time!” Atemu sighed. Sometimes, he wished Bakura was a better friend. He'd know how to calm the poor man down if they were friends. But they weren't friends. They never would be. All he could do was assure him that they'd be all right. And that had no true chance of working, either.

 

“Bakura, it's not your fault. You can't blame yourself for this,” he told the thief, and Bakura's head hung limp, “Listen to me. I've known Sith for most of my life. She'll be perfectly fine. She's the strongest knight I have. Nothing's going to kill her.” That still wasn't enough for Bakura. Tears were starting to form, and one made the mistake of falling. Bakura was actually crying. Terror threatened to flood Atemu. He had never known Bakura to cry. Bakura looked up just slightly, at him.

 

“That's not good enough,” he whispered, “Pharaoh, you weren't there when Bahamut and Tiamat said I was to be her guardian. They said it was my job to help her. Do you have any idea how I feel? She's behind this wall, and there's no way to get to her. I can't fail those dragons. I… Pharaoh, what the hell can we do?” Atemu took a deep breath. It truly was a rare day when a thief, when your sworn enemy, begs you for help. But Bakura wasn't entirely his sworn enemy. Bakura was the reason he even knew Sith was alive. Bakura was the reason Sith did live. Bakura needed his help now. He looked at the wall that separated them from the Espers in question. It was thick, but something had to break it. They had Espers, werewolves, and demons on their side. Surely, something could destroy it.

 

“That wall needs to go,” he stated. Bakura looked up at him like he had just said the craziest thing the thief had ever heard. But Atemu didn't notice the look he was being given. He was still staring at the wall, wondering just what they might use to tear it down. He didn't want to have to resort to breaking into every room they had passed, but surely there was some tool or switch they could use to bring the wall down. He said, “Bakura, you were here once. Tell me, did you see any tools we could use now?” Bakura still felt Atemu had jumped off the deep end, but he answered as best he could regardless. After all, the man was the pharaoh. Maybe he hadn't gone completely insane.

 

“No, but I was trapped in the observatory,” Bakura replied slowly, “Rath wasn't dumb enough to leave anything of use with me.” Atemu sighed. So much for that plan. He walked up to the wall and put both hands on it. It felt cool under his touch. From so close, he could hear Sith and Sceppiro arguing about how to find them all again. That relieved him. They hadn't gone any farther.

 

“Sith! Sith, can you hear me?” he called, and the arguing stopped. He heard faint footsteps on the other side of the wall. Sith had to have been coming over.

 

“…Atemu?” came the faint reply, “Sir, what on earth happened? Are you all right?” Atemu just smiled at the voice. He nodded, even though he knew Sith couldn't see him, and her voice seemed to perk Bakura up as well. He joined the pharaoh at the wall, putting his ear to the cold surface.

 

“We're fine, Sith. We're going to try breaking this wall down,” he told her, “Can you and your brother wait for a while?” He waited for a reply, but none came. At first, he wondered if Sith had even heard him, but then he wondered if she was even still there. She didn't just ignore him for no reason. Something had to be wrong. He glanced at Bakura, but the thief seemed just as confused as he was. Obviously, Bakura didn't think she'd ignore them, either.

 

“Lady Sith, are you there?” Bakura called, pressing his ear closer. This time, he did get a response.

 

“Yes. I was trying not to laugh at you,” she replied, “Atemu, my friend, how are you going to destroy this wall? Do you even know what it's made of?” Bakura just gave a soft snort. He risked a glance at Atemu and found the poor man absolutely flustered. Sith never laughed often, but when she did, someone somewhere had done something cataclysmically stupid to deserve it. She probably felt his idea was lacking in logic.

 

“That's where I was hoping you'd come in,” the pharaoh replied shyly, tapping the wall, “We need tools. Do you have any?” Another long silence came before Sith replied again. Atemu didn't want to know why that was. He had a feeling she was relaying this to Sceppiro. And, if she wasn't laughing, he probably would be.

 

“Atemu, the only one who has even remotely the tools we'd need is my uncle,” she finally said, and Atemu could hear the laughter she was trying to hide, “We're currently on the second floor of the castle, which is where the bedrooms are located. There are no tools here.” He wished she'd just stop laughing at him. It made it hard for him to concentrate on what needed to be done. And right now, that was locating something to break down the damn wall. He turned to the army behind him. The Espers, the werewolves, the vampire, and the Incubus should be more than enough for the wall, but something told him magic just wasn't that simple. They were in an enclosed space, with a lot of people moving around. That right there was a problem.

 

“Sith, would it be safe to use magic to bring the wall down?” Atemu asked, and immediately, she replied. This time, there was no laughter to her voice.

 

“Absolutely not. You could kill someone in such a small space,” she replied seriously, “The way that wall works is activated by a switch. If we find that switch, the wall should open up.” Atemu didn't like that idea at all. That'd mean either Sith or Sceppiro would go on and find it, and there was a high chance Rath was where the switch happened to be. She already showed that Sith or Sceppiro alone weren't enough to stop her.

 

“I think we'd rather risk a little manpower than risk one of the two of you dying,” the pharaoh mumbled, “There has to be some way. Sith, can't you think of something?” He heard her grumble incoherently behind the wall. She didn't appear to want to have to think so much, especially seeing as how most of them were able-bodied to begin with. But she was the only one aside from Sceppiro who knew the castle and its secrets. And Sceppiro hadn't even joined the conversation in any way.

 

“If you have to break the wall, then just break the wall,” she finally sighed, “Atemu, none of my ideas will go well. They all involve my brother or I leaving and going our own way. Just do whatever you have to.” She sounded exhausted at that point. Atemu let out a deep sigh, and nodded, turning to Bakura. The thief understood the signal. That was their cue. He turned to the others assembled behind them, and beckoned them all to pay close attention. Every pair of eyes were on him now.

 

“All right, people. We have a wall to break down on the double!” he called, and pointed, “Lady Sith and her brother are waiting for us, so let's go and destroy this piece of shit before Rath decides to blow everything to smithereens.” There was a short murmur as everyone whispered to each other, and then the werewolves made their way through the crowd, followed by the Espers, and then Bakura's thieves. They stopped just behind Bakura, all of them looking at the wall. One of the werewolves, a dark grey one, turned to Bakura, his golden eyes gleaming in the darkness.

 

“No wall will keep us from Lady Sith,” he growled, and turned back to the wall. Then, he rammed into it with his shoulder. Everyone winced as they heard a mighty crack, fearing for the wolf's shoulder. But as the werewolf moved back slightly, it was clear that the wall was what had been broken. Cracks emerged from where the werewolf slammed into it. Seth's eyes widened as he leaned toward Karim, who seemed just as flabbergasted by the result. Either that was a flimsy wall, or that wolf was unnaturally powerful. Either one was a good guess.

 

“Did you see that!?” Seth hissed, as another werewolf took one of the smaller stones that crumbled from the wall and pounded it into one of the cracks, “He nearly did it single-handedly!”

 

“I admit that these creatures are amazing,” Karim commented silently, as the wolf pounded the crack again. But, whatever the first wolf had done had left little room for improvement. The stone was quickly wearing away before the second wolf discarded it, shaking his head. A third werewolf, more lion than wolf in all honesty, stepped up and proceeded to smash the wall with one powerful kick. The resulting blow resonated throughout the walls, the boom echoing down the hall and beyond there, furniture and doors shaking in its wake. But the wall didn't give way. Bakura seemed to be getting more and more irritated as the attempts the werewolves made failed.

 

“There has to be a better way to do this!” he declared, “That is it. No more playing nice. I say we blow it down with magic!” Despite Sith's warnings, no one objected. Though, they heard Sith shouting for them to stop behind the wall. But it did little good. The Incubus strode up, grinning as his long, black hair swirled in front of his face. He was, aside from Sith, the best equipped with magic. Surely one wall couldn't stop his mighty surge of power from shattering such an obstacle to pieces. He held out a hand, closed his eyes, and murmured something in a language no one recognized. A ball of pink light appeared in his outstretched hand, and it grew as he chanted the spell again. Finally, it grew to be nearly as large as the demon's head. He threw it at the wall with such force, that it literally exploded on contact. Everyone, save for the Incubus, backed away in terror. Magic grinded against the stone, exploding into tiny bursts of flame as it did, sending wafts of acrid smoke through both sides of the wall. Bakura felt he would choke on it, and Atemu was already coughing from the thick smell. But still, it went on. It continued for minutes, until finally, the last embers died along the cold stone. The smoke cleared slowly, helped by one Esper who cast a wind spell to clear the air. The wall remained, as though nothing had touched it at all. It was unbelievable!

 

“No way!” Mahaado whispered, “There's no way that's possible!” Karim nodded grimly, crossing his arms.

 

“That wall has been fortified if it withstood all of that onslaught,” he added darkly, almost bitterly. He turned to Seth, but Seth wasn't there. He had moved farther away, where the crowd was thinning, and he was still moving on! Karim blinked profusely, wondered just where in hell Seth thought he was going. He cupped his hands to his mouth and called, and for a moment, Seth did stop. He turned back to the larger priest, both Karim and Mahaado looking at him curiously. As Seth wandered over, Karim whispered, “Where on earth are you going, Seth?”

 

“That wall's not coming down as easily as the pharaoh wants,” Seth replied just as quietly, careful to keep his voice low, “I'm going to sneak around and see if there's another way to open it.”

 

“Are you sure you should be doing that?” Mahaado asked him incredulously, nervously shifting to muffle their conversation, “I mean, going alone?” Seth hummed for just a second. He was glad that the two were at least keeping it quiet. The last thing they needed was for everyone to panic again. He understood what Mahaado was asking; they wanted to come with him. But people would definitely notice if three high priests were missing. No, this was something he had to do alone to avoid stirring any commotion up. As much as he didn't like the risk, he nodded his head.

 

“We can't make a scene, and the pharaoh would know if all three of us left,” the young priest replied carefully, “They won't be keeping too good a watch on me, so I can risk it. But you both have been with the pharaoh for much longer than I. It might be riskier, but in the long run, it'll be worth it to not have everyone searching for us.” He also didn't mention that it'd help him redeem himself. His standing had pretty much collapsed to nothing at that point, and no one particularly trusted him. And he didn't like that. Despite the many things he hated, this job meant the world to him. Somehow, Karim saw that. Mahaado wanted to protest, but Karim was the one who stopped him.

 

“All right. We'll cover for you again,” the big priest said calmly, and then in a much grimmer tone, he added, “But only because this is the right thing for everyone. If you screw up again, we're letting your ass burn in hell.” Somehow, Karim sounded much more intimidating than Seth felt was right. Then again, this concerned the pharaoh, and more importantly, Karim's old student. And Seth had already screwed Sith over more than enough times before he realized how bad this was. He just nodded.

 

“Not unless I throw one of you in first,” he countered, trying just a bit too hard to be taken seriously. Then he left, knowing he had made a fool of himself. Karim just watched the younger priest weave through the crowd, everyone else too worried about the wall to notice him leaving. Then, the large priest shook his head, letting it rest on one upraised palm. Mahaado glanced at him, and then at the hall where Seth just turned and disappeared.

 

“Think we made a good choice?” he asked, though he knew the answer. It was most probably a negative. Letting Seth handle most of anything was usually a mistake. Karim just sighed.

 

“It's either going to actually work, or it's going to be a short journey for him,” the bigger priest said tiredly, “Let's hope it actually works.” Mahaado didn't really like what Karim was implying, but he nodded anyway. He had a certain level of trust in Seth that he couldn't really explain. Mainly because Seth only seemed to pull through when it really counted. And right then, it actually counted. Mahaado just hoped Seth knew that. It'd make all the difference in the outcome.

 

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

 

And so, after getting into the castle and wandering around, watching Bakura mistreat his team, Seth now needs to go sneaking around just to see if he can help them proceed even further. And he has to do it alone. But, can Mahaado and Karim keep his departure secret again? And, will he find the switch to help lower the wall? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!