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Rulers and Rogues	By : Khat Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 10587 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 33
- 34
- 35
So, not exactly on time, though it's more in keeping with my week-and-a-half turnaround lately. At least it's not as late as the last chapter. I didn't expect to have to spend all day Sunday sitting around the resort my sister works at, just for a ten minute interview. I didn't get the job anyway. Not entirely surprised or upset over that.
I might have stumbled into another story here, while I was, again, screwing up canon. (Is a video game considered canon?) I know Jounouchi was called Jono in Forbidden Memories, and was written as being one of Atem's friends, but he never showed up in the memory world, Jono is obviously just a twist on his modern name, and I kind of like the idea of him being a foreign slave given as a present to Pharaoh Set. Gives them more time to become acquainted without impending apocolypse hanging over their head. If anyone else wants to take a stab at that particular prequel, feel free too, just give me a heads-up. I might try it myself, if I get an urge. Dunno. The name Judoc, according to the page I found, is ancient Celtic, and means Lord. The only pronounciation I found for it was actually far a variation of the name and pronounced the 'J' as a "Y'. If anyone knows Celtic and would like to correct me, feel free to do so.
If I do end up doing a prequel, Honda and his demon will definitely be part of it, and I do know how the demon got loose, though I'm not going to tell you atm. And yes, for all his tough attitude and everything, I think Bakura does feel at least a little protective of Yugi, in his own domineering way.
Lovelock8: I like to think Yami's connection to Yugi has been strengthened by the time they spent together, through the series, and in the story. If you go back to the beginning, after all, the real beginning, Yami couldn't effect him unless he actively took control and made him black out, and they did reconnect in the Atlantis arc there, although I'm not entirely sure that can be counted, magic valley and all that. So even exiled, without the puzzle, here, Yami could follow the residual link and affect Yugi, but only when he was unconscious or relaxed enough.
IvoryRose: You're not wrong. There's more than a touch of stockholm there. But when you're trying to bring those two together, and keep them more or less in character, it's kind of necessary. At least Kaiba's not the kind to take blatant advantage of it.
Marik is probably on whichever side will give him the most freedom to do whatever he wants. At the moment, this would be Honda, and Marik's rather fond of the demon, birds of a feather and all that. I'm actually not sure what I'm going to do with our little psychopath. I said I wouldn't kill anyone, but I'm kind of tempted... Well, we'll see. Malik, however, is entirely on Yami's side, despite his recent actions. He's under a lot of stress. Not only does he have to try to deal with the demon's effects, but he also has to keep his true allegience a secret from his other half.
You know what? I just realised we haven't really finished off the Annalee plot. She just sorta disappeared. I'll have to keep that in mind for next chapter.
And as for the agreements, they probably won't be entirely followed, or, at least, not without a few workarounds, but Yami's not dishonest enough to break them outright, even if he didn't actually agree to them.
******
“Stubborn fool.”
Jou opened his eyes, blinking in confusion. He was stretched out on his old couch.
It took him a moment more to realise where he really was, but the furious Egyptian priest who stood frowning down on him helped.
“I am shocked your idiotic pride hasn’t gotten you killed already. Although, it is probably more my cousin’s brat to thank for that, I suppose.”
“Go away. I’m trying to sleep.” And the blond simply rolled over and pulled the covers up. That worked for about five seconds, before they were dragged off him and he was jerked upright by a handful of hair.
Of course, he came up with his fists out, but Set, it seemed, was less inclined to humour him this time, and he found himself with his hands tied behind his back with a length of rope, (and where had it come from?) in a disgracefully short amount of time.
“Now, perhaps you will listen.” The priest commented, pushing him back down to sit on the couch. Jou just glared up at him.
“I’m not your fucking toy. Either of you.”
“You are a slave. That is your place in life, as it was in my time as well. I would not be surprised to find it has been your role in your other incarnations as well, in some form or another. More specifically, you are, and were, and will be, my slave.”
“Go screw yourself. I ain’t nobody’s slave, and sure as hell not yours.”
The priest spoke a quick sentence then, in Egyptian or something, and touched his pointer and middle finger to Jou’s head. The captive let out a surprised whine as memories, of a place he had seen only once before, and a time he was sure he had never known, flashed through his head. A life spent caring for his father’s farm, laughing with his siblings, until the army swept through and destroyed everything. Following naked behind a camel through burning desert, ropes wrapped around his wrists, a heavy metal collar around his throat. A city, where caramel-skinned people eyed him, said words he couldn’t understand, before he was led into a huge palace and presented before the ruler of this place, a tall blue-eyed man who eyed him with an intensity that made him even more unsure and frightened.
Other memories followed, days of being forced to learn the rules of his new position in life, the language and customs of his captors, and later, nights of pure pleasure at the pharaoh’s hands, as his position shifted from palace slave to pleasure slave, and then, consort.
“S-stop.” He hissed out finally, pushing the spirit’s hands away and cowering back, the rope binding him having disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared.
“Calm down. Just relax.” And it wasn’t the priest who crouched beside the couch now, but Kaiba, his hand running lightly through Jou’s hair.
The gentle touch brought back other memories, now, and Jou flinched back, feeling overwhelmed. The CEO let out an irritated noise.
“I’d kill him if I could figure out how.” He huffed.
“It was necessary. He will adjust.” Jou lifted his head to blink uncertainly at the priest, who stood back a distance. He was fuzzy around the edges, and faintly see-through.
“Go to hell.”
“Your concept of the afterlife does not apply to me.”
“Asshole.” The CEO growled, then promptly disappeared. Jou focused his attention back on Set, who was looking solid again.
“He is ordering your guard to bring you in.” The spirit said, after a moment.
“Guard?” Jou parroted, then pressed back against the cushions as the priest moved closer.
“Calm down. It would serve no purpose to refresh your memories again.” The blond shook his head, trying to shake off whatever it was the Egyptian had done. He had to fight the urge to submit to him now, to actively encourage the type of attention he would have refused, only ten minutes before.
“You said guard. I didn’t have anyone with me.” He focused on that, to try to ignore the feelings.
“You cannot actually think we would let you wander through a strange city unsupervised. You could have saved yourself a lot of walking, had you stopped being so prideful. Ah, but you were just as stubborn the first time around, I suppose.”
“Don’t. I’m not… Not whoever the hell he is. Was.”
“He called himself Judoc, as I recall.” Set continued, pronouncing the J with a Y sound.
“Shut up!” Jounouchi stormed to his feet, glaring at the priest. “My name is Jounouchi Katsuya.” He could remember being called that other name, now, faintly. “I am part Japanese and part American, not… not Irish, and I certainly am not your whore.”
“What you are is an ignorant child.” The brunet snapped, then hissed in irritation, closing his eyes for a moment and clearly trying to calm his temper.
“I had hoped reminding you of your past life would save you the discomfort you caused yourself back then, but it seems you are determined to take the difficult route.”
“I never got anything by playing nice.” Jou growled, turning to circle around the room, wondering how to wake up.
“No, I suppose not.”
And then, suddenly he was awake, as he was lifted and tossed over a powerful should.
“Wha the…” His head spun from the sudden shift in place, and he tried instinctively to get himself the right way up.
“Settle down, Princess. Time you were home in bed.” Raul. Of course the bastard would have sent Raul to keep an eye on him.
“Put me down.” Jou snapped, kicking out.
“If you don’t settle down, Princess, I’ll let you taste my belt.” Jou drove a fist into the man’s side, and was almost dropped for his trouble.
“Do that again, Bitch, and I’ll see for myself what the boss is so interested in.”
“You’re feeling suicidal?” A surge of memories flared, of watching as his mother and sisters were thrown to the grass and raped, of being forced into the same position himself, before that brutal trek through the desert.
“There. That’s a good girl.” Jou blinked, realising he had gone still during the flashback. Raul was patting him fondly on the ass now.
“Touch me again and I’ll break your arm too.”
“Little hard to do that with my cock up your ass.”
“You two are out late.” Raul stopped, and Jou twisted around to try to see who it was. The voice had sounded familiar.
“The lady went out for a walk. I’m seeing her safely home.” This time, the fist was better aimed, and Raul did drop him.
“Fucking brat.” He hissed, holding his side. Jou rolled away, coming back to his feet and ready to go after him again, only a thick arm was around his throat, pulling him back.
“Settle down, Sunshine. You’re not going to make anything better by taking out your boss’s men.” He knew who it was now. Rick.
“It’d make me feel better.” Jou muttered. Definitely not a good idea to pick a fight with the rebel, especially considering Raul would happily join in.
“You take it easy there.” Rick said, ignoring Jou’s comment. “That looked like it hurt. I’ll make sure Sunshine gets back where he’s supposed to be, safely.” There was just a tinge of emphasis on the last word.
Raul glared at them, but obviously he felt it wasn’t worth pressing the issue either, and Rick tugged Jou off in the direction of the safe house.
******
“Yugi, wake up!” Yugi blinked, pulling himself upright again at Ryou’s hissed demand. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to them, though, too busy bustling around with last minute preparations. The front yard was garishly decorated with bright ribbons, the gilded statues either removed or recoloured, and a wide wooden stand, complete with a whipping frame, had been built in the middle of the driveway area. Three of the thrones, marik’s, Bakura’s and Yami’s, had been moved out onto the verandah, and cushions had been piled by Bakura’s for the two slaves, a shade situated over them to provide shelter from the sun. Later on, it would pass behind the palace, and the building would provide the shade, but at the moment, the burning orb was almost right overhead.
“He has a concussion. He was awake most of the night. He’s in no condition for a public punishment.” Yugi lifted his head as Bakura approached, along with a displeased-looking Honda, and, of course, the demon.
Bakura wasn’t entirely lying. Yugi probably did have a concussion from being hit on the head, though it wasn’t quite so serious as the thief was insisting, and he had been up most of the night, putting golden puzzle pieces together. The puzzle was complete now, except for the keypiece. Bakura had worried that assembling it fully might have drawn the demon’s attention. Both puzzle and piece were close to hand, though, tucked into and under the cushions the two hikari sat on. The other items had been hidden around the area as well, Yugi knew, in strategic places.
“I think he could handle it.” Marik said suddenly, from behind the pair of slaves, and Yugi twisted to see where he was. Both the Egyptians stood just between two of the support columns. The yami held a long thin whip.
“He looks like he’d pass out after one hit.” Malik disagreed. “Not much fun in beating an unconscious slave. You might as well go beat a sack of grain.”
“Whatever.” Honda snapped. “There’ll be plenty of others. And you won’t need to be so careful with them.” The usurper cast an irritated glare towards Bakura. The spirit simply ignored it.
“Lie down, brat, before you fall over.” He said instead, giving Yugi a push as he walked past to the spot his throne had been moved to. Yugi was tempted to protest, but it sounded to him like permission to take a nap, and he wasn’t going to argue with that, instead curling up on the cushions.
******
The servants were still rushing to and fro when he was nudged awake, but the sun had shifted enough that his position wasn’t in the shade anymore.
“You’re going to get a burn if you don’t move.” It was Malik who had woken him, it seemed. The tombkeeper was watching the servants, seemingly not paying any attention to Yugi at all. “It’s going to start soon.”
He wasn’t wrong. Before the hour was up, people started trickling in, either willingly or ‘encouraged’ by Honda’s guards. The front lawn filled with people, and then, finally, Honda appeared himself, with Bakura and Marik, of course. There were speeches, and some arrogant gesturing, and the rulers took their seats, and then the first captive was dragged out and chained in place.
“Be ready, Yugi.” Ryou murmured as Marik left his throne to stride out to the stand. The nap had done wonders and Yugi felt much more clear-headed now. His fingers reached under the cushions, finding the piece and the puzzle, ready to press them together.
The whip rose in the air, then snapped down, a pained scream splitting the air.
“Now.” Bakura hissed, at the same time standing and moving away, making it look casual, as if he wished to speak to someone in the crowd of ‘nobles’. Even though he had been expecting the command, Yugi jumped a bit, fumbling the piece. The thief’s head turned as he reached his position and the whip lifted again, brown eyes demanding, and Yugi pulled the puzzle and keypiece from the cushions, twisting the piece to the right position and sliding it home with a resounding click.
Blinding golden light flared from the item, and everything seemed to happen at once. The captive on the stage screamed again, and the sound mixed with Honda’s surprised cry, and the demon’s screech of pure fury. The golden light spread and separated into beams that spread across the yard, creating a web with the other items, all of them glowing now. Across the square, Yugi could see Kaiba, the brunet holding the rod in both hands, Jou standing close to him.
And then a figure appeared where the light converged on the puzzle, and Yugi forgot about everything else.
“Aibou.” Yami said softly, the deep voice warm and soothing, and Yugi realised he was kneeling, the puzzle held out in both hands, as if in offering to a god or something. And, for a moment, a seconds-long meeting and merging of minds, he could see it all from Yami’s point of view. Raised in a palace as the Pharaoh’s heir, his every whim treated as law, reassured time and again about how important he was, and, finally, his induction into Godhood through his coronation.
In that same instance, Yugi’s own thoughts and memories became clear to the spirit as well, the fear and misery he had suffered through over the last year, cold nights and hungry days, and quickly made friends lost in the fighting.
“My precious Light.” Yami murmured, reaching out to take the puzzle. “I’ve wronged you badly.” It would wait, though, was the unspoken agreement, as the spirit took the talisman, lifting it and placing it around his neck.
“It is time, Demon,” he announced instead, still glowing with golden light, fed from the other six items, “that you returned to the hell you came from.”
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Rulers and Rogues