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Mouth of Yomi	By : Silvershadowfire Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 3145 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- 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
- 6
- 7
- 8
Okay, here�s Chapter 7. Thanks to my Beta-reader, Cha Oseye Tempest Thrain, and to Divey for the encouraging e-mails.
DISCLAIMER: Addendum to Chapter 1 Disclaimer: I do own the character O-sama Akuma, despite the fact that he is based loosely on several different Japanese myths and legends.
Note: memory sequences are italicized.

<thoughts are in pointy brackets.>
Chapter 7 ~ Priest�s Memory and Light�s Despair
He could smell the baked desert sand that floated on the breeze, catching in the back of his throat. The sun poured liquid light over topaz ground, while the singing of the slaves as they worked to clean the palace floor echoed in his ears.
Flashes of memory poured over him. Seto remembered learning the hieroglyphic script of the Temple of Ra, and the hieratic as well as Latin, Greek and Aramaic*. Learning to cast the Shadow Magics of Ancient Egypt; the rituals to appease his chosen God, his namestake Set.
He remembered playing with the young Crown Prince of Egypt, and the nights they had spent simply talking, until Atem had received the crown and Seto had taken on his responsibilities as a High Priest, receiving the Millennium Rod.

Less than a year after that, when the kingdom had just begun to settle into its new ruler, Bakura the Thief had struck, nearly destroying the entire country of Egypt with the power of Zork Necrophidius. And his life had come crashing down around him.
Seto whimpered to himself; he didn�t want to know this, didn�t want to remember. But Yugi�s hand still wrapped around his, the Rod flaring as it responded to the will of the smaller teen.
Set stared at the white-haired thief with something resembling disgust to hide the roiling of fear in his guts. It hadn�t been enough - all the efforts of the Millennium Items and their Shadow Magic had proved useless. Now the palace was crumbling around them, precursor to the destruction that would soon encompass all of Egypt.
�Set!� Jerking out of his musings, the High Priest stared at the source of the cry. Pharaoh Atem stood there, covered in blood and sandstone dust, his eyes a study in anguish. In one arm he carried a child, no more than a year old. Akunamun, his son and heir.

�Thank Osiris.� Atem walked over and handed the baby to his startled priest. �Listen, there is only one way to stop this. I have to seal the magic away; seal the Shadow Games before the kingdom is destroyed.�

�But that requires a sacrifice.� Seto protested, looking down at the child in his arms.

�Yes. Listen. This is your last command from me, Set. Take the throne and rule as regent until my son is old enough to rule. Please. I know that there is no one who I can trust my kingdom and family to.
�What about the Queen?� he asked.

�She died.� Atem said it flatly, not showing the raging grief in his voice that blazed in his crimson-hued eyes.
�Oh, Ra�� Set nodded. �Alright, Atem. If you die, I�ll take the throne.�
Atem smiled, a rare expression of true happiness. �Thank you, Set.�

Rainbow light flashed, throwing him into another memory.
�We have to leave.� Set opened the door to the room where the strange white-haired girl known as Kisara was being held. �Now. This place isn�t safe.� He himself had imprisoned her, in an attempt to harness the incredible power of her Ka** but somehow, without trying, this quiet beauty had stolen his heart instead.

Wordlessly Kisara complied, following the priest and the child. They made itost ost out when suddenly the High Priest Akunadin, wielder of the Millennium Eye, blocked their way.
�I see you have the Pharaoh�s brat.� heted ted calmly, staring at them both with the golden Eye. �Kill him, Set. Kill him and the throne is yours.�

�Don�t be ridiculous.� Set snapped. �I will not harm my Prince. You will have to go tgh mgh me to touch him or the girl.�
�It is you who are ridiculous, my son. You are the Pharaoh�s first cousin; if the child dies, you are Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt.�
�That presumes there�s a country to rule.� Set pointed out logically. �And if I don�t go, now, then Atem�s gamble might be pointless. I can�t let his son - my second cousin, according to you - be killed. Get out of my way. I don�t know what you�re trying to pull, but you�re not my father. Now move!�

�No.� The old priest pulled aside his lock of white hair, uncovering the Millennium Eye. �You will be Pharaoh, my son. All it takes is a sacrifice.�

A beam of black force leapt from the eye of the mad priest towards the child still cradled in his arms. Set curled protectively around his charge, pulling out the Millennium Rod to defend himself. A shrill cry erupted from behind him and suddenly he was shoved to one side. Seto stared in shock as Kisara took the force of the beam, screaming as the power of the Eye stole her soul. The shriek turned into a deep throated cry of anger as her Ka, a great dragon with silvery white skin and blue eyes, manifested. It opened its mouth and spat forth a ball of white lightening, which encompassed Akunadin, consuming him utterly. Set stared - the whole thing had taken less than a minute.
�Kisara!� He stared at the dragon and at the corpse of his beloved. The Prince began to cry quietly, a pathetic sound that echoed Set�s own heart.
:High Priest Set: the dragon spoke in his mind; Kisara�s voice. :I will always love you, and I will always be here for you.:

The dragon began to fade; Set started, realizing suddenly that without her body, the dragon would die as well.
�NO.� Rising, suddenly decisive, the High Priest raised the Millennium Rod. �Thank you Kisara. I love you�� With the power of the Rod, he fused her Ba and her Ka, binding the resulting Ahk, still in the form of the great dragon, to keep it from passing into the underworld.
Then he fell to his knees next to her corpse and wept.
*******************
A thundering detonation made the remnants of the palace shake around him, forcing the priest to abandon his grief. He ran with the child, finally emerging at the top of the cliff Atem�s palace had been built into . Far below he felt the swirling of Shadow Magic as the Thief King Bakura, leading a swarm of creatures, mounted his final attack on the Pharaoh, who stood alone, ready to meet him. He could see the flash of gold as Atem called upon the power of his item. Raising the glowing Puzzle over his head, Set almost thought he saw the Pharaoh smile before he shattered it.
Every last monster in Bakura�s army vanished, including his personal Ka, Diabound. The thief stared in shock as the remnants of the Pharaoh�s bodyguard emerged from the ruins. They stabbed at the white-haired man with long spears in belated revenge. As his blood poured over it, the Millennium Ring gave one last feeble flicker. The Shadow Magic, almost overwhelming in it�s intensity before, vanished from Set�s senses. He would have pulled out the Rod and tried to use it, but he knew it would be a vain effort. Atem had sealed the magic and the items� power, until someone could reassemble the infinitely complex Puzzle, a task which might take decades.

Picking his way back down the cliff face to the palace, Set finally arrived at Atem�s side. The Pharaoh lay motionless, a small smirk still on his face, surrounded by the pieces of the Puzzle. It was obvious now whom Atem had decided to use as the sacrifice. Set rocked the Prince - now Pharaoh - in his arm and stared down at Atem�s mortal remains.
�You never could stand to lose, could you?� he murmured softly.
********************

Seto screamed Kisara�s name, jerking Yugi out of his rage as effectively as a bucket of cold water. Utter despair laced Seto�s voice. Mokuba shot Yugi a look of utter disgust before going to his now weeping niisan. Everybody else stared at either Yugi or Seto. Abruptly dropping his grip on Seto and the rod, Yugi turned and ran. Making it to the bathroom he locked the door before dropping to his hands and knees on the cold tiles. Tears dripped from his eyes- a wail of despair built in his chest.
<What is wrong with me?> creacreamed silently. <What is happening to me?>

He stared at his slightly glowing flesh, thoughts a litany of accusation. <I�I deliberately hurt Seto-kun. I know he doesn�t want to accept his connection to the Rod and to the ancient past, but I made him do it anyway. I am�> he hugged himself tight, pulling his body in as close as he could as thought to shield himself from�himself. <I am no kind of friend. All I ever do is hurt people.> He remembered Anzu�s reaction when he kissed her, and felt his heart clench painfully. <I�m selfish and greedy and�> Nails dug into flesh, blood welling up. <Evil. I�m evil, this is wrong. I can�t hurt others just to bring back my yami.> But the damage was done. <Anzu-chan probably hates me now, and Seto-kun, and Mokuba-chan; all of them.> He remembered the expressions on the faces of Jounouchi, Honda, Bakura and Marik. Horrified pity.
<I should just drown myself and be done with it.> Yugi rocked back and forth on the tiles, no longer feeling the cold on his knees. Just the pain that ate him up from within, washing out all other sensation. He deliberately raked his nails down his arms, drawing welts. No pain, nothing. The broken edges of his soul slashed at his mind. <Atem�s probably dead; I�m just operating on a delusional hope, and getting the others involved because I don�t want to be alone.> The glow in his flesh was getting brighter, the burning sensation returning to his blood. He felt the tears evaporating from his cheeks.
The decision came. �That�s what I�ll do.� Closing his eyes, Yugi surrendered to the power of the Light within him. He couldn�t control it, and didn�t even try. Instead he fed it with his helpless rage and despair. Physical pain replaced emotional as the power began to consume him from within. He welcomed it with open arms - <er ter all, it�s no more than I deserve.> With that last thought he collapsed on the tiles bonelessly.
Jounouchi, Honda and Bakura had followed Yugi as he fled, too late to stop him from locking the bathroom door. Jounouchi knocked on it, but there was no reply from the smalln inn inside. Honda exchanged a look with the blond. They had both seen the look on Yugi�s face when he had run for it.
�You don�t think he would�� Jounouchi began when Bakura suddenly gasped.
�No! Yugi-kun!� He looked at the other two. Like Yugi, he too had begun to glow, but gently. �He�s dying! Get that door open!�
�On three.� Jounouchi snapped, ready to shoulder-block the door. Honda stood beside him, poised.
�Three!� they snapped together, slamming into tlimslimsy wood, which shattered beneath the blow. The pair stumbled back out of the bathroom; now a raging inferno blazed inside. Yellow flames licked at the walls and room, while the tile floor cracked apart with sharp detonation. At its centre lay Yugi, eyes closed. His body seemed to be the source of the fire.
Fearlessly, Bakura walked into the conflagration. His pale glow brightened, mingling with the golden glimmering of the Millennium Ring but still soft and silvery. He vanished into the fire and returned a moment later, carrying Yugi�s unconscious form. His white mane of hair flew upwards in the flame-wrought breezes; for a moment he uncannily resembled his yami. But on his face was an expression of both inhuman determination and compassion. Yugi�s fire still wreathed around them, but didn�t seem to harm the white-haired teen.
Just for an instant, both Jounouchi and Honda thought they saw, superimposed over Bakura, the image of a bearded young man with a silver crescent on his brow and a white disc floating over him.
�The fire will not hurt you if you seek to help.� Bakura said, holding Yugi tightly. �Help me bring him back.�
Tenuously, Jounouchi and Honda approached, wincing as the yellow flames tasted their flesh, heating but not burning. Bakura placed Yugi down on the floor and held out his hands, mutely ordering them to do the same. The three formed a circle, though Jounouchi and Honda only touched fingertips, lest someone walk in and see them holding hands.
Bakura began to chant in a language that they didn�t understand; the Millennium Ring glowed and shadows emerged from it, wrapping around the flames, battling for dominance.
�Yugi-kun.� Jounouchi murmured. �Come on, man.�

�Don�t die, Yugi-kun.� Honda said softly. �Don�t give up.�
Suddenly the flames died - as did the shadows from the Ring and the glow around Bakura. The white-haired teen collapsed. Jounouchi and Honda just stared in shock for a moment, at the downed Bakura and the naked form of Yugi. Jounouchi pulled off his shirt, wrapping it around Yugi before lifting him off the floor. He hung limply, far too light for his size. Honda scooped up Bakura, but before he could move the chocolate brown eyes opened. Them they opened wider when he realized Honda was holding him gently in his arms.
�What happened?� he asked.
�You did some kind of funky magic with the Millennium Ring.�
�Oh my. Did I really?� Bakura blinked, shaking his head. �Um, Honda?�
�Hai?�
�Could you put me down now, please?�
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Footnotes
* The language of the Hebrews who lived in Egypt at this time.

**The Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul was made from 2 parts: the Ba and the Ka. For YuGiOh, the Ka is considered the �shape� of the soul and the Ba is the power behind it. The reason Dark Magician and Blue Eyes White Dragon are so powerful is that at the moment of their death, their Ba was sealed with their Ka, giving them an independent �power source� outside of the energy of the caster. This combination soul was called the Ahk. With the Shadow and the Name, it provided the five parts of the human personality.
Well, that�s it for this chapter. Hope you all like it.
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Please R&R, kudasai!
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Mouth of Yomi