Carved in Stone (Sequel to “Love Lies,” by me)
Disclaimer- I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh and never will. NC-17 Chapter 1- A Night in Cairo
The morning got off to a busy start in the Bakura household. The smell of fresh coffee
floated through the air along with the aroma of pancakes. Ryou and Malik were diligently
stuffing clothes into suitcases upstairs, while Ryou’s father paced around the kitchen with the
telephone in one hand and a spatula in the other.
“Yes, I said three! My son and his friend will also be joining us.......what was that? ......Of course
I got the okay from the university! Listen Ramose, I’ve been doing this sort of thing practically
my entire life! David Bakura knows what needs to be done!” he explained to the person on the
other end of the line as he flipped some bacon sizzling in the pan.
Ryou walked into the kitchen carrying his suitcase and a can of soda. Seeing that his
father was preoccupied on the telephone, he turned right around and walked back out. Just as
Ryou was walking out, Malik came walking down the stairs carrying two duffle bags and a
suitcase. “Almost ready?” Ryou ask as he set his suitcase down and opened his soda.Malik dropped his luggage and let out a loud groan.“Yeah, I think so. I hope I’m not forgetting anything.”Ryou chuckled at Malik as he sipped his soda. It was quite apparent that Malik had packed
practically everything he owned.“I think you have it all.”Malik stretched his arms above his head and sniffed the air curiously.“What’s that smell?”“It’s called food, Malik.” Ryou snickered.Ryou’s dad poked his head out of the kitchen and waved for Malik and Ryou to come in. “Breakfast is ready; you’ll have to eat fast though, we’re leaving for the airport in a half hour.”“Great!” Ryou and Malik exclaimed as they hurried into the kitchen.Ryou’s father was still on the phone, so Malik and Ryou helped themselves to breakfast. They
piled their plates full with warm pancakes and bacon, and brought their plates into the
livingroom. They sat next to each other on the couch and eagerly started stuffing their faces with
food. “Gods Ryou! Your dad is a great cook! I haven’t had food this good in ages!” Marik exclaimed
with his mouth full.Ryou stuffed a fork full of maple syrup slathered pancake into his mouth and snickered at Malik.
“M’hmm” he laughed as he tried cramming more food in his mouth. The two of them had
survived over the last six months since Malik moved in by eating toasted cheese sandwiches and
cheap pizza. Neither of them knew much about cooking, so they went out to eat on the nights
neither of them felt like cooking. They both practically inhaled the food on their plates, and
within a few minutes they were ready for a second helping. As they were entering the kitchen,
Ryou’s father was walking out.“You boys done already?” he laughed.Ryou looked at Malik and snickered, “Not really.”Ryou’s father smiled proudly at him son.“That’s my boy, eat as much as you can. The leftovers are just going to get thrown away.”Malik shook his head slowly from side to side.“Not if I can’t help it!” Ryou and Malik scrambled through the kitchen door and practically knocked each other over in
a race to the stove.Ryou’s father just shook his head and laughed as he made his way into the livingroom and took a
seat on his recliner. Malik and Ryou returned to the livingroom shortly thereafter carrying their plates piled
with even more food than the first time. This time, Ryou sat on the couch and Malik sat on the
floor next to the coffee table.Ryou’s father set down his coffee cup and smiled at Ryou.“My goodness son, I can’t believe what a good looking young man you’ve grown up to be.”Ryou rolled his eyes.“Father, stop it! You’re making me blush!”Malik took a break from his breakfast and grinned at Ryou’s father.“I agree, Mr. Bakura.”Ryou’s father laughed as he picked up his coffee cup.“Mr. Bakura? Oh my, now I feel old!”Ryou and Malik snickered at Ryou’s father. David Bakura was a medium complected man in his
mid- 50's who had held up very well. He had light brown eyes similar to Ryou’s. His hair was the
color of midnight, and he wore distinguishing wire-rim glasses. His personality was pleasant,
and he was easy to get along with. In general, he seemed to be a very well-rounded, open-minded
individual. Ryou grinned chuckled at his father’s reaction to being called “Mr. Bakura.” Even when
he taught at the university, it was a well known fact that David preferred being called by his first
name. “My father likes it when people refer to him as ‘Ace Bakura; Tomb Explorer’,” Ryou giggled as
he retrieved his soda from the coffee table. His father burst out laughing.“Ryou! I can’t believe you remember that! You were only about five years old when my
colleagues nicknamed me that! You have a phenomenal memory, son!”Ryou shrugged his shoulders and laughed.“How could I forget? Professor Walsh still calls me “Little Ace” every time he sees me!”Malik took a bite of his pancake and chuckled.“Are you talking about that old guy with the puffy white beard that started hugging you in the
grocery store the other day?”Ryou nodded his head.“Yes, that’s correct. I was trying to decide whether to buy pepperoni or sausage pizza, when all
the sudden I was pulled into an unforgiving bear-hug!”Malik covered his mouth to prevent the pancake he’d just started chewing from flying all over
the place. “You screamed like a girl!” Malik coughed in a fit of laughter.Ryou’s father shook his head and laughed. He got a far off look in his eyes as he relaxed back
into his recliner.“That’s Robert alright...... Does he still run around wearing that silly suede hat with the
outlandish feather in it?”Ryou nodded his head as he finished off the last of his bacon.“M’hm”“Good old Robert....oh, Malik? You can call me anything, David, Dave, Mr. Bakura, Ryou’s
father, Shaka Zulu, I don’t care..... but not Ace, okay?”Malik nodded his head as he finished off his bacon.“Sure thing, uh.....Dave.”Ryou’s father glanced at his watch and gasp.“Well, we better get moving if we’re going to make it to the airport on time.”Ryou and Malik finished off the last of their food and quickly got ready to leave. They gathered
their luggage and started piling into the car Ryou’s father was renting while he was home. It was
a tight fit, but they all managed to squish in. Malik sat in the back, while Ryou rode shot-gun
next to his father in the front.Malik leaned over and poked his head between the front seats.“It’s very nice of youinclinclude me in on this trip. I can’t believe I’m actually going to be back
home again.”David glanced at Malik and smiled.“I’m really glad the two of you are coming along. I’m sure we’ll have a wonderful time.” The flight to Cairo was long and tiring. The Customs police had held Ryou and Malik for
over an hour in separate holding cells under the suspicions that they were smuggling weapons
onboard their flight. Thanks to the magic of Malik’s “weapon,” he was able to use it17;s17;s powers to
control the minds of the officers before the situation escalated. Ryou was so relieved after their
ordeal that he automatically reacted by throwing his arms around Malik and kissing him like
they’d been apart for years. They hadn’t informed Ryou’s father that they were “more than just
friends,” so David was caught a little off guard by his son’s behavior. He didn’t say anything, but
he made a mental note to ask a few questions once they’d settled into their hotel. Marik and Bakura lay dormant in their soul rooms the entire time. The plan was to stay overnight in Cairo, and leave by boat to Abydos in the morning.
Ryou and Malik stayed in a separate room next to David’s. The boat was leaving port at 7am, so
David assumed the boys would be going to sleep after settling in. After taking a quick shower,
he got dressed and left his room. He was surprised to find the door to their room wide open.
Obnoxiously loud heavy metal music blared out from the open door. David stood outside the
door and watched in amusement at what was going on inside. Ryou was standing on the bed banging his head and playing a convincing air guitar. He
was wearing a pair of tight white jeans and an unbuttoned black shirt. His hair seemed spikier
than normal, which struck David as odd. He glanced over at Malik and was surprised to see the
blond standing in front of the mirror with a can of aerosol hair spray, evilly growling the
words to the song to himself as he cemented his hair into demonic looking spikes. He was
wearing a white sleeveless cut off tank top, and a pair of tight black leather pants. Ryou jumped
off the bed like it was a stage and landed next to Malik. They both shouted the next lines of the
song at themselves in the mirror. “Hunter of the Shadows is rising...... Immortal!...... In madness... you dwell!”*
David was a little spooked out by what he was seeing in front of him. This was a side of his son
he’d never seen before. He had always known Ryou as a rather shy, mild-mannered young man.
David stepped back and leaned against the wall between the rooms. He closed his eyes
and thought back to the days when Ryou was young. David recalled how sweet and innocent his
son was before he’d left for an expedition in Tibet. Ryou was only 14. It had been eight years
since he’d last seen his son. Ryou was almost 22 years old now, and David was realizing all the
time he’d missed being with Ryou while he was growing up.
The music suddenly shut off inside the room. David gathered his thoughts while he
listened to the conversation going on inside the room.
“You should get your bellybutton pierced.”
“I’ll do it if you get your tongue pierced.”
“Is that a come on, Marik?”
“What do you think?”
“I think it’s time to go.”
“Well if you’d knew how to shut the hell up Bakura, we’d already be gone!”
“Bite me, Ishtar.”
“Don’t tempt me, Bakura.”
David quickly tried making himself look inconspicuous. He acted as though he had just walked
out of his room.
“Hey there Ace, we’ll be back by morning” Bakura chuckled as he and Marik made their way
out.
“Uh, yeah......” David replied as he turned and went back into his room.
Marik and Bakura grinned at each other evilly as they stepped out of the hotel.
“Ready to have some fun with these pitiful mortals?” Bakura snickered as he put his arm around
Marik’s shoulder.
Marik closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he slowly exhaled, his mouth turned up into a
twisted evil grin.
“Let’s do it”
Marik walked into a dimly lit underground night club. Psychedelic flashing lights danced
around their bodies. The darkly erotic sounds of Rammstein’s song ,“Sonne,”filled the room.
Other patrons of the club danced slowly to the song.
Bakura gave Marik thumbs up as they approached the bar.
“SO THIS IS WHERE YOU USED TO HANG OUT?”
Marik nodded at Bakura as the bartender approached.
“Thinien Wosrets” [1] Marik spoke clearly to the bartender in his native tongue. Marik turned
back to Bakura as the bartender mixed their drinks.
“Anything goes here, check it out.” Marik pointed toward the dance floor where a crowd of
mixed couples danced seductively around each other. Bakura nodded his head.“They didn’t have places like this back when I lived here.”Marik rolled his eyes as he paid for their drinks.“Surely you’re kidding me. I can’t believe you didn’t have electricity in the early Dynastic
period ” he retorted sarcastically as he handed Bakura his drink. Bakura sipped the drink and made a sour face.“We didn’t need electricity, we had shadow magic.”Marik took a big swallow of his drink and chuckled.“I should have known.” Marik and Bakura spent the next couple hours downing mixed drinks and causing
trouble. Marik met up with a few old acquaintances and introduced them to Bakura as Ahmes,
Irhoreru, and Montuherkhepeshef : whom they’d nicknamed Monty. Marik introduced Bakura
as “Tomb robber,” so Marik’s old friends called him just that. Bakura fit right in to their clique.
Ahmes, Irhoreru, and Monty were all self-professed thieves. They reminisced with Marik about
“the good old days” amongst other things. The drunker they got, the louder and rowdier they
became. The five of them ended up getting the police called on them for starting a messy bar
fight. Marik once again used the Millennium Rod to keep them out of trouble. Marik and Bakura returned to the hotel just before 6 a.m. Ryou’s father was down in the
hotel lobby taking advantage of the free continental breakfast that the hotel offered. He was
visibly shocked to see his son walking past with his clothes ripped and reeking of liquor. “Son?” he gasp as he dropped his white powdered donut onto the floor.Bakura turned around and froze.“Uh....hello......um....father, Sleep well?” he croaked hesitantly.Marik covered his mouth with his hand and turned away. David scratched his head nervously as he bent over to pick up the donut he’d dropped.“Are you boys just getting in?”Bakura nodded his head and rushed his words.“Yes, we met up with some of Marik’s old friends and had a few drinks. Don’t worry, we’ll be
ready to leave by seven. See you in an hour, bye!”David tossed the donut he’d dropped into the trash and shook his head.“Where did I go wrong?” he mused to himself.TBC.............LEMON next chapter!!
* From Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning” album entitled “The Thing That Should Not Be.”
METALLICA OWNS IT, NOT ME!!
[1] Thinien: Arabic for two; Wosret: ancient Egyptian for “powerful one” (Marik ordered two
strong drinks *grin*)