Chapter 6: - Seeking Kul Elna
Nen, who was waiting on the return of one of the groups he'd sent out frowned as the youngest High Priest and the archivist walked past. They kept glancing around as they did so and were avoiding the main paths, discussing something in an odd language and wearing odd clothes.
If they'd been wearing anything resembling normal clothes he could have let it slide. He knew everything that happened within the grounds - he couldn't after all provide security for the entire palace compound (and it wasn't exactly small) if he wasn't on top of what went on and where people were likely to be at any given point of the day, in fact he had had the Pharaoh's schedule committed to memory so he could increase the security in the area at need without it looking like he was doing so.
And, before Bakura had attacked the palace the first time, though the High Priest took his duties seriously, he was prone to holding lengthy conversations with the woman. She had gone through her training at the same time as him, and he was forever encouraging her to leave the library every so often even if it was only late at night when there were no demands on their time and no one around to watch.
However something about the supposedly normal scene bugged him and it wasn't just the odd language. It wasn't unusual for the pair to speak something other than Egyptian. The pair, as part of their training were at least quadrilingual if not more, and if they didn't want anyone to know what they were talking about they often used one of the less commonly known languages.
That was fine. Nen had no great urge to know all the secrets of the mage caste anyway.
The odd clothes confused him more. Neither of them looked like they were wearing anything that, even if Nen had seen the material before, looked suitable for the daytime heat of the desert. Both were wearing full leg coverings and, while Seth's white jacket could have passed for a robe from the right angle, Sera was wearing a much shorter tunic that was cut much closer to her body.
However it was only when the pair passed out of sight that Nen twigged on what had been bothering him.
That couldn't have been Sera. He'd seen Sera in the grounds and she was taller and older then that girl had been, even if she was an almost perfect match in everything else. A little sister perhaps?
Considering everything that had happened within the last couple of weeks, he would have followed them, just to make sure that everything was alright and nothing else was likely to explode (he felt sorry for those who had to clean up after that little light show in the courtyard this morning), except for the fact that as he went to follow them around the corner, one of the men he'd set to guarding the throne room rushed over to him, looking happier then he'd seen anyone from his squad since Bakura's first strike.
"Captain, I have good news."
"What?" He asked firmly, wanting to know what could be so urgent, and a little irritated that he was being delayed.
"It's the Pharaoh. Isis has found him. He's injured, but he's alive!"
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"Are you sure about this, Yuge?" Joey asked nervously as they touched down in the Valley of the Kings, just out of sight of the guards who were pacing the area, on edge the entire time. Justifiably so considering what had happened here just a week ago.
Yugi glanced around the rock before answering. If he was honest no, he wasn't sure about this, but it was the only thing he could think of where finding Yami's name was dead certain. A Pharaoh's name was plastered everywhere in their tombs, hidden within the spells that would take them safely to the afterlife, and though in Yugi's timeline the Pharaoh had never made that final journey, here, in the world of memories, before Yami had sacrificed himself to seal away the Shadows, his tomb would have been being prepared for him in advance, just as every Pharaoh's was.
If anything he was more nervous about what he'd find inside. It was, after all, supposedly the greatest Shadow Game on Earth, or at least that was what his Grandfather had said a couple of years back, and it was highly likely that it would test even his luck at games.
That and technically Yugi was visiting his own tomb. That would have been enough to creep most people out.
"I'm sure, Joey." Yugi replied, answering the part of Joey's question that was about Yami's name and trying to ignore the rest of it, trying to work out some sort of pattern to the way the guards were moving and wondering if any of them had magic.
If not it would be easy to slip past them. The guards would, after all, be unable to see or hear them. If they did though, it would be a different matter. Yugi wasn't sure how much they could be affected by the magic within the game while outside the rules and he wasn't sure he wanted to test it considering that their magic could and had had an effect on the game world, suggesting that a mage could hurt them if they got into a battle.
That and he had the oddest feeling that they were being watched. He glanced around for what felt like the third or fourth time and let out a soft sigh when he didn't see anyone. If he was honest he didn't expect he would. The game master, Zorc, knew they were inside his game now and as such any NPC he controlled would be able to tell him what they were up to. It was why he wasn't happy about splitting up, but he would never have gotten Seto to come here while Bakura was on the loose and his friends had been right. This was the quickest way to get to both Yami's name and the Pharaoh himself.
"We could always stun them and dart past." Joey suggested, glancing around the corner and pulling his head back just in time to avoid being spotted. He looked at his friend, who was frowning slightly and let out a soft sigh. He knew Yugi far too well to think that attacking someone who was just doing their job was appealing to him. "It's a shame we don't have Harry's invisibility cloak. We could use it right now."
Yugi let out a soft, irritated, snort as he tried to think of some way of getting past the guards without attacking them, "Even if we'd had it with us at the museum, we wouldn't have it here. We are, after, here as souls, rather than our physical selves."
"What?" Joey asked, not quite sure that he'd heard that right.
Yugi gave his friend a bemused look, "You can't honestly have thought that your body had been dragged into the Puzzle."
"I hadn't thought about it properly." Joey grouched at him. "You're more used to this out of body experience thing then I am. I can't even summon my... what?" Joey asked as Yugi, who had been chuckling at his little complaint paused and grinned, "I just gave you an idea, didn't I?"
"Uh huh." Yugi nodded, calling on his deck and becoming amused when a Duel Disk appeared on his arm, wondering if he was, as Kaiba had, risking his life by interfacing with the game, and drew a card, becoming amused when it turned out to be Sunrise Magician. "Come forth." Yugi called, quietly enough to avoid being heard by the guards, but with enough power in his tone to make it obvious to Joey that he was summoning the monster, "Sunrise Magician."
The shadows swirled in front of Yugi for a moment, then the magician appeared, bowing to Yugi.
"Stand, please." Yugi told the Spellcaster/Effect monster, who stood upright and gave his Duellist a curious look. "I need your help." Yugi told it, "I need you to test if those guards can see you and, if they can, draw them away."
The Sunrise Magician nodded, vanishing for a moment and reappearing well in sight of the guards.
When no one reacted to the presence of the Duel Monster, Yugi dismissed his Duel Monster and the pair stepped out from behind their rock, making sure not to walk through any of the guards and darting into the only unsealed tomb.
Almost instantly it felt like there was something pressing on them and Joey glanced at Yugi, only to find that his friend had called on an orb of light and was quickly scanning the walls for information.
"We're in the right tomb." Yugi said finally, "But we're going to have to go further in if we want to find Yami's name."
"Lead the way, oh wise one." Joey gestured him forward, earning himself a bemused look where anyone else would have swatted him, "After all, I can't read the scribbles."
"There're not scribbles, Joey." Yugi half scolded him as they cautiously continued down the hall. "Each picture means something."
"So teach me."
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"Pharaoh."
Yami's vision wavered as he reached the bottom of the narrow slope, only to turn the corner and find Shada and Kalim, along with a group of guards from the palace, on horseback. Relief coursed through the Pharaoh as he gave them a weary smile and waved, causing a cheer to erupt from the guards.
He'd thought that the Ka beast, a type of Fairy monster he was certain of it though the name escaped him, had belonged to one of the priests, so he wasn't surprised to see them there but it was a relief. He'd been more injured from the fall than he'd realised and walking down from the cave had pushed him to his limits. There was no way he would have made it back to town on his own.
Between his wounds and the fact that it was the middle of the day in the middle of the desert and Yami hadn't had anything to drink in far too long, blackness momentarily pervaded the Pharaoh's vision and when it cleared again he had been caught by someone, though he couldn't see who.
"I've got you." Those words, said by that voice, threw Yami for a moment before he realised that it was Nen who was demanding that someone brought some water over rather then Joey. The bladder that they brought over was half empty before Yami's vision finally stopped wavering and he felt steady enough on his feet to stand properly again, the cool, refreshing liquid quenching his thirst and helping with his dehydration.
"My Pharaoh, we should return to the palace." Kalim said, his concern obvious as Nen assisted Yami to his horse, "You need to rest and recover. We have healers on standby."
Yami didn't deny that this would have been a good thing, he was fully aware that he needed a healer, but he had to ask. "Has there been any news of Bakura?"
Kalim hesitated but Shada answered Yami's question. "Yes, my Pharaoh. He's retreated to his hideout in the ruins of Kul Elna."
"We're going after him." Yami told them, expecting an outburst from his priests.
And he got one.
"My Pharaoh, I must protest. You're badly injured. You're in no fit state to chase Bakura." Kalim protested loudly while gesticulating, though Yami was certain the latter wasn't deliberate. "Let us deal with him, or at least let the healers do their job before you go up against the Tomb Robber again."
"I can't do that Kalim." Yami shook his head then had to pause to try to dispel the dizziness that action caused, "He won't stop. If he finds out I've returned to the palace, he'll just come and kill more of my people. Well no more. This has to end."
Kalim scowled slightly but nodded, "I understand. I will inform Isis of your decision. The other priests will be able to meet us at Kul Elna." Kalim's voice may have been rather different from his friends, but it had the same 'you're being a stubborn idiot' tone that they had down pat, a side effect, Yami imagined, of being caught up in one too many incidents where he had pulled the same sort of 'stupidity' to quote Kari as he was pulling now.
"Nen." Yami turned to the Captain of the Palace Guard, surprised that he was even out here. Yami supposed that with so few trained men left within the troops after Bakura's last two attacks, everyone had to do more than their duty, something that, if he got the chance, he would reward, "I want to you go back to the palace with a few of your best men. If word spreads that I'm still alive, Bakura may go there first."
The blonde nodded, picking four of his men to go with him, leaving Yami with six. Before he left, Nen handed Yami his water bag. "Good luck." Nen nodded to him.
"You too. Stay safe." Yami clasped Nen's arm, "I expect to come back to find my palace in one piece."
Nen just nodded where Joey would have gotten that he was teasing and the Captain led his men back towards the palace. The Pharaoh just hoped he was doing the right thing. It was selfish but he was leading these people into danger and he didn't want Nen, who looked far too much like Joey for Yami's comfort, to be killed because of it.
The Pharaoh took another sip of the water, trying not to chug it though he was still thirsty, as he was aware it was quite possible to drown yourself if you drank too much too quickly, and then turned to Kalim and Shada, "Lead the way."
"Yes, my Pharaoh." Kalim nodded, looking irritated for just a moment. Then they were moving and there was little time for chatter.
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"Trust you to find the Royal Library." Seto snorted at Hermione as the pair passed through another set of doors, only to find a room stacked high with scrolls and tablets.
The teenager ignored him, an idea hitting her as she looked over the hundreds of scrolls. It was highly likely that, somewhere in here, was a history of the royal family, which meant that Yami's name would be in here. She reached for a scroll and paused, rather surprised, when her hand actually landed on it, rather then went straight through it.
"We're not here to read, Granger." Seto snapped at her, wanting to get on with finding the Pharaoh, if only because wherever Yami was, Bakura was likely to be close by at some point soon.
"I know that," Hermione shot back, trying to ignore Seto's tone, knowing that most of his snappishness came from the fact that Mokuba's soul was still in the Shadow Realm and Seto's last attempt to win his freedom had nearly ended in the CEO's death, "But Yami's name could be here somewhere."
Seto paused. He was fully aware that, while his ultimate goal was to find and defeat Bakura, or rather the modern day version who had entered this Shadow Game, the primary objective of Yugi, Joey and Hermione was the discovery of Yami's true name, the only thing that would allow Yami access to the power he would need to destroy Zorc.
Without it, the Pharaoh would die when he fought Zorc and everyone who had followed Yugi into this world, willingly or not, would be lost in the Shadow Realm, doomed to wander the darkness until the Shadows tore their souls to shreds.
"Fine. You stay..."
"Seth? What're you doing..." Seto scowled momentarily, then hid the emotions away and turned to face the speaker who had trailed off, only to find himself shocked when he found himself face to face with an older version of Hermione who was staring at the real Hermione with obvious surprise. "Who is your friend?"
Seto glanced at Hermione, who was just as stunned at the sight of someone who looked like her within the palace, smirking slightly at her discomfiture. He didn't get to say anything though as someone's voice echoed down the row of books.
"Sera?"
The older Hermione looked around, concern obvious at the call, glancing back at them for a moment before darting towards the voice. The younger model followed and Seto kept up. Hermione knew that voice far too well and the tone was worrying.
As they turned the corner they spotted the speaker, a young teen, possibly a year or so younger than Hermione, with long brown hair in a creamy brown, more conservative version of the dress worn by the Dark Magician Girl, was giving the Ka beast she'd just summoned a rather surprised look.
The Dark Magician Girl in question just waved at them as they stopped dead in their tracks, wondering what the hell was going on.
"Well done Mana." The older Hermione, Sera, Seto assumed her name was, smiled at the younger girl, darting around the nearby table to go and look the Spellcaster over, "I did think you were almost ready." Sera considered the Duel Monster carefully, "I find myself unsurprised by clothes," She commented, noting almost instantly the way that the Duel Monster's armour matched the Ka beast that Mahado had become in several ways, "But I do wonder about those colours..."
"Mana?" Hermione asked Seto quietly, much more used to the Mana she knew, who was, in fact, the Duel Monster that was stood in front of them.
"Send her away, Mana. You don't want to overstrain yourself."
"But Sera..." Mana complained for a moment, though Hermione could see that the girl was looking a little tired, not unlike Yugi had when Yami had first started teaching him how to summon Duel Monsters, then she bowed to the Duel Monster who bowed back and vanished. The girl sat down rather heavily in a chair and took a sip of something from a wooden cup, before she spotted Hermione and Seto and shot to her feet.
"Lord Seth." She bowed to Seto, before looking at Sera, "I didn't know you had a little sister."
"I don't." Sera frowned, turning back to the pair of them. "Who are you?" She asked Hermione, "And, if I might ask, Seth, what is with your clothes."
"Get away from him, Sera." Seto's doppelganger swept into the library, Millennium Rod appearing in his hand. "That's not me."
"Seth?" Sera asked, looking confused as she looked from the Priest to his other who had pulled her younger doppelganger behind him and drawn a stick out of a pocket in his coat.
"I was told that someone looking like me had come this way. I thought it might be you." Seth growled, making 'you' sound rude, "Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Seth paused to glance around the room, "And where the other two? There were four of you in the streets."
"My name is Seto Kaiba." The CEO growled back, "And I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't play games with me." The High Priest snarled, not thrown in the slightest by being in an argument with someone who looked like him, he'd half expected, after seeing the doppelgangers when he'd picked up Kisara, that he'd see them again. "I saw the pair of you in the streets with a body double of both the Pharaoh and of the Captain of the Palace Guard. Where are they and what are you planning?"
"If I might speak without being threatened with the Millennium Rod," Hermione said, poking her head out from behind Seto's back, "I can answer you, High Priest."
"Hermione." Seto's tone was that of warning, with a touch of concern, amusing Sera slightly as she glanced at Seth.
She patted his hand as she stepped out from behind the CEO, "I'm Hermione Granger, I'm a Priestess who serves Prince Yugi, the young man who looks so much like the Pharaoh. We're from a foreign country far beyond your borders and we come to offer you our aid."
Seth scowled but lowered the Millennium Rod slightly. "Aid?" He demanded. "You've been here for days and this is the first time you've approached the palace."
"We've had our own problems with the Tomb Robber, Bakura." Hermione told the others, only to get glowered at by Seto. "He's threatened the lives of both our families and our Prince. In fact Seto has a personal debt to settle with him."
"That's enough, Granger." Seto snapped at Hermione, who just backed off slightly, head lowered.
"Why hasn't your Prince come forward?" Seto demanded of Seto, "And why do you walk like ghosts among the people?"
"We are oddly dressed strangers searching for one who blends in. Do you not think that Bakura would be warned of our presence if we walked among your people in plain view?" Hermione asked, earning herself a second glower from Seto. This time she took the hint and didn't give away any thing else.
"And your Prince?" Seth demanded again.
"Still searching for what we're looking for." Seto turned to Hermione, "It's obvious that none of the things we're looking for are here. We should leave." He grabbed her wrist and started towards the door.
"Hold, stranger." Seth stood in the way, thinking quickly. There were so few available in the palace to join the Pharaoh in Kul Elna and while he didn't completely trust these two, he could sense the power that they held, power that, while not as strong as the Millennium Items (he held no fear that he couldn't deal with the pair if they decided that they would turn on them after Bakura was dealt with) was powerful enough to be of some use, "I know where Bakura is and, if you will agree to assist the Pharaoh in battle, I will take you to him."
Seto considered the Priest for a moment. He trusted Seth as far as he could throw him, after all if he was in Seth's position, he would have trusted Seto about as much. However he had no idea where Bakura was and he had promised Yugi that he would find Yami.
If it had been anyone else he'd made the promise to, he would have discarded it. Maybe not carelessly like he once would have, but he would have done it all the same.
"Hermione," Seto said finally, turning to the teen. "You need to stay here."
"I can fight." Hermione shook her head, frustrated that he wanted to leave her behind. "You don't need to…"
"I know." Seto interrupted her, "But we both need to help Yami and you're better at finding information then I am." Hermione just blinked at him, wondering if Seto was feeling alright if he had just admitted a short coming, "You know the sort of thing to look for. I have no idea what Egyptian names look like…"
Hermione let out a soft sigh. And the fact Seto was putting himself into the game while she wouldn't be anywhere the battle had nothing to do with it she supposed. "Alright Seto, but come back safely. Mokuba won't forgive me if I let you go, only for you to get yourself killed."
Seto just nodded and looked at Seth. "I'm ready to leave when you are."
Seth nodded and looked at Sera. "There's a girl, her name's Kisara. I'm having her brought up to your room. I need you to look after her." Seto, who had already come to a conclusion he didn't like about Mana, having heard some of how a Duel Monster was normally created from Mokuba, who, in turn had learnt from Geki, balled his hands into fists at the sound of this new name as Sera nodded and promised to take care of her.
"Oh," Seth added, "You." He pointed at Mana, "You're coming with us."
"Lord Seth?" Sera's tone turned demanding as the older version of Hermione demanded to know what Seth thought he was playing at, bringing her pupil, who hadn't finished her training, into this.
"I need you to stay here." Seth told her in a no nonsense manner, "And Mana's ready enough to cast a few spells if we need them. She'd be more use if she could summon her Ka beast but…"
"I can." Mana interrupted him and then blinked, as if surprised she'd had the audacity to do so, having the grace to look embarrassed.
"She's just finished that part of her training, my Lord." Seth internally winced at Sera's tone. It promised that he would pay dearly if anything happened to the girl. It wasn't like he wanted to take Mana, but he had to, for the same reason he had to take Seto. He needed the fire power. "It takes a little while, but she can summon her Ka beast."
"Good." Seth nodded as a pair of guards came in, one of whom carrying an unconscious teenager with long white hair and he directed them towards Sera's rooms.
Once she was settled Seth, Seto and Mana left to help the Pharaoh and take down Bakura.
Sera, still weirded out by the young Priestess that looked so much like her, looked at Hermione. "Now, what is it you're looking for?"
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The ruins of Kul Elna were far below them but even from here and without his Millennium Item Yami could still sense the evil that lurked there. The place practically reeked of pain and suffering, though it was obvious that no one except Bakura had lived there for many, many years.
"My Pharaoh." Kalim said as he cantered forward to join Yami at the head of the group. The Priest was concerned for the Living God. He too could sense the soul warping darkness of the place below them and, though he had seen the Pharaoh take down opponents over twice his size, with the injuries he had now Kalim wasn't certain that the Pharaoh would win this fight. "We should turn back or wait for the others."
"I'm not afraid of Bakura, Kalim." Yami replied, "Nor of the darkness down there. This has to end, here, today, or more innocent people will die and I won't allow that to happen. Not as long as I'm Pharaoh."
Kalim considered the young King. The Pharaoh had been considered young for the throne by most, Kalim among them, but he had proved all his doubters wrong. 'For the good of the people' that was the motto the Pharaoh lived by and he had always stuck to it.
The Priest had a horrible feeling that that same motto would be what got the Pharaoh killed.
"I know I'm asking a lot Kalim." Yami said, giving him a soft, amused, smile, "But I refuse to turn back now, when we're so close. So I guess my question is, will you follow me?"
"Of course, my Pharaoh." Kalim nodded.
"Then let's go."
With that they rode down the dune and into the ruins below.