Disclaimer: Yu-gi-Oh! Belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Don’t steal and don’t sue. Thank you, *Phantomness bows*

Warnings: Crack, Plot switches, Mahaado and uber weirdness, incest, and mixing of gender pronouns because I’m high. Lots of fun stuff

Chapter 3

“You told him, didn’t you?” Anzu demanded of Mahaado.

Mahaado smiled. “Of course.”

“Why? Why did you have to tell him?”

Mahaado shrugged elegantly. “It was the truth. Besides, it would be unfair if he lost because the opponent cheated, would it not?”

Anzu’s fists clenched. “But you cheated for him, didn’t you? I took out the Black Magician Card. I know I did!”

“So?” Mahaado’s eyes flashed. “Yes. You may call it cheating if you wish. But I swore to protect Pharaoh, with my soul and spirit, and so I will… cheat for him, if you wish to call it that.”

“I know.” A voice cut in. Both of them spun around to see Yami standing there. “I cannot deny that I am disappointed in your actions, Anzu. But… I think I forgive you.”

Anzu sighed, surprised.

“Mahaado.”

The Magician’s eyes snapped to him, as Yami nodded. “And I appreciate your efforts as well. I do have one question though. Can you explain this?”

He held out a card, and Mahaado gasped.

“I…it can’t be…”

“Why has my Black Magician changed into the Magician of Illusion?”

Mahaado’s eyes widened, as he began shaking his head. “It can’t be…”

“It looks a lot like the Black Magician card, except the armor is… empty.” Anzu volunteered.

Mahaado sighed. “I should have expected it.”

“Why?”

“Because, if you were to be truthful, Black Magician is a fusion Monster… my ba and ka, my soul and spirit, and now that I am here… only my Ka remains in the Black Magician… I am sorry, my Pharaoh. I cannot be of any use to you on the field any longer…”

Yami sighed. “Has it happened to all Dark Magician cards, Mahaado?”

Mahaado shook his head. “Only mine, Pharaoh, because I became Dark Magician to protect you. The others are all copies… empty shells… but if you wish, Pharaoh, I can become Dark Magician once again…”

“No.” Yami said, causing Mahaado to blink in surprise. “It is all right if you are by my side instead of on the field, Mahaado.”

Anzu slowly tiptoed away as Yami met Mahaado’s eyes, and the former priest slowly sank to his knees in front of his Pharaoh.

It was too late.

“It does not matter.” Yami whispered. “As long as you are by my side, whether on the field or off, you are all that I need.”

“Pharaoh…”

“Shh.” Yami whispered, pulling Mahaado into a kiss. “I do not regret anything. I do not regret you, Mahaado. I do not blame you for your second chance at life.”

“Pharaoh…”

When the others caught up with them a few moments later, Mahaado’s eyes were pure green and Yami’s were glinting faintly crimson.

The first conclusion his friends drew was admittedly, possible, but not the best one.

“Where – what?”

“Is it the Seal of Orichalcos?”

Both Mahaado and Yami stared at each other confused. The Seal was gone, and though he still ached when he remembered being under its power, all that was over and done with.

But if they meant that their enemy was here… and the Seal was here…

Green shadows began to swirl around Mahaado’s form, as his clothing shifted from casual into Dark Magician’s armor.

Yami smiled, as he reached for his Deck. Wherever they were hiding, it would not matter. He had defeated them once, and he could defeat them again…

“It’s getting worse.” Anzu whispered, seeing the changes.

“Is he going to attack us?”

“I don’t know what he’s going to do, but just in case…”

Click. Click. Click.

“Yami, what’s wrong?”

His eyes snap open, and he sees Yuugi, which is odd, because he knows that Yuugi should be transparent but he looks rather solid.

Poke.

Mahaado sighs, and the green in his eyes fade out for a second. “… Shadi, this is not my fault.”

There is silence.

Yami stares at Yuugi.

Yuugi stares back at Yami.

Admittedly, they’ve seen each other for a long time, but this is the first time they are together, and both solid. That is quite different.

Mahaado is sitting on a bench he conjured out of thin air, fingers gripping his staff so tightly they’re beginning to turn white, but he isn’t saying anything.

There is something dark and unfathomable in his eyes, but Yuugi and Yami finally stop staring.

Which is good.

What is not so good is when they hug. … And what follows.

Anzu wants to comfort Mahaado, because she knows that he has something to do with this. And she knows it’s horrible to betray people’s trust. But Mahaado just stares straight ahead, and his eyes are hard. They aren’t green any more though, or blue, but some kind of empty color, partially purple but it reminds her of the Shadow Realm.

“Doesn’t it hurt you?” She asks timidly.

Mahaado sighs, and turns to look at her, and for a moment, she sees pain that makes her crush on Yami feel like a candle flame.

“Of course it hurts. But I can’t protect my Pharaoh if I’m in pain, can I?”

So that’s his secret. Whenever he feels threatened, he just retreats. It must be useful. Dark Magician is his shell, just as her shell is… well, friendship girl. She likes friendship, but she knows something, that friendship doesn’t feel like it’s enough.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He turns around and stares at her, really stares, and then he sighs.

“I might as well.”

They actually didn’t talk for that long. After a while, he seemed to get tired of it – or it hurt too much, she wasn’t sure which, so he chanted some fancy spell and suddenly, she could see his memories.

She saw lots of things she wished she hadn’t seen, and things that she wished she could tell Yami, but the moment she tried to talk to him about his past, the memory would fade out.

Devious.

Mahaado was very good at what he did. The Ring had helped, of course, but even though Pharaoh was Pharaoh, he had been Protector of the Throne. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect the Pharaoh – and Pharaoh knew almost none of it.

Mahaado had magic, not the magic of Ka summoning, and not the magic that kept the Ring sealed, but another type of magic.

Alchemy.

Mahaado was very good at alchemy. He was very good at turning useless people into ingredients.

He was very good with chimera.

When the chimera was found, they would invariably die or vanish within a few days.

And, he’d never be able to draw any results on where they had come from.

It frustrated Pharaoh, but he never pushed.

And he never figured out that they came from within.

Mahaado is very good at deceiving people.

He’s very loyal, and no one can fault it, but what Anzu sees is loyalty that starts out as friendship, but quickly turns into twisted absolute loyalty.

She sees how Mahaado cast Brain Control on Aishizu for three months after she left the Pharaoh alone and he was in danger of getting mugged. Of course, the Pharaoh was able to summon monsters to aid him, but that wasn’t enough.

Mahaado stalked him for the next few weeks, and even though Yami never saw the shadows, he could feel it.

Mahaado knows that he is not a nice person. In fact, he won’t mind if the Pharaoh never goes to the afterlife. There’s something dangerous in him now, and he has nothing to lose.

One day, Anzu sees something she hasn’t seen before.

It rather explains a lot of things.

It also makes her feel sorry for Mahaado, since he is so screwed up.

Mahaado knows that Anzu knows, but she can’t talk about it.

He rather likes that.

So he watches Yami, and waits for his little Horus to recover and fly home. Because invariably, that’s what has always happened before, and he knows it will happen again.

It does not take long, and now Yuugi is the one feeling betrayed.

Mahaado doesn’t care.

“Why did you take him away from me?”

He looks at Yuugi, and looks at him. Really looks at him. He’s never really looked at Yuugi before, since whenever he is on the dueling field, it is always Yami who’s there with him.

So he answers that he doesn’t want the Pharaoh to get too narcissist.

Yuugi just stares at him like he’s been slapped.

It’s cruel, but Mahaado didn’t get to be High Priest by being nice.

Yami walks downstairs, rubbing his eyes – it’s still early in the morning after all – and Yuugi stares at him.

Mahaado wonders if he should mention that he’s always the one tied up and decides that that might be overdoing it.

In any case, his Pharaoh walks in, smiles at him, looks surprised to see Yuugi, and then asks him what’s for breakfast.

He laughs and flicks his fingers, and food materializes.

Yuugi stares at him like he’s insane.

Yami grins. He’s used to it.

Yuugi doesn’t stay much longer.

When Yuugi and Anzu talk, Anzu finds that the block isn’t there, since Yuugi isn’t Yami, so she tells him.

Yuugi does look horrified.

Still, shared pain can lead to shared pleasure, right?

Mahaado holds his Pharaoh close, and wonders what will happen when Yami remembers. Not just Egypt. Everything.

He wonders what Yami will think when he realizes that they are more than just Pharaoh and Priest.

But in some small way, Yami does know, because he starts thinking of Mahaado as Mother.

Which he is, of course, because he is Isis.

End Chapter

Completed 8/27/06

Okay. For some reason, I think of Mahaado as Isis. I know it’s totally irrational. Lomelindi got me started on it when she wrote Mahaado as Anubis, but for some reason I just couldn’t envision that. I did a bit of research and found out that Mahaado’s headdress matches that of Hathor, or Isis, depending on time period and the fact that the two goddesses merged sometime in Egypt’s history. Now things get interesting, because it is arguable whether Isis is the Mother and Hathor is the wife, which is all good, but which one took precedence when they mixed? I couldn’t find that out, so I decided to use them both. After all, mythology is full of incest anyways. So, I have incestuous Loyaltyshipping, and Mahaado may or may not be biologically female (I’m sure goddesses can take male form if they have to…)

So yeah… Mahaado is Yami’s mother… and is sleeping with him. *Smirk* that’s all! Unless you go the nicer route and make him his Wife…