Dark! And Insane! Yami is fun to write…

Disclaimer: YGO belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me.

And no, I did not wind up ending it last chapter, as a matter of fact. *Shrug*

Chapter 6

< I think we fooled him nicely. >

< I’m sure we did. > Yami said, as he sat on Mahaado’s bed and watched the Priest mix chemicals in shallow bowl. < It seems to have worked wonderfully. >

< Your strategy is impeccable. >

< Now I just need you as my consort… >

< Prince… >

< I want you, Mahaado. > Yami said, as he pulled the Priest into a kiss. < Do not deny me this. >

< My Prince, have I ever denied you anything? >

< Just a precaution, > Yami whispered back mentally with a purr…as crimson twined its bloody arms around them, the shadows stirred sleepily…

Their eyes met in shared amusement. Humans were so easily manipulated…

Akunumkanon was starting to feel jealous. Yami had been home for exactly three days and had not left the Magician’s side. True, Mahaado was in no way taking advantage of it, acting as humble and quiet as ever, but his eyes held a darker story.

What had Asen done to his son and heir?

It was time for some explanations.

“Tell me.”

“Yes, Pharaoh. Life, Health, Strength be to you for ten thousand years.” Mahaado chanted dutifully as he knelt. “King Asen took the Prince against his will and broke his spirit.” There. Simple enough, nothing too difficult to understand, no strange worries…

The Pharaoh looked sickened.

Mahaado left, deciding to wait before he dropped his next tidbit of useful information.

Akunumkanon watched the Priest leave with a strange sense of foreboding. Of course Mahaado would not have interfered… it would have brought disaster to the treaty, fragile as it was, between Egypt and Ethiopia, but even so…

How had the Priest known?

Perhaps it was no great secret. Perhaps the Prince, his son, had confided in his friend – possibly his only friend in that foreign land…

And now, he still clung to Mahaado like a lifeline… since in Ethiopia, Mahaado had been his only link to Egypt…

Oh Ra…

Well now he was safe, and home at least.

“As if that makes any difference…” Yami whispered hatefully. Mahaado fixed him with a half-smile.

“We all believe what we wish to believe, Prince…”

“I know, even so….”

His eyes glittered darkly.

Mahaado hid a smile. “Shall we go visit the prisoners?” They had already lost their Ka, and really, death would be a mercy…

Yami smirked in response. “I’d love to.”

“Still, if your father found out…”

Yami shrugged as he watched Mahaado shift forms, the serpent once more coiled about his arm. < You find it easier this way? >

< To hide? Infinitely. >

< I meant to keep me company. >

The cobra flicked its tongue out for a second, and then smiled. < Yes. >

“Prince! You shouldn’t be down here alone!” The guards said, though they made obeisance to him. Yami glared.

The bloody rubies terrified the man. He didn’t want to know, but hadn’t the Prince been ill and confined to Chambers?

His partner went off to find Pharaoh…

Yami looked impatient, before all of a sudden, the cobra curled around his neck seemed to fly through the air and sank its fangs into the guard’s throat. The man struggled for a few brief second, but that was all.

Mahaado shifted back into human form as the door opened, leaving the dead guard behind.

Perhaps he was still in close enough vicinity to use the magic…

Mahaado drew the circle from memory – he had used it so many times that it was now engraved upon his mind. His Millennium Ring hid the unnatural glowing of the strange tattoo that had appeared on his chest. Yami had a similar one, on his left thigh, and Mana apparently had one on her foot…

They meant something important… because according to the Ring, this identified them as homunculi.

They weren’t human anymore…

It didn’t really bother him in the least.

Akunumkanon sped up his steps as a strange red flash came from the direction of the dungeons. His son was there, alone! What was going on?

Surely no one had tied to harm the prince?

However, as he flung the doors open, he saw the boy sitting there listlessly, but the strange thing was, that all the prisoners were gone. It was like they had vanished into thin air… like the Shadow Realm…

This had happened a few times in the past, and that worried Akunumkanon. What evil magic was at work here?

His brother, Priest Akunadin, swore up and down that none of the Six Elected Priests had noticed anything out of the ordinary.

But perhaps this was a magic not of theirs… not a magic of the Sennen Items… there were other magics in this land, whispers of unspeakable things…

“Atemu!”

The boy seemed not to have heard his father’s voice. His attention was focused on the serpent in his lap, running his thin fingers down smooth scales, glossy with power.

It was a disturbing sight, especially when the snake wound its way around the Prince’s arm.

Akunumkanon wasn’t even sure how animals could glare, but if the snake had been a duel monster he was certain his Ba gauge would have been sorely depleted. Something was not right here, and he would find out the truth!

“Atemu… talk to me please…”

There was no response. Atemu hissed something that might have been a command, and the snake slithered up his arm, coiling around his neck like a living collar. The eyes were a strange golden sheen, Akunumkanon noticed idly.

His son… oh Ra, what had happened to his son?

Now he was talking to animals? Had his mind truly broken so easily? What would he do for an heir now?

Perhaps he would have to marry Yami off again and, leave the throne to Seto, much as he disliked the thought…

But who would want the prince now? Who would be desperate enough for an alliance? Punt, perhaps, or an envoy to the Greeks, is it necessary….

Ah, the choices a Pharaoh had to make for the good of his country. Did that make the choices about the good of his son less?

He steered the boy back to his room, wondering what to do now…

Atemu… have I failed you?

End Chapter

Completed 10/7/05

Poor Akunumkanon… he never gets good treatment in my fics