Chapter 3!!

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-Oh! Belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I make no profit off this fanfiction, and it belongs to me under international copyright laws. Don’t steal and don’t sue. Thank you, *Phantomness bows*

Chapter 3

Anzu dearly wished that she had not gone along with Yami that night. He’d beaten Panik, the eliminator, without a hitch, and the duel had not been that bad, though some of the monsters Panik had called up were creepy. Even knowing Yami would penalty game him for losing was not a problem.

The problem was when Panik had tried to cheat and kill Yami – and really, they hadn’t expected a gun, but that was normal enough, she supposed – Mahaado had literally thrown herself in front of him.

Which would not have been a bad thing.

Except Panik had fired.

And he had hit the Ring.

And the Ring had screamed.

Mahaado’s eyes had gone completely blank, instead of the green they were now – becoming an emotionless, fathomless dark blue – almost black, and her hair too, blonde darkening to a plain, dull brown, but that was all, until she had pointed at him and shouted “Summon Ka, Magician of Illusions!”

And that was when they saw what was wrong, because what she summoned was no longer the Black Magician.

It was the Magician of Black Chaos.

It was angry too. Yami just shook his head and watched as she blasted Panik. And then Mahaado turned and started to fuss over him, when he hadn’t even been hurt, and Yami just laughed and they began conversing in Ancient Egyptian.

Anzu watched, and she wondered, how did Yuugi feel? How would he feel, being second to his older brother, who was brilliant and powerful and if Mahaado did not lie, Pharaoh?

She liked Yuugi, but she was in love with Yami.

And she had a sudden bout of clarity, that she would never have Yami.

Should she settle for Yuugi then?

Yami liked his Mother. She wasn’t a weak woman, but she was protection and comfort, and as fierce as a Sphinx when she needed to be. He had watched her with fear, but she had survived, the magic metal of the Sennen Ring not even dented, and her Magician was beautiful.

She was clever and sly and brilliant and powerful, charming and polished and glittering like gold, but soft and pliable and warm. She was exactly the parent he wanted. He saw glitters of his heritage every time he looked at her, and idly wondered how he and Yuugi could even possibly be related.

Yuugi probably took after their father.

He was angry; too, that Yuugi never spoke to their mother, never acknowledged her, and continued to cling to the idea that he had no mother. Why would he give this up?

Perhaps Yuugi wanted their father. Yami did not remember much of their father, just a distant smile and an occasional pat.

But he remembered his mother. Protecting him, training him, healing him – for she was a powerful magician, the most powerful they had at court – and the afternoons when they cast illusions and ran out of the Palace to mingle with the commoners and reminded themselves why they loved Egypt so.

For the people, for the land, for the animals…

For everything…

He could even dimly remember his sacrifice. His mother had been dead, already, but he remembered Seto Kaiba – or cousin Set, fighting him with the Blue Eyes, and when it destroyed his mother – well, Dark Magician – he had screamed, and the darkness had laughed but he had shattered the Puzzle around his neck and it had worked.

And he had wandered the empty hallways for the Puzzle forever. But Yuugi had woken him up. He was grateful for that, but now…

Now, as he watched Yuugi glare at his mother, he didn’t feel grateful at all.

Mahaado ignored Yuugi. He was her son, perhaps, but he was not her shadow child, her Pharaoh. She had treated him well, even though he had been three years younger, and not her child by blood. Akunumkanon had managed to get some whore on the streets pregnant and had kept the son. It was lucky his bloodline was so distinctive that no one had doubted.

Still, she had not disliked Yuugi, until that day.

That day when he chose the side of a mere slave-girl, a foolish dancer who had tried to rob the palace, over his brother, was the day Mahaado had snapped. He had fought his brother, and wounded him – badly too, with that spellcaster – that damned light-type spellcaster. She had destroyed the tablet personally afterwards.

Of course, he had apologized, but that was when she had known.

He chose the commoners over the Pharaoh, even thought the Pharaoh was created to protect them.

He chose a dancer over his brother.

He chose mortality over immortality.

He was not her child.

She had Yami.

And she did not need Yuugi.

He had hurt her precious Yami!

And now that dancer bitch had been reborn, and was trying to get closer to her precious child. She wouldn’t let her.

It was all right. Yami was still shadow, still dark, still hers….

He smiled at her as she poured them fresh date wine. He opened his mouth and then closed it.

“Yes?”

“Mother, do you remember that day when I accidentally shattered your magic, and so for the next week every time I misfired a spell you splashed me with date wine?”

Oh, she remembered that week well. Yami had been particularly mischievous that week, he had turned Akunadin’s beard and hair into feathers, and changed Akunumkanon’s throne into a puppy that ran off into the marketplace, and four squads of soldiers had spent three days looking for it, and that had been the week one of the Ethiopian dignities had come to visit, and so Akunumkanon had had to sit on a chair, a wooden one disguised – quite poorly, with gems and feathers and fastenings – as his normal throne, and they had laughed. It was quite amusing.

She didn’t like Akunumkanon much. Their marriage had not been one of love. He had almost no magic, and even the Puzzle did him little good. And she was the strongest magician Egypt had. She was young, not exceptionally beautiful, but strong.

Pharaoh had wanted power. He had wanted a strong heir.

So she had gone. And Isis and Hathor had filled her mind with dreams, and they had whispered that she would bear Egypt a strong child, a true Horus, and that was enough for her.

Yami was her Horus.

She was his Isis, and his Hathor, to protect him and love him and kill for him. And Yami liked it that way, though he’d nearly had a heart attack when she’d thrown herself in front of him.

He supposed he would just get used to it. After all, hadn’t she always protected him? And she couldn’t die that easily…

Dark Queen. Dark Prince. Dark Magician. Darkness.

There was little place for light among them, and Yami decided he didn’t really care.

End Chapter

Completed 4/28/06

You know, I always thought Black Magician and Magician of Black Chaos were the same person (Mahaado). And I guess Capsule Monsters helped confirm that, with Dark Magician evolving into Magician of Black Chaos…