When I planned for Bakura to deal with Hirutani in Ennead: Season Zero

The screams from the thief before her as the Shadows consumed him, mind, body and soul, did not faze her in the slightest. He was nowhere near her calibre. More concerned with finding the fastest way to his prize and causing as much damage as possible rather than doing the job with speed, dignity and style.

 Not that dealing with a lousy thief had been in her plans for the evening when she had left the house. She had only been seeking to work out what the local area was like around her ‘landlord’s’ new home. When she had run into a local who had been touched by the Shadows, she had thought she might find something interesting. Possibly even useful.

It had not been hard to talk the ticked off teenager out of his bad mood and when she had mentioned she had an interest in games, he had been more than enthusiastic in his wanting to introduce her to a ‘Gamer friend’ of his. Of course he had not expected to come home to a break in.

She had not recognised the victim to start with, not properly. Her anger had been more for the sheer incompetence shown by the thief and the fact that while she did not recognise the victim fully, something in her was screaming at her that she needed to save her.

When she had pulled the girl away from her captor, she realised she recognised her and there was a reason she had needed to save her. The girl she was untying was the one she had been waiting for. The one who had trapped her in the Ring all those years ago.

Part of her wanted to end the threat before it could get off of the ground, especially when the girl, whose name was Yugi if she had heard the boy correctly, had begged her to go and get her Puzzle. However sanity had won out. She had waited three thousand years for ‘Yugi’ to reincarnate. She needed her alive in order to finally be able to get her hands on all of the Millennium Items after they all gravitated to the Pharaoh.

She had not dared hope that the Puzzle itself had been completed though. Not when the Pharaoh seemed so weak and helpless. She had expected to go into the girl’s bedroom and pick up the golden box it lived in. When she had seen that it was finally finished though, her temper had snapped.

She had waited three thousand years for the Pharaoh to reincarnate and complete the Puzzle, three thousand years of watching, waiting and hunting and some idiothad nearly ruined everything! Her own roommate, the demon she had made a deal with back in Egypt had been just a furious.

He had waited three thousand years to destroy the one member of Akhenamkhanen’s family who had escaped his wrath all those years ago. The Pharaoh was histo ruin, torture and feed to the Shadows piece by agonizing piece. No one was allowed to kill her. No one except him and he would take great pleasure out of teaching the moron who had dared to attempt to steal his kill, a lesson.

The brat had not lasted more than a turn and a half before cheating and she was more than happy to allow the Shadows to consume the brute she had been dealing with. He deserved everything he got in her opinion and she had much bigger fish to fry.

Shadow Game - Ryou, Dragon and Dratini 'vs' Bakura

Ryou hadn’t agreed to this, hadn’t wanted to be a part of the Shadow Game that Bakura had convinced him to help in designing, but here he was, playing White Mage to a pair of girls who were convinced that the other shouldn’t exist.

He knew what Bakura had been planning for this game, knew why the girls were here, had an idea of how this game would run, but the girls didn’t seem to be aware that they were in a game, so lost in trying to work out where the hell the other had come from, that going from his living room to a stone room with only one exit, an exit he knew led to a maze, hadn’t interrupted their row.

“You can’t be real!” The midnight blue eyed Jamie with white highlights in her hair was snarling, “I’m Jamie Francis! Me! Not you! You’ve got to be some fake created by some villain for one reason or another!”

“You’re wrong,” The sapphire eyed, normal haired Jamie replied, backing up a little, fear obvious, “I’m Jamie, I’ve always been Jamie…”

Sapphire hit the floor when midnight slapped her hard enough to leave an imprint of her hand.

“Will you two quit it?” Ryou asked, getting between then and trying not to look nervous as one Jamie scowled at him and the other gave him a confused, slightly nervous look.

“…You’re Ryou… aren’t you?” Sapphire eyes asked, watching him carefully as she sat up, holding her cheek.

“Yes.” Ryou nodded, “For some strange reason my dark side decided it would be funny to bring me into your game against him.” He addressed the pair of them.

“Sorry…” Sapphire eyes looked down, guilt obvious, understandable even, as she had asked Bakura if they could play a game, but midnight grew irritable.

“If you’re Ryou, then you’d know why ‘Kura created her!” Midnight scowled, gesturing at sapphire. “Why he’d create such a weak copy of me!?”

“He didn’t.” Ryou had wondered if this was why he’d been shoved into the game, to stop midnight doing anything dangerous regarding sapphire.

“He had to have done, there’s only one Jamie Francis and I’m her!”

“No I am!” Sapphire protested, getting to her feet. “I was Jamie Francis long before you came about!”

“You’re both Jamie!” Ryou snapped before they could start rowing again.

“No we’re not!” Both girls snapped back at him simultaneously, then blinked at each other for a moment before midnight was scowling again. Sapphire though, looked thoughtful. “Ryou? How did you and Bakura get split?”

“The Millennium Ring split Bakura’s soul into two back in Egypt,” Ryou explained carefully. “Into light and darkness. The light became reincarnated.”

“That’s you, right?” Sapphire double checked.

Ryou nodded. “And the darkness was sealed in the Ring, only to be released when I had the Ring and came into contact with the Puzzle, five thousand years later.”

“And Yugi gained his bond with the Pharaoh when he gained the Puzzle…” Sapphire said. Ryou noted the way midnight’s eyes flashed when Sapphire mentioned Yami, but didn’t bring it up.

Midnight frowned, seeing where this was going. “But I do not hold a Millennium Item.”

“We did.” Sapphire had already worked the problem through to its logical conclusion and had forced herself to accept what he was saying; even if she wasn’t sure she completely believed it, “Remember Dragonite? We held the Ring for ‘Kura after Marik tried to get rid of him and…”Sapphire looked at Ryou. “We held the Ring for you, temporarily, but Yugi got you back so...”

Dragonite? Ryou wondered, looking from one girl to the other, wondering just how aware they had been of each other before this.

Midnight was thinking, “So Dratini isn’t just a dream…” She mused out loud, turning to watch the sapphire eyed girl who looked afraid that ‘Dragonite’ would hit her again, “I am her and she is me and we together make Jamie Francis…”

“Together we are Jamie, or we used to be Jamie… could we be Jamie again?” Sapphire asked Bakura’s dark.

“You are still Jamie.” Ryou tried to reassure her, “But so is Dragonite,” He seized on ‘Dratini’s’ name for the midnight eyed girl, “Both of you are Jamie but at the same time the Jamie that was, is no longer here. Not unless the pair of you can work together.”

“But couldn’t we just merge back into one soul?” Dratini asked, an innocent question coming from an innocent soul, neither Jamie could have a clue of what being split truly meant.

“Not without intervention greater then that of a Millennium Item.” Ryou shook his head.

“Then we are stuck with each other?” Dragonite asked, examining Dratini as if now considering her as a tag-team partner, “I have to deal with her weakness and emotional outbursts?” She sounded disgusted.

“And I have to deal with her temper and violence?” Dratini could give as good as she got. Ryou was amused. For someone who had had their battle hardened and temperamental side ripped away from them and formed into someone else, Dratini wasn’t one to roll over and play dead, probably because she’d had both Bakura and Dragonite in her head at the same time at one point. This was good. She’d need this bite, should Dragonite become like Yami Marik…

The pair glowered at each other.

“If you wish to be Jamie, yes.” Ryou nodded.

“But she’s so…”

“Unless the pair of you want to end up like Marik.” Ryou cut off their chorused protest and watched Dratini shake her head empathically and Dragonite scowl at him like he should be ashamed of even considering that they could become like Marik.

“Never. We,” Dragonite indicated herself and Dratini, “Are Jamelia Francis, Aspiring Pokémon Champion from the Town of Littleroot, not some cheating scumbag who could only attack from the shadows until his own darkness overwhelmed him.”

There was the ‘we’. This Shadow Game had been planned by his dark long before Dratini had asked if Bakura would teach her how to play Monster World, and it’s primary focus had been to create this ‘we’ that Dragonite was talking about.

He knew what Bakura was doing, but it hurt that Bakura was doing this to create a proper, symbiotic, relationship between Dragonite and Dratini, the two aspects that made up the girl Bakura loved, when he had never done anything like it to try to bond with his own hikari.

But then would Ryou have welcomed it, after everything Bakura had done?

Like sealing his friends from back home in those game pieces?

Like sealing Ryou inside his favourite card and trying to force him to destroy his new friends here?

Like all the things that Bakura had gotten him to do in order to further his own, insane plan, which, if it succeeded, would result in the end of the world…?

Would Ryou want a relationship like the one this game was designed to try and foster between Dratini and Dragonite knowing what Bakura had done and what he was trying to do?

He didn’t know, but if it meant getting out of the game he had been shoved into in order to stop the girls from killing each other, then he would help Bakura’s insane game plan along.

“Well then, shall we find our way out?” Ryou asked, noting Dratini was wary of taking the hand offered to her by Dragonite, looking half afraid it would bite, and watching as Dragonite grew exasperated and pulled the light to her feet anyway.

“I’m sorry you got pulled into our game.” Dratini told Ryou earnestly.

“Do you know what class I’m playing?” Ryou asked, actually kind of looking forward to it, knowing what the penalties were and not too worried about them unless Dratini and Dragonite were unable to work together. Then it might get dangerous.

Bakura had arranged this game to be difficult, difficult enough to incite Jamie’s passion for challenge and triumph, but certainly not impossible, like the game he’d set up when he’d played Yugi the first time had been meant to be.

Dragonite headed towards the room’s one exit, hand automatically going to her belt, where six small balls resembling Pokeballs, but in different colours, rested. He remembered hand modelling and painting those to go on her character model; Dratini had a set just like it.

“No…”

“I’m a white mage, a healer.” He explained properly when she looked confused, “It means I can use healing magic if you get injured.”

“Then I’m glad you’re here.” Dragonite hissed from the doorway. “It doesn’t look like Bakura’s going to make this easy on us…”

“What do you…?” Dratini’s question was cut off by an answering roar of whatever was wandering up the passageway. “Oh.”

“This should be fun.” Dragonite sounded far too happy about being faced down by a chimera like monster. “Now how did Bakura say this Monster Caller thing worked?” She muttered to herself.

“Like this…” Dratini tapped the blue and white Pokeball like thing. “I summon my water spirit!” She announced and was delighted when Tidal Fox appeared in front of her.

“Oh that’s simple enough.” Dragonite nodded, “Dark spirit come forth!” She tapped the purple and white ball and Fox Shadow sprang to her aid.

Ryou watched for a moment, then raised his staff, wondering what would happen should Dratini and Dragonite call the same ‘spirit’ at the same time considering that they were working off of the same character sheet…

“Fox Shadow!” Dragonite demanded, “Attack!”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 16

“You will return to the palace to stand trial, Bakura!” Mahad was snarling, his Magus of Illusion locked in battle with the thief mage’s Diabound.

“Return to the palace?” Bakura demanded, with a bitter laugh which made the messenger that the Pharaoh had sent flinch, “For a trial? What trial? The Pharaoh has already decided I should die, has she not?”

‘She?’ The messenger couldn’t help but wonder as Diabound loosed an attack that tore up the ground and nearly blew Mahad and his mage away. As it was the pair had to pick themselves out of the sand.

“If I had my way, you would die for your crime, right here and now!” Mahad snapped at her, his Magus covering for him as he got up.

“My crime?!” Bakura stared, in furious disbelief, “My only crime was to trust the Pharaoh! That treacherous, backstabbing witch! I should have outted her secret to the rabble years ago and watched them tear her apart! Diabound!”

Another blast flew through the air. This time Mahad and his Ka beast managed to dodge it and it struck one of the nearby buildings.

“You betrayed her!” Mahad seemed to be considering something as he stepped back, moving away from the battle slightly, “She trusted you and your men nearly killed her!”

“I have done nothing to her! Not yet!” Bakura retorted, her eyes narrowing, “And she’s the one who ordered my execution! She wasn’t even noble enough to see the sentence through herself!”

Mahad paused, confusion obvious on his features and Bakura took the opportunity it presented. Her Ka beast vanished for a moment before appearing behind Mahad. The High Priest had just enough time to half turn to see what was happening before he was blasted at point blank range.

The messenger watched in horror as Mahad screamed in agony as the beam of light struck, consuming the High Priest, whose cry died as he did. Then he had to shield his eyes from the sand and dust that had been kicked up by the attack.

When he could look again, when everything had died down, he saw the Magus of Illusion warp and shift, taking on a new form, one that looked a lot like the newly deceased Priest, before fading away entirely.

Bakura moved towards the crater where the High Priest had once stood, a look on her face that spoke of an odd mix or shame, victory, delight and disgust. She picked up all the remained of the High Priest, the golden treasure that had been entrusted to him when he had joined the upper echelon of the court and stared at it for a moment before looking around at the few remaining men who had come with Mahad.

As one they turned and ran. She didn’t let them get far before she destroyed them and turned to the messenger’s hiding place.

Having seen what had happened to the High Priest, he didn’t even bother trying to run. Instead he bowed at her feet, hoping that begging would make her spare him.

“Please.” He tried, “Please, I have a wife and child. I’m not a warrior, or a mage, I’m just a messenger.”

“Oh?” Bakura growled at him, “Look at me.” The messenger did just that, willing to follow her orders if she would spare him. “I think your message is for the dead. Should I send you to give it to them?”

“No!” The messenger backed up, “No, it’s for you. Only for you. From the Pharaoh.” And he didn’t care that the Pharaoh was a woman, or that Bakura had been helping her lie to the people, he just wanted to live.

“I don’t want to hear anything from her.” Bakura snarled, pointing the blade she had been wielding against Mahad at him.

“Please…” The messenger begged, terrified now, “Please don’t kill me.”

“Leave.” Bakura growled at him, lowering her weapon, “Now. And you can pass a message onto her majesty for me.”

“S…sure, whatever you want.” He nodded.

“Tell her that for breaking her word and attempting to bury the truth, I pass judgement on her. When next we meet, she dies.”

An Ennead Christmas Poem

Twas the night before Christmas, and through all Domino
There was a great battle of Shadows and snow,
Bakura on one side, and Yugi on the other,
They chased through the streets, pelting each other.

With Jou, Honda and Anzu joining the fun,
They fought and they played till the battle was won.
Then back to the shop they travelled together,
To escape from the worsening weather.

When all were inside and the snacks all given out,
From downstairs there came a great shout.
Down to the shop, Yugi shot like a dart,
Hoping against hope that there were no dark arts.

Down on the ground floor, Ojiisan was pale,
As morons bagged up things that were not for sale.
The Pharaoh took over and drove them away,
But they swore to come back yet another day.

Unwilling to let them ruin the holiday season,
Oneesan gave chase despite rhyme or reason.
She cornered the group while hunting her prey,
Insistent that for their crimes they would pay.

The gang turned on her, each much bigger by far,
One picking up a huge metal bar!
The Pharaoh didn’t flinch, she knew what to do,
And warned the gang that from now they were through.

They laughed and they laughed, doubting she was a threat,
Until she called forth the Shadows and challenged the set.
It took little time to beat them, they were just that thick,
And none of them had expected that trick.

Switching back with her light side, the Pharaoh retreated
Ready to relax now her task was completed.
They headed for home, through the dark and the snow,
Though now with the weather their journey was slow.

Her friends met her halfway home, having been worried,
And out of the storm they hurried and scurried.
Once back at the shop, the festivities did start,
Easing the worry in the Mutous’ hearts.

Gifts were exchanged and snacks were demolished,
The worry from earlier was completely abolished!
And by the time her friends left, Yugi was quite ready,
For tomorrow’s holiday. She wished it was here already!

Once friends were all gone and mess tidied away,
Yugi went to bed to await Christmas Day.
So completely exhausted from the earlier fight,

That before too long she was out like a light.

She wasn’t awake when there were sounds from the roof,
With a thud and a jingle, she missed foot and hoof.
Oneesan however woke in a flash,
And headed to find out what would make such a big crash.

In the living room near the tree, she found a strange man,
He obviously had some evil plan.

Dressed all in red with a white beard and a sack.
She watched as quite quickly he started to unpack.

Confusion flowed through her as he left behind toys,
And vanished away with a great deal of joy.
And as she headed back to check on her light,
She heard him call "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 14

“Lord Mahad!” The High Priest in question looked up from his scroll to see a panicked looking noble, “It’s the Pharaoh! He’s…”

There was a loud explosion from outside, causing Mahad to rush over to a balcony. As the smoke cleared, he saw the Pharaoh, who was protecting Mana and looked like she was nursing an injury. She had summoned an armored knight of some kind and was facing down three men and three huge beasts. The guards who were supposed to be protecting the pair were sprawled all over the courtyard, unconscious or worse.

Mahad called his personal Ka beast forth and sent it down to help the Pharaoh, before racing out of the room and shooting down the stairs, reaching the courtyard in time to see his Magus of Illusion and the Pharaoh’s warrior take down the last of the men, leaving him conscious to answer questions.

“Who sent you?” The Pharaoh was demanding as Mahad joined her, her breathing rough and uneven, causing concern.

The man just spat at her, earning himself a punch from Mahad.

“I would answer his questions.” Mahad recommended, even as he wanted to punch the man’s lights out, “Because if I have to ask the dungeon keepers to get it out of you, you won’t survive it.”

“I’m not afraid of you. Or your torturers.” The failure of an assassin snorted, “And it won’t matter for long anyway.”

“What do you…” Mahad was cut off by a groan from the Pharaoh. Mana caught her as her legs gave out underneath her, her hand falling away from the wound as she passed out to reveal a dark purple vein like pattern spreading out from the still bleeding injury. “Poison!”

“Check him.” Mana snapped as the man chuckled vindictively, “A smart assassin keeps the antidote on them, just in case they get anything on them.”

Later Mahad would wonder how Mana knew that, but he didn’t waste the time now. Instead he moved to counter the man’s struggles as he tried to prevent Mahad searching him. It didn’t take the High Priest long to find a sealed clay jar with a liquid inside. “Is this it?” Mahad demanded as Mana tended to the Pharaoh as best she could.

“Is that what?” The merc smirked at Mahad, only to get a fist to his jaw.

“The antidote!” Mahad snarled, “Is this it?”

“Why would I tell you even if it was?” The mercenary asked, still grinning, “I’m dead any way you slice it and this way I take the target with…” The man stiffened and shut up as Seth, who had taken on the Millennium Rod just that morning stepped into the courtyard and took control of the man’s mind.

“Mahad?” Seth demanded, concerned as he beheld the scene.

“Is this the antidote?” Mahad asked the man again.

“Yes. You have to ingest it.” Seth forced him to answer. That was enough for the holder of the Millennium Ring, who cracked open the jar and tipped some into the Pharaoh’s mouth. He had to help her swallow but the moment she had her breathing evened out a little and the purple veins seemed to start receding.

“Who sent you?” Mana asked the man, knowing that Seth would force him to answer honestly.

“I was paid by a woman named Ba-Khu-Ra.”

Ennead: Ancient Bits: Part 13

Ba-Khu-Ra glowered at the pile of bodies that she had left behind. The guards that had attacked her hadn't stood a chance of actually killing her after she had called forth Diabound and now there was just one guard still breathing.

"Who ordered you to attack me?" Ba-Khu-Ra demanded with a scowl, Diabound squeezing the man in his grip, causing a pained cry to escape the royal guard.

He didn't answer, instead he focused on trying to struggle free of the naga like, stone skinned creature's grip. Ba-Khu-Ra let out a frustrated growl and gestured to Diabound who tightened his crushing grip enough for Ba-Khu-Ra to hear a crack and the guard to screech.

"Now, as I was saying, who's orders were you acting on?"

"The Pharaoh's!" The guard yelped, "It was Pharaoh's orders."

"What?" That Ba-Khu-Ra hadn't expected. Akhenaden's probably, Shada's maybe, hell even Mahad was a possibility, but the Pharaoh herself? Why would the Pharaoh, who had been her friend for years, order her death now? It didn't make any sense, especially after the Pharaoh had supported her in court and promised to ensure that she got her revenge on the man who had murdered her people.

"The Pharaoh ordered us to kill you." The guard gasped, his breath short and pained before he paused to cough up blood, causing Ba-Khu-Ra to grimace as she realized she had punctured one of his lungs and he probably wouldn't be able to talk too much longer. "And bury the evidence Kul Elna ever existed."

Ba-Khu-Ra froze. She wouldn't. The Pharaoh couldn't. She had promised! Promised! That the people of Kul Elna would get justice and the afterlife they deserved. There was no way...

‘Except the Pharaoh had lived a lie her entire life. What was this in comparison to pulling the wool over the eyes of all of Egypt?’

No, the Pharaoh wasn't like that. They were friends. The Pharaoh had tried to help her get justice for years. There was no way that she would suddenly turn on her like this. There had to be a good reason for it.

"When did he give you those orders?" Ba-Khu-Ra demanded, glowering at the man, even now keeping her friend's secret from the dying Guard, hoping to get something out of the man that would give lie to his belief.

"Our commander met with the Pharaoh and he ordered your death." The Guard replied, "Along with the destruction of what was left of the village. He didn't want the truth of the Millennium Items getting out."

‘Of course the Pharaoh wouldn't. She lived her entire life under the creed 'what's best for the people.' She was pretending to be her brother in order to prevent chaos and rioting amongst the rabble. Imagine the nightmare that admitting how the Millennium Items were created would cause amongst the commoners.’

Except the Pharaoh had shown no signs of wanting to kill her when they had left the palace to come here.

‘Had she not? She sent you out into the desert with a man who hated her and a group of guards who had been sent to aid him. If it hadn't been for us,’ The voices reminded her, ‘You would have been killed.’

"You lie." The Pharaoh had supported her, upheld her side, argued with her High Priests about what should be done about the problem Akhenaden had caused and now needed to fix.

"No, I don't." The guard replied, "After all, why would a low life piece of scum ever think the Pharaoh would truly turn against his family and High Priests? He was never on your side. He just played you."

Ba-Khu-Ra's anger flared at that and she made a gesture to Diabound that had the creature crush the guard, killing him slowly and painfully as she stalked away, looking for any other targets she could annihilate.

‘The Pharaoh supported you.’ The voices agreed, ‘But that support was in a closed court where the only people who had heard what had happened to Kul Elna were the High Priests, you and Pharaoh herself. She had practically ordered you to keep what had happened to yourself and hasn’t told Seth or Mana, despite the fact that both were High Priests in training.

There was no way someone who lived a lie in order to prevent the country descending into chaos would want this secret free amongst the rabble. It made sense that she would try to get rid of the evidence and the only person who knew the truth outside of her court.’

Ba-Khu-Ra didn’t want to agree, but she could see the truth behind the voices.

’The Pharaoh is just as bad as her uncle. She would take away our only chance of moving on. Would keep the truth a secret and allow us to wander Duat for eternity in order to keep her power.’ The voices continued, weaving around Ba-Khu-Ra as they did so, ‘She betrayed you. Wants you dead. Broke her promise. She will send more men to finish the job when she hears you survived. We could destroy her. We SHOULD destroy her. Alongside everyone else who dares to use the items that we paid with our blood and souls to create. We can give you that power. All you have to do in exchange is gather the Millennium Items so we can be free. Free from our slavery and imprisonment. Free to move on.’

She knew she shouldn’t listen. Mahad had tried to teach her to block them out so she didn’t have to, but they made too much sense and they wanted to help her. Wanted to give her the power to take down the entire rotten court.

And she would do it. She had only stayed her hand this long because she thought that by working within the palace she could help the Pharaoh make things better and get her revenge on the men who had ruined her home and her life.

But the Pharaoh was a liar and a backstabber. She was as bad as the rest of her family and she should pay, just like the others. In fact Ba-Khu-Ra would make her suffer first…

‘Well?’The voices asked, ‘Will you accept our power?’

“Yes.” Ba-Khu-Ra nodded, “Yes, I will.”

  

Ennead: Past Troubles: Part 2

“You have about as much clue as I do.” Bakura grumbled. “And that is disturbing.” Honda let out a low, rumbling growl, frustration obvious. “You have no leads at all?”

“Nothing now.” Honda grumbled, “The last time we saw her, she was heading for yours to play games. So we assumed...”

“While I appreciate that someone remembers I’m the bad guy, I’m not actually at fault this time.” Bakura snorted, “I would be gloating a lot more if I was.”

“If you hear anything, anything at all...” Honda threatened.

“I’ll let you know.” Bakura promised, crossing her fingers behind her back.

Honda didn’t look like he believed her. She wasn’t surprised but she didn’t really care. She had much bigger things to worry about. Her Ring wasn’t working properly and no one had seen the Pharaoh’s brat since yesterday afternoon.

Despite her reassurance to Honda, she couldn’t be sure if Yugi was alive or not. Without some way of tracking the brat, she had no easy way to find out either. If the blasted Pharaoh had gotten herself killed she was going to get very, very drunk. She was pretty sure that Jonouchi and Honda would join her, possibly Mutou-san too.

If Yugi wasn’t dead however and had just gotten herself into some mess that had distracted her all night, she soon would be. Bakura would quite happily end her for worrying her Landlord and failing to check in with anyone.

Well. School could wait. Her Landlord had high enough grades that skipping a day of class wouldn’t do much damage and it shouldn’t take her long to find her target. She had been a Queen amongst thieves, she had found treasures and riches beyond a normal thief’s wildest dreams, broken into supposedly untouchable tombs, and discovered secret stores and hidden libraries long before she had ever gotten her hands on the Ring.

She didn’t need the Millennium Ring to find her treasure. It was just one of the many ‘cheats’ in her possession that made her life easier.

She would just have to do it the old fashioned way. Through research, footwork and hard graft. It would take her longer but with the Puzzle at the end of the trail it would be worth it.

Ennead: Past Troubles: Part 1

The Pharaoh’s brat was an obnoxious, rude, selfish person and Bakura was looking forward to laying into her. When you made plans to play a game with someone and they went out of their way to set up the board and prepare for a evening of gaming, including providing food, it was rude to not turn up and it was even ruder to not answer your phone when someone rang it ten or eleven times.

Not that Bakura had been worried, but her Landlord had been freaking out when Yugi hadn’t shown up for their pre-planned gaming session and then had been unreachable and she hated when her Landlord was unhappy. It made her life difficult.

As such she was looking forward to catching the brat before school and biting her head off. She would deserve it.

Of course she wasn’t quite prepared for Honda to stalk over to her, grab her by the collar and shove her against the lockers, fist raised as if ready to strike.

“What did you do to Yugi?”

“Okay.” Bakura twisted out of his grip and glowered at him, “For me to have done anything to Yugi she would actually have had to have shown up, so do you mind explaining what the hell you mean?”

“Wait, Yugi didn’t go to yours last night?” Honda suddenly looked a lot more worried.

“If I had beaten the Pharaoh, do you think I’d still be here?” Bakura pointed out.

Honda grimaced, having to concede she had a point. “Yugi didn’t make it home last night.”

“And no one thought to ring me?” Bakura growled at him, “I do have a phone. And you know where I live.”

“Jonouchi was out all night looking for her and didn’t think to let anyone else know until Anzu showed up at the shop and found Ojiisan panicking like mad.”

Bakura snatched up her Ring, holding it level as she growled, “Find Mutou Yugi.” The item glowed for a few seconds, the triangles surrounding it wavering for a moment before the glow died and the shapes fell limp without giving a clear direction. “Find the Millennium Puzzle.” Same reaction, “Find the Pharaoh’s host.” Once again nothing, “Find that bloody brat who keeps getting in my way and won’t let me take her item.” Nothing again.

“I thought you could find anyone with that thing.” Honda scowled.

“I can.” Bakura admitted, “Unless they’re...” She paused for a second, took a deep breath and then, “Find Mutou Yugi’s corpse.” She was almost relieved when she got the same reaction as trying to find a living Yugi. “Well she ain’t dead.”

“So where is she?” Honda demanded.

“You have about as much clue as I do.” Bakura grumbled. “And that is disturbing.”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 11

“You will be careful, won’t you?” Mana asked, worried as she watched Ba-Khu-Ra gather her things, ready for the journey to her old home. “I mean you’re going out into the middle of nowhere, with only Akhenaden for company and...”

“I know.” Ba-Khu-Ra nodded, tying her pack tightly, “But you’re forgetting something.”

“Oh?” Mana asked, an odd expression on her features as she wracked her brain to try work out what she had forgotten.

“He’s an old man who hasn’t left the palace since the Great War. He’s gotten rusty.” Ba-Khu-Ra smirked, “Whereas I’ve kept my old skills just as sharp as my new ones. I could take him in my sleep, no matter how many morons he’s bringing with us to help him ‘fix’ things. Besides he wouldn’t dare try anything, not with the Pharaoh on my side.” She looked over at Mana, “What about you? You have been keeping an eye on those losers?”

Mana frowned and nodded, fully aware of who Ba-Khu-Ra meant. Neither Mahad or the Pharaoh were aware that the pair of them had been keeping on top of any assassination plots with the help of a few of the guards and servants. In fact there was such a plot in the works right now, one that Mana and Ba-Khu-Ra had been watching carefully to see if it was just talk or whether they meant action.

“I assume you want to be kept up to date on what happens?” Mana asked.

“By now you should be able to handle it.” Ba-Khu-Ra shrugged. She had been teaching Mana quite a few things that she knew neither the Pharaoh or Mahad would have approved of. If anyone could deal with anything like this, she was sure that the thief trained Mage student could. “And you could always bring it to Seth’s attention. You do remember what he did to the last person who tried to kill the Pharaoh?”

Mana did. They had caught three of the plotters, but the fourth had would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for Seth. His version of ‘justice’ hadn’t been pretty. She did have one question though.

“Why not Mahad?”

“Because Mahad still thinks like a posh, palace raised snob.” The ex-thief chuckled, even as she double checked her stuff, “Seth is much more creative, and he’s more tolerable.”

It helped that Seth hadn’t received a Millennium Item yet. He was due to any day, but for now Ba-Khu-Ra didn’t have to deal with the voices whispering in her ears whenever she was around him. Nowadays she even had that trouble around the Pharaoh. She was looking forward to getting away from the palace just to get away from the constant buzzing in her brain.

Not that Mana or Seth were aware of the Truth. The Pharaoh hadn’t seen fit to tell them, not yet and had asked Ba-Khu-Ra to keep quiet about it until she could work out the best way to reveal it. As such everyone knew Akhenaden was in disgrace and was being sent away to atone for something he had done, but no one outside of the closed court was aware of why and Ba-Khu-Ra supposed she could see the logic behind it, even if it grated on her nerves.

“I suppose.” Mana sighed, “He is trying though, Mahad I mean.”

“Mahad is always trying.” Ba-Khu-Ra snorted, “Right.” She picked up her packs and looked around her room. There was surprisingly little to pack. Everything else in the room, which the Pharaoh had promised would still be hers when she came back, no matter how long it took, belonged to the palace or wasn’t important enough to her to take along on the trip. “I think that’s everything.”

“Any idea when you’ll be back?” Mana asked, following her teacher in the less arcane arts out of the room.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” The fully trained Mage chuckled at her, “Things would be too quiet round here if I wasn’t.”

“Good.” Mana looked reassured. “By the way, the Pharaoh wanted to talk to you before you go.”

“She probably just wants to make me promise not to kill her uncle or something ridiculous like that.” Ba-Khu-Ra let out a huff, “Still the sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can leave, so let’s go.”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 7

Mahad let out a frustrated huff as he stalked down the corridor. 

When he had been assigned to teach the newest of the Priesthood, he had thought it might be a blessing in disguise. His investigation into Akenaden’s secrets had hit a dead end. His contacts had been out to the village only to find that time and the desert sands had buried any evidence that had been left behind. The only things left were the burnt out husks of the buildings and ruined signs that it had once been a thriving village.

With only the thief’s word to go on Mahad couldn’t accuse Akhenaten of anything. The ghost town, what had once been the Village of Thieves, would remain a nasty little secret unless new evidence came to light. That was, if the thief was telling the truth.

So he had looked forward to teaching the newest of those who would one day be Priests until he had realised that the boy had been ‘training’ at home with the priests of his local temple and had developed bad habits that would need to be retrained.

It wasn’t so bad. Seth at least had grown up outside the palace, so he didn’t have the arrogant attitudes that Mahad often ran into within the palace walls. He was a lot easier to deal with than the thief girl too. Though she had gotten more tolerable over time, Ba-Khu-Ra of Kul Elna, who now lived within the palace walls and was often found in the presence of the ‘Prince,’ was still the brash, obnoxious thief she had been when he had first met her.

But still Seth was suspicious of something and Mahad was pretty sure that, for once, it wasn’t to do with the thief in their midst. He had seen the common born mage watching the Princess like a hawk and Mahad had a horrible suspicion that Seth knew.

He wasn’t sure what to do about it either. Seth was a Priest. He couldn’t just order him to stay silent or threaten to ‘remove’ him from the equation. The Princess could, but he would have to bring it up to her first and he didn’t know how.

The question was taken out of his hands when he finally reached the Princess’s rooms to find Seth already there, demanding answers from her highness while Mana and the thief looked on.

“Mahad, close the door behind you.” The Princess didn’t give him a chance to say anything to any of them. He did as he was ordered, well aware this would be a loud conversation and that it would require privacy. The moment it was shut, the girl turned back to the angry and confused Priest, “Right, Seth, you were saying?”

“Mahad,” Seth turned to the other Priest, irritation obvious, “Please tell me I’m not the only one in this place who has the eyes to see what is in front of them?”

“No.” Mahad shook his head, “I’ve been aware since just after Anubis killed the Prince. I believe most of the palace are suffering from wilful blindness. They’re seeing what they want to see, or believing whatever they have been told to believe.”

Seth nodded his understanding, before turning back to her highness, “And the reason for this deception over all of Egypt?”

“My brothers are dead and I cannot be Pharaoh. My royal husband can but I am not allowed to marry outside of the bloodline.” The Princess explained, “My mother passed on many years ago and for some reason my father has been unable to provide any children from the harem since she died. This leaves me as the last of my line.”

“And your uncle has no children?” Seth looked surprised.

“He has one son, two years older than I am, but both he and his mother went missing during the war, just after the Millennium Items were created, and no one ever found them again.” The Princess shook her head, “And I cannot and will not marry Akhenaten.” Especally after what Ba-Khu-Ra had told her, but Seth didn’t need to hear about that.

“And without a clear line of succession there could be an uprising, or worse riots and chaos when your father passes on, though I would hope that that would be a long time yet.” Seth understood. “What of your brother. If people believe you to be him, what happened to him?”

“I ensured he was buried with his name, in his tomb and with his tools and toys.” Mahad reassured him, “He will not walk Duat.”

“Does the Pharaoh know?” Seth’s next question made the Princess pause, having wondered that herself for the last year and a half herself.

“I don’t know.” She admitted slowly, “Sometimes it seems like he is just as wilfully blind as the rest of the palace and then other times he says or does something that make it obvious he knows who I really am.” She frowned slightly, “If he’s aware of it, he hasn’t stated it outright and as long as he’s content to leave it so, so am I.”

Seth nodded, clearly thinking, “What is it you need me to do?”

“Seth?” Mahad was surprised, considering how set in tradition the other Priest was, he had been expecting much more of an argument.

“As long as the Pharaoh is letting this continue and it’s what’s best for Egypt, I will assist in keeping this debacle going.” Seth replied, shrugging at him, “Now,” He turned back to the Princess, “What is it I can do?”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 5

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

“You WANT her to come back?!” Ba-Khu-Ra grinned slightly at the outrage in Mahad’s tone as she waited for the right moment to reveal herself to the pair in the classroom who were about to start their lessons for the day. “My Prince, I say this with the deepest respect. Have you gone stark, raving mad?”

“No.” The Princess protested, “But we tied. That doesn’t happen!”

“My Prince, think about this for a moment. You want a thief in the palace purely based on the fact you didn’t beat her?” Mahad sounded irritated, “You cannot be serious.”

“I am.” The girl sounded amused by her friend’s mood, “Besides, I didn’t think she would turn down the chance to learn how to control her powers properly.”

“I wouldn’t.” Ba-Khu-Ra stepped out of the darkness, causing the Princess to jump. Her guardian drew his dagger and glowered at the thief in their midst. “So here I am.” She glanced down at the short, sharp blade, “I’m here to fight, I’m here to learn so put that away before you hurt yourself.”

“Mahad.” The Princess called, putting her hand on her guardian’s arm, “I’m the one who made this agreement so she’s my guest.” She looked at Ba-Khu-Ra, “But we won’t be visiting the treasury again.”

“A shame. I so enjoyed our last trip there.” The thief smirked at her. She still had the majority of the treasure she had liberated from the vault the last time she had been in the palace, squirreled away in a safe place where no one would think to look for it. “So how do we start this thing off?”

“With you sitting down and shutting up.” Mahad pointed to a table and chair, “And reading this scroll.”

“Reading?” The thief blinked, “I thought we were using magic. Where does reading come into it?”

“You don’t know how to read?” The Princess looked shocked.

“We had teachers in my village,” Ba-Khu-Ra shrugged, thinking about the extortionate fees the scribes had charged to teach children, “But that was a very long time ago, when I actually still had a village to call home.”

“What, did they kick you out?” Mahad spat.

“You haven’t researched anything, have you?” Ba-Khu-Ra shot back, angry.

“Why should I accept the word of a thief?” Mahad demanded, glowering back.

“You’re just as bad as the rest of them.” Ba-Khu-Ra snapped, magic beginning to manifest as a dark aura around her.

“Hey!” The Princess got between the pair of them, glancing between the two. “That’s enough. Both of you.”

“Step aside, your highness.” Mahad glowered at Ba-Khu-Ra over her head, “This thief isn’t fit to step upon the palace grounds.”

“Are you ordering me to move?” The Princess stared at him, shocked, “Seriously?”

“It’s a recommendation.” Mahad replied, pausing just long enough beforehand to realise how his last sentence had sounded.

“Look, Princess,” Ba-Khu-Ra made the title sound rude, “I don’t think this is going to work. I refuse to learn from some stuck up, arrogant ass who is so blind he refuses to see past the end of his nose.”

“You’re accusing the priests of evil.” Mahad glowered at her, “How can I take you seriously?”

The Princess paused and turned to Ba-Khu-Ra, a concerned and surprisingly unsurprised look on her features, “Which priests?”

“Finally.” Ba-Khu-Ra threw her hands up in the air, “Someone who’s willing to listen. Your Uncle is the worst of the lot, but those ‘golden treasures?’ Well,” She smirked at Mahad, “What’s your teacher taught you about blood magic?”

“That’s quite enough.” Mahad spoke over the Princess. “Your highness, I can’t teach her until she knows how to read, so perhaps you should find another teacher.”

“I’ll teach her to read.” The Princess informed him, “And until I have, I’m tasking you with finding out what in the names of the Gods my Uncle did.” She looked at Ba-Khu-Ra, “I know my uncle, I know he’s... wrong. I’ll listen, even if Mahad won’t.”

“You won’t like it.” Ba-Khu-Ra warned her.

“Even if I don’t like it, I will do what I can to fix it.” The Princess swore.

“You can’t fix it.” The thief scowled at her.

“Let me try.”

Sneak Peek - Ennead: For Those We Love: Chapter 2

Bakura paused as she stepped through the classroom door and looked over at her group of friends, who were gathered around a travel video player, chatting to the screen.

“Good morning?” She questioned, curious as Yugi looked up and nodded to her, then slumped back into her seat, while the others all gave her smiles that looked rather false. “What did my other self do now?” She asked as she moved over to the group.

“It wasn’t her fault.” She jumped a mile as the video player answered her, causing her to move around to see the screen. Yugi’s grandfather was on it, waving merrily at her, “Good morning, Bakura-chan.”

“G...Good morning, Mutou-san?” It was more a question and she glanced around at the others, noting Yugi had seemed to sink further into her chair. “Is he really...?”

“Yeah.” Jou nodded, his tone angry and his movement sharp. “Some prick with a Millennium Item challenged Yuge, cheated all the way through and sealed Ojiisan’s soul into the tape when she lost.”

Bakura could feel her other self shift at the back of her mind at Jou’s words and mentally grimaced. She was well aware of how close her other self had come to total victory just a couple of months ago. It was only the fact the she had sacrificed herself to halt the final blow that had saved her friends.

It had only been a miracle that had saved her life and the life of her Other Self, but they had been dead, at least temporarily, and while she was willing to do it again if she needed to, the spirit of the Ring had made it clear that she had no intention of dying again. Not for a long time at least.

This meant that, for the time being, Yugi’s Puzzle was firmly off the radar. Any other Items however were still fair game and Bakura couldn’t really bring herself to object considering that most other item holders seemed to be obnoxious prats.

“Can you get him out?” She asked, remembering how Yugi no Oneesan, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle had seemed to have no difficulty in helping her free those trapped in the game pieces from her Monster World set.

“No.” Yugi shook her head, seeming calm, though Bakura could see it was just a mask. She couldn’t help but wonder if the others could see the dejection hidden underneath. “Anesan tried. We just ended up with a headache for our troubles.”

‘Of course they did.’ Bakura flinched as the voice of her other self echoed in her head, still not used to being able to hear the thoughts of the spirit of the Ring and mostly wishing she still couldn’t, ‘The Penalty was set against them. They will have to fulfil the ‘out’ clause before they will be able to free him.’

“Could we do it?” Bakura asked the voice, startling them both. “Could we free Yugi’s Grandfather?”

‘I don’t know,’ The voice replied after a moment of thought, sounding amused for some reason,‘And quite frankly I don’t care to try. The Pharaoh got herself into this mess and she can get herself...’

The Other Bakura paused, retuning into the conversation at the table in time to see Jou rolling his text book into a cone shape, pointing it at the Puzzle and yelling, “Hey Oneesan! If you can hear me in there, cheer up!” at the top of his lungs.

“Jonouchi!” Anzu shoved him away as Yugi tried to get some hearing back. “Seriously! I don’t think that’ll help.”

It had a little though, Bakura could see, as Yugi smiled for a moment, some of the despondency lifting a little in the face of her friend’s lunacy. 

Preview - Ennead: Season Zero: Chapter 27

“Nice shooting!” Jou high fived Honda, grinning as he did so.

Bakura ignored the characters in favour of watching the other player. This wasn’t Yugi, her soul was in the Birdtail figure on the table. So who was this? Yugi had called this new spirit ‘Anesan.’ That thought brought something Yugi had said to her to the forefront of her mind.

“Yugi no Oneesan, I presume?” Bakura asked irritably, having been so focused on victory, she had forgotten about the other spirit.

“Bakura-san.” Oneesan nodded, irritation obvious, “I wanted information, not my friends stuffed into lead figurines.”

“It’s just Bakura.” The other Millennium spirit corrected, “And I don’t know, they look better like that.” Bakura smirked at her, “And now you’re the only one in that body. You should be grateful.”

“I’d rather share this vessel with its rightful owner for a thousand years than steal it away from her for even a moment.” Oneesan scowled, “I was happy to sit back and let Imoto-chan play, even when I realised there was more going on here than just a game. But you attacked our friends and sealed her soul into her figurine so now you have to deal with me.”

“She was sealed at her own request, I will remind you.” Bakura tutted at her opposite number, “Do you think you can handle the pressure of having the lives of your ‘sister’ and your friends in your hands where she couldn’t?”

“I don’t lose so their lives are in no danger.” Oneesan informed Bakura, who smirked slightly, enjoying the game even more with someone facing her who wasn’t even slightly cowed by the powers at work.

“Then let the game continue.” Bakura crowed, the Shadows in full swing now, bringing the board and figurines on it to life properly. Oneesan felt her little sister balk to start with, as the Shadows first moved, and braced Imoto-chan’s mind, glad she was able to do that despite the separation.

Yugi looked up at Oneesan and smiled gratefully, not saying a word about the issue to her friends in order to help them keep calm. 

“It’s a new round of combat.” Bakura informed them, “And though he just lost his hand, Zorc looks almost uninjured. Plus things are looking worse for the Adventurers.” As she said that the hand shifted and split, taking the form of two monsters.

“Any piece of my flesh cut from my body transforms into monsters under my control!” Zorc informed them, sounding smug. “Minions. Deal with them, I grow bored.”

He turned to leave and Yugi stepped forward, wanting this over as soon as possible. “Are you running away?” She demanded, “Stand and fight us!”

“I have a special place set up for our final battle.” Zorc informed her, “Make your way to my castle while the fires of hate still burn within you, if you can.” With that he took off, flying ahead to the castle.

“Jerk! Creep! Power Gamer!” Jou roared insults after him, “Just wait! We’ll get to the castle no matter what it takes!”

“We’re playing right into Bakura’s script.” Yugi mentally grimaced, “We really are stuck in her game world.”

‘You’re right.’ Yugi jumped a mile and wheeled around to look up at her elder sister, shocked when she heard Oneesan’s voice echoing in her mind, ‘Bakura made Zorc appear when your guard was down, then she was able to seal your souls into figurines. Everything’s gone according to her plan. She’s a Game Master to watch out for.’

“I think she’s cheating.” Yugi informed her elder sister, needing to warn her. “Whenever she rolls she gets a critical.”

‘I know.’ Oneesan replied, delighted that she could finally talk to her little sister outside of the soul rooms despite the situation. ‘And I can stop her.’

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 2

“Wait.” The Princess hissed, frowning as she poked her head around the corner before pulling Ba-Khu-Ra behind a statue where she could occasionally see the doors.

“What?” The frustrated thief hissed back. It had looked like a clear run to the open door at the end of the corridor.

“That’s the treasury.” The Princess snapped at her, gesturing towards the doors. “That door’s not supposed to be open and there are supposed to be guards there. No one goes in there at this time of night. Not unless it’s an emergency.”

Ba-Khu-Ra scowled. So she was right and things up to this point had been too easy. Then she realized something else and glowered at the Princess. “You cheated!”

“What?” Honest shock crossed across the girl’s features.

“You knew we couldn’t get inside without being seen!” Ba-Khu-Ra snarled, trying to keep her tone down, “You cheated!”

“I would never cheat!” The Princess shook her head, anger sinking in, “I assumed you’d have a plan for distracting guards.”

Ba-Khu-Ra didn’t believe her. The girl’s whole life was based on lies, why wouldn’t she tell but another one? Still the game was not over yet, and she was determined to get her gold. She edged down the corridor towards the open door, the Princess following with a speed and silence that the thief had come to expect.

As she got closer she could hear voices coming from the treasury, along with the sounds of a lot of coins being moved.

“Gods below…” She heard the Princess hiss and quickly glanced over at what she was staring at. Her lips pursed as she realized that there was no space to hide behind the next statue because there was a pile of bodies stacked up behind it. She couldn’t tell if the guards were breathing or not, but it was obvious that they would not be stopping the thieves any time soon.

“Shut up.” Bakura hissed at the girl, wheeling around to glower at her, “Unless you want us to get caught.”

“I need to alert the…” The Princess trailed off at the smirk on Ba-Khu-Ra’s face, “What?”

“You alert the guards, you lose and I get to tell everyone your little secret.” The thief reminded her.

“But…” The Princess scowled, flashbacks of the last time someone had snuck into the palace and the guards hadn’t been alerted in time playing through her mind. “What do you suggest then? Because if you want to win we have to get through that door without getting caught.”

Ba-Khu-Ra considered her options. She could just call Diabound and use its powers to walk through the walls. That would get her in, but the Princess had specifically said ‘through the door’ and she did not doubt she would use any technicality possible to avoid paying out.

“Stay here.” She snapped at the royal brat before edging towards the door, carefully taking note of the numbers inside the great chamber even as the amount of gold and jewels within dazzled her. Seven men answered to one woman. She would be impressed at the level of organization she could see going on as the woman directed the men to the more valuable but small objects if they weren’t interfering in her own plans.

Instead she scowled as she tried to work out how to enter the room via the doors without being seen. The Princess may claim that she never cheated and never lost, but she was no slouch at games herself and this was the one game that she had grown up learning how to play. She was not going to lose here.

She retreated back to the statue where the Princess was waiting, as per instructions. Just as she had followed Ba-Khu-Ra’s rules all the way down here. The thief was actually surprised though, this time, that she hadn’t gone running for the guards.

“Well?” The Princess asked, looking like she was contemplating something herself.

“Follow my lead exactly and be silent.” Ba-Khu-Ra informed the girl, “There’s a way in.”

“Alright.” The Princess nodded, following the commoner’s lead as she emerged cautiously from their hiding place and edged towards the door. They were halfway through it, literally in the doorframe, when a shout went up from the woman and all of her mooks turned to look at them.

“Uh oh…”