Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Did My Time ❯ Finale? ( Chapter 5 )

"The cities grow

The rivers flow

Where you are, I never know

If you were right and I was wrong

Why are you the one who's gone

And I'm still here"

-"I'm Still Here", Vertical Horizon

~*~Did My Time~*~

Chapter 5

by BlueMew

The electric glow of the lights of the modern age flooded the room where the two men sat waiting for any indication that the time was correct to begin their quest for salvation. Tonight would be the best chance at controlling the spirit of the Millennium Rod, and together, the former Pharaoh and the host of his former guard would try as best they could to bring peace to the spirit.

This was the seventh attempt in a week long trial to see if the Spirit of the Rod could ever be tamed, and though the first two nights had been quite eventful, with Ishtar causing Malik to harm himself with any nearby object that could cause pain, and had even threatened to hurt Yami if he tried to interfere. But the third night until now had been quiet, and Ishtar had obeyed Malik's instructions, to the delight of both men.

Outside, street lamps began to glow, adding more light to the already bright room, causing the Egyptian to shield his eyes from the onslaught directed at the senses.

He could hear children playing nearby, shrieking and laughing in their juvenile games. They knew nothing of the power that was being held in the small room on the second floor of the Kame Game Shop. None of the foolish mortals cared of ancient powers and legends that were being called upon this night, not knowing that a single belief in such a concept could bring about their own personal redemption or destruction.

Then again, Duel Monsters and everything associated with it was just a game.

The Egyptian shifted in his seat, growing increasingly more uncomfortable as he waited for the spirit of the Rod to try to control him yet again.

"Be patient." Yami instructed, still holding the Rod. "Ishtar will show his face soon enough, then we will begin the rituals again."

Hugging his arms around himself again, Malik just shook his head. "Ishtar isn't coming tonight. He knows what we plan to do."

For hours, both young men waited for the Spirit of the Rod to come take its place in Malik, but Ishtar never arrived. Perhaps he had just decided to move on and to stop tormenting the young man, or maybe he had fled to the recesses of the Rod making him dormant like the other spirits.

It was Malik that gave up the vigil first, heading to the couch and laying down to sleep while the former Pharaoh kept watch over the young man. Yami was certain that Ishtar would show up tonight if Malik wanted him, and he knew that the Egyptian did not wish to have the spirit pulled from him yet.

Yugi remained awake for the entire night, keeping his vigil over Malik's sleeping body. He looked peaceful as he lay in his placid dreams, almost as he had looked the first time Yugi placed the tauk around his neck and seen the visions from when he and Isis were children.

What had he given her back then? Oh yes, a wreath of flowers. Perhaps that could be a key to his redemption. But then again, he was willing to try anything at the moment.

Before Malik opened his eyes, he breathed in the morning air, smiling as he caught the scent of roses and incense. How wonderful it was to have such vivid memories of one's childhood, no matter how far one's innocence had fled.

But as he opened his eyes, he was not in the cold pyramid that he had loathed when he was a child, but he was in a small room with the spirit of the Pharaoh watching over him.

Had this been the reason Ishtar had started his service to the Pharaoh? The spirit was incredibly kind and generous, and he would have made for the perfect employer in a time when most people barely made a living with what they could produce.

"He didn't come to my dreams either. I think I may be ready to try to take the Rod back." Sitting up, Malik wiped the sleep from his eyes, smiling at how beautiful the room looked.

Yami smiled as he stood, still holding the Millennium Rod in his left hand as he moved toward the Egyptian. "Come back if you ever need anything again Malik."

Holding the Rod in his hand, Malik smiled as he felt the weight in his hands, loving how the polished gold glistened against his copper skin. Slipping it in his belt, he bowed to Yami, thanking him immensely for his help over the past few days, and promising that he would return if he had any troubles with Ishtar.

~*~*~*~*~

Isis knelt on the floor clapping the hands of a blond haired baby, cooing as she helped the child dance around the stony floors of its underground house.

She and Rishid had been quite surprised when seeing the child's light hair color when Khalid was born, but both just attributed it to the simple fact that Malik, her brother, was even lighter haired than their child.

Khalid's skin was as olive as his mother's, and he had his father's graying eyes. The boy would have a wonderful childhood ahead of him in the sanctuary of his parent's world, especially now that his uncle would never come back to live with them.

Scooping the boy up in her arms, Isis headed toward his nursery to put him to bed for his afternoon nap.

~*~*~*~*~

Weeks had passed since Malik had the encounter with Yami and Yugi, and Ishtar had plagued his waking moments since his arrival home the next day. It was just like the old times before Battle City, where the Spirit of the Millennium Rod suggested what his host would do for that day, and Malik would willingly oblige, even if he did not wish to harm people verbally or physically.

He was certain that the police would be after him again, since Ishtar controlled his actions while at the bar they had gone to the previous night, and he assaulted two men for thinking that he was gay.

Just because a man wears leather and violet silk does not make that man a homosexual! It just means he has good fashion sense, or so Malik continuously told himself.

But he had no time to think on why the men had provoked Ishtar's wrath, for he had to continue packing his belongings so he could leave the country and take up residence somewhere else.

He would leave everything that was not essential behind in the apartment, and the Egyptian had two suitcases in which he kept his whole life; one suitcase was full of just Duel Monster cards he would sell to make money.

The only other thing that he wanted to take was the Millennium Rod. Picking up the ancient artifact, Malik traced his hand over the ball and wings on the top, sighing as he stared at the reflection of himself.

"Why couldn't you leave them alone? I liked it here."

They insulted us, and I know that you would have done the same thing if I were not here with you. Besides, we need a change beloved, and since you refuse to kill the Pharaoh, I've decided we need to see the world. I've never been to either of the Americas or to Europe.

Malik stopped and stared at the Rod. Was Ishtar talking sensibly for once? "You could have just asked me to go to America while on vacation. I want to see it as well, so I would have agreed."

Would you? Don't lie to me Malik. You're too cheap to ever go on vacation overseas, unless you have a plan for terrorizing or swindling the locals.

"I'm not like you Ishtar." Malik spat, his grip on the Rod tightening as his temper flared. "I don't want to destroy the order of the world!"

No, you don't want to destroy the world. Just enslave it, am I right beloved?

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

You don't mean that Malik. You never have. Yugi was correct in stating that you are like that fool Ryou. You can't exist without me. But ask yourself this- can I exist without you?

"I. . ." Howling in pain, Malik held the Rod as if it were a baseball bat, slamming it against the outer wall of the apartment, keeping his hands tight against the vibrations of the metal as the impact resounded through the shaft. "I CAN EXIST WITHOUT YOU!"

Malik continued to slam the Rod against the concrete wall as the maniacal laughter resounded in his head. The Spirit of the Rod was enjoying this display of aggression, and Malik was not about to give it the satisfaction of him stopping before its home was completely destroyed.

"I WILL NEVER BE YOUR PAWN AGAIN!" With a final mighty swing, the Millennium Rod hit the wall, this time shattering in to thousands of fragments which scattered themselves around the room.

Malik just smiled as he looked around him, still panting from the physical and mental exertion he put out to destroy the relic, but the laughter had stopped. "He's gone. Praise Ra, I can be normal again."

Life was going to be better now that Ishtar had been permanently silenced, Malik was certain of this as he bent down to pick up his two suitcases, ready to go start his new life somewhere that he would not have to worry about the past ever again.

A sharp pain in his chest doubled him over as he tried to lift the suitcases, and he grabbed his heart as more jolts of what felt like electricity raced through his veins. Was this what a heart attack felt like? Malik mused as he grabbed on to the counter with his other hand, steadying himself as he stood in his kitchen.

Perhaps Ishtar had been trying to warn him after all when he spoke about Malik not being able to live without him, and he regretted his recent actions, falling to his knees and searching for pieces of the Millennium Rod, hoping to place them back together so he could restore Ishtar to his proper place in the universe.

"No. . . ." Malik whispered as he slid to the ground, the pains in his chest intensifying as he moved. "I can't die. . . .not yet. Ishtar, please." The words were whispered as Malik felt his own life spirit flowing out from his body in to the pieces of the Millennium Rod. "I love you Ishtar, and I forgive you for everything I've ever accused you of doing. Please, just come back to me. . . . ."

But there would never be an answer given to the dying man from the spirit that had resided in his body for years. Ishtar had left with the Millennium Rod being shattered, as he was free from his bondage to this son of the line of descendents whom he had pledged his service to thousands of years prior.

As the spirit of Malik left his earthbound body, it infused the pieces of the shattered Millennium Rod, causing the artifact to reconstruct itself and find its place into the hands of its victim.

Perhaps his death would make the news, and perhaps Yugi read the obituaries section of the paper, allowing for at least one person to attend his funeral, but the spirit of Malik knew that the Egyptian body he had dwelled in would never be mourned, for it would never be discovered by anyone who cared about him.

~*~*~*~*~

"Khalid. . ." Isis smiled down at the child she cradled in her arms, staring in to his grey eyes, searching in their depths for the intensity of her son's soul. "What will the future hold for such a beautiful little boy?"

Rishid walked in to the room where his wife and son were sitting, carrying a long white box, which he cradled against his chest. Silently, he set the package down at his wife's feet. Isis placed Khalid on the ground, the baby giggled as he trotted over to his father, pulling on his long black robes and asking to be picked up, to which Rishid obliged with a smile.

"Where did you get this?" Isis picked up the package, setting it on her lap as she slid a fingernail through the tape that bound it closed.

"It was on your mother's bed, but she refused to touch it, saying that it did not belong to anyone but you now."

Isis stared in horror at the contents of the package- the Millennium Rod. It was supposed to be in Yugi's possession, not back in Egypt without a rightful owner to claim it! She would call Yugi tomorrow to demand his reasons for such an action, but for now, she would need to place the Rod back in its rightful place deep within the tomb of the Pharaoh.

"Rishid, come with me." She whispered, still holding the Rod, leading her husband and her son in to the depths of the pyramid to where the Millennium Rod would find its eternal resting place yet again.

Isis sighed in relief as the Rod fused back in to the stone, knowing that its menace would not be present in her lifetime again. She walked back over to Rishid, taking Khalid from his arms, then started back up the stairs, cooing about how glorious today was, for one of the evils that walked the earth would not come to haunt the child.

As she continued to stare in to her son's eyes, Isis gasped as she noticed the color fade away to that of intense lavender, something that she had only seen in people like her father and her brother, but only when their Millennium Items took control of their minds.

His eyes still remained the new violet color she had noticed before, and she almost dropped her son when he giggled and muttered something about her being funny.

Still holding Khalid, Isis ran to her husband who had remained in the chamber of the tomb and handed the baby to him. "Gods, Rishid, look at him! He's being possessed!"

The bald man stared down at his son, pushing his bangs from his face to stare in to the boy's eyes for quite some time, but then handed him back once he was done. "Isis, go up to the surface for a holiday. You apparently need one, for Khalid is absolutely fine."

Isis, though upset with Rishid's advice, walked away from him to find clothing for a trip to the surface, leaving the child with him. She didn't want to be near Khalid anymore, for he seemed just as frightening as Malik had been those last few times she had been near her brother.

Rishid could deal with the boy. She would wash her hands of the entire problem, leaving her to continue her duties as the Oracle.

Khalid watched as his mother left the room, who in turn was followed by his father, the boy's eyes continuing their inhuman violet glow as a smirk spread across his infantile lips. Tottering over to the stone tomb of the Pharaoh, Khalid reached up to where the Millennium Items remained in stasis while they rested over the years, and to his delight, the Millennium Rod yielded to his touch as he lifted it from the tomb and carried it off with him back toward the nursery where he lived.

His parents would be devastated to see what their son had discovered in their absence, as Ishtar had been born in violence, leading every descendant of his line that carried the blessing and the gift of the Spirit of the Rod to a premature and gruesome death, or an existence plagued by insanity.

Perhaps in this child Ishtar would finally find a home, a body to place his troubled spirit so that he could find redemption and finally be allowed to move on to the true afterlife.

But then again, he was just a baby. . . . .