The Future of the Past

A Yu-GI-Oh! Fanfiction V2.0

By: Sanjuno Shori

Rating: R seems to be the over all average.

Pairings: Seto/Jounouchi, Yami/Yugi

Warnings: AU, YAOI, mention of non-con, violence, OC death, major messing about of the timeline, alterations of cannon facts, PastLife!Everybody

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! A fact that is made glaringly obvious by the fact that Seto-kun isn’t dragging Jou-chi off to screw him silly every episode. Boo. I am making no money off this. The characters and animanga series in question are not of my creation, but this fanfic is. Therefore, if you steal it and try to take credit for my work, I will be forced to hunt you down like a rabid dog and do several terribly nasty things to you. So please don’t take it without my permission. You cooperation is expected.

The Future of the Past

Chapter 1: A Familiar Voice, Memories of the Soul

=^-^=

Jounouchi walked through the forest, grumbling under his breath. Suddenly he stopped and looked around, the frown on his face deepening. The trees around him were old, ancient even. The faint light that filtered through the thick foliage was tinged faintly green, adding to the slightly disturbing atmosphere. A light silver mist drifted around the boles of the huge trees, obscuring any view not blocked by the towering vegetation.

Jounouchi turned in a full circle; unable to see the path he had been following. The forest was completely silent. No breeze stirred the leaves above, and the listening boy could not hear any birds, or even insects to break the stillness around him.

“Where the hell am I? I don’t remember coming here...” Jounouchi muttered to himself as his eyes darted frantically to see all around him. Cautious now, the blond teen paid more attention to his surroundings as he set off again. Between one step and the next, he emerged from the gloom of the forest into a bright sunlit clearing.

“Ehh?”

Staring seemed to be a good idea, so Jounouchi stared at the sight before him. In a startling contrast to the dark, silent forest behind him, the area in front of the lost teen was lit with a brilliant golden glow. In the centre stood a raised circular platform with four poles spaced evenly around the outside. In a decidedly odd effect that could only be described as a reversed oasis, the clearing was awash with golden sand.

Jounouchi found himself drawn forward, climbing up the steps until he stood before the platform. Just as he was about to step into the circle carved into the stone face of the platform, he jerked his foot back. A few small beads of sweat appeared on his face as he slowly moved back a pace.

“Alright, that’s it!” Jounouchi yelled, clenching his hands into fists. “I don’t know what’s going on but I’ve had enough of this weird shit!”

He spun around, obviously intending to leave as fast as he could, when a laugh sounded behind him.

“You really don’t want to do that.”

Jounouchi froze, eyes wide as the soft, laughing voice drifted through the hazy air. He half turned, slowly looking back, eyes leading the rotation of his body. A figure stood on the far side of the circle. It was a boy. More importantly than that... it was himself.

His hair was the same golden blond, with pale skin that Jounouchi knew from personal experience never tanned or grew any darker. He was the same height, dressed in a short green tunic, white kilt and gold sandals, a small gold armband around his right bicep. A gold collar set with a large sapphire was around his throat, and the ends of a blue and green bandanna patterned with gold thread had the familiar symbol of the Eye of Osiris arranged to rest in the centre of his forehead while the ends dangled over one ear. The only difference was in the eyes. This fake had eyes that were a unique gold colour, while Jounouchi knew that his own eyes were dark brown.

The other Jounouchi and his outfit strongly reminded the real Jounouchi of Egypt, which brought his mind to memories of Yugi, the puzzle and the other Millennium Items. He spun quickly until he was facing the double and took a step backwards.

“Who are you, what do you mean, and what the hell is going on?!”

That same laughter filled the gold clearing.

“You really don’t remember. That’s so sad... but don’t worry our pretty head, that’s why I’m here.”

Jounouchi blinked.

“Remember? Remember what? What are you talking about?”

The other boy chuckled and tilted his head.

“Curious as always. I am a... a memory, I suppose. I am who you used to be.”

“A memory?”

Jounouchi relaxed a little, despite himself.

“What do you mean, who I used to be?”

“Human souls are very resilient, stronger than any weapon or magic’s could ever be. Since they’re almost never destroyed, they can only be reused, reborn. I am who you are from a past life.”

“Uhh, that’s nice and all, really...” Jounouchi scratched the back of his head. “... but why am I seeing you, if you’re me? I mean, just where are we anyways?”

The memory shook his head and sighed.

“This is a dream, idiot. Great Ra, I really am thick! Now I know what he was talking about...”

The last bit trailed off as his eyes unfocused.

“I wonder how he’s doing...”

“Oi! I’m not thick! Where do you get off insulting yourself? And who is this ‘he’ you’re talking about?”

Jounouchi looked at his double with a miffed expression.

(A.N.: Miffed, heh. Miffed is a funny word. I keep thinking about a kitten who just sneezed and it’s glaring cross-eyed at you ‘cause YOU’RE the one who made the dust fly up and you just know that now it’s gravely insulted by this affront to it’s dignity. So you had better be fetching the apology catnip mouse Right Now or otherwise the kitten will be getting... miffed at you. I like the word miffed! ^-^; Right then, shutting up now.)(B.N.: That's what you just did to your kitten, didn't you, Niko-san? *sighs* There's no hope for you, is there?)

The other Jounouchi sighed and looked at the modern Jounouchi.

“You really don’t remember anything... nothing of what happened, or about him. How much we...”

Shaking his head violently the memory’s expression hardened.

“I’m not going to tell you. It has to be something you experience for yourself... myself... ourselves, umm...” Blinking, the memory reviewed his sentence, decided that it made a little bit of sense, and forged ahead anyway.

“Never mind, I’m not telling you until you remember. So there.”

Jounouchi stared at, well... himself, technically... in annoyance. “Once I’ve remembered there’ll be no point in telling me.”

“Exactly.”

“Nan da?”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Huh?”

“Can you make some sense, onegai?”

“I think I’m confused.”

“That makes two of us, well... one of us. But there are two of us and....”

Jounouchi frowned and looked at his double. “Did we just confuse us?”

“That actually made sense to me. And yes, we did, I did... um...”

They stared at each other for a while.

Memory-Jounouchi broke the silence. “So do you want to remember now?”

Real-Jounouchi blinked. “It’s that simple?”

“Yep!”

Jounouchi blinked again. “It won’t hurt, will it?”

“No!” The Jounouchi double shook his head, grinning. “It won’t hurt at all!”

“Yosh! Let’s do it, I don’t think I can stand not remembering something someone else does!... Umm, that I do, I mean, well, you know what I mean!”

Laughing the memory waved the other blond into the circle, “Of course I do, I’m you! Let’s get started!”

As Jounouchi stepped into the circle, the other Jounouchi walked forward at the same pace, and they met in the middle.

“Oh, by the way, you’ll be in a coma until you’ve finished remembering.”

“Nani?!”

The memory laughed as his body faded until it was nothing but gold lines of light in the air. The ghost image of the memory then stepped into the other Jounouchi’s body, melting into it. Jounouchi closed his eyes as everything burned with gold light, even the darkness behind his eyelids.

Then in a brilliant flare the light sunk into his dream-body, and with it came the memories of a whole other lifetime. And Jounouchi remembered...

=^-^=

-= Ancient Egypt =-

Jono collapsed by the river, body shaking with the effort it took to suppress his sobs. Through gold eyes that blurred with tears, he stared at the reeds that grew along the length of the Nile and its children.

'I wonder if there are any crocodiles nearby..'

The hopeless thought ran through his mind as he watched the water. Only ten and four harvests of age, the young teen had been barely seen nine when his mother had died of a sickness that had left his younger sister nearly blind. Their father had then sold the siblings into slavery less than a moon later. The slave known as Jono stared at the water with something like longing, wondering idly if there really was an afterlife.

“Stop it!” Jono shook his head, and the only reason he did not hit himself was that he already had enough bruises. “Self-pity will get me nowhere! I need to concentrate on staying alive. I promised Shizuka that we’d be together again someday... and I always keep my promises!”

Glaring out at the water to banish the temptation of oblivion that it offered, the golden-haired slave shifted onto his back. Staring up at the full moon that bathed the desert night with gentle silver light, Jono finally let the tears of pain from his emotional scars and most recent beating fall freely.

“Damn it, why did that son of a bitch have to sell us? We don’t deserve this kind of life... oh Gods I hope that Shizuka has a nominally kind master, or at the very least an indifferent one. Not like the sadistic bastards I seem to get.”

A soft gold glow intruded upon his thoughts. Jono sat up quickly, ignoring the pain, frantically seeking the source of the light. If he was caught outside his masters property...

A man carrying a torch walked quickly along the bank, towards the frightened young teen. Jono scrambled out of sight, then reached for the deck that he always kept with him in an instinctual move that even five brutal years of slavery could never really overwrite. His hand stopped halfway there then dropped to his side.

'Almost forgot about these fucking things.'

Jono chuckled silently without humour as he removed his gaze from the man to the thick, manacle-like bracelets that encircled his wrists. He looked back up at the man as he fingered the matching collar that went around his neck.

He crouched lower under his cover as the man drew even closer; he was almost close enough for the blond slave to touch his cloak now. Jono shivered as he wondered why the strange man was out here so late at night, walking in a place where nobody ever went... well, nobody except for a bruised, beaten slave boy who wanted a few hours to himself, that is.

The man stopped and looked around carefully. This hidden spot along the riverbank was far from even the most outlying homes that surrounded the capital city. Whatever one did here was certain to go unnoticed for a long time. Jono held his breath as the man reached under his cloak and withdrew a small box.

Sucking in his breath and holding it, Jono stared at the box in the stranger’s hand. He knew what that box was. Those types of boxes were used to hold very rare, very powerful monsters. They were the types of monsters who were generally, as a rule, hard to control, and very, very hard to get your hands on. For that reason, the box was used to keep the cards safe from damage and the monsters safely trapped in the Shadow Realm until their owners called for them.

The torch was stuck in the ground, where it remained upright to light the small area.

Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe the restless shifting of the man's eyes and the shaking of his hands was just normal, not out of nervousness, or excitement, well, maybe excitement, you never knew with some people, but it definitely was not fear...

Jono had a sinking feeling in his stomach as the man undid the clasps on the box.

'Why is the rumour about a recent theft of something bothering me...?'

The man lifted the lid with a trembling hand.

‘It’s important, what was stolen. Important enough to upset both the Pharaoh and his High Priest...’

The card was removed from the enchanted case.

‘I can remember my asshole master, talking with his friends about how some idiot had stolen...’

The card glowed with shadow energy as it released the occupant that dwelled inside. There was a rush. Great leathery wings unfurled across the darkness of the night sky, moonlight skittered across similarly-hued scales, and the wedge-shaped head lifted high on a serpentine neck.

Jono was too scared to move, too frightened to breathe.

‘It’s a gods-damned fucking Blue Eyes White Dragon!’

The slender slave desperately tried to become one with the ground.

Blue fire flared in the giant beasts eyes as its jaw opened to reveal the mouth filled with razor edged teeth. A roar of pure fury shattered the curious stillness that had frozen the world around the three. Jono whimpered quietly and hid his head as the Blue Eyes attack scorched the air.

Gathering his courage and looking up again Jono stared in shock at the man, the thief, who had miraculously avoided the creature’s attack somehow. The blond teen dug down further, knowing that he was good as dead if he left his hiding spot before the man and dragon had gone.

The dragon attacked again, and this time Jono saw that the thief survived thanks to a special set of charms that protected you from duel monster attacks. Cursing violently, the thief fumbled around as he tried to avoid the flame from the previous attacks as well as the claws, fangs, and tail that all belonged to the furious dragon intent on turning him into a finely ground red paste, or maybe a splatter across the landscape.

Things seemed to slow down for the young teen; he saw how the thief grew both afraid and angry...

‘What am I going to do...?’

Jono tensed as he watched the man dodge the blows, a sense of something bad about to happen grinding on his instincts.

The card was clutched in both hands now...

‘Oh Gods, what does he think he’s doing?!’

Horror crept over the hidden teen as the knowledge of what the thief was prepared to do was made known to him.

A tiny tear appeared in the side of the card as the thief pulled...

“NO!!”

Jono’s scream merged with the white dragon’s roar of pain as the blond slave burst from the reeds. The knife that was both his only weapon and best-kept secret flashed in the torchlight.

Shocked at the appearance of the boy, the thief turned, eyes latching onto Jono as the hands on the card stopped pulling.

“Who are...?”

The nameless thief’s sentence went unfinished, exhaled on his last breath, because at that moment Jono’s well-sharpened bronze knife flashed once more...

A thin sigh that ended in a bloody gurgle slid from the man's lips as he toppled over onto the sand, the slightly damaged but still whole card fluttering to the ground after him. Jono removed his knife from between the dead man's ribs, slicing once across the neck to make certain of death before wiping the knife clean on the thief’s cloak.

  “I am nobody you need to know about, bastard.”

Standing up with a slight wobble, the blond turned gold eyes to where the card lay face up on the loosely packed sand. A presence behind him, the feeling of eyes on his back made him turn around. Slowly, almost against his will, Jono’s eyes were drawn to where the great beast crouched.

The sight of the monster filled his vision as he looked up...

And stared deep into the dark blue eyes of the dragon.

Tsuzuku…

Finished: 2002-09-07

Revised: 2006-03-12

Betaed: 3/11/06

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