The Sons of Ra

Chapter One

The Sun God

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter and Yu-Gi-Oh, I would be making them meet in canon and not writing a fanfic...so, no I don't own them, credit for that goes to Rowling and Takahashi respectively. I write this only for amusement and I'm not making any profit out of this story.

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Time slowed down to a ridiculous and torturous crawl. A second suddenly seemed like infinity and infinity was tormenting him. Time didn't move, but neither could he, he was slow, too slow. Weak. Helpless. Emerald green eyes watched in desperation as his greatest dream crumbled down to pathetic ashes right before them, as his only family was cruelly ripped away from him. Again.

Sirius! S-Sirius!

He wasn't sure if he was whispering or screaming, or if the sound of his godfather's name was a mere echo cruelly repeating itself in his head. He couldn't think of anything else, couldn't remember what he'd been doing, what was happening. He couldn't hear the sounds of the battle still going on around him. The battle of Good and Evil, it didn't matter, nothing mattered anymore. Not the running murderer, Bellatrix Lestrange, not the Order of the Phoenix trying to save him, not his friends, calling out to him, yelling for him to stop.

Wait…stop? Stop what? He wasn't doing anything; he hadn't been able to do anything. And then he suddenly realized, as if waking up from a dream and just noticing it had in fact been a dream, he was running. His legs had carried him all the way to the Veil of Death without him even noticing before now. He paused for a fraction of a second, hesitating…until he felt Remus's hand trying to grip the back of his overlarge t-shirt. The werewolf didn't manage to grasp the fabric, but the action was enough to make the teenager decide to act before he could actually be stopped. Reckless bravery and all that.

Before he had really thought about it, the boy had already jumped into the folds of the otherworldly Veil. The world suddenly faded into darkness…

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He was floating comfortably, his body weightless and unburdened by any of the pain he had been feeling before. When had that been? How long had he been here, floating in the comforting darkness and emptiness? It felt like forever, almost like he'd been born here and was destined to die here. Dying suddenly didn't seem like such a bad thing as it had before…why had he ever feared Death? It couldn't be quite as bad as an eternity floating in the nothingness, even if the darkness here was somewhat comforting. He sighed. Or at least he thought he did, but he wasn't all that sure if he even had a mouth with which to sigh, or in fact if he had a body at all.

Sometime during the eternity in the darkness, something appeared out of nowhere (not that this was hard to do, since everywhere was nowhere), a small, tiny little ball of yellow light, almost like a small candle in the middle of the night. It was astoundingly beautiful for such a small little thing. Only, it didn't stay quite so little for long. In a sudden flash, the little ball exploded into a magnificent and blinding golden light…a living light.

The boy watched in awe, not quite sure how since he wasn't quite sure if he still had eyes, as something strikingly similar to a phoenix appeared in front of him. It wasn't a phoenix, of course, even someone as inexperienced as he could tell one. For one, it was entirely made out of golden fire, not fire-like feathers, just fire…and there was just something, something in it's essence or in it's beautiful and entirely too-wise blue eyes…something more. No, this was no mere fire bird, this was the Father of fire birds.

An amused chuckle resounded in the air, the source of the sound not at all clear but at the same time painfully obviously being the majestic creature in front of him. 'You could consider me something like that, I suppose'

Something in the boy told him that he should feel terribly honored that the creature was even speaking to him, even if it was quite clearly amusing itself with him. 'What…why? Why are you here? Why did you come to me?' The boy's not-voice (for it too sounded all around him and the Father Phoenix) was showing levels of confusion the young wizard was sure he'd never felt before.

Another amused chuckle came from everywhere and nowhere, before one of the fiery wings made contact with the boy-wizard, for a moment he was scared of being burned to death, until he remembered his earlier thought about Death being not quite so bad and calmed down. As soon as the fire touched him, he realized that he did in fact still have a body, for otherwise it would be simply impossible to feel everything he was feeling. Comforting warmth, a careful caress, a firm pat, a loving strike.

'I have come to you because you've come here. You should not be here, you do not belong here'

The boy didn't understand. He'd been here for so long, so very long that he was afraid he was forgetting what he had lived in before the darkness. 'Why not? Why now?'

The wing retreated, and the boy could once again gaze into the bottomless blue of the being's eyes. 'This is a place of Shadows. A place for sinners and sacrifices. You are neither. You do not belong here. I shall take you back. Back to the Human Realm. Back to Life'

Hope sparked inside the boy. Life? Back to the place full of color and sound and feelings! Alive again! And then suddenly, the hope flicked ominously as he remembered more and more of the Place Before the Darkness. Sirius. His Godfather.

'Will you take him as well?' He asked the fiery creature, somehow knowing that it would know who and what exactly he was talking about. It seemed to know everything about everything.

The fire suddenly flared brighter, and somehow the boy could tell it was somewhat angry.

'No'

One simple word, two almost insignificant letters…and they destroyed the hope that had flared inside him like an inferno in just an instant. 'W-why? Why not? Why must he stay when I go?'

The fire went back to calm burning and he got a weird sense of apology coming from the burning being. 'You hold no darkness in your soul. You are innocent. Marked, but innocent. His soul is damaged, half-broken already and the Shadows have claimed him. They cannot claim you. Not yet. The Gateway was made to Judge and you have been judged innocent. You must go back'

The voice was soft and warm, trying to comfort him and still make him understand. This was the way things were, and he could not change it. Well, obviously this creature had never met him before…because he would do something about it, he would change it, somehow.

'I'll take his place!' The shout echoed ominously in the empty darkness, and the boy only realized the meaning of his words once he'd spoken them. Instead of making him regret it, they gave him strength, courage and determination. He would do it. He would, if only it saved Sirius. 'You can punish me in his stead. The Shadows can claim me! I am no innocent, I have caused this!'

The fiery creature started, it stood still for several moment that might have been several lifetimes in the Dark Place. Then it spoke, it's voice again soft but now also holding a note of surprise and disbelief.

'You would do that? Give your Soul to the Shadows just to save the damaged essence of a man you only met a few times? The Shadows would devour you, your innocent Soul would be like a drug to them, they crave it. They would shatter you and torment you. Twist you until you were but a soulless Shadow yourself. A Fate far worse than Death'

Shivers ran down his spine at the description of the Fate he was choosing for himself. But again, it only made him more determined to go through with it, for he understood that if he didn't suffer this, then Sirius would.

'I will do it. I will take his place'

Those otherworldly blue eyes watched him with intensity they had not yet showed before now. The creature seemed to be judging him and, finally, finding something it liked.

'You are brave. Very brave, little human. You would change places with a condemned man, one who is not even your blood. Very Brave' The fiery wings enfolded him again, and it felt as though he was receiving a hug from the great beast. He felt startled, but also comforted.

'I will not let you take his place' There was a sense of finality in the words that allowed no room for arguments. The boy still prepared to make his opposition to this idea known. He barely got the chance to open his mouth before he was interrupted.

'I shall make a deal with you, little human. Instead of exchanging your soul for that of your godfather with the Shadows, swear yourself to me and become mine to command one favor of'

The not-phoenix's gaze became almost as fiery as the rest of its body as it watched the boy make a decision. Really it was not much of a decision at all. An eternity of torment and eventually becoming the very thing that had tormented him or becoming a servant to a rather heavenly being who had offered to take him away from the Dark Place and back to Life.

'I will be yours, then. What do I do? How do I swear' There was no indecision in his voice, no regret, no hesitation. He would do this, for Sirius, for himself…for his dreams of family and his hopes.

He felt a sudden and brief flash of glee from the fire creature…his new Master.

'Not Master, little one. Swear yourself, swear to serve, to believe in and to worship me. Not Master, little one. Just a god. Become one of mine. Swear yourself to Ra!'

A god. An ancient god who had once been worshipped in the world millennia ago. The boy now finally knew who he was talking to, making a deal with. An Egyptian god. Ra. He was awestruck and suddenly felt small an insignificant when standing in the embrace of a god. Why him? What could possibly be special enough about him than an Ancient god would come to save him from the Darkness, would make a deal with him to save his godfather even? Why? He didn't understand, but felt that it was not his place to question.

'I swear. I, Harry James Potter, swear myself and everything about me, body, soul and spirit, to Ra. Forever and more, I am yours' Then he knelt in front of the mighty deity and instantly felt the consequences of his oath take place. He felt different, whole, light, warm, everything and nothing at once. He felt like he had someone with him, inside him, around him, guarding and guiding him. He felt safe and…content. For the first time in his life, the wizard boy had a god to believe in.

The Egyptian god gave a mighty cry of triumph and the Dark Place was suddenly bathed in warm golden light. Everything began to spin, reality tearing itself apart as Harry felt himself leaving the Empty Darkness behind. A voice echoing in his head instead of everywhere around him. The voice of the god he'd sworn himself to.

'There is a place and a time that needs those such as you. You will be welcome there, in the land I and my brothers once ruled. Go to the Place of Kings and ask for an audience. Show your forehead to the Ruler and call my name, swear by it if you must, and tell them that I have sent you to them in their time of need. Help them and Save them…Go, my child'

The spinning finally ended, the light finally faded until all he could see was the starry sky above, the dawn just breaking in the east and chasing away the brilliance of the little stars. He groaned, suddenly aware of all the pain he'd been feeling before throwing himself into the Veil, and he was sure this little trip had surely not helped. Emerald green eyes tried to take in everything around him in order to determine exactly where he was.

His sudden gasp of shock was the only sound around, other than the continuous blowing of the wind. Endless amounts of sand greeted his sight everywhere he looked and off in the horizon a great City rose in the middle of the desert, a surprisingly large river running besides it.

He had never claimed to be the smartest of people, but it didn't take a genius to link Ra, desert, ancient-looking city and big river together. Harry knew exactly where he was, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Egypt. He was in the middle of freaking Egypt…and if the only sing of civilization he could see was anything to go by (what with its lack of electrical light or indeed anything modern-looking about it)…he was in the middle of freaking Ancient Egypt.

'Great…as though my life could get any weirder'