Please read author's note: Well, it had to happen eventually. A very good friend is helping me with this one, and if it turns out to be a collaborative work then I'll be happy as a clam in mud. I've been interested in Ancient Egypt since middle school, and a YuGiOh! fan for even longer. I've never written anything for YGO that was good enough for public viewing, but I had to do it sometime. This is sort of a 'in medias res' prologue, which may be ret-conned out of the story, but I thought posting it and seeing what kind of reaction I got would be a good litmus test for this experiment. Basically you'd get this, and then the next chapter would go to Yugi's point of view starting a few years after the end of the original canon. 3,624 words, not counting author's note. Cross-posted to my LiveJournal.

Guards fanned out along the entryway, on alert should any threat appear. Kalim dismounted his horse and waited for his King to step out of his carriage in front of the temple of Thoth. Several times a year this temple held a large celebration with an offering given to the god of the moon. The King was not required to be present at this small temple, but he kept his father's tradition of visiting once a year near the middle of the growing season. This offering was given at the start of the longest night, in counterpoint to an observation for Ra on the dawn of the shortest day. While the temple to Ra would be holding a robust and exciting marathon event lasting until sundown to encourage the Sun to lengthen the days again, Thoth's observance was traditionally a reserved event.

Kalim was glad to go; the reflective mood would be a nice way to relax before the grand excitement to come. Set, who had taken that name and his place in the sacred court just before the last flood, came with them. He got the impression that the severe young man would greatly enjoy the tranquil service with its rhythmic chiming bells and soothing chants. He'd not gotten the chance to get close to the younger man yet, and hoped that this would be a good chance for the unapproachable man to let down some of his defenses. Kalim also held a faint hope that it would sooth the King, though the cold young man often had a touch of melancholy as he remembered attending with his late father.

Rather than being in one of the cities, this temple had been built further away from the Nile at a small oasis. The distance from any city meant that this place was nearly always quiet, breeding the atmosphere of contemplation that brought scribes out into the desert regularly enough to support the temple financially. The local head priest, robed in green and blue, met them at the entrance. He knelt down to kiss the ground before the king. Horus touched the man's shoulder to acknowledge the gesture and then walked inside. Kalim was left, as was usual, to greet the aging priest. They walked into the temple proper and straight through the courtyard to the main temple building, the night breeze tickling the chimes in counterpoint to the soft harps the priestesses strummed in other chambers. They knelt before the god, the ibis-head statue draped with fine linens with a small pile of prayer scrolls and offerings already laid out at his feet. They sat for some time in quiet reflection, listening to the tranquil chants. When the song changed the group of three moved to a table to write out their own prayers to the god of Wisdom. The elegant pens and smooth scrolls were gifts from Thoth himself, and in this long night of moonlight it was fitting to use his tools to speak with him. Slaves brought forward the three heavy baskets they had as offerings and one by one they laid their prayers before the sacred alter.

The offering given, they backed out of the temple, being sure to never show their backs to the statue. They walked to another area where a dinner had been laid out for them. A gentle breeze was blowing steadily through the circle of pillars in the open gazebo, sheltered from the night's chill only by a few curtains and screens. The greetings were simple nods and they waited for Horus to take the first bite before the assembled priests and priestesses started eating and resumed their interrupted conversations. Brightly burning fires kept the area warm, though Kalim was glad for his thick cloak.

"It is nice to see you again, Priest Kalim. May I ask why Priest Mahado is not with us tonight?" the aging head priest asked as Kalim took his first sip of wine.

"It is nice to see you as well, Priest Tihuty. Mahado's wife has just become pregnant, and he felt he should spend the night with her praying in his home," he answered with a smile. "We have Priest Set with us in his stead."

"I hope his child will be blessed with Thoth's gifts, Mahado has always been a great supporter of the Lord of Words. It is also good to meet priest Set on this night of reflection," Tihuty replied. The stiff formality of the greeting would fade after the first course, and Kalim would be glad to see it go, but for now they had their parts to play.

"It is good to meet you as well," came the stiff reply. Set sipped his wine mechanically. He was trying too hard, in Kalim's opinion, to impress.

"Mahado deserves this blessing," Horus said. "He is a good man, and a loyal friend." Kalim nearly flinched at his king's tone. The fifteen year old man had always been a little cold, but to sound so severe about such a light topic in such a relaxing atmosphere…

Kalim took a long sip of his wine as Tihuty attempted to draw a quiet conversation from Set about the day to day goings on in this temple while the younger priest tried to decide whose example he should follow. For himself, Kalim moved over to another place to talk with some of the priestesses. Two of them were quite lovely and reasonably friendly. One was obsessed with perfecting her music and the other hopelessly drowned in her scrolls, but he was equally immersed in his own theoretical work. They managed a delightful game of verbal one-upmanship about their various passions. When Kalim moved back to the head table he saw that the king had decided to use wine to cure his poor mood, and had avoided being drawn into any conversation.

"I hope Thoth blesses you with his serenity, my King," Kalim whispered. Unfortunately there wasn't quite enough background noise in the gazebo to confuse the young man's sensitive hearing.

"Did you have something to say, Kalim?" he asked. The thin, deceptively frail shoulders shifted and a pair of unnaturally red eyes fixed on him. A slight blush colored the cheeks below them, evidence of the wine flowing in his veins.

"I only meant that you seem tense, my King. This is a time of rest and rejuvenation, and I worry that you have something burdening your mind." Kalim took a glass of milk, hoping to hint that wine was not the best answer to whatever troubled Horus tonight.

"Nothing burdens me tonight," came the automatic reply, but he fingered one of the rings on his left hand. Kalim did not turn away, knowing that if he waited the king would notice his own nervous fidgeting. "Perhaps I am slightly ill at ease."

"If I may be so bold, you have been ill at ease for some months. Is there anything that we could do for you?"

"I…" the king broke off, his gaze drifting to the stars beyond the pillars. "It is a personal issue." A few moments passed as they enjoyed the fine fruits and cheese. "It may be paranoia, but I have felt unsure of myself for some time. I feel alone, often."

"You don't visit the inner court often, perhaps…" Kalim left the suggestion unfinished. It was the King's business how often he visited his wives and Kalim, married only to his books, could not even pretend to be an expert in that area. Rumor had it that the king had some problem with his wives, and his last visit to them – a full three months ago – had ended in violent anger, but the holder of the Millennium Scales wasn't the sort to trust in rumor.

"That is increasingly unproductive," he grumbled in a rare moment of common teenaged petulance. "I'd get better company from a mural." Of course, when rumors were confirmed directly by the king himself that was another matter entirely, and Kalim was at a loss for a reply for some time.

"You and I are not very close, and I admit I enjoy solitude to a greater extent than most others I have met. Still, I would hope you consider all of the Sacred Court to be your close friends as well as your protectors. I can appreciate that may not be what you are talking about, but perhaps you think too much of your duties when you are in our company and do not relax properly when we are at rest," he attempted. He poured a fresh glass of milk for himself and set a second one before the king.

"I find myself longing for something I cannot name," he sighed. "I can't say when it started, but I feel I am missing something essential to my being. Recently I am jumping at shadows." The king was not an emotional person, and this confession was disturbing in its raw misery. Kalim felt distinctly ill equipped to deal with this, and wished Isis had come with them. Despite his position he was far from being considered one of the king's closest confidants. That the king was even speaking of this to Kalim was significant in and of itself.

"I am at a loss."

"As am I," the king said with a resounding finality. Silence reigned for some time, the quiet conversations around them not quite reaching the awkward pair.

"When I am at an impasse in my work, I find it helpful to take a walk under the stars. The moon is bright and full tonight, and the Temple dressed in finery. There could be no better place to hope for divine inspiration, I think," Kalim spoke as he stood up and straightened his cloak. "Care to join me?"

"I will," the king hesitantly replied, and Kalim would bet his initial impulse had been to decline. They fell into step amid the scattering of potted plants that decorated the courtyard. The central courtyard was flanked by a library on one side and the gazebo where they had been dining on the other. The main temple housing Thoth was in the back and a gate keeping building was in the front, with the resident priests living below ground between the library and gateway. Smaller structures were scattered about, housing essential services like restrooms and storage for the care of the plants. In the center the oasis had been edged in marble, creating a lovely rectangular pool that reflected the sky. For the occasion, more flowers and decorative banners had been placed throughout the Temple complex. They walked around the front end of the courtyard, pausing when the wine caught up with the king. When he was finished his business he rejoined Kalim at the eastern edge of the pool.

"A universe reflected in a still pool," Kalim sighed. "It is such a simple beauty."

"A pale reflection…" the king whispered back. "That is exactly what troubles me."

"What is?" Kalim asked, keeping his voice low.

"My life; I perform my duties to the Gods, maintain the peace my Father's work brought, and I punish those who ignore the rule of law, but nothing ever happens. I do not wish for some great upheaval to happen, but each year turns the same as the last, like I am caught between two mirrors. The past and future look exactly the same." Horus reached out to the reflected stars, his entire form downcast and longing. "I could not wish for more than I have: no threat from invasion, minimal problems among the people, stable balance of power among the scribes, and no threats to my own power. We are reasonably prosperous with no great plague or crop failure to speak of. The past five years, for me and my people, have been good but not without the normal small inconveniences and troubles of life. Nothing explains this anxious felling."

"My king, I do not wish to bring you pain by saying this, but you loved your late father dearly and he cherished you the same. He was a good and noble man, and I remember him well from when my own father served him, even though I did not live in the palace with you and saw him rarely. There has been some talk among the scribes about your lack of an heir. The change you long for could be the kind a child would bring. A bundle of excitement and unpredictable joy from the gods could…"

"I am incapable."

"I… There are potions and other methods to assist…"

"Mahado supplied me with them; they do not affect me properly."

"Could it be the woman?"

"I don't get far enough to find out. As I said before, visiting my wives has become increasingly unproductive."

"Ah." On Kalim's personal list of awkward conversations, this night was rapidly rising to the top. For a man whose life's work involved researching eclectic illnesses, that was saying quite a lot. After you've asked a woman about her fluids, most anything fails to register. "At least we have found a topic I am well acquainted with."

"You are…?" The king turned from the pool, shock clear on his face.

"For a time, as a side effect of some of the elements I was working with in my study. When I finally located the cause I took measures to protect myself. Such problems always have a source, though I doubt you have been exposed so such exotic toxins in your own magical practices. I could take a look at your study room to ensure that is not the case, if you wish." Kalim took a breath. "It was during my apprenticeship and the original cause for my lack of a wife. I have studied this intently."

"I would appreciate it if you would, but my studies are more often theoretical rather than practical. I have also changed my work several times in the past three years, so it is an unlikely source."

"Nothing for three years, then?" Kalim managed to restrain his shock to a slight twitch of his fingers.

"No, it was more gradual than that. I simply fail to find joy in it, and potions to enhance potency don't do anything to replace that…" He waved his arm, as if he could snatch the proper words from the air. "…that apathy. A child does sound like a good idea and I would like to become a father not only to find joy in fatherhood as my father found joy in me, but also to supply Kemet with a proper prince or princess."

"And so we arrive back at the original problem: an intangible sensation of meaninglessness."

"I know my life has meaning. I am Horus, and I must fulfill my duties as the Holy King and Son of Ra. I just…" he reached out again toward the pool. "Sometimes when I look at my reflection I… but that is a most ridiculous vanity!" he suddenly fumed. "It is not that I am so in love with myself that… I truly feel it is not myself that I see when I look there. I see someone I do not recognize, though the most obvious features are the same. What other man has such unnaturally streaked hair? Yet the eyes are not my own, too pale and soft taking more of the silver or blue tint of the mirror than they should."

"Your reflection is not true?" Kalim asked, half fearful his king had lost something of himself and half curious about this possible sign from the gods. He leaned over the shorter man's shoulder, looking into the pool. "It could mean something."

"I do not know if the light is enough to see by," the despairing man said as he leaned over as well, bringing his face into full view of the pool. "The moonlight itself changes the tone, but…"

And it was true, Kalim's own skin looked much darker and duller than his king's despite the truth that they were the same tone. The shape and intense appearance of the monarch's red eyes was softer, both rounder and larger than they should be. He could not speak of the color; the pale moonlight had cast their reflections in shades of silver and gray, but the strange man looking up at them seemed kinder, gentler, and quicker to laughter than the king he knew. The expression was smiling and pleasant, though the king himself was clearly in distress. A thought struck Kalim, and he said it quickly before he could convince himself not to.

"Perhaps he is who you should be, or who you wish to be."

"You see him? Oh, by Ra I thought I had taken leave of my senses!" The king stepped back suddenly, bumping into Kalim in his relief. Instead of stepping away, he leaned slightly against the taller man's chest. However abnormal, he could not deny his king that small moment of weakness. Clearly, this had been weighing on his mind for some time. "Perhaps it was eight years ago, I was playing in the palace and caught sight of another boy in the hall. I chased after him, thinking him one of the slave children and wanting a game, but I found only a slab of polished black marble that had been recently gifted to the palace. I would occasionally walk past something reflective and see what I thought to be another person out of the corner of my eye, but I always put it off as my mistake when I discovered it to be myself."

"Do you always see this other person?" Kalim wondered, holding the king's shoulder just above the gold bands. The smaller man leaned into the gesture. His mind raced, trying desperately to offer anything that might deliver them from the chaos of this surreal confession.

"No, no… it was always intermittent, but it's become more frequent than not in recent days. I will look away from applying kohl to find him suddenly sitting in my place, or else he will be there all day save for some small moment of distraction. Some strange partner trapped in a shining surface, a silent specter following me about."

"You would have to ask Akanadin or Isis about this, or perhaps some of the older servants, but there is another possibility," Kalim soothed, still cradling the collapsed king. "I was only a child myself at the time, but I heard that you had a twin who died in childbirth." The king jolted as if bitten.

"I had a twin?" The King seemed more like himself again, standing straight and staring intently at Kalim as he awaited a more complete answer.

"As I remember, he never took a single breath and your mother followed him into the next life. I thought you knew, but perhaps that is part of why he is trying to reach you. I could also be mistaken."

"A twin…" the young man sighed, looking calmer than Kalim had seen him in some time. "A brother of mine, just waiting for me to acknowledge him; I can live with that if it is true." He leaned over the pool again. "Hello, then, I hope you mean no ill will against me." The reflection yawned suddenly and closed his eyes, startling both men away from the pool. Despite both of them backing away, the reflection stayed for several moments before fading away.

"He rests, as he should," Kalim assured, "Perhaps it was not you that felt so alone, but his emotions projected onto you." He turned to continue his assurance that from now things ought to get better, but was stopped by something he had never seen before. Horus had stepped up to the pool again and was frozen in place with silent tears streaming down his face. "My king?"

"He was forgotten. He just wanted me to remember him, to think of him, even once." The king crumbled to his knees, shaking. "I don't even know his name, and he still…" Some servants approached, and Kalim waved them off.

"My king, you can't be faulted for this. When we return to the palace you can speak with Isis and learn his name," he attempted quietly. "He rests now, it will be alright." The younger man would not be consoled, breaking down into outright sobbing. Kalim could think of nothing he could do but repeat himself, speaking softly as he would to a child. The king only crumbled further when Kalim touched his shoulder, bending forward until his tears fell into the oasis pool.

"I wished so many times for a brother when I was small. An equal, rather than a servant who wouldn't dare win a game against me. He came, and waited, and I was afraid of him," he quieted slightly, no longer sobbing openly.

"Do you feel better?" Kalim asked, dismissing those who were gathered to watch with a wave. The priests and priestesses turned away respectfully, satisfied that no assistance was needed. Set hesitated, and then took up a position just outside the gazebo to wait at the ready.

"I…" he started, reaching out over the pool, "I think I'm alone now. I don't know if I feel better or worse for it. Strange, that I might be lonelier now than before."

"If that was truly your brother, then you will see him again." Kalim looked at the reflection of the king, now an accurate depiction of the broken young man.

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