Konichiwa?, this is rzozutara here to say a few things. One is that I LOVE Zutara, Shadamy,Sonamy,Jerza,Fiolee, and one of my all time favorites, MANA AND ATEM ?.

So this is my first Mana and Atem story but I am looking forward to it and I hope to make many Zutara and all my other fanfic stories in time.

I would also like to say sorry for not updating and coming on my account for a while for I was trying to find inspiration.

Now without further ado...Paradox

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The Palace of Egypt. A truly magnificent cite to behold. And it was ruled by none other than Pharaoh Atem, King of Egypt, Son of Aknamkhanon and Akani, and the Daiƍ or the Great King of the Spirit World. The Spirit World was divided into two realms, The Realm of The Living and Light, and of course, The Shadow Realm and Realm of Darkness.

The Realm of the Living is wear all pure souls went after death. And even though some of those souls may have committed sins before, if they were able to find their way and come back to the path of light, all would be excused so they could then forth live in peace for all eternity. However, the Shadow Realm was a place where all impure souls went. Such as thieves,murders,rapists,assassins, etc. In this realm all of the horrors you could imagine happen so often it's sickening. And the Shadow Realm, once ruled by Zorc The All Powerful, is now ruled by Thief King Bakura of Kul Elna, a said to be sick, twisted, and power hungry man who was fabled to have somehow killed the all powerful Demon Lord Zorc. If this is the truth no one will no. However it is commonly whispered that once Bakura had a purpose and drive besides power and until domination. It is once said that he once knew...love.

Most people would laugh of course at this statement, saying that this man was too sick to ever be capable of that emotion. Some people just think it's a joke and find it very comical. But some people actually knew what he is capable of. And rarely, some people know of his past. But only he knows of his undying love for...Mana.

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*Atemu's POV*

(Author's note- BTW I'M GONNA CALL ATEM,ATEMU CAUSE THAT'S HIS REAL NAME. BUT I WILL ALSO CALL HIM ATEM FOR SHORT.)

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"Now where could she be", Atem thought. He'd been searching around the palace for at least thirty minutes trying to find his energetic and bubbly friend. And caring. And skilled. And fun. And beautiful. "Woo Woo Woo", he thought blushing, "Beautiful? Well it is true. I mean she has a wonderful physique and that long,wild, and spiky hair. And those eyes...those beautiful,beautiful eyes. No Atem, don't get ahead or yourself you two aren't like that, we're just fr...". Stopping in his tracks Atem heard a rustling noise in a clay vase behind him. " Aha!", he thought," One of her usual hiding spaces."

Taking five more cautious and quiet steps towards the vase, Atem slowly peeked in only to find nothing inside.

"HAHAHA!", a monotone voice behind him exclaimed, startling him, "I sure fooled you Atem! You shoulda seen the look on your face. Priceless."

"Ra Mana, you scared the living daylights out of me.", Atem stated grinning. Turning around he stared face to face with said person. With a silly grin plastered on her face, the now Master Magician gave her best friend a huge bear hug.

Over the years (five thousand should I say) all of Mana's hard and lazy work finally paid off and she was now a Master Magician just like her master, mentor, friend, and "big brother" Mahado, which earned her the rank of High Priestess, Sacred Guardian, and High Magician, which is the second highest magician in all realms only after Mahado, the Grand Mage.

But as of now, Mana was acting as she would five thousand years prior, Mana. And that was one thing Atem loved about her.

" Well Mana, this was fun but um...TAG YOU'RE IT!", Atem yelled running away "ATEMU GET BACK HERE!", Mana screamed chasing after him,"YOU'RE GONNA GET IT MISTER!"

"Wow.", Atem thought, " Things are finally back to normal."

...little did he know it wouldn't be that way for long.