Summary:
Supposedly, the Thief King should be Egypt's greatest enemy, but maybe being a Neko was a blessing in itself, because Atem managed to turn Egypt's greatest enemy into Egypt's greatest ally. (Neko AU. Character might be OOC. One shot. Don't like, don't read.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh!
Thought
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The Neko Royalty and the Thief King
Night time was a quiet time, no matter wherever in the world you were. It was the same in Egypt. Silence enveloped the whole kingdom, the only noise that could be heard was the one made by the guards who happened to get a night shift. Most of the people in the kingdom were sleeping, and the same was true to the Prince of Egypt as well.
The Prince was sleeping peacefully while bathing in the moonlight, which entered his chamber through the open balcony doors. Usually, the Royalties would sleep with their balcony's doors closed and locked, in case some assassins came to kill them in their sleep. The Crown Prince of Egypt wasn't the usual type though, for he himself wasn't what you would normally call 'ordinary'.
~thud~
The sleeping Prince's right ear twitched as his sharp cat hearing registered the noise, and yet still carried on sleeping.
Yes, the people wouldn't call the 10 years old Prince as ordinary because he was a Neko - a being that looked human, but had cat ears and tail, and also capable of doing some things that cats could do. It was strange that the Prince was a Neko, while both of his parents were humans. It was said that it was because of something that had happened years ago, when the Prince was still in his mother's womb.
About 10 years ago, just a month before the Prince's birth, the Queen had fallen ill. The Healers all tried to save her from her sickness, fearing for her life if the sickness went on for too long, but to no avail. The Queen's patron Goddess was Bastet, the Goddess of Cat. So, in his desperation, the Pharaoh brought his Queen to the temple of Bastet, hoping that a miracle would happen. A miracle did happen.
After hours of praying to the Goddess, a light erupted from the statue of Bastet and a cat emerged from the light. The cat was carrying something in its mouth, a glowing stone in the shape of a cat's eye. The cat dropped the glowing stone on top of the Queen's stomach, and it disappeared into her body. The cat left, disappeared back into the light in which it came from, and the glow from the statue died down. The next second, the Queen was the one glowing, but only for a few seconds. Once the glow faded away, the Queen opened her eyes, as healthy as could be.
A month after the miracle, the Queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The baby strangely had a pair of black cat ears with red tips instead of human ones, and the same colored tail grew from his tail bone. The baby was the Prince of Egypt, and he was the first Neko in existence.
~thud~
The same noise made the Prince's ears twitched again, but it also awakened him this time around. The Prince paid close attention to everything that was happening in the palace, although he did it without opening his eyes. He only opened his eyes once he located the source of the quiet noise, and it came from the kitchen's direction.
The Prince smiled to himself. Being the curious boy that he was, there was only one thing that he planned to do, and it was to check the kitchen out to see what was going on. He got out from his enormous bed and lightly skipping to the kitchen, all the while making sure that he didn't make a single sound. The trip to the kitchen didn't take too long of a time, considering he was quite fast for a 10 years old boy who was skipping his steps, so the quiet noise was still happening.
Turned out, there was a boy in the kitchen, about 12 years of age. The boy looked just as strange as the Prince himself, but instead of because the Prince was a Neko, the boy looked strange because he had a silvery white hair. He was thin though, almost skin and bone only, so the Prince guessed that the boy was searching around for food out of starvation.
The Prince knew that the boy was a thief - or soon-to-be-thief, but a thief was still a human, therefore his subject. So, the Prince decided to take a pity and wanted to help the boy out.
First, he made sure to make a noise, so the boy would hear him and hid himself away. Once he was sure that the boy was well hidden, he walked to a door next to the kitchen's door and knocked on it. After the door opened by one of the cooks, he asked the person to make something for him - his excuse being he woke up feeling hungry. The cook immediately did as was asked and made something for him, since it wouldn't do to make a Prince waiting for too long - at least, that was what everyone said to the Newbies in the palace. So it wasn't long before the Prince was served with a light yet fulfilling meal of meat soup, with some milk for a drink.
"Thank you." The Prince said to the cook, "You may go now." He continued before watching as the cook bowed to him and left the kitchen right away.
He waited until he could hear the cook settled herself to sleep, before picking the bowl of soup and the goblet of milk up. He carefully walked to the place where he knew the white haired boy was hiding in, and then put both of the bowl and goblet on the floor. He took a paper from a nearby counter and wrote something on it, and then he put the note beside the bowl before walking out of the kitchen completely.
While the Prince was happily skipping back towards his bed chamber, the white haired thief was left gaping at the food and drink in front of him. He looked at the door of the kitchen and waited for a minute or two, to see if the Prince was going to come back, but then decided no. He took the note and read what was written on it, it was just one word: Enjoy.
The white haired boy of a thief snorted to himself, a smirk adorned his face. "Strange Prince." He muttered to himself before enjoying himself with the food and milk. He was shocked that the Prince knew that he was there. Not only that, but the Prince also left him with food and drink. He was starving though, so he didn't question it and just enjoyed his meal.
Once he finished with his meal, he sneaked around the palace again, searching for the Prince's room this time around and not the kitchen. By using Diabound's - his Ka - ability to camouflage and moved through walls, he arrived at the Prince's bed chamber without any problem. He found that the Neko Prince had once again sleeping peacefully, so he kept his silence as he walked to the desk in the room. He wrote his message on the back of the paper that the Prince left him with, then he put it on the Prince's nightstand. Once that was done, he left the palace altogether.
The next day, the Prince woke up along with the sunrise, and he stretched himself contently. He crawled to the edge of his bed and was about to get out of his bed when he saw it, a note on his nightstand. He picked it up and read what was written on it. Just like the note that he left with the white haired boy the previous night, this not was also only containing one word on it: Thanks.
The Prince smiled.
XXXXX
That night was just like the night the Prince saw the white haired thief boy, except the Prince wasn't the Prince anymore. The Neko had grown into a 16 years old teenager, but his Father had just died not too long ago - barely a week had passed - and he was still grieving, so the usually silent night was filled with his quiet sobs.
He knew as the Pharaoh - for that was what he was now - shouldn't cry at the night of his coronation, or any other time for that matter. Showing emotion like tears was like showing weakness, thus he was supposed to keep his feelings to himself and appeared confident all the time, but he was still young. Too young, in fact, to carry the responsibilities of being the Pharaoh.
He couldn't show weakness like tears, or the people would lose confident in his as their God-King, so he did the next best thing to do as he let his sorrow out through his tears. He muffled his sobs using his pillow. So deep in his sorrow he was, he almost missed the light noise on his balcony. It was a good thing that he was a Neko, thus he still heard it.
He sat up and wiped his tears before looking at his balcony, only to see a silvery white haired young man standing at the doorway. He recognized the young man as the boy who once sneaked into the palace for food, since he would recognize that white hair anywhere. Also, looking at the scar on the man's face, he recognized the man as the feared King of Thieves.
"Thief King." He greeted the man as he looked at the man in the eyes, wondering why the Thief King would come to his - new - bed chamber for.
"I see that you recognize me." The Thief King said as he slowly walked over to the new Pharaoh.
"That white hair and that scar are hard to be missed." The new Pharaoh muttered as he watched the Thief King's movement carefully. The white haired man didn't act aggressive, so he figured that he was safe for now.
"Of course." The Thief King muttered as well, but seemed like it was directed more to himself than the Pharaoh.
The Thief King sat beside the Pharaoh as if he owned the place, before he suddenly pulled the Pharaoh into his arms.
"What are you doing?!" The Pharaoh gasped out in surprise at the sudden action.
"You know, it's painful to cry alone." The King of Thieves murmured as he simply held the Pharaoh in place, "Think of this as me returning the favor of that night, Pharaoh".
The Pharaoh's eyes were filled with tears again. "Don't call me that." He sobbed out quietly, "I hate my new title! Why must he be gone?!".
"That's just how life works, Pharaoh." The Thief King answered quietly as well.
"Atem." The Pharaoh said as he wrapped his own arms around the Thief King, his fingers clutching the fabric of the Thief King's red robe, "Call me Atem".
"Then, call me Akefia." The Thief King replied as he rubbed Atem's back soothingly, "Just let it out, Atem".
Just like that, Atem let his restrain go. He buried his face into Akefia's shoulder and cried his heart out, letting his grief flowed free through his tears.
It was strange to take comfort from someone who was practically a stranger, but Atem was grateful of Akefia's presence, since the man didn't judge him for showing weakness like that.
"I wonder … will I be able to become a great Pharaoh like my Father?" Atem asked to no one after his cry calmed down into silence. His tears were still flowing, but they flowed silently down his cheeks.
Akefia hmph-ed, "You will become a Pharaoh that's even greater than your Father." He told the new Pharaoh firmly, "For I will be your eyes and ears outside this palace, and sometime inside as well. You will be a just ruler, you hear me? I will make sure of it, for you're a Pharaoh that I can trust".
Atem let out a small smile formed by his lips, "… thanks." He whispered before closing his eyes, letting sleep took over him.
XXXXX
2 years, that was how long the time had passed since that night, when Akefia comforted Atem in his own bed chamber.
He and Atem had grown so close, as close as brothers would. Although no one really knew about it, since they kept quiet about meeting each other from time to time. The only ones who knew were High Priestess Isis and High Priest Seth, he suspected. High Priestess Isis was because she was the bearer of the Millennium Necklace, which could see into the past and possible future. For High Priest Seth though, Akefia thought that it was because the man was such a mother hen when it was concerning Atem, so the man would most likely knew because he was stalking the Pharaoh wherever he went off to.
None of that mattered anymore though.
"DAMN IT!" Akefia roared as he punched the wall of Atem's room, "Damn Akhunadin!" He hit the wall with his left fist this time, "Damn Zork!" He punched the wall with his right fist again, "DAMN IT ALL!" He roared again as he continuously hitting the wall as he let out his anger, frustration, and self hatred. "Damn me." He choked as he hit the wall for the last time, letting his forehead to touch the wall after all of his mixed feelings gone, leaving only his grief. "Damn it…" He outright sobbed as he turned around to lean his back onto the wall, before sliding down so he was sitting while leaning on it. "Why Pharaoh? Why?" He questioned out loud to the very air itself, before burying his face into his palms, crying for the first time in years now.
He was devastated. Atem was already like his own brother, the only one of his family left in this world, and he was gone. Akefia wanted to hate Atem for what he was going through now, but he couldn't, since Atem didn't know what else to do to save them all.
He could only curse Akhunadin so that rotten traitor would be eaten by Ammit, for this was all that traitor's fault. If it wasn't for Akhunadin, his whole village wouldn't be destroyed, his fellow villagers wouldn't be killed just to create the Millennium Items. If it wasn't for Akhunadin, Zork wouldn't find a way to enter their world, and all those life that were gone in that fight against Zork would still be around. Atem included. If it wasn't for Akhunadin, Atem would still be alive now.
"Why do you have to leave me alone, Pharaoh?" He asked himself, even though he knew the answer already. Atem couldn't see anything else that could be done to prevent the world destruction, thus he did the only thing he could think of and sacrificed himself to seal Zork away. "I can't even speak your name anymore…".
That was what he most devastated about. Not only that he lost his brother, but he couldn't speak his name anymore. The Pharaoh had used his name to seal Zork away, and so the act of speaking his name would break the seal and released Zork into the world once again. But … without a name, it was like a person didn't exist. Atem would cease to exist in the eyes of the world, and he would never enter the afterlife. Even after Akefia was dead, he would never be able to meet Atem again, and it was what hurt the most.
"Curse you, Akhunadin!" He hissed through his clenched teeth, "Curse you for eternity!".
XXXXX
Akefia was in the palace's library again.
Lawfully, a thief like him should be put into the dungeon - even more so since he was the King of Thieves, instead of being let into every corner of the palace. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately?) Seth - who ascended to the throne and became the Pharaoh after Atem's death, since Atem named the man as his Heir - decided to let him free from this law after the war with Akhunadin and Zork. He was - after all - one of the people who risked his very own life for Egypt and everyone else's sake (at least, one of the few who lived to see another day), so he was named Hero and thus all of his previous criminal records were erased.
The title of the Thief King was still his - the other thieves had to kill him first if they wanted to take his title from him, he just didn't have the written record of his past action anymore. Without written record was the same as without proof, since the powers of all the Millennium Items had been sealed away alongside Shadow Magic and Zork, so he couldn't be punished.
Normally he couldn't care less about it, he was proud of his skill as the Thief King, but he needed access to the palace's library. Sure, he could just sneak in, but it would waste precious time that he could use to read instead. He wanted to find out just what kind of spell that Atem used, exactly, so he could see if there was a way to free Atem from his self-imprisonment without freeing Zork as well. He would be damned if he would just accepted Atem's fate just like that, he would find out everything and wouldn't give up until he found a way to let Atem enter the afterlife. Of course, it had to be done without freeing Zork in the process, or Atem's sacrifice would be for naught.
So here he was, reading all of spell scrolls and books available in the palace's library, which he had been doing for the past month or so. He didn't really keep track of the time, focusing solely on what he was reading. He even wouldn't remember to eat, drink, or even to take care of himself if it wasn't for - surprise, surprise - Mana. Guessed it was natural, for the Magician's apprentice had also lost Mahad, who was just like her own brother. They knew how each other felt, so they could relate and knew just what to say to comfort each other (Actually, Seth could relate to them too - since he had lost Kisara, but he was too busy ruling Egypt to worry about pretty much anything else). They weren't friends, what with the both of them afraid to get too close to anyone anymore - since anything could happened in their homeland, but they were good acquaintances.
"Find anything?"
Speak of the devil. Mana had just entered the library as she said that, breaking his focus. He turned to look at the girl and saw that she was bringing him - he looked out of the window for a sec - lunch.
"Yeah, at last." Akefia answered as he took the tray from her hands without a word, only to put it on a nearby desk, "I found the spell that He used in this book, and I'm just reading it now".
Mana sat on the desk beside the tray with his lunch on it, waiting silently since it was obvious that he wouldn't do anything until he fully understand everything about the spell. What he understood from the book though, wasn't what he was hoping for. "Damn!" He hissed after he finished reading the whole thing.
"What is it?" Mana asked worriedly.
"The seal isn't permanent." Akefia growled as he snapped the book closed and threw it on the desk, far from his meal, "The seal would weaken overtime, and if all seven of the Millennium Items were to be placed together into that slab again, Zork would be freed regardless of the seal".
"What?!" Mana gasped, horrified of hearing such a thing.
"The Pendant - no, Puzzle - is in pieces now, but if there's someone out there who could put them together …" Akefia trailed off into deeper growl as his eyes narrowed, "Sure, He would be freed, but I don't know if He alone could win against Zork - even worse, He had to fight without a body since He's already dead".
"So …" Mana began tentatively, "What should we do?".
"I don't know about you, but I'm following His step." Akefia decided firmly, "If I sealed myself within the Ring, then I would be awoken once the Puzzle has been solved. I will help Him if He had to fight against Zork again, and I will make sure that we will win without sacrificing anyone this time around".
"If that's what you're going to do…" Mana then looked determined, "Then before my time to die comes, I will follow Master's step and fused my Ba with my Ka. We will help the Prince, he won't be alone".
Akefia only smirked in answer to her determined words.
XXXXX
"So, you really followed through with your plan of following my Cousin's step, huh." Seth said to himself as he picked up the Millennium Ring from Akefia's empty shell, knowing that the Thief King's soul was sealed inside the Millennium Ring now. "I'm not surprised, since I know that you two were as close as brothers. Still, do you really have to do it in my Cousin's room?" He asked the thin air as he looked at Atem's room.
Even after he became the Pharaoh, Seth refused to move into Atem's room, for he still thought of the room as just that - Atem's room. He made sure the servants kept everything in the room clean, but he never once slept in that room. Everything in the room were the only ones left of Atem - besides his mummified body and the shattered Millennium Puzzle, so he wanted them untouched by anyone else for eternity. The only exception was Akefia, but that was because this room was like Akefia's own personal home (He did caught Atem sharing his bed with the Thief King once, providing shelter and protection when the Thief King was still recovering from his injuries. After all, no one entered the Pharaoh's chamber without permission, except for Seth who never followed that particular rule).
He returned his gaze to the Ring in his hand, before an idea entered his mind. He figured that it wouldn't hurt to follow the idea. Who knows? Maybe - just maybe - this would end up become something that would help them all in the future.
With that, he lifted Akefia's body and carried it to the Healing Chamber, where he told the Healers to mummify it. He would place Akefia's sarcophagus besides Atem, knowing that his Cousin wouldn't mind. They were both Kings anyway.
XXXXX
"Rest in peace, both of you." Seth whispered after he finished chanting the spell, which would allow the Spirits of the Millennium Puzzle and the Millennium Ring to meet up even when the items were apart.
Then, without another word, he turned around and left the tomb.
Fin
LINE~LINE~LINE
Froim : I know that I should be updating 'A Special Bond' and not posting another story, but since this was only a 'one shot', I think it shouldn't matter - much. Well, I hope you like it.
Atem : Is there going to be a sequel for this one?
Akefia : Isn't it obvious, Atem?
Seth : Yes, it's very obvious indeed. After all, the people need to see how this Neko thing would affect the original plot.
Atem : But this is an AU.
Akefia : That may be so, but don't you want to see how you being a Neko will affect your relationship with Yugi?
Atem : Of course I do.
Akefia : Then, just wait until the sequel would finally come out.
Seth : In the behalf of Froim, who is now busy being attacked by many plot bunnies - in which mainly about human Yami with his two Faes, I will say this now: Review . . . please.
Atem and Akefia : O_O He said PLEASE?!