Hello! Welcome to my abode! For those of you who do not know me, I am Mana of Saqqara.Now, settle back into your chair and pay close attention; there is a quiz at the end. ;) Follow me as I take us on a journey of my life and maybe you shall learn something about me you never knew...
I was born in the palace of the Pharaohs in Saqqara Egypt a few days after Atemu. I am, like my mother, have long brown hair and have the same striking green eyes as she did. My mother's and father's name is unknown to me as my brother never brought up the subject and every time I tried to, he just started to cry. It never really bothered me that I never knew them... I mean it is not like I did not have a father and mother -figure, Akunumkanon was like a father to me, sometimes I fantasized that he was...
I met Atemu when we were barely old enough to venture out of the palace nursery and we became the best of friends. We did everything together. We ran all over the palace and village together, exploring every nook and cranny. I remember one time... when we were a little older, before everything was ruined, Atemu found out about a great place for us to go to. I shall never forget it; for it was that day that I found out that I would become Atemu's queen. We both were repulsed when Shimon informed us we were going to be married one day.
Atemu and I both agreed that it would be too strange and Atemu said that he would do away with that rule once he became Pharaoh. Shimon's hijab became quite crooked at that and he told Atemu that as long as he was around nothing would change. Atemu and I hatched a plan to get away from little old grandfather' and were soon on our way to the "really wonderful place"... the frightening Valley of the Kings; the pyramids.
We did not get into too much trouble for going there, not as much as we should have. My brother was not pleased when Shimon informed him where we had actually gone. Considering how frightening the adventure turned out to be and the scare I had received, my brother did not punish me. Atemu got a firm scolding from Akunumkanon when they returned later that night, and the subject never came up again.
It was soon after this that Bakura announced to the Kingdom that Akunumkanon and Atemu were dead... he was now the pharaoh... And then the tomb robbers moved in. Mahado was devastated over the loss of our Pharaoh; I was grieving over losing my best friend. My brother did what he could to comfort both of us, until the sight of all those tomb robbers entering the Kingdom changed all of our lives for the worst.
In the beginning it was not so bad, there was plenty of protection for us all and the tomb robbers minded their own business. But, as time wore on, they became careless and Bakura ordered the priests to not only serve him BUT also to duel him and his tomb robbers! Soon, during one foolish duel, smoke began to rise from the temple of Wadjet. It turned out that the 3 Egyptian Gods, Obelisk, Slifer and Ra had began to get furious at Bakura's selfish ruling and in punishment, for all of us, they began to destroy the palace and the village. Soon, it became obvious to Mahado and the rest of the priests that there was not enough Shadow Power to control them and seal them back into the stone tablets.
As the years passed, and I saw what was happening to my home land, I became more discouraged. I was an adolescent by now and it was evident by the villagers moving away, the other residents of our lands had left earlier when it became clear to them exactly what kind of pharaoh Bakura was, that we were in the middle of a war. A war between my people and the Gods themselves. The beautiful peacefulness of Saqqara soon turned into a dry, parched land as the beautiful obelisks and village houses became crumbled rubble and the beautiful trees in the courtyard has withered to ash. It kept getting worse and worse, eventually, some of the villagers had had enough and during the night's one or two would make an escape to a better life. By now I was a full grown woman and had seen first hand what being on my own was like. I decided someone had to go find some help or we would all die.
I was quite upset with the way life was now in Egypt but my brother told me to stay put and he was sure that life would get better as time went on. But he knew as well I did that things could not go on this way. And as time went on, things did not get better. Tomb robbers were sneaking outside the palace and drinking in the saloons instead of helping the inured villagers…or yet carrying out the dead ones. So while muttering to myself, I began to practice my magic that Mahado had taught me that day and I glanced to my left. I was quite shocked at what I saw. At the village gate, a young man in his 20's was coming into Saqqara. What shocked me was that the only time I saw people going through that gate were tomb robbers or villagers escaping. But no…this was a young man on his horse looking like he was lost. I saw that he noticed me and commanded his horse towards me. I began to grow a bit suspicious at this fellow and yet a bit annoyed as well. By the time he and his horse were near me I had lost my temper and did not hear a word he said, for I flew into a flying rage and wanted to chase that fool out! I jumped onto my horse, Rifka, and unsheathed my knife and I began to chase him…all the way back to his village. Chasing the man on hot pursuit, his clothes got caught in a branch of a tree.
Then another tall young man jumped over the basket and was trying to help the man escape. I would be getting quite a good shot for myself I thought as I closed in on the two. Suddenly ANOTHER young man jumped over the basket, landing in front of me. I skidded to a halt and he grabbed the 1st man's horse by the head for it had reared up. We stood silent for a short moment or two and I never had ventured out on my own, for I foolishly never knew there was another village outside our own. I accused the 3 men of being tomb robbers…but the 3rd man defended he and his people and I was a bit shocked by his politeness and way of speech, for I always knew that tomb robbers were ruthless and disgusting kind of people but this man did not seem like that and his smooth deep voice took me by surprise. He offered a duel in the villages local temple but I regained my senses back I began to fight him.
He was young and strong and his fighting skills matched my own. As we fought, I wondered to myself what a handsome polite man such as this was doing alone in a village full of tomb robbers, let alone trying to force me not to kill the first tomb robber I had dared to try to kill. The man tired to push me away and soon slammed me against a wall of a hut and pushed him into a wall of a village hut, standing in front of him, with my dagger posed to force it into his chest when he did the unexpected... he called me by name. I was ecstatic, surprised and a bit taken aback all at once... for this young man turned out to be Atemu!
Atemu had been living in the village of Sakemet for the past three years and the 2 men turned out to be his friends, Tristan and Joey, and I was a bit shocked realizing that this was Atemu for he did not look like him. Atemu's hair has grown 2 times longer than when I last saw him. His hair had lost its black and lavender and his spiky curved blond bangs and grown down like the rest of his hair; lying flat on his head. Introductions were made and I told Atemu that everyone thought he was dead and will be thrilled he was still alive. I could not believe that Atemu did not want anyone to know. I asked the two friends if they would mind excusing us for a few minutes. Joey, of course expected Atemu to side with them and let them remain. He was very surprised when Atemu thought it best they left.
Once we were alone my true feelings came out and I told Atemu how much his being alive would mean to everyone... and especially what it meant to me. Atemu told me how much he had missed me and took me on a tour of his village home and we ended up at the edge of a nearby well. We carefully made our way ontop of the well and we put our feet in. As we played with the water slowly with our feet, I wondered what had happened to the feisty little boy who could not wait to be pharaoh. I could tell there was something Atemu wanted to tell me, but had no idea that whatever that something was, it was the one thing preventing him from returning home.
All thoughts of the purpose of my being here were forgotten as we frolicked and played like we did when we were children. We ran through the village and out into the desert, hugging and soon we were play-wrestling and tumbling down a sand dune. We shared a laugh as we ended up at the bottom of the dune. Atemu had landed on top of me and had me pinned and I must admit, it felt good to have his warm body pressed against mine. I kissed his cheek slowly and gave Atemu a come-hither stare. The look on his face was priceless as he went from wide-eyed surprise to complete understanding and we shared a romantic and passionate night of love.
The next day we finished the tour and again I brought up the subject of why he had never come home. He made up some story about wanting to get out on his own and living his own life. I told him how much he was needed back home and he kept denying it, insisting that he was not needed and was not the pharaoh... Bakura was. I told him that Bakura had let the tomb robbers take over, that the God's had been let lose and everything was gone and if he did not do something soon everyone would die. He again said he could not go back. I did not understand at the time why he was acting this way and told him he was not the Atemu I remembered. We had quite an argument and I said something awful to him before we each took off in the opposite direction.
The next morning, after I had calmed down, I went looking for Atemu and came upon the sleeping Joey and Tristan. Once they stopped yelling and remembered who I was, Joey said the last he knew, the two of us were together. Before I could answer, Bobsa, the wise fat old shaman from Saqqara appeared from out of nowhere and announced that Atemu had returned to reclaim his kingdom. I was overjoyed and quickly made my way home with Joey and Tristan not far behind. I caught up with Atemu at a ridge overlooking the Saqqara borders. He had not wanted to believe me then... but now that he saw the devastation with his own eyes; he knew he made the right choice in coming back.
Joey and Tristan used themselves as bait to lure the tomb robbers away, and Atemu and I snuck in behind them. I took off to find my brother and the rest of the inured villagers, Atemu went to find Bakura. I returned with the injured villagers and the other priests to find Mahado laying on the ground and Atemu confronting Bakura about stepping down. Bakura claimed that he would gladly step down if not for the tomb robbers who thought of him as the pharaoh. I responded that Atemu was the rightful pharaoh.
Amid the beginning strikes of Ra's lightning setting the dry timber aflame and thunder hinting at the most devastating of our war, the truth about Akunumkanon's death and Atemu's exile came to light. Bakura had gotten Atemu to duel him and to admit to us that he was responsible for his father's death. He and had backed Atemu to the edge of the cliff where Bakura has dueled him and where he almost slipped and fell. Now, Atemu was clinging to the rocky edge, his hands having nothing to hold onto. It was then that Bakura whispered into Atemu's ear that he was the one who had killed Akunumkanon. Atemu screamed out a no and leapt at Bakura. With Atemu's help, Bakura admitted his guilt to us all as the war between us and the God's raged on. That was the climax of the Great Battle as we referred to it later on. Meanwhile, Atemu and Bakura dueled, and just when Bakura thought he had Atemu right where he wanted him, and was about to run at Atemu, his dagger unsheathed and aimed at Atemu's heart, Atemu used my flip technique to hurl the dreaded tomb robber over the side and down to the waiting tomb robbers below.
As the life giving rains began and started to soak the parched lands, Atemu came down from the top of the cliff and we all headed back to the Palace and because Atemu was back, we had enough Shadow Power to seal the Egyptian Gods back into their proper places. We were so glad to see that he was not hurt as he hugged first Mahado, then me. Bobsa rattled his stick to get our attention and motioned to Atemu that it was time for him to take his rightful place as pharaoh. Atemu took a deep breath and with all eyes upon him, made his way majestically up to the throne and extended his arms and legs in which servant girls all around us gelled up his hair to become his normal hairstyle when he was a child, his sash changed, and he was given golden rubies and necklaces and the crown to wear and last but not least, the Millennium Puzzle was carefully placed around his neck. He used the puzzle to create a bright heavenly light around Egypt triumphantly to let the kingdom and neighboring villages and residents know that the one true pharaoh had returned.
We gladly answered our new pharaoh with bows of our own and Atemu let out another blast of light. Later that night, once all the well wishers had gone home, and the palace was asleep, Atemu asked me to be his wife and to rule by his side as his queen. I quickly said yes and we once more confirmed our love, fulfilling that long ago promise our parents made.
In time, the villages were sandy and busy once more and teeming with life. Our kingdom is flourishing and here we are now, with all the villagers of our kingdom having been invited to the palace for a celebration. Pharaoh Atemu and I looked proudly on as Bobsa presented our newborn daughter, Asheria... who would one day carry on the royal tradition as the future queen. Again, the Circle of Life continues on with the next generation. Somehow, I feel that Akunumkanon and Kisara are very proud of us all and especially of Pharaoh Atemu.
This brings us to the end of your journey and the beginning of a new one as Pharaoh Atemu tries to be the best father he can be and to teach Asheria the ways of the Circle. This is not simple with a daughter just as mischievous as her father. I thank you for allowing me to be your guide; perhaps we can take another trip soon.