This is my first fic, so don't be too harsh…I think it's ok. And I don't own Yu Gi Oh. (Waah…) Oh and Tamika; I hope you're happy!
Pains of the Past
Egypt was hell. That's pretty much all that could describe the horror of what was happening. There was nothing but revolt upon revolt against the Government and even the Pharaoh of Egypt. For four long suffering years, the people of Egypt were neglected. For a while things were good, for the first six years of Akhenaten's reign Egypt was prosperous and the people were well fed, but about six years after he became Pharaoh he moved himself and his family from the capitol of Thebes to some remote place in the desert.
He then ordered that all the temples to the Gods be destroyed, and in their place new temples were to be erected, temples to a new God, the Aten. Oh, how the people of Egypt resented this, but little did they know that they had no choice in the matter. After he brutally tortured and murdered all the high priests of Amun, Akhenaten told the people that if they refused to worship the Aten they would suffer the same fate.
For most, this was enough convincing to make them worship the Aten. There were however, a few brave souls in Egypt, who didn't loose faith in the Gods, and they began to revolt, but little good it did them. The Pharaoh; who by now was the most hated and feared man in all of Egypt; tracked each and every one of them down, killed them and their families, and in a few cases even burned their villages down. He then proceeded to cut off all connection with his people, as he, his family, and a select few of his closest friends continued to live in luxury in a remote area of Egypt, of which no one knew.
Meanwhile the people were dying of starvation and disease, for years they had no one to turn to, no where to hide from the suffering that their Pharaoh brought down upon them. They couldn't pray to the Gods for help, or they would risk the chance of being slaughtered like so many before them. Then again maybe death wasn't so bad, many of them were already dead, maybe not physically, but mentally their souls were just as dead as those who burned up in the fires.
But just when it seemed that all hope was lost; word started to spread around Egypt that the Pharaoh had suddenly taken ill, with a fatal disease, strangely enough it was the same plague that was killing so many of his people. It was like the Gods themselves, angered by what Akhenaten had done to the people came down from the heavens and struck him with the disease. Sure enough three months after the word was spread the Pharaoh died. Even the mighty Pharaoh couldn't escape the wrath of the Gods. The people rejoiced, and openly thanked the Gods for the blessings that they bestowed upon Egypt. They waited four long years and now it was time for a change.
* * *
Yami sat mightily upon his golden throne as he listened to his council discussing the plans on rebuilding all the temples that were torn down by his father Akhenaten. He had only been Pharaoh for three weeks but his first action was to rid Egypt of everything that even remotely reminded him of his father, starting with the religion.
One would think that Yami would feel even the slightest bit of sorrow after his father's sudden passing, but on the contrary he couldn't be happier. Yami hated that man with a furious passion so deep that it burned through his soul. Every inch of him wanted to see nothing more then every memory of his father erased from history. He dared not show any emotion though, weather it be grief or glee because to show emotion would be beneath him. Even though Yami didn't have the time to complete his training as Pharaoh, that was something that he had grown up knowing.
"Yami, may I suggest that we start by tearing down all the temples to the Aten, then we can use the stones from those buildings to rebuild all the temples that Akhenaten tore down." Seth stated as he stood up from the table and walked up to Yami and sat is his chair that was situated right beside Yami's. Seth was the second most powerful man in Egypt; he was the Pharaohs vizier. Only, in this situation he held a little more power then other viziers due to the fact that Yami was only sixteen and could be manipulated into doing whatever Seth wanted… most of the time.
" No." Yami said with a firmness that made some of the council members jump slightly.
" No?" Seth repeated sounding somewhat agitated. His strong features looked even fiercer when he was irritated.
" Are you sure that all the priests will want to return to their temples once we rebuild them? I don't think that there are too many left in Egypt, those who weren't killed fled this land am I correct?" Yami said as he turned to Seth who had an unmistakable grin on his face.
"What are you smiling about?" Yami snapped, sounding annoyed. Seth's grin lessened slightly at the harsh tones of Yami's voice, but he quickly pulled his lips apart again to show everyone in the council that Yami didn't scare him…much.
" My Pharaoh, we in the council have already prepared for this and we have a fresh batch of priests that were trained by none other then myself, and a few other council members." Seth said as he stood up from his chair and walked over to the throne room doors. He smiled, bringing a hand up to the enormous handle. He opened them to reveal at least fifty young men dressed in the finest white linen and adorned with the sacred medallions that only the priests of Amun wore.
Yami's crimson eyes went wide with admiration as he scanned over the men.
" Nice job Seth." He said as he smiled in Seth's direction.
Becoming increasingly pleased with himself, Seth turned back to Yami with a smirk on his face.
" Great one there is one special man among this number that I would like you to meet. Seto, please come forward." With that a tall young man, no older then seventeen stepped forward. He was well built, slender yet toned. His skin was lightly bronzed from the heat of the Egyptian sun. His eyes were ice blue. Over all he was quite an attractive being to look at. Yami scanned him up and down as Seto walked forward.
" I am honored to serve you my Pharaoh." Seto said as he came before Yami and knelt to the ground.
" Seth, may I ask you who this is?" Yami asked, becoming slightly more interested.
"Yami this is our new high priest of Amun, of all the men we have trained this young man has shown the most promise. We have not found him an apprentice yet, but when we do you will be the first to know." Seth crossed his arms. His work for the day was done. He had once again woven his way around the young Pharaoh so that he could get what he desired.
" Well done Seth, but don't you think he is a little young to be running the temple of our most important God?" Yami said with an amused look on his face.
" With all due respect Great one, you yourself are only sixteen and you are running Egypt, I think Seto can handle the temple to Amun."
" Funny Seth. But I'm not too young to sentence you to death." He snapped.
" Pharaoh," said a deep voice that almost made Yami jump out of his skin. He turned and looked back at Seto.
" I can assure you that I am well up to the challenge of being high priest, and I don't intend on backing out now. I am the most capable man for this job in all of Egypt." He said that with the most serious face that Yami had ever seen.
" Ok, ok. Once again Seth you are one step ahead of me." Yami stood up from his throne, " Send a notice to all the people of Egypt, recruit them to work on rebuilding all the temples that my father tore down… starting with the Great Temple of Amun right here in Thebes. I want these fine young men to be in their new temple as soon as possible!" He walked over to the balcony that over looked the magnificent city of Thebes.
" Seth, Seto come here." He called to them as he looked out into the city that was bustling with activity. They walked over to him and looked out upon the city as well. " I want the temple to go right there." He said, and he pointed to an abandoned Aten temple that sat upon an enormous hill.
" As you wish, my Pharaoh." Seth replied. As both men began to walk away Yami called Seto back.
" Seto wait," Yami said quietly.
" Yes my Pharaoh?" He replied with uncertainty.
" You don't have to act so…"
" So?" Seto questioned.
" So formal around me, I may be Pharaoh of Egypt, but you are the high priest of Amun."
" And?"
" And that means that you are like my second in command, like my brother. We can run Egypt together." Yami said with a smile.
Seto stared into Yami's crimson orbs; he suddenly felt a chill up his spine. As nice as Yami was; those eyes; Seto felt like Yami could see right through him. It scared him.
" Ok Pharaoh."
" Oh and Seto. One more thing."
" Yes?"
" Don't call me Pharaoh."
" Ok Great one." Seto said as he smirked.
" Yami." The Pharaoh said nearly cracking up himself.
" Ok son of Osiris."
"Shut up." Yami said as he punched Seto in the arm.
* * *
Slowly Yami made his way down the long corridors to his chambers. It had been a long three weeks for him as Pharaoh. With all he had to do, sleep was on the bottom of his list and fatigue was starting to set in. Sometimes he wondered if he'd even be able to take on such a heavy load. It had all happened so quickly.
The plague, the suffering, then the sudden, however expected death of his father. He hadn't even come half way through all of the training he needed to become Pharaoh. And unlike most of the other Pharaohs who learned a lot by watching their dads at work…well Yami's father wasn't quite the best example, especially in the last four years of his reign.
As he was thinking to himself he barely realized that he was standing right outside his chambers so with his eyes half shut he opened the doors, but they quickly snapped open when he saw what was on his bed. Three beautiful girls were sitting on his bed with there heads bowed submissively. He didn't quite know what to make of this, who were they? How did they get into his room? And whose dumb idea was this? Each one of them was dressed alike with pink silk harem pants. They were adorned with jewels and gold. They looked more like gifts then anything.
" Wh…Who are you?" He asked one of them as he stumbled closer to his bed. But as he came closer he noticed that they were bound together tied to the foot of his bed.
" We are yours my Pharaoh." Said one of the girls; her voice was shaky, as if she was scared that he would hurt her for speaking up. Yami had no idea what to do; he wasn't exactly in the best mood. It angered him that someone would do this to innocent girls. As he looked at the one girl, he saw a tear coming down her pale cheek.
" Shhh don't cry, everything's ok." Yami said calmly as he sat next to her and gently lifted her head up. He looked into her beautiful jade eyes; not exactly sure what to say to comfort her; and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.
" Who did this to you?" Yami asked softly. He began to untie the ropes that bound them. He saw that their wrists were rubbed raw, no doubt from trying to escape.
" Pri…Priest Seto, he wanted to give us to you as a gift."
Said the one who was crying. As he looked up at the girl with the jade eyes, he noticed a red mark on her face.
"Who hit you?" He asked with concern…something that shocked the girl, as well as himself.
"I…I don't know. It was one of your guards I think. He-he did it because I told him to leave my friends alone."
"This wont happen again. You three are free to leave." He told them as he finished untying the last girl.
" Pharaoh, forgive me, but we have nowhere to go, all of our parents were killed by the plague that swept through Egypt over three months ago." Said one girl.
" You are welcome to stay here in my palace if you wish, I can get Bener to show you to your rooms, her room is right down the hall way."
" Oh…b-but we couldn't…I mean, we couldn't possibly s-stay…here." She said with fear in her voice.
"I insist. In fact, take that as an order." He said with a smirk. He knew that there was no way they would disobey a command from the Pharaoh.
As they were on their way out of his room, looking quite frightened, he held the one girl back.
" May I ask you your name?" He questioned, his red eyes stared into her beautiful jade ones. She continued to look at him, no one ever showed her this much compassion.
"I, well uh…." She said quietly pausing as she looked down. Without thinking Yami placed his hand under her chin, and lifted her face up, smiling lightly at her.
"Your name?" He asked again with a chuckle.
"My name…it's Athena." With that she slipped out the door and walked down the hall, leaving Yami standing in the doorway, blinking slightly. Why was she scared of him?
Shrugging it off he turned around and walked back to his bed.
'Athena' he thought 'what a pretty name'. He flopped down on his bed, rather ungracefully and rolled over into it sighing heavily loving the feel of his expensive imported silk sheets. He was beat, but for some reason he couldn't fall asleep. Millions of things were running through his mind, including the girl.
'Athena' he said her name in his head again. He had never quite seen a human being that beautiful, he found himself running over the delicate features of her face. Especially those jade eyes, he couldn't ever remember seeing eyes so striking. He also couldn't help but wonder why she was so scared of him. But then, as he continued to think about it, he remembered whose son he was, and that definitely had to be it.
" Stop it." He suddenly said out loud. 'Stop thinking about her like that, she means nothing.' Since the day he became Pharaoh Yami promised himself that he wouldn't fall in love or, show any kind of compassion for that matter. He had only loved one person in his life. When he was young, and that person loved him back. For a while… But then things changed, and that person ripped his heart out and fed it to the Nile crocodile. It was something that forever-changed Yami and stripped him from ever showing love. '"Its what ruined my father"' he would say. It still pained him to think about it. To him love was just something that got in the way. He had been betrayed by love, and therefor he never gave love.
Aww…poor Yami…no love.
Yami: Shut up Kohaku, I get plenty of love. ::Crosses arms and smirks::
Yea sure, that's why I have posters of Malik all around my room ::laughs hysterically at the look on Yami's face::
Malik: Did I hear my name?
Yea baby, but not now. I'm busy torturing Yami. ::Narrows eyes, turning back to Yami::
Malik: Sounds like fun, can I join? ::Pulls the knife out of the sennen rod and eyes it hopefully::
Uhh…Malik, I meant mental torture ::rolls eyes:: hopeless case.
Yami: Hello people?!? Back to me and my mental torture here!!
Gomen Yami, I didn't think Malik would show up. I gotta go! ::Grabs Malik's arm and runs off::
Yami: Uhh…Kohaku told me to tell you to please review-onegai shimasu!!…and uhh…oh yea. Tamika-san, Domo Arigato!
Authors note:
Malik sama wa kono hon o kaite ageta. (Basically "I wrote this for Malik") Ja ne!
