Worth a Thousand Years of Memory

by ArzanianJoy

They were kings... but were they human? Whispers of a prophecy, the start of a war on the horizon and the inevitable hand of Fate drawing all that much closer. A King, three princes, a few soldiers, a touch of love, two spoonfuls of magic, a tidbit of adventure and that's all you need for a whirlwind that will take the world by storm. A Millennium suddenly seems so short...

1. The Start of Something New

~ Worth a Thousand Years of Memory ~

| Summary |

They were Kings but all men are created equal beneath the stars. Their destiny had been penned long before they were born and now they were called to fulfill their duty. The Millennium palace is now tense with anticipation. With their enemies lurking just around corners, this sacred matrimony will be a millennium legend.

| Rating/Genre |

Written for a teenage audience

Fallen under the genres of fantasy, romance, action, possibly hurt/comfort, suspense and some mystery

| Pairing(s) |

Yugi x Yami | Heba (oc) x Atem | Marik x Akefia (Thief King Bakura) | Seth (Seto) x Jounouchi | Ryou x ? (secret)

~ Chapter One ~

| Warnings |

Alternate universe, homosexual relationships, alpha/beta theme, original plot, male pregnancy, (more to be added along the way)

| Author's Note |

This is a rewrite of Millennium Output which can still be found on my profile. This will be no fairytale romance, beware. There will be war and death, over powered characters, prophecies, representation of deities and the omnipresent. This will be neither tragic nor comic, it will be a dark-light read with swift shifts between moods.

~ The Start of Something New ~

"My king?" the smooth voice was lisped with a silky undertone which told of the speaker's influence from those of common upbringing. However, the light purple gaze which lifted from the ground at the low rumble of approval from his superior revealed more than just his noble birth but also his familial relations to the royal line.

This was Marik of the Ishtar family and he bore the lone responsibility of the security of his home country. He was the second cousin to the most trusted monarch of Millennium and the proud sibling of Ryou and Isis Ishtar, both of whom were highly coveted master healers.

Drawing himself up to a full stand, his languid muscles visibly contracted underneath the thin silk of his official dress as he did so, "The delegates of Sen have entered the castle, I shall personally escort them."

A soft chuckle stopped him from continuing on and he looked up at the man seated upon the throne. The young king was dressed alluringly in royal purples and a black cape draped over his form with a matching veil wrapped over his nose, covering the lower half of his face from view. "Marik," his name fell from his king's lips like sinful honey, "You are family. There is no need for formality between us. When will you outgrow your stubbornness?"

Marik's instincts were honed incredibly, far beyond that of an ordinary alpha, due to the many years of training he had enforced upon himself and he could almost taste the amusement drafting from his king's form. Brushing an imaginary fleck of dust from the shoulder of his cloak, he pursed his lips into a firm frown as he was hard pressed not to smile in response and drawled, "You are a king, my lord, it would be unacceptable of me to call you by name."

The king laughed and the sound echoed throughout the room pleasantly. Shifting his weight onto one elbow, he leaned to one side and tilted his head to send a fleeting glance at the man seated at his side. "Heba," he called with amethyst eyes glittering humorously, "Do you not think it is more insubordinate to disobey a king's order?"

Slightly lighter eyes gazed back at him from above a similar veil also shining with amusement. "Why," Heba drew out the word with a teasing drawl as he mirrored his brother's pose, "I do believe so. Don't you, Commander Marik?"

The royal brothers shared a look and peered down at their cousin with everything mischievous and deviant reflected in their eyes. Although their faces were masked behind veils, there was no doubt that they wore matching smirks as well.

"Very well," Marik returned their gaze with a gently teasing glint in his own eyes that belied his internal stance on the matter. Turning with a dramatic sweep of his cloak, he tossed over his shoulder without looking at the brothers directly, "I shall return momentarily, Yugi."

~ the throne room ~

Today was a special day even for kings and nobles as it marked the meeting of the royal brothers and their future mates. The council stood in full assembly and at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the platform stood two guards. They each held their drawn swords at a diagonal to deny access up the padded stairwell. Standing motionlessly, they resembled inanimate statues due to the endless hours spent in practice for this very moment.

A solid knock sounded out on the grand doors thrice in a row ad they were drawn open easily from the other side, two lines of soldiers spilling forth swiftly to stand on either side of the entrance. One by one, they drew their swords and held them facing downward, palms resting atop each other on the decorative hilts.

By this time, all traces of Heba and Yugi's prior amusement had been drained from the atmosphere to be replaced with one of thick anticipation. They were alpha kings and, if a sudden chilling dread filled the air in reaction to their spilling auras, no one was willing to speak of it. Two pairs of unreadable eyes turned to the door as they inevitably focused in on the sound of footsteps quickly approaching their domain.

This was the sound of their future.

With all the grace of a feline predator, the general swept regally into the room with his face set in metaphorical stone. The entire room seemed to hold a collective breath as he strolled purposefully down the walkway lined by guards. He suddenly stopped and lifted his arm, spinning back in such a motion that his cloak fanned out like a curtain being pulled away from the doors, "Presenting his highness prince Atem and prince Yami of Sen accompanied by Lord Seth."

Two males entered immediately after and their identical features identified them as siblings quickly. Brothers though they were, they gave off the distinct impression that all the pigment of one half had been leached by the other since the difference between their tones was so enormous.

Of the two, the lighter skinned brother maintained a calm exterior and narrowed crimson eyes took in the foreign land rather impassively. His pale body was adorned eloquently in a slim white robe lined in silver thread and a dark sash was wrapped around his waist once then draped over his left shoulder. His bare arms were decked in gold and silver bracelets, several of them sliding against each other with his every step.

His hair began in the deepest shade of black and seemed to slowly burn down to a fiery crimson, the colors highlighted by the shimmering threads incorporated into the braid that trailed down his chest. A single strand was extracted from the braid and it ran jaggedly down below his jaw, its unusually blond coloring likening it to a lightning bolt snatched straight from the sky.

The darker toned sibling wore a slightly less impassive expression, his darker eyes swiftly roaming from one end to the other with unease and curiosity. His robe was also white but lined with gold and a braided golden rope wrapped his waist, a dark cloak settled over his shoulders. The black, red and golden mane he sported had been seemingly wrestled under the hold of a thick cord which did little to tame its vibrant spirit, blond bolts framing either side of his face.

Behind the two betas, their accompanying alpha stalked imperiously after them with a fierce scowl touching his lips. Ice cold eyes touched upon everything that even dare twitch in his presence with a chilling glare. His brown hair had been cut smoothly to accent his sharp features, clean and to the point. His robes were a classy blue that accented his unusually tall stature and he came to a halt behind the brothers, his enigmatic form both towering over them and seemingly enveloping them at the same time.

A pair of unarmed knights brought up the rear and they stilled just inside the doors turning to complete the ensemble of soldiers on either side of the entryway.

Drawing his sword in an elegant arc, Marik laid the tip on the ground and folded his hands over the elaborately engraved hilt. The reaction of his subordinates was immediate, the soldiers dropping unto their left knees in mirrored pairs. In practiced unison, each guard swung his sword over the back of his wrist to rotate the blade vertically upward.

The collective breath was released as one when Yugi rose to his feet and all eyes migrated to him as his magnetic aura drew their attention away from the military display. With a silent glance towards his general, he descended the stairs as though he were merely floating and came to relaxed stop only a few meager steps from his cousin.

"Welcome to Millennium Palace," he watched the brothers for their reactions to him and felt his lips twitch upward at the corners under his mask, "the banquet will begin shortly."

~ Marik ~

As the commanding general of the entire royal army, a certain level of strength, strategical excellence and skill was expected of him, and Marik accepted these expectations as a mere challenge, one which he doubled once he had realized they were far too weak for him to strive toward. He wore his battle scars proudly like the medals that they were, each marking a battle fought and a battle won.

Though he was strict and pushed a high regime on his men, Marik completed each training alongside his soldiers and rose the bar to nearly triple for himself. It seemed to both raise morale and beseech the soldiers towards their stoic captain. He was rather well liked and there was not a single man amongst them that would even entertain the thought of disobeying him.

As if he were merely a gardener and they were his roses, Marik was capable of turning any soldier put under his command into someone formidable enough to be feared upon the battlefield. Marik the Violet Eye was an invaluable asset to Millennium as a commander and as a teacher.

There were few talented soldiers that he hadn't heard about in his career and this was why he stood behind his king, spinning a knife round and round his finger in frustration. Glaring at the two men standing on the opposite wall, he tossed the short sword into the air once and caught it with the appropriate sheath, leaning back into the shadows as he forcibly drew back his temper. He'd figure out why the aura of a slayer was coming from those knights.

~ Seth ~

Lord Seth, as he would continue to insist on being called, was very unhappy. If that wasn't already obvious by his detrimental frown and soul searing glare, then the thick black aura of undisguised blood lust wafting around him would be a definite clue into his state of mind. He should be back at the castle in Sen (where he belonged, the thought wormed its way back to the forefront of his skull) working on the massive amount of paperwork that would no doubt be stacked high by the time he was allowed to return.

A low growl rumbled from the base of his throat at this thought, he absolutely loathed being backed up on paperwork for it was one of the beasts that remained unconquerable in this world. Sending his cousins a glare that would have sent lesser men running for the hills, he stabbed his eating utensil into the lavish meat settled upon his plate in a live demonstration of what he wished to do to the poor man that suggested him as the alpha to oversee the engagement.

There would be pain and suffering upon his return, and this was a vow that had many servants in Sen suddenly shudder in fear. There were plenty of other dominant males with the appropriate rank and requirements to take his place but the king had merely said with a lighthearted smile full to the brim with blinding cheer, "What a wonderful idea."

What a wonderful idea indeed, the positively seething noble thought to himself, I will show you just what I think of this "wonderful" idea of yours. Granted, he couldn't do much more than glower and make life miserable for those who were unlucky enough to work with him but that would be enough to appease his temper. Misery had a fondness for company after all.

~ Heba ~

Prince Heba valued family above all else. Most would immediately assume that this was due to the premature death of his and Yugi's parents. While he never denied it verbally, they could be no further from the truth.

He was typically envisioned as a quiet man with a keen knack for observation and a not-so-secret love for things that were pleasing to the eye. His office had been decorated elegantly in earthy tones and built to oversee the gardens which were well kept and pristine for that purpose. He was often thought to be the levelheaded one out of the two brothers and some even wished his ascension to the throne.

But, buried underneath this calm exterior lied the truth, and a simple truth it really was.

Heba was merely a deeply possessive man. Although this trait may have been common amongst his alpha peers, it ran much stronger in his blood. Once he had staked his claim, there was no going back and that was the end of it; they was his. And so far, he had claimed four men as his family.

His king and brother, the man to share his mother's womb and the man he had watched flourish. Marik, his cousin whom he had stood beside through all the sweat and blood and tears that got him where he was. Ryou, the lonely healer that looked up at him with wide doe eyes and always gave him the kindest of smiles. And Jou, the puppy-like beta that had followed his brother home one day and won him over with his ability to smile despite the life he had left behind.

They were the four men that made up his world, they were his and they were the four he would die for. But most likely worst of all, they were the four people he would kill for. But now, gazing across the table at the man who would soon become his in the most intimate of ways, he realized his family was just about to grow and he couldn't be more amused.

~ Atem ~

Growing up with the brother and cousin he had, Atem was used to being on the receiving end of intense looks so he was capable of ignoring the addition of one more, silently picking away at his meal though he had little appetite. It wasn't that he hadn't known this was coming (despite whatever Yami liked to believe, he was not a complete idiot), but that he had tried to pretend it wouldn't anyway.

He liked being able to do things his way at his own pace and, lifting his dark gaze to the amethyst one focused entirely on him, he knew that his freedom was just as good as gone now. Those were the eyes of a captor and now, he was the rabbit frozen in their sights.

Though he could feel Yami glancing at him worriedly, it took him several more moments to gather enough of himself to look away from that hypnotizing gaze. Turning his head towards Yami, he smiled slowly to indicate he was fine though it was obvious he felt some sort of distress and decided his plate was the only safe place to look so he took the time to study it diligently.

Atem didn't want to be married, he was still young and had an entire life ahead of him. He still hadn't explored all the secret passages in the temple and he hadn't found the black panther said to be good luck. There were so many things he wanted to do but they were now dreams as distant as the stars that blanketed the sky during the night. Now, why did he have to be born a prince again?

~ Yugi ~

Yugi liked games very much and he often treated life, war and even his relationships as if they were part of a game. His days were spent playing various different games from various lands and, though his council thought him entirely bat-crazy, his methods had been proven extremely effective. His people saw him as something out of the legends and his charismatic leadership had made him widely revered.

However, there remained the fact that people tended to forget things, and they were sometimes important things. Over the years, the people had forgotten several such important facts. They had either forgot or chose not to remember that he was the king that the Violet Eye had sworn complete allegiance to only hours after his inauguration. They had forgotten that he was the king that walked onto the soil stained by thirteen years of war and crushed the opposing side single handed.

And they had forgotten that despite his benevolence towards his people, he was a man capable of destroying entire countries with only the power of his mind.

To those of Millennium, he was a powerful and kind king. To those outside of Millennium, he was the Thousand Year King, who would rule the world for a thousand years on the influence of his reputation alone.

It was inevitable that most were eventually forced to acknowledge Yugi as a man to be feared, but he was still human. No matter how one revered him or where, Yugi was still a human being and, while he had nearly forgotten that himself, the defiant gaze of his new bride awoke the human emotion of desire within him. He absently wondered how long it would take him to banish that defiance – how long it would be until he was bored.

~ Yami ~

Unlike his brother, Yami was cursed with a weak constitution and had been raised away from the wild outdoors under his mother's watchful eye. It just so turned out to be that his mother was a very strong woman with a determined will and a spark in her eyes that could make her king cower like a common fool. She had passed on several of these traits to her sickly son along with her keen ability to adapt.

If it was something capable of being taught, then Yami could learn it and very well master it too. Though his brother was the adventurous one of the pair, that wasn't to say that Yami didn't know the ins and outs of the castle like it were the back of his hand. As different as night and day they were but the fact remained that they were siblings and were startlingly alike in several ways.

One of which was Yami's reluctance towards this marriage.

He held very little faith in love, and even if he could feel something like electricity raise the hairs on his neck at the look in his fiance's eyes, it did nothing to subside the unease in his chest. This was a wedding for the benefit of both countries and he was fairly determined to keep it that way. There would be no warm fuzzies in his chest and his heart would not begin to flutter, he had no time for things like that.

~ somewhere ~

A young woman chuckled as she leaned back in her chair, twirling a strand of her teal hair around her finger, "Hmm, this will prove to be interesting." Her shadowed gaze flitted towards her three companions and she smiled, her lips curving sensually upward at each corner, "The prophecy has already taken affect."

Opposite of her, a blond male sat on the window sill with his head leaned back against the frame as his fingers played the strings of a harp effortlessly, "The sand has begun to flee the hourglass, time never returns once it's fled our grasp."

"Saa, does it matter?" a redhead snarled from the other side of the room where he wiped his sword clean with a dark cloth, "It's almost time we descend anyhow. If they are truly the children of the prophecy-"

He was cut off by a soft voice that emerged from a petite woman standing by the other window sill, "Let us not begin to argue now. We have several things that need to be done between now and then," her fingers gently prodded the soil of her potted plants and she turned with a graceful sweep of her green hair; "If they are our masters, we will cross that bridge when we get to it."

~ The Start of Something New ~

| Word Count |

~ 3,285 ~

| Key word |

~ Deviant ~

| Character Count |

~ Six ~

~ King Yugi | Prince Heba | Prince Yami | Prince Atem | Lord Seth | Commander Marik ~

| Chapter Challenge |

This is my challenge to my readers. There were six characters introduceed in this chapter. For each there was a minor internal blurb to explain their stance on the current situation. Within these blurbs, there lies a single word that summarizes their mood. Can anyone pick out all six? Only one word for each character! Winners will be announced in the following chapter (if anyone attempts) and get a special boon (optional).

| Author Base |

~ Any questions or reviews will be responded to here later on ~