Welcome! This is my third story :D! But, i'm not here alone. Say hi RedRosePetal!
RRP: Yeah, so put that in your pipe and smoke it! XD!
Me: 0.o ok... So yeah, we are BOTH writing this if you didn't bother looking at the summary or my profile or RRP's story 'To Love a Royal'.
RRP: Oh and Akai forgot the cookies.
Me: 0.o WHY DID YOU TELL THEM?!
RRP: Because I brought some.
Me: Phew... OK! Let's begin :D
DISCLAIMER: WE DON'T OWN YU-GI-OH!
Internal Struggles
The sound of splashing came loud and clear as the group of fourteen year olds splashed around in the water of the Nile. Of course they were being watched by at least three guards as the Prince was there. It was not that often that these five managed to get out of the palace and play by the Nile. But when they did, it was a lot of fun. Atem, Mana, Mahad, Karina and Katia were playing a game where, the basic concept was to get everyone soaked. By looking at the group, that concept had been met. The group had an incredible bond, one which would appear to be unbreakable. The Prince, Mana and Mahad had been friends the longest knowing each other from when they were at least two years of age. The twins Karina and Katia had come into their lives when the Prince was seven and since then, the group was inseparable. This is a bond which would last the test of time.
"Hahaha, I got you Prince!" yelled Mana. But, with one swift movement, Mana had found herself underwater by the works of Katia. The others watched amusedly. Karina, however, watched in horror. Katia felt the stare of her twin and let Mana come back up for air.
"Hehehe, sorry Mana." said Katia while rubbing the back of her head. Mana coughed up water and said
"It's ok; you were just playing after all."
"Please, I'm sorry my Prince, Mana, and Mahad. We must take our leave now, right Katia." said Karina glaring at her twin. They blinked in confusion as the two began making their way out of the water. "What was that?! Did you just try to kill her?!" whispered Karina. Katia scoffed.
"She was messing with Atem, I did what was needed." replied Katia coolly. Karina stared at her, eyes wide, in shock. Atem and the others watched as the twins with flowing dark brown hair, fairly tanned skin, and fairly angry looks on their faces, make their leave.
"She was playing a game! We all were!" Karina cried, incredulously.
"Yes but had I not stepped in then the Prince might have died. I'm a hero! I saved his life."
"What is wrong with you!?" Katia stared after her sister as she strolled off.
X
It was a sunny day in Egypt. The sun was shining brighter than any day it would have. A pair of amethyst eyes wandered the halls of the palace. Atem, he was on his way to the courtyard to see his friends. He might have been sixteen years old, but he still acted like a child at times, especially when it came to his friends. He had just made it out to the courtyard and noticed Katia, Mana, and Mahad practicing magic. The soon to be Pharaoh wondered where his other friend was, where Karina was.
"That's rather odd. I thought Karina and Katia never went anywhere without each other." thought Atem. When the others noticed Atem they greeted him as if he were already king.
"Hello Prince Atem." they all said in unison. Atem raised a hand gracefully to show that there was no need for formalities.
"Where is Karina?" asked Atem. Mana and Mahad snickered while Katia looked away angrily.
"Why does he even care where she is? I'm here aren't I?" thought Katia while glaring across the courtyard, revealing her twin meditating alone. Atem followed her gaze and found Karina.
"Is she upset?" he asked.
"No my Prince, she had said that she hasn't had time to train in many moons. So to prepare herself for her intense training to come, she decided to meditate, alone." explained Mahad. The Prince looked on in awe at Karina's dedication to her fighting. Even though Karina and Katia are twins, they had many differences. One being that Karina loved the arts of fighting while Katia practiced magic with Mana and Mahad. Another being their eyes, Karina's eyes were brown while Katia's were green. Their personalities were complete opposites as well. Karina was the happy-go-lucky one with such passion in everything she does while Katia has more of a mysterious feel to her. Everything she does and is, is a mystery. Atem liked their Yin-Yang relationship. It made things a little interesting.
"I'm going to talk to her." said Atem. Before he left, he felt a hand on his arm.
"You don't have to always be around her you know. You have other friends, like… me." said Katia, staring into his eyes. Atem stared back in confusion. He understands that he has more friends such as Katia.
"Is that jealousy I heard Katia?" said Mana. Katia blushed bright red and retracted her hand.
"Please, as if I would partake in such a childish notion." Atem chuckled at her response. Katia heard his chuckle and felt embarrassed. "Fine, go talk to her then! As if she would even respond! Come Mahad and Mana, let us go and practice over there." said Katia pulling the two in the complete opposite direction of her twin.
"That was… odd to say the least." thought Atem. He then looked over to his silent friend. He then began walking towards her and the closer he got, the more his heart raced. He hadn't known when it happened but he knew that somewhere along the lines of their friendship, he had developed feelings for the fighter.
"Focus on the energy around you. Let it flow like the Nile. Then take control of it. After that you let it… OUT!" thought Karina while meditating. Atem noticed a small surge of energy form around Karina like a flickering candle. On then off quickly, and repeat. She then sensed the presence of someone next to her. She didn't have to look for she could tell who it was by the energy around the person. "Well, I was beginning to wonder if your father was teaching you today or if you were practicing with Seto on increasing your Ba, Atem." Atem stood there, eyes wide.
"H-how…" Karina giggled at the Prince's lack of understanding of how energy works. Atem had never heard Karina laugh before, and when he did, he felt heat quickly hitting his face. Good thing Karina had her eyes closed. "Don't you uh… don't you think you've sat there long enough?" Karina sighed.
"Yes, maybe I have. I do need to begin my training. Hmm… but," she trailed off as Atem sat next to her.
"But what?" he asked. She opened her eyes and looked at him.
"I have no one to practice with. You know that I'm a very good fighter, so many often stay away from me." Atem chuckled which made Karina giggle. She loved his laugh; in fact there isn't much she didn't like about him. They really were good friends. Atem then stood up and held out his hand.
"How about I be your sparring partner?" Karina sat there wide eyed. Can she really 'spar' with the soon to be king? She always goes too far even if she's just training. "Come on, my father says I do need to learn a bit just in case." Karina began to move her hand towards his. When she looked up to him, she knew that she had nothing to fear. She then, gladly, took his hand and they began to spar.
Where Katia and the others practiced, she looked over her shoulder and noticed Atem and her sister sparring. She felt so much rage enter her. She glared at them.
"يجب انت تقع، وربما ليس من يدي، ولكن سيتم القيام به. لذا اتركه تكون مكتوبة، لذلك يمكن القيام به." mumbled Katia.**
"Hahaha! Take this Atem!" yelled Karina throwing a fist he easily caught and twisted behind her back. She then found herself on his chest.
"You mean like that?" he whispered into her ear. Karina laughed and jumped up moving behind him, having him in the same hold she was just in.
"No, like this." She then let go and they both fell to the ground next to each other in exhaustion. "Well, you did better than I expected."
"Thank you, you also did well." Karina sat up and Atem looked at her as she closed her eyes and let the wind play with her hair. He felt the heat once again rush to his face.
"Oh Atem, you are always so good to me. I hope that we can remain friends for many years to come. And maybe… maybe we… no. I cannot let myself go there." thought Karina.
"I never want to forget this day. And I hope one day, I can tell you how I feel and maybe you will return it." thought Atem while watching her.
X
The whole ground shook, causing the fleeing civilians to fall to the ground. Screams reached the Pharaoh's ears which caused him to shut his eyes. The screams of his people made tears form, but he stubbornly stopped them from falling. He had to think of something, there had to be something he could do. He'd lost all of his priests, apart from Seto, and most of the village was now in ruins. Mana was safe, although he was not sure where. Karina and Katia were also safe, as far as he knew. The Pharaoh looked up at Zorc, anger in his eyes. He would not rest until he had defeated Zorc. It did not matter that he was injured himself. He had a slight limp and there was dry blood on one side of his face.
But that made no difference; he would battle on because after all, he was the Pharaoh. It was his duty to protect his people and protect them he would. Taking a huge breath, he walked or rather limped towards Zorc. Even though he currently had no plan he could try to delay Zorc which would give the people time to escape and time to come up with a plan. As he drew nearer the great black monster loomed in front of him.
"Zorc! Come no closer. You will not harm my people anymore."
"You've tried everything Pharaoh and still I have the power. Surrender!" Zorc spoke in such a demonic voice making shivers run down the Pharaoh spine.
"Never, I will not allow any more harm to come to my people." Zorc laughed his demonic laugh and as he did a thought crossed the Pharaoh's mind.
"And, how exactly will you stop me."
The Pharaoh smirked, "EGYPTIAN GODS! COME TO ME!"
X
It's done. He had done what he needed to. Zorc was gone but at a price. He laid there on the ground, in the same position as when he had fallen. He had saved his kingdom, the world, and the one he loved. His whole body was screaming in pain and he knew that he would not move because of the amount of pain it would cause. Some parts of him were pleading for the darkness that would come, to hurry. But the other parts were keeping him conscious in the hope that someone would come. Someone did come. There was a gasp followed by;
"Pharaoh!"
Long dark brown hair tickled his face and a pair brown eyes hovered above the amethyst eyes of the Pharaoh. Karina was crying already as she took in the appearance of her friend.
"You did it, Atem."
Atem gazed up at her, "No, I didn't..."
Karina grasped the Pharaoh's hand, "What do you mean?"
"I didn't defeat him, I sealed him..."
"But that's good… isn't it?"
Atem shook his head weakly.
"The price of Zorc's imprisonment is my soul. I will be sealed into the Millennium Puzzle."
Karina opened her mouth but nothing came out, instead she pressed her forehead against his. Tears fell from her eyes. She could hear Atem's labored breathes, she knew that he didn't have much time.
"Atem, there some I want to you to know."
The darkness was calling to the Pharaoh, he didn't have long. Atem had one more thing to say but wondered if he had enough time to say it as well.
"I should have said this earlier. But I've never took my feelings into to consideration. I need to say it and now I need you to know this. I… I…"
Karina drew in a breath and was about to speak when she felt the Pharaoh's hand go limp. Looking at him, she saw his eyes. They were open and unseeing. She'd missed her chance to say it.
"I love you." she whispered.
Karina cried harder and gently kissed Atem's forehead. Behind her Mana was silently weeping, Seto looked away. But Katia glared at her sister. It should have been her with the Pharaoh at his last moments not her. Her love was stronger than Karina's... it should have been her.
X
"Silent Magician, attack his life points directly!" yelled the teary eyed Yugi, the new King of Games. Once Atem's life points hit zero, Yugi noticed Atem walking towards him to congratulate him.
Yugi threw his arms around his closest friend. Since he had defeated Atem, that meant the Pharaoh was free. He was free to join his family who had waited five thousand years for his return. Atem broke the hug and gave Yugi one last smile. Turning he walked until he was facing the Eye of Wdjat, he did as he was told and said his name. But once the door had opened he began walking towards the light.
"Pharaoh!" yelled his friends as he stopped dead in his tracks in shock.
"Please don't go! I know going there means you'll be free but please, think of all the good times we've all had!" yelled the crying Tea. The others were crying as well. Atem took a peek behind him and noticed their tears. Was it really worth it? Was going to afterlife worth leaving the amazing friends he's come to know? As he glanced around, he noticed even Kaiba was in a bit of shock that he was leaving. Is it worth it?
No.
He didn't want this, he didn't want to go. Some of his memories were still hazy so he wasn't sure who would be waiting for him. There was a great possibility that no one was there waiting for him. There was also the fact that he'd died at seventeen. If he stayed with Yugi then he'd have a life, a full one.
Atem glanced at Yugi, who immediately knew what was going through his mind. Moving over to him Yugi stood in front of the Pharaoh.
"It's your choice." he whispered. "What do you want to do?"
Atem looked up at the door again before looking down again; "I can't do it Yugi. I can't throw my life away again. I don't want to do this."
Yugi nodded, "Ok, you don't have to."
Yugi looked to Ishizu, who frowned. Taking Atem's hand Yugi led him out of the underground chamber. The others watched on, Ishizu called out as the door to the afterlife shut but neither turned around. Once out in the sunshine Yugi stopped Atem and looked at him.
"Are you sure Atem?" Atem sighed and nodded. "Ok then, come on let's get back to the boat."
Once they arrived at the boat, they all noticed Atem's silence.
"Hey, what's the matter pal?" asked Joey. The ex-pharaoh shook his head.
"Nothing Joey, it's nothing." He then showed them all a fake smile. Yugi however, didn't fall for that. "I just cannot shake this feeling that I have missed something. That I am forgetting something important." he thought.
** Ok, the translation is 'You will fall, and perhaps not of my hand, but you will. So let it be written, so let it be done.'
Me: Well, that was pretty long huh?
RRP: I don't think so XD!
Me: -_- You love messing with me don't you?
RRP: YES! Especially since YOU dragged me into this in the first place.
Me: *evil face with a peace sign* hehehehehe...
Ok people, you know what to do! You can criticize or praise. Flame it, like it, whatever. It's your choice :D RRP's got the cookies and i just finished baking the brownies. WHO WANTS ONE?! XD!
SEE YA NEXT CHAPTER :D