A/N: This story is a long one that I worked on over the summer , so far I only have a few chaps written but they're all at least 10 pages long, anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

The pharaohs escape

In the time of the great pharaohs of Egypt, there was one that stood high among the others, Akhenaten, the king of all kings, was the mightiest of them all. According to rumors that traveled through the villages by tongue and by stone. He was the son of the sun itself, he had single handedly defeated the Hetittites using the awesome powers of the gods, through seven magical items. The millennium items.

The millennium scales, the millennium key, the millennium necklace, the millennium eye, the millennium rod, the millennium ring and last…. But not least… the millennium puzzle. Which was the item of the pharaoh himself, a symbol of his god like statis. These objects all had similar powers, but each of them also had unique attributes … but with a cost, the great pharaoh, king of kings. Had been deceived by his brother, for it had been his own idea to create the items… and the pharaoh thought he was genius, but what he failed to include.. Was how the items had been created in the first place … this was a dark secret kept only by the pharaohs brother the workers who were involved ….and one small village child, who, in the darkness … and the shadows .. Would become the worst threat to Egypt, that had ever been encountered.

When the pharaoh had discovered the dark secret… he sacrificed himself to the gods as an offering …. And he did so, in front of his one, and only living son, Atemu. Who would take his place on the throne as king, and as a young boy as well.

Now, it had been a decade since the tragic death, and Atem, now bereaved of his parents for quite some time, was still pharaoh, and though his rule so far had been short lived, he had learned many things, and had been tested almost to his limits. Which was all necessary, for in the years to come he would need every single skill he had.

But right now, the king did not want to think about his past…..or the future, he just wanted to relax while he had the chance.

Atemu was standing on the balcony, long violet cape and dark crimson hair with flowing bangs, blowing in the hot, sweet, Egyptian breeze, as he …. Looked out to his great and rich empire.

Sometimes when he would just stand there, he couldn't help but feel almost unworthy of this great nation, with its bountiful foods, and water recourses , it sweet honey like date trees and sunny weather. And all the people within it, bakers, painters , sculptors and scribes. Not to mention the legacy that he had to up hold,… the legacy of not only his father, but of Tutankhamen the boy king so similar to him, Hatshepsut the first of many great female rulers, and of course, the most famous of them all, Ramses the 2nd,, whose great ruling was one many hoped would never end… it was all so much at once … but he had no other choice, and no other calling… this was what he had been born into, it was his destiny….and his duty to protect.

"Though I wish the gods would give me more free time …" he thought to himself, sighing, most days he was over stacked with papyrus documents and lessons in magic…. Military training, emergencies…. And now, most frequently, threat letters from unknown sources.

He would receive many letters describing how he would be put to an early death. It was distressing… but he trudged on.

Breaking him out of his thoughts, someone knocked on his chamber door, the pharaoh turned and glanced at the door.

"You may enter." he said, his voice smooth and low, the way you would expect royalty to sound.

The heavy brass doors creaked open slowly as two servants pushed them, soon revealing a royal priest in azure and gold robes. He walked in leisurely a few steps then bowed, placing his knee on the floor.

The pharaoh smiled kindly at the gesture "so, what is it priest Seto?" asked.

Still bowed the priest explained " it is a message your majesty," he looked up with sharp icy blue eyes "of great urgency." he added, smirking.

The pharaoh rose an eyebrow interested "alright then" he said as he gestured for the priest to rise, "let me hear it."

The priest stood, standing at lest two feet taller than the pharaoh himself, almost towering and continued.

"its from your… ah.. Sister." he said

"Oh, Mana, then… "He sighed, knowing his sister it was probably most likely a clue of where to look for her somewhere in the palace than it was to be an urgent emergency.

"Yes, Mana… she wants you to look in the garden, she'll be waiting "somewhere" in that area." Seto smiled.

Atem couldn't help but chuckle, he was happy that the message wasn't just more paper work, but that didn't mean it wasn't "work". finding mana was never an easy task.

"should've known.." said the pharaoh as he continued to gaze out upon his kingdom. …. He was quiet for a moment .. Then let out a quiet sigh.

The priest walked closer to his master , sensing that there was something wrong. "are you alright my majesty?" he asked .

Atem hung his head a bit, the looked up again, giving a bit of a sad smile. "It's nothing… Seto… just…. I feel as if … I should be worried about the future, as if I can sense something will happen that, I will not be able to control…. "He said.

"hm." said seto "is it about the threat letters?…. Or have you been talking to Ishizu? … she isn't always very… em… accurate you know" he said

Atem shook his head "no, no… it's not that… just…." Atems face became grave "ever since I had to watch my father die…. And I still don't know why. I've always felt that there was something terribly wrong with this place… These items and the power they hold…. "as he said this the king cupped the solid gold millennium item that hung royally from his neck.

As seto listened to his kings troubles , he became a bit uneasy himself… he had some knowledge of what his pharaoh meant, but it seemed that Atem, under the circumstances of his fathers death, knew very little of the palaces past.

Atem put his hands through his soft tri-colored hair and shook his head again.

"it… its nothing I suppose, I guess I'm just paranoid. Just because a few criminals have tried to assassinate me and many others want to try, doesn't mean the world is coming to an end, right? Heh…"

Seto chuckled nervously "heh.. Y-yes.. Of course not."

The pharaoh smiled once more and turned to the priest. The pharaoh didn't know if seto considered him as a friend even if he had no choice but to work for him, but atem sure did… since he never had many...

"alright then priest , you are dismissed , if anyone comes looking for me, tell them I'm off looking for a fugitive "

Seto bowed "yes , pharaoh"

And with that, the priest left the room , and atem ran off childlike, in search of his sister.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Atem ran hurriedly in his Egyptian sandals, wind blowing through his blonde bangs, as he made his way through the temples and chambers of the large, spacious palace where he had lived his entire life.

He weaved through massive columns decorated with ancient hieroglyphic script, he made his way past the temples of nut and Horus, sneaking past gateways guarded by mammoth lifelike structures of hawk and jackal headed gods. The potted plants with fan like leaves waved in the hot breeze , the pyramids, in the distance ,shining white in the Egyptian sun.

He soon found himself in the gardens. It was one of his favorite places, the grass was always green here, there was always shade provided by the tall palms, and the fountain was always flowing with clean, crystal clear water strait from the holy Nile river itself.

"this is where she siad she would be…. I wonder where?" atem thought to himself as he looked around, he examined the many tall, wide pots that lined the garden. She had to be in one of those.

He walked leisurely up to one of them scanned the inside of it, it was empty, but then, he heard a rustling sound. Followed by a soft giggle. He turned and looked to another jar. It was wobbling back and forth slightly.

Atem smirked "there she is!"

He ran to the pot and took it up by the rim, he yelled into it.

"found yo…..!..whu..?"

He stopped, the pot was empty.

He stood there puzzled for a moment … when suddenly there was a rustling from the bushes near him, he barely had time to react before.

"HAHA! WEEEEEE!" a blur of dark brown hair jumped out crashed right into the pharaoh.

"gaaahhhh!" atem yelled as he stumbled back, hazel skinned arms wrapped around him tightly, and tripped , falling backwards into the fountain water with a splash.

He lay there for a moment , dazed and confused in the fountain, until he finally shook his head and opened his violet, kohl lined eyes, to focus on another green pair gazing directly into his.

The silly girl giggled and smiled at him.

Atem sighed " hello mana." he said

Mana was a very playful girl, and her and the pharaoh had grown up together, no one was entirely sure if mana really was atems sister, many servants from the time of their childhoods had died and many official document recordings from that time had been carved away from the walls of the temples for some reason. But even if they weren't siblings, they might as well have been.

Mana started to laugh and splashed water into atems face, "hai 'pharoah".. ha ha ha!"

"can you let me up now?" he asked , since they were still sitting in the fountain.

"he he! Whoops! Okie dokie…. I'll let you go!" she got up and placed her hands on her hips as she watched the great and powerful pharaoh rise from the water, dripping wet.

'look at you, soaked! If you weren't so clumsy you wouldn't have fallen!" she teased

"clumsy!?… you attacked me from the bush like ra forsaken lion!" he protested

Mana laughed "your the one who fell!"

Pouting, atem took a handfull of water and splashed it at her.

"eek!" she squealed "hey!"

Atem stepped out the fountain cooly and smirked.

"meanie!"

"annoying pipsqueak!" said atem

Mana growled .

Atem shook his hair to dry it, getting mana wet in the process.

"I hate you!" siad mana.

Atem sighed "you try to."

They looked at each other for moment , then laughed , mana came in and gave her older brother a hug , atem chuckled and hugged back.

He let her go and they started to take a walk down the many stone pathways that trailed around the palace.

"so" asked the pharaoh "is there any other reason you asked me to come here, aside from playing hide and seek with you?…. Im busy you know, there are many other important things that need to be done."

Mana looked down "well… I dunno… I just wanted to see you…. Play around a little like we always did." she said a bit saddened

"I'm not a child anymore mana, and neither are you… you can't come calling every time you want a play date." he explained

She rubbed her arm "yeah but… you've never been a kid either"

Atem stopped and looked at her " what do you mean?"

She shut her eyes, her face shadowed by her long chestnut hair.

"I mean… , you've always been so responsible, watching over other people, studying…. And I try to make sure that you don't forget that your only a kid… you deserve to play now and then." she said.

Atem kept walking avoiding eye contact, "yeah…."

Mana walked behind him.. Quietly.

"and … now… temmi… it's been a week since we even saw each other… its like you don't have time for me anymore….. Like you don't care."

Atem stopped again, he turned around to face his sister, she looked up at him, his expression was one she had never seen before.

"mana" he put his hands on her shoulders " I am sorry that I cannot spend time with you more often, and im sorry that it may have seemed that I … don't have the time for you, but, you must know that, no matter what, I'll always care about you, if you weren't here I probably would have grown up bitter, you show me how to have fun …. And that I still can… because sometimes I forget."

She smiled at him, he bit his lip and looked down.

"and … I had no idea that it has been that long …. Recently .. There have been many things on mind…." he said with a faraway expression.

"but that's only because I worry about losing the people who mean the most to me"

He gave mana a meaningful look, she smiled wide then hugged him tight. Atem , surprised at first, smiled too and hugged her back.

"I forgive you.." she whispered

"thank you.." he whispered back.

Just then a man in robes, a millennium item around his neck walked up on the two. Atem and mana gasped as they heard soft chuckling .

"eh hemm.." the priest interrupted

Mana quickly pushed atem off of her and straitened her hair, the pharaoh just rolled his eyes.

"so there you are mana… I thought I would have to search the entire palace for you! We never finished your levitation lesson from this morning." he said pointing his staff at the culprit.

"mana! Tsk tsk tsk… " said atem mocking

Mana sweat dropped " eh heh!… yeah! Sorry mahad …Uh.. I meant to come back! Besides its not like I need practice! Look!"

Taking the magic staff she kept on her belt, she said a chant , magic sparkling around her as she pointed it strait at atem.

The pharaohs eyes widened "what are you about to…! Woah!"

Before he could say anything atems feet had lifted from the ground at least a foot.

Mahad gasped "mana!"

"what?" she asked

"PUT ME DOWN!" yelled atem as he slowly floated higher and higher.

"don't be such a baby!" she yelled back.

"mana! I don't think the pharaoh appreciates…."

"NO I DON'T! AS PHAROAH I ORDER YOU TO!.."

"uh oh…" said mana.

"uh oh , what?" asked mahad.

"I uh" she explained "I can't bring him down …."

"WHAT!?" atem exclaimed, extremely concerned.

"this is why I told you to practice! As soon as you get him down I want to…"

Just as he said that, the spell broke and atem fell to the ground , thankfully landing on his hands and feet.

"…go practice" mahad finished

Mana laughed nervously again. "ah ha ha … see?.. I got him down."

Atem glared up at mana angrily "grrrr!"

At that, mana ran off to the sorcerers chamber to practice "see ya later!"

Mahad turned to his king apologetically and kneeled.

"my magesty I am very sorry! It shall not happen again"

Atem dusted himself off and ran his fingers through his hair.

"that's quite alright mahad,… its not your fault, or her's either, she cant help but be a troublesome younger sibling."

"yes, I suppose so." agreed mahad "and um, my king"

"yes mahad"

"I had talked to ishizu earlier today…she wishes to speak with you"

Atem rose an eyebrow "really?..about what?"

Mahad continued "she did not say.. But, she said its important, she did mention something about a… rebellion."

The kings eyes widened at the word, the one thing a ruler never wants to hear. "a… what?"

Mahad shook his head "again … she did not say much…"

Atem tensed, this sounded serious.

"alright, then I shall go to her, and you'd best attend to your apprentice before she gets into anymore trouble "

Mahad nodded and rose " right"

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As atem sauntered a bit hesitantly towards the temple of the sky goddess, nut, where ishizu made her predictions, he started to question himself. As the son of such a well respected ruler, a god, he knew he had expectations to live up to, and he tried hard to make sure that he did. He was just, he was fair, he was …. He was everything a pharaoh should be…wasn't he? or… at least he thought he was. But maybe he was wrong, maybe there was something he was doing wrong…. That would make so many people hate him, or even, want him dead.. if there truly was a rebellion uprising, he would see himself as a failure, no matter what the reason was,

"well.." he thought to himself "whatever the reason may be…. I cannot begin to doubt myself at the moment, there are more important matters that I should be focusing my attention on, besides…" he thought as guards swung open the doors to the temple at his arrival.

"I havent gotten all the facts quite yet" as he stepped into the room he smiled casually and acknowledged ishizu, who sitting at the edge of a reflecting pool, kindly.

"have your visions been clear ishizu, or have you called me here for more incomprehensible nonsense?." he joked

slightly startled by her majesties low royal voice, she turned slowly to face him. She smiled half heartedly.

"greetings.. My pharaoh …. And yes, they have been, but im afraid today's vision is nothing to be taken so lightly." she warned

"hmm…" atem then walked further into the temple, allowing the guards to close the doors behind him.

The room, like all in the pharaohs palace, was stunning, there were statues of important Egyptian gods on pedestals, sacred incenses and plants burnt in trays and grew in tall pots, the walls were carved with prayers and stories and lined with gold. And In the center of the room was a reflecting pool, and this, would be where ishizu would make her predictions of the future, or restore missing pieces of the past.

Atem walked up to the pool and confronted the psychic. "ishizu… do I have reason to worry? Mahad, had told me onlt of one word "rebellion" but he said you did not articulate much more than that. I would like to know what this is all about , and why, if is so important, you did not alert me sooner" atems tone became a bit dangerous.

Ishizu kneeled apologetically "I am quite sorry my king but, I knew mahad would tell you soon enough before I ever got the chance" she said, fingering her millennium necklace.

"and I guess it is about time I show you what I saw. " she said.

She then put out a hand " please, take my hand and I will show you a vision of your future"

"alright ten" the pharoah did as told.

Ishizu then closed her eyes and rubbed the millennium item around her neck, she then cast her fingers across the water of the reflective pool, causing it to ripple and shine with cosmic energies. When ishizu opened her eyes once more, they were glowing entirely blue.

"look" said ishizu, her voice echoing with divine knowledge "to the water "

atem looked to the water, the pool glowed as faint images of the pharaohs future manifested on its quivering surface. The pharoah gasped.

Ishizu narrated the images "my pharaoh, for a long time I sense that you have been feeling a sense of danger and urgency" she said speaking to him through a mind link. "it seems as if you and I have the same cosmic 6 th sense. For many years I have scanned up to the boundaries of your kingdom and beyond, for any sign of a threat to Egypt's peace and prosperity, and for many years it seems, we have had just that."

the reflective pool shown images of egypts boarders and of the flooded nile and the crops that that grew on its fertile, red silt edges as the woman spoke, she then continued…

"but, my great king, I fear that this prosperity has reached its end,"

"what… what do you mean?" asked the pharaoh greatly concerned.

"what I mean is" ishizu continued " …it seems that old threats have begun to rise again."

the pool of water shown an image of a small tribe east of the great pyramids.

"this is the village of Mathenka … it is south of Kul-Elna and has been an ally of the thief city for nearly a hundred years. Before an, em, incident having to do with egypts interference"

the pool shone strange images of men in chains being escorted into a dark cavern.

" …leaving kulelna a deserted ghost town. Mathenka was a very small village with only a few residents. but recently, negotiations between them and an outsider country, beyond our reach of knowledge, has allowed them to grow and seek revenge for their ally."

images of torches and spears being held up in a rhythmic chant manifested.

"but sadly, that is not all, Mathenka has been spreading rumors of you my lord, to get other Egyptian villages on their side for a rebellion , they say that you are the reason for their sicknesses, no matter how small they may be, they say you are the reason for their droughts, the reason the crops wont grow in some towns further from the holy river… that you are the reason for the slaves suffering in cities that are too faraway for you to control…. "

As the pharaoh listened to ishizus every word, his face grew grave.

"they say that you refuse to pray to the gods below and above because of your arrogance , they tell them that you think you are superior to their gods, and that is why they suffer,…."

atem couldn't believe what he was hearing, he barely even saw himself as a ruler of Egypt, much less a god…

Ishizu then closed her eyes and let go of atems hand, when she opened her eyed again they were back to normal.

"my pharoah…. I fear, that at the rate the uprising has grown, the palace may be under attack in less than a month, and you will be in more danger than ever. Soon we may not be able to even trust the guards that border the temple for protection. The great amount of assassins will grow exponentially,… you will not be safe here "

The pharaoh in distress stood… "but, all of this makes no sense! We have defended the palace from threats before! Cant we just use the black magic and shadow creatures that we always use!?" he asked, pacing across the stone floor, desperate for solutions.

Ishizu stood also and shook her head " I am sorry my pharaoh, but the amount of energy for that type of defense is too great, the link between the realm of darkness and our world is weak for reasons too complicated to explain .. And there is no army to fight against , the mathites attack in secret, in darkness, if we use our shadow powers the only thing we will be doing is scaring the villagers into the arms of Mathenka…. And also… they wish not to destroy the village … their only target… is you."

Atem stopped, his eyes widened, he turned to ishizu in disbelief .. " me?…."

She nodded " yes,.. Their plan is to overthrow you, take control of the palace , and replace you with one of their own, and if they don't kill you in time, they plan to black mail you, their plan…. It will fail of course but, if they do succeed in causing your death, the whole empire will fall into chaos"

Atem didn't know how to respond… what were they going to do… what was HE going to do. The last thing he wanted was to put the entire city in danger in exchange for his life. his soul .. At least to him.. Was no more important than anyone else's.

Atem paced to the end of the now quiet room leaned against his palm against the wall, his head hung. Thinking. As much as he didn't want to, he knew what he had to do.

"then…" he said finally.

Ishizu turned her head in his direction, waiting.

"….then either …I let them take me… " it was an option, one that, obviously, none of the priests would ever let happen.

"or… I leave… for no matter how long … until you and the rest of the priests capture all of the assassins … and hopefully, set those rumors strait."

Ishizu sighed, she knew he would say something like that, atem was a selfless ruler, the only thing he really cared for was the well being of the people around him.

"well…" she said, a bit sadly "is that your final decision"

Atem took a long breath, and clenched his fists, right now, it was his only decision.

"yes,…. Yes it is, I will make sure the village is prepared for a drought or a flood if there may be one , and I will make sure the debts to other countries are paid before I leave… "

Looking out the one window in the room that shown the skyline of the city in the dusk, he continued.

"…. if your predictions in fact, are accurate, I will make my departure in seven sun downs, in the knight, I will head west into the desert, going in the direction of Mathenka would be foolish, I am recognized easily for obvious reasons"

He ran his fingers through his hair, it was somewhat of a symbol of his godlike status and was recognized throughout the country

"Besides, even if I wasn't, I would risk being captured by unknowns"

The pharaoh let out a final sigh and turned one last time to ishizu

"… do not tell the others of my leaving" he ordered, giving her a look of finality.

Ishizu stood, giving him a sad smile, she knew him well, she knew he wouldn't want it anyway else.

She bowed as he left the room. "of course…. My majesty"

The pharaoh left, guards closing the temple doors as the last wisps of his cape draping behind him exited as well.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Later that night , everyone met in the banquet room for supper, like they did on every seventh moon. And the room was loud with drums flutes and lyres.

The banquets were always full of food and music and laughter and dancing and magic and so on. The tables were stacked with fresh sweetened dates, seasoned and fattened poultry, cooked game, salads, tilapia, fruits of all kinds and every other Egyptian delicacy one could think of, and of course the cups were filled to the brim with wine and ale, since they were safer to drink than water.

On the sidelines, every man, woman and child in the palace, even the servants, got to relax and play instruments as they watched the dancers move their full hips, or play with ribbons as they ran around chasing each other.

Atem, as pharaoh, sat at the end of the hall in his throne, he had some food and a cup of wine, there were a few things on his plate, but not much.

As he sat he watched the people around him, he enjoyed seeing them all so happy, mana was running around the room being chased by children as she trailed magic sparkles behind her.

Mahad was scaring some kids by turning his staff into a cobra.

Some of the other men, who have obviously had much to drink, tried to look up the dancers skirts, who would retaliate if they caught them. Atem shook his head at this, though entertaining, it was also very disrespectful. But he could understand, the dancers were also atems favorite, he had to admit they were pretty, but sadly none of them seemed to have a personality, whenever he did try to talk with them they would try to seduce him in hopes of being married to a royalty.

Atem shook his head, he didn't know why was thinking of such things, as if he wasn't distracted enough already, given his current situation. As of now the king hadn't touched his food or talked to anyone since his meeting with ishizu. Mostly because he didn't know how to act as if everything was right and well with the world. With all the information he had been given.

And so he sat there poking at the lamb on his plate with a worried expression. As seto, who was sitting at the other end of the table, began to take notice. The tall man in blue stood up and walked to the end of the banquet table to the throne, sitting down on the steps next to it.

Atem let out a sigh, he was hoping to get through today without having to confront anyone else, seto continued to open his damn mouth and speak.

"pharaoh, I sense something is wrong." he announced

"you always do." atem replied not bothering to look at the priest.

"well then , if I am right , what is it?" he insisted

Atem continued to stab at the meat on his plate a bit agitatedly then spoke "I hope your right." he said finally

"about what?"

"ishizu." atem explained. "how she isn't always accurate… I hope your right."

Seto looked a bit confused "what do you mean? did you speak with her today?"

Atem nodded "yes…I did."

"what did she say?"

"Nothing important." said the pharaoh, standing up.

"It doesn't sound like something that isn't." Seto prodded

"You ask too many questions!" said Atem dangerously as he walked away from the table, taking his cup with him.

The priest smirked. "So be it then."

Atem rolled his eyes and continued to walk, and Seto headed back to the feast, but before he did, atem called him.

"Seto!" he called

He turned "yes pharaoh"

"I want you to schedule a meeting for tomorrow with everyone… its important."

Seto bowed "of course" he then returned to the banquet.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Atem walked back to his chamber, slowly. The halls were dark, quiet and empty… the only sound made were his foot steps on the cold stone floor. A hand behind his back, another holding a half empty chalice, sipping from it now and then.

When he reached his room, he set the cup down and sat down at his reflection pool, wich was used as a mirror, and lit a candle as he began to remove his jewelry. He always started with the puzzle, wich was passed down from his father as a symbol of the pharaohs power. Though it was a millennium item, atem and the priests as well knew very little of the powers it held. He took it off, over his tall hair and set it down heavily on his dresser.

After that he took off his crown and cuffs, followed by his cape and sandals untill he was down to just his under tunic , which only covered half his body. He walked aimlessly to his balcony and stood there, shirtless, toned upper body gleaming with sweat and oils in the Egyptian moonlight. ((X3 soooo god damn sexy you are)) as he looked out to the west of his nation.

As a child, atem was never allowed to leave the palace, he had to learn how to be a pharaoh, how to fight, how to rule, while he watched all the other children playing as if they didn't have any responsibilities at all. And now, he had no other choice but to go outside the palace.

He smiled, though he was worried for the palaces well being. He did like the idea of being out there on his own, who knew, if he wasn't killed first, he might actually have an exciting adventure.

Taking that thought with him, he walked to his bed, took off what clothing he had left and fell back onto the mattress. He soon closed his eyes and drifted into peaceful sleep… that would be interrupted later in the night.

A/N: how'd ya like it? Yes this chapter was long but that just gives you more reading time and less time for you to impatiently wait for the next one, right? Make sure to leave a review and give it a fave if you read it! Arigatou gozaimashita!