Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Nor will I ever, so I can stop pretending now. I do own Anuba though and of course, my beloved OC, Maria.
YSF: I figured it out. I figured my bloody dilemma out. I keep writing new stories, so my mind is super stretched too thin. Expect a story or two to be removed. Ah yes, I got this from reading my Yugioh the movie ani-manga for the umpteenth time.
Summary: Everyone always thought Anuba was strange and never paid her any heed. That's going to change, however, when Anubis, the God of the dead takes a peculiar interest in her. OC & Bakura pairing eventually, Atemu & Maria relationship tie-in from my first fic, Different Classes, but different plot.
Note: I will be using some Egyptian Arabic words, but I will try to remember to translate them at the end.
… time change
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"I'm reluctant to leave Anuba to Anub," Bakura admitted finally, once they were at the stairs that led to the outside world.
"She'll be fine," Anubis replied as he cast a sleep spell and caught Bakura as he fell. Taking the thief to be to Thebes, Anubis set him in an empty house and turned to go. "Oh yes, happy birthday," he said softly and with a wave of his hand, made a coat appear out of thin air and cover Bakura. With that, Anubis turned and left.
Six years later…
Anuba kneeled in front of Anubis as he sat on his throne. Today was an important day, for it marked Anuba's completion in training. "Are you sure you're willing to accept the duties of being the High Priestess of Anubis?" Anubis asked her.
"Yes, I will serve the god Anubis until my life is taken from me, and then continue to serve him in the afterlife. I also pledge to serve the Pharaoh of Egypt, unless his beliefs contradict that of the Gods," Anuba replied as her pledge of loyalty before bowing to Anubis.
"Your pledge is accepted. Come now Anuba, Priestess of Anubis, rise before me," Anubis said as he finished up the ritual.
Anuba rose, and as she did, her apprentice dress changed from simple linen to bright gold silk to match her jewelry, accenting her black skin beautifully. "It's beautiful Father!" she gushed, twirling a little.
Anubis chuckled, formalities set aside. "It's standard for a priestess except for the color. Come here Anuba, I have one more gift to give you before you are able to meet the pharaoh," he said.
Anuba cocked her head but came over obediently. Anubis touched her nose with his and then touched her throat, still using his nose. Anuba felt a weird tingle run through her body, and her vision started doubling. Closing her eyes, she felt her face tingle fiercely and then recede. "Father, what did you do?"
"Look at me," Anubis replied, Anuba wondering why her hearing and sense of smell were a little muddy, opened her eyes and frowned when her sharp night vision was severely dimmed.
"What…" she started, and then jumped when she noticed that she couldn't see her muzzle anymore, "what happened?"
"Calm down Anuba, you are perfectly fine," Anubis said gently, "Go, look in the water."
Anuba went to the reflective pool that was enchanted to show the stars outside and knelt down. Waving her hand over it, she invoked a simple spell to cancel out the stars and brighten the mirror capabilities so she could see herself. Looking in, Anuba yelped and jumped backwards. Hearing Anubis chuckle, she overcame her surprise and peered into the pool once more.
The image staring back at her was not her normal one. Her black hair still fell over her shoulders and down her back, but her skin was different. Running a hand over her cheek, Anuba noted that her skin was soft, smooth, and tan all over her body. Her jackal features had receded, leaving a human nose, mouth, and ears. Feeling a weight on the top of her head, she looked to see that her jackal appearance had manifested itself into the headdress of the priestess of Anubis.
"I couldn't let you go out in public as you were, people would become terrified," Anubis explained, smiling as Anuba examined her ears, it being the first time that she possessed human ears.
"Fair enough, but how do I turn back to normal?" Anuba asked, finally turning to her father and waving the mirror spell away, replacing the stars.
Anubis gestured with his hand and a pendant appeared around Anuba's neck. "All you'll need to do is concentrate on the appearance that you wish, and the pendant will do the rest," he explained.
Anuba didn't know what to say, so she just hugged Anubis, kissed him on the cheek, and left the throne room. As she walked down the hall to her room to get ready to meet the pharaoh in a little while, Anuba heard the sound of a throat clearing behind her.
"Oh, hello Anub," Anuba said with a touch of coldness in her voice. She didn't like him very well. He always used to pick on her once Bakura had left.
"You look different," Anubis stated, emerging from the shadows from where he had been leaning against a pillar.
Anuba held back a growl. "Father gave me a new appearance," she replied, wanting to get to the safety of her room.
Anubis just walked closer. Anuba got a very bad vibe from the twenty-three year old suddenly as Anubis came within a few feet of her. Anubis reached forward and cupped Anuba's cheek with his rough hand.
"Such beauty," he murmured before snatching his hand away with a small yell. His hand was covered in blood from a deep bite mark on his forearm.
Anuba let loose a pent up snarl, her jackal lips drawing backwards to reveal pointed teeth, half of which were covered in Anubis' blood. Anubis started, the transformation had been so quick, he didn't even notice that her usual form had returned before she had bitten him.
"Disrespect me like that again," Anuba growled, "and I'll maim more than just your arm."
Anubis backed up, cradling his injured arm, which was still bleeding freely. "Have it your way, Bitch," he snapped before stalking off.
Anuba watched him go before spatting on the ground to rid her mouth of the blood taste. Transforming to her human form, she spit some more before heading into her room and washing out her mouth. After all, it wouldn't do to meet the pharaoh with a mouth stained with blood.
A few minutes later, Anubis poked his head in. "Are you ready falla?" he asked.
Anuba turned and nodded. As the god and his disciple walked, Anubis turned to Anuba. "Anuba, why did I smell blood shortly after you left the temple?" he asked.
Anuba flushed. "Anub made me uncomfortable and wouldn't back off, so I bit him," she explained.
Anubis chuckled. "I should have figured," he replied as they reached the temple. Anubis went to an object covered by a cloth and pulled it off to reveal a mirror that didn't reflect the room, but instead showed another room that was barely lit, but well furnished.
"Father, it looks sort of like my room near the door," Anuba observed.
"That's why I wouldn't let you refurnish your room. This belongs in there, but I took it out because you were too young before. This mirror leads to the outside world, more specifically, the temple in Thebes," Anubis elaborated.
"Is this how we are going to meet the pharaoh?" Anuba asked.
"Yes." With that reply, Anuba went forward and reached towards the mirror. Crying out in surprise when her hand went through the glass with only a faint ripple, she pushed forward and stepped through the mirror.
Coming out on the other side, Anuba immediately noticed that the air was warmer than in the temple, and that faintly, she could hear the sounds of daily life. A final thing she noticed, was that she was alone. "Father…Father?" Anuba called, turning in a frantic circle.
"Relax Anuba," came Anubis' voice as he appeared, "I'm right here."
Anuba turned and sighed. "How come you're transparent?" she asked.
Anubis smiled. "My power to become solid only happens at night when I'm in the mortal realm," he replied.
"So you can't come with me?"
Anubis chuckled, "No Anuba, you misunderstood me. I can't become solid or visible to people other than the priest or priestess of Anubis, but I will still be with you when you meet the Pharaoh."
Reassured by that, Anuba stepped out of the room and into the temple of Anubis. Heading outside, Anuba was forced to squint in the sun. "You must be Anuba," came a soft female voice all of a sudden.
Anuba jumped and turned to face the girl behind her. "Ahlan, ismik ey?"1 she asked, tripping a little on the palace dialect, well aware of Anubis chuckling behind her.
"Ismee2 Maria, and you don't really need to speak palace dialect if you have trouble with it," Maria laughed. Anuba noticed that this Maria character had brown hair, blue eyes, and was quite tall.
"If you're sure…"
"Yes I am," Maria assured, "You look like you want to ask me something."
"How did you know my name?" Anuba demanded.
Maria laughed and produced a beautiful stone that looked like it had no set color. "This is the Godstone. With it, I can communicate with the gods. Anubis told me of your arrival last night," she explained.
Anuba nodded and followed Maria after the latter beckoned for Anuba to follow her. Looking her over, Anuba couldn't figure out what Maria's role/rank was. The dress was similar to her priestess dress, but it was more elegant and had a little flare on the bottom.
Maria led Anuba to the palace and past the guards, without slowing down. Entering the palace, Maria led Anuba into the throne room. "Anuba, this is Pharaoh Atemu. Atemu, mumkin 'arrafak bi3 Anuba, Priestess of Anubis," Maria introduced.
"Tasharafna fara'ō4," Anuba stated with a bow and was suddenly aware of a deep, yet kind laugh. Looking up, Anuba saw that it was Atemu laughing.
Atemu got his laughter under control after a minute. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "but it's tasharrafna5, you forgot an 'r,' and I'm pleased to meet you too."
Anuba flushed, "It's my first day, and I'm already messing up," she mumbled.
"Don't worry about it, Atemu makes stupid mistakes every day," Maria replied cheerfully as Atemu gave her a mock glare.
"How can you talk to him so informally?" Anuba asked, bewildered.
Atemu and Maria smiled at the same time. "We always do this. We're husband and wife," Atemu explained. Anuba blinked in a bewildered manner, stunned that she had been talking to the queen of Egypt this whole time and didn't know it.
"Don't bow, none of our high priests do unless it's in public, or there's something going on," Maria said, as if she could read Anuba's thoughts.
"If you wish," Anuba replied and then, "I would like to know what exactly my duties are."
"Your duties are to provide advice and follow orders. Since you have a connection to the gods, your advice is valuable. Another, less pleasant duty is that you must be on call all of the time in case we need you," Atemu replied.
"That's why the mirror will be in your room. If anyone were to look into the room that we came from, it would look like your bedroom at home. If they were to look in at night, they would see you sleeping," Anubis explained in Anuba's mind.
Atemu was about to say something else when a person with a purple outfit on appeared and spoke into Atemu's ear. "Very well," Atemu replied as what Anuba recognized to be a duel monster pulled away and after giving Maria a quick hug, vanished. "Anuba, I'm sorry, but an issue has come to our attention that needs to be dealt with immediately," Atemu said. Anuba nodded and Atemu and Maria left.
"So my falla, are you coming home just yet?" Anubis asked.
"No, I want to look around town," Anuba replied.
"Very well, just come home at nightfall," Anubis said and vanished.
Anuba wandered out of the palace and after thinking which way to go, turned south. After maybe two hours of walking, Anuba came upon a small villiage. Recognizing the small village, Anuba pulled the hood of her cloak up and walked down the familiar market street. Stopping in front of a house, Anuba consulted her memory and knocked on the door.
"Can I help you?" a woman asked as she opened the door and caught a small boy as he tried to run outside.
"Don't you recognize me mother?" Anuba asked, lowering her hood after she secretly transformed her appearance to human with jackal ears and black skin.
The woman stared, "A-Anuba?" she asked weakly. Anuba nodded and hugged her mother, who returned the hug eagerly. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
Anuba grinned, "I came to visit you and daddy, and I want to show you something," she replied. Anuba's mother let her in and showed her into the sitting room.
"While I go get your father, put your hood back up. We'll surprise him," her mother said.
"Very well, who is this?" Anuba asked, pointing to the little boy. The little boy approached her curiously and then with a small grin, climbed into her lap.
"That's Osiron, your brother."
Anuba nodded once her mother left and put her hood back on. "I guess our parents love naming their kids after gods," Anuba told Osiron.
"I guess so too. They named me after Osiris, and they named you after Anubis. I can see the reason with your name, but my skin isn't green, so I don't know why they named me that," Osiron speculated.
Anuba laughed slightly. "Well, Osiris was a noble ruler before he died, maybe your name is a hint at your future," Anuba replied as her father entered the room.
"How can I help you?" her father asked.
Anuba set Osiron on the floor and stood. "It's been so long since I've seen you," she replied.
"Who are you?"
Anuba grinned and lowered her hood. "Why, your daughter of course," she said with a smile at his shocked expression.
"Anuba, I've missed you so. Seeing you does this old man justice," Anuba's father said, hugging Anuba tightly and then wiping a few tears away from his eyes.
"I've missed both of you. I've been very happy training under Anubis. I completed my training this morning and I am now the High Priestess of Anubis," Anuba stated proudly.
"You know a god? That's so cool!" Osiron exclaimed.
Anuba smiled at the seven year old. "Yes, it is cool. Anubis also helped me with my appearance," she continued.
"How so?" her mother asked.
Anuba smiled and closing her eyes, started the transformation to the appearance of a normal human with the headdress. "This is how he helped me," she replied and then laughed, her gold eyes sparkling, "I'm not used to the ears yet though."
Her father laughed. "No, I guess not," he chuckled.
Anuba only stayed for a while longer before heading back to the temple, taking her time and walking through the marketplace in Thebes once she reached it, in awe of the sheer size.
"Hey you, stop!" came a shout behind Anuba. Anuba turned, only to have a running figure crash into her.
"Move!" the person snarled, regaining his balance and tearing off without a backwards glance.
"Are you all right miss?" someone asked Anuba, helping to steady the unbalanced priestess.
"I'm fine, thanks. Who was that?" Anuba asked, brushing off her dress.
"That was none other than the most notorious thief in Thebes. Not many know his name, but he's recognized by that red coat of his."
"I wonder why he wears a red coat?" she mused, but shrugged and noticing the sun setting, headed home. Finally reaching her room, Anuba transformed into her natural form and then flopped onto her bed.
Taking the pendant around her neck, Anuba studied it. "It's a wonder that this little thing can change my whole appearance," she murmured before falling asleep still in her dress.
…
The next morning, Anuba was up and wandering Thebes before the sun had even risen. Watching the sunrise from the Nile's bank, Anuba blinked in the brightening light and looked around from her perch in a tree.
Looking up and down the bank, Anuba started to see the same person who had crashed into her yesterday. Looking closer, since the person seemed to be absorbed in watching the sunrise, Anuba saw that this person had his hair covered by a white hair cover. With a sigh, Anuba faced the sun again. She had thought it was her old friend Bakura, but it was just her mind playing tricks on her due to the hair cover.
"You can come out of that tree, I know you're there," A somewhat harsh voice said, cutting through her thoughts. Anuba jumped and almost slipped out of the tree. Catching herself, she looked down to see the thief staring up at her with an amused smirk on his lips. Anuba looked around for a branch and then cursed.
"What's your problem?" the thief asked, coming to the base of the tree and craning his neck to see up.
"I forgot how I got up here," Anuba admitted.
The thief sighed and held out his arms. "Jump, I'll catch you," he said. Anuba, feeling that she could trust him, slipped off the branch and experienced a moment of free fall before she felt strong arms catch her and set her feet back on the ground.
"Thanks," Anuba said while brushing off her dress, "How did you know I was up there?" she questioned.
The thief smirked. "Easy, your dress started glittering or shining in the sunlight. I'm attracted to golden and shiny items," he replied and then noticed the headdress. "You're a priestess of Anubis. When did you become one?" he asked.
Anuba looked up at him since he was a few inches taller. "A few days ago," she lied a little, wondering why he wanted to know.
The thief looked down into Anuba's golden eyes and jolted. "A-Anuba? Is that really you?" he asked softly.
Anuba tipped her head as she was known to do when confused. "Yes, that's my name," she replied.
"Don't you recognize me? It's me, Bakura," Bakura said, pushing his head cover off, thus revealing his white hair and the three scars near his eye.
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1- Hello, what's your name?
2- my name is…
3- I'd like to introduce you to…
4- Pharaoh
5- I'm pleased to meet you