Faded Memories
Chapter 4
Nephthys held her flashdrive between her teeth as she stowed her sketchbook back into her bag. "Good thing history's not far away…" With a tug she pulled the zipper closed, giving a small triumphant laugh when it behaved.
"I think it's saying something if you speak to yourself," a voice said behind her, causing her to turn around. She bit back a retort though when she saw who it was.
"Oh, Atem. No, it would say something if I answered myself." She pulled the bag back on, walking with him down the hall. "So where are you heading?"
"History."
"Ancient World?"
"I believe so. Whatever class is in this hallway that teaches of things long since past."
She glanced at her schedule. "Mr. Mahado. Hm, think he's new this year. Ah well. Let's hope he's not a boring old bag of bones."
To her surprise, a young teacher, in his late twenties sat behind a podium, sorting through his notes. His long brunette hair was tied back, and even though lack of sleep was evident in his brown eyes, he refused to show it.
Atem led them to the back of the classroom in the far right corner, as far away from a certain blonde-haired girl as he could get. Nephthys threw a confused glance at him as they sat, but didn't ask on the seating arrangement. "Jonouchi is in this class too," she said without thinking as she took out a spiral-bound notebook with the image of Venom on the cover.
"Your boyfriend?"
She couldn't help but burst out laughing, catching the attention of a few students also in the back with them, as well as Sarah. She pinched her nose closed to stifle the giggles. "No way, Jose. Not that guy." As soon as she had her composure back, she put on a meek smile. "I admit I had a crush on the guy for awhile. It was cute, seeing him stumble over his English when he got really excited on a topic. But I outgrew it fast. Now he's just a friend. Nothing more or less."
"Are you even seeing anyone?"
She shook her head. "My fields of interest don't help my social life too much." She looked up to see a winded Jonouchi run into class, stammering a mix of Japanese and English apologies.
"Sumima— er, I mean I'm sorry Sens— Teacher! Um…"
Mr. Mahado smiled and waved him into class. "The first day is acceptable for all levels. But after that, I must lock the door like all others in the faculty. Wakarimasu?"
Shocked for a second, he nodded before answering with a simple, "Hai."
Nephthys giggled behind her hand as he approached. "And you still manage to show up to class late."
"Ah hush up." He took a double take at Atem. "Yugi?"
Atem arched a brow. "Who? You must have me mistaken for someone else. I'm Atem, and I take it you're Jonouchi?"
Jonouchi flopped into his seat, feeling deflated with defeat. "It's no use."
Nephthys glanced at her friend again, but was unable to say anything as the young teacher stood behind his podium, still not looking completely at his students. "Yii em hotep. This is History of the Ancient World and if you're not supposed to be here, please kindly leave my classroom." When no one stood to leave, he continued on. "I know Ancient World is supposed to cover just basics on each of the important and well known dates in our history of existence, but what will you really learn by jumping through each different culture, something else to memorize each week?" He flipped off the lights and turned on his projector, showing a fading tablet with Egyptian hieroglyphics. "Can anyone tell me what this tablet says?" He grinned, not expecting anyone to know it. "For— Miss, you know what this says?"
Nephthys had raised her hand slightly. "Yeah, kind of," her meek self said.
"Mummy-freak knows what it says, go figure," Sarah said up front, getting snickers in response.
Mr. Mahado sent a glare her way, shutting the students up immediately. "Miss, can you tell me what it says?"
"Ankh udja seneb is part of it. Roughly translated, it says, 'Long live the king, the last Pharaoh. The savior of us all.'" She furrowed her brow. "But the name of the king is missing."
Mr. Mahado's eyes widened. "Very good… Erm, let me take this time to call roll."
Atem nudged her arm. "Looks like you unnerved him."
Her eyes were still narrowed, staring at the carvings in the stone. "This can't be right. Why would they not want the name of the last king known?"
"What's wrong about it?" Jonouchi asked.
"Pharaohs were god to the people of the city. A representative, if you will. To not have the name of the most worshipped being of that time in that location… it just can't be right."
At the podium, Mahado's fingers paused. So it's begun. He looked back to the corner as he read off, "Atem Mutou?" Getting a confirmation nod, he moved on a few names, pausing at Nephthys'. Both are here? He glanced back at her and frowned. Of course that's how she was able to read what the tablet said. Shadi, the pieces are falling back into place. "Nephthys Sethk?" He finished off the roll, and went back to the tablet. "Roughly translated, what she said is exactly right.
"Egyptian Pharaohs were seen as god incarnate to the people they ruled. So there's the million dollar question: Why remove the name of the one who did such great things, apparently?" He flipped forward to the next slide. A photograph of hieratic writing on papyrus was shown, and Nephthys took in a sharp breath.
"What is it?" Jonouchi asked.
"A love poem?" Atem said, looking closely at the writing.
Nephthys glanced at him as Mr. Mahado spoke again. "Romance wasn't just for the Greeks. This is a poem of a man confessing his love for a woman. The carbon dating on this, and the fact it was on papyrus, leads the man to be only one plausible person. Not many commoners could read and write. Even fewer could afford papyrus. Leading the writer of this to be the last nameless pharaoh." He pointed to a line, towards the beginning. "He's speaking of his love of a commoner. A servant girl residing in his domain. In those times it wasn't unheard of for a king to fall in love with someone of non-royal blood, but it was rare for the marriage to go public. But even then, kings had multiple wives. Whether the kings loved them or not, it didn't change the fact he could have the option of more than one." His finger slid down a few lines. "But this king, however, wanted no other. Loosely translated for you all, he says 'I'd row against the Nile for you and you alone, for just your love and no one else'."
"Does anyone know who the commoner was?" a girl up front asked.
"There were rumors made by the archaeologists who found the document, but none are certain yet. We may never know who it was, or who the last pharaoh even was." At this, he turned the lights back on and the projector's effect dimmed, leaving the photo of the document still slightly visible. "As you can see, I will be teaching you all only one subject, and that is the History of Ancient Egypt. Allow me to pass around the syllabus and we can cover that the rest of class."
Atem's eyes never wavered from the photograph as he slowly read the words. Nephthys too kept looking at it, a sad look crossing her eyes. "It was forbidden…"
Jonouchi looked at them both, confused. "But didn't Sensei just say it wasn't uncommon?"
"He did, but it was also rare for it to go public, as he said." A sorrowful smile crept on her lips. "But despite that, they each went out of their way to see each other. Every night they'd meet, dodging the guards, risking their lives in the open, just to be with one another."
Atem nodded. "That's the gist of it."
"You can read it too?"
"Fluently, yes."
She eyed him warily. "Who are you exactly?"
"An Egyptian whose parents decided he should learn the language of his ancestors. The same I'm assuming for you."
She nodded, biting at her lip.
The rest of class they introduced themselves, and were given an assignment to read up about the gods and goddesses and pick their favorites to discuss the next day. The bell rang, releasing them to lunch. Once the last student left his classroom, Mahado reached into his jacket, removing his Ring.
Nephthys sat between Atem and Jonouchi at lunch, across from Anzu and Honda, barely listening to Anzu's chatter. She sipped her tomato soup and picked at her salad while the foreign girl blabbered on. She barely registered that her name was being called.
"Neph, Neph… Nephthys!"
"Hm? Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"
"I'm saying Honda got the job as DJ for this Friday and we should all go to support him. Wouldn't that be great, all going as friends to cheer on another friend at his job."
Nephthys rolled her eyes. "You know I don't do dances. That whole 'bumping and grinding dry humping' dancing isn't for me."
"That's why Honda's DJing," Anzu said with excitement. "He's taking requests of all his friends beforehand, so it'll be like a friend's insider joke thing. Isn't it great?"
"Watch my head pop off with excitement as yours is about to do. You missed your medication this morning, didn't you?" She popped open her milk carton. "I will if and only if someone asks me." She smirked, knowing no one would by Friday.
"You know that trick will only go so far. One of your friends is going to end up asking you just so you can go."
The Egyptian rolled her eyes again. "And until one of them does, my plan will continue to work. Joe has his college girlfriend he can ask, and Honda's already busy there. And I know you'll find some poor sap to go with you."
"You've always got Seto to ask you."
She flinched. "He doesn't count as a friend. And he's just not an option. The self-absorbed little prick."
"I don't like that guy and never will," Jonouchi said, stabbing at his brownie.
They talked for a bit longer, allowing each person to finish their lunch. They went out into the busy quad, brushing past the kids rushing around and catching up with their friends.
Nephthys nudged Atem in the side. For only him to hear she said, "This is where I usually go upstairs. Unless you'd like to hear Anzu keep talking."
"Upstairs sounds good," he said quickly, following her up the stairwell. "Though are students allowed up here?"
"No, but they don't enforce it." It was quiet up there, and gave a nice view of the city beyond the fencing. "I came up here near every day last year and no one bothered me."
He decided to get straight to business. "No one's ever asked you to one of the dances before?"
"Seto did all the time, but I turned him down enough for him to leave me alone. I won't go two feet with someone so self-absorbed, let alone to a dance with him." She leaned against the railing, looking out to the busy streets. "Apart from him no one's bothered."
"Will you go with me then?"
She turned around to stare at him. "You don't even know me that well though. Why ask something like that?"
"It's not like I'm asking you to be my girlfriend or something like that. I'm just asking you to a school dance, nothing more. As friends."
After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. "The first dance of the year is free anyway. If it's crappy we can leave. Even though Honda's putting together the list, it'll be full of the usual high school drama."
He leaned on the railing too. "Almost forgot about the drama. Regardless, it could be fun."
"We could show up, give our moral support, and duck out. Keep Anzu happy for at least a day."
A voice from behind them made them spin around. "I thought I saw you come up here."
Nephthys sneered. "What do you want Sarah?"
She held up her hands in surrender. "I'd just like to… extend a hand of apology, or some shit like that. I'd like to invite you two to an after party at my house on Friday. Wet party. My brother's providing the booze."
Atem eyed her warily. "And why extend the invitation to us?"
"To show no bad intentions. I was wrong to make fun of her. The party starts at eleven and ends in the morning when everyone has to leave. 'Rents aren't home until Monday and Steven was already planning on throwing a party. Our place is big enough for it." She handed Nephthys an envelope. "Info's in there. We'll be leaving the dance an hour early to head out if you want to follow us."
"I'll be driving so that will be fine," Atem said.
"Great, hope to see you guys there." She put on a sweet smile as she walked away.
"There's something fishy going on here." Nephthys said, looking at the info.
Atem nodded. "Yeah, considering I turned her down after first period today. Maybe she's not one to hold a grudge?"
"Oh no, she is. But I guess this won't be all bad. Something to do. You don't mind what type of party it is, right?"
"Wet party? No, not at all. Better than a dull dry one."
The bell rang, signaling they had to get going for their last classes.
"I'm not sure if I'll see you until tomorrow. Do you have a cell phone or an instant messenger or something?" he asked.
"Oh, cell yeah." She grabbed a pen from her purse and wrote her cell number on his hand. "Kinda an old school move, but I don't have time to dish out paper."
"That's fine. I'll call around 9, if that's ok."
"Yeah. I'll see you later." She picked up her bag and vanished into the thickening crowd, capping her pen as she walked.
You're getting yourself in deep, my other me.
You know I have to, he thought back, also grabbing his things as he walked in the opposite direction. And I've told you, you are your own person, such as I am. You can call me by my name, Yugi.
