Let the feasting begin! You all should be glad I posted, because I have an AP exam tomorrow! I don't own anything YGO! because it belongs to Takahashi Kazuki. Right, here we go!
Bali did not have any sort of feelings for this man, this she knew. But the physical attraction made her nerves spark in excitement. His name is Seth, a newer priest and a genius for his age. He had no problem in telling her of this. Bali was a little pissed that she had nothing to brag about herself, seeing as the Egyptians didn't have archeologists.
"Stupid Ra and his stupid time travel…" Bali cursed in her mind, but immediately put her attention back to Seth.
"Lady Bali, how long will you be staying?" He asked quietly, for they had turned the last corner before the giant entrance to the feasting hall.
"Hopefully not for long…" Bali muttered to herself in English, but Seth heard and gave her a strange look.
"What?"
"Ah, nothing. But we are here, so I shall answer your question later." Bali covered, and Seto nodded, both straightening with their hands leaving each other.
The palace servants and Pharaoh's men had outdone themselves. The grand hall was lavishly decorated, with tapestries embellished with the same mark as on her wrist. The long dining tables were lined with fine cushions, and Pharaoh sat at the head, his court surrounding him. That is, except for his right hand spot. Bali assumed that this spot was reserved for her. Bali went up to Pharaoh and dipped her head in greeting. Akhnemkhanen spread his arms when he turned from talking to the man at his left side.
"Bali, my dear, you look simply marvelous! Sit, child!" He invited, which Bali promptly accepted. She looked down to see where Seth was sitting, eventually finding him way farther than she expected. He met her eyes and gave her a flirtatious smirk. Bali looked away feeling naughty. Bali felt uncomfortable sitting with Pharaoh and his court, for his court only glanced in her direction before continuing their former conversations. The woman next to her, Bali noticed, had a golden necklace that made Bali's thoughts run a mile a minute. It was a Millennium Item!
"Bali, how did you like your room?" Akhnemkhanen asked, seeing that she felt out of place. Bali smiled gratefully.
"It's beautiful. I especially love the balcony." Bali answered, remembering the wonderful views of the Nile. Which also led her thought process to that weird haired troublemaker from earlier. She shook it out of her head when the other high priests decided that, since Pharaoh had spoken to her, they could as well.
"How do you do, Lady Bali." The man across from her greeted, bowing his head. Bali nodded, and uttered her well-being. The man had, from what she could guess, the Millennium Eye. Bali personally thought it was freaky, but she kept her tactful standing in front of all of these powerful noblemen.
"I am Akhenaden, bearer of the Millennium Eye and brother of our great king." He continued, eyeing his brother with pure amusement.
"Guess that's why we look so much alike!" Pharaoh joked, throwing an arm around his brother. Bali smiled at the sight, glad to know that there was no ill will between the brothers.
'Unlike many of the Hamlet storylines I've come to know.' Bali thought, chuckling a little at the image before her. She had never had a sibling, not even anyone close to fitting that image. It made her feel kind of jealous. But moments later, Akhnemkhanen stood and spread his arms in welcome to gain everyone's attention.
"Hello, my good friends! Tonight, we honor a new and exciting guest here in our great land! Lady Bali, sent by our great guardian Ra, has come to live among us! I welcome her to my family and she has gracefully accepted our charity! Lady Bali, a few pleasing words, if you please?" Akhnemkhanen invited, reaching down and raising his goblet for a toast. Bali was caught completely off guard.
"A toast? Benbridge Scholars never said anything about making toasts at dinner!" Bali groaned in her mind, but stood up with her cup as well.
"May the gods bless you as I do, friends." She bellowed shortly, not knowing of anything else she could possibly say. But it seemed good enough, and everyone drank with a cheer, and the feast officially began.
The feast was an excellent show of ancient Egyptian culture. The date wine was delicious (and Bali couldn't help but feel empowered by the fact that she could drink), and all of the different foods smelled and tasted wonderful. Bali ate many fruits candied in honey, and it was simply marvelous.
"Lady Bali, excuse me for not introducing myself earlier. I am Seshat, and bear the Millennium Tauk." the woman next to Bali introduced, and Bali nodded with a small smile.
"It's nice to meet you." Bali said in return, slightly awed by the fact that a woman had gained a position in Pharaoh's court. Such happenings were unheard of, well, from an archeologist's standpoint.
"My powers include that of seeing the future, Lady Bali. And from what I can see, you're going to be very happy here." Seshat informed, also gaining a soft smile on her face. Bali rolled her eyes once she turned away.
"I highly doubt that's going to be true." Bali thought to herself.
"I wouldn't be so sure, little kitten." Ra sounded once more, making Bali jump. She didn't forget to keep quiet, but gained a look of extreme anger.
"Don't be so sure I'm not going to belt you when I see you next! And don't you dare call me little kitten ever again!" Bali thought back hotly.
"Whatever. Unfortunately, I have business to attend to. Behave yourself, little kitten." Ra replied casually, and Bali raged in her head, but he was gone.
"Lady Bali, are you alright?" Akhenaden questioned, seeing that Bali looked about ready to explode. She glanced in his direction, and found that everyone was staring at her. She held up her hands.
"Everything's fine here, just a random thought angered me a little because I pondered it too much." Bali made up, all the while swearing that she would get revenge on Ra. The rest of the evening went without a hitch, and Ra truly was gone, much to Bali's pleasure. After the meal portion was done, slaves came out and took everything but the honeyed sweets away and left water bowls for washing. It was when the dancers came out that Bali was leery-eyed.
"This is uncomfortable." Bali thought, twiddling her fingers around each other. The girls were barely dressed, something Bali was not used to being around yet. Seshat graced Bali's shoulder with a reassuring hand.
"Don't worry, I don't like it either. Unfortunately, we two cannot say a word to show our displeasure." She whispered, and Bali sighed. Back home, Bali could refute such behavior. But here, women had no rights. And a prime example of this came strolling up to Bali with his ever-so-charming smirk.
"It would be pleasing to see you dance, Lady Bali." Seth brought up, and most at the table agreed. Bali began to panic. She knew nothing of their dances. She, for what they believed, did men's work in the future. And she was pretty sure they didn't waltz or polka.
"I'm sorry, but I-" Bali started, and Seth narrowed his eyes and his smile disappeared.
"What kind of woman does not dance?" He asked, a tactless comment in Bali's ears. She shakily stood up (the wine had made her a little tipsy) and glared ferociously.
"My kind, you skuzz!" She yelled in English, making the crowd of the room go silent and stare in shock. A foreign sound in which Bali spoke must be some kind of heavenly speech, not destined for human understanding.
Bali promptly and savagely stomped down on Seth's foot and flounced away in a flurry of rage. Akhnemkhanen called for her to return, but she ignored his pleas. She wanted out, she wanted to go home, where she was free to be whoever!
"I can never settle down here. I am a woman who deserves the freedom she worked hard for! Stupid, pig-headed men!" Bali declared in her mind, blindly making turns, not caring as long as she got away from the feast. Not many servants or slaves were around to stop her at all; they were all at her welcoming.
She eventually came to the Nile, a beautiful flow of water coming to meet masterfully built stairs and a small sanctuary. Bali plopped down on the first stair, folding both legs up to hug them. She sat, staring over the great river and the last of the setting sun. And slowly, tears started to run down her cheeks. Her eyes turned to a glare and she squeezed her legs closer.
"I hate Egypt."
Atem smiled with satisfaction about his very wonderful day. He had accomplished quite a bit of mayhem, which was especially needed in the palace because there was an important feast going on.
Atem loved bothering the servants, playing pranks on the priests and generally causing trouble for the palace. Why did the honorable Crown Prince of Egypt behave so badly?
Simple: He is the honorable Crown Prince of Egypt. The only person who could call him out was his father, but he never did. So, Atem was free to cause as much mayhem as he wanted. And boy, did he. Let's look over his day with him, shall we?
First, he let loose all of the horses and camels from their stables and tiled them up. Then, he galloped into town on his own horse to look for some fun (not that kind of fun; I know what you all were thinking!).
What he ended up doing was ultimately satisfying. He was friends with many of the children in town, and there were two he proclaimed the leaders.
One was a little girl named Mutnodjmet, who was pretty outspoken and was very feisty. Her co-leader was a boy named Sethi, who was only a little calmer than Mutnodjmet.
Atem played around with them for quite awhile, but decided that he was hungry enough to head back to the palace. When he got there, he stole into the kitchens and snuck some food, angering the cooks. They screamed when he threw a dead mouse (courtesy of his cat, At), his reply to their angry yells and stern words. And after his meal, Atem had wandered for a short time, but his teacher, Master Miknodhma, found him and roped him into the magic lessons he usually skipped.
It was always "You need to learn to control the Millennium Puzzle!" and "Stop goofing around, you're going to be pharaoh very soon!" Atem hated it. He didn't want to be so proper and perfect. Atem wanted to be himself. The only upside to lessons were his two friends, Mana and Mahad. Mana had been his best friend since he could remember and so was Mahad. Mahad knew what Atem was going through, because he was getting lectured on the Millennium Ring.
Thankfully, Mahad distracted his father and Mana covered for him, so Atem could sneak away. Atem was glad he had friends like them. Of course, it also meant sneaking some sweets from the kitchen, but… It was worth it.
When Atem made sure he was safe, he looked to the sky to determine what time it was. And, to Atem's great pleasure, it was time for the priests to begin their prayers to the different gods of the region. The Great Flood was coming soon, and Hapi was to be praised so it would be a good one. Atem disliked the routine, but was glad he rarely had to participate. For today, he planned on an incense bomb to smoke the priests out and pay his respects at the same time. His plan worked of course, but what he didn't count on was a couple of the priests to get so angry they chased after him.
Atem laughed and ran, leading them on a wild goose chase through the palace. He knocked down statues, pots and even slaves in his oppressors' way. They finally gave up when Atem got to the royal courtyard where all of the balconies looked over, including his own.
Atem felt eyes on him while he jogged away from the scolding priests. He searched up and around, and caught a glimpse of a beautiful woman retreating into her room. Atem gaped, and began wondering who she was and why she was in a room that was built for family. His family.
And so, Atem set out to find out the answers to his questions. The best people to seek out for these things were, of course, the maids. The maids know everything that goes on in the palace. He headed to their quarters to get his information.
"Memnet! What is the news of this woman I saw?" Atem called, addressing the head maid once he got there. She looked up from mending some linen and shrugged.
"What woman did you see? There are many in this palace, my prince." She replied simply, not even looking to Atem. He sighed exasperatedly and gave a pout.
"There's someone in my sister's old room. Now who is this guest?" Atem specified, and the old woman shrugged again.
"Hutsat brought a goddess to Pharaoh's table. I am told that Lady Bali is to stay with yourself and your father. And since you're so 'busy' and Sarin-an-Munad is visiting your eldest sister, neither of you have met her. Mery and Su have been assigned to them. You should be pestering them for answers, not me. Now shoo!" Memnet explained plainly, wanting to get the prince out of her hair. Atem thanked her quickly, and headed swiftly for his older sister's old room, to find Mery and Su.
"I haven't gone to Ibir-nu-Abn's room since she was married and moved to that southern kingdom." Atem reminisced as he passed his own room to get to this 'Lady Bali's' room.
Mery and Su were just about to leave Bali's room, having finished cleaning up her washroom. They saw Atem and bowed instantly in respect.
"It's fine, it's fine, now get up." Atem snapped impatiently and both maids stood straight. Su had a smile, and Mery just looked annoyed.
"Where is this Bali?" Atem demanded, and the maids looked to each other.
"She is on her way to the feast that was prepared to welcome her. Since I know you don't like many public events, you'll probably meet her later. Can whatever you're so antsy about wait?" Mery answered calmly. This answer completely deflated Atem's excitement. He had to wait, something he did not like to do. But Mery was correct on the fact that he wouldn't go near the feast. Atem didn't care that much.
"I guess it will have to." Atem growled, disappointed with himself and the fact that he had missed his chance to meet her in his own way. He didn't want to be crown prince. He wanted to trick her into thinking he was a servant. But, he wouldn't go to that feast no matter what, so he swept off to his room. Once he was alone, he started muttering to himself (as Atem looked back on this part of his day, he frowned).
All he had done was pace around and wonder why he wanted to see this woman so badly. All he could remember was that one image of the pale creature going back through the curtains. Even though he had not seen her face, she had enraptured him somehow. Hadn't Memnet said that she was a goddess or something? Maybe that was why. But during his waiting period, he had taken a nap, paced some more, set out a prank for a couple of servants he didn't like down the hall, read from a couple of books, paced more, slept more, and was generally bored out of his mind. It was around sunset that Atem finally snapped with impatience and decided to just show up late and call that his unruly deed.
Atem remembered how undignified the whole place had looked when he got there. Priest Seth was nursing his foot, and Pharaoh looked ashamed while he gave a lecture, Atem's uncle throwing in a few words as well. Because of the distracted scene, Atem decided to just get a servant to tell him the happenings.
"Lady Bali was asked to dance for everyone by Lord Seth, and she screamed some other language, savaged his foot and stormed off. We do not know where she has gone, for Pharaoh has forbidden anyone to search. He is being cautious of the goddess' anger." The man relayed, trembling under his prince's gaze. Atem nodded and decided to proceed with a search of his own. After looking practically everywhere, and finding out that there were some things the maids didn't know, Atem gave up. He stopped, started to relax, and looked back on his day to make himself feel better about his failure. Atem also started to plan tomorrow's events, and included a meeting with Bali.
This is where we find the prince now, walking around in the cooling air, thinking back on it and believing it to be quite productive. As he walked past a gate leading to a sanctuary of the Nile, he heard a sniffle. Atem stopped walking and listened.
"*sniff*" he heard again, and Atem became curious. He snuck around the gate and kept to the thick, bushy trees that lined the wall. What he found, sitting on the stairs, was the same figure he had seen on the balcony.
"Finally, I've found you!" Atem whispered to himself, pleased with his sudden fortune. Atem made sure he looked somewhat presentable, and just walked right out as quietly as possible. He sat down on the step a few feet away and didn't look at Bali, who was staring out over the river, kohl-stained tears running down her face. Atem noticed that there was no sobbing, just tears.
Bali noticed that the same troublemaker from earlier had found her, and he didn't say a word. Bali slid her eyes over to get a glimpse of him looking at her. She moved her eyes back to stare at the moon. Soon after, Atem scooted a little closer. A few minutes passed, and he scooted closer. And closer…
Bali tried to ignore him, but he was starting to get on her nerves, so she stood to leave. Bali walked off briskly, and started to look for any sort of information resembling a map. Atem stood and walked briskly after her, feeling very accomplished because he was annoying her. Whenever Bali went faster, he did too. Wherever she turned, he followed. Bali glanced back every once in awhile to find that he was still there. Finally, Bali lost it.
"Why are you following me?" She snapped, rounding on Atem and putting her hands on her hips, staring meanly. Atem stopped abruptly and gave a cheesy grin.
"You never said I couldn't." He replied, earning a deeper frown.
"I never said you could, either. Now what do you want? You want me to dance for you or something? Because I won't!" Bali built up frustration, not meaning to add on the last part. Atem's eyebrows shot to his hairline.
"No, of course not. I wouldn't expect you to dance-" He said, baffled. Bali's expression softened in confusion.
"-besides, you look far to clumsy." He finished, and Bali looked furious once more. Atem only kept up his smile, and Bali stared at him like he was an alien.
"Who are you?" She demanded, because the whole palace believed she was a goddess, so why was he frustrating her?
"Just the humble servant Atem, at your service." He replied, giving a sweeping bow. Bali snorted and he looked up.
"You're no servant; you're too well dressed for that." Bali pointed out, and Atem smiled with satisfaction.
"Ah, so you aren't completely dumb after all." He teased, and was chased by the enraged Bali. Atem, of course, knew she was lost, so he decided to take pity on her.
"You know, you're awfully cheeky to one of Pharaoh's guests. Don't you know who I am?" Bali inquired, too tired to keep up with Atem. Atem slowed to a walk, so he could still lead Bali.
"You're Lady Bali, some goddess Hutsat brought here, am I right?" He answered, putting his hands out while walking backwards. Bali smirked.
"Ah, so you're not completely dumb after all." She replied, making Atem chuckle.
"Good one." Atem muttered after he was done, retaining his slight smile.
Bali didn't know what to think of this guy. She wanted to strangle him, but at the same time, he was the most intellectually stimulating person she had found. The ambivalence was making her question whether or not she could trust Atem.
Atem, on the other hand, was very pleased. And not really because she didn't know he was the prince, but because…. She was fun. She wasn't like any of the stiffs that always stayed around the palace. He had expected a pompous windbag, but Bali was fun to talk with. Atem decided at that moment that he would hang around her more often, and that she wouldn't be at the end of many of his pranks.
"You caused quite a stir at the feast, I hear. Last I knew, Priest Seth was getting a lecture from Pharaoh and the high priests." Atem commented, watching Bali's eyes light up with some type of happiness.
"Serves him right. Jerk." She muttered, but Atem heard and grinned widely.
"Is there some special reason you were so angry at Priest Seth?" Atem inquired slyly, noticing a faint blush turn up under her kohl-smeared cheeks.
"What's with all of the questions? Anyway, I need to get back to my room, so if you don't mind-"
"Not at all! I'll take my leave of you, but I promise I'll see you soon!" Atem cheerily waved off, running down the hall too fast for Bali to call after him.
"What a jerk! He left me here before I could ask… directions…" Bali fumed, but noticed as she looked around that Atem had left her right in front of her door. Feeling foolish for not noticing, Bali went inside and rung the bells for Mery and Su. It didn't take long for both of them to show. Questions poured about why she had left early and why she looked terrible, but Bali refused to tell. She was scrubbed off again, and put into a light tunic to sleep in.
"Good night, Lady Bali." They called, for Bali had decided to sleep early after her long day and emotional rollercoaster ride. Bali replied accordingly and tugged the thin blankets over her forms. The bed was comfortable and her pillows were extremely plush. It was easy for Bali to fall asleep.
"I don't even know why he's in the palace…" Bali yawned, and sleep claimed her. Little did she know, but Atem was right down the hall, going to sleep early as well, and thinking about his interesting meeting with Bali.
Hooray, I've finally introduced Atem! And poor Seth and his foot! Reviews are my request, as always! Thanks very much!