A.N.: Thank you very much for everyone who reviewed! Thank you so much for the support! Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated and I'd be very glad if you constantly review, to tell me how the chapter went. I'm really sorry it took so long—school got so much in the way. But now there's no school, I get to update!! Yay!!
As always, flames will be laughed at and constructive criticism is welcome. Read and Review!!
The Hero
Chapter Eleven
"He WHAT?!"
Yugi winced, clinging onto a golden pillar, glancing warily up to the rafters and feeling as though the Pyramide was about to collapse over their heads at the wrath that the Emperor unleashed. Even the armors and weapons arrayed on the walls rattled violently, and the guards stepped back from their posts. The nobles in the room were cringing. And the man himself, Emperor Atemu, was standing, eyes blazing like purple fire ready to incinerate into ash at the merest glance. His whole person was scarlet, livid with sheer fury.
"How did this happen?!" he roared, causing everyone in the room to wince again. "Who let them escape?!"
They could've heard a pin drop in the room. "Sire…" murmured Ootogi, "I can assure you that no one here would've allowed them to escape…"
This only made Atemu madder. There was a deep purple orb at one arm of his throne and he smashed it in his fury. Yet again, every person in the room, save for the Oracle and the Sorcerer, winced at this action. Yugi would have endeavored to come forward, but the monarch was sweeping up and down the platform again, his long cape trailing and billowing after him like a purple silken ghost.
"That assassin, I would have had no concerns about," he declared, pacing restlessly. "He would've been found by my men under a few days and death would've been his at the instant he was laid eyes upon. But Prince Liyir!!" He looked at the captain of the guards who knelt across him, cringing in abject discomfort.
"How could you have let such an august persona slip by unnoticed?!" Atemu demanded. "Are you simply that clouded, Captain Valon?"
The captain of the guard, a very handsome youth who went by the name of Valon and among the greatest warriors of the empire, could only cringe for a moment. He was of noble birth, of the House of Seeil, and had been only newly appointed in his position. And by all accounts, this was not a good way to start it off.
"I beg forgiveness, Your Majesty," he said, keeping his eyes trained to the gleaming floors of the throne room. "But I assure you, there had been double guards at the dungeons tonight. And there were soldiers trained at Prince Ryou's doors."
"And yet somehow he'd miraculously slipped out," Atemu's tone was cold. "And not only that, he went to the dungeons and had freed the assassin! And now—they are both gone! And don't think you're out of blame in this, Pegasus!" he snapped at the Sorcerer, who flinched slightly for the first time. "You claimed to have the key to the prisoner's cell!"
"I did, Majesty, and I still do," Pegasus now calmly drew out the key from his pocket like one would draw a sword. And he added, "It would appear that Prince Ryou is not as entirely innocuous as he made himself appear."
"Obviously," Atemu snapped.
"He's an interesting boy…" Pegasus murmured, leaning on the nearby pillar, holding his staff. "There is definitely a lot of conviction in him, that's for sure."
"This is—an outrage!" Atemu exploded. "Neither of the theories you've given me are remotely acceptable!! It is either the Dueler Seto really has possessed Ryou and caused him to escape, taking with him as a hostage—or Ryou himself, in a clear act of treason, had freed the assassin by his own volition and using underhanded means of doing so! This is a complete mess!!"
"I had warned you, Your Majesty…" Isis contrived to say very quietly, unable to help herself, but this only served to allow Atemu's thunderbolts to descend upon her veiled head.
"I am quite aware of your warnings, Oracle—you've been quite fervent about them," Atemu glared, and Isis recoiled very slightly, retaining her composure. He whirled back to the captain of the guard who hadn't moved from place, still rigidly kneeling before him, head bowed. "Why are you still here?!" he yelled.
Valon stammered, "But sire—"
"You ought to be out there—looking for them—NOW!" Atemu thundered. And literally, how the lightning did strike outside, punctuating the monarch's order, causing another epidemic of cringing in the throne room. "GO!!"
Without another word, Valon hastily fled the room, his armor clinking noisily behind him and his cape surging in the draft. Atemu watched his exit with noted disapproval before finally groaning in exasperation, his outbursts having exhausted him. He fell sitting onto his throne, dropping his head onto his hand. "I am surrounded by the incompetent…"
It was at this point that Yugi contrived to pacify the raging monarch. It appeared that, from time to time, that he was the only one who could do such a thing, provided that he did so at an opportune moment such as now. He moved quickly to his side and took his hand into his smaller ones, patting it. "Please don't overexert yourself, Majesty… You've had a harrowing day. I'm sure that the two will be retrieved soon enough. Truly, is there anyone in this Empire who can escape your influence? Prince Ryou obviously has gone mad, or something, and it would be wisest if these matters were not dwelt upon so passionately—it's not your fault he may have elected treason. He will be aptly dealt with, won't he? It all can still be remedied, sire."
"And as always, you've proved yourself most correct, Yugi," Atemu smiled at him, and the prince was relieved to see that the smile was one more relaxed than anything. "I know not what has gotten into me. Those two will be dealt with and I shall have my answers the very instant they are returned. They couldn't have gotten too far, really. There is too much wild around Dulle for them to proceed easily, and we have many men and horses at our disposal."
Yugi smiled at him. "That's true. It shall only be a matter of days, hours even, isn't it?"
"So it shall," Atemu nodded, suddenly feeling quite exhausted. It was in the middle of the night, after all, and now, as he felt the eyes of the Master Sorcerer on him, he rose to put an arm around Yugi and issue the sorcerer commands. "I leave this to your charge, Pegasus. See to it that the prisoner is found. Alive, preferably—I should wish to speak to him one more time before I have him beheaded. And of course, it goes without saying that Prince Ryou is to be returned here alive as well. You may harm either one, but not kill them—and they ought to be here no later than noon of tomorrow. Is that understood?"
The Master Sorcerer bowed with all the affected magnificence he could muster. "Of course, Your Majesty. Your word is law binding upon all…"
"I shall retire to my chambers," Atemu declared, descending the dais and walking down the carpet, his cape billowing after him. "I am to be awakened should any new developments arise. Anyone who does not pull their weight in this, Captain Valon in particular, I shall deal with using a hangman's noose. Come, Yugi. You needn't stay here with the rest of them."
"Your Majesty, Atemu," Jounouchi rose the moment the monarch reached him down the carpet, with Yugi close by. He bowed and then looked up with determined brown eyes. "I swear upon my honor as a Dueler that I will have the assassin Seto and the traitor prince Ryou returned to the palace with swiftness of a sandstorm. They shan't get away with this outrage upon the Pyramide, I assure you."
"Time and again, you have proven yourself worthy and true, Jounouchi," said Atemu, noting him with a rather proud smile, knowing him well as they were good friends in and out of the Duel grounds. "In that case, knowing that you have things to settle between that blue-eyed Dueler, I leave it to your hands as well. Join the searchers if you wish—you have my full support."
Jounouchi nodded with a smirk triumphant. "I won't disappoint you, Atemu."
The king nodded at him and turned to Yugi, taking him with him as he majestically swept out of the throne room. But even as he came into the silence of the hall, thoughts ever worried around in his mind. The spectacles in the Duels were enough to make his normally comfortable mind more disturbed than it had ever been before.
"Is there something that worries you, sire?" Yugi blinked up at him, concerned. The High Prince Yugi physical resemblance to the king was in no doubt due to blood—they were cousins, slightly distant. However, due to Yugi's family having been killed in a war taking over the near-border kingdom Altein, the emperor was more than happy to have his favorite living with him in castle walls. As such, he also knew him better than anyone else in the palace.
Atemu glanced at him, with a look of gravity upon his face. "Yugi, I'm afraid that there may be more to this than we realize. This is not some mere escape attempt."
His favorite stared at him. "What do you mean, sire?"
"The white dragon—that impudent assassin—the kidnapping of Prince Ryou…" Atemu looked thoughtful. "It all coincides with an old omen that I had been once forewarned of." He looked ahead. "It is said that on the ninth dynasty that the Pyramide hosts, a powerful monster—a dragon—will rise from deep slumber, awoken by tongues of fire that had been lit beneath it. It will rampage, across the empire, to reach the Pyramide, and snatch from it the last in the line of winged half-bloods. And while the dragon and the half-blood stay together, the most dangerous of powers in the empire shall be unlocked—and unleashed upon the ninth dynasty, threatening its complete crumble. From there, no future could be told—possibly, there will be no future for the empire at all."
Yugi looked pale and anxious. "So this dragon—it must be the Dueler Seto!"
"That is what I believe," Atemu nodded. "I still can't be sure—he must have his motives. He would not have been awakened if there had been no incentives for him to rush to the Pyramide to cause this havoc."
"And the last in the line of winged half-bloods—is Prince Ryou?" Yugi blinked.
"The people of Liyir descended from a cursed line," Atemu said. "In Liyiran legend, the very first king, the founder of Liyir, was a cursed child of taboo between a demon and an angel. He was said to have such great powers, and possessed wings—part demon, part angel. He was set between the dividing line of the dark and light—the Empire, and the Wasteland. Favoring the power of light, it was he who created the Wall of Yir—which, until this day, no one has ever known how it was built—and founded Liyir to keep guard over it and prevent the dark wasteland from overcoming the light empire. Since then, the line of Kings of Liyir has remained from this bloodline. Prince Ryou is the only son of the current king—and so as of right now, he is the last."
"Yes, the king of Liyir is ill…" Yugi said sadly. "Prince Ryou told me of it. He has a lot of responsibility now."
Atemu said nothing. That was true. Ryou was sent here, to the Pyramide, in place of the ill but powerful King of Liyir. Atemu would have much preferred having the king here, but under the circumstances, that was impossible. And now, it seems like the cogwheels of fate were turning itself against the Ninth Dynasty.
"I am afraid," he said finally, "that the Dueler and the Prince must, at some point, be killed."
"What?!" Yugi stared, horrified. "Why? The Dueler Seto—probably, he threatens your life—but why the Prince Liyir? It would cause a great rift between you and the Liyir Kingdom! Possibly even war! And if Prince Ryou is killed, Liyir would be—"
"—left without the next rightful king," Atemu finished for him. "I know that well enough."
"I had thought of this…" Yugi murmured. "Hence the reason why I believed you would not execute Prince Ryou as you had threatened in the Coliseum… Really…is there no other course of action? Prince Ryou is my friend—I should not want him harmed…" He looked up at the Emperor.
Atemu looked at the anxious expression that his favorite had. He disliked seeing the High Prince unhappy, and so he smiled at him reassuringly. "Do not worry. I merely pointed out that at the worst case scenario, this must be necessary for the good of the empire. But in all likelihood, being that he is of royal breeding and knows of his responsibilities, Prince Ryou would decide to return to us when we finally catch up to them."
Yugi looked relieved. "Yes, of course… Thank you, Your Majesty."
But even as Yugi looked relieved and they walked on, Atemu knew that without a doubt—it was certain here and now—that should the Dueler Seto and Prince Ryou realize what a great possibility they had opened up for each other by staying together, they must be killed. If Liyir would be left without the next king, it was actually all the better for him…
Seto awoke to the sunlight that was blazing its way through the lids of his eyes. His head felt rather fogged, and for a brief moment, he didn't know where he was. He opened his eyes and saw vast emerald forest, and, apparently, his back was hurting owing to the fact that he had fallen asleep propped up against a tree. With a slight groan, he stretched himself, feeling his hands sink into grass warmed by the sun. It must be quite late, the sun was fairly high in it's parabola in the great blue sky—or at least, this was what he can see from the peeps of the leaves above him.
He heard a soft whinny nearby of the large white stallion that had been feeding on the grass next to him. He raised an eyebrow at it as it continued to ignore him, and all of yesterday's previous events came crashing back at him with the force of a tidal wave. And he realized he was alone.
Rapidly, he sat up and looked around. There was no sign of the messy-haired page or of the Prince—he was alone in the glade that they had opted to stop at when it was decided that they could go no further for the night. The remains of the fire were the only things next to him. He got up quickly, frowning. He saw that the horses—they had gotten another one—were still there, with all the packs. He readily snatched out his iron lance in case of any danger, frowning and gripping the weapon tightly as he looked around.
Where could they have gone? I told them not to wander off on their own—why doesn't anybody ever listen to me? He strode into the forest, glaring at the sunlight that continued to assault his sight from above. As he walked, he heard the sound of water rippling and trickling from somewhere nearby, and thereupon opted to follow it.
It wasn't too far off, and he saw that there was a rather large stream of sparkling water racing past. The pebbles at the bank were all smoothened by the wear of the rushing water, which was reasonably shallow—couldn't have gone too far up his knees. Some of the rainbow-colored fish passed like darts of color in the water, hiding into the shadows of the rocks at the tall newcomer. It was here that he heard Ryou and Mokuba's voices.
They were across him, at the other side of the bank. Mokuba had climbed up a fruit tree that hung over the water, picking the fruit and tossing them down to Ryou, who was standing knee-deep in the water and catching them in his cloak. Mokuba dropped a particularly large fruit just in front of Ryou, causing a splash that drenched the prince's face.
Ryou laughed. "Be careful! You might hit me next!"
"Well they're terribly hard to get a hold of, being all wet and all," Mokuba chortled, ripping another brightly-colored fruit from the branch and tossing it down to Ryou.
The prince went after it to catch it, but the lance came hissing from the other side of the bank, impaling the fruit and nailing it to the trunk of the tree. Both of them gasped and looked up. Seto, standing on the other side of the stream, raised an eyebrow, with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I told you both not to wander off," he stated.
"Good morning to you too, niisama," Mokuba stuck his tongue out at him and laughed. "We were just looking to get some breakfast. The Prince is horrible at catching fish, so we went looking for fruit." He grinned at Ryou.
Ryou laughed. "You're not any better at it than I am." And the half-drenched teen looked back to Seto and smiled. "That was a very prodigious shot. I vow I've never seen anyone throw a lance like that."
The Dueler was unmoved. He frowned at them. "If we very well intend to keep out of sight of the Emperor's searchers, it would be all the better for us to stay together and keep hidden. I warrant the riot you're making out here is enough to catch a soldier's ear."
"Niisama, relax," Mokuba chided, dropping down from the tree branches. He was very agile, and landed with a plop into the water—which was reaching to his waist. "We've ridden practically without stopping all night—save for when we took a horse from the last cottage we'd passed. I really don't think that the Emperor's soldiers would reach here so soon."
Ryou looked a trifle uncomfortable though, and he turned to Seto. "Do you think, though, that they might make good time in getting here?"
"Those soldiers are used to traveling in great speed in long journeys," Seto pointed out. "How else would the Emperor have managed to collect every kingdom in the empire?"
"You raise a good point there," Ryou looked anxiously at the forest in the direction from whence they came in. "I apologize. We must keep moving." And he began to wade back towards the Dueler. Mokuba was blinking at the lance in the tree, trying to unstuck it, but being of such small form, only managed to waggle the embedded weapon a bit.
"You've mentioned it is two days ride to the next town," said Seto, going through the water to meet Ryou. "Is there not one nearer?"
The Prince shook his head. "There is none. The only way I know to Liyir is this, as it is the path the Emperor's men took when they fetched me from it. This is the fastest way."
"Then we ought to move," Seto frowned. If the Emperor's men took him from Liyir this way, then surely, they'll search for him here as well. He reached out and took the lance and easily unstuck it, sending Mokuba into a laughing heap into the water as he'd been pulled along with it. Seto smirked at him, and the page just shrugged with a cheeky grin.
A brief flash came from the trees. Seto whirled around, every sense in his body tense and alert. Ryou looked up. "What is it?"
"Shh." Seto held up his hand and kept staring at where the flash came from. Not a single one of them moved, nor made a sound. Seto's blue eyes stared into the wood, unwavering and intense, waiting—waiting.
Another flash.
"What's that…?" Mokuba hissed.
Without another word, Seto grabbed Ryou's wrist, pulling him down lower and more or less hidden from plain view, moving back to the embankment. "Niisama…" Mokuba whispered, following. "What's going on?"
"That was the sun," Seto answered, eyes never leaving the shadows of the forest.
"The sun…?" Ryou blinked.
Seto now looked at him straight in the eye. "Reflected off a shield."
The Prince lost all color on his face, realizing the serious danger that they were now in. Mokuba quickly came closer. Seto looked back to the forest. "Tell me, Prince—who was the centurion who took you from Liyir?"
"Why—it was the captain of the guard, Valon," Ryou whispered.
"I thought as much…" Seto murmured.
"What do you mean?"
"Because I'm looking at him right now."
All eyes looked up. In a clearing not far from where their horses stood, right across them not more than thirty feet was the captain of the guard himself, Valon, dressed in armor and contemplating the forest with deep gravity. In his hand he held a weapon of magical properties—a cannon, it looked to be, his famous weapon.
Their breaths were held, and not one moved a muscle. And without warning, the centurion suddenly turned to them, locking into Seto's blue eyes. Ryou gasped.
"Run!!" came Mokuba's shout—but there was no need for it: they were racing into the wood. Valon's voice echoed through the glade in hot pursuit—spotting his prey as they dived into the trees.
And chapter eleven ends! Valon—the famous knight from the House of Seeil, has managed to cut Seto's headstart in the race to Liyir! Hope they make it out of this mess in one piece! Please review and tell me how the chapter, went, 'kay? -