Chapter 29
Yami, Great pharaoh of Egypt
I stared at the bowl and plate that was set in my hands. There was a small loaf of bread on the plate, and some sort of gruesome looking colourless sludge sloshed around. I swallowed as soon as I saw the other maids around me chattering noisily about stuff happening in the palace and eating the broth at the same time without the use of utensils. I couldn't believe we had to eat out here, in the tables beside the kitchen where most maids worked and where the sun shone down I felt like a roast pig.
"Scylla!"
I continued staring at my bowl.
"Scylla!"
Huh? "Yeah?" I asked, forgetting that I was addressed here as Scylla, not Charybdis. I gotta act as if I WAS Scylla – though I had no idea how her personality was back in the past. I found myself in an extremely tricky situation.
The same girl from before walked over, carrying her own bowl and plopped herself down beside me. "What are you doing with that?"
She pointed at the broth and I glanced over at it. "Uh… breakfast?" I replied enquiringly.
"No, no, no!" She snatched the bowl out from my hands and I blinked once more. "Hey, what's the big idea?"
"You are not to eat these."
"Why not?" I asked questioningly.
"As one of the Pharaoh's personal maids, you do not have to eat these food, here follow me." She led my hand and guided me back to the counter and picked up the tray at the corner. "This is what we eat."
"We? Are.. you… one of the Pharaoh's personal maids too?"
"Yes."
"What's your name?"
"Scylla….?" She asked surprisingly (I actually pondered whether she was named Scylla too when she said that….). "Are you okay? We have known each other ever since. I am Ama-Knet."
"Ama… Net? Oh… right, right! Ama gurl, yeah… I know you… I'm Scylla… I'm the Pharaoh's personal maid, yeah, yeah… I got it." I replied cheerfully.
Ama-Knet stared at me. "Are you sure you are fine?"
"Of course!" I grabbed the tray from her, and looked at the food there. Another loaf of bread, a small cup of some concoction and a bowl of something that looked better than the broth I had before.
However I stared at the loaf. I'd better not use my hands to eat it, they'll all filthy, and filled with grime and dust in the nails. Hesitantly I hunted around the place, and eventually went to the palm tree beside our table and snapped one of the twigs off, then returned to my seat and bent them into shape. Ama-Knet wildly eyed the utensils I was using to cut the thick loaf in half.
"What are those? I have never seen those before…." She said.
I grinned. "Why… this is called, a knife…. And this is called a fork." I replied smugly. "Dear girl, you better begin to manufacture these in gold to make eating chow easier in life."
Ama-Knet 'oohed' at me and continued staring at the 'knife' and 'fork' I had in my hands.
o
"Wow…. This is good… what is it?" I asked, as I slurped the sweet contents inside the small cup.
"That is beer (sorry, I researched ancient Egyptian civilisation and only managed to find out that they drank beer, which was made out from barley and emmer - at least that's what people in lower hierarchy drank as refreshments)." Ama-knet replied as she bit her loaf.
"Beer, cool, this is much, much better than what I get most of the days." I stood up from my seat after finishing the cup and then advanced back at the counter, and I shoved the empty cup at the maid who was in charge to give out food. "More please." I said cheerfully.
"Scylla, you have already exceeded your daily number of beer." She said.
"Eh? I only had five cups." I retorted helplessly at the maid who shrugged back at me.
"Yes, I know, but the rules clearly state that in the position as just a mere maid will only just get about five cups of refreshments daily." She replied.
"Oh, and who made those rules up!" I barked at her.
"The Pharaoh, of course."
I stiffened immediately. Duh! Yami/Atemu bloody runs the whole country! I slapped myself mentally. How can I not forget? Yet again I retreated back to my seat in disappointment. I seemed to be realising that I had grown a strong addiction to the beer and I stared at the large bowl in the counter along with other food hungrily and sadly.
o
Ama-Knet and I walked down the almost-empty corridor (after washing my hands squeaky clean of course – using water from some sort of small well… ) to the supposedly destination of the Pharaoh's chambers. I thought for a while. I wondered what would happen if I did see the Pharaoh; what would I do. He doesn't know Charybdis exists. He'll just think I'm Scylla, and once he realises I'm not then – whoa. Hold it. How would anyone find out I'm not Scylla? Well, probably if I blab it out that I come from the future yadda yadda yadda. But would they believe me? Heck no, they'd think I was insane. Hmm, this could be a good advantage if I use it the right way. What we have in the future…. The people in the past didn't have.
We stopped at the foot of two large golden doors. I raised an eyebrow. I knew he was pharaoh – but did he have to be so royal-like that even his doors are gold; perhaps his doormat is even gold? I mean, my square blue room is good enough for me. I giggled to myself as Ama-Knet knocked on the smooth surface, making the noise somewhat echo around the place.
"Come in."
Yikes! I recognize that voice anywhere! Immediately my legs began shaking terribly as Ama-Knet opened the doors to reveal a very LARGE room. I gawked. It was the same size as my back yard! I-I've never seen a bedroom that big before! Gosh…. I could almost faint right now. Ama-Knet pushed me inside and I regained my balance, and then stopped as she walked in front of me. I followed behind her meekly; stepping on the ground faintly as if there were needles pointing upright littering the place.
I saw him sitting down in one of his fancy desks with a tray set out in front of him. He had ordered his servants to bring breakfast to him personally today – that was what Ama-Knet told me. She said that the Pharaoh normally ate with the six high priests.
We both bowed down in front of him, I still hadn't stopped quaking yet when I rose up. He looked at me straight in the eye and I froze. Atemu/Yami dismissed Ama-Knet quickly, before beckoning me over. I stiffened once more and I moved over there beside him slowly.
"Scylla, had a good night's sleep yesterday?" He asked me gently.
"Yes, Y-My Pharaoh." I almost said 'Yami' to him. "…. And you?"
He chuckled. "I had a pleasant dream last night, do you wish to find out what I exactly dreamt about?"
I swallowed. "Em… what, may I ask?" I replied. "My Pharaoh." I added in quickly.
"You."
I burned red. Oooh god, please tell me this isn't happening!
Atemu (just call him that now) pushed his tray of empty plates away from him, and then patted the seat beside him. "Sit."
I planted myself stiffly down, before the stool suddenly broke through do the much force I had not noticed I had put into it and it broke apart. I landed on the ground immediately. Atemu stood up almost immediately and offered his slightly tanned hand to me as I lay on the floor blinking back at him in surprise. He didn't look THAT different – okay, he did look darker than usual in skin tone – his amethyst eyes stood out more. He was wearing some sort of robe, with gold bands encircling his waist, both arms, legs and even round every finger. Yami even had the Millennium puzzle around his neck. He also had the same sort of golden hair band thing on and I gawked.
He looked even more like ROYALTY in person. He stared at me at a funny way and lifted me back onto my feet away from the broken seat, before he began inspecting it himself carefully. "Hmmm… there was not any problems with it before….."
He turned back to me as I began splinters off my dress. "Scylla?"
"Hunhhh?" I asked dully, turning my head back to him. "What is wrong?" He asked me.
I blinked once more. "What IS wrong?"
"You seem…. Slightly different."
So…. I guess he COULD somewhat tell the difference? I shrugged. "Nothing's wrong, my Pharaoh." I replied. "I'm always like this…. Oh, how about if I show you something, Y-my Pharaoh?"
"What is that?"
"Wait here," I shoved him back down in his seat (before realising I had SHOVED the PHARAOH OF ALL EGPYT and laughed nervously, dusted his robes and patted his head and he stared as if I had totally gone off my head) and then scuttled back outside. He wanted a different Scylla? Then I'll try and be un-different than normally. I ran back inside the chamber with my things and then I stood in front of him proudly. "Watch me perform magic!" I said cheerfully. I had heard that the ancient Egyptians used powerful shadow magic, I wonder if this was the same kind?
Atemu chuckled. "Scylla, what are you doing?"
I shushed him. "This is a different practical use of magic." I replied as I stepped back. "Prepare to be befuddled, and amazed by the great Charybdis – I mean… Scylla!" I said, immediately correcting my words before he got suspicious. He began eyeing me suspiciously and I began sweating.
He stared at the red piece of waste cloth I presented to him, including to show it to him personally so it didn't look as if something was up my sleeve, and then I put my thumb underneath the hanky so it covered it, and then slowly, brought out a couple of pins and needles. Atemu blinked in his seat. I jammed a needle down onto my thumb. He gasped, horrified. "S-Scylla, stop!" He commanded as he eyed the pin that was protruding out from my thumb.
"I'm okay, just watch." Then I inserted another needle into my thumb, not wincing at all. He gasped once more as I jammed another pin in. And then after all five pins were inserted onto my thumb, I pulled the hanky away.
"Ta-da!"
Atemu stared at my perfect, clean and darkish thumb which had not even one single pin stuck in. "How did you - !" He muttered curiously.
I began giggling feebly, a large grin on my face as I presented him with another object – the rounded head of a carrot to look like a thumb! "Here's how you do it." I told him as I placed it under the hanky with my thumb as if my thumb was the one going under and then began putting some more pins in – it looked as though that was my real thumb and I giggled once more.
Atemu chuckled loudly. "I thought you had really skewered your thumb there. You had me all worried, do not ever do that again, even if it just a trick." He gently pulled my hand over to him, and began rubbing my thumb soothingly as if needles really did penetrate me skin. I sort of froze. His clean hands felt so real as Scylla had said to be an illusion to be fake and I felt slightly relaxed, then popped out from my thoughts when I realised he had began planting short kisses over each of my fingers. Hmm, so this is what it feels to be kissed by the royal Pharaoh. I had the urge to shake my hand out, but then again, felt more relaxed than ever and suddenly another magic trick had popped up in my mind.
"I'll show you another trick, my Pharaoh, if you would like." I asked him timidly.
"…. Alright, as long as it does not involve swords this time."
"I won't." I grinned once more after he released my hand and then caught sight of a piece of papyrus at the side, and took it carefully. "Do you need this?" I asked him.
He shook his head.
"Okay – let more magic tricks, begin!" And then I rolled the piece of papyrus into a cylinder, and then suddenly, began to make funny noises and then I slammed the cylinder down onto the desk in front of him, and began circling my finger around it as though I was powering it up with some sort of energy. Then I stopped my finger in front of the cylinder, and drew it forward towards him and the cylinder followed my finger up to the edge of the desk. Atemu stared at it, then at me.
"I don't hold any magic power – or psychic telekinetic power, but I do hold one." I told him, noticing his puzzled look.
"What is that?" He asked, smiling a little.
"The power of…… wind!" And then I blew the straw, without my finger and it flopped off the desk and bounced on the floor.
Atemu laughed out loud in his seat. Hmm, so this is also how it feels like to be complimented by the royal Pharaoh.
o
Oh well, our 'prefect' morning didn't last for long. This tall bloke came in, somehow reminding me of Seto Kaiba because for his dark blue eyes and tall figure and called Atemu that some sort of meeting about important business was not commencing until the Pharaoh's presence in the room was there. Then the tall guy wearing a blue headdress and white robes carrying Marik's Millennium Rod (A/N is that he wears? I'm sorry, I'm not precisely sure) stared at me straight in the eye and I froze up all over as he glared. By the looks of it… he WAS Kaiba! I could've almost screamed out loud, but then again, I'm supposedly to be Scylla's reincarnation. I wondered whether this new Seto would be slightly different that the one in the future, after all, Scylla is WAY different than me in a lot of things.
"Stop staring and get back to work, slave!" He bellowed and then he dismissed me quickly with the wave of his palm as if I was just nothing but an obstacle in his way. Feeling as though Kaiba had probably been conceited during his whole entire existence on earth, I grabbed Atemu's tray and left the room quickly and reluctantly. I'd rather stay in there than outside in the hot blazing sun (Er-hem, sorry about that, Seto-fans! Hope you can forgive me).
But just before I left Atemu's room; he quickly opened the door ajar slightly and squeezed out beside me.
"Er…. What are you doing out here? Don't you have big business to matter to?" I mumbled, but Atemu silenced me, and pulled me up to him, arm around my waist, before placing a huge smacker on my lips that lasted for several seconds before he pulled apart. I blinked and soon enough, my legs were reduced to jelly.
"Yes. But I'll see you this evening." He smirked.
All I could do was smile cheesily and wave back as he disappeared behind the gold doors.
Ama-Knet returned back to the maid's quarters where I was currently to retrieve the locket (I stuffed it back into my dress slot, which seems to be some kind of ancient pocket). She told me to come with her because we had to prepare for the meal at noon.
I almost screamed out loud again when I saw the size of the kitchen filled with baskets of food, including vegetables such as onions, garlic, leeks, beans, lentils, peas, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers and lettuce. Dates, figs, pomegranates, melons and grapes were also presented. And then something funny wafted into my nose. The smell of fresh fish, raw meats and poultry arrived and I once again began to feel nervous when Ama-Knet led me into a room further into the huge kitchen past the huge crowds of maids and other servants.
"Hey, Ama-Knet? Can I wash the dishes instead?"
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Credits to the magicians who performed the magic tricks. I'm not sure if one of them was David Copperfield, but it was a man dressed in black with a black mask that looked like a fencing mask. The other trick about the moving straw – well I kind of got that in this funny series about psychic power!
Hmm, hope this chapter didn't seem too unrealistic, and quite dolly, after all, the information I had gathered about the past with the six priests aren't exactly great…
Review Responses:
Annette Chase: Thank you for reviewing!
Severia Ashling: Ah, I've been to your story already, it's superb, keep up the great work. I think I'm actually becoming restless with writing Cosmo Girl that I can just run up to a tree and strip it thoroughly empty of bark and fungi. No worries – I'm almost finished!
Aiko: In my profile I'd been blabbing away how to DEAL with Writer's Block and here I'm actually going: "ARRRGGHHHH HOW IS THIS STORY GONNA END? I WISH SOME KIND OF APPARATION WILL POP OUT AND JUST HELP ME! And then this golden light beams down on me and I can see my answer (angelic music plays in the background) and then I throw my arms out to welcome it – HALLELUJAH!
Red Butterfly: Thank you for the compliment (can't help but turn red and giggle feebly)! Really glad you enjoy da story so far!
Limabeansaresoyummy: Again, thank you! Charybdis' personality seems to be too weird to be true, lol.
Lovely Red Rose: Aye, I get all funny when I read other fanfics with YamixOC, but I don't mind their characters. In fact, I actually go like: She's much more better than Charybdis. I don't get exactly jealous of other people – okay, sometimes I do, but everyone's different, and if people want to write better stories, the best to do is to read more books and get more practice…. I suppose! I haven't been in that situation before, to be honest. I see too many chick flicks and break ups that I can visualize what will happen! LOL
I'm Your Worst Nightmare: Wow, we actually do have a lot in common! Hmm, it wouldn't exactly a really weird assumption to say we are long lost sisters. I've got long lost cousins and uncles who I don't even know about – really. My mum just brought up the subject one day, and I was like: Who's he? Do I know him?
Stranger Than Emily: Lol, homework still continues our young life, and probably we do over one hundred hours of homework each year. Sighs, my only internet time is one hour a day while my sister hogs up the computer for the whole day! It's her computer addiction – it gets waaay put of hand!
Gardevoir-Mages: Wow, in my school, we don't get to do Greek mythology and Egyptian mythology in my year. We're doing things like World War and history of Scotland railway tracks. BORING!
Scarlett and Scar: Charybdis' temper is actually quite controllable – unless you read chapter… 24, she took out her anger on her pillow – you don't see many people doing that everyday!
