Disclaimer:
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!... So I am obviously just a fan who wholeheartedly loves the amazing original show and writes fanfictions (such as this...duh!...and all my other stories that have the said disclaimers on them), for fun, gaining no monetary profit whatsoever...
A Difficult Choice
"Good morning, Pharaoh" Dartz greeted in a mock pleasant tone. "It is one lovely dies mercurii is it not?"
Silence...
Dartz smirked. He knew the Pharaoh was frightened. He could feel it. And he had to make sure that that fear would expand. Seeing that the Pharaoh was trying to see through the door, he began. "I see that you are concerned about the Emperor's daughter." He smirked on the inside when he watched the Pharaoh avert his gaze quickly. "Do you have feelings for her?"
"I-I-" The Pharaoh stammered, a blush creeping up his face. He often obtained this funny feeling whenever he thought about the Princess. He felt safe, secure, and... loved? "It is not what you think..." he said quickly. "I wouldn't-" But the feelings remained. The ones that made him so insecure and indecisive.
"Oh?" Dartz said in mock disbelief. "Do you even know what I think? Are you a mind reader? can you read my mind?"
The Pharaoh fell silent. He did not know where this was going. But one thing was for sure, he was not liking it one bit. He could tell that this man had a hidden motive. He just did not know what. He was already feeling too confused and nervous as of the moment.
"No answer?" Dart sighed. "And here I thought I was about to be impressed." He sat down on the chair.
Finally, the Pharaoh could no longer hold it all in. The feelings brought about by the man's words made him so uncomfortable. He did not want to be with this man for a second longer. He had to do whatever it took to get rid of him. "What do you want?" He rasped, a fire lighting in his eyes.
"What do I want..." Dartz mused as he settled his chin on his hand. He rolled his eyes, settling both orbs on the Pharaoh. "To tell you the truth of things of course. Can't always have you in the dark"
The Pharaoh looked at the adviser, confusion written all over his face. This man was just as mind boggling as he was strategic. "What do you mean?"
Dartz visibly smirked. "You know." His eyes narrowed. "The real things. The going ons, the reasons, the happenings, and what not." He added nonchalantly. "The things that are going on when you were literally in the dark."
Atem frowned. "What are you talking about?" He asked.
Dartz relaxed on the chair. "Ah, the questions that the young mind often ask." He glanced at the Pharaoh. "You are a little slow for someone who is considered a genius." He shifted. "So I am going to put this clearly. Why do you think the Princess has been secretly visiting you in the first place?"
The Pharaoh's eyes widened. "How did you-" His eyes widened further. He could have promised he saw Dartz's green eye shine.
Dartz simply chuckled. "I have my ways. Now. You still have not answered my question. Why do you think the Princess has been secretly visiting you?"
The Pharaoh pondered for a minute. He had been boggling over that question himself. There was one answer to it. But his mind kept pushing that possibility in the dark. Who was he to think that the Princess cared. But maybe she did. She seemed to be the type who had a good heart. But he knew better than to jump to conclusions. Maybe she had another motive.
That was when it hit him. He had thought about it before, at the very beginning of their encounter. The Emperor had been interrogating him for the 'secrets' of his past success. Perhaps the princess was his way of trying to coax it out of him.
He shook his head in disbelief. The Princess seemed so nice. So generous, caring, so sweet, and kind. And pretty much the light that kept him going through this dark tunnel. He just could not think of her as such. Turning to face Dartz, he wore a defensive expression. "Why should I answer your questions..."
A backlash. And a thick one at that. Dartz never expected the Pharaoh to build a wall so high when it came to a simple topic like that. But he knew that he had stirred doubt within that injured frame. His work was done.
"You have been seeing him now haven't you?"
It was more of a statement than a question. Like a matis to a bee, the Princess jolted up upon hearing those words leave her father's lips. But she kept her head down, fearing what she would see should she do otherwise.
The Emperor sighed as he too looked away. "I have received reports that the Pharaoh had been found covered and medicated during the past few days. Were you the one who did it?"
No answer.
Relaxing his stance, the Emperor calmed, face losing a bit of its hard exterior. "Teana, I love you. And you know that I would never do to you what I do to others." He placed his hand on the side of her face. "Now tell me. How long have you been seeing the Pharaoh?"
The Princess looked away. "For some time." She said meekly.
The Emperor pulled back, azure orbs still taking in every detail of his daughter. He may not be known for it, but he could 'read the signs' people put up in their actions. He was an intelligent man. And he could see just how much his daughter had fallen for the Pharaoh.
But as surprising as it may, he was not feeling angry – at his daughter, anyway. He understood the complexities that made love so impossible to control. He could not blame his daughter for falling in love.
But he did blame the Pharaoh for attracting his daughter in the first place...
What she had seen in that former king, he had a little idea. He had heard so much about the Pharaoh having a lion's heart balanced with a fox's craftiness and a puppy's kindness. Plus, that former king was a handsome man – minus all those injuries. And he cursed him for it. If he could rip that tri-colored head off with his bare hands, he truly would. He wanted him to suffer, to beat him until he was nothing but mush. He wanted to kill that Pharaoh as soon as time allowed it.
But doing so would hurt his daughter in ways that could never be healed...
He was torn in two...
His daughter...
Or his desire...
He could not choose between the two...
But there was one more option...
"I do not want you to see him again."
There. He had said it. The neutral answer. The third option. His daughter would be in pain. But at least it would be a lighter one.
The Princess gazed at her father, surprised. But soon, her surprised had died down, replaced by a look of understanding and compassion, much to her father's relief.
But she was not finished...
"Father..."
He looked up upon hearing the meek call of his daughter. He watched quietly as her pretty face was embodying the look of pure hope.
"I will stay away." She said, clasping her hands over her heart. "But I ask that you shall not harm him in return."
It was as though a shadow had draped over the palace
Leaving only the Emperor and his daughter in the light.
The silence that followed was just as thickening.
"But" blurted the Emperor "I-"
"Please Father." The Princess begged. "Prove to me that you are not the monster I have lately seen"
The Emperor's heart nearly stopped. "daughter, I-"
"Please Father." Tears were now streaming down her eyes.
There was a thickening silence that seemed to last forever.
A choice was to be made.
And it could be for the better...
Or for the worst...
* dies mercurii- ancient Roman for 'Wednesday'
This signifies the beginning of the story's drama (for me anyway...)