Hey guys! You'll really like this new chapter because it explains a lot of things!
I don't own YGO! or anything that obviously isn't mine.
Aren't y'all glad I updated? College has been going great! Every day is an adventure (though I'd almost prefer a nap. Math is exhausting!)
FUN FACT!: The heart shape that we love so much (3) can be dated back to Egypt, and it did actually represent the heart and love and all of that goodness. So thank Egypt for Valentine's Day. Just kidding!
With that, please enjoy (I should be writing a paper for class, you know...)
Akefia walked through the desert, his face caked with dirt, with smalls runs on his cheeks from his tears. Everyone was gone, in just one night! His mother, his father, everyone he held dear! All because of the damned king who supposedly brought peace to the realm!
"Why did they do that, mommy?" He asked himself repeatedly, his small hands shivering in sadness and rage. How could everything be turned upside down so suddenly?
He resettled his small pack of belongings and what little food he had reserved for himself. He couldn't go back to Kul Elna now because he would die, but he didn't know if he would survive anyway. All he did know was that he would get his revenge someday, no matter how he did it!
Days passed, and his needs for survival depleted further and further.
One day, near the time when Ra began retreating into the west, Akefia collapsed, too tired to carry on.
"I can't die... Not when I still have to avenge my village." He whispered hoarsely, his mind determined. As he lay there, he wondered if he would be able to move ever again while thinking about his parents.
His mother was a small-time magic user, a beautiful woman who helped the sick and injured in the village. She gave Akefia his wide, brown eyes and his sense of mischief. He didn't inherit any magic skills, but she had always said the magic was passed on to daughters in her bloodline.
His father was a tall, strong man who believed in protecting his young family above all else. Akefia had inherited his particular color of tan skin and shaggy white hair. Akefia didn't exactly know what his father did during the day, but Akefia always got to play with him when he returned.
And now they are gone, thanks to the pharaoh.
Akefia closed his eyes to welcome the sleep on the edge of his mind.
"Help me!" He heard a girl scream. Akefia at first believed it to be a mere illusion or memory from that night and continued to doze.
"Shut up, little girl! The pharaoh's court ordered us to leave you here! No one can help you!" A man shouted, and Akefia could hear the distressed wails of the little girl grow louder. Akefia snapped his eyes open and painfully got himself to sit up.
Soon, the only voice he could hear was the little girl's.
Akefia dragged himself up and walked towards the sound.
When he crested a sand dune, he looked down and saw a mop of black hair curled up in the sand at the base. Akefia carefully slid down the dune so he could reach her quickly, but ended up being too tired and tumbled after his knee buckled.
Once he stopped, he began crawling towards the girl. She heard him and looked up with enchanting dark blue eyes. They widened and she unfurled herself to run the short distance to Akefia.
"Are you okay? How did you get out here?" She asked with a giant sniffle to draw up her sobs.
"I am... Akefia. My village was destroyed by the pharaoh... I... will get revenge..." Akefia breathed, his eyes shut in exhaustion and pain. The little girl stared down at him while processing his words. Akefia's eyes snapped open when he felt the mouth of a water skin pressed against his lips. He looked to the little girl to see a kind smile on her face.
"Don't worry. Those guys who dropped me here left me with some stuff. You can drink as much as you want." She offered, helping him sit up so he could drink and not choke. Akefia drank greedily, but made sure not to empty it. Water is too important to waste at that point and time.
"Thank you. Why did they drop you here, uh..." He trailed off and the girl giggled.
"Ebony. My name is Ebony."
Akefia thought the name perfect for her and blushed a little at her cuteness.
"My parents and I were living peacefully in Thebes when men just broke into our house claiming we were under arrest for treasonous acts. But all my parents were trying to do was protect me." Ebony explained, though her eyes leaked tears. Akefia scooted forward in interest. It sounded a lot like what had happened to him.
"Protect you from what?"
"Pharaoh proclaimed after the war when the Millennium Items were made that any and all monsters known to anyone should be reported so that they can be sealed away. I was born with a really powerful one and my parents knew that if it was sealed away, I would die. And now I still might die. They dropped me here because the Pharaoh couldn't bear to see a little girl sealed off. The crown Prince is my age, after all."
"How old are you?"
"I'm nine years old."
Akefia went into a slight silent pout. Ebony is two years older than he.
"The pharaoh ordered my village destroyed and sacrificed for some weird ritual. I'm the only survivor." Akefia said, deciding that he should probably give his story too. Ebony's face reverted to pity.
"That's terrible. The pharaoh hasn't really done well by us, has he?" Ebony whispered and Akefia glowered to the side.
"You've got that right. You sound really smart." Akefia addressed, and Ebony blushed.
"I took scribe lessons in secret." She admitted and Akefia sat back impressed.
At that moment, their lives revolved around each other, and around their plans to replace the pharaoh.
After wandering a few more days in the desert, a desert tribe of bandits found them and took them in. They were raised within that environment, their anger growing for the crown of Egypt because these bandits were exiled as well. Both learned how to fight, the many ways of trickery, and Ebony and Akefia grew closer to each other as the years went on.
...
"Ebony, why don't you ever use that monster inside of you? It could really help with our goal, you know." Akefia grumbled, taking Ebony by surprise one day during their noon meal. The desert bandits, thanks to the help of the two children they saved, found an oasis to reside at for a base. The oasis is within a day's riding distance of Thebes but out-of-the-way enough to serve as a hideout. Any trespassers are killed immediately.
"The monster inside of me is the cause of a lot of the pain in my life, be it because of the pharaoh or not. I don't know how to use it, and I don't think anyone could tell me how to use it. I don't want to hurt anyone. Especially you." Ebony admitted, looking away shyly.
Akefia tilted his head in concern.
"Why would you hurt me? I don't care about anyone here. The only one that matters is our goal." He sneered, spitting to the side. He couldn't see, but Ebony stared down sadly at the few meager blades of desert grass. Akefia didn't know anything about peace or forgetting a grudge. He was set to fulfill everything he wanted in life.
"Akefia, what will you do if you do manage to take down the pharaoh? What happens then?" Ebony asked, a slight edge in her voice.
"I'll rule this world. No one will dare go against my regime!" Akefia growled in answer but Ebony shook her head.
"That's not what I meant! Don't you want to have a family?" there was silence and Ebony believed she had said too much. Now Akefia would know how much she wanted to settle down with him.
"A family would slow me down and distract me. I will choose a child I see fit and train him to take over when I leave this world." He responded calmly, obviously not catching what Ebony had really stated.
"I... I-I see. That makes sense. Akefia, where do you think I will go when you take over?" She inquired, trying a different approach.
"Wherever you want. You'll be the freest person in the world Ebony. You'll have everything you want." Akefia answered with a smile, a rare genuine smile that only came out for her. As much as Ebony loves that smile, she shakes her head once more and tears leak from her eyes.
"All I want is you!" Ebony exclaimed, but clapped her hands over her mouth afterwards. Akefia stared at her with a blank expression before he gently pried her hands away and kissed her.
This was the beginning of their physical relationship, at the ages of 17 and 15.
Akefia thought back to all of the times Ebony held back and soothed him. How he had taken her presence for granted and ignored her when he was furthering his conquest...
"Ebony, you must help me! What made you think that we could have hoped to think about not getting revenge! Your soft heart let them get you, and now you're gone!" He yelled into the night, tears streaming down his face and dripping to the desert sand.
Akefia, who had never considered it before Ebony got killed, fell in love with her. She had been the only reason it had taken him so long to finally deliver his devastating strike to the empire of Egypt... But he couldn't condemn himself for it.
For now, that love turned to a crazed madness and desire for blood.
"Akefia..." The wind whispered sadly and the bandit king snapped his head up and listened. Before his eyes, light bloomed like a gorgeous lotus bloom. Ebony appeared floating above him in a startling bright vision.
"Ebony!" He choked, not able to move in his awe. Her expression was one of somber and serious determination.
"Akefia, I am sorry I have failed you. Now all I wish is for you to be safe and happy. I don't want you to do anything that might hurt you even more. Please, take my creature as your own. He is of great power, and he is a part of me. I'll always be with you Akefia. I love you." She said softly, her gaze not shifting one moment from his.
"Ebony, wait, don't go!" Akefia pleaded when she crossed her arms, closed her eyes and began to fade away and be replaced by another figure. This creature had the head and torso of a man and a snake for a lower body.
"Please take care of him, Diabound." Ebony's voice whispered faintly and the creature jerked his head down and stared at Akefia before hastening towards him.
Diabound flew into Akefia before the thief could do anything about it. As the monster joined into Akefia's soul, it grew mightier with the dark power of Akefia's hatred.
"I swear Ebony... I will kill them all. You have given me the means to finally begin!" Akefia shouted, and began to laugh furiously with tears continuing their course down his face.
"Master Akefia, King of Thieves..." A hooded man drawled from atop his grey stallion. A group of men waited on their horses behind him. Akefia turned and glared at them venomously.
"That glare is fantastic. You are the one we were sent to find." The man laughed and jumped from his horse. Akefia stood fully and waited for the man to elaborate.
"You must be wondering who we are by now? It's only natural, after all." The man continued.
"If you do not get to the point, I will kill you. I am not one for distractions." Akefia stated sharply. The man stopped in front of him and lifted his hood from his head. Akefia's eyes narrowed at the blood red eyes that met him.
"I am Korket, as disciple of Set, the god of wrath and chaos, murderer of Osiris. You are his prophesied incarnation, Akefia. You will kill the pharaoh, just as Set did eons ago." The man introduced, the chaos of man's sins reflecting in his eyes. Akefia wanted to laugh, but found that he couldn't.
"I do what I want. I will get my revenge for my own reasons." Akefia snarled, turning away.
"Ah, but that is what you should do. By no means are you bound to any of Set's wishes. However, myself and these gentlemen behind me are. And we have been told to assist you flawlessly in your plan to overthrow the greatest power of Egypt. Wouldn't you like it to be perfect? After all, they just took away the only woman you ever learned to love..." Korket explained lightly and poignantly, and Akefia stopped and glowered at him, calculating every inch of the man before him.
Nothing in Korket's stance told Akefia that he was lying. Akefia put his hands on his hips and grinned, only his eyes showing the fire of malice in his eyes.
"That sounds dandy, as my former crew lost their usefulness... But I will warn you once: Get in my way and I will kill you." Akefia growled, his gaze boring into Korket's. Korket smirked and bowed almost mockingly.
"Consider us warned. What do you wish we servants of Set to do first, master?" Korket inquired, and Akefia turned towards the direction of the sun, rising at last after Ra's long nightly battle. Despite Korket's question, Akefia ignored everything around him and stared into the eastern sky. Ebony's radiant image showed in his mind's eye.
"Pharaoh, I will take away everything you love. Suffer!" He hissed quietly but with all of the fierceness in the world.
"Augh!" Atem yelped as he sat bolt upright in bed. Ra was beginning to rise and Atem gripped the sheets as cold sweat leaked down his face. He gasped for breath as if he had been running for miles. Bali stirred beside him and put a concerned hand on his arm.
"Atem, are you alright?" She asked worriedly but Atem swallowed and forced a small smile.
"Just a strange dream, nothing more. Keep resting, my love." He soothed, and Bali's eyelids fluttered closed after giving him a small smile. Atem got up and gt ready for the day ahead, dread in the pit of his stomach.
"Something is wrong... Someone is coming for me..." He mumbled, putting a hand to his head and distractedly walking out of his chambers.
Oh Atem, if you only knew!
The disciples of Set are something I just thought up because Set is the evil god and I mean... hello, it's perfect!
Ah, the tragic love story of Akefia and Ebony... That's what truly can make a man be full of hate and madness, honestly.
Please review! There's a lot of things I'm going to be doing but I need motivation to keep writing and paying attention to this story. Guess what? You guys give me that motivation! Let's get cooking with the gas so I can charge to the finish (which we're kinda close, if you haven't noticed). Any constructive criticism, ideas, praise, anything. I'm a greedy snob, I know, but hey. You guys are great. I'm just a lowly writer. Praise doesn't come much from anyone but you guys. So please. Pity me and what I've become.
Review.