Hey y'all, I'm finally back! College has been kick-butt, in more ways than one! I've been busy, but now I've gotten enough inspiration to write! Being friend-zoned really cut me for a little bit, but I'm seriously okay now. Plenty of good-looking, manly fish in the sea.
FUN FACT!: Just a fun little thing for you about when I was first coming up with the concept for this story. Bali was actually going to be from Victorian England for awhile. But I decided against it because, well, I wanted a heroine that would reflect Indiana Jones, in a way. Plus Bali is way too American. Which makes me think I could've made her a rough 'n' tough woman in the Old West, but whatever. Bali is who she is, and I like her that way!
I don't own anything that obviously isn't mine. Like YGO!
Please enjoy!
"They're going to be here any day now, Bali. I have no idea what they're waiting for." Seshat announced, hands on hips while staring at Bali laying on her back.
"I wish they'd just decide already. I mean, childbirth doesn't sound fun but I hate this state of limbo." Bali replied with a groan.
"Trust me, I'm not too keen on it either." Atem stated from the entrance to the room. Bali shifted her head around to glare and roll her eyes at him.
"You have nothing to worry about, love. I'm the one going through hell, not you." She retorted blandly. Atem put his hands up defensively.
"I'm not even going to try and argue with that. I just can't wait for our family, that's all."
"Good. They'll be here soon, I promise. I won't let them stay any longer than necessary." Bali growled, poking her giant stomach with a pout. Atem strode to her and kissed her on the cheek. A commotion came from the hall and the monarchs turned their attention to the entrance of the room.
"My pharaoh! It's terrible, absolutely horrible!" Isis cried, running into the room followed by the rest of the guardians.
"What?" Atem asked, and Bali lifted her head in wonder and worry.
"There are mutilated cats strung all around Thebes and there are three corpses stuck on poles near the entrance to the palace!" Mahad answered, paler than usual as he thought about the condition of those bodies.
"Who are the three?"
"They are the men who captured and brought Ebony to me. This may be Akefia's fault. Yesterday, we finally found the old rogue hideout only to find that every man there was slaughtered. The only man we haven't found is Akefia, the Thief King." Seth elaborated, gritting his teeth. When he set his sights on those men he knew immediately what had happened. But nothing explained the blasphemous crime of the mutilated cats.
"Given the timing I'm going to assume they're connected. Someone is trying to make a statement." Bali commented, and everyone jumped and looked at her in surprise.
"What, did you forget I'm here too?!" Bali asked incredulously.
"You shouldn't trouble yourself over this, Bali." Atem muttered for only her to hear, but she shoved him away.
"I'm pregnant, not braindead! I can't go off gallivanting but I can help solve things!" She yelled furiously, causing the whole group to flinch collectively.
"I know, I'm sorry. I just thought that you would want rest. But you're absolutely right. The major suspect is Akefia. Be it covertly or otherwise, find him as quickly as possible! A crime of this magnitude cannot go unpunished!" Atem ordered fiercely, waving his hand out in grandeur. His guardians all bowed hurriedly and rushed away. Atem turned back to his queen and knelt down to be at eye level with her.
"Hopefully we can get this incident safely taken care of. If you need any more details you know who to ask. If you get any new ideas, don't hesitate to call." Atem said seriously. Bali nodded with that same seriousness.
"I'll be thinking over it. Just don't do anything too drastic." Bali replied, and both smiled before Atem left to go take care of his own duties. Bali sighed once she was alone.
"Femi, Sefu, why can't you come out sooner? I have a feeling that this 'Crossroads in Time' is going to be a bad thing, and that it is now just beginning."
Priest Seth went directly to visit the woman with pale skin and white hair.
"There's something so familiar about you, but I can't remember exactly who you are..." He muttered, watching her sleeping form. She had yet to wake because of her utter exhaustion. But now she stirred, and Seth knelt down close to listen to her quiet words.
"Seth, is that you?" She asked weakly and Seth's eyes widened. He knew that voice and remembered her suddenly and clearly.
"Kisara, is it really you? Why now after all this time?" Seth questioned rapidly, clutching the Millennium Rod.
"I need..." She trailed off, still half-asleep.
"What? What do you need?!"
"Uh..." Kisara drifted off once more, and she fell to slumber again. Seth pounded the ground with his fist in frustration, looking to the side with clenched teeth.
"Why isn't there anything I can do?" He questioned himself, standing and leaving the room while pondering Kisara's presence. As Seth left the room, a pair of eyes scrutinized him from the shadows.
"Seth, why is this woman so important to you? What secrets does she possess?" He questioned in a whisper, stepping forward and looking down on the girl. His one good eye widened when Kisara managed to mutter one final word:
"... Danger..."
...
When Seth left, he made for the outdoor training areas, for he felt that if he trained he would feel better and clear his head. He chose one of many swords in the nearby armory and tested its weight. He began a few simple exercises. Before he got into more advanced sword dances, Bali interrupted him.
"Lovely day for some practice, right?" She called, and Seth jumped ever so slightly because he was so tense. He drops to one knee and bows his head.
"It is, my lady." He answers, only to have Bali snort.
"Please, you don't have to do that crap with me. We've known each other far too long for that. What say you we go around?" She asks, drawing up her own sword. Seth stood with an incredulous look.
"You must be joking, my queen! You are due at any moment!" He argues and Bali snorts.
"I finally got away from everyone and now I've got you hounding me? Anyway, I'll be fine. I'm going to stay right here in this spot while you have the toughest time with my new fighting ability." Bali taunted, effectively getting on Seth's nerves and jabbing at his pride.
"Fine, I accept your challenge then. You may make the first move."
"Such a gentleman. En guarde!" She yells, letting her sword go. While Seth is first confused by her little flourish of French, the sword floats forward and glows orange.
The sword lunges towards his face, causing him to snap out of his confusion and dodge quickly and sharply to the side. Soon, he is completely engrossed in a sword fight with Bali, without Bali being in danger at all. After a few rounds of Seth beating his frustration away, Bali called her sword back and ended the fight.
"Giving up already, my Queen?" Seth taunted with a smirk, only to have Bali turn it back on him.
"Just go talk to her. She's awake and seems like a nice girl. She told me she's been trying to find you for awhile now. Better not keep her waiting any longer now that all of your frustration is let out." Bali informed, and left Seth standing with a strange gawp. By the time he regained his composure, Bali had rounded the corner the opposite way and out of his range of protest. And much to his chagrin, he felt grateful for the stress relief Bali had given him. He hated it when Bali was right, and this time is no different.
But Kisara came to the forefront of his mind and he basically ran to her room to finally get his questions answered.
Bali started her day rather well, despite the fact that her children still refused to remove themselves.
"This is ridiculous. I'm gonna take a walk. It's healthy." Bali grumbled, carefully sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge of her bed. Looking around to make sure no one was going to sound the alarm, she got going on her walk with a simple smile on her face.
"Why have I never thought of going for a walk when no one is watching me for my nap?" She questioned herself, only to have the answer shot back to her by a mental voice.
"Because you are usually more tired than you let on." it echoed, and Bali blew strand of hair from her face in exasperation.
But as she passed a certain room that was supposed to be empty, there was a groan and sounds of movement from inside. The guard posted outside the door was stock still in nervous attention as Bali turned her head towards him.
"Do we have a guest in there? It's okay if you're under orders not to tell, just inform me if they're a prisoner or something." Bali told him with a friendly shrug. The guard swallowed with difficulty.
"Sh-she is a guest of Priest Seth, my Queen. I am here to protect her." He stumbled and Bali pat his shoulder.
"Good job. I have a feeling Seth doesn't want my Pharaoh to know of our little guest here, but that doesn't mean anything to me. Don't worry about Priest Seth. If he gives you any trouble about this, I will take care of it, my honor as your Queen." Bali stated, flashing him an amiable smile. The guard relaxed automatically.
"Thank you my Queen. You are gracious."
"I know. Now let's see here..." Bali trailed off, entering the room slowly and taking in the sight. There wasn't much to it, just the bare essentials. Though there was a beautiful vase of fresh flowers that made Bali snicker.
"Seth, you must like this person... Oh, excuse me!" Bali apologized, a grin spreading on her face as she saw that there was someone cowering under the blanket, staring at her with wide eyes.
"Don't be shy, I promise I only yell at my husband." Bali joked, but nothing seemed to change.
"Being Queen does not make me evil. What's your name? I'm Bali. If you don't mind, I'm going to sit down. These two are really kind of heavy." Bali said, sitting on the bed next to the woman who was around her own age. The beautiful girl slowly dropped the sheet and her blue eyes widened.
"You are having twins?" She asked meekly, though the glint of fascination glowed in her eyes. Bali nodded.
"A boy and a girl. But I'll tell you what, they'll be far more fascinating when they decide to come into the world." Bali snorted, poking her stomach with irritation. Bali finally got a giggle out of the woman.
"My name is Kisara. Seth- Priest Seth saved my life and he was so kind to me when others were not. I came to warn him of danger and- oh... ah..." Kisara started, but grew embarrassed, her cheeks glowing red. Bali laughed.
"And you just plain wanted to see him again. No worries, I'm good at keeping secrets, especially from him. We're pretty good friends, though at one point we could have happily murdered each other." Bali commented, causing Kisara to gasp and bring her hands up to her mouth.
"That's terrible! But I suppose you get along now. I know this may seem a little personal of me, but... How did you and the Pharaoh fall in love?" Kisara asked shyly, twiddling with a strand of her long, pure white hair. Bali thought back.
"Hmm... Well, from the talks I've had with him, he definitely fell in love with me before I did him. Both of us denied it when we individually discovered our feelings for each other, but everything turned out well. It's rather hilarious, really..." Bali began, and proceeded to tell Kisara about everything (leaving out some parts about being from another time, of course). By the time Bali had finished, an hour had passed and both Bali and Kisara felt a mutual kinship for each other, having traded life stories and knowing loneliness from experience, and from being two pale people in a mostly tan society.
"Why don't you stay here and eat; I'll send Seth your way. If he's treating you so nicely and you have the history you say you do, he must be dying to talk to you." Bali suggested, hauling herself up and making her way out.
"Thank you Queen Bali! For everything, it really helps to have yet another kind friend in this place." Kisara thanked, bowing her head slightly.
"Don't mention it. I like having new friends just as much as the next person. I'd better go though, I bet the palace servants are squealing because I've wandered off somewhere. I should be able to fend them off long enough to get Seth to you. see you later!" Bali chirped, hands on stomach and a careful stride afoot.
...
Kisara looked up from the last of her dinner plate to see a heavily breathing Priest Seth. There was a pause between the two as they stared each other down before Seth genuinely smiled.
"Kisara, I have missed you." He admitted quietly, only to have thin arms thrown around his neck in a strong hug.
"I missed you too, Seth."
Around the corner, the ever so sneaky Bali had managed to keep herself hidden while watching the interaction. She began to turn and leave before her companion stopped her teasingly.
"You're going to leave now? I thought you'd want to watch the whole show." Atem chided, but Bali looped her arm into his and dragged him off with her, so they could walk in the glow of the setting sun and admire the starlight.
Seth and Kisara, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Mature, right? But it's adorable! unfortunately, stuff gets more serious next chapter, as the next events will be extremely familiar.
Please review, you know the spiel. Just do it, please. (I added the please cuz I don't wanna get sued by Nike).