Few Author's notes:
1. Thank you for comments that did not consist of cursing me for not liking fictional character.
2. Anzu's gentle side will be more evident in this one, even though I will still claim that she is behaving according to what actually happens to her.
3. If you spot any typos, please, let me know, because I'm blind as a bat and cannot see them, apparently.
Enjoy!
The silence that fell was deafening.
Anzu knew immediately that it was not wise to say this name in the face of the prince. But the deed was done. And now all that was left was waiting for the fall out.
And then, the prince started laughing.
Anzu looked at Yugi in fear.
Then, she looked at the rest of the knights. They looked as uncomfortable and unsure as Anzu and Yugi did.
The prince stopped laughing.
"Oh. That is precious. I thought they will come up with something more... fitting." Said the prince. In Anzu's opinion, his grin fitted the title all too well.
"Well, the Prince of Darkness seems a little too much." Mused the tall man with brown skin and brown hair, the one standing the closest to the prince. The prince just smirked and gestured everybody to go back to their seats. Without a word, everyone obeyed.
Knowing the identity of the invaders did nothing to calm Anzu. There must be a reason the man was called mad. Now when she thought about it, she didn't know it, precisely. They all heard, as did the whole kingdom, that the prince, the only son of king Aknamkanon was ruthless and violent, so his father banished him from the palace under the protection of his trusted knights, and that the prince committed suicide soon after. Considering that he was sitting now at their table listening to the conversations his knights were making, it couldn't be true. But what was he doing all these years? She heard that he died three or four years ago.
And now, he came back.
And his actions did not speak against his reputation.
Anzu turned towards her brother. Just as she suspected, he was sitting in silence, not touching his food, as if afraid of any punishment that could be executed on him if he did. She immediately took his hand into her own and gave him a gentle squeeze, forcing an encouraging smile on her face.
He gave her a little smile, but did not start to eat.
Anzu could understand why. They usually ate after their duties were done, in the privacy of the kitchen, having only each other for company. True, there was Arkana, but at least he was the evil they knew. But these people? They were terrifying and unpredictable.
Even if they seemed pretty normal at the moment.
"Well, I should take some food with me, in case our huntsman wakes up. " Said the blond woman sitting in front of Anzu. The man with brown hair nodded in agreement.
"We must refrain from harming anyone as long as it is not necessary." Said the man.
Oh, that's rich.
But she let her tongue speak once before and she learned her lesson. She swallowed the comment to that particular statement and turned once again towards Yugi.
"Try to eat." She whispered.
He shook his head.
It may be our last meal for all we know.
Anzu banished the thought from her mind. She was determined to live. She survived Arkana. True, the help that came was not what she dreamed of, but she was still alive. And she had Yugi to protect. Her lovely, kind, younger brother whose courage saved them from Mad Prince's rage. The question 'for how long' was to remain unanswered.
Anzu spent the rest if the meal in silence, eating hesitatingly, but eating.
The knights were joking among themselves now, but Anzu refused to listen in. She had to tolerate them and convince them not to kill her and Yugi, but she did not have to see them as plain guests, for they were not.
The prince was worryingly silent.
When Anzu finally dared to look at him, he wasn't looking at anyone in particular, apparently lost in his thoughts. Maybe, if his features were not marred with evil within, he might look the part of the Prince from the tale. His eyes, when they no longer held the menace and force, looked aesthetically pleasing, and his face, while devoid of the evil intent could be described as handsome.
But there was a demon hidden within.
Not wanting to be caught staring, Anzu moved her glance to the rest of the knights. They all looked young, and if they were indeed Mad Prince's troops, they were but a few.
What did they want from the house? What were they doing here?
No one was speaking to her or Yugi, and that was a small blessing. The less attention of the prince was on them, the better, but Anzu noticed that while their talk seemed to be joyous and genuine, they were not talking about their purpose at all, carefully choosing words, keeping themselves in check in case somebody said too much.
Finally, the meal was over.
"We thank you, our hospitable hosts." Said the prince, seemingly out of the blue. But Anzu noticed the small gestures the brown-haired man made before. " We need to talk for a little while and we wouldn't want to keep you awake. Rest." Even though the words were civil, the tone was not. It was commanding and the 'rest' word held a note of threat.
Anzu looked into those red eyes, so frightening when focused on her, and saw the unspoken promise of consequences they would face if they refused to go.
She stood up taking Yugi with her, and bowed.
A prince was a prince, and insulting this one could be lethal.
"Let us just take the dishes" Said Yugi, and soon both of them were out of the dining room.
When they entered the kitchen, Anzu let out the breath she was holding.
"Scary, aren't they?" She asked, forcing herself to sound joking instead of afraid.
"They haven't killed us yet, so I guess it is not that bad." Said Yugi, but he also didn't sound so sure.
They cleaned the dishes and not even trying to eavesdrop, they went to their mother's room.
When they were both lying down on mother's bed Anzu finally felt the tears pool in her eyes.
She hugged Yugi, giving into her emotions, the fear she felt when Yugi spoke to the prince, the grief, the anger, everything left her with streams of the tears running down her cheeks.
"I thought I'm going to lose you..." She whispered, at last getting in touch with her emotions. " When Arkana fell, I was so, so scared, that you will be next." She almost missed the feeling of Yugi's own tears sinking into her dress.
"I was so afraid! But we were almost free, I didn't want to die." He replied, his voice shaking and apologetic, as if he was waiting for her to reprimand him.
"You don't have to justify yourself. Oh, gods, Yugi, if it weren't for you..." She said, kissing her brother's forehead. Yes, if it wasn't for Yugi. Oh, what have they done to deserve one threat after another?
"Well, Anzu, you were very brave as well! I negotiated with the prince, you actually shouted at him!" Said Yugi, and Anzu could feel his smile. Involuntarily, her lips formed a smile of her own.
"I had to protect you somehow. I am older, remember?" She replied, and a new feeling entered her heart. It was happiness. They were still here, they were together. And Arkana was not. True, she did not know whether they will live to see the next day, but they were together. They were still together, and at least for now, out of the harm's way.
"I don't know what is waiting for us, Yugi. But we are going to make it." She said, channeling all of the determination she could muster into this one sentence. Yugi beamed at her and nodded his head.
Yes. They are going to survive.
"And now, go to sleep." She ordered. Yugi was exhausted, scared and possibly hungry, even if his body refused to admit it. He could use some sleep.
"And what about you? Aren't you going to stay with me?" He asked, obediently putting his head on the pillow.
"Not tonight. I do not trust them, not after they loudly said that they don't want any witnesses. I will keep watch outside the door. Just in case. So you can sleep safely." She said, ignoring her own need of sleep.
"All right. But in the morning, we will exchange places - you will go to sleep and I will go around house so you could rest." Yugi's tone left no room for protests, so Anzu refrained from them. She gave her brother one last fond look, and went into the corridor.
"Goodnight, Yugi."
The lack of an answer informed her, that Yugi was already asleep.
She closed the doors and came face to face with someone.
Stopping herself from screaming, she covered the door with her body.
"Sorry for startling you." Said the person, and when Anzu's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out the silhouette of a girl, shorter than her. When the girl approached, Anzu recognized her, as the one with brown hair that looked so ashamed during the meal.
The girl raised her hand in placating gesture.
"What are you doing here?" Asked Anzu, trying to sound politely curious, not downright terrified. At that, the girl chuckled.
"And you?"
"I am making sure that you won't murder us in our sleep." Replied Anzu, almost immediately regretting her bluntness.
"You see, I'm here to make sure you won't murder us in our sleep." Replied the girl with disarming smile and Anzu let out a shocked laugh.
Soon, the girl joined her. They both sat down opposite to each other, both hugging their knees to their chests.
"My name is Mana." Said the girl, as if being on watch for two opposite sides made them friends. Maybe it did. It certainly proved that the knights were as wary of their two as they were of the knights.
"Mine is Anzu." She replied and shook the hand Mana extended to her.
"Since we are sitting here for next three hours or so, we can at least talk." Offered Mana, the smile still firmly on her face.
"I don't think we have many topics to discuss, unless you want to talk about previous happenings." Anzu said, perfectly aware that it wasn't what any of them wanted to do. And true enough, Mana's smile immediately disappeared.
For some reason, Anzu believed that the girl's sadness was genuine. She felt a sliver of guilt cross her mind.
"But we can talk about books, if you want. That's a good way to escape reality." She offered, trying to cheer the girl up.
"With pleasure" Answered Mana, a grateful smile now making its way on her lips.
/
Yugi couldn't sleep. And when he finally fell asleep his dreams were filled with screams and blood, and most importantly- Arkana.
He woke up after about two hours covered in sweat, with a firm decision to not fall asleep again. He decided to put Anzu to sleep then. Maybe at least his sister would benefit from not having to wake up with the sun.
When he opened the door he was welcomed with a sight of Anzu dozing off with her back to the wall next to the door. On the other side of the corridor, the brown-haired girl, the one that didn't meet Yugi's eyes yesterday, was sleeping soundly as well.
He kneeled next to Anzu and shook her arm gently.
"Whaat?" She yawned.
"Go to bed. I'll take it from here." He said, and Anzu nodded, only half-awake. But she went to bed without arguing.
Yugi took her place by the door.
The girl looked asleep.
Nothing happened for a while.
Soon, his eyes began to shut themselves on their own accord.
And then he heard it.
Some strange noise was coming from the garden.
Casting the last glance on the sleeping girl, as quietly as he could Yugi started his journey to the garden. The girl didn't seem to be a threat, since she had no weapon on her and was fast asleep.
Strange noises from the garden were something else.
He decided to take the quickest route, through the kitchen.
Trying the hardest he could to remain quiet, he opened the door leading to the garden and went outside.
The sun was barely signalizing its presence on the East. The air was cold and hostile, even if not exactly strong. And there was something in front of the house.
Now that Yugi was closer, it sounded like a shovel.
He concealed himself behind the nearest bush and squinted, trying to see in the semi-darkness. True enough, there was someone digging in his yard.
What shall he do?
Stop them?
Ask them what were they doing?
"Why are you hiding in the shadows?" Yugi recognized the voice immediately. Oh, gods. The prince. Did he anger him? Did he commit some kind of trespass?
"I am sorry, Your Highness. I came to investigate the noise." He answered, standing up and hoping that it would be enough.
"Is your curiosity satisfied?" A shiver run down Yugi's spine. The voice, even when calm, held some menace within. And yet, he wanted to know.
"Not entirely. Can I ask, what are you doing, My Prince?" At that, the prince stilled.
"I am not anyone's prince, not yet. " The reply only confused Yugi, but he did not dare ask further. "I lost the title when they bested me. " continued the prince, as if hearing the unspoken question. " I shall prove to be worthy of both title, and my name. Till then, my lord will do." this time Yugi could almost hear the smile that followed the last sentence. So the prince was indeed mad.
"As for what I am doing. I am paying for my actions."
That explains nothing.
Yugi gathered all of his courage and started to approach the prince.
"I would advise you not to." Even though spoken by this regal, dreadful voice, this sentence did not carry any evil will with it. To Yugi's amazement, it truly sounded just like an advice. He stopped in front of the prince and looked down the hole in the ground that the prince produced.
In the hole laid Arkana and his head.
Arkana's outfit was covered in blood. But his face was almost peaceful, and if it weren't for the fact that the head was severed from the body, Yugi would swear that his previous care-taker was asleep. Paradoxically, the man looked almost at ease.
Still, Yugi felt weak looking at the corpse this close. Soon it was covered with soil, since the prince went back to his ministrations.
Yugi could recall the younger, joyful Arkana from the time when the mother was still alive. He liked the man. He never thought of him as a father, but he considered him family. He missed him when the man was gone, and he'd prepared cake with Anzu for Arkana's birthday.
And now, few years later, he was standing by his early grave, conversing with Arkana's killer and feeling... relieved.
A pang of self-hatred entered Yugi's heart.
No one deserved to die.
Even Arkana.
To think that had he not spoken, him and Anzu would be lying here as well...
"Would you bury as too, had we not convince you otherwise, my lord?" He asked, not really intending the prince to hear. Panicked, he jerked his head to look at the man, apology ready on his lips. He was welcomed with a grim smile.
"Yes." And then, as if not aware of what this one word did to Yugi, the prince turned to the East and frowned.
" You will accompany me back to the house now." He said as he covered Arkana with the last part of soil.
Yugi certainly knew better than to argue. But he did look to the East, wondering what made the prince turn back. The only thing that changed was the sun, now rising proudly, bathing the garden in subtle light.
So the prince disliked the sun. Yet, another mystery Yugi will never solve, for he would not dare to ask.
They entered the kitchen.
"You and your sister are not to leave the house unaccompanied." Ordered the Mad Prince as he opened the door leading to the main hall. "Ah! Mana. Good day." When Yugi followed him he was greeted with the sight of the girl he left sleeping in front of Anzu's door, scrubbing the blood off the floor.
"Good morning, my prince!" Answered the girl, Mana, apparently, smiling at the prince as if he was her best friend.
"I shall leave our host in your hands." And with that, he climbed the stairs and disappeared in the hall on the first floor.
"Well." Yugi snapped his attention back to the girl, the tension leaving his shoulders. He never even noticed, how stressed he was in the prince's presence. The girl didn't look so threatening.
"Sorry that we didn't clean it up earlier. But, you know, we were tired and actually awful things happened yesterday, so it slipped my mind." She said, smiling at him. " As you heard, my name is Mana. And I've met your sister, Anzu, but I don't know your name."
Yugi considered for a moment. Then, he kneeled next to her.
"And I'm Yugi. Nice to meet you." And it was true, he decided. Mana seemed aware that what happened yesterday was... Not something you could just shake off in a moment. But she seemed to be bent on creating civil relations. "I should help you." He offered, feeling that he possibly wasn't ready to just scrub away the evidence of yesterday, but it was his house, his responsibility.
Mana seemed to notice that, because she shook her head. "Don't do that to yourself, Yugi. I will manage. If not for the prince's order, I would send you away so you wouldn't have to look at it. You both have seen enough." She said, and Yugi could feel compassion in her voice. But he did not look into her eyes. He was not quite prepared to befriend people who changed his whole life in one night and brought another kind of fear to replace the one they destroyed.
So Yugi just nodded his head, eyes glued to the nearest splat of blood.
" Yugi." This time, Mana's tone was serious. That got Yugi's attention" I cannot explain to you why the thing happened the way they did, it is too early for that, but trust me - we wouldn't allow it if it wasn't for the best. We trust our prince, and maybe soon enough, you will as well. There is more going on than you think and we are here for a reason, that I can tell you."
For a moment, Yugi didn't know what to say. He felt anger at her words, but not at her personally, so he held his tongue. He also didn't want to insult the prince in front of his knights, yet he could not voice his assurance that he certainly will trust the prince, because he didn't want to trust the man.
Mana might be nice, the rest of the knights also, but they were another pressuring presence in Yugi and Anzu's lives. From one cage they run into another one. So Yugi truly didn't think that anyone could blame him for wishing the intruders to just go and leave them alone.
"Maybe you are right. For now, I think we will have to try and learn how to live without Arkana but with you instead." He finally said.
"I promise you, we are much nicer than we let on and we will be gone sooner or later. Just you see, you will miss us when we go." Here, Mana winked at Yugi, but her face fell when she saw Yugi's lack of enthusiasm. "Sorry. I am awful at dealing with heavy stuff so I always try to make people laugh. And then people call me inconsiderate." She explained and her pout finally got through Yugi's defenses.
"Well, you kind of are." He replied, faint smile on his face. That seemed enough.
"Oi! Yugi, you all right!?"
Yugi jumped to his feet and turned towards the new voice. Joey!
There he was, standing on the stairs, the blonde lady behind him like a guardian. Not bothering with her, Yugi ran to his friend hugged him as hard as he could. "Thank gods, nothing happened to you!" He shouted.
"Yea, nothing except for that woman knocking me out after they interviewed me." Here Joey gestured at the blonde, who ignored him.
"How did you get here?" Just after asking this question, Yugi looked out of the window. "You know what? Tell me while we are on the way to town. I need to buy some things for breakfast since there are more of us. "
And they both started to the door, when they were stopped by the blonde.
"You will certainly not mind that we will tag along?" She asked, gesturing Mana to join her.
Oh.
No privacy.
No way of escaping.
The history likes to repeat itself.
Now that the prince was here, who will save them from the prince?