(LP - Life Points)
I start this chapter with a few moves left in their game as I never ad interest in the card game itself. It's always been the story that drew me to this anime.
Ancient Past
Chapter 3
Atem looked at the cards in his hand, then down at the ones on the field. Kage had just released the Blue Eyes White Dragon and destroyed his Ancient Elf, leaving him with 50 LP.
"Why don't you just give up and save yourself the humiliation, Atem."
"It would be more humiliating if I quit." he muttered, keeping his gaze on the cards in his hands to show the brother that his taunting was not distracting him in the least from what he wanted to get done. The brother merely scoffed, waving his hand dismissively and flashing another cruel grin in the prince's direction whether he was looking or not.
"Point taken but I have 500 LP while you have 50 LP and I'm getting bored. Save me the trouble and give up."
"Never! I lay this card facedown and switch my Celtic Guardian into defense mode," Atem roared. Kage gave a small shrug, waving his hand slightly to urge his beast to attack.
"Whatever. Now, Blue Eyes, destroy Celtic Guardian." The mighty dragon reared back its head giving a loud scream as an energy ball formed. "White Lightning!"
"Not so fast!"
"WHAT?!" Atem flipped over the card he had placed last turn revealing a trap.
"I call upon the powers of the Dragon Capture Jar and with it hold your mighty Blue Eyes captive within it." A large brown jar appeared, the top popping open to draw in the power of the white beast before it.
"No, not my Blue Eyes," Kage growled deep in his throat as his dragon disappeared. "Well, Your Highness, you're better than I thought I suppose. However, one little stunt won't save you. Nobody has won their first duel here. Even now you are weakening from the mental strain."
'Grr.. he's right. But I have to hold out or I'm going to have to stay,' Atem thought, sweat pouring down his face. Kage drew a card and placed it on the field.
"I just need one more shot and it's over for you. To finish you off I call on the Dark Elf." A beautiful dark-haired elfin girl appeared in a dark purple robe. A more sinister version of the Mystical Elf. "Dark Elf, attack!" Atem's Celtic Guardian fell before her superior power. "Well, what are you going to do now? I know for a fact that you don't have any monsters whose attack power is over 2000 because I destroyed them all with my Blue Eyes." Atem growled and looked down at his hand. Nothing. Even if he drew a card it wouldn't help.
'What am I going to do? I-' His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a small glow. When he looked at his deck it disappeared. "Huh?" He lifted the card, eyes growing wide. He then looked up at Kage, an smirk tugging at his lips. "You played well."
"Huh?"
"But it looks like you lost." With that, he placed the card down and watched Kage's horrified expression as Atem's monster appear from a vortex behind him.
"The Dark Magician?! It can't be! How did you-"
"Dark Magician! Destroy the Dark Elf!" The mage lifted this staff, pointing it towards the frightened elf. "Dark Magic Attack!" There was a soft scream as the elf vanished from the field, leaving Kage with zero.
"No... How did you- That- That's not-" the brother grabbed his head, his pale blue eyes wide in shock and denial at what had just happened.
"Now, let me go! I beat your game," Atem demanded, throwing down the rest of the cards and pointing towards the broken brother.
"No one has every won their first game," Hikari gasped, a hand coming over her open mouth. Atem lowered his gaze slightly, glaring up at them with a fierce look.
"Now someone has."
The advisor grabbed the nearest guard by his shirt, pulling him in close, a look of terror glinting in his eyes. "Still no sign of him? Are you sure you've checked everywhere? The pharaoh is coming soon." The guards still had been searching for the young prince while his father was in a meeting with the pharaoh of Lower Egypt. The man in his grasp shook his head, begging the man to let him go so he could continue searching. Pleased with that sort of reasoning, the advisor released him. He grabbed his staff, slamming in into the floor to urge the nearby guards to run faster. Prince Mokoba watched on as the people around him scurried about, feeling bad for them.
"We have searched all of Egypt," one guard said, worry clear on his features. The advisor growled, shaking his fist and screaming at him to keep looking.
"Obviously not. You still haven't found him!"
Atem awoke on the balcony of his father's room, the night sky being the first thing he saw. Stars decorated the sky, showing him that it was possible that the whole thing might not have been too long for this realm. Sitting up, he looked around, realizing where he was. "I'm back." He stood, wobbling a bit before steadying himself. "How long have I been gone?" He then realized that the puzzle was gone from around his neck. He gasped and ran into his father's room to find it where it was before he had put it together. "Strange."
"Your Highness! There you are! Oh, thank Ra!" The advisor rushed in, checking him over. "Where have you been? Everyone's been searching high and low for you." Atem looked at him with dull eyes. It was a rare sight for him to see the advisor in such a flustered state. He was usually calm and collect, always finding some subtle way to annoy the young prince enough where nothing could be done to him. Atem was enjoying the view of seeing him upset.
"I don't know. I don't remember," he lied. There was no way he was going to tell him about the Shadow Realm. It was first a matter whether or not he would believe him and another if he was in on it with the Pharaoh.
"You don't remember?" Atem nodded. Looking around, the advisor let it drop, making sure no one of importance could hear them before ushering the prince out of the room. "Oh, well, we can worry about that later. You've been missing for awhile, Your Highness, but the pharaoh doesn't know. Now, we can pretend you were never missing and never tell your father. Unless... you would like to explain to him..."
"No, that won't be needed. I would prefer we kept this to ourselves," Atem answered quickly. He then glared at the guards who were at the door to the room. "Understand." They nodded, quickly bowing.
"The young prince of Lower Egypt wishes to see you, My Prince." Atem nodded, taking one last glance at the golden box before walking out.
Soon, the two rulers left the room walking into the throne room where Atem and Mokuba were talking. Instantly, the young boy brought his attention to his brother, a smile coming across his face. Other then Atem, the young prince did not feel comfortable with anyone else in the palace.
"Brother!" Mokuba ran to his brother's side, making sure to politely acknowledge the elder pharaoh. Seto rubbed Mokuba's head, causing the small boy to giggle.
"So, we'll just keep an eye out till then?"
"Yes, we will get them when the opportunity shows itself," Seto replied. The elder one nodded. "Come, Mokuba. We're leaving."
"Okay. I just want to say good-bye to Atem." Mokuba ran off. Meanwhile, the two pharaohs walked toward the exit.
"Mokuba?" Atem gave him a puzzled look, having been too far away to have heard what was just said.
"I'm leaving now, Atem. It was good to see you again. When are you ever going to visit us?" Atem smiled, a look of longing showing on his face. He knew he might never get the chance until he was Pharaoh himself to ever see his land.
"I don't know but I would love to see you and your brother's kingdom one day. Have a safe journey back."
"Thank you. Until next time, Atem." He hugged the teen, making the red-eyed prince feel better for it.
""Yes, next time and tell your brother I said good-bye as well."
"Okay." Atem watched him run out, sighing.
"At least he gets to see the world..." he murmured to himself. Atem wandered down the halls, not really paying attention to anything. Suddenly, he bumped into something soft. "Huh?"
"I'm sorry," came the quick reply.
'That voice' He looked up to meet a pair of blue eyes. "Miyu."
"Prince Atem." Upon realizing who it was, she blushed a deep shade of crimson. "I mean... Atem, where have you been? Everyone was looking for you. The royal advisor was in a panic."
"Was he now..." Miyu nodded, not realizing he was asking himself. He looked at her, studying her a moment.
"Miyu, my father doesn't know I was missing, does he?" She shook her head, loose strands of hair fluttering about.
"He was still with the other pharaoh I believe," she replied, fiddling with her bracelets. The prince nodded, a content look coming across his face.
"Good. That's all I need. Questions I wouldn't be able to answer. So, what have you been doing?" She was taken aback, motioning towards him as she spoke.
"Well, I was helping to look for you."
"What about now?" he asked, looking around to make sure no one close enough to hear them. Just a few guards on the other side of the hall.
"I haven't been told to do anything yet." Atem smiled, gesturing her to follow him. "Huh?" She tilted her head in confusion, an amused look coming across her face.
Atme's father bowed towards Seto and his brother in respect, making sure his men gave them the supplies they needed for their trip back. "Please, come and visit us one time. It would be nice to show you our kingdom," Seto said placing his hand on Mokuba's shoulder. The younger just nodded, hiding his face a bit.
"Perhaps one day. I'm a very busy man,"
"As am I," Seto answered back coolly. "This trip was of great importance as you know well. I'm only sorry there wasn't more to be done. Now I must bid you farewell." With that the two brothers left, their caravan beginning its journey through the dark city.
"Hmmm.. It would be nice to visit his kingdom one day, Your Grace," the advisor said.
"Maybe. Until then."
"What are you going to do about your son?"
"I was thinking about that and I think I'm going to pretend I didn't see what I saw and see how this plays out. You know how I love games," the pharaoh said, a gleam in his eye.
"Yes but what if he grows attached to her." The Pharaoh scoffed at him, an amused smile coming across his face.
"I'll deal with it then. For now, we lie low."
Atem guided a blinded Miyu through his room, checking every now and then to make sure the girl didn't open her eyes as she was told. She kept a firm grip on his hands, afraid she would trip over something even though he was helping her along. He brought her out to his balcony, moving her hands to the rail. She felt the cool stone under her hands, moving them about to feel what she was touching. Taking a step back, Atem watched her a moment before instructing her.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now," he said. Miyu giggled, doing as she was told.
"Wow," she gasped. "It's so beautiful."
"The view from here is amazing. I wanted you to see it." Miyu looked at him, realizing where she was.
"Atem, this is your room. I'm not allowed to be here."
"I let you in. It's okay." She sighed and leaned on the railing. "This is the only way I get to see the outside world. My only escape," he said, bringing a hand on the rail.
"Well, this is a great view. I used to always look at the palace."
"Really?" She nodded. "Your parents must be worried about you." To this, she shook her head causing Atem to raise an eyebrow. "Miyu?"
"They would. But... they're both not here anymore." Realizing quickly what she meant, he looked down at his feet, a wash of guilt sweeping over him.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, averting his gaze from her. She moved a finger under his chin for a second, making him look back before she leaned fully on the rail again.
"It's okay. You didn't know."
"So your saying that you've been on you own since they died?" She gave a big smile, trying to make him feel better.
"And look at me now. I turned out pretty good, don't you think?" He nodded, blushing.
"Yes." He glanced up at the starlit sky, moving forward to lean on the rail himself. "Nut has made a beautiful sky tonight."
"Huh?"
"Nut is a goddess who blankets the sky each night with her body, making it nightfall," he said.
"I didn't know that."
"Yeah, well, when you are forced to study all day you learn these kind of things. I only have one class left though to finish," he sort of mumbled the last of the sentence showing he didn't really have much interest in what he was talking about. She leaned in a bit closer, her blue eyes coming into his view. He could see the curiosity in them for what he was speaking about.
"And that is..." she asked while tilting her head.
"Music. I don't have much patience anymore. I don't even have a motive as to why I'd learn it." Miyu smiled, an idea forming.
"Well, how about this: If you learn to play an instrument I can dance to your music." She watched his face brighten as an interest finally came to fruition for the class he had left to do. He smiled softly, moving a little closer to her as he replied.
"I would like that." Atem smiled warmly at her. Then he start telling her about the stars and the different gods and goddesses. They didn't realize that they were being watched again.
"I think he's getting a little too close to that abdah [slave-girl], don't you think?" The advisor looked toward the Pharaoh.
"Yes, but we are just going to lie low, remember?" He mused as he looked over his gold plated box which held his prized possession in it.
"Of course, Your Excellency." The pharaoh picked up the Millennium Puzzle, looking it over a bit before placing it down and looking towards his advisor.
"If worse comes to worse. I know what we can do with our little abdah." He started laughing.
Kage pulled his headband off, running a hand through his hair in frustration before replacing it.
"What a fool he is, sister," Kage muttered. "So easy to control. So easy that it completely bores me to tears."
"Well, since the death of his wife he's been vulnerable. We just happen to be taking advantage of it. He's our little puppet. That's what that Pharaoh is. Our puppet," she mused to herself. They watched through a sort of tear in the void as the Pharaoh placed the puzzle back into the golden box and joined the advisor on the balcony.
"Yes but do you ever think we will be able to wander in his world," he asked with a sort of longing tone to his voice. His sister moved beside him, playing with his hair a little as she spoke.
"Yes, dear brother, I do."
End chapter