Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh does not belong to me
Entry 2 - The Sacred Millennium Items
Rule number two : Never lay eyes on the sacred millennium items.
Of course I never really followed the rule.
I tip toed my way through the darkened halls. It was so quite that a slight pin drop could echo ten times louder then normal. Early in the morning I planned how I could sneak in. My pace quickened, there wasn't much time. Now I regret not waking up earlier because pretty soon everyone will wake up.
"Mistress Ishizu maybe we shouldn't be here." an eight year old Rishid whispered behind me. "Your father would be furious." He cringed a little thinking of the stinging whip my father would hold in his hand. He experienced it many times before.
My father was a disciplinary man. He believed very strongly in rules and order. I remember his saying:
"Disobedience leads to recklessness. Recklessness leads to disaster."
The words were perfectly etched in my mind, although I never really gave it much thought.
"I just want a peek, father will never know." I reassured him. We would be out of the room before father wakes. The room was only a few feet away.
"I don't know about this..." Rishid whispered uneasily, as if expecting my father to spring out at any given moment.
"If you're going to worry so much don't follow." I said.
"I-I'm not worried." He protested. Although I could hear a slight shudder as he said it. "I want to see it too." Reluctantly he still followed, either he really did wanted to see the items or he did not want to leave me on my own, I wasn't sure. Frowning at him, I kept on walking.
We stepped inside the forbidden room. It didn't look any different from any other room. In fact there was nothing but a simple table and two flickering torches hanging on the wall. To a stranger's eye it wouldn't have seem important at all.
Unfortunately my height didn't even come close to the towering table. My small hands tried to reach for the top but it wasn't until Rishid helped me climb up onto the surface.
Two items lay rested, undisturbed in two separate enclosures. One contained a rod and the other a tauk. Their polish gold had no indication that they were over 5 thousand years old. It looked just as new as the day they were made.
"It's so beautiful." I breathed, mesmerized by the gleaming gold. I sensed the aura of such power not realizing my hands were trying to reach for it.
All of a sudden Rishid grabbed my hand away. "You said you were just going to look." he pointed out sternly.
But the urge was too hard to control. I pulled my hand away from his grasp and quickly grabbed the gold tauk. Jumping down from the tabletop, I danced around with the precious tauk in my hands. It's power was unbelievable. I felt like I could do anything I wanted, anything I wished. My feet pranced around the room with my head swimming with possibilities.
"Ishizu!" Rishid exclaimed. He tried to grab hold of me. "What in Ra's name are you doing!" he cried out in panic. He chased me around the room. "Stop it Ishizu!" Finally he grabbed hold of my waist with one arm and pried the tauk off my hands. "We have to get out of here, your father will be waking up soon."
"Out...father...wha?" I questioned, my thoughts still on the tauk.
Rishid was shaking me vigorously. "Has something possessed you? We have to get out of here before your father wakes."
My head snapped back into focus. "Father!" I had completely forgotten.
Rishid dropped the tauk that was still in his hands roughly onto the table as if his hands made it unholy, but his face went ghost white as he turned towards the doors.
Father stood with rage in his eyes.
I panicked. Father wasn't suppose to wake up so soon! I didn't even hear him coming. My thoughts dreaded on what will happen next. I was going to be whipped for sure but even worse I dragged Rishid into this mess.
"You!" Father cried out in a vicious rage. His voice was shaking with anger. "You have violated the sacred millennium items! Have I told you not to enter this sacred room? You both shall be punished."
I felt my stomach churning with sickness. I had never actually receive punishment from my father, but I from the marks I saw on Rishid I didn't want to find out what it felt like.
"50 lashes!" My father barked. "I am ashamed that you, Ishizu, my own daughter would disobey me."
I tried to speak but Rishid cut me off. "No." he said in low whisper. "Please keep silent."
My face twisted with confusion. What was he going to do? But before I could ask him he walked up dangerously close to my father. His small body was shaking. The next thing I knew he went on his knees and bowed his head low.
Then he did something I did not expect. "Please Master Ishtar, I am to blame. It was my disobedience. Do not punish mistress Ishizu. I forced her to come with me into this room."
"What is he doing?" I thought to myself unable to comprehend the words he just spoke. "He's going to get himself in more trouble."
"Is this true?" my father's voice interrupted my train of thoughts. All eyes were on me.
"It is not true!" I wanted to say, but the thought of the whip and the scars on my back flashed in my mind. "Where was mother?" I thought. "She would never let father do this. Where was she when I need her?" I thought bitterly.
"Well?" My father's voice crack my silence. He stood looking at me impatiently, waiting for my answer. I looked down at Rishid who looked at me nodding his head and indicating to me to say 'yes'.
50 painful lashes...scares running across my back...
What should I say?
Burning skin...pain...
My head sped with confusion.
Stinging whip....tears...open flesh...
"Yes!" I croaked.
As soon as I uttered the word my father grabbed Rishid by the collar. Rishid didn't even try to put up a fight. "No!" I cried out. "Please father don't punish Rishid."
"It must be done! To teach you that disobedience does not go unpunished!" he dragged Rishid out of the room.
I followed them, realizing how my answer had inflicted Rishid more pain. Father was quick to move, while I could hardly keep up with them. They both went into a secluded room, as I just began to catch up with them, father slammed the door in my face. I knew he did not want my interference. My fists pounded on the door hard until my hands were sore. "Stop it father!" I screamed at the door. I kept on pounding. Rishid's cries were loud and audible from inside. "Stop it!"
* * * * * * * * * *
It felt like hours went by. I had stopped pounding on the door. It didn't do any good, father would just ignored it. My hands were getting numb and red, so I sat beside the door crying. It was all I could do.
"I wonder if Rishid's dead?" I thought. "If he is then it would be my fault." I stood and went to my room. There was nothing I could do for Rishid. I knelt down and pray. Mother said praying signifies hope and belief. I needed a lot of hope. "Oh Isis forgive me." I cried so hard that tears rolled down my cheeks like a river.
"Ishizu?" a soft voice came into my room.
I turned around. Mother bent down and pulled me into a hug. "What's wrong?" she asked with concern.
I shook my head vigorously and kept on crying.
"Ishizu please tell me what's wrong." she said while drying my eyes with a hand cloth.
I stubbornly refused. "No."
"Ishizu..." Mother was getting tired of asking. "It would not be good if you keep your troubles inside."
"I did a bad thing." I cried.
"What did you do that was so bad?" mother asked calmly.
"If I tell you, you will be mad at me?"
"Ishizu, whatever you did you must tell me, good or bad." mother said sternly but with a caring look. It made me want to tell her. "Now please tell me what happen." she said as if she could read my mind.
So I started to tell her. First I told her my plan to sneak into the forbidden room, then I told her how father had caught us, then I told her how Rishid had lie to save me from punishment. Mother didn't interrupt me, she just kept quiet and listen to my story. After I was finished, mother gave a heavy sigh and shook her head disapprovingly.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked innocently.
"I'm very disappointed in you."
Having mother be disappointed at me was far worse then her getting mad at me. At least I didn't let her down that way.
"Not only did you break one of your father's rules, but it was not fair what you did to Rishid." mother scolded. I felt more guiltier then ever. The guilt was weighing heavily against my heart. "The best thing you can do now is to apologize to Rishid. I'll go talk to your father."
"But father killed Rishid." I said densely.
Mother was careful to make me understand. "Your father didn't kill Rishid."
"How do you know?"
"I know. I won't allow your father to kill Rishid."
Feeling more hopeful, I hastily asked. "Will you tell father about me?"
Mother gave another sigh. "No, I won't. What's done is done. I know you learn your lesson. Now go and find Rishid. He might be in the study room."
I obeyed and dashed out of the room, walking down the narrow hallway. Surprisingly enough Rishid stood by a small table cleaning the shelf full of scrolls and parchment. His body winced every time he moved too excessively, especially when he try to bend down to clear and move all the loose worn books back onto the shelf. Of course mother knew, she knew everything.
One part of me told myself to walk up to him, but another part hesitated. Rishid would not want to speak to me again. I imagined him scowling at me every time he look my way or mutter horrible things under his breath. Not that I would blame him for doing it.
Rishid turned abruptly to the doorway, it seems like I didn't need to debate about confronting him after all.
I nervously spoke after staring awkwardly at each other for five whole minutes. "Rishid..." I began.
"Yes mistress Ishizu?" There was no scowl in his eyes.
"Um...are you ok?" I asked lamely. Which had to be the stupidest question possible.
"I'm ok..." he said.
Another paused silence
"I'll help you with that!" I eagerly offered and began to pick up all the loose books and place them back on the shelf.
"You don't have to do that." Rishid said
"I want to." I insisted.
He slowly bend down and pick up the books alongside with me. I noticed the marks on his arms and trickle of blood stains on the back of his shirt. A sudden wave of horror washed over me. Somehow my guilt only grew worse.
Rishid winced in pain again, but this time it was because of my arms hugging him tightly around his waist. He suddenly felt alarm when I buried my face onto his stomach and cried.
"I'm sorry..." I sobbed.
"Sorry for what?" Rishid asked, seemingly confused.
"I had father punish you instead of me." I said. "I should have been the one punished, not you." My tears were soaking through his shirt. I felt a little embarrassed.
Rishid patted my head. I sensed he felt a little embarrassed himself. "It wasn't your fault." he said kindly. Then he went back to cleaning.
"It was my fault!" I cried out. "Aren't you a little bit mad at me?" I asked curiously.
Rishid sighed. "No, I'm not mad at you."
I blinked. "But..."
"There's no need for you to apologize because it wasn't your fault." he explained. "I told you not to say anything to Master Ishtar. Besides I don't want anything to happen to you as it happen to me. You didn't deserve it."
"But I did deserve it!" I cried out again. "Why am I defending my guilt?" I wondered. "It was my idea to sneak in and it was me who lied to father. I should go tell father the truth right now." I started out the room.
But Rishid stopped me in my tracks, blocking the doorway. "It won't do any good." he said shaking his head. "Nothing good will come out of it. Let's just forget about it. Come on, there's more stuff to clean." he smiled.
"You must think I'm such a baby."
"Well, you are." he laughed.
I made a face and huffed. "I am not!" sticking out a tongue at him. But my face turned serious. "Don't you hate it here? Having to listen to father?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "It was your father that brought me in. I'm grateful for that. Besides it's not so bad having you around, it's nice having you as family."
I smiled.
"You're silly sometimes, and sometimes you do the strangest things. What were you doing when you grabbed the tauk?"
I frowned, having a vague recollection of what had happen. "It felt weird." I simply said. "I don't know."
"Oh..." his gave a skeptic look, but Rishid didn't ask anything else.
"But what was that power?"
Author's Note: Sorry for the slow update, but I finally found the time to write again. For those of you who asked, I am going to write about Malik and Rishid. As you can see Rishid made his debut appearance in this chapter. Malik will make his appearance in the next chapter. And of course this is all in the eyes of Isis. I hope you like this chapter. I had fun writing it.
Read and Review! I really appreciated all the comments, thank you to all the people who review. I love hearing what you think.