[here we are again, with chapter nine. God, this chap is filled with some... odd stuff o.O Warning: There is a bloody battle scene. It's the only one, but if you don't like bloody battles, skip the end of this chapter. Stop reading when you see a double bolded period like this: .. that means the battle scene is next. The double period afterwards signals the end of the battle [..]]
Dance the Forbidden Dance
Chapter Nine
The Truth is Revealed
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Next day, rumors were flying everywhere about the oncoming battle. It was said that the armies were coming closer, and the city might be involved. The Pharaoh had announced it that morning.
"Prepare yourselves," he had said. "We don't know what is yet ahead, but we are trying to figure out if the moving armies are a threat or not. For now, we are preparing as well as we can."
Teana shivered at the thought. Foreign warriors parading into the city, killing everyone and taking everything?
She closed her eyes as a painful memory crept back into her head.
...Screams... Stomps... Calls... A soft voice coming from somewhere above her. Her mother's tight grip
on her wrist loosened and disappeared. Footsteps. Her name being called. Someone, someone strong with big hands was pulling her wiry body. Her feet were kicked out from under her, her clothes being torn off. Her body was covered in sand, her face stained with tears and blood. Horses stomped and roared through the city... She was too afraid to open her eyes...
Teana's eyes snapped open. She shivered violently, gulping and rubbing her forearms. She was sitting in the city center, wondering when Yami would appear.
"He usually comes at this time..." she muttered, looking around. The Imperial Order kept walking by, with their long dark capes and hidden swords. They circled around the walls of the palace in twos and threes, muttering amongst themselves. Teana was growing increasingly more uncomfortable.
"Where is he...?"
"Teana!" a voice said from behind her. Teana jumped and spun around, breathing hard. Yami was standing behind her, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.
"Yami!"
"Listen, Teana, I can't stay long," he said to her in a low voice. "I came to tell you something. There's a secret I've been keeping this whole time." He looked straight at her, into her eyes. Teana blinked, confused.
"A secret? What? Why are you--"
"That's... not important," Yami said, an obvious strain put into his voice. He sniffed and wiped his eyes as if holding back tears. "It doesn't matter... All that matters now is we're going to war. And if... By some chance, I..." he trailed off. Teana's face fell as she guessed what he was trying to say.
...If I die...
"...You need to know this," he finished, looking back at her. What he had meant to say was If I lose you... His mind drifting back to the news his sister had told him. The entire city was bustling and moving around them, preparing for the oncoming, unavoidable battle. It would be scary, it would kill some people, but it would happen.
"What?" she asked softly, timidly. "What do you want to tell me?"
"I--" he started, when a call came through the crowd. Yami froze as he recognized the voice.
It was Sekhem.
Yami looked over at the guards and saw Sekhem, the little ten-year-old, standing beside Seto, who was talking to the head guard. Sekhem was squinting through the crowd, calling his older brother's name very loudly.
"Atem! Atem!"
"Oh, shit..." Yami whispered. Teana frowned.
"What's going on? Why do they want the Prince?" she wondered out loud. Yami gripped Teana's hands tightly and turned back to her.
"Listen, Teana, about this... It's--"
"It's essential that we find him." Seto's voice drifted over to Yami's ears, cutting him off again. "He's the only one who can successfully see these things coming. I don't know where he's been disappearing to, but we have to find him now."
"Yessir," the head guard said, signaling two others. Sekhem was staring hard into the crowd. He even climbed up onto a pile of bricks to see better. People were rushing by them, wondering what was going on.
"Yami?" Teana asked, clearly lost in the shuffle. Yami closed his eyes painfully.
If they see me...
Unfortunately, the gods weren't with him at that moment.
"Atem!" Sekhem cried, noticing his brother in the crowd. "Seto, he's over there!"
"What?" Seto said, his eyes scanning the crowd.
"Uh-oh," Yami muttered.
"Seems they spotted him," Teana noted. "I wonder what's going on?"
"Atem! Oh for Ra's sake, he must not hear us." Seto stormed through the crowd, pushing people aside. Sekhem followed behind him. Yami was partially turned away from them, pretending to not hear them.
"Teana, get away!" he said, letting go of her hands. "If they see you..."
"What? Yami--" Yami grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her into the crowd. "Ahhh!" She tumbled into a couple people and bumped into the fountain, Yami still in plain view. It wasn't until then that she noticed he was dressed a bit too well for a servant...
"Finally. Are you deaf?" Seto asked, placing his hand on Yami's shoulder. Teana's heart skipped a beat.
....What...?
Yami turned to face them, trying not to keep glancing to where he pushed Teana.
"Sorry, I couldn't hear you," Yami said. He hoped Teana was far away so they wouldn't see her... Teana gasped, standing up straight.
"Atem!!" Sekhem squealed, pouncing on his arm. Teana gasped loudly, covering her mouth with her hands.
Yami is Prince Atem!!
Oh my God!!
Yami frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Pharaoh wants you," Seto said, pointing to the palace walls. "He wants you to do something with the militia. Our scouts have spotted an army coming this way..."
"Father really thinks you can do it," Sekhem added. The three walked away, escorted by a guard. They drifted out of Teana's earshot. But it didn't matter to her. She slid down onto the edge of the fountain, shaking her head in disbelief.
Not only was the man she loved royalty, the city was going to be attacked. Teana shook her head and covered her face with her hands.
Why... Did this have to happen to me? I can't love him! He's engaged! He's the Prince!! These thoughts ran themselves ragged in her mind. My Ra...
Why did this have to be forbidden?
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Yami leaned against the wall, resting the back of his head against it. Aklia was hanging onto his arm, shivering and staring at their intertwined hands. Tears were in her eyes and sweat beaded down her forehead. Yami closed his eyes and tried to block everything out.
"Not now... Of all times not now..." he whispered to himself. He was about to tell Teana the truth...
Now he would never see her again. He and Aklia were standing outside the conference room, where his father and his sister were talking. Seto was present as well.
"Is this really happening?" Aklia squeaked for the umpteenth time. Yami opened his eyes and looked down at her.
"Yes, Aklia, this is really happening. In order to protect Kemet, we have to defeat our enemies," he explained. "There is no other way."
"Why can't there be?" Aklia pleaded, looking up into his eyes. "This is too.... Too..."
"Lethal?" Yami suggested. Aklia closed her eyes tight and gripped his arm even harder.
At that moment, Ankumanukanon, Asenath and Seto exited the room, Asenath wiping her eyes with her hands. She appeared to have been crying. Seto was speaking softly to her and trying to calm her. Ankumanukanon was just rubbing his hands together, thinking about something.
"They're coming," Seto hissed to Yami as he passed by. "Jono's troops have been sent out to greet them. But they're dangerously close."
"The city was put on alert," Yami whispered back. "All eligible fighters are to report to the Imperial Order. They've been divvied up in the militia." Seto rubbed Asenath's back gently. He and Asenath were very close, and she was the only one she had trusted for a long time with her 'dreams'...
"Seto, are you...?" Yami asked. Seto nodded.
"They don't need brute strength. They've got that," Seto explained, louder so everyone could hear. "What they need is someone who was educated right now." [1]
"But I thought--" Yami started. Seto cut him off.
"Right now, we have to protect you. You do know one of their major missions is to kill you and Sekhem, right?" Yami was taken aback. He knew this information, but didn't really want to think about it. He cast his eyes to the stone floor and hugged Aklia tighter. "There is no way you are going out there. Understand?" Yami nodded solemnly. He felt as if he were being lectured by his father. Seto crossed his arms and sighed heavily. Asenath was still crying softly, leaning against the wall. It killed Yami to see her cry like that.
For as long as he'd been alive, he had never, ever seen Asenath cry for a long period of time. Never. And it killed him.
"Asenath…" he whispered. Aklia was leaning against him, her head on his shoulder, just clinging to him. Asenath turned to her brother.
"Brother… I…"
It was then that Yami realized what she had truly seen.
She stared at him with the saddest, most forlorn expression he had ever seen in his life. She was staring at him as if he had just died. As if he was just a corpse lying on the ground, completely dead. Yami's eyes widened.
She's seen my death, hasn't she? She turned away and sighed. Seto rubbed her back.
"It's o-okay…" he said, shaking a bit. Aklia looked from Seto to Asenath to Yami, confusion in her eyes. Asenath bowed her head and closed her eyes. Seto leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling. Yami just looked at them.
"Atem? What's going on?" she asked softly. Yami just held her tighter.
"I… Don't know…" he answered truthfully. Asenath looked at Aklia.
"Aklia, once you and he marry… You'll be my sister," she said slowly. "Which means you should know the truth about me." Aklia blinked, and then nodded slowly.
"Which is…?" Asenath gulped. Yami stared at her. He had heard of it once before… But he was very young then.
Did this still happen?
"Aklia," Asenath started, "I… I get visions of the future. In my dreams."
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Teana felt as if she wasn't able to properly grip onto anything. As if she were falling into the crowd. Everything was going way too fast in her mind.
Yami is actually Atem… We're going to war… He might die… What? Teana slid to the ground, staring at her hands. She was confused, disoriented… Just overall scared.
"What's happening?" she asked no one, her tears welling in her eyes. "Damn you, Yami! Atem! Whoever the hell you are! Why did you lie to me?" She covered her face and just cried, letting her tears fall onto her arms. People glanced as they walked by, guessing she was crying over the war. Many people were doing the same.
As she cried, her feeling of confusion and surprise soon welled into one of hate and fear. She couldn't help but feel she had been used. She had this feeling deep inside her... If he could lie so well and so easily about who he truly was, then were his affections the same? Was he playing a game with her?
Was he leading her on a wild goose chase? Was there anything real to him? Teana cried out and laid back against the stone well, the fountain spurting a little and sending a wave of water over the edge.
"My gods, Yami..." she whispered. "Is there anything about you that's true?"
A group of people ran by, scurrying and slipping and falling, as if trying to get away from the edge of the city as possible.
"Look! Look how close they've come!!" someone called. People looked up at the dust clouds forming in the distance.
The armies were coming closer.
The Imperial Order tightened on their weapons, watching the fighting persue. They began pushing people into the center of the city.
"Come along, now, come along...." People grabbed onto each other, grabbing their families and friends, running towards the center of the city. A strong, pulsating feeling of panic began to plague the people, making the Order extremely nervous. Teana stared into the distant edges of the city. She could nearly hear the panting, dying breaths of wounded soldiers...
"Teana!" Someone grasped her arm. Startled, Teana looked up to see Maia grabbing her arm, tugging her along.
"Come on, we have to go!" Teana, still temporarily stunned, allowed Maia to pull her into the milling, rushing crowd. Teana stared at Maia's shadowed face. Streaks of shining skin shone through the sandy dust settling on her face.
Was she crying?
Why?
"M-Maia?" she stammered, her arms shaking underneath Maia's grasp. "Wh-what's--"
"Not n-now!" Maia said, shining tears of crystal blowing off her cheeks. "Just go!!" Teana felt as if her arm would pull right out of her body. People squashed her in between their rushing bodies, people pushed her and fell onto her.
Suddenly, Teana was pushed to the ground. Her hand fell from Maia's grasp, and people began trampling on her.
"Ah!" she cried, trying to get up. Someone slipped on her sprawled legs and fell beside her. She pushed herself up trying to escape the current of bodies. But it was nearly useless. She may as well have been stuck in the bottom of the rushing Nile. She was stuck.
"Teana! Come!" A firm grasp on her wrist as Maia had taken hold of her again. Teana lifted into the air, nearly tripping over herself as she was tugged upwards. The tension in the crowd was growing.
The battle was coming towards the city.
Finally, after a few more moments in the rushing crowd, Maia used a surge of strength and pulled Teana to the side. They had reached the city center.
Teana flew into the wall, breathing hard, and then sliding down the side of the wall. Maia stood beside her, panting loudly, her golden hair falling in curls around her face.
"Maia...?" Teana whimpered, sitting on her side. "Are you alright?"
"T-Teana," Maia gasped, looking at the girl. "The battle is coming closer."
"I know," Teana said, her voice rising above a whisper now. She felt safer in the center, without the crushing crowds around her. Maia nodded. She wiped her face, smudging dust and dirt onto her hands. Tears still fell from her eyes, Maia brushing them away madly.
"Maia... What's the matter?" Teana asked, leaning towards her. Maia turned to her.
"The militia..."
"Yes?"
"...Most of the men in the militia will die today," she whispered. She stared at the ground. "The first ones to go are always the leaders..." Teana's eyes widened in understanding.
Maia knew Jono was going to die.
"Maia," Teana started. "Listen, Jono is doing an amazing thing for everyone, putting his life on the line for us..."
"I don't care... I just want him back!!" Maia said, pulling her knees to her chest. She buried her face in her skirt, her shoulders heaving. Teana just watched her. She was confused. How could Maia love someone so much, that she would sit here and sob for hours on end? What if he doesn't die? Would she still love him? He's a much higher rank...
"Jono's higher then her and he doesn't lie," Teana muttered, turning away from the sobbing Maia. She instead focused her eyes on the people around her. Families huddled together, children crying, adults whispering secrets and rumors to one another. The Imperial Order was standing around them, their eyes focused on the horizon where the fighting was.
Teana's heart fell. There's too much blood... Too much sorrow...
"Fuck!" Teana hissed to herself. Her foot was cut, blood leaking out onto the streets. She knew this wasn't a new sign; blood was everywhere. There was a woman near her cuddling a little girl covered in the dark curse. The girl wasn't moving.
Everywhere she looked, Teana saw sadness, death... People were beginning to act almost satanic, hissing to each other and getting annoyed. Maia was one of the many women crying over husbands and sons that went off to fight. Maia was right; most of them weren't coming back.
Teana lay down on her side, her dark hair falling over her shoulders. Tears were threatening to fall.
How did this happen? she thought. How...
She closed her eyes and let her tears take over.
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Out on the horizon, battles raged on. The foreigners, the people trying to destroy the city, were well-equipped.
So was the militia.
Bodies lay everywhere in the sand, humans and horses alike. Blood was everywhere, and half-broken weapons littered the ground. Soldiers were running and slipping in the sand, their legs or arms being chopped off. Or the chests being sliced open.
It was a bloody scene.
Jono wiped blood from his cheek, panting. His leg was throbbing where he had been cut, but he could still stand.
"Jono!" Tiet called, running in the sand. A dark-skinned man was behind Tiet, raising a sword.
"Tiet! Behind you!" Jono yelled, but he was too late. Tiet spun around just in time as the man lowered his sword.
SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSHHHHHAAAAAA!!!
The sound of slicing flesh traveled to Jono's ears. Dai had sliced the man from behind, the man dropping his weapon to the sand harmlessly. Tiet stumbled back, Dai holding up his curved blade.
"Come on, no time to stand!" Dai said, grabbing Tiet's arm. Jono sighed. He couldn't stand watching all his friends being killed like this...
"Aaaaaaahhh!" Another dark-skinned man had killed another soldier. Jono attempted to look away, not wanting to see someone else cripple to the ground, a weapon impaling their body...
The stench of blood and death was everywhere. Jono pushed his dirty hair out of his face and charged at a dark-skinned person from behind.
"Hhhhheeeeeeyyyaaaaahhh!" Jono cried, lifting his curved blade into the air. If he could bring it down onto his head...
Kchuuushg.
Jono faltered. A searing pain raced in his arm. Someone had stabbed his right shoulder, sending spurts of dark blood from the wound. The straight sword was pulled out of his body. Jono was left temporarily stunned, dropping his blade. His attacker kicked him hard in the back, sending him flying to the ground. He rolled a couple of times, eventually landing on his stomach in the sand.
Struggling, Jono attempted to push himself up. He hoped no one could see him and try to kill him while he was down. His tunic was covered in blood and sand, his body shaking from fatigue and injury.
I.... Can do this... he thought, pushing himself upwards. He grabbed up a blade from the sand and began running again, ignoring the pain in his arm.
Without a word, Jono slashed at the first dark-skinned soldier he saw. The curved blade slashed right down his chest, making spurts of blood come out. Jono kicked his stomach and sent him flying.
Now he was pissed off.
"Hhhhhaaaahhhh!" Jono cried, smashing into another soldier. Tiet stopped momentarily to see him fight.
"What the--"
"TIET!!!" Dai shrieked, running over. He attempted to slash at the attacking soldier when another came from behind Dai and shoved his sword right into Dai's back. Dai, however, finished his attack, sending the soldier to the ground and away from Tiet. Dai collapsed onto the ground, panting.
"Dai! Oh, shit--" Tiet pulled the weapon out of his back, kneeling down beside him. Dai pushed himself up a little, blood leaking from his mouth.
"Tiet... Go! A s-soldier's coming!" he panted, pushing Tiet away weakly. Tiet looked from Dai to the oncoming soldier. It was the same one that had impaled Dai.
"Oh, you are so dead!!" Tiet shouted, jumping up and grabbing Dai's blade. He slashed at the attacker, only to receive a blow himself to the waist.
The fights continued, the militia slowly backing up into the city. Even though the foreigners had less soldiers and more casualties, the militia was being forced backwards.
More people would die then.
..
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Yami couldn't control his fear and emotion for much longer. He kept running his hands through his bangs nervously, his fingers quivering. Sekhem was sitting beside Yami, scrunched into a teeny ball. Asenath was nowhere to be seen. Aklia was leaning against Yami, staring absently at the floor.
They could hear the fighting now.
"It's... getting too close to the city," Aklia whispered. "Yami... are innocents going to die?" Yami said nothing. He knew for a fact that many innocent people in the militia were already dead. Sekhem, who had never seen death before, was trying to hide from it. Sekhem was lucky he had never seen death; he and his brother and sister had been born into a time of war and reformation.
"It is," Yami agreed in a hushed voice.
"Are people dead?" Sekhem asked in a whisper. Yami looked at him, trying to conceal the truth from him as long as possible.
"Well... Sekhem..."
"Brother," Sekhem said slowly, "I want to know the truth. Please, tell me the truth." Sekhem's big, bluish eyes were filled with fright and sincerity. Yami couldn't lie to him now.
"Yes, Sekhem. People have died." Sekhem nodded. He looked at the floor, then at Yami.
"Are... we gonna die?" Yami blinked, taken aback. He sighed and shrugged.
"No, Sekhem, most likely not."
"Oh." Sekhem stared at the floor. Yami looked out the window.
His thoughts were with Teana. He couldn't help but feel guilty that he was inside and she was out there, in the terror, fear and death... And he knew she had seen him with Seto and Sekhem. Heard that he was actually Yami. How could she not have?
"Teana..." he whispered just loud enough that only he could hear. He buried his face into Aklia's soft hair, wishing he could just let this all end. He had to see her again... And tell her everything. That he loved her. He had the deepest desire to kiss her. He wanted her so badly it killed him. And that he wanted her to be happy and alive.
And now... he may never get that chance.
His thoughts were interrupted when Asenath came running into the room, her skirts flailing and her body tensed.
"Yami! Sekhem!" she called. "Aklia, go to the throne room! Now!" Aklia jumped and bowed, running in the opposite direction.
"Nefer-Asen!" Sekhem panted. "What is it?"
"Yes, what is it?" Yami asked. Asenath looked over at the doorway, then back at them.
"The battle has entered the city. Both of you must come. Now." Yami and Sekhem glanced at each other, then ran after Asenath.
This... was pushing things too far.
"The Sennen Items are taking over from here. We can't risk anymore lives."
"What about the militia?" Yami asked. Asenath winced, knowing he would ask that.
"They've... Backed down. They have... too many casualties."
Yami felt his heart stop.
The militia... Casualties...
What?
Asenath heard Yami fall silent behind her. She knew what thoughts were running through his mind.
"I'm sorry, Atem."
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[1] Educated: a militia is usually made up of farmers, artisans and slaves, who were usually uneducated. Seto is royalty; therefore, he was educated as a child. He could probably think up more things then a horse breeder's son could...
[awww.... sooooo..... how was the battle scene? Bloody? Violent? Eww... anyway, I hope this makes up for lack-of-chapter before. That one 'twas very... short. Next chapter will tell the rest of the battle, and what everyone has to do to clean up. Also: Will they drive the foreigners out easily? Or sacrifice many people to do so? Can the Sennen Items do it?? pants Next chap: The Battle Ends; Aftermath.]
Shibby-One