CHAPTER 3 A LITTLE MANIPULATION

/Where in the afterlife am I?/ Bernarda Nefertina wonders to herself as she wakes up and finds herself on a balcony full of flowers. She slowly opens up her bright hazel eyes and sees that she is on a soft, fluffy bed and that she is wearing a new, clean robe made out of white linen.

"Bernarda, are you awake?"

She turns her head around as she hears a voice coming from the balcony gate, only to see none other than Pharaoh Atemu himself. Blushing ever so slightly, she gets up and bows before him, hoping that he wouldn't notice the twinkle in her eyes. "My honored Pharaoh, where am I?"

"You are in my personal chambers, and your mind has been in the Shadows for three full days," he replies and casually takes a seat next to the Royal Scribe on the balcony bed.

"Hold on a moment, milord," the scribe replies, every so confused, "I regret to say that I do not understand..."

The Pharaoh looks at her slowly, seeing the slightly puzzled thoughts behind her face and wonders whether she knows that he can sense it. "The last time I saw you in tune with this world was when we were down at the pyramids discussing the prophecy," he answers, deciding that starting from the obvious was the best place to begin.

"The prophecy?" Bernarda says, her mind flooding with the thoughts of what had happened down into the pyramids as quickly as the waterfalls that supplied the Nile with water. "I'd better get to the translation, I've only got half a fortnight 'till the next full moon!" Starting to get a little edgy, she jumps up in her surprise of how much time she had missed out upon.

"Hold on, my Royal Scribe," Atemu tells her calmly, "I have not finished speaking to you, therefore you have no permission to leave."

"Sorry, milord," the scribe answers with shame, blushing again and sitting down on the bed once more.

"You passed out when I spoke of Priestess Isis returning from the afterlife, and shortly afterwards Shadah arrived with the High Priest and Karim. As hard as they tried, Isis shall have to remain in the afterlife for the next three millennia. Oddly enough, Seth said something about her Ka not being able to be caught either, and nobody else seemed to understand that," the Pharaoh explains, knowing that he probably understood the whole scenario no better than his scribe.

"Yes! Priestess Isis is gone! I knew that Ra would be on our side!" Bernarda exclaims happily, forgetting completely that she was not allowed to say anything against the Pharaoh's priests in the first place.

"No, fate went against us," Atemu replies with a sad shake of his head. "With the departure of the Priestess Isis, the power of the Millennium Tauk has diminished and altered the usage of all the other Millennium Items created. Now the High Priest is insisting that the Tauk is his by rightful law and him having more than one Millennium Item can get him to have too much power for his own good."

"By rightful law? It's mine as much as his!" Bernarda says, "Forgive me to interfere, I know it is not my place, but the Gods Seth, Isis, Osiris and Nephthys are all akin as siblings, so the Tauk can be passed on the either him as Seth or myself as Nephthys, since Osiris' Ka has already been sealed as a dragon."

"Your logic is true enough, my friend, yet keep in mind that the male heirs acquire it first in line," Atemu replies, secretly wishing that the Tauk could not be given to either Seth or Bernarda in the first place. "You have your own item to worry about in the meanwhile, do not take it overboard."

"What? Where is it?" Bernarda gasps as she suddenly notices that the Millennium Book and her favorite peacock quill are nowhere in sight. She looks up to the Pharaoh with questing in her eyes and sees that he is also not wearing his puzzle. "Where are our Millennium Items?"

"Relax, relax, I have given them to Shimon Muran, my advisor in hopes of him being able to keep them away from danger," Atemu explains, knowing very well that the Priests would not be too pleased at his decision for this and keeping his fingers crossed that the scribe would have a different reaction.

"Or from the High Priest," Bernarda counters as she plays with a strand of her hair absentmindedly. "But am I not responsible enough to take care of my own Millennium Item?"

"More than just simply 'capable' Bernarda," he replies, taking her hand in his and feeling the slight calluses in it from holding that quill of hers for one hour too long day after day. "I just feared for your safety since you would be probably altered history using the powers of your Millennium Book so that the High Priest would be deprived of all the Millennium Items for Ra knows how long!"

"How...." The scribe begins, and then stammers for a mere moment, trying to find the right word, something that she rarely ever had to do. "How did you know I wanted to do that? And does that plan not limit the powers of the High Priest for the good of all of Egypt?" she blurts out at the end, deciding to give the Pharaoh a piece of her own mind for just once. Being loyal was one thing, but that was not what she was after right now.

/She does have a point of view,/ Atemu thinks to himself /After all, Seth is getting too power hungry for his own good lately and yet if I let Bernarda Nefertina do her own bidding here, will she not end up with the same trouble, it could be in the family.../ Gathering himself together, he figures that a little more explaining would do his scribe no harm at all.

"Have you forgotten so easily that the power of the Millennium Items has been altered? With the puzzle I read into your mind while it was in the Shadows and saw what you were plotting. Your plan seemed wise enough at first, but I had to deprive you of the Millennium Book for the sake of the prophecy."

"For the sake of the prophecy? Why?" Bernarda questions, considering whether everything in this world was related to the prophecy in the Pharaoh's eyes. He really did seem to be more than just a little preoccupied with it.

Atemu rolls his eyes, either scribes had minds of their own or they had to be given instructions written on papyrus in fancy hieroglyphics for them to understand anything. "Because without the Millennium Rod in the High Priest's hands, the prophecy shall not be activated."

/That's it, I've had enough! I'm going to teach this Pharaoh a lesson or two even if it gives me a bad reputation among the court. He thinks that others are below him just because he wears a tiara!/ She stands up defiantly and looks out over the balcony, just for the sake of showing him that he was not the only person to exist in this world. "So what you're trying to tell me here," Bernarda says, having no fear of taking the offensive, "is that Seth can handle his little rod all the way he wants to and yet all the other Items shall be put into the hands of Shimon Muran? In the hands on an advisor? This is blasphemy!"

Atemu shakes his head, seeing that the scribe would go to any lengths to get things her own way. /No wonder, being related by blood to the people she is, it really must run in the family,/ he thinks to himself, but decides to say nothing, she would have to find this out on her own one day. He makes his way to the edge of the balcony to join Bernarda. "In that case, life itself is just a fraud where everyone squabbles for power. The Book shall be returned to you in time, you have my word."

/But when? That is the question.../ Taking a sigh to herself, Bernarda looks wistfully over the balcony. "And so it shall be written, that the High Priest never failed to lose when his wits are matched against those of the greatest Pharaoh!" She says with only the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice. Hopefully he would get the message of what she was trying to tell him.

"I love how you can be so manipulative in my favor. And that's just one of the many reasons as to why I appointed you as my Royal Scribe," Atemu replies, taking a step closer to her, then giving in and kissing her. "The other reasons are for my other purposes..."

/Like this one? Kissing me in hopes of winning my favor? I like him fair enough, yet he cannot use my feelings and romantic impulses just like this! At least he's better than that High Priest, though I do have to admit I like his style so much more as much as I do despise him on the other hand... Why do I even go through these phases in the first place?/ Thoughts go through the Royal Scribe's head as she looks at the Pharaoh romantically and giggles. "Your other purposes, and yet you call me the manipulative one?" She braces herself for another kiss, hoping for it and yet avoiding it at the same time.

"There must have been something manipulative about you because no female has managed to become a scribe in the reins of my ancestors, yet alone the top one until you came along," Atemu tells her, then gives her another kiss.

With her hazel eyes closed, Bernarda remains lost in her thoughts as she exchanged the kiss, wondering whether or not the Pharaoh was planning to use her in any way and if this was just the prologue or if there was really romance between them after all.

Letting go of her waist and slowly stepping away from the kiss, Pharaoh Atemu slowly looks at her, seeing the determination in her eyes so unlike any else's and knowing that she would go to any lengths to achieve what she desired. He takes a bottle of wine from the table and pours two glasses of it, watching the dark red liquid as red as roses flow into the glasses.

"To the power of the Millennium Items as the ages to come!" he exclaims, raising his glass and offering the other one to Bernarda.

"And to the greatest Pharaoh in all of Egypt!" Bernard exclaims, raising her glass.

"My darling, I am the only Pharaoh in Egypt! Ra made it so," he whispers to her, as if he wanted this to be a deep secret between the two of them. "To the powers of Ra!" Atemu then holds up the wine to the sun and drinks it.

Bernarda smiles slightly and pretends to take a sip of the wine, not intending to be overtaken by vile drinks so easily at the age of fifteen.

"Oh I wish this day shall never end, the afterlife can wait!" Atemu says as he finishes his wine and sets the glass on the table once more.

"Then let me wield the powers of the Millennium Book and yourself the Puzzle and the Tauk shall just have to wait. The abilities of the High Priest are insignificant compared to your own for you rule both Upper and Lower Egypt, Seth is the deity of chaos well enough and distant lands as well, but Egypt he shall never hold!" Bernarda tells the Pharaoh, once more putting the slight bit of manipulativeness into her voice.

"So you need the Book to complete the meaning of the prophecy, do you not?" Atemu asks, seeing where she was going.

/Has he fallen into my persuasion so easily?/ Bernarda wonders. /Oh well, time to be direct once more. "Aye, that is what all the manipulation was for in the first place," she says with a wink, then bows formally so that Pharaoh shall not be angry with her for whatever reason he might think to be.

"In that case, you have won the debate and the powers of the Millennium Book are yours to wield once more. Shimon Muran shall return it to you first thing at tomorrow's dawn," Atemu promises, making a note to himself to go and find Shimon the moment his little conversation with his Royal Scribe was over.

"He'd better, otherwise you're one Pharaoh whose subjects are not exactly trustworthy," Bernarda says, placing her hands on her hips to emphasize her point.

"That includes yourself as one of my subjects, Bernarda," Atemu replies with a small laugh. "Farewell now."

"Farewell milord," Bernarda bids the Pharaoh as she bows before him once more and then heads off the Pharaoh's balcony to leave her chambers and go figure out exactly what to do about this whole idea of giving the items to Shimon Muran. /I hope that he'll keep his word. If I had it my way, Egypt would have been a hierarchy dynasties ago!/ With a smug smile, she imagines herself sitting upon the Pharaoh's throne, trying to face the reality that a dream is just a wish.

Meanwhile, the High Priest Seth stands under the balcony where the Pharaoh was kissing the Royal Scribe just moments ago, trying not to laugh at the irony of the whole scenario. /The little meddlesome fool,/ he thinks, playing back the mental image of her faking to sip the wine, /what does she think she can get out of this except her own one-way ticket to missing out on the afterlife with a trip to the Shadow Realm? Yet if she knew that she is my half-sister, and I her half-brother, would she behave differently? Oh it sure it runs in the family, the power is mine, not hers! Pharaoh Atemu gave me orders to keep her heritage hidden from her, how would she react upon knowing that she is Atemu's cousin, not to mention second heir? Once I pass into the afterlife, Ra forbid it, the burden of the Pharaoh shall fall to none other than Bernarda Nefertina, royal scribe, illegitimate daughter of a Greek slave and Priest Akunadin, my own father!/

He laughs at the thought of it all, now that he was out of the Pharaoh's and Scribe's sight, holding up the Rod as if to demonstrate its infinite powers. /Or shall she perhaps have to face the afterlife before me?/ He thinks darkly, the third eye appearing on his forehead. "Mwahahaha! Who is the manipulative one now?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: ?!?!Who is Who in Ancient Egypt?!?!

Pharaoh Atemu (Puzzle) = Yami Yugi High Priest Seth (Rod) = Seto Kaiba Priest Akunadin (Eye) = Unknown Priest Shada (Ankh) = Shadi Priest Karim (Scales) = Uknown Priest Mahado (Ring) = Dark Magician Priestess Isis (Tauk) = Isis Ishtar Shimon Muran = Grandpa Teanna = Tea Gardner Joseph = Joey Terras = Tristan Bernarda Nefertina (Book) = Gala's Yami (Please note that other characters, whether they be from Yu-Gi-Oh! or just made up ones shall appear as the story continues...)