Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. I do own my OC, Akunriou / Tory and Kishtoh, plus the storyline. I don't own the song Akunriou sings, either! It's from the Disney movie "Mulan".

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTICES!

MidnightBallad: Read the other notes from my previous chapters. Also, I have begun to tape Yu-Gi-Oh, so that I can hopefully catch the important episodes. If anyone knows a good episode summary website, could you leave it to me in a review, please?

P.S: If you see 'present' at the start of the chapter, then that means the story is set in 'the now'. If it says 'past', then it is set 3,000 years ago, back in Egypt.

Past: Staying Here

Akunriou awoke with the sounds of the early morning; the servants rushing around to serve breakfast to the Pharaoh and his priests, ibises screeching nosily outside, and a very strong wind blowing outside. Wondering why the wind had picked up so quickly, Akunriou swung from her uncomfortable bed and gazed out the glass-less window. The golden Egyptian sands spun like tornadoes in the air – a sandstorm must be on its way in, she thought.

The curtains in her doorway parted slightly. Akunriou turned to see Mana watching her closely. 'Morning!' She said brightly. Akunriou just nodded.

'Ah, do not worry! I'm sure the Pharaoh will let you return home soon enough!' Mana said, grinning. She then said, 'He is having breakfast with the High Priest at the moment. They want to speak with you.'

Akunriou muttered, 'How many times more must they?'

Mana ripped the curtains back and pointed in the direction that Akunriou supposed was the dining hall. 'Down there, Akun.'

Akunriou glanced at Mana – it seemed as though the girl had given her some sort of nickname. For this, Akunriou was grateful, and she bowed to Mana before taking off at a swift job toward the dining chambers.

- -

Pharaoh Atemu and the High Priest Seto sat across from each other at the giant dining table, surrounded by five or six servants. The entire eastern wall of the chamber was one giant window; sunlight poured in and small waves of sand blew in. As Akunriou arrived, one of the servants dropped the curtains around the window, and the sound of the wind was blocked out.

Akunriou bowed automatically. 'Your magician girl said that you wished to see me?'

A servant strode forward and pulled out a seat beside Seto. Akunriou sat down nervously: now it was just herself and the two other men with her, and Atemu seemed to focus mainly on her now. In particular, her golden hair and eyes. At the moment, both of her eyes were so blue that they were nearly white.

'Yes, Akunriou,' Pharaoh Atemu said. Then he paused. 'Won't you eat something?'

'I am not very hungry, yet thank you very much.' Akunriou said, trying to sound happy. She was actually very scared, and the High Priest could see her hands trembling as she placed both of them on the table, curling them into a ball. Atemu leaned back in his seat.

'Do you have any idea why you are still at my palace?'

'No...'

Atemu said, 'Because I believe that you can help me.'

There was a small silence. During this time, Akunriou raised her head and said, 'I am just a commoner, Pharaoh. I am not a priestess nor any sort of magician...how can I possibly help you?'

Atemu stood up and paced around the chamber. 'There are dark forces in this land, Akunriou. Forces that not even I can hold back, however much power I possess. I need something to battle back these forces, and I believe that is where you can help me.'

Akunriou remained silent. She could feel the concern in Atemu's eyes as he passed her, still speaking. 'You are so very different to every commoner I have come across. There must be a reason why you are now in my presence...'

He looked at Akunriou. She was quite pretty, with her shiny fringe falling into her brilliant blue eyes and her fair skin that was marked with sand. 'Will you help me?' He asked.

Akunriou did not think for very long: she knew that she should go along with the Pharaoh's plan. She gazed up at him from her seat, at this spiky hair that was three different colours at once, and at the golden pyramid around his neck. She had been wondering what this item was.

Shaking the thoughts aside, Akunriou nodded. 'I shall, my Pharaoh. But what will it require of me?'

Atemu looked very serious. 'You shall stay in my palace until your deed is done. And you shall never leave here, and you may not speak to anyone – not even your family – again. To do so could expose my plan to the ears of those who do not need to hear it.'

'Never see my family again?' Akunriou said quietly. 'Ever?'

Atemu nodded. Slowly, closing her eyes, Akunriou spoke. 'May I be excused, my Pharaoh?'

Atemu nodded again. Akunriou stood up and left the chamber in a hurry. Once she was out of earshot, the High Priest Seto leaned across the table toward the Pharaoh. 'Do you not think you could have softened the blow, Pharaoh?'

'She must learn, Seto.' (A/N: Hey, did that all rhyme?)

'Learn what? Perhaps you should speak to her, Pharaoh?'

Atemu sighed deeply, and stood up. Without another word, he left Seto alone in the chamber.

- -

Akunriou had found a flight of stairs, and had run as far she could until she reached the second floor of the palace. Her feet stung from slapping against the stone ground so hard, and she felt as though she were going to cry. She burst out into a large room on the second floor. Embedded on the floor up here was a long pool, in which floated lotuses and swam silver fish. Sighing shakily, Akunriou knelt down before it, dripping a few tears silently into the water. The fish darted toward them, realised that they weren't food, and then darted off in another direction. Akunriou began to sing quietly to herself.

'Look at me...you may think you see who I really am...but you'll never know me. Every day, it's as if I play a part...' she stood up, tossing her hair behind her back. 'Now I see, if I wear a mask, I can fool the world, but I cannot fool my heart...'

Atemu stopped on his way upstairs. He could hear someone singing: whoever they were, they sang in a way he had never heard before. Atemu ascended slower, so that his footfalls would not muffle the singing.

'Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me? When will my reflection show who I am inside?'

Akunriou's voice formed the melody perfectly. She had taught herself to sing away her troubles – she had so many of those that she had probably learnt to sing that way. Whatever the case, the next line was her last.

'Why must we all conceal what we mean, how we feel –?'

'Akunriou?'

Akunriou stopped singing and spun around, staring into the eyes of the Pharaoh. She dropped to her knees, whispering, 'I am so very sorry, Pharaoh...'

- -

... Then the memory began to blur. Before anyone knew what had happened, Yami, Tory and Seto were warped back to the present.

-End chapter five-

MidnightBallad: I'm sorry that the chapters have been so long. Don't worry – some exciting stuff will happen soon, hopefully. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and I'm glad that you're enjoying the story so much!

Joey (whining): How come I'm not in the story?

MidnightBallad: Because I don't really like you...

Joey (still whining): You don't like Kaiba, and he's in it heaps!

MidnightBallad: Joey – Kaiba is my favourite character.

Kaiba: HAHAHA!

Yami: Love me fans!

MidnightBallad (runs away from Joey, Yami and Kaiba): Please review! See you later!