KNY: Hiya peoples! KNY here bringing you my very first YGO fic! This is also my first serious story. I know I haven't updated my other stories in forever, but they're undergoing some major revisions and I have writer's block on them. Still, I'm starting this against my better judgment. Why are you still reading up here? Go read the fic already!!
Yami: The disclaimer, KNY...
KNY: What?
Joey: Ya know, the thing that says you don't own us.
KNY: Gah! When'd you get here?
Joey: Just now. Now do the disclaimer!
KNY: Why would I have to do that?
Joey: 'Cause ya don't own us!
KNY: Grrrrrr... shut up chihuahua!
Joey: I am not a chihuahua!
KNY: Are too! Anyway.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. May the force not sue me.
An Innocent's Spilled Blood
Although late, the monsoon had come at last to break summer's fearful heat. Marjari stood beside the peacock window in her room in the House of Nine Jewels, staring out at the steady rain and idly stroking her favorite pet. The midnight black cat pressed against Marjari's body, a warmly vibrating bundle of soft fur and hard muscle. The cat's purr created a gentel counterpoint to the harsh music of the silver rain.
'Harsh music indeed. But I should savor its sound; when it ceases, he will come, and I must smile and persuade him to be generous… and he is not a generous man.'
Sighing, Marjari put the little cat on the window ledge and leaned out into the heavy, monsoon rain. Water poured over her face, smearing the kohl outlining her dark eyes and blurring the view of the Egyptian city beyond as if she stared through tears.
'He knows about the child; he knows and yet says nothing. It is his, he must acknowledge that, and give me money, for if he does not…' If her patron did not support the child, Ugrata-Ma, owner of the House of Nine Jewels, would have the infant poisoned with opium or flung into the streets for the dogs to devour. Only the hope of favors from the Egyptian lord had kept Ugrata-Ma from taking swift action to prevent the child's birth.
But it was becoming obvious to the ruler of the House of Nine Jewels that Marjari's patron would not pay more to ensure the life of the child he had fathered. And now it was far to late for any potions to ease Marjari of the burden of new life. The child would be born soon, and then it would die; there was no place for useless infants in the House of Nine Jewels…
'And I cannot bear to give birth to a child only to see it die!' Tears mingled with rain on Marjari's cheeks; beside her, the black cat leaned against Marjari's arm, patting her wet face with a silk-soft paw.
Half-smiling, Marjari caught the worried cat up in her arms. "You try to comfort me, like the true friend you are." Of all the many cats Marjari fed, this little one was her darling; her companion during forlorn days and cruel nights. Marjari kissed the top of the cat's silk-furred head and scratched her delicate jaw. The cat purred, whiskers bristling like slender sword blades.
"Perhaps you are right," Marjari told the cat, "Perhaps he will be kind. Perhaps- "
"Perhaps what, my pet?" As usual, her lordly patron had entered unannounced, striding in without permitting Marjari even a moment to prepare herself. Smiling with professional ease, Marjari allowed the cat to flow out of her arms to the floor.
"I am pleased that you have come at last, my lord. That is all." Marjari moved forward to take his headpiece, and his coat; long practice enabled her to ignore the harsh sent of meat-eater emanating from his skin.
"Missed me, I see." His voice was as harsh as his scent, his words clipped and discordant. He handed Marjari his elegant headpiece, but then shrugged her away, refusing to allow her to remove his coat.
"Of course, my lord." Marjari laid the headpiece on a painted chest, then faced him, studying his hard face and pale, gray eyes, hoping to find some kindness lurking there, but his unfamiliar face told her nothing.
Summoning all her courage, Marjari smiled and laid her hand on his arm. "How could I not miss the father of my child?"
He frowned and shook off her soft hand "Not that again! Now see here girl– I've told you before, this brat's none of my concern, if it's mine at all! You're a common whore; how do I know how many other men you've had to your bed?"
Gasping at the insult, Marjari drew herself up and met his hostile eyes bravely. "I am not a whore, my lord- what you have paid for has been yours alone."
"So you say." He scowled, and kicked absently at the white Chinese carpet beside her bed. "I say you're a lying whore."
Marjari gasped again, and the little cat beside her growled low in her throat. The cat did not like the strange man who came so frequently and pawed her mistress; he smelled vile, and sounded rabid. He made her mistress weep, and she did not like that, either.
"Damn it, girl! Stop wailing at me like- like a damned alley cat! You can send me a note after the brat's born. I'll come and see you and bring you a present- when you've got your looks back, that is."
Grabbing up his headpiece from the painted chest, the man turned away, and Marjari realized he was leaving their child to whatever fate Ugrata-Ma decreed for it. "No!" she cried, clutching his arm, "No you mustn't-"
The rich lord rounded on her, growling like a rabid dog. "Damn you! Stop bugging me, wench!" He shoved Marjari away; awkward the burden of her unborn child, she stumbled backward, nearly treading on the cat's tail.
The man followed, and loomed over her. "Now listen to me, girl. You've had your fun, and your money, now leave me alone!" To emphasize his command, he grabbed Marjari's arm and shook her.
It was too much. Angered, the midnight-colored cat slashed at his ankles. Claws like tiny scimitars ripped through the man's pants, sinking deep into soft flesh. But the cat's claws, fully extended, caught in the cloth, and she could not pull her paw free-
Releasing Marjari's arm, the man swore, his words a loud snapping like the barking of dogs. "Damned cat- nasty, sly beast- just like a woman-" As he snarled and swore, he bent, reaching for the trapped cat. "I'll take care of you- you bloody cat-"
Crying out, Marjari rushed forward. But she was too late; the man grabbed the little cat by the scruff of its neck and hurled it from him. There was a small, harsh thud as the cat's body hit the wall.
Marjari stooped beside the limp body and stroked the cat's soft fur. There was no response. Marjari glared up at the man as tears streaked black kohl over her flushed cheeks.
"You have killed it," she accused.
"Oh, stop sniveling woman. It was a damned, nasty, stinking beast that wouldn't waste an eye blink over you. Not like a dog. Now a dog knows how to be loyal. Faithful. Not like a cat- or a woman," he added, strolling over to gaze down at Marjari as she crouched beside the body of the little cat.
"Besides, the alleyway's full of the damned animals. Now, leave it lie, and come show me how well you can please me," he said lying on the bed and beckoning her. "Maybe I'll let you have a dog," he added thoughtfully. "A dog's a suitable pet for a woman, if it's a pretty one. But no more damned cats! Do you understand?"
Marjari understood. She understood that to the man, she herself was of no more importance than the little cat he'd slain, and the child they had created together would be of less importance to him than a pretty puppy… Marjari let her hand rest for a moment on the cooling body of the cat, then rose to her feet and stared at him.
"You are an evil man," Marjari told him in a cool, clear voice, "and you will be punished for what you have done today. Now leave me, for I am done with you."
"But I'm not done with you," the man said, and grabbed Marjari by her braided and jeweled hair.
She fought him, using her gilded nails to rip his cheeks and her sharp teeth to bite his grasping hands.
"Damned bitch!" he barked, and slammed his fist into Marjari's temple, sending her staggering back. His second blow beat her to her knees, and his third to the floor to lie beside the body of the black cat. The man stood silent for a moment, breathing heavily and glaring at the fallen creatures. Then he stalked over, stiff-legged with anger, and kicked Marjari's rounded belly.
"Damned bitch," he repeated, and then kicked the cat's body for good measure.
Unbeknownst to the angry lord, a violet-haired woman looked on in fury. How dare he slay one of her children and her mistress! The Egyptian goddess Bastet glared down at the mortal who had killed one of her favorite children, and looked at the dying woman in pity.
'She will die, as the cat had done, and that man walks free- no!' The goddess's aqua eyes flashed sharply in a rare display of rage. He would pay, and pay dearly. She wanted revenge, but she would need a lot of power. She would go to her sister. Together they formed the Way of the Guardian Cat, Bastet, goddess of mothers, children, and pregnant women, and Sekhmet, bloodthirsty and violent goddess of war and divine vengeance.
"Well, well, my little sister," a low sultry voice said. "To what do I owe this surprise visit?"
Bastet looked to scarlet-clad figure of her older sister, who was calmly lounging on a long couch fashioned from the finest silks and ivory. Her sister was as much of a beauty as Bastet herself, with her shimmering, red-gold hair and blood-red eyes. Bastet adopted an innocent look and commented, "What? Do I need a reason to visit my one and only sister?"
The goddess raised one delicately arched eyebrow. "Okay then, why the sudden interest? I hardly believe you came for a social chat and a cup of tea."
"Of course not. I wouldn't bother you for trivial nonsense."
"Is Horus flirting with you again? You know I 'd be glad to take him off your hands," the blonde deity remarked, red eyes twinkling in a rare show of amusement.
Bastet rolled her own aquamarine eyes and then looked at Sekhmet with such seriousness that she immediately stopped joking and adopted a somber expression.
"I need your help."
Sekhmet's eyes widened in surprise, but then she recovered her composure to ask, "Why?"
"A mortal has taken two innocents' lives today."
"Why is that such a big deal? Humans do that all the time," Sekhmet replied, taking a drink of the red wine that had suddenly appeared in her hand.
"One was a cat," Bastet answered matter-of-factly.
Sekhmet gasped and nearly chocked on the crimson liquid as this information registered in the goddess's mind.
"W-what?" Sekhmet's voice shook with shock as the wine trickled out of a corner of her mouth.
"You heard me."
Sekhmet's eyes darkened and hardened until they looked like garnets. "That is a crime punishable by death, but normally the humans take care of things like that. Why do you feel the need for divine intervention?"
"No one saw him."
"Ah, I see. And just what did you have in mind?"
Bastet explained her plan, her elder sister smiling evilly and nodding in approval.
"Excellent idea, Bastet! We'll begin immediately."
Bastet stretched her claws and gave a cruel smirk.
Marjari's daughter slipped into life just as Marjari herself slipped out of it. Ignoring the dead woman, the old midwife, who had been hastily summoned by Ugrata-Ma, concentrated all her efforts on preserving the newborn girl. After all the years and all the children she had brought into the uncaring world, the midwife possessed certain gifts of prophecy.
"She will be special, this one," the midwife said, wiping the silent infant clean with Marjari's second-best veil. "She will be a beauty. She will someday control the fate of the world."
And, trusting the old midwife's judgment, Ugrata-Ma decided to let Marjari's daughter live, and set the opium bottle back in her sandalwood chest. The poison would keep for use on another occasion…
KNY: Wooooooooow! That was a long one!
Yami: Now will you be able to keep it up?
KNY: Hopefully! (nervous smile and sweatdrop) Damn them for taking away the smiles…
All YGO boys: R&R!
KNY: You heard the bishies! Now review!!!