Hello, fellow anime lovers! I'm sorry if this is a slow pace for updates but I'm doing the best I can here! My school's tough and there's at least an hour of homework each day including Fridays. But, on a brighter note, I'm happy to announce that there will be exciting new events in the latest chapter of this fic. Also, for those of you who find the format a bit......cramped, I shall try to make it a bit looser.
Disclaimer :sighs I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, the television dub would be a LOT better. runs away from evil lawyers with restraining orders
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Chapter six: Seth's Arrival
A ten year old Celestia looked out over the desert, outwardly aloof, but inwardly triumphant. The last two years had been filled with grueling days and sleepless nights, but she finally made it to this point. In two more years, she would receive her uniform and embark on her journey throughout Kemet, never to settle in one place for too long.
At first, the other children welcomed her warily, like she was a poisonous snake waiting to strike. It was understandable, of course, since she popped in out of nowhere and the other girl disappeared. Also, there was a disturbing amount of magic around her; even the most stupid and insensitive trainees had known that she was different and therefore not to be trusted.
There was one person among them who was not afraid of her as the others were. That person was a boy from a prestigious tomb-keeping clan who had been sent there to become one of Osiris' priests since it would aid them in exorcising spirits who just wouldn't go to the Afterlife. He would also add to their declining worth, since it was rumored that there was a strain of insanity in their clan. He had out-of-control platinum blonde hair and lavender eyes. His name was Malik and he thought he was better than most of them, excluding Celestia. She thought he was an ambitious idiot with an unquenchable thirst for power. This led to a subtle rivalry between them: you couldn't see it on the surface, but it was there, brooding in dark corners.
Celestia had summoned her first Shadow Monster at the tender age of nine. Surprisingly, it was not a Kuriboh, as many had secretly hoped, but a Ryu-kishin, which was amazing for a girl of her age who started her training barely a year ago. The most powerful Monster she had summoned as of yet was the formidable Vorse Raider, which could destroy many of the easily summoned monsters such as its cousin Axe Raider.
She was not always instructed by Mas-Ne-Ra; sometimes a Mystical Elf, sometimes a Dunames Dark Witch and other times mostly humanoid Monsters. They all had different styles of teaching and it had been hard for Celestia to keep up with their different moods, but here she was now.
"The Head Priest wants to see you by the training courts in an hour after your lesson with the defense instructor," an acolyte said with an edge of bitterness. Many were jealous by the knowledge and power that Celestia wielded and they took it out on her with pranks. Celestia often wished to blast them to the Shadow Realm but she lacked the knowledge and reason to do so. Besides, Mas-Ne-Ra would frown on such flagrant use of power. She turned her gaze on the unfortunate boy and he backed away, shivering from a sudden change in temperature that wasn't present in the early dawn. He ran off, taking her silence as a yes.
She headed off to the practice courts and was soon caught up in a whirlwind of fists and feet. Celestia was impatient and her tutor noticed. "You can only excel if your concentration is entirely on the matter at hand," he reprimanded her when they finished. She nodded, rather than bowed to the elder man. Manner tip number 29 told her that if she was to be superior in anything, she couldn't be aware of any superiority of another. She headed off to the waiting figure of the old man beyond the stone wall.
"You asked for me?" she asked the priest. He was getting into his sixties and Osiris would be claiming him anytime now.
"A new priest in training will be attending our temple for lessons soon," he said. The priest was known for his bluntness but Celestia couldn't see what this had to do with her. "He arrives from the capital tomorrow and I expect you to show him around," So that was it; she was supposed to play nursemaid to some nobleman's son who probably was a weakling.
"I don't see why my presence is required," Celestia said neutrally, than scolded herself for such a statement that plainly said that she didn't want to do it. However, he seemed not to notice.
"You are a prime choice for such an assignment because you stand out the most. Malik does too, but he is a bit...reckless and would represent us badly," he said.
"May I know the name of the new boy?" she asked, not particularly interested, but trying to appear like the model student he thought she was.
"Of course, his name is Seth and he's a close friend of the Crown Prince." The blood drained from Celestia's face and she swore her heart skipped a beat.
"My thanks," she managed to say. The girl turned around and walked straight to the sanctuary. She didn't remember tapping on the access bricks, nor did she remember going through the wall, but somehow it was there in front of her in all of its beauty. Celestia placed her fingertips together and pointed them down.
"Mas-Ne-Ra, I seek your counsel," she intoned formally and sent a burst of magic in that direction with her message. It was a handy little trick that a Mystical Sand taught her for summoning a goddess in a time of need.
Suddenly she was there in front of Celestia, visibly irritated. "I hope this is important," she said, annoyed, but stopped when her gaze fell on Celestia's pale face. "What's wrong? Are you sick? Did they call you insolent names again?" Celestia shook her head to each question.
"He's coming," she whispered and Mas-Ne-Ra didn't need her to tell her who it was.
"When?" she asked sharply.
"Tomorrow."
"He won't find out who you are, don't worry," the goddess said reassuringly.
"It's not as simple as that! What if someone like Malik remembers a girl who looked just like him who disappeared two years ago? What if he tells him that I arrived the same time that she disappeared?"
"You don't trust my mind wipes?" Mas-Ne-Ra said.
"Even mind wipes can be neutralized if there is a strong enough stimulus," Celestia quoted her.
"You won't be so foolish as to accidentally drop your illusion, I'm sure."
"But what if I'm really tired? Like that one time," Celestia referred to when her defense instructor had her for three hours and made her exercise every single second. When she went into the garden, she looked at her reflection in a metal bar and saw that her illusion had failed. Immediately, she reinstated it, but she never was quite so sure of it afterwards.
"It won't happen, I'll make sure of it," the goddess said. Celestia nodded, but still didn't feel sure.
Seth, what are you like? Are you like me? I wonder if we'll be friends. I hope my "father" doesn't come. If he does, I'd feel a strong urge to summon a Vorse Raider and annihilate him.
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Please Review if only for the sake of my declining prestige. Not that I have any prestige, but it's fun to dream!
