I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters and plots.
However the following characters (their powers and such) used in this fan fiction ARE mine:
Lady Aurora Phoenix
Lady Natara Fear
Lady Sapphira Star
Blaze
Chaos
Havoc
This gives Lady Phoenix a background now so we can try to understand her a little better. But it also gives Atem a chance to see just who he has in front of him...
"Past Revealed"
Lady Phoenix had not meant to scare her. She was glad to have her gone though. All she wanted to concentrate on was waking her friends. Lady Star was closer to recovery now after that jolt of Power. She had to do the same for Havoc now. With the threat of their enemy possibly here on this planet with them, she needed her team up and ready. She took one last look over at her friend and then went across the hall to Havoc's room, where she used the last of her energy to give him the same jolt of Power. All that was left for her now was to rest.
Lady Phoenix slowly made her way back to her room. Her vision blurred at the doorway and she reached out to steady herself. Instead of the wall, however, she found a strong hand grabbing hers to help her.
"Are you all right?" Atem's voice was filled with concern. She blinked to clear up her sight, as she turned to look up at him.
"Just weak," she answered. She allowed him to help her to her bed. Once she was sitting, he knelt before her, still holding her hand.
"What happened?" Lady Phoenix shook her head.
"It is nothing really. I just over did it in trying to help my friends. I pushed too hard, that is all."
"But, why? There is no need to rush their recovery. Unless something happened that I am unaware of." Atem thought a moment. "Did Isis say something to you?" Lady Phoenix hesitated before answering.
"She did, but she only apologized for her behavior."
"She did?" Atem had wondered where Isis had gone. She had never appeared for dinner and she had not been in her room when a servant went to take a tray for her. "Is that all she did?" Lady Phoenix sighed. She was weak, but she could not sit still. She stood and slowly made her way to the balcony where the breeze could touch her face. Atem watched her intently.
"She told me of a vision she had. Apparently, my enemy was not destroyed in the explosion as I had thought. I have been too weak to sense him. She fears he will side with your enemy. I have to wake my friends and stop that from happening."
"Fine, I can understand that. But if you use all your strength now to wake them, what good will you be to them if you are weak again. You are still trying to recover completely. You cannot keep pushing yourself to exhaustion like this." Atem came up behind her on the balcony and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. "You will hurt your team even more by doing so." Lady Phoenix closed her eyes and lowered her head. No matter how important it was to wake her friends, she knew he was right.
"I do need to be more careful," she relented. "I have always been the type to rush forward and worry about things later. One of only a few faults I have." They were quiet a moment as they both gazed at the land from the balcony. Atem realized that since that night in the garden he had not allowed himself to go into her room. He suddenly felt awkward and nervous.
"Perhaps I should leave so you may rest," he finally said. He turned to leave, but a light touch on his hand stopped him. He looked back and saw her watching their hands in wonder. As if she had surprised herself in taking his.
"No, please. You do not have to go," she said softly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she answered with a sigh. "I am sorry for the trouble I have been. I know you do not understand a lot about me and that has been my own fault. I do not open up very easily normally. You have taken a great chance in me." She looked up at him, her eyes shining with her hidden tears. "I promised you earlier that I would speak with you. We both seem to have time now." Atem looked hard at her. He was confused by her words.
"You have not been any trouble, Aurora," he assured her. "I have given you your space so I do not push you away. I figured when you were ready, you would tell me what you have hidden within you."
"There is nothing you wish to know, then?"
"I am not saying that, I am only saying that you may take your time in revealing all to me. If you choose to." Lady Phoenix turned and walked back to the edge of the balcony.
"At this time, it is not a matter of my choosing to. It is a matter of my having to. For us to move forward with what we have been feeling, you must know the truth about me. You must learn my past. The sooner the better. Once you know all, then you may decide where to go from here."
"Are you sure about this?" Atem asked her softly. Part of him was happy she was willing to share so much, and another part of him was scared to find out what her story was. She nodded in response. For a long time, she did not speak. She only continued to gaze out over the land. He knew she was only preparing herself for her story.
"I was not always a royal," she began. "I married into the royal family. But my story is deeper than that. Much deeper." She took a deep breath before continuing. Atem walked over and sat down on her bed to listen as she spoke. "My planet, Eudora, was once a beautiful place. Green grass and crystal blue waters everywhere, as far as you could see. My earliest, and happiest, memories were in the river beside my village, where my friends and I would play in the falls. That was at a time when we were carefree. We worried not about our destiny, though it always hung over our heads. Lady Star, Lady Fear, Chaos, and I grew up together. We learned of our Powers together. We trained and practiced. We were close. We were different and by far stronger than the others in our clan. My father, Master Dominik, was the leader. My mother was Monique. One of the more powerful woman in our clan." Lady Phoenix's voice wavered and she paused. Atem stood and moved to be beside her.
"You still do not have to do this," he said tenderly. He could feel her pain reaching out. It worried him. She shook her head.
"I do. I have to do this. You must know everything. You must be prepared." She closed her eyes and refused to look at him. She could not if she was going to make it through her story. Her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. She had to tell him. He could feel the tremors beginning and he lightly touched her shoulders.
"Do not do this to yourself. You need rest," he tried again.
"I need to speak." Lady Phoenix took a deep breath and began again. In his mind, pictures from her memories seemed to float by. As if he could see what she was telling him as it happened for the first time. He was reliving her past with her.
"My clan was a race of people who were immortal. We can be killed, but we do not age. We had knowledge of magic and Power. It was how we battled. How we played. The clan was originally created to protect the king and his family. We were the ones called to battle when there was an attack. Which, thanks to the king's younger brother, there were plenty of. Each attack grew more worse than the last. The land was being destroyed. The people were losing hope of ever having peace again. That was why my friends and I were born. To fulfill the legend."
"Legend?" Atem asked. She nodded, still not looking at him.
"According to the legend of our planet, six warriors would be born with unimaginable Powers. They would use those Powers to protect the planet and bring peace. They would bare the marks of the chosen ones on their shoulders. When they came of age, they would find the temple that held the magical rings they needed to increase their Powers. Together, they would rid the planet of the evil force." She interrupted herself with a humorless laugh. "Guess I ridded the planet of the evil, huh?" Her voice was flat. No emotion. Atem grew concerned.
"You did what you had to do," he whispered to her. His words made her chuckle even more.
"What I had to do... Right." She shrugged his hands off her shoulders and moved inside her room. She found a tray with a glass of water on it and took a sip. "My mother trained my friends and me. She had us all in hiding with my friends' parents because my father lost sight of his purpose. He became greedy and Power hungry. So Power hungry he was willing to hand me off to Lord Theron, the enemy, to get the Power he sought. He also had problems believing a girl could possess the chosen Powers, let alone three of us. So we lived outside the clan. There was a cabin in a secluded area in the woods. It was while we were there, that we found the missing two in our chosen group. I will never forget that day. It was the day my Powers were truly tested for the first time. I was thirteen when it happened..."
The next chapter is a flashback... Just to forewarn you ...
