YSF: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, never have, never will. All I own is my hamster named Pharaoh, but his name may be changed. glares at Yami That's some handy work with a rope, Ryou.
Ryou: looks at Bakura and Yami tied up back to back, arm to arm, and leg to leg lying on their sides My father taught me that. They aren't going anywhere for a long while.
Yugi: I'd like to see them try to walk, since they hate each other, neither will sink to walking backwards.
Ryou, Yugi, and YSF: laugh and watch the two spirits struggle
Blah - telepathy
"I have taught you all of the duties and necessities for a priest to carry out. Now, Yami and I will start teaching you magic little by little," said Seto.
"What part of magic will I learn first?" asked Maria curiously.
Seto smiled the first true smile Maria had seen. "I will teach you how to control and harness your magic to do what you want, and then we'll teach you spells, and after a long while, we'll teach you shadow dueling if we deem that you are ready," he said.
After a while, Maria started getting the hang of controlling her magic. After Seto dismissed her for the day, Maria rounded a corner and saw Yami crouched in front of someone else.
"Come on Mahaado, let me see. I promise not to laugh," urged Yami.
"What's going on?" asked Maria as Mahaado shook his head.
"Isis punched me, and now Yami wants to see if I have a black eye," mumbled Mahaado.
Kneeling down, Maria gently pulled Mahaado's hands away from his face. "It's not black and blue, just swollen," said Maria glaring at Yami, who was trying hard not to laugh. Getting up and pulling Mahaado up, Maria led him to her room. Shutting the door after Yami and Mahaado both entered, she looked at the jars that lined a shelf. Taking one down, she looked in and went over to Mahaado.
"What's that? asked Yami.
"It's an ointment that I made. It reduces swelling, and heals scrapes and minor cuts," said Maria spreading some over Mahaado's eye.
"Whatever it is it works," said Mahaado, "the pain is going away."
"Of course it does," Maria said slightly miffed, "I've used it many times." With that, she stalked out of the room.
Yami looked at Mahaado. "I think we got her mad," said Yami.
"At least she didn't punch us," laughed Mahaado lying back on the bed.
Maria worked her way outside. Now that she didn't have anything to do, she might as well look around outside. After a bit of walking, Maria came to some stables. Going inside, Maria saw servants grooming the horses. Seeing Maria, the servants immediately bowed. "Please, you don't need to bow to me, I was wondering if I could look at the horses," she said.
"Of course my lady, just let me warn you that the horse at the end on the right hand side does not like anyone. It would be wise to avoid her because she bites anyone who is foolish enough to get close," said the servant closest to her.
Nodding, Maria walked down the aisle looking at the horses and stopping every so often to pet one's nose. As she was petting one of the horses, she heard behind her: "Star! Go back into your stall right now, or I shall tell your master!" Turning, she saw the beautiful white horse that Yami had ridden the first day she saw him standing right behind her.
"Sorry my lady, Star here loves coming out to say hello," said a servant coming up as Star sniffed the folds of Maria's dress and then nudged her.
"It's all right. Will you cut it out? I don't have a treat for you right now," laughed Maria as Star nudged her again. Star just looked at her and pranced back into his stall. Shutting and bolting Star's stall door, Maria continued down the long aisle. Finally coming to the end, Maria looked at the stall that she was warned against. In the shadows, Maria could make out the shape of a horse watching her. Slowly approaching the stall, she stopped as the mare lunged at her and tried to bite, but failed because Maria was too far away.
"It's alright, I won't hurt you," soothed Maria as the horse tried to bite her again. The mare was a beautiful chestnut. Maria kept slowly and gently talking to the mare, calming her down, as she approached with a hand outstretched. Getting close enough, Maria laid her hand on the mare's nose and started stroking it. As the mare stood there as if in a trance, Maria stroked her and said, "There you go, you're just misunderstood by everyone else, aren't you?"
"It's amazing that Jasmine responds so well to you," said Yami leaning against the stall door opposite of Jasmine. As Maria whirled around, Jasmine pinned her ears back, and snapped in the prince's direction.
"What makes you say that?" asked Maria.
"Oh, besides the fact that you're standing right next to Jasmine's head, and she's not trying to rip a chunk of skin out of your arm."
"Maybe because I'm the only one who understands her," Maria retorted.
"Well, no one else can do that, do you want her?" asked Yami as Jasmine snapped at him again.
"Sure," came the reply as Maria turned to Jasmine, and laid a hand on her nose. Immediately, Jasmine stopped snapping, and her ears went forward.
"Then she's yours," said Yami giving Star a pat on the way out.
Maria just watched him go with an odd look on her face. Shrugging, she turned back to Jasmine and pet her some more. After a while, Maria got a crazy idea in her head. Unlocking the stall, she entered but sighed. "If I want to do what I have in mind, I have to get up on you somehow," she said to Jasmine. As a response, Jasmine suddenly knelt in front of Maria. "That works," laughed Maria straddling Jasmine's back and sitting down. As soon as she sat down, Jasmine stood up and waited patiently. "Okay Jasmine, here's the plan. We go around the palace once, then head out into town."
Immediately, Jasmine bolted out of the stall and down the stable aisle. To Maria's surprise, Jasmine galloped to the corner of the corner of the palace and turned right. Maria just had to hang on. Laughing as they rounded the second corner at top speed, she saw everyone's astounded faces flash by. Jasmine seemed to be enjoying this, for as they headed to the gate, she did a little rear and kept running out of the gate and into the market. Maria didn't want her to hit anything, so tapping Jasmine's neck as a way of steering, she headed to the Nile by going around the outside of the town.
Reaching the Nile and sliding off Jasmine, Maria flopped on the grass and looked up at the clouds as Jasmine stood near her. "This must have been the most exercise that you have had in quite a while," laughed Maria reaching up and stroking Jasmine's nose. Jasmine stood there for a while, and then went into the Nile to cool off. As Maria relaxed, suddenly she heard a deep voice say, "Well, well, well. Look boys, a noble on our turf. What shall we do with her?"
Maria looked and groaned silently. She was staring at the most feared thieves in this city. She remembered that Bakura wanted to be in that group, but decided against it, because he would have had to abandon Rei. Standing up, she whistled to Jasmine, who immediately came up and snapped at them.
"Foolish girl, we aren't scared of your horse. Horodj, secure the horse," said their leader. Horodj grinned and lassoed Jasmine. Jasmine gave a frightened whinny and started rearing and plunging, trying to get away. Horodj pulled Jasmine to a tree far enough away, and tied the rope to the tree. Once Horodj rejoined the group, they advanced on Maria.
"Now, what to do with you," sneered the leader. "Let's have some fun with her Boss," said another. "I like the way you think," the leader replied advancing on Maria. Just before he was about to grab her, a figure stepped in the way and knocked his arm down.
"Leave her alone," growled the person. Maria gasped inwardly. The person was Bakura!
"Move out of the way Bakura, do you even know who you're protecting?" snapped the leader.
Bakura just smirked and replied, "All I know is that I'm protecting someone who didn't know any better."
"That's why we don't want you in our group, you're too soft. If you keep interfering in our business, I'll personally make sure of two things. One is that we'll add a new scar to that collection you have, and the second thing is that you'll never earn your title of 'King of Thieves' 'my prince,'" snarled the leader.
Even Maria knew that insulting Bakura's title in front of him was just the wrong thing to say. Looking over his shoulder, Bakura muttered, "Take your horse and go to an alcove a little ways down the Nile. I will meet you there."
Maria didn't need to be told twice. Running over to Jasmine, she calmed her down enough to get the rope off. Mounting Jasmine, Maria steered Jasmine to the said alcove. She didn't have to wait long, before Bakura came in. As expected, Jasmine immediately got up from where she was lying, and snorted at Bakura.
"Jasmine, calm down. He won't hurt us," said Maria quietly.
Hearing this, Bakura snorted. "What makes you so sure?" he asked as Jasmine laid back down.
"Because," replied Maria standing up and pulling her hood down, "You would never hurt a friend.
Moments of silence passed between the two, as Bakura didn't know how to respond. Finally, Bakura managed to get out a quiet, "But how? Two days ago, you were literally at the bottom of the food chain bordering slavery. How did you become a noble?"
Maria smiled and went over to her best friend and hugged him. "You know how I wouldn't tell you where I got those gold coins?" she asked looking at him in the eye. When Bakura nodded, she said, "Well, I happened to perform for the prince the day of the sandstorm, and he noticed that I had some magic in me, so he made me into a minor priestess for now."
As Maria said that, Bakura's face, instead of looking happy for her, only grew darker and sadder. "I guess that we won't be able to see each other anymore," he said, "Now that you're a priestess, you won't want to hang out with lowlifes like us."
"That's not true!" Maria said in shock, "I would never abandon you guys. You and Rei have always been like siblings to me, and I won't give that up for the world. And I have plenty of time to visit. I'm just a normal priestess, all I have to do is two hours of studying magic and priestly duties, and then the rest of the day is mine."
"But what happens if you get good enough to be a high priestess? What if you don't have time to visit us?" asked Bakura.
"Then I'll make time, or I'll skive off of my duties to free up time," said Maria causing Bakura to laugh.
"That's the Maria I know!" laughed Bakura hugging her again. The two spent the rest of the afternoon just talking and enjoying each other's company. (YSF: cuz I'm too lazy to type it)
Later...
When evening came, and Maria still hadn't returned to the palace, Yami began to get worried about his new friend. Looking out, he saw a lone rider coming from the Nile at a leisurely walk. Yami, who had seen Jasmine run and walk in the pasture many times, knew her step. As Maria went into the stables, Yami went to meet her. Catching up to her, Yami tapped her on the shoulder as she finished putting Jasmine away.
"Hey Yami," said Maria turning around and smiling at Yami.
"Where have you been?" asked Yami with a slightly annoyed tone.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know I was supposed to check in with the almighty prince of Egypt," replied Maria sarcastically. 'Yep, I've been around Bakura for way too long,' she thought with a smile.
Yami, as expected, flushed and looked angry. "Usually when you go somewhere, you tell someone where you're going in case something happened and we needed to reach you," he snapped, "Besides, there's thieves and other lowlifes out there."
Now it was Maria's turn to get angry. "I went to the Nile and to visit my friends that would do anything for me... oh yeah, that's right. You wouldn't know how that works, since you don't have any friends that would! And I do know that there's thieves out there, my best friend is one," she snarled storming out of the stables and towards the palace. "What Bakura taught me was right," Maria muttered to herself starting to cry slightly and breaking into a run towards the palace, "The only ones that you can trust are yourself and the people that you know everything about."
Yami just stood there shocked and felt as if Maria had slapped him one hard. He didn't have friends? He had Mahaado, Karim, Isis, Shaddah, and of course Seto and Aniba. Yami headed to the palace wondering now. "I wonder if Maria has a point. I may have friends, but how many would do anything for me? Anyways, she shouldn't have said that to someone of a higher ranking," Yami said to himself.
At dinner, Mahaado could sense the tension between Yami and Maria. They were sitting as far away from the other as possible, and were certainly not looking or talking to one another. He and Aniba shared questioning glances across the table. She sensed it too.
Maria's P.O.V.
I don't think I looked up at all during the whole dinner. I had cried for a while in my room before dinner, and now that sad feeling was starting to come back. As I stopped eating for a second, I involuntarily remembered what Yami said about people in Thebes. He may not have realized it, but he called Rei, Millie, Charlene, and Khalid lowlifes. My emotions getting the better of me, I excused myself and fled the room. Reaching the haven of my room, I changed into my oldest and favored dancing outfit and curled up on my bed and started crying, wishing that I was in the company of my friends.
I started feeling warm and comforted a few minutes later for some reason or another, and I then felt something warm, soft, and slightly wet licking my tears away but giving me a face wash in the progress because it was so big. Looking up. I was startled to see a dragon looking down at me.
Don't be frightened, I won't hurt you, nor will my counterpart, the dragon said in my mind licking my face again. I looked at the dragon's body. She was a beautiful gold color all over except for her eyes, which were a silver color.
"Who are you?" I asked still a little fearful. Hearing something behind me, I turned to see her counterpart behind me. This one was the first dragon's opposite. Silver in color, and had gold eyes. Both had a metallic sheen to their bodies.
We are what you call duel monsters. I am the Gold eyes Silver dragon, or Silver for short, and this is my sister the Silver eyes Gold dragon, or Gold for short. said the silver dragon.
Why did you come to me? I asked switching to telepathy.
Goldy here sensed your distress, so we brought you to the monster realm, replied Silver nervously, and we should put you back in the human realm before a monster tries to attack us.
Gold and Silver circled around me and bathed me in a musk. It's better if you sleep Gold explained as my vision grew fuzzy.
A while later, I was awoken to my door being slightly opened. "Maria? Can I come in?" asked Mahaado not poking his head in for obvious reasons.
Rubbing my eyes, I sat up. "Yeah, you can come in," I replied. Mahaado entered and sat on my bed.
"What's wrong? You left dinner quite quickly," Mahaado said looking at me.
My mind raced to think of something. I even surprised myself when I spilled the whole story. Even parts from when I used to dance that I kept to myself. Finishing, I felt relieved, but I also felt terrible. "I don't know what came over me. I know I shouldn't have said that to Yami, but me and my friends are as close as siblings. If one is insulted or hurt, the others react in ways to protect that person," I said looking at Mahaado.
Mahaado took a second to process the whole story and gave me a hug, something that I desperately needed. "What I think, is that it's perfectly fine to protect your friends as you see fit," said Mahaado starting to grin slightly, "And I don't blame you for insulting Yami as much as you did."
Okay, now I was confused. "But, why is it okay that I insulted Yami and didn't get in trouble?" I asked.
Mahaado let out a small laugh. "I've been friends with Yami since he was a year old, and every time he said something that wasn't too appropriate to say, no one would correct him or tell him otherwise because he was the prince. But you, you disregarded that tidbit and taught him a much needed lesson," said Mahaado laughing again. It seemed as if he remembered something, because he started grinning like crazy after he stopped laughing.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"Oh nothing, except that I just remembered that Aniba was going to talk to/ yell at Yami for being so ignorant," replied Mahaado.
Normal P.O.V.
Yami sat as his desk listening to Aniba yell at him. Personally, it gave him a headache, but he knew that if he tuned her out, she would know and keep yelling. 'Damn millennium crest,' he thought.
"Aniba, will you shut up so I can say something?" he shouted. Amazingly, she shut up and looked at him with a somewhat cold glare.
"Then speak," she snapped.
"I know I shouldn't have acted too protective of her, and too controlling, but as I told her, there's dangerous people out there and I don't want her getting hurt," Yami said looking at the desk and tracing an intricate and aimless pattern.
"Then apologize."
"What? Why should I?"
"Because, dear brother, you hurt her feelings and you should apologize. Besides, you forget that she grew up on the streets and probably feels safer there living a carefree life where she knows everything about her surroundings, than learning to live in a more sophisticated world where she barely knows anyone or anything. It's hard on her," explained Aniba with a sigh.
Yami nodded in sudden understanding. "I see your point. I'll apologize tomorrow," he said with finality.
Mahaado had come in at this time and heard that last sentence. "That would be wise because Maria is sleeping now," he said sitting on Yami's bed and sliding off his head cover revealing his unusual purple hair.
"Why is she sleeping?" asked Aniba. Mahaado just gave her an I'll tell you later look. Yami, glad that the scolding was done, grew restless. Leaving, he walked down the hall to Seto's room and entered without knocking as usual.
"What do you want Atemu?" asked Seto looking down at Yami from where he was standing on his desk hanging something.
"You know I hate that name," said Yami sitting on the floor.
"Well it is your birth name, and you're going to be called it when you're pharaoh, so you better grow up and get used to it," said Seto jumping off of the desk and joining Yami on the floor.
"And you're too serious for your own good," replied Yami.
"That's because I grew up and matured once I lost my sister," Seto shot back. (YSF: What? He has a sister? I wonder who that is... will be revealed later.)
"I don't think I want you as my future high priest anymore. I think I'll give that title to Mahaado."
"Can't do, the position of high priest was promised to me by our fathers, Atemu," Seto said.
Yami sighed in defeat. "Fine, I guess I can start getting used to Atemu on the condition that I will be called Yami when I'm not on the throne and not having an audience," he said.
Seto smirked loving every minute of his triumph. It now had taken everyone in the palace eleven years to get Yami to even respond to Atemu since his rejection of that name when he was four. "Fine, but you have to start responding to Atemu tomorrow," said Seto emphasizing tomorrow.
Yami nodded and looked annoyed for a second and then jumped up. "Come on Set! Let's go duel before it gets too dark out," said Yami pulling Seto to his feet and tugging him out of the room.
As Yami, I mean Atemu, and Seto were bickering, Mahaado and Aniba were walking outside. Aniba was listening to Mahaado tell her about Maria's little emotional confession/ breakdown.
"I'm honestly surprised that she trusted me enough after two days, to tell me what she did. She said that she kept those thoughts from her best friends," said Mahaado, "She was still so upset after that, so I put a sleep spell on her to calm her down."
"You work wonders Mahaado. I don't question her decision to share her secrets with you," said Aniba with a shrug, "It was a wise choice for you to become a priest. You have a natural ability to help people."
Mahaado smiled modestly and continued to walk. The next morning, Maria woke up and stretched. 'I hope today is going to be better than yesterday,' she thought going to the baths to wash. After her bath, Maria got dressed and picking up her dancing outfit, she heard a small clatter. Looking down, she saw a medallion shining on the floor. Picking it up, she turned it over to see a raised picture of Gold and Silver circling a lapis lazuli center. Shrugging, she slid it on and went down to breakfast after dropping her nightwear off in her room.
At breakfast, Atemu was trying to think how he was going to apologize to Maria. He had already figured out how to get her to sit next to him. Atemu just asked everyone to take up the seats and leave one open for Maria right next to him. Giving up and thinking to himself that he'll know what to say later, his attention suddenly shifted to Seto as he told everyone about his and Atemu's agreement as snickers filled the hall.
Everyone wouldn't leave Atemu alone now. He was starting to wish that he hadn't made that agreement, when Maria entered. Maria looked around the table and noticed with distaste that the only empty seat was next to Atemu.
(YSF: yes, she heard the jokes as she was entering)
YSF: I'm too nice. I wrote 10 pages to make up for lost time. Please read and review and tell me if my struggle was worth it. By the way, I have a new authoress friend named Ria, the person in the shadows. If you would be so kind, could you read her one story, Spirit Revolt? It would mean a lot to her if you read it and reviewed, even if it has only two chapters... Thanks!