I don't own Yugioh. I do own Maria, Gold, silver, and this plot… which is co-owned by Rei…figures.
Scene change
Time change
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Atemu opened his eyes and sighed in resignation. He understood now what he had to do, to make Maria trust him again. As much as he didn't want to, it was the only way. Getting up from his comfortable spot and walking to the secret door, he paused as he hears footsteps go by. Listening carefully, he distinguished them as Maria's and Mahaado's footsteps.
"Are you sure you want to do this today? Akunumkanon wants no one to go outside of the palace walls till he is sure that thieves won't capture anyone as hostages to demand Bakura's release," Mahaado said quietly.
"Mahaado, I know you're worried about me, but I'll be fine. Remember, I know his sister and closest thief partner like siblings. They control the remaining thieves who survived Atemu's troops' attack in Bakura's absence and they won't hurt me. Besides, Gold and Silver will watch over me," Maria replied, her voice barely able to be heard, "Besides, Bakura's punishment is in a few days, and if I don't go now, I might not be able to help him."
"Take this then," Mahaado said slipping the Millennium ring over his head and putting it around Maria's neck. "It will point out anyone who may be following you," Mahaado explained at Maria's look of confusion. Maria smiled, and hugging him, slipped away.
Atemu waited a minute and was about to open the door when he heard Mahaado speak again. "Come out Prince, I know you were listening to us."
Atemu emerged and faced Mahaado who was on the other side of a nearby pillar, making his hanging around inconspicuous. "I need your help."
"What do you ask for, my prince?" asked Mahaado crossing his arms and leaning against the pillar.
"I want to know what would make Maria…" started Atemu
"The happiest with you? Shame on you Atemu, I thought it would be obvious," chuckled Mahaado cutting Atemu off mid-sentence.
"Well I know that Bakura being free would make her happy, but I'm reluctant to do so without punishing him first," Atemu admitted hanging his head almost shamefully.
Mahaado smiled as Atemu unknowingly made himself more prepared to become a fine ruler indeed. "There may be a way…" Mahaado said going over to Atemu and whispering the idea in the prince's ear. Atemu bit his lip in thought and then nodded with satisfaction evident in his face.
Maria walked along the market's main street not really paying attention to her surroundings. Entering an alley, she was suddenly pinned to one of the walls by a cloaked man who also covered her mouth to prevent screaming.
"Don't make any noise and I'll take my hand off your mouth," the person, obviously a thief hissed. Maria nodded and felt the hand remove itself from her mouth. Looking up slightly, she noticed the thief had unusual lavender eyes that were framed by light blonde hair.
"Ishtar?" she asked timidly. The thief looked puzzled.
"How do you know my name?" he asked.
Maria smirked and lowered her hood. "Easy," she laughed, "your eyes are a dead giveaway."
Ishtar rolled his eyes exasperatedly and lowered his own hood, releasing his spiky hair from its restraint. "What are you doing out?"
"I came to see you and Rei on Bakura's behalf," she replied raising her hood again. Ishtar following suit grabbed Maria's wrist gently and led her through the labyrinth-like alleys to the house.
"Maria, where's Bakura?" asked Rei coming over immediately.
"Rei, I think it would be wise to hear what she has to say before you ask questions," Ishtar chided going to stand next to Rei, while lowering his hood. Rei in response punched Ishtar in the arm hard and sat down.
"Bakura's fine for now," Maria said hesitantly, "Unfortunately he will be punished in a few days and that worries me. I have no clue what's going to happen to him."
Rei started to rise on impulse, only to be pushed back down gently by Ishtar. "We need a plan," said Ishtar calmly ignoring Rei's glare. The trio thought for a while and couldn't think of any possible way to get Bakura out safely.
"Let's see, Bakura is most likely going to be 'punished' in public as an example to all thieves," Rei started, "We can get a few of our minions to cause a distraction and while the guards are busy, we grab 'Kura and run."
"To where?" Maria asked skeptically. Rei grinned and pointed northward.
"To Kuru Eruna of course," Ishtar said following Rei's finger with his eyes. Maria laughed and agreed. After all, who would think to look in a place where the deceased attack anyone they don't know?
Atemu walked down the corridor to Bakura's cell. The guards immediately stood straight and at attention. "Give me the key and go take a break," Atemu said using his authority to his advantage as the guards reluctantly handed the keys over and walked off. Entering the cell, Atemu couldn't see Bakura anywhere, but after a second heard the chains clink in a corner followed by a harsh voice.
"What do you want prince?" sneered Bakura emerging from the shadows with an evil smirk on his face.
Atemu backed up so that he was out of Bakura's range and bristled at the lack of respect in Bakura's voice.
"You know," Atemu replied in a dangerous tone, "the only reason that you're still alive is because I don't feel like having one of my most trusted priestess' mad as hell at me."
Bakura barked a laugh. "You're most trusted huh?" he chuckled, "Yeah, most trusted to you, but do you ever think you're not trustworthy anymore in her eyes?"
Atemu turned to the door and pretended to shift through the keys for the correct one. "I did come to strike a deal with you so that you are released with all your appendages intact, but I guess you like the idea of having your nose and ears cut off, so I'll take my leave now," said Atemu keeping his voice level and serious.
"What kind of deal?" asked Bakura, his voice losing its cocky tone and becoming curious.
Atemu turned. "I was going to offer you your freedom out of this dungeon to be reunited with any family that you may have, on the condition that I give you a lasting reminder that next time I catch you, you won't be so fortunate," Atemu said knowing full well he had Bakura's attention and interest.
"What do you mean by 'lasting reminder?'" Bakura asked suspiciously.
"Nothing more than a non-fatal scar or two," Atemu said watching Bakura finger the single scar that ran straight from the top of his bottom eyelid to level with his bottom lip.
"As long as you don't cut anywhere on or dangerously near my eye," Bakura replied holding out his hand. Atemu hesitated and then reaching out, shook Bakura's hand and then unlocked Bakura's ankle shackles.
"Can I ask why you're doing this?" asked Bakura rubbing his ankles as Atemu unlocked the door.
"Because," Atemu replied swinging the door open, "I happen to have fallen in love with Maria and want to see her happy, even if it means that I have to release my most hated rival."
Bakura smirked and hobbled slightly as he followed Atemu, feeling the pain in his ankle from when he had landed on it, as a result of being thrown into the cell.
Maria entered the palace cautiously. No one was in sight. Good. She could freely go to her room and give back Mahaado his millennium ring without anyone knowing she was gone.
Just as she was about to enter her room, she heard someone call her name. Turning, she saw Mahaado and Atemu approach. Handing back the millennium ring, she glanced warily at Atemu. "What do you want Atemu?" she asked tiredly.
Atemu winced slightly at the slight tone of bitterness in Maria's voice. "I have a surprise for you as means of an apology. Can you tolerate me at least long enough to see it?" he asked.
Maria looked to Mahaado, who nodded, and sighed. "Fine, but it better not be lame and a waste of time," she said as they produced a blindfold and tied it over her eyes. Allowing herself to be led into a room, she felt herself be stopped and the blindfold removed. Continuing to stand there, she heard Atemu say, "Okay Maria, open your eyes."
Opening her eyes, Maria squeaked in surprise as she saw Bakura standing in front of her with a smile on his face. Running into his arms, she relaxed for a minute and then looked at him. "What's going on?" she asked.
"I was set free, I'm the surprise. Me and the prince struck up an agreement in exchange for my freedom," Bakura replied sitting down so that he wouldn't hurt his ankle any farther. Maria sat next to him and at a loss for words, just rested her head on his shoulder.
Atemu smiled. He was glad that Maria was happy, and he was also amazed at how kind and good Bakura seemed compared to his normal dark and evil self. He almost hated what he had to do now, but a deal was a deal.
"Tomb Robber, you still have to hold up your end of the bargain," Atemu reminded, pulling a knife out. Bakura nodded and stood up, starting to walk over to the fireplace, when he was stopped by Maria's hands holding his arm.
"What do you mean his end of the bargain? Bakura, what's he going to do?" Maria asked watching the blade lower into the flames.
Bakura turned to Maria and smiled gently. "The deal was that in exchange for my freedom, I would allow him to give me two scars as a reminder that I can be caught and that I won't be so fortunate next time I'm captured," Bakura explained, and seeing Maria's mouth open to protest continued. "Listen to me, I didn't have to agree, but I did because you know I would do anything to keep you happy and be able to do what I love the most," he said detaching Maria's hands from his arm and walking to where Atemu was waiting.
Kneeling down, he allowed Mahaado and Seto to grip his shoulders and arms in case he impulsively tried to strike Atemu. Atemu pulled the now hot knife out of the fire and looked at Bakura knowing exactly where to cut. Putting the knife on Bakura's cheekbone, Atemu gritted his teeth and pushing down, slid the hot knife through his skin horizontally from near the nose towards Bakura's ear. As it reached the curve of Bakura's face, Bakura jerked, causing the knife to turn slightly and widen the cut on the end. Atemu removed the knife and cleaning it off, set it aside and pulled a freshly hot knife from the fire.
Atemu was impressed that Bakura hadn't cried out yet, but then again it wasn't his style. He did, however, release tears of pain that mixed with the cut, making him wince. Eager to get this done with, for both their sakes, Atemu lined up the knife with the tip of Bakura's nose and cut horizontally under the first using the same push and pull technique. At the end, Bakura didn't flinch, but his body instinctively trembled when the knife was removed.
Maria, seeing the cutting was over, rushed to Bakura and started cleaning the wound. Seto, seeing that Maria had control of the situation, led Atemu and Mahaado out of the room.
"I still can't believe that you did this for me," said Maria carefully applying a touch of salt to the wounds to keep them from becoming infected. Seeing Bakura twitch and hiss, Maria smiled. "Rei's going to beat the hell out of you when she sees this."
"That twig whom I call a sister can't beat me unless I let her," Bakura chuckled as Maria put a bandage on after stitching the wounds shut.
"I doubt you could fight her lackey at the same time though," she giggled.
Bakura laughed too and immediately stopped as pain shot through his face in the form of an internal fire. "I guess you're right," he said, "Want to know something?"
"What's that?"
"Well, I overheard the guards talking about how the prince is hoping you'll accept his marriage request…" Bakura started but stopped when he saw Maria frown.
"I don't know if I can be with him. He probably just doesn't want to marry some snobby princess from Ra knows where," Maria said starting on Bakura's ankle in order to avoid Bakura's piercing, yet caring gaze
"That may be, but give him a chance. I happen to know that he truly loves you," Bakura replied pulling his shirt tighter around him.
Maria finished wrapping his ankle and finally looked at Bakura straight in the eye. "I swear to Ra 'Kura, that if you're lying to me, I'll make sure that you'll be black and blue for a year," she play threatened.
"I'm not lying, Atemu actually told me that. I am a master at detecting lies, and he wasn't lying," Bakura defended, slightly flinching under Maria's stare. Maria gave him a skeptic look and then smiled.
"Come on," she said standing and offering him her hand, "Let's get something to eat." Bakura nodded and also stood. Together, the two friends walked to the dining hall.
(insert divider here)
The next morning, Maria stirred to the sun shining on her face and slowly woke up. She was reluctant to have her dream end. She had dreamed that Bakura had been set free in exchange of receiving two parallel cuts on his face and then him falling asleep in her room shortly after their dinner. Reluctantly opening her eyes, Maria sat bolt upright, eyes widening in shock as the realization of her dream not being a dream at all hit her hard. Calming herself down and bringing her emotions into check, she smiled softly, watching her best friend continue to sleep on her lounging couch. After getting ready, Maria walked over to Bakura and brushed his hair out of his face.
"Bakura, wake up sleepy," she called softly in a sing song voice. Bakura just gave a muffled grunt and rolled over onto the injured side of his face.
Suddenly Bakura jumped up, fully awake and put a hand over his throbbing cheek. Laughing, Maria pulled his hand away and took off the bandage. Getting up, she got her cream and lightly spread it on his wound.
"Calm down, baby," she chided as Bakura hissed at the contact of the cold cream. Bakura reluctantly held himself perfectly still until the bandage was back on.
"I should get heading home before Rei pummels Ishtar for doing some simple thing wrong," Bakura said standing up and stretching.
"Knowing Rei, I wouldn't out it past her," Maria agreed pulling out a package and handing it to him. "Here, I had made this for you, but I never saw you long enough to give it to you," she said as Bakura opened the package curiously.
Bakura smiled as he held up the gift. Inside the package was a coat that was as red as blood with a white border/ trim. Putting it on, Bakura's grin grew bigger. "I usually never say this, but thanks," he said.
"There's something else too."
Sifting through the cloth wrapping, Bakura held up a white…thing that had a black band loosely attached to keep them from getting separated. "Care to explain?" he asked perplexed.
"It's a head cover silly," said Maria taking it and putting it on him and fitting the band securely. "There, go take a look."
Bakura stood and headed to Maria's mirror. The head cover concealed all of his hair except the one piece that fell past his eyes. The rest of it fell to his shoulders, also effectively covering a part of the bandage.
"I thought maybe you'd like to go out into public once in a while without people running for the guards," Maria explained, coming up behind him. Bakura just smiled again and gave her a hug.
"I should go," he said finally heading to the balcony. Before Maria could remind him about his ankle, Bakura jumped down and darted off. Watching him go, Maria shook her head, and muttering something about being childish, left to complete her daily duties.
A while later, Atemu was sitting on the edge of the pond in the garden wondering if he should go find Maria when he heard his name being called. Turning towards the voice, he saw Maria heading over.
"Did Bakura leave?" Atemu asked as she sat on the low wall next to him. Maria nodded.
"He left before breakfast," she said softly.
Atemu knew what she was thinking about. "Look," he said turning Maria's head so that she was looking at him straight in the eye, "I know you don't agree with what I did to Bakura, but like he said, he didn't have to agree to it. I really didn't want to cut him once I saw how happy you were to see him, but a deal was a deal."
Maria's eyes lowered. "I'm sorry for being mad at you. I honestly thought that you would kill him," she said.
Atemu smiled, "Forgiven," he replied, "and I'm sorry for breaking your trust. I should never have followed you."
Maria grinned, a glint coming into her eyes. "You helped me though," she smirked.
Atemu was confused (YSF: or confuzzled in my vocabulary). "How so?"
"Duel me."
"You can't even summon a monster yet, and I don't think Seto and Aniba will be too keen on me blasting you into next week," scoffed Atemu.
Maria's eyes flashed. "Prove it," she challenged, going to one of the dueling platforms and climbing onto it.
Atemu raised an eyebrow and complied by climbing onto the other platform. "Ladies first," he called.
"Then go already," came the reply.
"Very funny, but as you wish," Atemu said summoning curse of dragon and gesturing to Maria to go.
Maria gripped her medallion and concentrated, making magic swirl around her body, creating a strong wind. A second later, the familiar ball of Maria's ka appeared.
"You actually expect to beat me with that?" Atemu asked.
"No, I plan on beating you with what's inside," she shot back adding energy to the ball as it turned a blinding white. When the light faded, Atemu saw two dragons curled around Maria. One was the silver dragon and the other was the gold dragon that had stood over Bakura and her when they were in the throne room.
"I see you recognize my ka," Maria smirked as the dragons took flight. While they circled, Maria ordered them to attack.
Immediately, two pillars of colored fire shot at Atemu's curse of dragon, turning it to cinder in a matter of seconds. Atemu reeled from the blast. The smoke clearing, he saw the two dragons continuing to circle overhead.
"Not bad, but now I summon my ka!" Atemu said, summoning Kuriboh.
"I may not be ale to summon anything except for my ka, but I do know that Kuriboh is the weakest monster around. At least he looks like you," Maria laughed.
Atemu bore the remark with a humble patience and the only thing he said was, "I'll activate Kuriboh's special power and that will be all for now."
"Gold, take out his ka before its power is completely loaded up!" Maria commanded as the gold dragon complied, shooting out a stream of silver fire.
Atemu had to laugh. "You should study the monsters a bit more before you attack blindly," he said as the fire connected with Kuriboh, causing a huge explosion.
Maria peered through the smoke. If Kuriboh was gone then she won. When the smoke cleared, Maria saw there wasn't one, but a thousand Kuriboh.
"Now my monsters! Take out her dragons!" Atemu commanded. The Kuribohs swarmed towards Gold and Silver, and multiplying even more, covered them from head to tail.
"What are they going to do to my dragons?" Maria asked keeping her eyes on the two writhing masses in the air.
"Explode them," Atemu replied as the Kuribohs self-destructed. Unfortunately, if you're too close, like in a walled garden, then you're going to get hit also. Maria and Atemu realized this too late and both got knocked off the platforms. Once the heat died down, Atemu crawled over to where Maria was sprawled and looked into her dazed eyes. "And that is why you should never make fun of Kuriboh," Atemu chuckled wiping a bit of soot off of Maria's nose.
Maria shook her head slightly to clear her mind. "No kidding," she replied reaching up and trying to wipe soot off Atemu's face but only smudging it more. "We're a mess," she laughed.
"I don't mind," Atemu said leaning down and giving her a little kiss before getting up to go wash at least his face in the pond.
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YSF: … Can you tell I suck at writing? I made that ending up on the fly because I couldn't find a good spot to end it…oh well. I think I did warn everybody that this would be an Atemu/ OC fic. The next chapter is going to start about two years later, Atemu's the pharaoh, he's married to Maria, and they have a son who I'm going to have be Yugi. Ok? So read and review please.
Oh yes, and to anyone who wishes to complain about Maria and Atemu being cousins and getting married, In Ancient Egypt marriages occurred a lot of the times between relatives like cousins. There were even marriages between brother and sister (a good example is Osiris and Isis).