I don't own Yugioh. I do own Maria, Gold, silver, and this plot… which is co-owned by Rei…figures, but nothing more,
YSF: These are the step-sisters from oldest to youngest: Nephoris, Tages, Taous, Neherebkan, Nubkhas, and Nefer, and they're all being written out of the story in this chapter for they have no more role after this.
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Seto looked in the stalls with wider than normal eyes. "They went too far this time," he said before going to his sister and guiding her to a hay bale to sit.
"Why would they do this?" Mahaado asked entering Kaminter's stall and kneeling, cradled his horse's head. Kaminter stirred and weakly nickered a greeting.
"Nefer warned us," Maria said suddenly getting over her shock, her mouth set in a firm line.
"What do you mean?" Seto asked as he checked over Blade's wounds, the fiery-spirited horse protesting with little squeals of pain.
"Nefer warned us yesterday that those five were plotting something, and at dinner, she wouldn't meet our gaze," Maria explained, summoning salve and bandages.
Atemu by this time was really angry, his eyes darkening from gentle ruby to hard, unforgiving crimson. "Maria," he said trying to keep his wrath contained until he dealt with the sisters, "take care of Star for me?"
"Only if you take care of Nephoris, Tages, Taous, Neherebkan, and Nubkhas for me," She replied with a nod before heading into Jasmine's stall.
Atemu left the stables and strode briskly towards the palace. "Yugi," he called sternly as he passed the east pasture, "Stay out of the stables."
"Yes father," Yugi's voice floated out of the darkness. Satisfied that Yugi would obey him, Atemu continued to the palace, his features set in stone.
Meanwhile, the girls were in Nephoris' room celebrating their successful payback. Only Nefer who sat on the window seat, staring silently into her cup, didn't join in on the festivities. "Nefer, you're not regretting your help, are you?" Nephoris demanded.
"I never wanted to help, you forced me to. Why did you have to hurt the horses so much?" Nefer shot back, raising her gaze for the first time since they returned, "She's decent enough to you. Why can't you get along with her?"
"Nonsense, our family doesn't like street trash like her," Tages snarled, "Don't tell me that you actually like her!"
"She's not trash! She's the same blood as Seto! Maria's a noble…"
"Who grew up on the streets except for the past four years" Neherebkan interrupted. Nefer fell silent and returned her gaze to her cup. Nephoris snorted and was about to say something before a shout cut her off.
"GIRLS! Come out NOW!" came Atemu's voice. The six flinched at his tone and hurried out of Nephoris' room and lined up in front of the furious pharaoh.
"What did you do?" Atemu demanded in a terrible voice.
"I don't know what you mean, brother," Nephoris replied in a sickly sweet voice. Atemu's eyes narrowed further and his puzzle glowed.
"Don't know what I mean? Don't know what I mean? Look at these images and see what I mean!" Atemu snapped. The puzzle projected images of each horse and Nefer had to hold back an urge to throw up. They were worse off than she thought, though she saw that they were all alive, even though they were gravely injured, Jasmine being the worst off. Nefer's efforts to stop Nephoris' desire to kill Jasmine paid off, so she was slightly relieved.
Atemu seemed to read her thoughts for he spoke then to her in a slightly gentler voice. "Nefer, come here," he said extending his hand. "I know you're innocent in this wicked deed, so go help Maria tend to the horses," he murmured when Nefer came close. Nefer nodded and hurried off.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Atemu yelled at the remaining five once Nefer was gone, his full fury returning, "You almost killed those six horses including my own!"
The twins, Neherebkan, and Nubkhas shrank back, but Nephoris stood her ground. "I do what I want to make that street whelp leave and return to whatever hole you found her in," Nephoris replied coldly.
"You did this to get back at Maria because I married her out of love instead of you, whom I was forced to be married to if I didn't find anyone before I turned 18!" Atemu exclaimed angrily, "You, all five of you, are despicable! I never want to see your faces again after tonight. I'm commanding you to pack, leave, and be gone before I resume my duties on the throne tomorrow morning. Ignore my order, and I'll see to it personally that you're thrown in jail for merciless torture."
"You'd do that to your own sisters!" Nubkhas cried as Atemu turned to leave, having successfully vented enough to be more than reasonable, but didn't regret his decision.
"As of now, my only step-sister is Nefer. You five no longer exist in my life," Atemu snapped coldly and left. As he headed to the doors to see how Star was holding up, he intercepted Isis who was carrying a worn-out Yugi on her hip.
"Pharaoh, Maria told me to tell you that she's staying in the stables for a while and not to wait for her. She's worried about Jasmine and Rei's horses. They seemed to be the worst off," Isis informed Atemu.
"Thank you Isis," Atemu said with a slight yawn, relieving Isis of Yugi, "Go get some rest with the others. I'll see you tomorrow."
After Atemu put Yugi to bed, he retired himself. Since anger had spiked his energy and now it had faded away, Atemu fell asleep waiting for Maria to return.
…
The next morning, Atemu walked down the hall where the girls had stayed and poked his head into each of the five rooms. Sure enough, they took his threat seriously and had left. He was about to leave the wing when he heard his name be called softly. Turning, he saw Nefer standing there in her doorway looking exhausted.
"Where are my sisters?" she asked.
"I told them to leave and never come back," Atemu replied after adjusting his cape.
"You're not making me leave, are you? If you do, Nephoris will just bully me again," Nefer said with a bit of a whimper.
Atemu smiled slightly. "Would you like to stay here and forsake your sisters?" he asked. Nefer, after a minute's hesitation, nodded and Atemu's smile broadened. "Welcome to the family then…little sister," Atemu declared hugging Nefer.
Together the two walked to breakfast. "Nefer, did you see Maria at all?" Atemu asked as they ate.
"When she told me to go get some rest, she was still in the stables. It was so late out, that the moon was setting."
Atemu nodded and stood. Walking out to the stables, he saw the other horses had been turned out so as to give the six horses peace and quiet. Entering the stables quietly, he grabbed a carrot from the bin and entered Star's stall, breaking the carrot into pieces.
"Hey boy," Atemu murmured as the stallion lifted his head and stretched for the carrot. Once Star had finished the carrot, Atemu petted his head and then leaving Star's stall, walked down the stables towards Jasmine's stall. Looking in, Atemu smiled and entered that stall. Petting Jasmine to settle her down when she tried to stand to approach him in greeting, Atemu looked at the big pile of hay where Maria was half-buried in, sleeping.
Atemu sat in the hay next to Maria and gave her a soft kiss to wake her up. Watching as sapphire eyes slowly opened and blinked curiously at him, Atemu couldn't help but smile. "Good Morning."
"Mornin' to you too," Maria replied tiredly, stretching and yawning.
"Were you out here all night?"
"I wasn't the only one who fell asleep in the hay. Rei and Bakura are up in the loft sleeping still. They actually crawled up there about an hour before I did."
"Do I want to know what they're doing?"
"Atemu, that's just wrong. They're siblings. You mean to tell me that you never noticed the similarities?" Maria asked incredulously as Atemu pulled hay out of her hair.
"I thought they were oddly close, and not in a lovey-dovey way. I guess I kinda figured it out without realizing it at the same time," Atemu admitted.
Maria paused in unburying herself and scrutinized Atemu with a look of disbelief. "Is that even possible?" she asked.
Atemu made a face in response, which made her laugh mildly and helped her to her feet. "Jasmine," Maria said petting her beloved horse, "get some rest okay? I'll bring Amir in a bit."
"She was afraid that the sisters hurt Amir," she explained to Atemu as they exited the hall.
"You know," came a tired, agitated voice that scared both of them, "you're not the only one who was up at ungodly hours of the night. If I had been out thieving, my fatigue would be different."
Atemu scowled at Bakura, who was peeking over the edge of the loft while Maria laughed again. "What do you want Bakura?" he asked.
Bakura grinned impishly. "For you to shut the hell up and let me sleep," he replied and disappeared.
"Let's go," Maria said putting a hand on Atemu's arm before he could reply. After stopping to see Anubis and Sekhmet, both headed to the palace.
"So, what happened?"
"What do you…oh, with the sisters?" Atemu asked and Maria nodded, "Well, I yelled at them and told them to leave and never come back, and they obeyed."
"What about Nefer?"
"She gave up her relations with the twits this morning. I took her in as my little sister," Atemu replied with a shrug.
"That's wonderful," Maria forced out through a yawn. Atemu just chuckled.
"Get some rest. I'll watch Yugi today," he promised as they entered the palace. Maria, stifling another yawn, waved slightly and headed off to the main bedroom as Atemu went to go wake Yugi.
It wasn't until past mid-day that Maria, Bakura, and Rei decided to emerge from where they were sleeping. Atemu and Yugi couldn't help but laugh when they saw hay stuck in Bakura's hair, but refused to alert him of it. After a hot meal, Bakura decided to go back to his home claiming that he wasn't needed here anymore, and Rei went with him.
"Good riddance," Seto said as soon as he was certain that he was well out of Bakura's hearing.
"Seto!" Maria exclaimed, "That wasn't nice!"
"Whoever said I had to be nice to him?" Seto asked breezily while walking away, "Besides, it was a thorn in my side, him staying here."
Mahaado couldn't help but laugh at Maria's shocked and dumbfounded expression. "I wonder sometimes how you two are siblings, let alone twins," he chuckled.
"I wondered that too. You are the gentle, patient, and caring one, while Set is the complete opposite," Atemu pointed out.
Maria thought about it and then called after Seto, knowing he had heard every word of Mahaado's and Atemu's statements, "It's obligation I suppose!"
Atemu and Mahaado both had a good laugh at Seto's face when he whirled around, and both laughed again when Seto started chasing Maria around the throne room, Maria managing to dodge Seto's cuffs to the head nimbly even though she was still exhausted.
"Enough you two," Atemu called out with a final chuckle when Maria managed to trip Seto, sending the usually serious and composed priest to the floor. Maria smirked triumphantly at Seto and then went to her own throne and curled up on it.
A month later, it was as if the sister's hadn't been there at all. All of the horses were healing nicely with no signs of permanent damage. There seemed to be something unpleasant in the air, though, that lingered like a bad stench. It made Atemu uneasy, just like the time Bakura and all of his thieves had attacked the palace. One night, Maria decided to ask him about it.
"Atemu, what's wrong?" she asked as they got into bed.
"What makes you think that something is wrong?" Atemu asked rolling over to face her.
"Well, for one you've been awfully quiet these past couple of days," Maria pointed out, cuddling closer to her pharaoh for warmth.
Atemu sighed and started stroking her hair. "I never can keep anything from you, can I?" he asked exasperated.
"Nope, and you better not unless it's a pleasant surprise."
Atemu smiled. "Fine, remember that time we were attacked by Bakura? Well, I had an uneasy feeling then, and I have that same feeling now."
Maria frowned. "I'm not getting a bad feeling, but I know what you mean. Something is going to happen soon," she agreed, giving him a little hug before going to sleep.
Later that night, Bakura was walking out of boredom along the top of the Palace wall and spotted shadows that moved. Dashing to the shadow of a corner piece, the Thief King spotted the shadows climb the wall and drop silently into the yard below. Sneaking to the middle of the wall, Bakura crouched watched them dart along the ground and take down a lone stroller that was idly walking in their direction. Rushing over to the fallen person once the shadows headed off again, Bakura's eyes widened to see Nefer sprawled on the ground, her throat slashed.
Looking at the path of the 'shadows,' Bakura noticed that they were headed straight to the priest's and Yugi's wing. Noticing that the intruders were moving at a slow and cautious pace, Bakura summoned Diabound and flew ahead of them to land on one of the balconies.
Entering the room, Bakura looked at the bed and grinned in spite of the situation. "Set! Wake up!" he commanded, whacking the said priest on the back of the head. Seto woke up with a start, and then coldly glared at Bakura.
"What do you want?" he hissed.
"Shut up priest, there's intruders on the grounds…besides me," Bakura said, seeing Seto wake up fully.
Seto listened quietly while Bakura filled him in. "Why should I believe you?"
"Because if you don't, I'll gladly point out Nefer's lifeless body complete with a slashed throat!" Bakura spat, seeing Seto's face pale.
"Go start waking up the other priests on this side of the hall. I'll wake the others on this side," Seto said heading towards the door.
Within a few minutes, the remaining five priests were filled in. Just as Bakura finished, they heard a cry from the room at the end of the hall. "That was Yugi!" Mahaado exclaimed rushing to the doors.
Bakura wasted no time in rushing into Yugi's room and tackling the intruder who was about to stab the small child. The intruder fought back, so Bakura took control, rolled him onto the balcony, and threw the man over to hear a bone-crunching thud two seconds later.
"Great, you killed him. How are we supposed to get answers now?" Seto snapped as Mahaado went over to the bed and scooped up a sobbing Yugi.
"When I tailed them, I counted seven. And since none of you were attacked, they must be heading towards the master bedroom," Bakura replied as Mahaado shushed Yugi and calming him down so that he was merely whimpering, "At least Yugi woke up and screamed at seeing a stranger in his room."
Seto took Yugi from Mahaado, and the six priests took off down the hall towards the master bedroom, and Bakura took to running along the roof. Getting to the grand balcony, Bakura slipped into the room and saw two intruders near the bed, each ready to murder the pharaoh and his queen in their sleep.
"Pharaoh! Maria! Watch out!" Bakura shouted, causing himself to be known to the assassins in the room. It didn't distract them long, but long enough for Atemu to wake up and see a knife pointed straight at him.
Kicking his assassin straight in the gut, Atemu whirled and launched himself at the other assassin as he started to plunge the knife downward. Luckily Atemu managed to hit the assassin in time to miss Maria, but instead, it sunk into his leg as the assassin stabbed downward blindly.
"Bakura! Help me out!" Atemu yelled as he grappled with the assassin while Maria hurriedly shook off sleep and launched herself at the one who was about to stab Atemu since he recovered from the kick.
"I'm a little busy!" Bakura snarled in reply as he dodged the four other assassin's attacks. By then, the priests had reached the room and using their magic, overpowered the assassins.
Bakura sat there panting, blood running from his nose and mouth while Seto, Mahaado, Karim, Akunadin, and Shaddah tied up the one assassin that remained alive, and threw the other five out the window. Isis tended to a few nicks and bangs that Maria received from fighting, and Atemu's stab wound.
"Mommy!" Yugi cried jumping into Maria's arms.
"Are you all right Yugi?" Maria asked.
"He's just a little shaken up, but otherwise he's fine," Mahaado answered for Yugi, seeing as the child had buried his face into Maria's dress, still crying from fright.
"All thanks to me," Bakura managed to get out in between wipes to stop the bleeding.
"Yes, all thanks to Bakura," Seto added dryly, "He stopped the assassins from killing Yugi and stopped them from killing you both."
Atemu rolled his eyes as Isis finished bandaging the stab wound, having healed it enough so that it was shallower of a wound.
Bakura pulled his coat sleeve away from his nose and noticed that the blood flow had stopped. "Don't forget, priest, I saved your worthless hide also. I'm not to be thanked fully. They killed Nefer as she was taking a moonlight stroll, before I realized what they were up to," Bakura informed Atemu and Maria, seeing their faces sadden.
"Poor Nefer," Maria murmured, stroking Yugi's hair.
Atemu stood and walked over to the tied-up assassin, too angry to notice the pain. "Who sent you?" he hissed, grabbing the assassin and slamming him against the wall.
"Why should I tell you?" the assassin answered saucily, only to be pulled away from the wall and slammed up against it again, this time it was with harder force.
"I'll ask again, who sent you?"
"I-I don't know exactly who they were. Me and my men are hired assassins. I met our employer in a bar. She was a female, but she was cloaked."
Yami's eyes narrowed. "What did they send you to do?" he demanded.
The assassin's eyes widened. "S-She wanted us to go from Dahshur to here and assassinate the Pharaoh, his family, the high priests, and their disgraceful sister."
Atemu let out a low growl and to everyone's surprise, threw the assassin out the door and over the balcony railing to join his men below. "I hope he lands on his head," Atemu spat.
"Nice," Bakura chuckled.
"I can't believe it. Those five were going to assassinate us!" Maria exclaimed angrily, "They can not get away with this!"
"They won't," Atemu promised, "After all, murder is either life in prison or execution, but attempting to murder the pharaoh or his family is immediate execution."
"Are you going up to Dahshur to arrest them?" Akunadin asked.
Atemu smiled. "I'm not, but I have a feeling Maria would like to go instead to see their faces."
Maria smiled when he looked at her. "I would be honored my pharaoh, I shall leave immediately," she laughed with a bow. "Bakura, would you like to come with me?" she asked.
Bakura nodded, and Maria turned again to Atemu. "It'll take a while to get there, but I'll be back soon," Maria promised as Atemu hugged her.
"Be careful," he replied and picked up Yugi.
About fifteen minutes later, Atemu and Yugi stood on the front steps watching as Maria rode Jasmine out of the palace walls, followed by an escort of Bakura on Anubis and about ten guards.
"Now Yugi, it's time to go back to bed," Atemu said heading inside, finally feeling the pain in his leg as he slightly limped down the hall.
"I don't wanna go back to my room! The bad men will come back!" Yugi whined.
"You have to though, where else would you sleep?" Atemu asked.
"With Amir."
Yami couldn't help but laugh. "No prince is going to sleep in the stables," he said, "However, little princes may be able to sleep with their fathers if they really wanted."
"Really?" Yugi asked.
"Of course, I don't want to sleep in that big bed all alone," Yami replied jokingly as he headed into the royal bedroom and laid Yugi down, climbing in soon after.
About a week and a half later, Maria finally reached Dahshur. Looking around at the decent sized city, she got off Jasmine and handing the reins to Bakura, entered a pub.
"Hello miss, how can I help you?" the bartender asked as he spotted Maria look around, obviously not recognizing the queen since she wore a hooded cloak and had a face cover over her nose and mouth, so only her eyes showed.
Maria approached the bartender. "I'm looking for five sisters. Their names are Nephoris, Tages, Taous, Neherebkan, and Nubkhas. Do you know where they might live?" she asked sweetly in a quiet voice.
"Why would you like to know?" the bartender asked curiously.
"Well their sister, Nefer, was killed in Thebes during a robbery about a week ago. I thought they should know," Maria replied lowering her eyes.
The bartender nodded and gave her accurate directions to where they were. It seemed that they were at a party. Maria thanked the bartender and leaving the pub, got back onto Jasmine.
"So where to?" Bakura asked as they rode off.
Maria looked over at Bakura. "There's supposedly a party going on that they're attending. You're the sneak, how shall we crash the party? Leave all twelve horses and waltz right in, or shall we ride straight in?"
Bakura's face was also masked, but from the look in his eyes, Maria could tell he was smiling. "As much as I like the second idea, I don't think Jasmine and Anubis are ready for such jumping," Bakura reasoned, gesturing to the height of the walls that they were passing.
Finally they reached the party, and dismounting, Maria turned to her guards. "Remember," she said, "As tempting as it may seem, don't group around be, but spread out and be ready to appear seemingly out of nowhere. They don't know that I'm the queen."
The ten exchanged looks and then nodded. Heading towards the entrance to the gardens, Maria was stopped by more or less a sentry. "Who goes there?" he demanded. Maria just smiled.
"I'm looking for Nephoris and her sisters. I have grievous news for them," she explained. The sentry eyed her warily, and then admitted all of them. Spreading out once they got in, the guards dispersed in a strategic manner, Bakura staying by Maria's side. Going through the crowd, Maria's keen eyes spotted Nubkhas. Looking around her target, she also noticed the other four sisters.
"Excuse me, Nephoris is it?" she asked coming up to them and changing her voice.
Nephoris turned. "Yes, what can I help you with?" she asked kindly.
'It seems Nephoris doesn't always have a stick up her ass, only when concerning me,' Maria thought in amusement. "We were sent to tell you grievous news from Thebes," Bakura said, changing his voice also.
The sisters' eyes lit up. "What is this news?" they demanded obviously thinking that the royal family met an untimely death.
Maria snapped her fingers, and immediately her guards formed a circle around the girls and Bakura. Aware that the party had gone quiet and was watching this little scene, Maria allowed some measure of pleasure. "Well, the news is, you're under arrest for murder and attempted murder of the royal family," she said, reverting her voice back to normal and pulling away the face cover and hood.
An immediate response was that a gasp rushed through the crowd as they recognized the queen, the four younger sisters blanched, and Nephoris at first looked like she'd seen a ghost. "You're supposed to be dead!" she hissed.
"Nope, everyone except poor Nefer is alive and kicking, all thanks to you forgetting about a good friend of mine," Maria replied motioning to Bakura, who took off his covering also. Nephoris' expression went to disbelief to rage.
"I see, I guess I'll have to kill you myself!" she snarled launching herself towards Maria pulling a knife out of nowhere.
"Maria!" Bakura shouted and moved to get in front of his friend, but Maria gave him a look that froze him in his tracks.
"No," she said catching Nephoris' wrist and turning the blade aside, "this is my fight. I have to prove that I'm not just some street whelp."
Nephoris attacked again, and Maria nimbly dodged it. It was a little fast for Bakura to see, but it seemed that Maria had used one of her old dancing moves to avoid the knife. Finally, Maria used her magic and pinned Nephoris to the ground. "See Nephoris, I'm not just a rag-tag dancer, I have more talents than you," Maria said looming over Nephoris, "Guards, tie her up and take her back to Thebes." The remaining two guards hauled Nephoris up and bound and gagged her like her sisters were.
Exiting the garden, they mounted their horses again and started their journey towards home.
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YSF: fifteen pages. I hope this was worth it. Read, review, and happy 4th of July!