Disclaimers: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
A/N: I'm so gonna die. My life has consisted of cleaning my room, reading Harry Potter 6, and writing my fanfictions, as well as family crisis after family crisis. Someone PLEASE shoot me! No, I take it back! Nooooo! Anyway, I just finished the 6th Harry Potter book. (Shi-chan, I think I know what that spoiler was now...) I didn't like the ending. Noooo way. There were certain parts I liked (and when you read it, I think you'll know what part I'm talking about if you note my style in Three Way Mirror for the Trash Talk chapter) but I REALLY DID NOT LIKE THE ENDING!
Props:
Shi-chan came up with the 2nd level (previous chapter) of remembrancy, as well as the form of remembrancy you will see in this chapter. L2 was influenced by a book series that Shi-chan reads, as well as Dumbledore's Pensieve-thing in Harry Potter. (I just finished the book and I can't even remember how to spell it.) The third form (which appears in this chapter) was influenced by Hatori's memory-erasing from Fruits Basket.
Vocabulary:
heka: Egyptian word for magic
majick: the way Tine recognizes heka
magic: the way Damais recognizes heka
diaha: Egyptian word for "duel start"
Ka: astral double; requires a place to dwell
Ba: the soul, or in YGO the HP
akhet: June 21 to Oct. 21, Nile overflows
peret: Oct. 21 to Feb. 21, Nile recedes
shemu: Feb. 21 to June 21, summer/spring (calendars add 5 days to the beginning of the year)
Brier, Bob, and Hoyt Hobbs. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. Conneticut: Greenwood P, 1999.
00000
The floor, under most circumstances, did not mind being walked on. Sometimes, it didn't even mind being trotted on. It didn't mind the occasional pacing, either. But Tine's behavior was seriously starting to wear the floor's patience thin. With her continual pacing, pacing, pacing; back and forth, back and forth... she was starting to wear it out, which it most certainly did not like.
Okay, so she was in a locked room with guards posted outside the door. (And let's face it, they weren't light. The floor didn't like them.) So she was going to be on trial in a few hours' time. So she was caught doing a forbidden heka that she didn't know was forbidden... The floor decided it could forgive her frantic pacing.
But did Ankh have to stomp?
The floor didn't recall what it had done to make the girl so irrate! Alright, so her friend was getting in trouble for helping her. So she was worried about her friend. So her friend could possibly be sentenced to death in a few hours' time. But that was her friend's problem!
Damais, in contrast to the girls, did not stomp, and did not pace. He stood in one place, hardly inside his doorway, glaring venomously at the ground. The floor was sympathetic. Damais wasn't really mad at Tine. He was mad at himself for not bothering to secure such mportant information. He hadn't asked about her remembrancy other than if she could do it (and even then the floor was skeptical). He felt duped, this the man that could tell when people weren't being completely honest. The floor felt for him.
But honestly, did she have to stomp?
000
Two guards escorted Tine into the throne room, each one holding Tine by her upper arm and toting swords. The did not look very pleased. Neither, Tine noted, did the king.
She hadn't known that they would think it was important what kind of remembrancy she could do. After all, they had only asked her to prove one kind. She decided it would be unwise of her to point this out, and so said nothing when the king accused her of hiding her powers from them. Remembering the Egyptian custom, she averted her gaze from him, instead studying the floor.
Hello, Floor. She thought the floor would be glad to know she was thinking about it. She lifted her feet up so that she was held up by the two guards, relieving the floor of some pressure. Goodness knows that she would have liked some pressure to up and leave her alone for a while.
"I will give you this one chance, and this one chance only," the king began. "You will show us all of your powers, and then we will decide wether or not you stay. Understood?"
"Yes, sire," Tine replied in monotone.
"You will tell us how Seth became a priest, then, using your little mirror," the king sneered. He was obviously not happy that information had been withheld from him. Seth's jaw clenched visibly, and his lips pursed, but he said nothing. A slave girl approached Tine with a mirror and a small blade that would do nothing more than create a small piercing wound. So they had seen that she used blood to perform this form of remembrancy.
Having been released by the guards (hello again, Floor) who still stood close, Tine pricked her finger, repeating her performance of dripping it onto the mirror. It spread out, turned black, and the sun and moon were turning even as the blackness faded away to Tine's eyes. After a moment, they stopped.
Tine found herself in a small house with a dilapidated wall. A woman lay in the corner of the room, her face horridly pale, her eyes rolled back. She looked, Tine realized with a start, like she had been drowned.
Finding Seth wasn't a hard thing to do, since he came racing right through her when she turned around. She quickly followed him out the door, through the town, and up the temple stairs, where he proceeded to beg the head priest to train him.
She came out of the memory with considerably more ease, this time the scene blurring softly as she was delivered back into her own mind and the blackness became the mirror. Blinking a few times, she said, "His mother was an invalid."
"That does not explain why he became a priest," the king said impatiently.
"He ran away," Tine explained. "He had to take care of her, or so I would assume, from what I saw."
"And what did you see?"
"She looked like she had been drowned."
"Is this true, Seth?" the king asked. Seth nodded mutely. The king turned back to Tine. "What is the third form of your remembrancy?"
"I can look directly into the mind of another person, sir," Tine said hesitantly.
There was a very long streach of silence. Nobody really wanted Tine inside their head. The king contemplated having Tine look into Damais' mind, but the very potentailly venomous glare he got from the Atlantian man advised him against it.
The king was so mad at Tine for hiding her powers from him that he wasn't completely thinking straight. "You will look into Ankh's mind," he announced, missing the wide-eyed, betrayed look that plastered itself on Ankh's face. "You will look for a memory of her family."
When Tine didn't immediately follow his directions, he grew irritable.
"Might I remind you that failure to follow my directions will get you killed?" he glared. Tine hesitantly approached Ankh.
The younger girl kept her wide gaze on the king until Tine placed a hand over her eyes.
-0-0-0-
It is rare that there is a reprieve in the clan wars. Everyone is tired, except for, seemingly, Fukanya, who is leading us. She stops us in an oasis, and notes how tired I am, especially. She sits down, and takes her long black hair out of the braid she normally wears it in. We all know what it means.
Everyone is happy for the break. Gahiji and Shu, though, are eager to continue their sparring. They lack experience in offensive magic, though they are spectacular at defensive. Fukanya has taught the clan defense, and my father was supposed to teach the clan offense, as well as a few healing spells.
Unfortunately, my father has moved on. I push the sad thought out of my mind and watch Gahiji and Shu spar while Khepri, Echidna, and Usi relax. I am sure that Khepri is asleep.
Suddenly, just when Gahiji seemed to be gaining the upper hand, Shu flings out a reflexive defense spell. Gahiji is propelled backward, and lands on his back. He doesn't move. Shu freezes for several heartbeats, realizing what he has done, then rushes to Gahiji.
I am already there, though I don't remember moving. Gahiji gets hurt often. I go through the ritualistic movements of the healing spell. I know the moves by heart. In the space of two breaths, Gahiji is awake. He rubs his blue eyes as if he had been asleep. Somehow I still don't think he has ever gotten used to the feel of being healed rapidly.
There is a hand on my shoulder, warm, comforting, and proud. I look up and see Fukanya. We all know our break is over.
-0-0-0-
"Well?" the king demanded impatiently. Ankh found herself on her knees, her hand circling Tine's wrist in a weak gesture. "What did you see?"
"I-I saw..." Tine swallowed past the lump in her throat, banishing it away. "I saw a clan. Seven all together. Three women and four men."
"Is this true?" the king asked. Tine still hadn't removed her hand from Ankh's eyes.
Suddenly Ankh pulled away, spinning around and running away. The king was startled by this, and followed her quickly. The priests were thunderstruck at their king's recklessness. There were several cries of outrage, the loudest of which came from Seth.
"Ankh!" the king shouted. "Ankh, wait!" He managed to catch up to her, grabbing her by her wrist and jerking her to a stop. "What happened? What did - Did Tine do something to you?"
Without warning, the girl spun around, slapping the king across the face with a resounding crack. She wrenched her arm back, tears streaming down her face.
"I didn't remember!" she shouted. "I didn't remember, do you understand? I could hardly remember anything before I got here! I can't..." she hesitated a moment, then resumed her yelling. "I can't be friends with someone that doesn't know how to be a friend! A friend wouldn't have done that to me! Tine is my friend, did you know that? And you go and treat her like a criminal not once, but twice!" With a vigerous shake of her head, she turned and ran away, and left the palace.
000
'Traitor. Traitor, traitor, traitor!' her mind hissed at her. She knew it was true. She knew that Ankh didn't consciously remember that much, and yet she had prowled her mind looking for something that her friend had hidden for her own reasons.
Tine leaned her elbows on her knees, hiding her face in her hands. "I shouldn't have done it," she warbled. "I betrayed her, Damais."
"Don't be rediculous," Damais scoffed. "You weren't the one that betrayed her. She cooperated, didn't she? She didn't want you to die."
"But she ran away!" Tine sobbed. "She's angry with me, I just know it! After what I did... Oh, gods, I can't blame her."
"Tine!" Damais said sharply, causing Tine to look up at him. "You were not the one that hurt her! And Ankh will be fine. She's just gone to clear her mind. She'll be back by morning, mark my words."
With a little sniff, Tine asked, "Did you see it?"
Damais couldn't bear to answer her, so instead he turned to look out over the gardens.
000
She was running, again. This time, she remembered why, and it wasn't because of a pair of mismatched eyes. It was that idiot that wore the crown that she was running from.
Thinking she had seen someone, she shook her head, sure that she had to be hallucinating.
She was quickly burning out. She fell to the sand, catching herself on her hands and knees. Just before she blacked out, she could have sworn she saw someone again.
00000
I got thrown off after the section of present-tense stuff. I'm sure as hell not doing THAT again... (shakes head) No no no no no.
My room is clean. Finally. Well, my sister still has to clean up HER shit, but my stuff is done. I've been miserable for the past few days, family troubles and whatnot, plus altitude sickness. I have no idea how you get altitude sickness, but mom says it's from being on a plane and breathing in "canned air" or something, then getting back down on the ground and... I have no idea.
Khepri: morning sun
Gahiji: hunter
Fukanya: intelligent
Echidna: mythical monster
Shu: air
Usi: smoke
Rabiah: born in spring
Thanks to:
K-chan (I didn't put in Remembrancy 3-2...) and Everyone's Anti-Valentine (Yes, you were the only reviewer for ch4).
To those of you that didn't review... well... my fan is still being repaired... so this CROWBAR will have to do the trick! (evil smile)
Psst... guys... check my bio page for status on my fics.