Alley Cat: Black-Lightniing is complaining that I update to fast...
Dark Conscience: Well, you know, that's not a bad thing...
Seto: Not at all! It gives people more of a chance to flame you!
Alley Cat: Oh shut up! Anyway, my last chapter wasn't too good... sorry about that... I can't make a decent fighting scene... Don't worry! There won't be any more of those soon. Although there will be a bit later...but that's like way later... And, unfortunately, the romance won't kick in for a while as well... There is some humor in this fic, but not too much... Well, anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read.
Seto: Alley Cat does not and never will own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dark Conscience: Oh, yeah. Rub it in...
Layla sat in her room, thinking about her situation. She had been the High Priest's slave for no longer than a few days; it hadn't even reached a week yet. Even though the High Priest was nice, she longed for her own freedom. She had her own family on the outskirts of town. She sighed. She'd probably never see them again... From that moment, she made up her mind to escape from the city and get back to her parents...at all costs. She got out of her bed and headed toward the main hall to see her master.
"Good morning...master," she announced once she got into the main room. She was still not used to using the term "master."
Seto turned around to greet her. "Good morning Layla," he said cheerfully. Obviously, she caught him in a good mood. "Come. I must prepare for a ritual and I need you to help me."
Layla nodded and followed the High Priest into another room. This room contained tons of ingredients and equipment for making potions. She examined the contents of the room, clearly amused.
The High Priest saw the spark in her eyes and smiled. "You seem interested," he commented.
Layla was bewildered at the moment, but quickly replied, "No I'm not! I was just...looking!" She didn't want the High Priest to think she was actually interested in his work. She still had the dignity not to make a fool of herself just because she was a slave.
Seto smirked. He was starting to like her already. "Alright then..." He shrugged. "You can come here whenever you want...if you are interested that is. Just make sure not to break or use anything. There are some potion books on that bookshelf in the corner if you want to educate yourself..."
Once again, Layla was shocked at how lenient the High Priest was. She was being teased; she just knew the High Priest was teasing her. There was no way he would be so kind. After all, he was the greatly feared High Priest. She was always the one that won everything back in her own village. She was more of the outgoing type. Even though she was in the palace, she still felt obligated to withhold her reputation. "I told you I wasn't interested! I'm just here to help you 'prepare your ritual'. I just wanted to see what I had to work with! Alright?" she asked defiantly.
Seto grinned. "Okay... But you do realize that, since you said that, if I ever find you in here, you'll have to admit defeat right?" Seto was also the type who didn't like to lose.
Layla blushed. She realized that the High Priest was winning this argument by a long shot. "Yes! Yes I do! You don't think I'm that stupid do you?"
At this point, Seto was quite amused. Never had he met someone so witty, spunky, and defiant. Once he though about it, Layla was a lot like himself. He smiled as he thought of his comeback. "Yes. Yes I do."
A flash of playful anger ran through Layla's eyes. "How dare you?" she teased. "You are the most impertinent person I have ever met!"
Seto played along. "Well, you're the first slave that has ever back-talked me! Anyway, can you get the ritual book from the bookshelf?" He walked toward the shelves and started getting his equipment ready.
Layla wasn't too happy. The High Priest had gotten the last word in...instead of her. She walked over to the bookshelf and started reading the titles. There was a book titled "Sacred Rituals", but Layla ignored it for now. She wanted to see what types of books were at the High Priest's disposal. By the time she was done, she had come upon at least five different ritual books.
"What's taking so long?" Seto inquired, a bit of impatience in his voice.
"Um," Layla replied shyly, "there's more than one ritual book here..."
Seto smiled. "Ah! So you are interested!"
"What?!" Layla cried, taken aback. "How did you figure that out?" She realized what she just said and quickly recovered. "I mean, where did you get that? I'm not interested in these books nor am I interested in this room or even you to be exact."
Seto chuckled. "If you weren't interested, then you would have picked up the first ritual book that you found, which is, apparently, the book I need."
Layla stared wide-eyed at him. Never had she met anyone who could "out-argue" her. She hung her head, admitting defeat and went over to the bookshelf. She took the book gently off of the bookshelf and gave it to him.
Seto could tell that Layla cared much about books and knowledge. In fact, Layla was pretty smart. He thought she was even smarter than some of the nobles that resided in the city.
Seto and Layla spent the whole afternoon together to prepare for the ritual that was to come that night. Layla was so fascinated by the ritual that she completely forgot to argue with Seto about earlier that day. She went to bed content, happier than she had been in a long while...
-=meanwhile=-
Anippe woke up during mid-morning. She cursed at herself for sleeping so long; it must have been a little under twenty-four hours. She stood up only to be greeted from pain. Her muscles were as sore as they could be. Anippe groaned. This was going to be a long day. Suddenly, a knock came from door. Anippe stared at the door for a few seconds before finally snapping to her senses. "Yes?" she questioned.
The Pharaoh opened the door. "Are you alright? I haven't seen you since yesterday morning." He paused before adding, "I was worried about you."
Anippe was amazed at how kind the Pharaoh was to her. She was silent for a few seconds, thinking about nothing in particular.
"Anippe?" Yami asked concerned. "Are you okay?"
Anippe, once again, did not respond. She just gazed blankly at the floor until she realized that the Pharaoh was directing his question at her. "Oh. Yeah. I've just been a little out of it today. I'm fine."
Yami let out a long breath. "Okay. Well, I just wanted to know if you were okay. I don't need you now, but I will need you later. For now, you can do whatever you want until I need you. You can even roam around the palace if you want. Just make sure you don't disturb anyone. There are some people in this palace that, I think, you'd rather not want to meet."
Anippe nodded. "Thank you master. I promise I won't go in any room that's... Well, I just won't go in any rooms. Maybe I could go outside to get a little fresh air?" she asked, testing how much freedom she really had with the Pharaoh.
"Of course," he replied. "Just make sure not to go off the palace grounds. There is a lovely courtyard just left of the main hallway though. Maybe you should spend the rest of your morning there," he suggested.
Anippe stared wide-eyed at him. She had expected to get a simple "no" out of the question she just asked, or even a beating, but never had she expected him to actually agree. "Um, I'll think about it," she said softly. "When will you need me?"
Yami smiled warmly at her. "Don't trouble yourself with that right now. You're still wounded; I don't want to put too much work on you yet. When I need you, I'll find you. Okay?"
Anippe nodded gratefully. "Thank you master."
"I might come back to check on you though, okay?"
She nodded again. "Thank you. Um, I'm not holding you up on anything, am I?" Anippe asked worriedly.
"Oh, no. Not at all."
"Okay then," she said, relieved. "Thank you for coming by, but you really shouldn't worry about me. I'm not that fragile. I can withstand a wound or two." She gave a smile.
Yami smiled back. "Alright then. I'll be in my chamber if you need me. See you later then."
"I'll come to you if I need any help," Anippe assured him. "But I probably won't. I'm able to survive by myself."
Yami nodded and headed out the door.
Anippe sat back down on her bed for a few moments, contemplating what exactly just happened. Apparently, the Pharaoh was very kind. She was glad she got a compassionate master. She spent a few minutes in her bed before heading out to the main hallway.
Once she got there, five doors greeted her on each side. Apparently, the Pharaoh had not been specific enough. She tried the first one of the left, but it was locked, as well as the second one. The third one down was open, however.
Anippe walked through to find herself in a beautiful garden. There was a maze of bushes with beautiful, fragrant flowers of every color. Butterflies played along the bushes, spreading pollen from one to the next. When she reached the middle of the maze, she found a gorgeous, circular fountain. She sat down on its ledge and played with the water for a bit, just enjoying the garden and fresh air. The wind gently rustled her hair a little and soon, the butterflies got accustomed to her. One by one, they flew around her.
Before long, Yami found her in the garden. He was about to call out her name, but though better of it when she saw Anippe surrounded by butterflies, the wind gently caressing her blond hair, her ocean-blue eyes full of life and innocence; it was too beautiful.
Anippe looked up and saw the Pharaoh. She gave a slight gasp before greeting him. "Hello master. I didn't see you there. Do you need me?"
The Pharaoh hesitated. He didn't want to interrupt such a marvelous sight.
Anippe cast him a weird look. "Are you alright? I'm free if you need me to do anything."
"In fact, I do. We have a ritual tonight, and it seems that Seto—I mean the High Priest has run out of lotus blossoms."
"The High Priest?" Anippe asked, slightly surprised. She had heard of him. "Um, of course! I'll go out to the city immediately!"
The Pharaoh was amused with her enthusiasm. "Okay, but first, you need this." He pulled Anippe's hand toward him and put some gold in it. "Get, maybe, one pound of lotus blossoms will you? We won't use it all today, but we will need it later, since it is a vital ingredient."
Anippe nodded. "Alright! Well, I'm off!" She headed out of the garden and into the city.
She passed many stands until she finally found one with ingredients for potions. They had a variety of things, not just lotus blossoms. Anippe majored in magic so, obviously, she was quite amused. She spent about thirty minutes just looking at what they had. Finally, she bought the pound of lotus blossoms and left. Apparently, the Pharaoh had given her much more gold than was needed. He didn't say it, but seemed pretty obvious that the Pharaoh wanted her to get a little something for herself. She shook the idea off, in case she was wrong.
She continued to head toward the palace while looking at all the stands and seeing what they had to offer. The Pharaoh never told her when she could return to the palace, but she decided just to take a glance at the stands. Suddenly, she saw one that immediately caught her interest. It was a flute-selling stand. There were many different kind of flutes, made of wooden, gold, metal, and many other materials. Anippe loved music. She didn't want to overdo it by buying the gold one, so she bought the wooden one, which was the cheapest. It had only cost her a little portion of the gold left. She made sure not to use any of the gold left and quickly headed toward the palace.
She entered the palace and the Pharaoh greeted her with a smile. "Back already?"
"Um, yeah," Anippe replied shyly. "Here are the lotus blossoms you need." She handed a bag of lotus blossoms to him.
"Thank you," Yami replied.
"And..." She handed over the rest of her gold. "Here's the money left over. You gave me too much."
Yami examined the gold in his outstretched hand. He had intended for Anippe to buy a little something for herself. He frowned a bit, but then realized that a small portion of the gold was missing. He knew exactly how much gold the lotus blossoms were, and there was a little more gold used than that. He smiled. "What did you get for yourself?" he asked curiously.
Anippe blushed. She hadn't showed the Pharaoh the flute yet, nor would she. "Oh, just a little something I saw out in the market. It's really nothing. I didn't want to waste too much of your gold, master."
Yami cocked an eyebrow. "This gold was meant for you." He put the gold back in Anippe's hand. "Spend it however you wish."
Anippe, once again, found herself gawking at the Pharaoh. Who knew he could be so nice? "Thank you, master," she said softly.
"It's nothing," Yami replied with a warm smile. "You may go now. I won't need you for the rest of the day."
Anippe turned to leave when Yami said, "But I will need you tomorrow, so come see me in the morning, okay?"
Anippe nodded and headed off toward her room.
Dark Conscience: O.o You know, they didn't have books back then right?
Seto: They had scrolls...
Alley Cat: I know, but books are better and more convenient. Who cares about scrolls anyway?
Dark Conscience: (sighes) You're hopeless...
Seto: Agreed.
Dark Conscience: And ONE POUND of lotus blossoms?!
Alley Cat: I went brain-dead okay? I hate the measurement systems...
Seto: (shakes head) Well, R&R! And remember to flame!
Alley Cat: Yup! R&R and remember to--Hey!
Seto: Uh, gotta go! (runs)
Alley Cat: (chases)
Dark Conscience: (shakes head) Like I said. Hopeless. Please R&R!