Alley Cat: 'Ello everybody. n.n;; Sorry for the long wait!
Dark Conscience: About damn time...
Alley Cat: Yeah, I know... n.n;;
Seto: (bursts into the room) WHO DID THIS?
Dark Conscience: (takes one look at Kaiba and laughs hysterically)
Alley Cat: (trying to suppress her laughter) Umm...haha...it looks...hehehe...lovely, Seto-kun. AHAHAHAHAHA! XD
Seto: SHUT UP! (glares) ...WHICH ONE OF YOU IDIOTS DYED MY HAIR PINK!
Dark Conscience: (laughs harder)
Alley Cat: Umm...HAHAHA...it's...tehehe...hot pink. (laughs hysterically)
Seto: (eye twitches)
Alley Cat: (tries to get laughter under control but is still grinning insanely at Seto) Moving on... n.n;;I think I need new bad guys... Now that Marik and Bakura are gone, well...it may be harder to maintain good ideas. Suggestions would be much appreciated if you don't like where this story is going right now. n.n;;
Dark Conscience: (gets laughter under control) ...Couldn't Marik and Bakura just...escape or something?
Alley Cat: O.O What are you suggesting? They torch the place?
Seto: I'll do it! (goes off to torch palace with a can of gasoline and some matches)
Alley Cat: Wait! No! I didn't mean-GAAAHH! (glares at Dark Conscience)
Dark Conscience: WHAT? You're the one who suggested torching, not me. n.n
Alley Cat: (grumblegrumble) Well you're the one who came up with the idea in the first place!
Dark Conscience: So? You know how much of a pyromaniac Kaiba is!
Alley Cat: ...S-so? ...You're the one who suggested Marik and Bakura escape! And you know how much of a pyromaniac I am... During Beatnik, I wasn't listening to the poems, I was playing with the candle wax and flames.
Dark Conscience: ...You must be joking me...
Alley Cat: And you know how I have a tendancy to blurt out the first thing that pops into my head... Putting two and two together, you should have known I'd say something like that!
Dark Conscience: -.- (sighs)
Alley Cat: Ha! I won. n.n I should join the debate team sometime... Debating is fun... Though being a lawyer must suck because you have to memorize all those rules!
Dark Conscience: Okay, enough arguing... Just get to the thanx so your faithful reviewers can read the chapter...
Alley Cat: Okay! n.n
emotional-writer - n.n;; I guess ya did! Eheh... Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. ...I'm trying more of an inner conflict with the characters this time,rather than my usual: This dude is evil (points). Everybody! After him! (dude runs) (everybody chases) XD Sorry. I'm kinda hyper right now... Anyway, yeah... I'm trying to do one of those: The reader clearly knows who to blame but the characters don't...I think. That, or I'm trying to go by the element of surprise... O.o Whatever... Well, enjoy the chappie! n.n;;
starskittle410 - Yaay! New reviewer! ...I think. n.n;; (huge sweatdrop) Anyway, glad you like it so much! Can you believe I'm already plotting the sequel? (Dark Conscience: WHAT? But you haven't even plotted out the rest of this story!) ...Shaddup! Anyway, I love your name. ...Starskittle. Mwehehe...(Dark Conscience: Hey! That's my laugh...) ...Yeah? Well I'm takin' it!(evil grin) Anyway, your name reminds me of...Silent Attraction, by Black-Lightniing. (nods) Yup. In the most recent chapter...Mokuba goes off hyper on skittles. O.o Yeah...check it out in your free time... (cough) ANYway...I hope you enjoy this chapter too. n.n I luvs you all...
darkforestchick - OMG! O.O You're all caught up! ...Wow. You read fast... Now then, I'm glad you don't take offense of my critique. n.n;; I really don't like saying bad things about stories... I'm just to nice... (Dark Conscience: (mumbling) Yeah right...) (glares at Dark Conscience) Anyway, I guess you make some sense. Yeah, once you pointed that out to me, I shot myself in the foot. (Dark Conscience: O.o You're starting to remind me of our Language Arts teacher...) n.n;; I know. She influences me too much... Anywayz... (Dark Conscience: You say that too much!) Shaddup! Anynow then, Layla won't get pregnant until the sequel. (winks) Yes. I've been thinking of what's going to happen and...let's just say...in the middle, Anippe does something horrific. The thing is, I don't know where this story is going so...if everything turns out for the better, I'll make a sequel... ...If things don't...then...I'll just...stop it where it is, but most likely things will turn out good. n.n
Black-Lightniing - Thanx for FINALLY reviewing. n.n;; Yeah...thanx for the praise though... Anyway, I'll have to work out something for Layla and Seto... That girl was attached to you...oh well... n.n;; Enjoy the chapter!
SirisAnkh - Tehehe...I love ya! Geez...you are good at this... However, I don't think you hurt his ego... I think you just made him mad as hell. XD But that's good enough for me... Moving on, the Dark Magician is Yami's most trusted...just, most trusted,correct? Therefore, it's obvious he'd usethe Dark Magicianto guard his worst enemy, correct? Which is why Ishizu encountered him instead of guard 'cause Yami told them to stay away from that area since the Dark Magician would be guarding it. Make sense now? n.n;; Yeah, I know, my ideas are retarded... I didn't like "Hapi" to be honest... I just needed to search for a name and...well...Hapi meant/was "a god of the Nile" which would make sense with Anippe's which meant "daughter of the Nile." See? They connect with each other! Yeah, that's the little thing there... Umm, yes, I recognized you as a constant reviewer of Harmful Crush. You review Kaiba's Slave more often than I do and... (sweatdrop) Yeah, I'm not a very good reviewer... T.T Anyway, Kaiba's Slave is one of the authors I have grown attached to starting with her story Kiseki. I...kinda begged her to read this and she has been a loyal reviewer every since so...yeah. n.n;; I luvs her very much... ...I luvs you too! (glomps) (as reviewers...not in that way of course...) Well, I hope you enjoy this chappie! n.n
Amazoness Archer - Nyah, don't worry about it. I've read stories that I never review to 'cause I'm too lazy... n.n;; I did that for Kaiba's Slave's Kiseki and...yeah...I reviewed, like, one or two months afterthe story completed...n.n;; But...it's okay. I can understand... I'm glad you think it's so good! ...But...I believe it's far from perfection, but it's nice to get praise like that. Thank you so much! n.n Well, enjoy this chapter too?
SeaAngel - O.O Wow. That's a lot of questions...I might as well answer all of them...
1) Anippe's father is...currently out of the picture 'cause he gave his daughter to Yami. He's in the palace, recovering his strength and may possibly stay in the palace but...I don't know yet. He' off in his own little world right now... n.n;;
2) Well, you should have been able to infer from the last chapter that their relationship is, in fact, crumbling. n.n;;
3) Yeah, you should have been able to infer this one too. And...it'll crumble more...very soon. Chapter 22. (evil grin)
4) What's gonna happen to Ishizu? (deep breath) Well...read this chapter. You'll see... (wink)
Now then, I'll post the names and stuff...of course! That is, if everything works out grand and a sequel is able to be made... n.n;; I'll be sure to post up that stuff if this story works out good. Only then will I make a sequel... n.n;;
actress19 - O.O Wow. Such enthusiasm! n.n;; Well, I'm glad you like it so much! (claps) WOOT! Anyway...umm...I'll...eh...try to read your fic in mah free time but...I have a lot of others to read that I'm having trouble catching up so... n.n;; I dunno... We'll have to see... Well, enjoy this chapter?
Alley Cat: Okay. All done with my thanx. n.n I thank all of you for staying with me for so long... I realize it's a long story and...
Dark Conscience: Oh quit apologizing!
Alley Cat: Okay, well...wait...Now that Seto-kun's gone...who's gonna do the disclaimer?
Dark Conscience: O.o Alley Cat doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Alley Cat: Oh. ...I coulda thought of that...
Anippe hesitantly approached Yami's chambers. What had happened to him yesterday? After he met with Marik and Bakura…he just totally freaked out! She sighed. She longed to know what happened, but…dare she ask? No…even if she did ask, Yami wouldn't tell her. It happened yesterday; it'd happen today, right? She sighed. She just didn't get it. What had upset Yami so much yesterday? It didn't make any sense… No sense at all…
Great. Now she was at Yami's front doors. Now what? What would she say? What would she do? She sighed. "Yami?" she called, knocking on the doors softly.
Shuffling could be heard. Finally, the door creaked open and Yami was standing behind it. He didn't look very well. There were bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. His hair was all messed up because he didn't bother to take the time to comb it today and…he was still in his pajamas…
Anippe blushed. "Sorry," she murmured as she turned to walk away. "I guess you're busy."
"Anippe," Yami said softly. He hadn't expected her to show up like that. He looked down at himself and cursed inwardly. "W-wait," he stuttered, grabbing onto her wrist. "I'm not busy at all. What is it you came to see me about?"
Anippe turned around to face Yami. "I—it's nothing really," she said quietly. "Y—you were just acting…weird yesterday. I—I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She turned away again, blushing furiously.
Yami pulled Anippe through the door, firmly shutting it behind him. "It's okay. Stay a while," he suggested. Then he let go of Anippe's wrist and turned around, rubbing his eyes. He couldn't sleep last night. How could this be? Marik and Bakura could still torture him, even when they were locked up!
"Yami?" Anippe asked in alarm. "Is something wrong?"
Yami swayed slightly and quickly gripped a rail. "Fine," he said, his voice strained.
Anippe was by his side in a flash, gently holding onto his arm. "You didn't get any sleep last night, did you?" she asked accusingly, anxiety showing across her face.
"Anippe—" he started, but stopped because his vision was blurring. What was going on? His body would no longer listen to his brain. His mind was slipping further and further into darkness.
"Yami!" Anippe cried out, her voice now shrill and anxious. Yami wasn't replying to her. Suddenly, he fell limp.
Layla and Seto managed to cross paths…for the third time that morning. Seto was just trying to stay away from Layla and Tea at the same time, and Layla was, well, trying to stay away from Seto.
"Master?" Layla asked worriedly. "Is something the matter?" The thing that happened two nights ago still bothered her…a lot.
Seto stared at her for a second, still embarrassed about yesterday and their encounter with Tea. All right, so he admitted he was in love with Layla. Yes, that much was true. …But why wasn't he ready to admit it to other people? He sighed. "It's nothing, Layla. Don't worry about it."
Layla looked at him worriedly. "A-all right, then," Layla said softly. Without another word, she left.
Anippe stared at Yami worriedly. What had happened? How had he come to such a state? She closed her eyes. Asking questions later would be best. Healing Yami was her first priority. Her hands pressed softly onto Yami's chest, and she muttered a spell under her breath. A yellow glow surrounded her and Yami as well. This was a spell of energy transfusion. The energy would flow out of Anippe and into Yami.
It wasn't that Yami was hurt or anything… It was just the fact that he had no energy… But still, Anippe was worried…desperately worried. She felt her body getting weaker and weaker. Finally, she couldn't even hold the spell. She drew away from Yami and slumped to the floor, weak and helpless.
Yami slowly opened his eyes…to find himself staring at the ceiling. …But his last memories weren't of those staring at the ceiling, but rather of looking at Anippe. He thought about this for three whole minutes, staring at the ceiling, before his could register this new information. His brain came to the conclusion that seemed most logical, which was that he had fainted. He moaned slightly at his headache before propping his elbows onto the bed to get up. Immediately, pain shot up his arms and he collapsed back into bed.
Bed. Another thing his brain had not registered yet. He wasn't originally in bed, was he? …That meant someone moved him…but who? He was in his private chambers at the time…so no one could have come in and interrupted him… The only person there was Anippe… He thought about this for another three minutes, again, staring at the ceiling before coming to the conclusion that Anippe had moved him.
Content with his synopsis to what had happened, he relaxed, closing his eyes, and let his mind wander, for about another three minutes, before jolting upright from another thought. Despite the amount of pain throughout his body, his brain worked faster. If Anippe had brought him here, where was she now? He looked around the room anxiously, only to find Anippe unconscious on the floor, or, at least, what seemed like unconsciousness. He painfully walked over to her, wondering what had caused her to reach this condition. "Anippe?" he whispered agonizingly, wincing at every muscle movement.
Anippe moaned quietly, unable to do much else. She was relieved that Yami was all right, of course, but, at that moment, she was suffering from excruciating pain.
Yami fell to his knees, because of pain, recklessly using the energy that Anippe had just given him. It wasn't much, but it was enough to revive him.
"Please. Rest," Anippe said pleadingly, barely audible.
Yami bit his lower lip. He hated to see Anippe in such agony. He grabbed onto a nearby column and slowly, and painfully, rose to his feet, walking ever closer to where Anippe lay.
Suddenly, Seto burst through the door, enough of a distraction to cause Yami to fall back down to the floor. He was about to say something to the effect of "Give me a place to hide because I can't take life anymore" but stopped and gaped and the situation in front of him. After a moment of complete silence and bewilderment, he was finally able to jumble his thoughts together to come out with "What the—!" before reassembling his sentence to be "What happened?"
Yami smiled weakly. "I—it's nothing," he managed to get out, trying to stand up again.
"Get…Yami…some…rest," Anippe panted softly.
Seto cast Anippe a bewildered look before staring back at Yami. He wasn't in the best of conditions. It didn't seem like he had any physical problem. "You didn't get any sleep," Seto stated matter-of-factly. Actually, didn't this happen to him before when he was worrying about Layla? He thought about this for a split-second before pushing it out of his memories. He didn't want to remember those times.
Yami stared at Seto incredulously. His brain could no longer think under such pressure. Therefore, his words came out jumbled: "I…uh…it's not…you don't…really it's…" His brain was repeatedly switching excuses but each one sounded lamer than the last.
Seto glared at him. "I cannot believe you!" he exclaimed. Of all people, leave it to Yami to irk him. "Can't you see that you need rest? Stop worrying about other people when you can't even take care of yourself!"
Yami winced slightly at such harsh words. "I—I'm sorry," he apologized.
Seto sighed irritably. "Forget it," he muttered. He directed his attention toward Anippe. "And what happened to you?" he questioned.
"Energy…transfusion," Anippe managed to get out somehow.
Seto was taken aback, and Yami stared at her in awe.
For a moment, the room was completely silent, once again.
Seto quickly recomposed himself and glared at Anippe. "An energy transfusion was very nice of you, but WHY DID YOU USE UP SO MUCH OF YOUR ENERGY?"
Both Anippe and Yami winced.
"I—I'm sorry," Anippe whispered, barely audible. "I—I was…worried."
Seto let out an irritated sigh. Yami and Anippe were none of his business. Why was he, his soul out of the millions out there, chosen to take care of them! They were so immature and yet Yami was at a higher rank than he was and Anippe probably would be soon as well. Heck, he deserved to be Pharaoh. He could probably do a much better job than those two. …He stared at both of them for a moment in disgust before snapping out of his phase. What was he thinking? Yami had been his best friend for so long… He sighed. Now was not the time to get jealous. He helped Yami back into bed before thinking about what to do with Anippe.
"Leave her with me," Yami said softly.
Seto looked at Yami concernedly before following his orders. He carefully picked Anippe up. He noticed the girl had tensed…perhaps because of some wound he had not known of…or perhaps it was the fact that she was in another man's arms…that did not belong to her loved one… He gently put her down on the bed before walking off without another word, leaving the two alone to talk.
"Anippe…" Yami said worriedly as he put an arm around her lovingly and pulling her closer to him. "Why…why did you do such a thing?"
Anippe opened her eyes to stare into those beautiful violet eyes of his. "I got worried…" she said softly.
Yami sighed. "You realized I just needed rest, no?"
Anippe looked away. "I love you so much that…at times…I don't think. Or, at least, I don't think straight…"
Yami cast Anippe another anxious look. He knew that one could be very crazy in love… But…the passion that Anippe had for him…had put her in danger more than once. …Could this relationship be more harmful than beneficial? …Would beneficial even be the word for it? …No need to make it so…business-like right? He sighed. Doubting…the one thing he hated. …Yet doubt was everywhere… He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth slightly, out of anger and frustration.
Anippe glanced at Yami nervously. "Y—yami?" she asked timidly, yet worriedly as well. "I—is something wrong?"
Yami opened his eyes again to look at Anippe. "It's nothing," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it." He inhaled slowly before continuing. "Anippe…you can't do stuff like this anymore…you understand?"
Anippe looked away for a moment. "But…"
Yami cast her a stern look. "Anippe…please."
Anippe sighed. "Fine," she muttered.
Yami let out a breath of relief and hugged her tightly. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear.
Anippe looked back at Yami, smiling. "Don't you have work to do?" she asked.
Yami cast Anippe an incredulous look. "S—The High Priest said to stay here," he stammered, almost using Seto's name again.
Anippe flashed Yami a curious look but decided not to comment. "…Alright…" she said after a while.
Yami smiled gratefully and kissed her.
Layla heard a high-pitched scream as she passed one of the doors. It wasn't an unusual door…it looked much like the others…but she had never been through that door. The scream troubled her dearly. Somebody had to be in trouble! Worry flashed through her eyes. She couldn't help it… …She had to help… Even if she wasn't supposed to go in there…she had to help…
She opened the door, and the hinges squeaked loudly. Layla winced and looked around to see if anybody had heard, but it didn't seem like anybody had. She gave a sigh of relief only to peer into the darkness behind the door for fear to strike her heart again. Should she go in? …It looked less than inviting, yet…someone was in trouble, possibly hurt. …But…she didn't even know what this place was, far from knowing where it went. She sighed. If she didn't help in some way…this memory would be haunting her for days. She took a deep breath and stepped inside, the door closing behind her with a thud.
Yami sighed contently, holding Anippe in his arms as she slept. She needed the extra energy. …In fact, so did he… He thought about the reason why he was at a lack of energy and cursed at himself for ten full minutes straight. How could he have Marik and Bakura deceive him like that? They were all lies! The bond he had with Anippe was strong. He didn't like her just because of sexual desire. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and closed his eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet after everything that had happened in the kingdom.
Suddenly, the door burst open.
So much for peace and quiet, Yami thought as his eyes fluttered open. He looked at the door to find a flustered advisor. He pursed his lips, showing obvious annoyment at the disruption.
The advisor tried to calm down a bit and bowed deeply. "My Pharaoh!" he cried out afterwards.
"Shhh!" Yami said harshly, carefully pushing Anippe off him. He got off the bed and walked to the advisor. "Yes?" he asked softly.
"My Pharaoh!" the advisor cried out again, perhaps even louder than the first time.
Anippe shifted slightly in the bed but did not wake up.
Yami glared at the advisor. "Quiet!" he whispered, gesturing toward Anippe.
The advisor flushed even more, if that was even possible at this point. "I…I'm… s…sorry," he stuttered.
Yami gave an irritated sigh before asking, "What is it that's so urgent?"
The advisor suddenly remembered what he was here for. "It seems that there is an intruder of some sorts…at Marik's chamber. The Dark Magician caught her, but she escaped."
Yami looked at the advisor suspiciously. "She? It was a girl? …But…girls usually don't do that…" He furrowed his brow in confusion. "I'll go check it out," he said after a moment's thought. With that, he left the room with the advisor trailing behind.
Seto cupped his hands in the bowl of fresh, cold water and splashed it on his face. He needed something to calm him down. Besides, it was hot outside. Water dripped down his neck and arms, glistening in the sun. His hair was slightly damp, but he didn't care. It put his mind at ease and that's all that mattered…
Suddenly, footsteps could be heard inside the palace. He sighed, getting up from the water fountain in the garden. He had not visited this place for so long… He shook his head. Something weird was going on in the palace and he was determined to find out what.
The door squeaked open as he stepped in only to be greeted by soldiers. Not many of them but still enough to fend off a dangerous intruder. The slaves were also bustling around more than usual. He pulled one of the soldiers aside. "What's going on?" he demanded.
The soldier looked at him, surprised, before saying, "The Dark Magician found an intruder heading toward M—marik's jail… The Pharaoh's advisor has issued that some soldiers get down there as quickly as possible."
Seto was bewildered, losing his grip on the soldier. The soldier left immediately after he was released. Marik's chambers… He shook his head. Who could, who would do such a thing? He couldn't take this anymore. He headed toward Marik's cell.
Layla didn't like this place, not one bit. It reeked of death…and she couldn't take much more of it… Why would anyone want to come down here anyway? With all the cells…and… Then it hit her. This was the prison area. …But why would someone scream? She couldn't make sense of this situation.
Suddenly, a faint light glowed somewhere behind her, obviously from a torch. She sighed. She really shouldn't have come in here without knowing what it was…and where to go…and especially without some sort of light. She closed her eyes. She was in major trouble. How could she have been so idiotic?
Footsteps could be heard, running toward where she was. The light got brighter. A group of soldiers came into view.
Layla stood there, gawking, completely paralyzed. What were soldiers doing here? Had they come to investigate the scream as well?
"We found her!" one sneered, grabbing Layla tightly around the wrist. "Did you truly think you were going to be able to release Marik, slave?"
"Wh—what?" Layla exclaimed. "What are you talking about? I would never do that!"
Another one of the soldiers pulled his sword out of his sheath. "You will pay the proper respect to those above you," he hissed, moving his sword toward her.
Layla took a step back but was unable to go very far since the soldier was holding her wrists very tightly. Fear crept into her eyes. Her face paled as she stared at the sword.
The soldier noticed her fear and quickly took advantage. With a smirk, he advanced on her, intending to inflict some pain on this slave.
"What are you doing?" hissed a cold voice from behind them.
The soldier with the sword raised swiveled around to find himself face to face with the High Priest. The sword clattered to the ground. "M—my High Priest," he stuttered, the color draining out of his face.
Seto pushed him aside and gave a cold glare to everyone of them individually. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked again, forcefully through gritted teeth.
The soldier holding Layla trembled slightly, utterly speechless. "I—I…" he faltered.
"Let. Her. Go," Seto said, emphasizing every word.
The soldier immediately released Layla and walked away from her, fear clearly written all over his face.
Seto sighed irritably and put a protective arm around Layla, noticing how stiff with fear she was. "Calm down," he muttered under his breath. He directed his attention back toward the lead soldier, the Soldier Master. "What were you doing?" he repeated again for the third time.
The Master bowed his head. "The Dark Magician caught some girl outside Marik's chamber, intending to release him. This is probably her," he said with disgust, gesturing toward Layla.
Seto was bewildered for a moment before retaining his calm composure. "It couldn't have been her. She's my slave—"
"It still could have been her," argued the Master. "You didn't keep track of her the whole—"
"No," Seto stated coldly. "It wasn't her. Keep looking for the intruder."
The Master lowered his eyes, showing that he would argue no further and made a gesture for the other soldiers to keep looking. The soldiers listened and ran around Layla and Seto. After all of them had filtered out, the Master himself left as well.
Layla collasped into Seto's arms, inviting his warmth. "Thank…you," she murmured, apparently more exhausted than she thought she had been.
Seto let out a shaky breath. "It's okay." He closed his eyes, feeling very weak at that moment. The two stood like that for a few moments before Seto opened his eyes again. "Let's check what happened, okay?"
Layla nodded. "Yeah…"
Seto sighed and and kissed her lightly on the forehead before letting her go. "Just be careful and stay by my side," he advised, starting off in the direction of the soldiers.
Marik looked up as the door slammed shut. Who could it be at this hour? He gasped to see Ishizu standing there, horror-striken as well as terribly hurt. "Ishizu!" he cried worriedly, his chains clanking on the walls at the sudden movement. He wanted to help her, but the shackles stopped him from walking very far. They tugged at him, refusing to let him go. Marik winced visibly and fell to the floor from the wound in his chest.
Bakura watched the scene between Marik and his sister, feeling a bit sympathetic for the both of them. But he was helpless, much like Marik. Instead, he just decided to stare at the ground…
Ishizu stared in horror at her brother. What had happened to his chest! She took a deep breath to calm herself. Now was not the time to panic. She could ask questions later. …Besides, she was lucky she had escaped the Dark Magician. She was almost sure she was going to die… She tried the best to compose herself and walked over to Marik. She hugged him tightly, noticing him tense because of the pain pulsing in his chest.
"I—Ishizu," he said, relieved she was okay.
Ishizu put her hand over Marik's wound and chanted a stronger healing spell than usual. Bright sparks flew from the ends of her fingers and onto Marik's chest. Slowly, it started to heal. After a few moments, Ishizu withdrew her hand. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "But I don't have enough energy to heal you fully…"
Marik smiled. "It's fine," he assured her. "Thank you so much, sister." He hugged her tightly. "Did the Pharaoh let you see me?" he asked, curious.
Ishizu stood up, pulling a lock of hair away from her face. She didn't want to answer her brother. After all, she wasn't really supposed to be here, wasn't she? She sighed and looked away.
Marik's face immediately turned into that of concern. "H—he didn't grant you permission?" he asked softly.
Ishizu was still looking away, and she crossed her arms. "Well…"
"Sister!" he cried anxiously, not believing she had actually broken a rule. "You have to get out of here! Before he finds you!"
Suddenly, Bakura snapped his head up. "Listen!" he hissed.
The room went dead silent as all three listened for something. …Footsteps. Ishizu gasped. No… It couldn't be… The Dark Magician must have alerted the guards… …She was in deep trouble.
"Sister," Marik said worriedly. "Did anyone see you come in?"
Ishizu backed up in fear. "I…I have to get out of here," she whispered.
"It's a little late for that," Bakura commented dryly as the footsteps halted in front of the door.
Anippe woke up groggily. A sense of panic ran through her as she realized that she was no longer laying on Yami's chest. In fact, she could no longer feel or sense him. Her eyes snapped open and jolted upward only to come to the realization that Yami was gone.
She breathed deeply. No use in panicing. In fact, she didn't even understand why exactly she was panicing…
She collapsed back into bed, still feeling quite…weak. She tried to put her mind at ease so she could get more rest, but she just couldn't. She couldn't help but worry about Yami… Where was he? What was he doing? Was he in trouble?
She sighed exasperatedly. Might as well go check since she couldn't get some rest…
The first thing she noticed was that the hallway was quite…well, quiet… Not a soul in sight… A few moments later, a slave ran past her quite quickly.
On reflex, Anippe grabbed the slave aside, trying to be as gentle as possible. "Where is everybody?" she asked.
The slave bowed his head. Although he had never seen this noble before, the clothes obviously told what class she was in. "…There seems to be trouble in the dungeons. …The Pharaoh has gone down to investigate the commotion."
Anippe sighed. Great. The dungeon. "And where would this dungeon be?" she inquired further.
The slave looked up for a moment, surprised at such a question but immediately realized his mistake and glanced toward the ground again. It was a crime for a slave to look at the noble in the eye without given permission... "There's a door in the main hallway… Um… I believe it to be the second door on the right…when your facing the grand chamber… It'll lead you to a corridor. Follow that corridor and it should lead you to another door and that should be the entrance to the dungeon," he said slowly, a bit unsure of himself since he had never been in the dungeon…
Anippe nodded. "Thank you," she let go of the slave. "Continue on then."
The door opened ominously, revealing the armed soldiers standing behind it. Ishizu tried to make herself invisible but, of course, was unable to.
The soldiers stared grimly at the intruder until they noticed it was, no other than, their High Priestess, Ishizu.
"P—priestess!" the Master exclaimed, clearly as surprised as the rest of his troop were.
Ishizu paled, speechless, like a deer caught in headlights. Her mind went blank when she tried to think of excuses… Even if she had expected the worst…she never would have imagined something like this happening…
As she felt that things couldn't get any more troublesome, the troop of soldiers separated to give room to someone… Ishizu face went ghost-white. It was the High Priest.
"Ishizu?" Seto inquired, obviously as surprised as everyone else gawking at the scene.
Layla soon appeared behind Seto, using him as a means of protection, and gave a startled gasp. Never would she have guessed it was the High Priestess…
Ishizu's mind went racing. The room swirled around her. She dizzily fell from her stance, but Marik caught her before she hit the ground.
"Ishizu, be careful," Marik whispered before glaring at the High Priest. "Seto," he emphasized.
Seto's eye twitched, and he growled slightly.
Layla shirked back behind Seto, looping her arm around his for comfort. Marik's smooth talk sent shivers up her spine.
"What are you doing here?" Marik asked innocently, eyeing Layla curiously, but clearly directing the question to the High Priest himself.
"I heard there was an intruder," he growled, staring at Marik with clear contempt. "Never would I have thought it would be your sister…"
Marik snarled. "Back off my sister," he said through gritted teeth, putting a possessive arm around Ishizu. He looked down at her, unable to believe that her sister had actually fainted. But, then again, she was so torn and weak when she staggered through the door…and with the shock of the current events…he guessed it was to be expected…
Seto smirked and let out a laugh of contempt. Seems like he'd struck a nerve…and that's the way he liked it. "Why should I?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from his words.
Marik glared at him. "Because I said so," he barked.
Marik's reaction only increased Seto's enjoyment. His smile broadened. "That is the dumbest reason I've heard in my lifetime," he retorted, stepping closer to Marik threateningly.
Marik's arm tightened around Ishizu. She couldn't get hurt…she just couldn't. Despite their petty rivalries, they were still family. …And it was his job to protect her…no matter what happened. He grit his teeth and glared at the High Priest once more. "Touch her and die," he whispered.
Seto sent back an equally menacing glare. As he was about to speak, he was interrupted.
"What's going on?" Yami demanded.
Seto swiveled around to find Yami had just entered the room with one of his advisors. His mouth hung open, but he was unable to speak.
Yami cast Seto an inquiring look but said nothing. His eyes searched the room for a moment, taking in what was before him. As his eyes reached Ishizu's body, his mind stopped completely and he was rooted to the spot, speechless.
Marik tensed, noticing the Pharaoh was staring at his sister. Excuses went coursing through his head but none of them sounded very reasonable.
"Wh—what happened?" Yami finally asked softly. …It couldn't possibly be that Marik tried to bring harm to his own sister, could it?
Anippe crept up behind the crowd of soldiers. Apparently, nobody noticed her since they were too absorbed in the scene in front of them. She couldn't see much, but she could still hear what was going on.
"I don't know," Seto said exasperatedly.
Yami looked at Ishizu worriedly, then glared at Marik. "What did you do to her?" he asked threateningly.
Marik cast the Pharaoh an incredulous look. Did the Pharaoh earnestly think that he would harm his own sister? "I didn't do anything!" he replied hotly.
Yami sighed. They probably wouldn't be able to get anything out of Marik this way…
"Why don't we go converse this matter somewhere else?" Anippe asked, obviously frightening practically everyone who heard because they jumped about a foot in the air...
They all turned toward Anippe, who was standing in the back.
Anippe arched an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong with me being here?" she asked politely.
Yami shook his head slowly. "No…I just didn't expect you to…recover so soon."
Anippe sighed. "This really isn't a good place to do this. Really. Why don't we get the High Priestess some attention and healing spells first and then discuss what happened when with her when she recovers? …Or, of course, we could get the High Priestess some help and then ask Marik what happened," she suggested innocently.
Yami stepped back slightly. Had Anippe just suggested to talk with the person who had intended her such harm? …He looked at Ishizu. Anippe did have a point. He glanced at Seto for a moment, seeing that he had made the same decision.
Seto stepped forward first.
Marik's tight grippened around his sister.
"Marik," Anippe said soothingly. "We're not going to hurt her. …She needs healing. Are you going to just let your sister die in your arms?"
A flash of hurt ran through Marik's eyes. His hold went loose and let the High Priest pick his sister up, out of his arms.
A wave of relief ran through Anippe, clearly visible to everyone else as well.
The soldiers, as given orders from the Master, had all turned to go. The Master left as well.
Yami headed out the door, wrapping an arm around Anippe, guiding her out the door.
Anippe made no resistance.
Seto slowly walked out the door, sending one last glare toward Marik before disappearing into the darkness.
Marik was slumped to the floor, his soul shattered.
Bakura glanced at Marik worriedly but said nothing.
Dark Conscience: Oooookaaaayyy then...
Alley Cat: T.T You hated it...
Dark Conscience: Well...we'll have to let the reviewers decide right? They're what counts?
Alley Cat: B-but...if you hated it...then...they'll just hate it more! T.T (goes to sob in a corner)
Dark Conscience: Oh pffffttt... I never said I hated it... ...And you hate all your chapters anyway so does it really matter?
Alley Cat: (sniffsniff) Yes.
Dark Conscience: -.- Oh, BTW, what's with the "Master" thingy with the soldiers?
Alley Cat: Oh! I was reading Shade's Children by Garth Nix and, you see, there are these-
Dark Conscience: You ran out of ideas?
Alley Cat: ...You could say that...
Dark Conscience: -.- And Yami's so-called recovery?
Alley Cat: I know...It's my pitiful attempt to make some humor... Apparently, I'm obsessed with the number three... O.o Well, if it takes up room, it's good. n.n
Dark Conscience: (sighs) -.-
(maniacal laughter can be heard)
Alley Cat and Dark Conscience: O.o
(burning can be heard)
Alley Cat: ...That can't be right... The palace isn't so close to where we are so that we can actually hear the burning... O.O What is he torching?
Dark Conscience: ...I have no idea... I thought he was supposed to be torching the palace jail... O.O Uh-oh...
Alley Cat and Dark Conscience: (run out of the building)
Building:(is currently burning wildly)
Seto: (pouring more gasoline on top of the building)
Alley Cat: Umm, Seto-kun? ...Don't you think that's enough gasoline to burn the whole building down?
Seto: (looks at all the gasoline) ...No. (pours more)
Dark Conscience: -.-
Alley Cat: Seto-kun... At this rate...you'll set your hair on fire...again.
Seto: (stops)... (thinks for a moment) ...(continues pouring)
Dark Conscience: ...WTF?
Alley Cat: ...Seto-kun?
Seto: My hair's pink! Why the hell should I care? (continues pouring)
Dark Conscience: He's got a point...
Alley Cat: Seto-kun, it's not pink...it's hot pink. n.n
Dark Conscience: At this rate, he'll burn himself alive...
Alley Cat: T.T SETO-KUN! (drags him off the top of the building)
Seto: (has a few burnt marks on him, still pouring gasoline)
Gasoline: (trailing behind Alley Cat and Seto)
Dark Conscience: Umm, Alley Cat?
Alley Cat: (drops Seto off at a safe distance from the fire) Yes?
Dark Conscience: (points to the trail of gasoline)
Alley Cat: O.O ...Let's get out of here...
Dark Conscience: (nods)... (runs and takes shelter in a nearby rock)
Alley Cat: (runs away from the fire and then runs toward Seto)
Seto: ...What?
Alley Cat: (takes Seto by the collar and drags him far away from the trail of gasoline and shelters him, and herself, behind a rock)
Everything: BOOM! (blows up)
Seto: ...Oh.
Dark Conscience: (walks over to the two) ... (glares at Seto) See what you've done?
Alley Cat: ...That was fun! Let's do it again! n.n
Seto: ...Agreed. I've got more gasoline and matches! (pulls out more gasoline and matches)
Dark Conscience: (slaps forehead) Shi-Hey, wait, what are you two doing?
Alley Cat: (currently dragging gasoline behind her) Burnin' stuff. ...Though...I can't find much to burn anymore... Hmm...
Seto: Look! There's a car! (runs after it)
Alley Cat: (evil grin) Good idea! (runs after it too)
Dark Conscience: (sighs) IDIOTS... Well, R and R everybody...