A/N - Things finally start getting good in this fic.

A cloaked figure hurried through the massive temple before spies discovered him. Reaching the altar at the back of the temple, the cloaked man slid behind a large statue of a god and shoved open a secret door, which revealed a staircase.

The man hurried down the stairs, not needing a light to find his way; he had memorized the way long ago when the rebellion had started.

"Did anyone see you?" said a young woman, a priest, as soon as he reached the bare, secret chamber, lit only by torches along the walls.

"No; my father has no idea I'm involved." Slim bronze hands came up and threw back the hood of the cloak to reveal brunet hair and piercing cobalt eyes. "My father's reign of terror will soon be over."

"The gods will be pleased, Highness."

"He deserves what he gets for allowing the Shadow Creatures to get out of control."

There was only one person Prince Seto hated in the world and that was his father, Gozaburo. For as long as the young prince could remember his father would beat him, yelling obscenities about how he was responsible for allowing the Child of the Gods to escape.

While growing up, Seto had no clue what his father meant. Then, one day a year ago, Seto had heard the prophecy from the young priest who stood in front of him. It was said that a Shadow Creature known as the Child of the Gods would come forth with enormous powers; however only the one destined could control the Child of the Gods and together they would bring peace to the land.

"We must be careful," the young priest warned. "Gozaburo now has complete control over the Shadow Creatures."

Long ago a powerful person could create the creatures that served the shadows but Gozaburo had made sure that anyone with the ability had either joined him or was killed. Now Seto and the female priest would secretly meet at night to try and tap into the power that the young prince had hidden deep inside him; only with that power could their rebellion succeed in overthrowing the tyrant.

"Isis, I know. No one knows my father better than me."

"Just be careful," Isis repeated. "Gozaburo has eyes everywhere and we have a long hard fight ahead of us. Do not get cocky."

The young prince threw the pretty priest a sly smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Where were you?"

"Taking a walk Father," Seto replied with a roll of his eyes. The young prince had been coming back from another secret meeting with Isis, discarding his brown cloak in a hidden spot at the entrance to the palace and now once again wore normal white and blue royal robes.

"This late at night?"

"It's peaceful this late," the brunet prince grumbled as he strolled past his larger father.

"Seto…"

"I'm not a child anymore Father!" Seto snapped, turning to look back at the elder man. For a moment he forgot the power his father held but quickly remembered as next to Gozaburo a dark sphere began to form as a monster was called forth.

"I am the ruler Boy!"

"Of course," Seto replied, backing down and lowering his head. The sphere disappeared and both father and son were left alone once again. "You've repeatedly reminded me of that fact while growing up."

"Hmph. Don't ever forget it Boy," Gozaburo snarled as he strolled off and Seto hurried to his bedroom, his only sanctuary in the enormous palace.

In frustration Seto punched the wall with his fist. His father would get what was coming to him; the motions were already in place for Gozaburo to come crashing down.

"Try harder," Isis insisted as she circled Seto's motionless body. "To fight we need Shadow Creatures and you're the only one among our ranks who has the ability to create them."

Seto's blue eyes were closed, his mind lost in concentration as he tried forming a creature with his mind. As a child, Seto should have received training in creating Shadow Creatures but his father had refused to teach his son. Seto knew it had something to do with an incident that happened over 10 years ago but he had long forgotten what it was about. Sometimes in his dreams, though, he would see images of spiky tri-colored hair, but he didn't know what it meant.

"My patience is growing thin," the brunet prince grumbled. He was tired of these sessions with little results. Plus he feared his father was beginning to suspect he was up to something.

"Don't speak."

"Why don't you do it Miss Perfect?" Cobalt eyes snapped open to glare at the priest.

"Let's end this for tonight," Isis replied with a small sigh, always knowing when the prince had enough. Their time was limited anyway; if they stayed away too long someone would grow suspicious.

"Fine," Seto agreed as he picked up his cloak off the floor, where he had dropped it when he arrived, and put it back on, covering his royal robes. He hated the peasant garment but it was necessary to remain safe. "You know the rules." As part of their plan the two agreed never to be seen together, arriving and leaving hours apart when they were to meet.

"You don't have to remind me, Highness."

Seto stormed up the stairs, frustrated that things were progressing so slowly. They needed to take his father by surprise; the longer they waited the more chance they had of getting caught.

"Well, well, well…what do we have here?" an inhumane voice hissed. Sharply turning his head, Seto discovered a humanoid snake-like creature; although the creature walked upright like a man, the rest of his body was a slimy snake. Next to the snake-man was one of Gozaburo's most loyal creatures, the two-headed bull. "Our master was right. Wait long enough and we were bound to find his no-good son up to trouble."

The bull snorted and swung both heads as a reply, while Seto glared at the two Shadow Creatures.

"Get lost both of you!" the prince ordered. Things were bad, very bad; the Shadow Creatures knew who he was which meant his father knew something was up.

"We don't have to obey you; only our master."

Coldness ran throughout the courtyard, which shot straight through to Seto's bones. In the dim moonlight the prince could see the mist of the shadows forming around his ankles.

"You don't scare me!" Seto boldly spat. He would never admit fear to his father's servants.

"Check the temple; see if anyone is left inside," the humanoid snake ordered the bull. "I'll take care of this one."

Cobalt eyes widen in alarm; the hidden stairway would not deter a powerful Shadow Creature for long. Isis was now in danger from him being so careless.

Defenseless, Seto tore off his cloak and threw it at the humanoid snake, momentarily distracting the two Shadow Creatures. Quickly the prince darted off, trying to draw the two monsters away from the temple where Isis was hidden.

"Get him!" the humanoid snake hissed as he struggled to become untangled from the cloak.

Seto ran fast, but the silk royal robes he wore, which whipped around his long legs as he ran, slowed his movement. He needed a plan.

Behind the young prince, the two Shadow Creatures were gaining; easily they were able to run faster than Seto thanks to their powers.

Running over the hard dirt ground, Seto was caught off guard when a shadow wall sprung up in front of him. Before he could change directions, the heavy weight of the humanoid snake fell against his back, knocking him to the ground.

Rolling to his side, Seto elbowed the Shadow Creature to get the snake-man off of him. Once free, Seto scrambled to his feet only to be knocked flat to his back by the two-headed bull.

"Weakling," the snake creature spat as both Shadow Creatures loomed over Seto. Above them a crack of lightning shot across the sky and there was a loud booming from thunder. "The gods will be happy that they'll have a human sacrifice tonight."

"Beg and I may kill you quickly," Seto growled. Although he was defeated he would never give up his pride.

A shadowy sword formed in the humanoid snake's hand and he raised it above his head. "Goodbye Prince Seto."

Wind whipped across the land and another crack of lighting lit up the sky when suddenly a black sphere appeared in the sky; it was a portal to the shadows.

"This is bad," the snake-man hissed, sensing the intense power coming from the sphere. The sphere slowly faded away revealing a new Shadow Creature.

The new creature looked mostly like a human male except for the dragon tail and wings protruding from his back. He only wore a simple, white kilt and he had spiky tri-colored hair on his head. His eyes were closed as he slowly glided to the ground thanks to his impressive wings.

Sandaled feet lightly touched down a foot from Seto's head, forcing the prince to tilt his head back to look upside down at the creature; dimly Seto was aware that the other two Shadow Creatures had begun to slowly back away.

As Seto helplessly watched, the new Shadow Creature slowly opened his eyes causing the brunet prince to gasp; his eyes were pitch black, the shadows swirling in them.

"You tried to harm my master," he accused the two Shadow Creatures, his voice full of bitter anger. "For that you will pay."

The two-headed bull and snake-man tried running but they weren't quick enough for the new Shadow Creature who quickly extended his right arm with his palm facing the retreating monsters.

A wave of shadow energy, much stronger than Seto had ever felt before, shot out from the creature's palm, blasting apart his two fellow Shadow Creatures, vaporizing them so that nothing was left of their bodies.

In awe, Seto watched as the Shadow Creature's black eyes turned into a bright crimson color. "Who are you?" he demanded to know as he sat up. "Obliviously you're not one of my father's creations."

For a brief moment Seto wondered if he had created the Shadow Creature out of desperation but he quickly realized that was impossible from the power raging from the half human-half dragon creature.

"How forgetful you are," the creature said with amusement as he took a step forward and extended his hand downward to help Seto to his feet. Once they were both standing, Seto realized he towered over the petite creature and noticed that there was a gold collar around his neck. "It's only been 11 years; I'm Atemu…remember?"

The name sounded familiar to Seto but he couldn't think of where he had heard it before. But due to his father's regular beatings his memory would occasionally go fuzzy. "I'm sorry…who?"

A smirk crossed Atemu's faced as he extended his wings. "I learned how to fly."

Memories from Seto's childhood came flooding back to him. He remembered now. When he was young his father had given him a child with wings. They had become friends but his father caught him treating the child as something other than a slave and they both had been punished; in the morning Atemu was gone and Seto thought he had imagined the entire thing.

"I thought you were a dream."

"I'm sure your father wanted that. He didn't like me very much."

"What happened?"

"Not here. Is there somewhere safer where we could talk?"

Seto silently nodded his brunet head and led Atemu back to the temple where he and Isis normally met. The place was no longer a secret but it would still be safe for the moment until Gozaburo realized that two of his monsters were dead.

Fortunately when the got down to the hidden room, Isis had already left. "So talk."

"I didn't want to leave but I had to."

Seto narrowed his blue eyes at the Shadow Creature and crossed his arms over his chest. "You could have protected me all these years from my father."

"No I couldn't have," Atemu replied with a small shake of his head. "My powers were too weak. I left to train."

"You could have trained here." Seto turned his back; he was displeased that his only protection had left him alone for so long to fend for himself.

"Not as well as I could in the shadows," Atemu argued. "Not only have my powers increased but I have learned things as well; things I didn't know before. Why do you think your father gave you such a powerful Shadow Creature?"

"You weren't powerful," Seto grumbled glancing over his back to look at the Shadow Creature before looking away again. "You couldn't even protect me."

The ceiling of the room was high so Atemu flapped his wings, flew upwards and landed in front of Seto; he wanted to talk face to face. "I was a child then; you saw what I can do now."

"You were impressive," Seto reluctantly grunted. "You blew those monsters away as if they were pebbles."

"They were afraid of me; just as any other creation of Gozaburo will be afraid."

"Alright I'm intrigued; why did my father create you for me?"

"The gods."

"What do they have to do with this?"

Crimson eyes rolled, frustrated that this was taking much longer than he expected. "They told him to create me and give me to you. They said it would bring peace to the land."

"The prophecy," Seto quietly murmured and Atemu arched an eyebrow.

"Prophecy?"

"Something I heard from a priest; about a Shadow Creature called the Child of the Gods."

"Obviously that is me," Atemu boasted with a smirk upon his face.

"Egotistical as always I see. You certainly haven't changed a lot in the last 11 years. Pity you haven't grown taller since then."

Atemu narrowed his eyes at the brunet prince but they remained crimson instead of turning to the black color they became when he was calling upon his shadow powers. "It's late; get some sleep."

"What? Here?"

"Yes. It's too dangerous for you to return to the palace now. Tomorrow I'll take care of your father and his other Shadow Creatures."

"That's it?"

In the corner of the room mist appeared and when it was gone a pile of blankets and pillows laid on the floor. "Yes. Get some sleep."

"What about Isis? She could be in trouble if my father knows about her."

"Casualty of war. Get some sleep."

"You're still annoying do you know that?"

"I'm trying to keep you alive."

The two young men glared at each other, neither wanting to give in. "We find Isis first and make sure she's okay. Then we'll come back here and I'll do what you say."

Knowing that was the best deal he could get out of the stubborn prince, Atemu agreed. "Fine."

"Isis!" Seto yelled, running into the small home she owned. He had no fear of alerting any soldiers passing outside as Atemu was using his powers to cloak their presence in the home.

"Highness?" the young priest question, walking out from another room. Her normal headdress was removed revealing long raven hair and her blue eyes were wide with alarm. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here; we'll get caught!"

"I was attacked tonight by two of father's monsters. Did anyone try and harm you?"

"No."

"Good."

"I placed a protection barrier around this place," Atemu announced, joining them in the room. "No one will be able to get in now."

"What is that?" Isis inquired, nodding her head towards the Shadow Creature.

"What is that?" the dragon-like creature repeated with annoyance in his voice. "My name is Atemu and I'm not some object."

"A friend," Seto quickly told her. "I think he has something to do with the prophecy."

"Amazing! I didn't think the legends were true!"

"We should get going," Atemu said, turning his attention back to the prince. "I completed my end of the bargain."

"Meet me in the temple tomorrow," Seto quickly ordered Isis as the short Shadow Creature grabbed his wrist and began pulling him towards the exit. "I'll explain everything."

Once outside, Atemu immediately put up the invisibility shields he used as a child to steal food, so that they could walk back to the temple in safety. "Satisfied that she is safe?"

"Drop the attitude problem. She can be annoying but she's the closest thing I've had to a friend since someone abandoned me."

Seto stormed off ahead while Atemu fell back and watched the angry prince. "I didn't want to do it," he whispered at Seto's retreating form before quickly catching up once again.

"Are you just going to stand there all night?"

After returning to the secret room in the temple, Seto had settled down on the blankets Atemu had provided while the Shadow Creature placed another protection barrier around the place. The winged creature than took up guard, standing at the base of the stairs.

"What else is there for me to do?" Atemu asked looking over his shoulder at where Seto was laying. "You're supposed to be sleeping by the way."

"You need rest too."

"I'm not a child anymore nor am I a human. My body functions differently from yours. I'm fine without sleep."

Seto narrowed his cobalt eyes. "I bet that crap works on a lot of people but not me. The war starts tomorrow and even you need some sleep."

With a tired sigh, Atemu walked over to the makeshift bed and lay down next to the prince, his wings and tail disappearing in the process. "Another trick I learned," he explained seeing the look Seto was giving him. "It's easier sleeping this way."

"Hn." Wrapping an arm around Atemu's half-naked body, a jolt shot straight through Seto. He had to admit that the Shadow Creature was extremely sexy.

"Is something wrong?" Atemu asked shifting closer to the prince; their faces were inches apart as they stared into each other's eyes.

"No."

"Remember when we slept like this as children? Those were fun times."

"You hogged the covers."

A small smile appeared on Atemu's face. "Bath time was fun too."

Seto wasn't sure who made the first move. All he was aware of was his lips being pressed up against Atemu's as they shared a sweet kiss.

A/N - I really wasn't going to put in the ability for Atemu to get rid of his wings and tail but I figured they would be uncomfortable when he'll be on his back all the time (Miko will get that comment since she's the perviest of the pervs). Afterwards I realized that I could just have Atemu riding Seto all the time but alas it was too late and that's why I'm only the #2 perv.