Cerulean Violet Sands
Disclaimer I don't have rights to Yu-Gi-Oh (good luck in life if you didn't catch that), I don't have rights to Bakura (darn it XD ), I don't have rights to Millennia (oh, wait- she's mine. Scratch that.), I don't have rights to fluffy balls of fur called Kuriboh (which will be featured in this chapter n.n ), I don't have rights to Malik Ishtar (WHY, DARN IT, WHY?), I don't have rights to the invention of the waffle (yet I perfected it!. . . in a burnt sort of . . .way), and I don't have rights to Moogles (that's Square Enix. Those things are too darned cute though, you gotta admit . . .).
Author's Note Hey guys! Ya miss me? (crickets chirp) Yeah . . . I thought so. Anyway, I once again screwed up big time. I promised quicker updates and what do I give everyone? An update six months later. Way to go, me. I hope you guys can forgive me. I did work on it a lot during the school year, but once summer came, things got busy. You'd think it'd be the opposite, right? Ha ha, not in this case, unfortunately. Well, why am I sitting here rambling for? You came to read the next chapter, no? Hey! I saw that! Don't even THINK about hitting that backspace button, buddy! I promise I'll shut-up! Honest! Now, please read and review! And please enjoy! (runs off to stomp on crickets that were chirping earlier).
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Diaha! Three-Cerulean Fights Violet
"DIAHA!"
Now ready for battle, both the Egyptian pharaoh and high mage glared daggers into the other one's eyes. Atem found him self pause in the middle of his actions, realizing that he had no idea of who or what to summon. Heishin smirked at the young pharaoh's puzzlement, and then took the initiative to summon his ka.
"I call upon . . . Meteor Dragon!" In an instant, a roughly carved stone tablet appeared out from the ground behind him, causing debris and dust to scatter into the air. A dark aura had begun to swallow the tablet, creating fearful reactions from everyone else in the courtroom. Inside the shadows from behind the tablet, a low roar had become audible to the human ear.
"Roaaarrrrr . . ."
More so a demonic moan more than anything, a giant, black winged creature had then emerged from the shadows, soaring above Heishin's head and circled around the palace ceiling, as if it was silently boasting its great size and speed. It let out another roar, though this time it was much more pronounced and carried a great deal of authority into it.
"ROOAARRRRR!"
"What is that?" Jonouchi pointed an accusing finger at the dragon, his lean body shaking in nervousness. Prepared to answer the almond eyed boy's hypothetical question, Heishin opened his arms widely in a welcoming gesture, and smiled eerily at the diaha's audience.
"This is one of my favorite servant ka from the shrine of Wedju, Meteor Dragon. It is not the strongest one, of course, but who said that I needed an extremely strong ka to defeat a peanut of a pharaoh?" Heishin then began to laugh maniacally to himself, the court watching him in utmost disturbance. A bead of sweat began to roll down the side of the amethyst eyed pharaoh's face, him thinking of a plan of how to beat Heishin as quick as he could before things got out of control. Atem shook his head to himself, light crystals of sweat being sprayed from his face and joined into his gold locks. What could he do?
"Pharaoh!" Mahaad called out to his ruler, the young pharaoh turning his attention to his high priest. Atem's amethyst orbs flickered in consideration, and everyone listened to what the wielder of the Millennium Ring had to say. "Pharaoh . . . if you must, you may use my ka, Illusion Magician." Isis gasped in protest to this life-threatening suggestion, but Mahaad paid no mind to her or the other high priests. His pleas began to grow louder. "Pharaoh! Please take into deliberation of what may happen to the kingdom if you do not accept my ka!" Mahaad realized then how frustrated he was getting to be, and the mauve eyed priest decided to take a deep breath before he spoke anymore. "Pharaoh . . . I would gladly die for a worthy ruler of this nation . . ."
"Mahaad . . ." Isis' expression became crest-fallen, along with the others who had witnessed this vow of dedication. Anzu and Jonouchi exchanged baffled glances, shocked at the high priest's amazing words. Shada and Karim stared at their partner in astonishment. Priest Seto had only raised an ocher brown eyebrow at the man, barely impressed at all. Atem however shook his head with a small chuckle, and then raised a hand up to Mahaad.
"Thank you, Mahaad . . . but no thank you. I would never risk a friend's life just to take down some disgusting piece of scum." Mahaad only gazed at his king with eyes of surprise, maybe even with a tint of disappointment. Nevertheless, the mauve eyed priest slowly nodded in response and faintly smiled. At that instant it had finally sunk in; this pharaoh was truly different from the rest.
"Oh, what a sentimental moment . . . I think I just might overflow the Nile with my tears!"
Cackling insensitively, Heishin had regained the attention of everyone in the courtroom, including the pharaoh. Angering the tri-color haired man, Atem growled in abhorrence at the evil high mage.
"You could never understand . . . the bond that all of us share!"
Heishin just laughed at the pharaoh even more, and wiped away a small tear in the corner of his eye.
"Bond? Are you referring to friendship, you stupid boy? Ha! Such a thing is only an illusion created by the weak . . . those who cannot survive on their own and need other weaklings to depend on . . ."
"That's not true!"
"And who exactly . . . made you the judge of that?" Heishin smirked maliciously at Atem, enjoying the site of torment inside the midst of the pharaoh's amethyst orbs. All Atem could do was growl in burning rage towards the high mage, losing focus of his own current thoughts. Heishin decided to go in for the attack.
"Meteor Dragon!" The wicked mage began his orders toward the alert dragon. He pointed a claw-like finger at the pharaoh. "Kill him!"
In an instant, the faithful ka swooped down in a glaze of jet black fire. Atem was not prepared for this, and here this ka was not even Heishin's own spirit ka! Bracing himself for the attack, the young pharaoh clenched his fists and stood his ground. The heat was becoming more and more intense for every second the beast grew closer to him, sweat trickling down his smooth face and around his squinting, amethyst eyes. He had to think fast- but what could he summon that could stop the attack?
"Pharaoh!" Mahaad let out a cry and flailed his arm out toward the tri-colored hair boy. He was so near, yet so far. His mauve eyes stayed focused on the scene, and shook with great fear. The high priest knew that he was told to stay put with everyone else, but it was also his duty to protect the pharaoh from any harm or danger! He would betray the pharaoh if he stepped in, but the same goes for if he were to just stand there and watch him fry to a crisp.
"Pharaoh!"
Cries and screams were heard throughout the throne room, but even so, there was nothing that anyone could do at this point.
"Meteor Dragon! Make the pharaoh into ashes!" Heishin psychotically laughed, both of his pupils diverted to different sides of the whites of his beady eyes. The winged beast opened its large mouth and black flames briskly flared from it, headed fatally toward the pharaoh. Everything raced through Atem's mind at once- everything except for the answer he needed- unless . . .
"Voooooom!"
At that moment, instant impact occurred with rubble flying everywhere and smoke fogging the entire room. Everyone present either shielded their face or ducked for cover. The priests' silent cries could not be heard over the explosion and could do nothing but wait until the debris cleared from the air.
"Pharaoh . . ." A tear dropped from Anzu's right, crystalline red eye from underneath the protection of her hands and landed by her parallel foot. It was over.
As the smoke began to clear, the raspy cackle of the high mage started to become capable of being heard.
"Ahaha! Foolish boy! Because of your despicable pride, you are now currently as of the dead! I win! The throne is mine! Egypt is mine to control! Ahahahahahahahaha . . . ha . . . ha . . ."
Before long, the pale-skinned man started to notice a bold figure, standing where the pharaoh was before the attack. While the smoke had almost completely dissipated, a shattered tablet had appeared before the figure. Heishin's left eye twitched in frustration, and his scaly lips curled into an ugly snarl.
"WHAT? What is the meaning of this? How did you- that should have killed you!"
Relieved smiles were plastered upon everyone's faces in the throne room, grateful that the amethyst eyed pharaoh was alive and well. Atem stood in his spot with his arms folded in his own, royal fashion while a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Heishin! You underestimated your opponent. What a shame for you."
The evil mage growled in annoyance with his fists clenched to his sides. He was not one who enjoyed being made a fool of in public, especially in front of the entire royal court.
"Tell me! How did you survive? What was in that broken tablet before you? Where in the world is my servant?" Following Heishin's interrogation, Atem coolly extended his left thumb upwards in reply.
"Take a look above you, Heishin."
Slowly raising his head up, the high mage gasped in shock and fear for his life. Directly above him floating in the air was a giant mass of little balls of fur that assumingly were covering Meteor Dragon.
"Kuriboh! Hundreds of them! But- I don't understand-" Heishin was at a loss for words, but fortunately the pharaoh filled him in, along with the rest of the court.
"You see, right before Meteor Dragon had attacked, I was able to summon the stone slab with Kuriboh inside of it right on time. Nevertheless, your ka had attacked me before I could summon Kuriboh, but luckily for me, the attack had hit the tablet instead. Thus, it shattered into tiny fragments and while the explosion had caused a sort of smokescreen in my favor, I was able to summon Kuriboh from each and every fragment which had broken off from the tablet. And do you know what Kuriboh's special ability is?" Atem waited for an answer from the speechless mage, who only gaped like a goldfish at the radiant pharaoh. With a small chuckle from the young pharaoh, Atem's gaze on Heishin only relaxed.
"That's what I thought," at that moment, Atem pointed a directing finger at the clumps of Kuriboh surrounding Meteor Dragon. "Attack!"
"Kuri Kuri!"
Small explosions could be seen and heard from where the tiny ka each self-destructed attached to the dragon. Meteor Dragon's monstrous roars of pain echoed throughout the palace, and everyone in the throne room watched the scene in awe. Heishin observed the situation in utmost terror, knowing that he was about to lose.
"No . . . noooo!"
After his shouts of fear, the explosions of the Kuriboh became so loud and fast, that they formed into one gigantic bang of light.
"Choooooommmm . . . ."
Silence. Falling pieces of debris from when monsters are destroyed fell from the sky, along with smoke floating in the midst of it. It was still silent. No one said a word, too stunned to take their eyes off of the scene.
"Slump-"
The defeated mage fell to his knees, staring fearfully into the cold, stone ground. He was feeling angered and relieved; angry about losing, but relieved that he had decided to not use his own host ka for the battle. Atem stood in his place, somewhat bitterly and unfazed.
"You lose," the pharaoh's expression did not change in the least, but his tone had begun to soften. "Heishin . . . you were one of my most trusted servants, and you betrayed me. Such a crime is unforgivable and punishable by law . . . namely death. However, I am going to give you the opportunity to live. I will let you walk right out of this throne room free of harm, but you must promise to flee Egypt, and never contaminate our country ever again. Understand?"
The high priests exchanged objectionable glances with each other while by-standing servants and guards gasped at the pharaoh's idea. Jonouchi and Anzu blinked several times in confusion, surprised at the sheer sympathy of the young pharaoh. High priest Seto was the first to make the next statement.
"Have you lost your mind, my pharaoh? This man here is a lying snake-in-the-grass who deserves to have a stake driven through him for his misdeeds!" Seto gritted his teeth and clenched a fist before him, but became less tense once a silent Akunadin placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder. Atem shook his head slightly, and a sad smile formed on his lips.
"I agree entirely, Seto, but I don't believe that capital punishment is always the best answer to things. We are only stooping down to his level if I were to comply to that logic right now."
Seto only folded his arms in reluctant obedience as a reply. Gazing directly into the pharoah's amethyst orbs, Heishin's beady eyes were observant and suspicious.
"Now, Heishin. Leave here at once . . . run away like the coward you are and never return. Ever." Atem stood his ground in his authority, and stared the weakened mage square in the eyes. Raising a wary eyebrow, Heishin slowly stood to his feet, his mauve robe brushing lightly against the ground.
". . . As you wish . . . my pharaoh."
Turning around, the exiled mage made his way gradually toward the large doors, a limp in his right leg becoming apparent to the eye the more he walked. Atem watched him with a stone-cold glare, along with the high priests and everyone else in the throne room. The guards near the doors were highly tempted to stop Heishin's leisurely walk, but knew better and stood in their positions stiff as a board. Before exiting the throne room fully, Heishin stopped between the doors and turned his head inhumanly slow toward the pharaoh, an eerie, awkward smile plastered upon his ghostly face.
"Thank you, my pharaoh. Long may you live . . ."
And with that final sentence, the mage turned forward once again, and disappeared into the darkness of the royal halls. The entire throne room was still caught up in the moment, even though Heishin could no longer be seen. After awhile, Atem turned around, his royal purple cape floating behind him, and walked up to his throne and plopped on it in exhaustion and sighed. Shimon cautiously approached the boy and stood next to him in his usual position.
"Tch, tch. First Bakura, and now this. I'm so sorry, great pharaoh . . ." Shimon placed a grandfatherly hand in between Atem's hands, causing the pharaoh to form a weak smile. The priests decided to follow Shimon's lead and came out from their positions, studying the damage and such.
"This may even be more expensive than the destruction Bakura caused . . ." Shada sweatdropped and sighed in fatigue as he observed the crumbled portion of the room before the pharaoh's throne. The servants and guards in the throne room chose to continue on with their business as if nothing had ever happened. Karim came up from behind Shada and held up his Millennium Scale.
"I don't even think that my millennium item could measure the cost," Karim stated tiredly as he and Shada began to discuss costs for repairs.
"Now, now, you two, we can easily fix this, just like last time," Akunadin stood next to them and tried to calm the two high priests down. "All that should matter now is that the pharaoh is safe and that that low-life of a man is gone for good," the elder high priest explained, receiving matching nods of comprehension from both Shada and Karim.
"Are you two alright?" High priestess Isis asked in concern toward Anzu and Jonouchi.
"Yes, we are, thank you," Anzu smiled graciously at the beautiful priestess, her auburn orbs glowing kindly at the woman.
"Yeah, we're just fine! Man, what a fight that was!" Jonouchi excitedly pumped a fist into the air while his brunette companion sighed in disbelief at his enthusiasm. Isis giggled a bit and smiled at the two villagers.
"I'm so glad."
Standing in the area where Heishin had previously stood, Mahaad was on bended knee and had been inspecting the ground for further damage. Seto walked up from behind him and did the same.
"I told you the security was weak."
After hearing this smug comment, Mahaad cocked an eyebrow at his fellow priest and stood up to be eye level with him.
"Seto, do we really need to argue at a time like this? It had nothing to do with security and you know it-"
"-That's what you would like to think, Mahaad, am I right? You will not step up security because of your ignorance-"
"-It was not to be expected! I cannot have men patrolling each and every person in the kingdom and invade the privacy of others-"
"-Did you see what just happened?"
"SHUT UP!"
Jonouchi stood between the two high priests with his arms blocking the two from each other, causing a long silence in the throne room.
"You two don't seem to get along too well, but shouldn't you two be working together right now?"
Another long silence.
"Who asked you, mutt?"
"WHAT? I'LL SHOW YOU A MUTT!" Jonouchi wound up a fist to strike Seto, but fortunately Anzu had come to the rescue and slapped the blonde in the face, causing him to fly a few feet in the air.
"Just for once, don't be stupid, Jonouchi!" Her auburn eyes burned with irritation and her usual migraine from her friend's careless antics began to start up again. Rubbing his reddened face, the almond eyed boy sat on the ground mumbling to his self about, 'getting no respect.'
"Heh . . ."
All heads turned to see Atem chuckling lightly, finding Jonouchi and Anzu very amusing. Eventually, one by one the priests began to join in, until the throne room was filled with laughter. Of course, everyone except for Seto found this entertaining, but he couldn't help but to reveal a subtle smirk, loving the fact that he was able to watch Jonouchi get beat up by a girl . . . again.
As the laughter began to die down, Shimon went up to the two villagers and took them both by the hand.
"Ah- yes! After all of this ruckus, we almost forgot about the dinner we were going to have tonight with our new guests!" Shimon then beckoned over a few servants. "Please see to these two that they are properly dressed for dinner and each have their own room here in the palace." The old royal advisor then gave Anzu and Jonouchi's hands to the servants, Jonouchi giving Seto a mocking face and making the high priest growl. Anzu sighed, once again, at how amazingly stupid Jonouchi was. However, before the two completely left the throne room, Anzu stopped dead in her tracks, causing the servants leading her to stop as well with puzzled expressions.
"Pharaoh! What about Millennia? Will she be alright?" The girl with chocolate locks asked in nervousness, catching the eye of the young pharaoh. He smiled kindly at her from his throne, and spoke to her with his majestic smile.
"Millennia will be alright. We had sent guards immediately last night after her and Bakura when he kidnapped her. Please be patient, Anzu."
Hearing his comforting words made the girl want to melt, though she shook her head to help herself return to reality. Nodding coherently, Anzu smiled and continued her way out of the throne room with Jonouchi and the other servants. Even so, she still had her doubts. How did they know if Bakura didn't kill her already? What if they left Egypt? What if Millennia had been sold into slavery? Only Ra knew . . .
"Please let her be alright . . ."
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The sky was a deep blue, speckled with tiny, shining spheres of light. No moon could be made-out in the sky's view tonight, yet the desert sand glimmered in the natural light. Velvet green palm leaves could be seen over-head; the groups of palm trees seemed to tower over a dark, but clear lake, surrounded by brilliant colors of exotic plants and flowers. Sprinkles of water were thrust into the air simultaneously as splashes of the aquatic substance could be seen. A girl was kneeling in the lake, the water only a little past her knees. She had her hands cupped together with water inside them and buried her head into her hands, drinking the water and cleaning her face with it at the same time. Then, she released the grimy water and cupped more clean water, repeating this process only a few more times. The bottom part of her copper locks of hair was drenched in the desert water, along with her legs and the fringed bottom of her dress. After a moment, she gasped for air and whipped her head back, eyes closed, and facing the depths of the night sky.
"Heh . . . heh . . . heh . . ."
The girl breathed heavily in relief, feeling her energy slowly returning to her. She felt so much better without her wrists being tied so tightly together. The brunette was too tired at that moment to open her eyes, but could smell the night air; fresh and clean, reassuring and relaxing to her. She didn't want to open her eyes. No, not at all. This was too peaceful, and she was afraid that if she were to open them, she would have to return to reality- a dreadful present in which she was enslaved to. Couldn't she just stay like this forever? She dug her fingers into the watery sand below her, feeling its soothing texture. The girl was becoming quite tired now . . . now she just wanted to-
"Ow!"
Well, back to reality. Sharply opening up her cerulean blue eyes, the girl moved her head forward and turned it slightly back, and at the same time she rubbed her head, for something not very soft had made impact with it.
"It looked like you were going to sleep there for a moment, princess. I'm not very fond of sloths."
A loathsome adversary of Millennia sat behind her, his legs crossed casually, and underneath a crooked palm tree; which next to that tree was his sienna colored horse tied to a palm tree and it was biting its leg, most likely trying to take care of an itch. Bakura's deep violet eyes never failed to illuminate in the darkness and he seemed to be enjoying a large piece of garlic, with a few bites here and there in its off-whitish flesh. He smirked at the princess mischievously, a fang sticking out from the corner of his mouth and a few pieces of garlic flecked around the areas of his lips.
Millennia blinked in angered confusion at the thief king, then spotted a garlic stem floating in the water next to her, the bottom of it brushing the sand layer from beneath it. Standing up abruptly in her frustration, Millennia kicked the garlic away from her and splashed water to the side, a few trickles back-firing upon her outfit. Gazing fiercely into the eyes of the ivory haired Egyptian, she stomped her foot into the water like a child who became annoyed with an older sibling's torture.
"Bakura, I demand to be treated with the proper respect that I deserve as a princess! And so far, you have failed to do so!" Wrinkling her nose in agitation, Millennia waited for Bakura's reply. The violet eyed man just took another bite from the garlic in his hand and chewed in a bored fashion. He then, as though if processing her words and actions, let out some air through his nose, a laugh that could not be released while he was eating. After swallowing, the man began to laugh to himself in a state of amusement. Millennia's expression changed from child-like anger to a blinking fool's confusion. When Bakura acted like this- happy for no apparent reason- if you could call it 'happy'- scared the princess more than when he was at his boiling point of rage.
"You demand to be treated with the proper respect as a princess? Here? Out in the desert where there are absolutely no rules and no positions of class? If such respect may be given to a spoiled brat like you, then maybe I should receive respect to as a king!"
"You are noking!"
"Quite on the contrary, my dear, I am the King of Thieves!" Following this line with a clichéd maniacal laugh, Bakura received an eyebrow-raising stare from the princess.
"You scare me."
"Well then, I suppose that should be another high-light of my day," the thief king chuckled to himself while he began to finish off his second garlic. Millennia suddenly felt a pain in her stomach, finally realizing that she was hungry and had not eaten at all today. As much as she didn't want to do this, the princess made her way through the sandy water and marched right up to Bakura, plopping down right in front of him. She held her breath in nervousness and felt her face grow hot, hoping that the Egyptian wouldn't pull a dagger out on her and slit her throat . . . now that she thought about it, Millennia then decided on her better judgment to shift back a bit more.
"Well? Did I make the little princess upset? Do you want to go home, is that it, hm?" The tomb robber mocked her with a tone one used on a small child. Millennia grew even more furious at him, but tried to contain her self and not wanting to go down to his level. Calmly (or- almost calmly) the blue eyed girl began to ask the thief king for some food.
"Listen, Bakura. I have not eaten all day and I'm starved- if not literally. And I know you have some food with you, because I mean- where in the afterlife are you getting all this garlic from?" Millennia slightly licked her lips, watching Bakura take the last bite of his second garlic; it looked extremely tasty at this point, and usually she hated any food that gave off any sort of stench.
"Hmph- well then, princess, if you're so hungry- " The violet eyed man tossed the remaining garlic stem into the crystal lake behind Millennia, causing her to turn her back on him and stare at the spot in the water where it had landed with a tiny splash and floated. Watching the floating stem in disgust, she could hear Bakura's deep voice from behind her. "Go fetch."
Digging her nails into her legs from bottled-up anger, Millennia viciously turned back to face the tomb robber and gaped with a sweatdrop.
"What?" Bakura cocked an ivory-white eyebrow at the brunette, his mouth half-full with a few chomps of garlic, now currently wolfing down his third one. Millennia felt a vein throbbing in her forehead, and now she was ready to lose it.
"That's it!" The princess shot up to her feet quickly, and for a moment caused herself to blink in surprise that she had got up so fast; Funny, the things anger can do to a person. "You can't just starve your hostages! I'll die and then there would be no point of having a hostage, now would there be? How can a person be so completely into themselves and so selfish? How? How? Tell me, Bakura! How-" Right then and there, the brunette princess was grabbed by her right wrist and pulled down aggressively to Bakura's eye-level, him ditching the partially eaten garlic that was in his hand previously. Piercing, violet orbs stabbed right into her cerulean orbs, his sharp and venomous, hers fearful and unknowing.
"I'll tell you how. You royals have the birth right and privilege to eat whenever and wherever you want. You are always pampered to your own liking ever since the day you were brought into this miserable world. You never once had to scrounge around for food and were lucky if you only found crumbs that had fallen from someone's mouth only hours ago. You always had a comfy place to live and a family and friends and all the servants you could ever want to keep you company in your overly-crowded palaces. Never at all in your life have you needed to struggle. Everything came easy. You don't deserve anything that you have. You never worked for anything at all. You do not deserve a thing."
Bakura had whispered these words harshly to the girl, causing her to just want to run away, mostly because he was basically right. Everything had always come easy for her. Everything. And at this moment, there were people starving on the streets in this country, and maybe even every country in the world. There were people dying. People who were victims of war and plague. And all she could think about was her own self . . .
"Wouldn't it be better if you just died? All of you royals should just die. It would make the world a better place, am I right?"
Millennia felt her breath become quicker and sweat rolled down the side of her face, mixing with some stray copper strands of hair. However, Bakura's was heavy and hot, smelling of garlic which didn't seem to make the situation any more relaxing. The princess felt an urge to question Bakura, and fell upon that urge and spoke in her normal tone of voice.
"A better place for whom, exactly? Petty thieves like you? To wreak havoc and destruction with no law and order?"
Bakura's voice then grew louder from a whisper and deeper than Millennia's reply.
"I'd prefer a world like that over this one! One day, the dark lord Zorc will rise again . . . and destroy each and every one of you pathetic mortals!"
This statement made Millennia fear the psychopathic maniac even more and what was he talking about? No matter . . .
"Lives are just numbers in your book, Bakura. But they're more important than that to me. You wouldn't care if you killed an entire family, would you? Namely mine!" After this out-burst, tears flowed freely down from Millennia's blue eyes to the bottom of her face. Bakura showed signs of amusement. How he loved the feeling of causing others pain and suffering! And tears were simply the best display of anguish, particularly when they were the tears of a young woman. This made him grin maliciously in his sick amusement. Especially because he knew something that she didn't know . . .
"Oh, my dear girl . . ." Bakura released her wrist and slithered his hand to her waist, and his other hand held the back of her silky smooth head. The violet eyed Egyptian began to pull her toward his chest, but she flinched in shock at the action and tried to maneuver away, yet with no success. Millennia was in a state of silent panic, now being pressed against her enemy and was expecting something terrible to happen. However, Bakura only craned his head lower to her ear level, his ivory hair covering his devious eyes and only his smirking lips visible. They parted next to the top of her ear and breathed viciously, while his grip on her tightened with complete dominance. An eerie whisper escaped from the Egyptian's full lips.
"What if I told you that I never killed your family? Nor that I have been to Greece at all?'
Millennia's blue eyes widened in utter horror, and her teeth clenched together, yet they were not tight in her jaw.
"What if I told you that I know who killed them . . . ?"
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The palace was lit up nicely tonight, despite the previous events that had happened earlier. Inside the palace, servants hustled around to prepare the late dinner- late thanks to Heishin of course. The grand, long table of sandstone was just about set. On top of it sat many chalices of wine, along with plates of fruits, vegetables, meat, grains, and anything imaginable that could be displayed in a glorious feast. It was almost complete, servants still trying to rearrange things here and there and the cooks were finishing up some of the meals. On further floors above, more servants were running around from room to room, helping the palace's new guests get ready.
"Ah so refreshing!" Anzu stretched out her arms as she sat up in a giant, in-ground built bath filled with steamy water and many oils with different scents. The auburn eyed girl lifted her hand up through the bath water and watched it quickly run through her fingers. Finally, she could relax! A few maids came up from behind Anzu who held jars of oils and ointments.
"Miss Anzu," the one in the front began, most likely the head-figure of the group; she appeared to be around Anzu's age, yet the rest looked a couple years younger.
"Oh- yes?" The brunette turned around and craned her head upwards to make eye contact with the woman she was speaking.
"May we wash you with some more oils? These are some of High Priestess Isis' favorites. She had suggested them to us for you," the girl continued, her black hair falling over her collarbone as she slightly bent over with the tanned vase. Anzu blinked for a second, surprised that someone of High Priestess Isis' status would offer something so special such as that to a commoner she barely knew. Nevertheless, Anzu politely smiled at the maid and nodded.
"That would be nice, thank you," she smiled, and then turned around, closing her eyelids over her reddish-brown eyes. As the smooth liquid was poured over her head, she calmly exhaled, thinking of how she hadn't felt so wonderful in a long time. "I will have to thank High Priestess Isis at dinner. She's such a nice woman. I always assumed women living in the palace were stuck-up and arrogant. I guess I was wrong . . ."
As the last droplets landed on top of her chocolate locks, the maid gently placed down the empty jug next to Anzu on the ledge of the bath. The maids sat around in a small circle behind Anzu and began to talk and laugh about different things, while the brunette sat in the warm bath and listened with her eyes closed in a state of relaxation. There were some voices just outside in the halls making a small commotion. Probably nothing to worry about; just some servants going crazy to get the dinner prepared. Back to her train of thought, it was nice to just be with a group of girls for once, not to be always with a certain dumb idiot-
Suddenly, the door to the bath burst open, causing Anzu's eyelids to be forced open in alarm.
"Anzu! Take a look at this new outfit! They gave it to me for free! I could definitely be a high ranking official in this, if I do say so myself!" An excited blond boy stood at the doorway with a wide, clueless grin across his face. He now sported a beige robe that extended down to his knees with a collar which was black and beige triangle-striped, and formed a small v-cut right below his collarbone. He wore matching shoes along with this new attire as well. Some servants were seen behind him trying to catch up with the boy. "Well? What do ya think?"
All was silent as the girls stared horror-struck at the smiling airhead.
"Ahhhhhhh!" The maids began to scream for the sake of modesty, bunching together even closer as to create a defensive wall against the 'intruder.'
"Ahhhhhhh!" For as dense as he was, our fellow man was frightened by the girls' shrieks and couldn't help but to scream like a banshee himself.
"JONOUCHI! WHY IN THE NAME OF NEPHTHYS ARE YOU IN HERE?" Anzu roared at the top of her lungs and thrust her hands into the air, trickles of water flying everywhere. Following her first impulse, Anzu grabbed the vase next to her and chucked it as hard as she could at her childhood friend.
"Bong!"
It made direct contact with the almond eyed boy's face, causing him to slowly fall flat on his back.
"N-nice aim, Miss Anzu," the head maid stuttered with a weary smile, she and the other maids a bit intimidated by her violent approach to the situation. They each fashioned the famous anime sweatdrop while Anzu gave them a thumbs-up.
"There you are!" A few more female servants that had been chasing after the high-spirited boy came to the scene. To their dismay (or pleasure), they came across an unconscious Jonouchi, and shattered pieces of a vase scattered about his head. Luckily, he had not been injured . . . too much . . .
"We're very sorry, Miss Anzu. Master Jonouchi had just gotten dressed into his new robes and then ran off in a speed of energy when our backs were turned for a moment. Did he cause you any trouble?" A maid in her middle age asked Anzu. She had a heavy build and appeared to most likely be a mother of quite a few children. The brunette shook her head with an amused smile across it.
"No, nothing happened. However, other girls here in the palace better be careful in the future. Jonouchi is not exactly a perfect little angel and has his boyish moments . . . which are many. Although, that's not really the reason why he came in here right now," Anzu rested her chin against her folded hands on the side of the bath in a bored fashion, as if she had said this many times before in her lifetime. The group of servants that had entered the bath chasing Jonouchi down began to lay him upon the heavy-set maid's back, and she hunched over to carry him away. "We'll see if we can wake him up before dinner, Miss Anzu." And with that, the group of maids made their out of the room with an out-of-it Jonouchi.
The other younger maids began to pick up the pieces of the pot, and Anzu realized what she had done, and looked guiltily at them.
"Oh no! I completely forgot that the vase belonged to High Priestess Isis! I feel so terrible right now . . ." the auburn eyed girl sunk into the water, while only her nose, eyes, and head were visible. The maid around Anzu's age bent down next to her and smiled.
"Please do not worry, Miss Anzu. The oil belonged to Priestess Isis, but the vase was only one of the palaces spares. She thought with such a young group of servants, we might probably drop it," she explained in embarrassment, a slight blush coloring her tan cheeks. Anzu giggled a bit in response, causing the other girl to laugh as well.
A little while later, Anzu had been dried off and led to her chambers in the palace. She had been dressed into new, fresh and clean garments and was now being shown what she looked like by one of the younger maids in a golden hand-held mirror decorated with many colorful jewels. To her satisfaction, the auburn eyed girl smiled at the beautiful site in the mirror. She was dressed in a long beige robe that ended down to her ankles with matching shoes and a small, soft pink cape floated behind her as well. Holding that in place was a gold plated wesekh, and resting on top of that was a necklace with a sky blue crystal-pendant tied to the end of it. Perfect.
The maids then began to leave, planning to come back in a few moments to bring Anzu to dinner. Anzu smiled at them politely and nodded at them in thanks as each one exited the room.
"Clak-"
The door shut gently behind them, and Anzu fell back on the large, purple silk bed. She gazed up into the matching canopy hovering over her and breathed in the cool air in the room. She still couldn't believe how amazing today was. Being brought to the castle (although in a false circumstance), meeting the pharaoh, watching a real-live diaha, being treated like a queen, meeting the pharaoh- wait, she already thought that. He was the most handsome sight she had ever seen. His eyes, his smile, his body, his charm- what? Why was she thinking such things about the pharaoh? He was way out of her league! She felt her face grow hot and sat straight up, hoping to come back to her senses. She then remembered why she ended up at the palace today. It was because Millennia was missing. Her new friend was lost out there somewhere with a psycho and all she could think about was how great today had been. Maybe it wasn't so great after all. The brunette formed a small fist with her right hand and lightly began to knock the side of her head with it.
"Dear Ra, Anzu, snap out of it! You cannot think about the pharaoh at a time like this! No matter how attractive he may be, you cannot even have one thought about him. Besides, there are more things to worry about right now, like Millennia's safety, and Bakura going on a rampage, and-"
"No way! You're in love with the prince!"
"Ahh!" Anzu shrieked for a split second at the disembodied voice and fell off the bed, face first. Not noticing until now, but the room's perimeter had been decorated with many large and identical pots. Movement could be heard from the one closest to Anzu, and a small hat appeared to pop out from the top of it.
"Wh-who is there?" Anzu scrambled to her feet after taking an unexpected bump to the head. She backed away from the pot and ran around the bed to grab the hand-mirror one of the maids was holding before to use as a weapon. "Don't come out unless you want to be beaten to death!"
All of the sudden, a girl only a few years younger than Anzu climbed out the pot and began to dust her dress off while giggling.
"You plan to beat me to death . . . with a mirror?" The girl began to laugh playfully, taking Anzu's threat as a joke. Anzu, on the other hand, did not find this amusing. She lowered the mirror and blinked in confusion at the girl.
"Were you in there the whole time?"
"Nope! I am a magician in training and I actually just transported myself from my room to yours! I really wanted to meet one of our new guests before the feast and I just had to try this new spell that Master taught me!" The young girl explained in a cheery and friendly voice, causing Anzu to chuckle a bit at how cute the girl was.
"Let me show you! I'm going to make myself teleport from right here into the pot behind you!" The girl pointed to a large piece of pottery behind the auburn eyed girl, who glanced behind her self to see. With the flick of her wrist, the young magician had made a magic wand appear out of thin air, impressing Anzu greatly.
"Ok then, here we go!" The girl grabbed the hovering wand from the air and then closed her eyes, as if she was meditating.
"From here to there to there to here, make thy body disappear!"
"Poof . . ."
In a small puff of bluish-purple smoke, the girl was gone. Anzu watched the spot in amazement, and then turned around; facing her attention toward the pot in which the magician-in-training said that she would appear. About ten seconds later, there was still no sign of the young magician.
"I wonder where she could be-"
"Kyaaa!" Falling from the ceiling, the girl landed head first behind Anzu. She gasped in fear of the girl's safety and helped her up.
"Ugh, my head . . . what could have possibly went wrong?" The girl began to rub the top of her head as her staff disappeared magically. "I did it right the first time, I don't get it! Maybe it was 'From there to here to here to there' instead of 'From here to there to there to here' or maybe it was because I ended my spell with a preposition- wait a second 'disappear' isn't a preposition, it's a verb- then maybe it's because-" Before the girl could finish her rambling, Anzu let out a heart-felt laugh, and the girl watched her in bewilderment. "Hey, it's not as easy as it sounds, ya know!"
The brunette extended out her hand to the girl. "I'm Anzu. I think we'll be great friends!" The girl studied Anzu's hand at first, but then smiled energetically at her and accepted the hand-shake.
"My name's Mana! And between you and me, I'll have a spell in no time to make the prince fall head-over-heels for you!" Mana smirked mischievously, placing her other hand next to her mouth and whispering behind it. This caused Anzu's face to change to many shades of red, and she jumped a foot back in discomfiture.
"Wh-what? Y-you can't do that, Mana!" The auburn eyed girl blushed madly, waving her hands before her face fiercely.
"But of course I can! I'm a magician in training, there has to be something out there that could do the trick!" Most inconveniently at that moment, a knock at the door was heard. Both brunettes faced their attention toward the door, realizing that it was about time to go down for dinner.
"Um-come in!" Anzu called through the wooden door. Entering the room were the servants from only a few moments ago with smiles on their faces, yet the eldest girl looked utterly confused that Mana was in the room, but she shook her head and took each girl by the hand.
"Are we ready, Miss Anzu?"
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"What if I told you that I know who killed them . . . ?"
"What?" Millennia whispered, entirely confused by Bakura's questionable statement. Bakura seemed pleasured by her unknowing murmur.
"This dynasty is full of liars and hypocrites, you know, the ones you live with right now? It was the pharaoh's soldiers that went in there and destroyed your kingdom. However, they were led by that old snake . . . Heishin."
"!" The princess' blue eyes contracted, surprised to hear such a thing about the court's highest mage, and the most trusted one as well. She couldn't believe it- she shouldn't. This was Bakura talking here for crying out loud!
"Oh, and that old man Akunadin was involved too. But that shouldn't come to surprise to you, princess. After all, deep down inside he knows he wants his son to have the throne."
"Akunadin . . . has a son?" Millennia mentally interrogated her self. But . . . how could that be? "You lie!" She couldn't bare it anymore. These things that this tomb robber was saying made no sense, and were completely unverified. The girl struggled to break free from Bakura's strong arms, but it was no use. He then crushed her harder against him self, his muscular arms like two, large pincers. The man began to chuckle darkly at her futile attempts, and acted like as if they were playing both a physical and emotional game, and he was winning. His amusement growing, Bakura let out a vicious roar of laughter.
"So, princess! Who do you think next of your friends shall betray you? Priest Seto? The one with the ring, Mahaad? Or maybe the pharaoh might have a go at it!"
She couldn't take it anymore! Make it stop! In her boiling rage and pain, Millennia let out a scream of bloody murder and continued to try and pull away from the malevolent thief king. Yanking her by the copper roots on top of her head, Bakura pulled the girl's head back and stared her straight in the eyes with his daunting gaze. Millennia suddenly kept quiet, and squinted while panting, waiting for his next move.
"Like I asked you before . . . wouldn't it be better if you just died?" After his terrifyingly smooth words, the thief king shoved her to the ground and then stood to his feet. Millennia let out an 'oomph!' as she fell back hard, her eyes closed and ready for impact. Bakura stood above her and only smirked at the girl's fallen form.
"Now . . . to do what I had really brought her out here for . . ." Raising his hand high into the air, the thief king exclaimed an order.
"Diabound! Bring out this girl's ka!"
"Zhoom . . ."
Out from underneath layers of dark-colored sand, a giant creature appeared amidst behind Bakura. It was hard to make out any details from the given natural light, but the being seemed to be a milky-white color, designed with many stone-grey markings. A male human head, arms and torso could be seen, and the head had many aspects to it which reminded one of an Egyptian god. And what was attached underneath this god's torso? A . . . snake? Razor-like teeth caged around the jaw of the reptile, and then its large mouth opened, revealing a hissing tongue which was more than happy to have a chance to feed on some prey.
"This is Bakura's ka?" Millennia gaped in thought, simultaneously scuttling backwards in a crab-like position. "Its power is enormous! It must have been the strong ka I had sensed the other night when I was out in the marketplace . . . then that means- oh, Ra, Bakura was there and nobody knew! But- how? This is no ordinary ka . . . it is a demon!"
The tomb robber leered wildly at the princess' surprised expression; just the reaction he wanted.
"I believe that you have not been acquainted yet, my dear! This is my ka, Diabound! He obeys all of my commands and subjects himself to my will!" The violet eyed psychopath boastfully exclaimed, holding his bronze hands up into the air as though preaching with enthusiasm.
"You house a demon, Bakura!" The brunette princess shouted from her location in the oasis. It stunned her to think that someone could contain so much hate and malice, that it even became absolutely obvious through their ka. Bakura chuckled a bit in his own twisted way, and then took a step forward.
"That's where you are wrong, princess! Diabound is not a demon . . . he is a god!" Howling laughter escaped from the thief king's lips, his head thrust back and the darkness of the night engulfing it enigmatically. Millennia was frozen, and once again became entranced in what she had just heard.
"Diabound . . . is a god? No way! It can't be . . . that ka is clearly evil! I don't understand this at all . . ."
Before she even knew it, Bakura gave the beast another sadistic command.
"Spiral Wave!"
"Spiral Wave? What?"
In a matter of mere seconds, Diabound began to form a blinding light of silver in his claw-like hands. The energy formed into a ball of light, and then was dispersed forward and headed straight toward Millennia without mercy. The princess' blue orbs shook incredulously at the spiral-shaped light force coming toward her. She didn't know what to do. Locked into her amazement by this dazzling creature and its unbelievably awesome power, the girl could not move. However, she felt a pinch in her heart.
"Get out of the way!"
Millennia blinked, snapping out of her trance. She felt it- something-no, someone was calling to her. The light of death grew closer and closer- there wasn't much time to react. All the princess could do was continue to quickly crawl backwards, more and more, until-
"VOOOOMMMM!"
The spiral wave made a direct hit into the indigo tinted sand of the night, causing grains to fly everywhere within the blinding explosion, and Bakura's horse could be heard whinnying off into the distance. Millennia screamed as she was pushed back involuntarily by the force of the blast, and her body was thrown carelessly into the more shallow waters of the oasis.
"Shoosh . . ."
Through the quietness of the particles of sand falling back into place in the ground, a maniacal laugh of great delight echoed throughout the small oasis. Bakura's threatening form shook while he cackled as his figure became clear through the floating grains of indigo sand. Millennia wearily positioned her self from being sprawled into the sandy waters to be hunched over on her hands and knees. Covered in the murky water and its sludgy sand, she eyed Bakura from underneath her drenched bangs, frustration and confusion written all over them.
"Did he bring me out to the desert . . . just to kill me? That does not make any sense, even for him that would be ludicrous. But . . . he did mention that . . . he wanted to bring out my ka. What? I don't have one!"
Right after finishing these thoughts, Bakura's shout of 'Spiral Wave' became audible to her ear through the sounds of falling sand. More streams of light headed toward the brunette, and she managed to quickly get to her feet and clumsily run to her left side out of the water.
"VOOOOMMMM!"
A second explosion occurred from the impact the attack made with the lake, dark navy water spraying everywhere along with another shower of indigo-colored sand while Bakura's horse whinnying some more in an animal's instinct of fear. Millennia fell flat on her face as she ran away from the blast, but had tripped from the shaking ground underneath her that the explosion caused.
"Ohhh . . ." The princess moaned as she slowly lifted her face off from the ground, completely covered in sand. And thanks to her being wet, more stuck to her face than what would usually happen in such a circumstance. Shaking her head to remove most of the sand from her face, the princess squint her cerulean eyes to see if she could make out Bakura ahead of her through the raining sand. Most unusually, there was no vicious laughter to be heard, nor the command of another attack against her. However, there was the sound of footsteps.
"Why do you not summon your ka, princess? What is it? Do you think so highly of yourself that you believe you do not need a ka at all to defeat me?" Coming closer and closer from inside the misty sand, Bakura's gruff figure was beginning to not even be seen because of the lack of illumination in the sky tonight. Millennia began to breathe harder and harder. She didn't want to die just yet. And soon, Bakura would figure out that she did not have a ka. Would this anger him? Probably. Even worse, Bakura only knows one method of getting rid of things of no use to him . . .
"Ra, no . . ." Millennia whispered to her self in a panic, pulling her body forward with her fingers, barely gripping to nothing but grains of sand. The girl flopped forward, desperate to get away from this psychopath. She pushed her hands into the sand, which sunk through about a few inches, but she somehow managed to jolt her self to her feet in a crouching position. Millennia fell forward, too nervous to react quickly enough and be able to stand on her feet. Once again, the princess flopped forward in a state of terror, but this time held onto a large plant of some kind and shakily stood to her feet. She began to run in a trembling condition and soon fell again. However this time, a bronze hand met with the collar of her garbs and jerked her up in a sitting position.
"Hm hm hm . . ." Bakura chuckled a bit internally, crouching over the girl while lifting her collar up to be eye level with him. "You have no idea how to summon your ka, do you?"
Millennia's lip quivered for a moment, not enjoying this at the least bit. But on the one hand, she was of royalty and Bakura was not. She had every right to stand up to him! She did it a few times before, but it's not so easy to do it all the time. She might as well tell him the truth; it was apparently obvious by now. Her expression becoming somewhat more confident, and Millennia calmed her self down a few notches and spoke.
"I . . . I don't have a ka."
Once this was said, Bakura became wide-eyed for a split moment, but then his expression of surprise transformed greatly into amusement.
"Hm . . . hm hm . . ." The violet eyed thief king barely tried to suppress a howl of laughter as he cackled insanely with his head thrust back after her comment. Millennia stared shockingly at him, not knowing what was so funny. Bakura's laughter died down, and then he revealed a frighteningly demonic smirk, his fangs bared as a wolf ready to kill. "What do you mean you don't have a ka? Of course youhave a ka! Everyone has ba, our life energy, but only some of us-like you and I- can take this energy and create a physical form- the ka! It's just a matter if you can summon it or not. The stronger the ba, the more likely you are to be able to summon a ka, you foolish girl!" After this statement, Bakura pushed Millennia back away from him and the Egyptian stepped backwards. Millennia was utterly puzzled; she had no idea that she harnessed a ka. Diabound began to become invisible, slowly dissipating into the darkness, but not completely.
"What is he doing? Did he call back Diabound?" Millennia sat in her spot bewildered, and a light breeze began to blow through her dark locks of copper hair. It began to become cold; the princess shivered and held her wet arms, feeling a chill run down her spine. Bakura, however, seemed not to be bothered by the sudden drop in temperature and gazed yonder past the oasis. Millennia wondered what he was possibly thinking; his solemn expression in the dark was very difficult to see, but the girl realized that he was actually speculating something. Wondering what he could probably be looking at, Millennia questioned the man.
"Are your men out there coming this way?" Millennia blinked at the tomb robber, but then turned her head downwards since some sand fell into her right eye from her eyelashes. Even though she was rubbing her eye with her semi sand-covered fist, she was able to catch a glance with her left eye of the divulging white smirk slowly creeping across Bakura's night-hidden face.
"No . . . they're yours," the thief king's luminous violet orbs darted toward Millennia, and by the positioning of his eyes, he most likely had his head craning downwards toward the girl. Managing to get most of the sand out of her eye, Millennia gasped in surprise at the news and stood to her feet. She stood on her toes and narrowed her eyes, and was able to see many small, black dots running toward the oasis. An excited smile began to grow on her face, and the blue eyed princess' face lit up.
"This is wonderful! But- how did they know that I was here?" She asked her self out loud, dancing around in circles between her self and Bakura.
"Hmph- well, if I was in the middle of a desert at night and saw a bunch of flashing explosions in an oasis, I'd assume that something had to be going on," he sarcastically replied with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest, but continued to stare out into the distance. Millennia then stood still and pursed her lips together, wishing that Bakura wouldn't try to make her look stupid. Bakura then turned to face her, only his unnatural eyes and teeth being visible in the dark, but it was obvious that he was glaring at the princess. "You are a very, very lucky little girl. I should have let Diabound blast you into bits, but I let you live. That's something I seldom do, remember that. I do not just let people live because I'm doing charity work, oh no. You have something that I want, a hidden power. That is your ka, my dear. But for now, your ba is not strong enough to let you summon it. Once you become stronger, physically and mentally, spiritually and emotionally, I will be back with Diabound to fight you, and to obtain your ka. This is how I want to defeat the pharaoh, and to gather all of the seven Millennium items to open the door to the after-life . . . to free Zorc Necrophades!"
"Zorc? This is the second time you have mentioned such a thing. Who is Zorc, exactly?" Millennia really wanted to know what she and everyone else was up against, and why would she want to grow stronger knowing that Bakura would just come back to steal her ka and possibly kill her? Bakura just put a finger up to his lips and narrowed his eyes along with a sly smirk.
"You will soon see, princess . . . you will soon see . . ." The outline of Diabound began to form behind Bakura, and the Egyptian took it upon him self to hop on top of its shoulder. The soldiers began to come closer to the oasis, but were unable to see the invisible Diabound and the soon to be unseen Bakura. "While your men come to meet up with you, I will go and search for mine. And believe me, princess, you will see me . . . very . . . soon." With that last statement, a maniacal cackle penetrated through the midnight air, Bakura and his ka melting into the darkness, leaving Millennia watching the scene with a blank stare. Once he left, the princess' expression transfigured into a more sympathetic one. "Bakura . . ."
"Princess!"
Reverting her attention toward the soldiers, now just about at the foot of the oasis, Millennia smiled faintly at them. Bakura's horse began to whinny, and the princess began to make her way toward it. She could finally return home now, but however, she now had many questions thirsting to be answered . . .
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The banquet was set; mountains of food rested across the table, along with a roasted pig in the center of the feast. Atem sat at the head of the long table, with Shimon sitting on his nearest left and Akunadin sitting on his nearest right. Down Shimon's row were Karim and Isis. Down Akunadin's row were Seto, Shada, and Mahaad. A couple of empty seats were toward the end, most likely reserved for the palace's new guests. Seto impatiently tapped his fingers against his arm, them being crossed across his chest in an irritated fashion.
"Where are those commoners at? We've been waiting for almost ten minutes for them. Then again, punctuality is not to be expected from such street urchins . . ." The azure eyed priest smirked to him self, feeling absolute dominance through his words. The pharaoh on the other hand, did not agree with Seto's logic one bit.
"Seto . . . I would hope that you would have more compassion for our guests. It was you who had invited them here after all," Atem smirked highly at the priest, Seto slightly gritting his teeth at the somewhat twisted truth. The other priests smiled a bit through their amusement and chuckled lightly a bit to them selves. It was always fun to see Seto being out-witted by the pharaoh, or by anyone else for that matter. Seto gave an icy glare toward Mahaad, who in his mind, believed the holder of the Millennium Ring was finding this more entertaining than anyone else in the room. Mahaad finally caught on to this, and was about to make a remark- until Anzu made perfect timing.
"A-Anzu," Atem stood straight up from his seat and gaped in amazement at the sight of the beautiful girl standing at the archway of the dining room. Behind her were the group of servants from before who had cleaned her up, yet they decided to walk away, leaving Anzu with Mana by her side. The amethyst eyed pharaoh continued to stand frozen agape, causing the other priests to watch the scene in utter confusion, and priest Seto cocked a dark eyebrow towards the pharaoh. Atem then nervously to boldly cleared his throat, and regained his composure. "You look lovely." Anzu giggled lightly after he said this, and tried hard to fight off a blush which was dying to plaster itself across her face.
"Thank you, my pharaoh," the brunette then made her way toward the table, Mana following her, and Atem finally remembered to sit down. She decided to take a seat next to Isis, who smiled warmly at the girl, and Anzu did the same back as she tried to get comfortable into the seat. "Priestess Isis, I wanted to thank you for the oils," she said quietly to the woman. The priestess' smile grew, and she nodded at the girl and replied.
"It was no problem, I assure you. You may use them anytime you want during your stay here in the palace."
Anzu nodded in response with a smile as well, and worded another 'thank you' with her lips. Mana sat on the other side of Anzu, oblivious to what was going on between anyone right now and gazed in awe at all of the food spread out before her. Atem blinked toward the empty seat, realizing that the meal was missing a person. Turning his attention to Anzu, Atem blinked at her as well.
"Where is Jonouchi?"
As though he were right on cue, a golden haired adolescent ran into the room and stopped at the archway. He held him self up by planting his arm against the wall and panted as if he had sprinted in a marathon to make it to the dinner. Everyone exchanged perturbed glances with each other, curious of what had happened. Finally catching his breath, the almond eyed boy gave a toothy grin toward everybody.
"Sorry about the wait! I can't really remember what happened, but I somehow went unconscious and ended up in my bed. The servant lady told me I was supposed to eat dinner, and ya know, when I hear there's food, I never miss it!" Jonouchi gave a thumbs-up towards the group, causing Anzu to sweatdrop.
"I hope he doesn't find out why he was unconscious . . ." Following this thought, Anzu began to twiddle her thumbs from underneath the table, and Mana gave her a puzzled look. Jonouchi took it upon him self to take a seat right next to Mahaad, and waved across the table to his right at Anzu. The auburn eyed girl jadedly waved back, the sweatdrop on her head only growing larger. He wasn't only embarrassing in public, but around the pharaoh and his court too! She could only handle so much . . .
"Alright! Look at all this food- let's chow down!" Jonouchi went to grab the knife to carve the pig roast, but his hand was hit by a flying grape, causing him to drop the metal blade. "Hey! What's the big idea?" Glaring at a serious-faced Seto, the blonde rubbed his hand in his rising anger.
"Calm down, mutt."
"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?"
All hell broke loose as the two began to squabble, the other priests watching in boredom. Anzu started to bang her head against the table, causing Mana to give the girl another puzzled look. Atem rested his chin into his hand in his tired state, waiting for the two men to shut-up. Being in the middle of all of this, Shada placed his hands over his ears and rested his elbows on the table. He closed his eyes; his head craned downwards toward the table and he was in his own little world of peace. Mahaad however, also in the center of this confrontation, decided to take action.
"Will you two quit acting like children and be quiet? We are trying to have dinner here, but it's impossible to enjoy ourselves if you two keep on acting so . . . ridiculous!" He then took a deep breath, and luckily Seto and Jonouchi had stopped their bickering. Jonouchi nodded in agreement, but Seto never liked anyone to have the last word besides him self.
"Ridiculous? You mean kind of like your security, Mahaad?" Before Mahaad could answer, Akunadin banged his fists against the table and shot straight to his feet.
"That's enough! All of you!" It then became silent, all eyes on the eldest high priest. "I know that many terrible events have been happening lately, but we must act responsibly, not childishly!" Right after this statement, there was a long pause. A rather awkward, uncomfortable silence. That is, until footsteps could be heard running from the hallways.
"Pharaoh! My pharaoh! I have good news from the other soldiers!" A guard came running into view from the halls and stood at the archway. Akunadin slowly took his seat as Atem stood up, and everyone was listening intently to the guard who wore a large grin across his rugged face.
"It's the princess! Princess Millennia is alive! She's safe, and the soldiers that were sent out into the desert to look for her have her now and are headed back to the palace at this very moment! They will be here no later than sometime tomorrow!" With this joyous news, delight covered everyone's face in the room.
"Millennia! She's okay!" Anzu exclaimed in joy as she and Mana jumped out of their seats and hugged each other, Mana squealing in her elation.
"I knew she'd be fine!" Jonouchi grinned excitedly through a face full of food.
"Oh, thank Ra! The gods have shown us mercy!" Shimon stood up and raised his hands high above his head, overwhelmed with happiness. All four of Isis, Karim, Mahaad, and Shada's faces lit up, glad to know that the princess was safe and sound. Seto stared at the soldier in a state of shock, surprised that she'd be alive at all. However, he was relieved as well. Akunadin eyed the guard suspiciously, and then stood up again.
"If we find out that this is a lie, then you and those soldiers who came up with such a tale will pay dire consequences." Akunadin stared coldly at the guard, who blinked at Akunadin in confusion.
"But, Lord Akunadin, it is true! It really is! I was told by a group of soldiers who had made contact with the soldiers assigned to find her say this!" He stated, not convincing Akunadin.
"Akunadin," Atem began, everyone directing their attention toward him. "Let us believe what he says and think positive." After hearing the youthful king say this, the elder high priest stared intently into the pharaoh's eyes, as if there was a grudge hidden somewhere.
". . .yes, my pharaoh . . ." Akunadin replied slowly, settling back down into his seat. Atem then faced the guard courteously.
"Thank you very much for delivering this message. But I have to know one thing. Where is Bakura?" The room became completely silent, waiting for an answer. The guard's eyes widened, realizing that he had left out a piece of the message.
"Um-uh- they believe he got away, my pharaoh. They spotted a commotion in an oasis in the desert and by the time they got there, Millennia was standing next to a horse waiting for them, and there was no sign of Bakura or his ka." The pharaoh gazed in thought, and then nodded at the guard.
"Once again, I thank you. You may go now." The guard nodded at the tri-color haired pharaoh, and afterwards ran off into the halls. Atem slowly sunk into his seat and became lost in thought. "Commotion? Does he mean Diabound possibly? And why would Bakura leave Millennia like that? Something about this just isn't right . . ."
"Great pharaoh, are you alright?"
"-Hm?"
Shimon waved a concerned hand in front of the pharaoh's face. His lost expression altered to be more alert.
"Uh-yes. Of course," Atem shook his head so he could come back to reality. Realizing that everyone was waiting for him to let them know when to eat (with the exception of Jonouchi), Atem blinked and smiled at his friends. He lifted up his chalice full of wine before him, and everyone else followed. Considering for a second to think of something to say, an idea had finally hit the pharaoh. Taking into contemplation of recent events, Atem knew what to say.
"To the peace of this nation, and forever an ever-lasting camaraderie among us!"
Following this, everyone else joined in, others more meaningful in their words than others.
"To peace and camaraderie!"
After the small toast, everyone began to drink from their chalices, looking forward to a brighter future, yet prepared to fight the worst. Peace and camaraderie they said . . . peace and camaraderie . . .
But the question is, will it last?
oOoOoOoOoOo
Well, that wraps up Chapter 3 (throws confetti). If you are curious, by the way, Anzu at one point of the story mentioned the name of the Egyptian goddess Nephthys. She is one of the gods involved with the dead, and I thought it would be appropriate for her to use her name in that context. If you have any questions, just ask, I'm always there to answer! (well, most of the time nn;; ). For a little heads up of chapter 4, there were a lot of unanswered questions in this chapter. For example, why is Diabound a god and not a demon? Who is Zorc Necrophades? (ok, ok, we already know the answers to these questions, but the characters don't.) And if you don't know the answers, then come back for chapter 4, 'cause that's where they'll be answered (or if not chapter 4, then come back after you read that chapter for later chapters . . . um . . .yeah . . . because I want ya too). And once again, thanks so much to my readers! Because you actually read my writings and read my little author's notes coughrantscough. Also, if you're a Mahaad fan, next chapter he gets quite a bit of screen- time . . . page time . . . screen time . . . um, lots of time. (awkward silence) Thanks again for reading, I hope you liked it, and please come back! I like getting reviews too, so please leave some! Until then, "Duel! Stand-by!"