Explanations of the Chapter:

-All Games/Toys mentioned in this chapter are absolutely real and existed in Ancient Egypt. If you want to learn the rules of them, search the net.

-Aldawminu means Domino in ancient Egyptian, so the city's name of the original manga. :)

-I want to make it clear that I am absolutely against animal torture, wearing furs, and brocade in general. Unfortunately, if I want to make this fiction to be a minimum realistic, I must use methods of the time. Then you will hear in this chapter and the following, about "materials" in the skin of... et cetera.

Thank you to not blame me for it... T_T

The immensity of the room made him feel dizzy. Freezing on the spot, Heba was unable to go one step further in what looked like a gigantic playroom.

Divided into four distinct parts, the private apartments of the Pharaoh gave the impression of being in those of a toddler.

The furthest room, in the background, was used as a bedroom. Smaller than all the others, it consisted only of a golden wooden bed adorned with sculptures representing the Egyptian gods in their animal forms, and several chests of different sizes arranged here and there. The large bed, where five people could easily sleep together, had an off-white goose-feather mattress covered with turquoise, cyan, and coral cushions, as well as a few stuffed-clothed cloth dolls in the shapes of strange big-eyed hairballs and skeletal dragon.

The second room, on his right, contained only a small rectangular gold table covered with multicoloured wooden spinning-tops, in front of which lay a chair in reed. A large open buffet filled with hundreds of papyrus rolls was also resting against the wall, on the side.

The one in which he was standing, in the middle of the other three, seemed to serve as both an entrance and a hall. In the centre, there was a large ivory round table painted with motifs of swans taking flight and crocodiles emerging from the waters. Three silver-coloured chairs, made of palm leaves, and covered with goatskin on their seats surrounded it elegantly. On it, lay also several different toys such as stylised clays figurines of what appeared to be magicians girls in lemon yellow, apple green, and chocolate brown, and miniature animals like hippopotamuses with open mouths and mice with moving tails.

Finally, the last room on his left, obviously the largest of all, was a sort of continuation to the one of the middle. Facing the balcony, it was filled with cushions placed on the floor, over a glowing carpet, and multiples chequered coffee tables. Several board games were piling up everywhere. From Hounds and Jackals to Mehen, the Game of the Snake, through Aseb, the Twenty Squares Game. Tons of leather balls and wooden horse toys with wheels completed the rest.

Heba stepped back, both intimidated and amazed. This room seemed straight out of one of his dreams. Yes, many times, he had had the wish to own such things, he who was so passionate about games of all kinds.

"You can come in. Here, what is mine is yours. " said the sovereign with amusement, noticing the sparkling glow that animated the pupils of his double.

But the boy did not really seem to listen to him, completely fascinated by everything around him.

"Is it Senet ?! " he asked suddenly as he headed for a board game with pawns resting on the floor of the fourth room, gently touching it, as if afraid to break it between his tiny fingers.

At least he looks more relaxed... thought the young king, smiling softly, approaching the teenager.

"Do you how to play? "

"I know the rules, but this is the first time I see one in real. "

"You know the rules, but you never played? It's odd… "

"I really like games... But where I come from, it's not like I could afford one... "

Atem tilted his head to the side, puzzled. How many people of his age had the same passion as him for games? Very little in truth, and if he was not so good at military strategies, and surrounded by his faithful priests, never would the council members have taken him seriously as a king. And certainly, it would not have been so easy for him to take his father's place, even though he was the rightful heir.

"Heba... do you really like games? " he questioned in a breath, his eyes veiled.

"Yes! Very much! "

Stretching his lips in a smile at once filled with sadness and gladness, the Pharaoh raised his head towards his companion, settling on the ground while saying with enthusiasm:

"In that case, let's see how good you are! "

Heba narrowed his eyes as he watched the sovereign, slightly worried. There was something in his way of acting as if one had just removed from him a huge weight off his shoulders, and at the same time, as if he had suddenly lost all that he cherished the most in this world.

Intrigued, the boy settled in his turn on the ground, facing the Pharaoh, and placing a hesitant hand on his, he murmured:

"Is everything all right? "

Eyes widening, Atem plunged them into those of the teenager, surprised. Usually, he could easily hide his feelings, so why...

With a comforting little smile, Heba intertwined his fingers with those of the young king, announcing in a soft voice:

"For today, let's try to forget all our worries and have fun as long as the sun shines in the sky, okay? "

"Yes… "

##########

Absolute darkness, gloomy world, where even nothingness no longer exists, replaced by a void of blackness and lies.

It's a Shadow Game that he did not win. Betting once again on his life, his family, his friends, realising only too late that there was no escape.

Now, here he is forever trapped in this eternity of suffering, where he has nothing left but his tears, flowing indefinitely over his face, to remind him that he still exists.

He lost everything, drop everything. The traitor who give in. It was dying or abandoning. He chose the easy way. And now he pays the consequences of his acts. He cries, cries and retracts. Screaming that he's sorry, while the sun still refuses to rise.

Punished by the Gods he has betrayed, unloved and helpless. Disowned by all those to whom he once attached himself to, whom he has denigrated or forgotten...

"Heba! "

The call of his name made him open his eyelids in a jolt of consciousness, while warm hands held him with force.

His pupils still bathed in tears he did not remember having shed, he observed with astonishment as a sort of deformed double of himself was standing above him, looking worried.

Straightening up slowly in a sitting position, he looked around him absently, not recognising neither the places nor the things around him.

"Heba. "

Plunging his gaze back into the one of his almost doppelganger, he tilted his head to the side, asking in a whisper:

"W-What happened? "

"Heba... "

Simply calling him for the umpteenth time of the night, the Pharaoh put a delicate hand on the cheek of his game partner, caressing it distractedly.

"Nothing. Nothing happened. You just had a nightmare. A terrible nightmare. But don't worry Heba, I'm watching over you. Nothing will happen to you, I promise. "

The soft, warm voice of his alter ego instantly calmed him, and all the events of the day before suddenly came back to his memory.

"Oh no... Teana, Jouno... what... what did I do!? I abandoned them, and now... now... "

Atem frowned at these words, intrigued. So, the boy hadn't arrived alone in town.

"Heba. " he whispered, trying to catch the teenager's attention. "Tell me. Tell me where you are from and who your friends are. "

Raising his head toward the sovereign, Heba dried his eyes, leaving his gaze drifting toward the window, where the moon floated high in the night sky.

"My apologies, Majesty... I woke you up... "

"For the hundredth time, it's Atem. And do not talk nonsense. I told you I would take care of you, and that's what I intend to do. "

Sharing only half the affectionate smile that the young king offered him, the boy sighed, twisting the skeletal dragon's doll between his fingers as he began to narrate:

"I grew up in a village called Aldawminu. There, I did not have many friends, and I spent most of my time playing games, solving puzzles, just to deceive my loneliness. "

The Pharaoh nibbled his bottom lip as he listened to his companion's account. His story strangely echoing his.

"With time, I was able to make precious friends. Jouno... and Teana... Jouno is a bit of a scrapper, and he's always easily riled, but he's also a reliable friend you can count on. He also loves games, especially card ones. Together, we could play for hours. And Teana, was always there to defend me against the other children of the village, to comfort me. She is so kind, and she fights with conviction for what she believes in, even if it's against everyone's opinion. She loves to dance, she spends her days doing that... Well, she spent... "

His voice choked and he just stopped himself from crying again, afraid to look miserable.

"And the three of you ended up in the hands of the slave traders? "

"One day, Teana did not return from a walk in the desert, so Jouno and I went to look for her. When we finally managed to find her, we were captured in our turn. They kidnapped us, trailed in the hot sand and under the burning sun of the Sahara for days before we finally got here. "

"What happened? " asked the sovereign, grabbing the hand of his double to push him to continue in his tracks.

"They only fed us once during the whole trip, so when we got to the market, we were all very weak. Teana was sick, she had a fever, she looked like she was already dead. T-There was a man who bought her and... I-I couldn't stop him...! "

The tears began to flow again without him being able to prevent them this time, and the arms of the young king suddenly surrounded him. Holding him insistently against himself, just like he did it the first time they met, he whispered words of comfort in his ear, looking sorry.

"Oh, Heba... you couldn't have stopped him! Nobody in your state could have! "

Placing his head against the neck of his alter ego and wrapping his naked back with his hands, Heba started to speak again, focusing on the Pharaoh's regular heartbeats that he could feel in his own chest.

"After that, someone else has come. He wanted to buy Jouno. And of course, Jouno fought back. And while he was creating a diversion, I ran away... "

Shifting finally away from the sovereign, Heba held his gaze and completely depressed, said vehemently.

"I should have stayed! I should have made sure we could both run away! "

"You couldn't have done anything! " Atem shouted, his pupils shining brightly in the bluish night. "Your friends sacrificed themselves so that you could live! Denied this new life, it's like denied their sacrifices! You might have preferred to stay?! And in this case, what would have brought the loss of the three of you? "

Pushing his nails into the flesh of his arms, the young king approached the boy until their breaths mingled, exclaiming desperately:

"You're alive Heba! You are alive! And I can only thank the Gods for such a gift! It's a chance I never thought I would have! "

Eyes widening, Heba froze in the steady hands of the Pharaoh who refused to let him go. This feeling he had felt when their fingers intertwined the day before, during their game. As if their souls were now one.

And the strange fact that they share the same appearance, which also had not escaped to the teenager, leaving him in a state of perpetual questioning.

The grieving bless that was their meeting have allowed Atem to regain the happiness of living.

Opposite who had attracted similar ones. Two distinct but identical persons, who look like each other but are different, understanding one another without understanding themselves.

Two beings with the same fate. Two lives that share the same pain. And this fear of being alone again, which drives them undeniably towards each other.

If it was a wish that suddenly decided to come true, then he thinks it would be the one to meet somebody he could never forget. Because every time his eyes would cross his reflection, he would remember...