Woohoo! Another on time update and all the credit goes to my wonderful beta and gamma! My Beta and content editor Val aka Silmera-Archer of Vahalla for helping me with the transition (and believe me that was a BITCH this chapter! Took better part of a week to fix thanks to work) and my Gamma, and Grammar Knight, Arminthe Ipswich for her wonderful editing! You girls are the best!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Yugioh characters belong to takehashi

as always read, review reply comment ask questions post theories and if you want to rant to right ahead but give me a reason! No "I don't like this..." Thing tell me WHY! I love critiques!

And again special thanks to all my readers and my reviewers for your wonderful feedback and comments! They always make me think and help me improve my work! I even updated this weeks chapter early from my phone cause I didn't want you guys to wait until I got home from a weekend in New York! So enjoy!

Chapter XXXIII: Ocean

Ryou was pleasant company, Yugi discovered—more so when he became lost in the thrall of his passion. He looked no older than Yugi, with a childishly round face and frail build, not bulky enough for a soldier and not bony enough to be a sailor. His hands were smooth but his fingers were calloused from years at his trade, and with his youthful face and round eyes, it made Yugi curious as to how old he had been when he started his apprenticeship. And how old he must've been when he joined Timaeus' service, but he dare not ask something so personal so soon. As pleasant as he was being now, Yugi had no illusions of his position, and he had no desire to test the sharpness of the knife's edge.

"How long 'till we reach Locri?" he asked, a mixture of curiosity and caution. His fingers spread along the worn map, inching towards the shores of his old home, then up towards what would be his new one. His heart raced with equal parts excitement and fear. What would it be like to land on those shores? Would the people greet him openly with warm smiles and applaud, or would they simply humor him so as not to offend the Trierarch's choice? The crew had already made their opinions clear, but had the small folk also been partial to the open secret? Perhaps they had once, from what Rhebekka had told him, but the question was: did they still?

Ryou favored him with a raised brow. Thumb and forefinger curled under his chin as he studied the distance. "A good question. The Eye is easily Atlantis' fastest ship and the winds and current were favorable on the journey south, but the North is a different beast."

Ryou spoke the Aramaic tongue fluently, with only the slightest trace of a Canaanite accent. Possessing a natural lore and talent for cartography and charts, he'd been plying the Great Sea for nearly half his life—as chart keeper, mapmaker, and eventually Sailing Master. The Eye of Timaeus was his first and last ship, he'd stated with a firm, loyal pride.

"How so?" Yugi asked curiously.

"The Great Sea is no normal sea. She's locked on all but a small side, and the current is unpredictable because of it. Traveling north, the chances are strong that the wind will be against us. Depending on the Trierarch's preference, he may favor the oars rather than the sails, but the absence of either will increase the voyage tremendously. I trust we'll all be oarsmen soon."

"There are no separate oarsmen?" Yugi recalled the first time he'd glimpsed at the strong, able-bodied men while running errands for Rhebekka. They didn't look like soldiers, but were also too fit to be war captives, so he brushed it off as an expense to board more soldiers.

"Aye," Ryou explained. "Every soldier on this ship is a sailor and every sailor is an oarsman. The Trierarch is brilliant like that," he spoke with praised admiration. "No oarsmen means we can transport more soldiers, and with the soldiers as oarsmen, they stay strong despite the long journey," Ryou chuckled. "He hates idleness, your husband—says it makes soldiers fat and lazy and all but useless in battle, and he'll be damned before he has useless men representing Locri and Atlantis in battle."

"Aye," Yugi agreed with the strategy. "Your best estimate, then?"

"At least a month. Maybe more." The answer was simple and factual.

Yugi couldn't understand why he felt so disappointed.

"Have you ever been to the sea?" Ryou asked suddenly.

The question caught Yugi off-guard and he shook his head. "No, but I've longed to see it. Timaeus tells me it's beautiful."

"It is," Ryou agreed. "But I'd better warn you: it's one thing to view the Great Sea and another to ride her. If this is your first time, I recommend you eat light and stay close to the Quartermaster. The strong winds and rough waters don't always agree with some," he added with a sly chuckle.

The old Yugi would've protested any remark that accused him of weakness. Instead, he chuckled back and thanked him for the warning.

They were still laughing when the State Room doors opened, and Timaeus regarded them with a bewildered expression, not at all like his earlier mask of terror-invoking rage.

Ryou bowed low from head to torso, bent slightly over the table in a grand, submissive show of respect. Yugi made no such movement and only regarded his new companion with a blink of surprise.

"My Trierarch," Ryou spoke low and properly with acknowledgement, and no small amount of respect.

The Trierarch regarded him with a nod then said, "I wish to speak with my consort. Find Rhebekka and take the helm," he said simply, but not as cold as he had before.

Ryou bowed and did as he was bid. The door shut behind him, leaving Yugi alone with his husband. A husband whom, as Yugi just now recalled, expressly forbade him from speaking with the staff after the morning's incident. Yugi hadn't meant to disobey the request, yet he couldn't deny that he would've, had he been of a mind clear enough to remember.

Squaring his shoulders and using a cautious glare, Yugi asked, "Is there trouble?" Their last argument was still fresh in his memory.

"No more than usual," Timaeus said with a shrug, but the glitter in his eyes betrayed the nonchalant expression. "Though I do remember you were not to speak to any of my crew just yet." The scolding was at best mocking.

"You did," Yugi admitted. "But it's my crew now, too. I should start conversing with the ones who don't wish to see me gutted."

Timaeus blinked, pondering the answer, then exhaled a long sigh and shook his head with an amused smile. "Very true. No matter." He repetitively curled his pointer finger, the slightest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "Come. I want to show you something."

He offered a hand. Yugi was inclined not to take it, but he was still a curious creature and accepted what he was offered.

Timaeus took it graciously and led him up the stern's steps with all the haste and eagerness of an excited child.

Yugi barely glimpsed the swabbing crew before the men bolted to their respective places without an ounce of hesitation.

"Where are you leading me?" he asked, bewildered.

Timaeus winked with the playful, knowing smirk of a man with a secret—one he couldn't wait to reveal.

"We're about to pass the Tanitic Lake," he explained with a pleased glint. "You told me once that you've never seen the sea."

Yugi gasped, surprised. His lips parted with a question, but no sound came out.

"Of course I remembered," Timaeus answered the unasked question with a tease.

He didn't wait for a response, and gently led Yugi up the plank to the stern. Atum-Ra hung low in the sky, bathing all—even the water—in hell red and gold. The Eye skimmed across the water like a dragonfly. Her wings unfurled to catch the breeze, and her oars were rising and falling in perfect rhythm. Then suddenly, they all rose at once, straight like a second set of wings and retracted back into her hull.

A moment later, the crew and hands below deck scrambled out of the lower deck entrances like a swarm of insects and climbed the rafters like a cluster of spiders. Rhebekka came scrambling out, Timaeus shouted a single order, and The Eye burst into a frenzy of activity. Yugi saw the reason why—rising,barely visible, over the rolling hills of pale blue water.

The cape, an enormous island of sand that barricades the lake from the sea on all but its head and tail, rose swiftly like a shark about to strike.

Timaeus barked an order and the riggers yanked hard. The sails unfurled and The Eye's wings flexed, catching the rising ocean wind. Ryou stood at the helm, then relinquished the wheel to the Trierarch without a command. Timaeus gave the wheel a sharp turn and the ship banked right, sailing straight for the small stretch of sea between the land and island.

"You're certain of the tide?" Timaeus demanded of Ryou. A nod was the only answer. "Bank right," he barked, and threw his weight into the turn. Yugi watched him closely, then looked past the stern. The ship spun hard, avoiding the sandbar and deeper into the darker waters.

Timaeus turned to the crew. "All hands! Step forward!"

Yugi watched as the oars once again launched from the side like a second set of wings, and with a powerful push—the wind and current parallel to the launch—the dragon flew. Her hull glided across the rough waves, her wings flexed, preparing for flight.

Yugi's heart hammered. The island drawing closer, Kemet faded behind him—though he dare not look—and the Great Green of the Unknown approached swiftly. He swallowed a breath and choked on it, momentarily forgetting to breathe. His legs suddenly wobbled and he felt himself sway. He wasn't surprised when an expectant arm caught him with a practiced catch. It should've embarrassed him. Instead, he was grateful for it.

"Don't close your eyes, love," Timaeus whispered, his eyes soft. "You'll miss it."

With a final gust of wind, the ship cleared the sandbar and she flew like a dragon with a perfect glide into the open sky and sea.

As the ship left the lake and the world changed, the air cooled and the wind picked up, the small ripples becoming a wise current and churning tiny whirlpools, and all the color of the land disappeared—leaving the vast, infinite openness of the sea and sky.

It was breathtaking.

With Kemet behind him, the Great Green spread before him in a vast, uninterrupted stretch of dark blue. The horizon and tide blended together in a single blurred line. The water shimmered in the reflection of the setting sun. The sky, bathed with an explosion of colors like it was painted with fire, kissed the sea's glossy surface—an all-embracing canvas of infinite color.

Yugi spun around, taking it in from all sides and found himself overwhelmed. Like he was standing in the center of infinity. Lost in the glorious state between dreams and waking, between clarity and true peace. Was this the primal ocean that has birthed the Great Sun and swallowed the world every night? The bottomless blackness of chaos the Demon Serpent called home?

The salty air was cool and refreshing and tasted sweet on his tongue. Wind swept through his hair like the soft fingers of a tender lover and played with the loose folds of his clothes. The embrace was warm and inviting, tempting his spirit to soar.

No, he decided. This can't be the primal sea. If anything, this must be what paradise feels like.

"Does it please you?" Timaeus fancies him with a small smile.

"It's..." He could find no words for it. "Why did you bring me here?" he asked in a voice full of awe and amazement.

Timaeus' answer was a simple smile. "You've never been to the sea, have you? I thought you might fancy a glance."

It was a touching gesture, Yugi thought. One he certainly didn't deserve after their sparring words only hours ago, he realized with awkward shame.

"So does it please you?" Timaeus asked again, soft as a kiss. His embrace tightened around Yugi's slim waist.

Yugi gazed out at the horizon darkened by the Atum fading into the abyss. Even at its darkest moment, it shimmered: beautiful and polished like smooth obsidian glass, and there was nothing gentle about the massive swells beneath the waves. The rough waves moved fast curbing whirlpools before dragging back into the sea and promising to hold whatever it caught in its grip forever.

It was a beautiful but harsh mistress. Beautiful, but chaotic. Heartbreakingly wild and just as deadly. But in it carries the rugged hardships of a life of struggle, the heartbreaking happiness of a life free from restriction and the chains of the past, and the constant promise of a harsh reality—yet also the beauty of granted impossibilities, the boundless courage of hope and the exuberant wonder of infinite choice and new things unexplored, the promise of a new adventure each day, and a test of survival.

It was pure freedom; the chaotic ocean, he realized, was primal, beautiful, and untamed. He could understand why Apep wanted to return the world to it, and why Ra struggled so fiercely to make sure he never succeeded—and most of all, why Timaeus loved it. The sea offered what the chaos of the past did not—a choice—and his heart fluttered with the realization that now he was bestowed the same gift.

Tearfully, he could think of only one word to describe it."It's breathtaking."

Timaeus smiled; with one hand still on the hull, he placed the other on Yugi's shoulder. "I am pleased."

"Thank you," Yugi said before he could stop himself. "For making sure I didn't miss it." It was a touching gesture, he had to admit.

" 'Tis the least I can do for my consort," he smiled sweetly. His gaze swept across the sea, and he spun to Yugi. "Just wait until we are home. You'll not find a lovelier coast or a more beautiful sea."

Home, Yugi thought, completely aware he'd meant Locri and it was their home. He'd imagined the beautiful city every time Timaeus described it: surrounded by the sea and facing the open shore, houses built on stilts and into cliffs and everything surrounded by water. It seemed a far-off fantasy compared to vast deserts and stone palaces he'd known all his life, but the more he imagined it, the more fascinating it seemed. He wondered if, perhaps one day, he could call it home. The way the Precinct of Amun had once been home, and the way Djanet has once been home. He wondered if the Magister's palace and Locri would ever feel like home.

Their home. Together. With Timaeus. The thought suddenly frightened him. A prickle of apprehension raced up his spine, making him shiver. He brushed Timaeus' hands away with a nervous swat and squared his shoulders stubbornly. "I still haven't forgiven you."

Timaeus scowled for a bit then smirked—his eyes alight with the challenge. The sight filled Yugi with both excitement and dread.

"Well then…" One hand loosely gripping the wheel, Timaeus leaned closer. His hot breath dusted Yugi's cheek ravishingly. His emerald eye burned with hunger, the pale other with resolve. "It seems I will just have to find other means of pleasing you," he said, low and harsh with promise.

This wasn't the Trierarch he'd sparred with moments earlier,or the Guardian whose hidden face of soft regret he'd caught in glimpses. This was the Man: the smooth-tongued rogue who'd stolen his heart before he'd even realized that it happened.

Against his will, Yugi shivered, but he wasn't about to surrender. "Like those kisses?" Yugi challenged back.

Timaeus, at least, had the courtesy to blink. His single eye carried the faint shadow of a twitch, then he smirked. "You did enjoy them, did you not?" His smile curled when Yugi's expression narrowed.

Of course he had, and they both knew it, but Yugi was not about to admit that to Timaeus or himself. He didn't need to. His silence was enough.

"Had you not, or had you told me otherwise, I would have stopped," he said with a sly grin. "But you didn't." After a deliberate pause, he added with a curved smile, "And on that matter, did you not do the same to me?" Timaeus shot back. "Or have you forgotten our first kiss? Or rather…" His smile curled wickedly. "The first time you kissed me?"

Yugi blushed, remembering. "That was different."

"Aye, it was," Timaeus confirmed. "You were using me to spite the priests. I was simply calling you out on your folly."

"My folly?" Yugi gasped, annoyed.

Timaeus didn't even humor him with a turn. "You sought to avoid me by hiding as you had in Djanet. But fear not, I've learned from that encounter."

Yugi had no response, so he changed his tactic. "And with the crew? Was that calling me out on my folly as well?" came the sharp retort.

Timaeus frowned. "That was your own doing as you well know. I should have fed them all to the sea for such bold dishonor, but your arrogance did you no favors."

There was no answer, so Timaeus dropped the issue and elaborated. "I said I was proud of you for handling your own, and I am. Do you know how many have been able to outwit Otogi, let alone face Malik and Ryou without flinching? Your stance was remarkable." His praise stilled to a small frown. "It's your challenges you need to choose more carefully. If you're going to be bold, make sure the situation is one you can handle, otherwise, your pride will land you in a situation where you are outnumbered." He didn't need to emphasize about earlier.

Yugi said nothing, so Timaeus continued. "I know the situation is difficult for you. In Kemet, you were a prince. You were born into the hierarchy with rights and titles and the respect and admiration of all, regardless of your own abilities. Atlantis has no such structure. Everyone on the ship, including myself, had to earn his keep and his place. You are the Trierarch's Consort now, but that is an empty title if your men do not respect you."

Yugi's fingers curled around the railing, still silent in his defense. He didn't want to admit that Timaeus was right. How many scrimmages had he gotten into back home because he couldn't hold his tongue? Only to come home with bruises and to his mother, and eventually, his sister's scolding? Pas once asked him if it had been worth his hurt pride, both the beating and the scolding—which arguably, coming from Mut, was worse. He had stubbornly refused to answer then, too, but this time was different. This time, it wasn't his brother reprimanding him for being reckless or his sister sternly reminding him to mind his tongue. It was Timaeus, and it stung worse.

"Yugi?" Timaeus regarded him with even eyes and stern irritation. Still, Yugi stubbornly remained silent. He decided to change tactic. "Judging from your silence, you agree with me, then?" he only half-threatened.

Yugi perked up immediately. "I made no such notion," he shrieked, shrill with irritation. "I am not some child to be scolded!" he retorted with so little respect that were he a child,he'd have been slapped for it.

"No," Timaeus said. A reaction at last. He leaned close,voice stern and face stoic, but eyes and smile blazing—one with hunger, the other with challenge. Yugi wasn't sure which excited him more.

"You are my Consort. Soon to be my Magistrate. You shall hold the second most powerful position in Locri and third in all of Atlantis. You will handle all the financial, social, and theological expectations of my house, and handle political and military orders in my absence." The words rolled off his tongue in proud, expectant quips laced with resolve and no small amount of affection.

The pride in his eyes made Yugi shiver. Apprehension chilled his blood. He wanted nothing more than to look away,but those blazing eyes left him paralyzed.

Sensing Yugi's hesitation, Timaeus added earnestly, "I did not tell you this to scold you, sweetling—only to make you aware of your station and what it will entitle. It is you who must show them just how worthy you are of it." A hand rose to cup Yugi's cheek tenderly. "And there is only so much I can do to assist you…" He paused for a moment, reflecting that notion. "I know you'll make a splendid Consort."

Timaeus' eyes softened. It was so easy to imagine a life with this one: to imagine waking to his smile every morning, and falling asleep with him in his arms… To imagine him trembling under his touch and teasing him with kisses… Yugi wasn't shy and Timaeus rather liked that playfulness about him. He could imagine that playfulness as part of their marriage bed. He could see Yugi running and racing across the deck in a storm while everyone else hid below, or hiding his boots and refusing to reveal them without one more kiss. It sounded like bliss.

"And I fully intend to earn your love again," he whispered into Yugi's hair. "I could give you so much, Yugi. I will… I will do whatever is in my power to make you happy." The promise was so fierce, it made Yugi shiver again.

He would, too; Yugi knew. He would be a good husband to him. He would make Yugi happy; the question was: did he want him to? It was the question that taunted him with all his hopes and dreams and filled him with an all-consuming fear. And yet he wanted so much to hope.

For a brief moment, Yugi considered what it would be like to just surrender. To let himself become part that world—of Timaeus' world—and have all his dreams of adventuring at his side as companions, and perhaps even lovers, become more than just simple dreams for children. He realized, only in that moment, that he wanted that more than anything, but a part of him still trembled, knowing that if he did accept him, if he fell into those arms again—he'd be lost.

Sensing Yugi's control slipping, Timaeus slowly slid closer."So much…" His lips hovered tantalizingly close to Yugi's,teasing him.

The words rang with truth, Yugi realized. His face was paling, though his skin was unbearably hot. That same beautiful smile that seduced him with promises and made it harder to stay to his oath of not forgiving Timaeus just yet…

It was getting harder and harder to resist him and all he promised. But he couldn't surrender. No matter how much his soul pleaded to his body to betray him. If he let himself fall—let himself surrender—and let those promises seduce him again and it was just a ploy, he'd have nothing left.

Timaeus leaned closer, so close, all Yugi had to do was step forward and he would kiss his smile, but he dare not move—not when Timaeus' eye flickered with an emotion so wild that Yugi couldn't distinguish it from lust or excitement. "There will be no doors, no locks, no secrets between us, I promise you." His words ghosted over Yugi's lips, tantalizingly close and heartbreakingly warm. "None but the ones in your own heart." Another promise. Another truth. "All you need to do is open it…" He was so close, Yugi couldn't breathe. All he had to do was lean up and the man would be his. He closed his eyes, his lips parting. All he had to do was say yes, and all he promised would come true—or he'd fall so deep inside himself, inside the anguish of deception and heartbreak, that he'd never again be able to climb out and find himself.

"No!" His lips parted in a scream and he shoved him away, suddenly overcome with foreboding.

"No?" Timaeus blinked, confused and eyes bright with hurt. Had he gone too far? He took a step closer but Yugi jumped back, glaring at him—a new defiance suddenly heating his blood.

"Stop it!" Yugi spat. Timaeus retracted his hand like it was suddenly burned, confusion and remorse etched his features into that of the failed Guardian. Stop looking at me like that, Yugi growled to himself, suddenly angry, but it wasn't at Timaeus. His pride suddenly flared to life and he spat, "You can't seduce me with kisses! That is why your crew doesn't respect me! They think I'm your whore!"

Yugi regretted the words as soon as he said them, but pride fired his blood and anger was hot in his veins, and it needed to lash out at anyone but the true cause of it.

Timaeus looked at him with a face full of hurt—then he narrowed his eyes glaringly at the accusation. His already thinning patience finally snapped. Fingers curled into fists at his sides. Fine, he growled in his mind. If he wants to play the martyr and me, the villain…

"Oh, they do, do they?" Timaeus said with a shrug, yet his tone was anything but humorous. "Well, we'll certainly need to put an end to that, then. So we'll start your training as my consort and your chores tomorrow."

Yugi blinked, bewildered and unable to process the words. "Chores?" he choked out, apprehensive.

"Everyone on my ship must work, even me and even you," Timaeus said as naturally and effortlessly as one expected the sun to rise in the morning. "And if that is to be the way of it, until my men can learn to behave and I can trust you to hold your tongue, I shall accompany you wherever you go."

"You can't—"A protest formed on Yugi's lips, but he was quickly silenced.

"Until we reach Locri, I'm not letting you out of my sight," Timaeus promised. "Henceforth, you are under my protection and my guidance." He smirked like a master with a new apprentice. Yugi might as well be one, but instead, the opportunity made him furious.

"Don't do me any favors!" Yugi screeched with a shrill of infuriation, his temper flaring in annoyance.

Timaeus' smirk curled at the corners—the same smirk he wore whenever he saw Yugi frazzled. His next words rolled into a giggle. "Oh, you can be sure of that, love." The new nickname sent a shiver down Yugi's spine, but it wasn't of dread. "You can be sure of that."

(Queen sips her wine with four passed out kuribohs in her lap and Strawberry (pink) on her shoulder snickering) don't worry my wonderful readers I DO have a plan! It's just taking some time for it to come in to fruitation but it will soon! Starting next chapter ;) I got the next two planned out and plotted I just have some plot holes to figure out and then I gotta type them :) then if all goes well we can start getting I to the chapters I REALLY wanna write ;)

Glossary:

The Great Sea — this was the common name for the Mediterranean Sea during the Phoenician era and during much of the Ancient World. Oceans and Seas had no names in this period and since there wasn't much travel West or East of Africa, the Mediterranean was considered the primary or main ocean, hence the name.

Canaanite — a branch of the Aramaic dialect spoken mostly by the Phoenicians or those who traveled by sea to foreign countries, basically it was the root language or common tongue of those around the coast, and I felt it would be appropriate as the main language of Atlantis, given the whole thing is on the ocean.

Tanitic Lake — little recap, this was the Ancient Egyptian/Coptic name for the modern Lake Manzala, where the mouth of the Nile River spills into the Mediterranean Sea,and named after the Tanitic Branch of the Nile River, which in those days was the primary waterway and entrance to the then-capital city of Djanet (modern Tanis). It has silted over today.

Note about the Primal Ocean:

The Primal Ocean Yugi is referring to comes from the Ancient Egyptian Legend of Creation, where there was nothing but the primal ocean of chaos (a.k.a. space) until one day, a mound rose from the ocean and became the Sun a.k.a. Amun/Ra, who then had Tefnut and Shu (moisture and Air respectively) who then had Nut the Sky, and Geb the Earth. Apep, was the demon snake who lived in the Chaotic Sea and every night when Amun-Ra, the sun, set and traveled through the underworld, Apep attached his ship—hoping that by swallowing Amun-Ra in his weakest moment, he could then swallow the earth and return everything to chaos. Fortunately, this never occurred because Seth, the second son of Geb and Nut, after Osiris, protected Ra in his weakest moment by slaying the Serpent every night, as he was the strongest of the Gods and thus the only one capable of doing so, and Seth himself was the God of Chaos (but natural chaos, such as floods and storms which were extremely powerful and dangerous, but in turn kept the soil fertile and protected Egypt from Invaders). So Yugi's reference to Apep and the Primal Ocean in this scene refers to this story.

as always read review reply critique comment ask questions post theories and go nuts! I'm so excited to see what you guys come up with!

Next Update: September 19th

Next Time: Yugi and Timaeus share a meal and actually manage to have a civilized conversation. Timaeus makes a move and Yugi get's some rather eye-opening advice.