V.E.: Hello all! I know….I know, it's been quite some time since I updated this. Sorry I have a life and other stories. Also, it was kind of tricky of where exactly I wanted to go with this after I finished last chapter. After I do update, do know that it will be awhile before I come back to this again.

Now we get to see Seto and Kisara's relationship develop, something many have been anticipating since the start of this story. And plot. Plot needs to get rolling. Next chapter will probably be back with Kisara and Aknamkamon. Might be an interlude after that.

Well, let's get on it!

Quote: "All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work."- Calvin Coolidge

"And after that, Rashidi had the two us clean the entire courtyard by ourselves! Honestly, of all the….!"

The tinkering feminine laughter had Seto stop his pacing as he turned slowly towards his audience of one, very loud in the otherwise deserted courtyard.

"I fail to see what you find so funny about all this."

Seated not too far away near a pond of water lilies, Kisara simply smiled.

"Then you're obviously not seeing it from my perspective."

After the Feast of Wag in which Kisara realized simply one conversation between them would not be enough, the reunited two had taken to try and find times that they could talk to each other alone. Unfortunately, between his duties as a priest and her duties as a princess made it nearly impossible for such downtime to be spent alone. Trying to fool Kiya was hard enough. Not to mention that the two of them being seen together for an extended period would have caused no shortage of gossip in the Royal Court.

Still, it made these rare moments of the two just being themselves even more special.

Seto sighed before looking back at her.

"Enlighten me then."

"Well, considering that I'm the one who hears the both of you complain about each other, it just strikes me as rather ironic that two people so diametrically opposed could be so similar."

His voice was curt as he spoke.

"We are NOTHING alike."

Kisara rolled her eyes at that statement.

"Keep telling yourself that. Anyway, don't you think you two should at least try to get along with each other? Or at least pretend to, considering that the two of you are going to be working with each other as Sacred Guardians starting next week."

Seto groaned.

"I can't believe the person who can barely duel without getting tired is about to become the next Sacred Guardian…"

Kisara's tone was sharp, causing Seto to look at her surprise.

"I told you about speaking of Mahad that way in front of me. You don't know everything."

Seto did not look pleased with her defense of the brunet magician, walking over to the seated princess.

"Oh, what don't I know? This wouldn't have anything to do with how he knows about the dragon."

One of the princess' eyebrows was raised as she looked at him sternly.

"You're still mad I didn't mention that upfront."

"I'm NOT mad."

"Yes, you are."

That left the two of them staring each other down, neither of them wanting to concede the point. They had never outright argued (considering how little time they had known each other), but a little passive aggressive anger seemed to be somewhat the norm when it came to divisive topics for the two so far.

Kisara finally sighed as she tried to explain.

"The reason I didn't mention it was when I told Mahad, it was right after I found out something about him that was just as personal. It's not my secret to share, Seto."

Seto stared for a few seconds before sitting down beside her, his face looking rather tired.

"Well, I suppose I can't really argue with that. Still, I dislike all the secrets around this Court. It makes me feel like something is going to explode one of these days."

"Welcome to politics, you'll get used to it."

The corners of his mouth turned wryly at that.

"To think the day would come that I would actually miss the Temple. The contempt was still there, but at least I knew where I stood with everyone around me."

Kisara smiled at the notion.

"I wish I could have had that. I still don't know what's going in Nabirye's head. I honestly don't know whether she sees me as something she could use or something that needs to be squished like a bug."

Seto's eyes narrowed at the name.

"I feel like I've heard that name before."

"She's the daughter of one of the oldest and prominent families at court. She's usually leading the other court ladies when I or Isis aren't there."

It seemed to connect for him as he nodded.

"Oh right, her. The snooty one."

Kisara bit back a laugh.

"Tell me you didn't call her that to her face."

He raised his hands, though he was smiling in a relaxed manner.

"I didn't! Master Aknadin was right there with me and I do have some semblance of tact."

Kisara's smile fell at the mention of the one-eyed priest, her eyes filling with concern. It always unnerved her whenever she saw Seto and Aknadin together. Logically, the feeling made no sense. Pharaoh Aknamkamon seemed to have put the young man under the Millennium Eye Wielder's guidance to get a better understanding of the more restrictive texts and ins and out of court life. By all means, Seto had nothing but the highest praise for Aknadin and from what Kisara had seen the feeling was mutual for the older priest.

And yet…

Seto seemed to notice the change in her mood.

"Is everything alright?"

She shook her head.

"It's nothing."

The young priest didn't seem to buy that excuse so he wisely changed subjects.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"I've been spending all of my free time with Vizier Shimon when I'm not in lessons or with the court ladies. Festival planning, ceremonies, trade; just about everything really. He says it's because my foster father wants to give Atem some private lessons and he didn't want me to feel completely left out, but I'm not so sure that's the complete truth."

Seto nodded before asking.

"What do you think it is then?"

She shook her head, her moonlight white hair swaying gently as she went on.

"I don't really know. What I know of my foster father is that he tends to keep his real intentions close to chest and only reveals it when it's the right time. He'll probably tell me eventually. Right now, I think he's worried about that Tomb Robber."

Seto nodded, his eyes narrowing in concern.

"Yes, that's been bothering Aknadin as well. Who would break into a tomb and then set off the alarms?"

Kisara placed a hand over her chin, her expression pensive.

"I wonder…."

His eyebrow rose as he inquired.

"What is it?"

"Normally, the reason you'd break into a tomb is for the riches and then you'd try to make it out without anyone finding out. But this person deliberately set off the alarms and didn't take much. In fact, it's also like he spent more time on the graffiti."

The priest snorted in contempt.

"You'd think the man is tempting the gods with that kind of behavior."

"Maybe he's someone who doesn't believe in gods. Or at least one god in particular."

Seto turned to her, his eyes confused before he slowly began to connect the dots.

"Wait a minute…. are you saying this thief is directly challenging the pharaoh?!"

Kisara nodded.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. He's trying to send some sort of message…. and by the reaction of my foster father, I'd say he's succeeding."

The young man seemed to consider it before responding.

"If that's the case, that means whoever is doing this might have a personal grudge against either the pharaoh or the royal family in general. I better take a look at the archives then."

The white-haired women commented on his idea, her tone a tad exasperated.

"You know that the others have tried that already."

"Yes, but that was in regards to similarities of the crimes. We weren't thinking of why this person is doing this, only the how."

Kisara nodded, conceding his point before adding on.

"Even so, it's quite possible that the records for this thief doesn't exist or that they don't exist anymore. It's funny, I get the feeling the pharaoh does have some idea who this could be, but I don't understand why he would not say anything."

Seto sighed.

"All questions and no answers make things even more difficult. Anyway, why not try asking the Pharaoh directly if that's how you feel?"

Kisara openly cringed before her head turned down cast.

"Honestly, I still feel a little bit intimidated with him."

"Well, you're meeting with him tomorrow night, sounds like the best opportunity to me."

"But why would he tell me something that he won't tell anyone else?"

Seto shrugged.

"Still, if you never try, you'll never know."

Kisara smiled at the advice.

"Is that advice from the one of the priests from the Temple or your mother?"

Seto smiled as he answered, slowly standing up.

"My mother, though I'm pretty sure it fits. Anyway, I better get back before people figure out I'm not in the archives right now. Granted, I'm pretty sure only Shada would notice."

Kisara smiled and cheekily responded.

"Well, it's good to know you're making friends."

Seto smiled good naturedly as he turned away from her, walking away at a good pace.

"Yeah, yeah. Still, you won't know until you try."

She smiled at the young priest's back until he was out of sight. Then she let her smile drop as she turned her attention to the pond of water lilies. There she allowed herself to think.

He's right, so many questions with not enough answers. Still, there's so much I don't know. This Thief King, what the Pharaoh is hiding, Aknadin's feelings. Is it really my place to pry into all this? Wouldn't it be better if the solution came from someone else?

Her mind went silent for a few moments. Then she took in deep breath, straightening herself.

But that doesn't change the fact that I'm the one who is here and I see the problems. Nephthys told me that a princess of Egypt is not simply someone who is married off and has no control over the bigger picture.

I want to do something for this country.

I want to protect the ones that I care about, who love this country.

She stood up then, stretching her arms. Her mind felt more at ease after that talk and her thoughts. Then again talking to Seto always made her feel like she could be more honest with herself.

Now if only I could keep that kind of confidence when I have to deal with Nabirye.

But that was one step at a time and there were other things that she could take care of now.

She began walking at reasonable pace, passing by the empty halls until she finally came upon a place with people in it.

Unfortunately, the situation she saw would have left her smacking herself if she hadn't learned composure over the years.

We weren't even apart for ten minutes and yet he's forgotten my advice already.

For there, in the middle of a courtyard were Seto and Mahad staring each other down with all the venom of Asp though it didn't seem like either would be making a move to strike at this moment. As if they were content to glare at each other in wordless loathing. Shada and Karim were by their respective friend as if to hold them back.

Taking a quick look (noting most of the onlookers were magicians in training) her blue eyes set upon Isis, who looked as exasperated with the situation. Quietly creeping next to the seeress, Kisara spoke.

"So, what set this off?"

Isis shook her head, completely undisturbed that the princess had snuck up next to her.

"I'm not entirely sure, but after a couple of pointed jibes, I think heard Seto mention Mana and that set Mahad off from there."

Kisara pinched the bridge of her nose before looking up with concern.

"Wonderful, of all the things… wait, where is Mana anyway? I don't think I've seen her around recently."

Isis at that point turned to her as she answered.

"Same, but everyone's been busy recently. She's probably thinking up some new prank to put everyone's minds at ease."

Kisara's expression turned thoughtful at that.

"I'm not sure about that. Mana may like pranks, but she'd never pull something off when she knows things are serious. I better go look for her."

"Are you sure? You know she's good at hiding."

Kisara sighed as she walked away, knowing very well the two idiots butting their heads was not a problem she could solve.

"I'll start by searching the nearest vase."

"How many vases do we HAVE in this palace?!"

Voicing her thoughts aloud to the otherwise empty hallway, Kisara trudged back to her room with an exasperated expression. After searching for what seemed to be hours (even with Kiya's help), she had found no sign of Mana.

She sighed to herself, trying to calm herself down.

It's probably nothing, Kisara. She's probably just holed up somewhere with some stolen food. She's nowhere near the extreme with experiments that some of the other magicians can get up to, besides she doesn't really take her training all that seriously.

And yet, Kisara felt bothered. She had been so busy with things that she had completely forgot about Mana. And usually she was the one who had some spare time to spend with Mana with Atem's lessons and Mahad and Isis' duties; what had she gotten up to.

I just she hasn't done anything drastic. I mean, she wouldn't try to run away, would she? No, she wouldn't. She might have snuck out of the palace, but she would come back.

She felt another sigh come out of her as she finally found herself in front of her door.

Right now, sleep. I'll start the search again in the morning.

She opened her door, only to have a minor heart attack as she saw the object of her thoughts spread out on her bed and petting her cat.

Mana looked up at the noise, her face a bit tight as she spoke while still petting a purring Neftis.

"Hey."

Kisara closed the door behind her, her voice soft and questioning.

"Hey yourself. Mana, have you been in my room….all day?"

Mana nodded, Neftis finally getting bored of the attention and jumping off the bed to stretch her legs.

"Not much else to do."

Kisara cringed.

"Sorry, I've been busy."

That didn't prompt much of a reaction out of Mana.

"So is everyone else."

A weak smile broke out across the princess' face.

"Mahad actually got into an argument with Seto after he mentioned your name. Not sure what it was about, I didn't really….ask Isis…."

Mana just looked down at her hands.

"Whatever."

Kisara sat herself on the bed across from the magician in training.

"Mana, I'm sorry I've been busy, it's just….."

Mana interrupted before she could finish.

"I know! You're the princess! You've got a lot to handle! The same for Mahad and Isis and….Prince…."

Then the young girl curled herself into a ball.

"And then there's me."

Kisara hesitantly reached out to her, uncertain as to whether the girl would accept the gesture and rebuff it.

The answer was made very clear when Mana threw her arms around her, cling to the white-haired girl as if her life depended on it. The brown haired magic user's body was shaking slightly, Kisara stroking her back with her hands. She wasn't crying, but she could sense that might change.

Finally, she spoke.

"Hey, Kisara?"

"Yes?"

"Why do things change?'

The princess answered the very profound question with a very simple fact.

"We grow up."

"Well, maybe we grow up too fast."

"Or maybe you're in a position that doesn't need you to grow up as fast."

She felt Mana's head shake into her neck.

"I'm not sure if I want to grow up then."

Kisara felt a small laugh escape her lips.

"I'm pretty sure we grow up whether we want to or not."

"Everyone else seems to be going in their own direction. And then there's just me fooling around by myself. I don't really have any real place here, not like Mahad does. None of others really want anything to do with me. What would it be like if I just disappeared?"

"Mana, if you were to ever I disappear, I would lose one of the very people I can be myself around. So would Isis, Mahad, and especially Atem. And….we kind of need that. We need someone to remind ourselves to not be as serious sometimes. They'll remember that when their schedules die down a little after Mahad gets settled into his new position."

Mana's voice was small as she asked.

"Really?"

"Really really. You know, that reminds me. I have a meeting with the Pharaoh tomorrow night, but my day is completely free before that. Want to hang out, just the two of us?"

"That sounds nice."

Kisara smiled.

"Want to sleepover tonight with me?"

The magic user didn't say anything, but the way she tightened her grip and gave out a small laugh said volumes.

Neftis simply stared from the corner, unsurprised by anything that had been thrown at her these days.

V.E.: Okay, I originally wanted to get this done in February. Well, look how that turned out. Maybe I'll get my next update done during spring break.

It's been awhile since I've written for this so sorry if it feels a little rusty. I'm not even at the halfway point with this thing. Maybe I should just give it up or put it up for adoption, but that's a thought train for another day.

Please review.

SERIOUSLY.

REVIEW.

Hope to see you all for our next story time!