Thank you for these characters and their stories, Kazuki Takahashi. Requiescat in pace.

Chapter Four

Dria

"Dria. Dria, my love, awaken please." Someone was gently shaking me. I opened my eyes, stretching out my arms in the process. A pair of lips gracefully descended upon my own, causing me to melt into the arms that wound around my body.

"Now that is a way to wake up." Deep laughter echoed off the walls as I was pulled into a firm yet comforting chest. We had our duties to attend to this morning, but it was nice to have these tender moments where it was just the two of us.

"I love you, my handsome Pharaoh."

"As I love you, my precious akh."

I smiled at his pet name for me as he lowered me back down to the bed, his lips gracing mine with their presence once more.

I awoke just as the boat was pulling into the dock. I changed my hair back into its infamous dark brown and put on some jeans with a fancy top. "Miss Pegasus? Are you ready, ma'am?" I fixed my appearance once more before heading out the door.

"Wait, you mean Alexandria Pegasus herself was on our boat? Where is she now? Why didn't we see her!?" I smiled to myself as I heard comments like that.

"Attention all duelists! Please disembark in an orderly fashion."

I took a deep breath and headed off the boat. Many of my father's bodyguards stayed near me, making it rather obvious as to my identity. "It's her! It's Alexandria!" Duelists gathered around and began pressing in. Croquet placed his arm around my shoulder and tried to keep them all away from me.

I laughed and released myself from his grasp. "Please Miss, Mr. Pegasus wants you back inside the castle as soon as possible." I turned back towards him and smiled. "I promise I'm going that way. Am I not allowed to mingle with my fellow duelists along the way? I must be polite, after all." He scratched the back of his head, an obvious blush coating his cheeks. I laughed at his look and gently moved out from the circle of bodyguards.

"Miss Alexandria, over here!"

"Miss Pegasus, can I have your autograph?"

"Alexandria, my love, please marry me!"

I giggled at all the comments duelists were throwing my way. Guys were coming up to me asking for my autograph or my hand. One guy was bold enough to ask for sex flat out. I rolled my eyes and quickly walked away after that one. Hopefully he got my message.

"Alright! Every single one of us made it safe and -ACHOO!"

I turned my head towards the familiar voice. Yugi and his friends were standing a little way off, angrily starting at Weevil. Yugi briefly looked towards me. He blushed when I winked at him. I headed up the stairs, leading the way to the castle. All the duelists were stopped outside the castle, but I slipped in through a secret entrance.

"Papa!" I immediately ran into Pegasus' arms, excited to be home again. "Hello, my dear. Did you enjoy your trip?" I eagerly nodded. As I changed clothes, I told him about the incident with Seto and how Yugi had saved me. He wasn't pleased with Seto at all, but after some serious begging, Papa was willing to forgive him and forget about the whole matter. He also promised to have my new, one-of-a-kind design for Grandpa's Blue Eyes card completed before the conclusion of Duelist Kingdom.

I had changed from my jeans to a beautiful, flowing, white dress and a set of heels. Though my Pendant was completely exposed, Papa believed it was only a necklace I had purchased while in Egypt many years ago. I had managed to keep it protected so far.

"Attention everyone! Your benevolent host is anxious to greet you." Papa rested his arm around my waist, leading me towards the castle balcony. Everyone began cheering as we entered the light.

"Greetings! I am Maximillian Pegasus, and this is my daughter Alexandria." Papa continued on with his speech. I, honestly, tuned out almost the whole speech until he said, "10 star chips will grant you entry, where you'll face me in one final duel!" I sighed.

I wished I could duel whenever I wanted like he could. Because of some jealous duelists, I was not usually allowed to duel in tournaments. People had accused me of cheating and changing the rules, mostly because they didn't feel like reading all the information there was on the card. I could execute nearly every card flawlessly, showing everyone the full potential of a card.

Let's just say a lot of people didn't like losing to me.

As Papa continued his speech, I searched for Yugi and his friends in the crowd. I smiled when I found them, but none of them returned it. All four of them had a hard glare directed straight at Papa. I didn't know what to think; to my knowledge, they had never met my father, so they didn't have a reason to dislike him yet.

An hour passed, and I had the incredible pleasure of setting off the fireworks to signal the opening of the tournament. After that, I changed back into some jeans and a t-shirt, made my hair blond once more, and headed out to see the duels.

I looked everywhere for Yugi, hoping that either he or Joey was dueling. I asked around a little, checking to see if anyone knew anything.

"Woah, sounds like a duel is about to start over there!"

"That's Weevil Underwood, but who's the other guy?"

My head snapped around in the direction of that conversation. I gently shoved my way through and saw Yugi and Weevil dueling on the forest arena. I yelled in delight and ran towards them.

"Yugi! Joey!" I happily waved towards them. Joey turned and smiled widely. "Hey Dria! Where have you been?" I almost sighed in relief. I had been afraid that after being out in the open, where everyone could see me, that they would recognize me immediately even with my change in hair.

The duel between Yugi and Weevil was intense. Weevil, of course, pulled out nearly every trick in the Cheater's Handbook in an attempt to beat Yugi. I watched in disgust as Weevil summoned nothing but bugs.

I shouldn't say disgust. I loved those monsters as much as all the others. It was just the way he used them. It was obvious the bug monsters were his favorites, but he played with no heart, no soul. He dueled only for fame, an unfortunate side effect of the game, one not even I could prevent.

I cheered alongside the others as Yugi wiped out Weevil's army of bugs. I sighed in annoyance as Mai walked up.

"He's got moves your shrimp couldn't even dream of." I started laughing loudly. All four of them gave me a confused look. "Mai, you'll be surprised I'm sure." I gave her a cocky smile and turned back to the duel.

I watched as Weevil played out his Great Moth plan. That plan always creeped me out because the second stage, the Cocoon of Evolution, was so gross. Mai turned back towards me, giving me that irritating 'I told you so' look. I merely shrugged and went back to ignoring her. She didn't seem to like that.

So instead she picked on the other three, getting them all riled up, especially Tea. I saw a hint of worry cross Yugi's face, but it vanished as Joey continued to cheer. It shut Mai up too. Unfortunately, even with the brilliant burning land card, the Moth was still created. Based off the cards I believed were in Yugi's deck, I merely smiled at the situation. While the others had fallen silent, I figured it was time to say something.

"The Moth isn't unstoppable, Yugi! It has just as many weaknesses as any other monster. Just keep going and don't quit. You have what you need." Yugi looked towards me and gave me thumbs up.

"I won't stop yapping." I rolled my eyes as Tea continued to argue with Mai. I quietly laughed as Yugi explained how the duel was over. My laugh got louder as his plan was revealed.

"This makes your water logged bug a giant sized lightening rod." I didn't know about anyone else, but I rather enjoyed the fireworks personally.

"But I'm the regional champion! The regional champion!" A title you clearly didn't deserve, Weevil. I began to walk off, silently vanishing into the forest. "Congrats Yugi." I whispered. I saw him turn around, looking for me. As he caught sight of me, I winked one last time, before slipping through the trees again.

"Wait! Dria! Come back!" I heard them following me, slowly speeding up to catch me. As much as I wanted them to like me, I couldn't continue to lie to them. Normally, this kind of thing wouldn't bug me. But it was the Pharaoh. I didn't have the heart to lie to him.

I eventually slowed, walking alongside the edge of the meadow, looking out over the sea. I turned to the castle and saw Papa waving at me from the balcony. I waved back, and then turned, wondering about all the noise coming from behind me. Duel monsters' stadiums filled up the meadow behind me. I closed my eyes and listened to all the sounds. I had to crack a smile as the monsters talked to each other.

I promise I'm not crazy. As far as I knew, only I could understand their language.

I heard footsteps behind me and a small hand tapped my arm. I reopened my eyes to see Yugi standing next to me. "Great duel, Yugi."

He only smiled and looked out at the meadow with me. I could sense the presence of the Pharaoh floating next to him. I turned away from Yugi, angry at myself for not having told the truth already. I didn't want to lose his friendship over this. I sent a silent prayer to the gods, hoping with everything within me that this was the right thing to do.

"Yugi, I have something I need to tell you."