Chapter 6

Colors of Royal

Yugi floundered in the water for a few minutes, encompassed in a bright light that hid him from Atem. The merPrince swam around his smaller aibou for a few minutes, and then the light died down, revealing Yugi's limp form.

Atem swam close, supporting the younger. Yugi shook his head slightly, and then kicked his tail to get himself upright again. "Wow. That was… interesting."

Atem was silent, staring at the other merman in a bit of a shock. Yugi blinked, poking him. "Um, Atem?"

"A royal…" Atem murmured. "You have the coloring of a royal!"

Yugi blinked. "I what?"

Atem was right. As Yugi's tail caught the sunlight it shimmered with scales of the purest violet, fading into a deep sapphire blue. Yugi's fins shone with violet, fluttering in the currents.

"A royal!" Atem blurted out. "You have a two-tone tail; only royals have that kind of coloring!" He flipped his own tail. "Like mine!"

"You're royalty, Atem?" Yugi asked in shock.

The merPrince blushed and nodded. "Prince of Atlantica. Gods know I hate it though." He sighed. "Sorry I never told you."

Yugi smiled gently. "Well, it can't be helped. I'm just a little worried about your father, Atem."

"Oh man… how are we going to handle that…" Atem grumbled. "Father's going to wonder where you came from…"

Yugi smiled again, and then flipped his tail slightly, propelling himself forward. "This is so cool!"

Atem chuckled, and then gasped slightly. "Oh! I'm supposed to take you to Bakura and Ryou!"

"Bakura and Ryou?" Yugi questioned, swimming after Atem as he moved into the depths.

"The healer and his mate."

"Oh…" Yugi paused. "Wait! I have to say goodbye to Joey!"

Atem stopped, following his aibou back to the surface. Yugi leapt from the water, jumping into the tank on the rear of Joey's boat. Atem took a breath, and then went after the younger.

"Whoa Yug', that is so awesome!" Joey was saying as he leaned over the side of the tank. Joey grinned at Atem as he came over the edge. "Nice work, fishboy."

"For your information I'm a mammal like you, not a fish." Atem sniffed, folding his arms.

Yugi laughed at that, and then squealed slightly as a jolt of warmth shot from his tail. He looked down to see Atem's black tail curling around his, caressing and feeling. Wide violet eyes traveled to Atem's face and the merman grinned.

Joey chuckled. "Want a room, you two?"

Yugi glared at his friend. " Joey!"

"Joey has a point Yugi. We had better get going, Ryou needs to make sure you are healthy, and that the change didn't go wrong." Atem said softly.

Yugi nodded, and then smiled up at Joey. "Goodbye. If I ever see your ship I'll come say hi, okay?"

"I'll bring Grandpa the day he comes back so you can see him, how's that?" Joey asked.

Yugi smiled great. "Thank you Joey."

With that the two leapt back into the water, swimming down into the depths.

"Ryou!" Atem called, knocking on the door to Ryou and Bakura's home.

The door opened to show Ryou's chocolate eyes. The merman smiled as he saw Yugi, who was hiding behind Atem shyly. "Hello there. I'm Ryou, the healer."

Yugi smiled. "I'm Yugi. Nice to meet you."

"Come on in you two. Bakura would like to see you as well, Yugi." Ryou said gently, flicking his lavender tail.

Yugi swam after Atem, and then squeaked in surprise as he nearly ran into Bakura, who had a rather frightening smile on his face.

"Well, well, what a beautiful little morsel you've caught, Atem! So bright and pretty!" Bakura swam circles around Yugi, laughing almost manically. "And royal colors!"

Yugi blinked. "I'll tell you a secret, this guy's nuts!"

Atem laughed. "I know, but I'll tell you another. He's never wrong."

Yugi blinked again, his eyes now drawn in by Bakura's blind lavender eyes. "What?"

"I, dear little Yugi, am a Seer. I know everything." Bakura said smugly, a smirk on his face.

Ryou rolled his eyes, reaching to gently grasp Yugi's arm. "Please ignore my mate, he gets a little excited." He held up his other hand, his lavender magic sparking. "If you'll relax, I'm going to make sure you're healthy."

Yugi nodded, keeping still as Ryou's delicate hands hovered over his body. After a few moments the healer stopped with a smile. "You appear perfectly healthy."

Atem frowned. "What will we say about his coloring, Ryou?"

The white-haired merman tapped his lower lip gently. "Well… there have been other mermen with royal colors. Perhaps we could explain it that way."

Atem nodded absently. "I don't know how Father would take it though…" His fingers reached out, tangling with Yugi's and causing the younger to flush slightly.

"You'll manage." Bakura sang out from where he was in the other room.

Atem sighed. "We'd better go… Father will be wondering where I am. Come, Yugi."

As the two swam from the room Ryou's eyes grew worried and scared. "Are you sure, Bakura?"

The white-tailed merman nodded, swimming to his mate's side. "My vision's have never been wrong, love. I do not like what I See, but I cannot change it."

"But for them?" Ryou asked, tears lingering in his voice and eyes. "They are so in love, Bakura, you can practically see it around them. I have never seen Atem so happy."

Bakura wrapped an arm around Ryou's shoulders as his mate twined his lavender tail with his powerful white one. "I know, Ryou. It's wonderful to See his aura shining so brightly like this."

"In the time I've known him I've never seen him look like this. His entire face lights up when he looked at that boy." Ryou whispered, tears now tracking down his face.

The Seer planted a kiss on that pale forehead. "All we can do is wait, and hope that either I haven't Seen the whole event, or somehow that I am wrong."

Ooooo, foreshadowing... Well, the next chapter should be out soon!