Angel: Well, back again! Thanks go out to all my reviewers!
Y. Ang: (has deep fryer) Can I cook her now?
Angel: Huh Oh, yeah. Sure.
Y. Ang: (puts Tea in deep-fat fryer) Now, who ordered Tea extra crispy?
Angel: (checks very-short list) Kendoro-majin514. He was the only one who gave an order.
Y. Ang: (shrugs) Kendoro-majin514! Come get your extra-crispy Tea!
Angel: (--) I knew I shouldn't have taken her to that restaurant...she stole their deep-fryer...
Y. Ang: (coughs) Umm...you'll just have to wait until I get another one. I kinda made this one extra-extra crispy (AKA burnt)
Angel: (sighs) I do not own YuGiOh.
Lonely Heart In Egypt
Chapter 9 – Wedding Plans and Consolation
"It's one of my father's advisors, and the High Priest Seto."
"I wonder what they want."
There was a knock at the door, "Lady Crystal, are you in here?"
"Yes, Rames. The door's open."
A tall young man swept into the room, followed by Seto Kaiba. The young man Yami didn't know, but who he presumed was this 'Rames', stepped forward. He bent on one knee, took Crystal's hand and kissed it.
"It is a great privilege to see your beautiful face again, my lady. Even though it will be for only be a short while, I still feel blessed."
Crystal seemed a little bewildered, but still answered, "It is...good to see you also, Rames."
She then turned to Kaiba and smiled. "It is wonderful to see you too, Seto."
Kaiba smiled, and bowed to both rulers. "My lady, my lord Pharaoh."
Yami inclined his head at Seto's politeness, though it was more to hide the frown on his face. The frown was because he didn't like this Rames's behaviour towards Crystal one bit.
"I do not mean to interrupt your...reunion, but may I ask what has brought the two of you here?"
Rames straightened up, "Well, Priest Seto has a message from King Isaac, and I thought it best if I came along."
"Indeed. Well, Kaiba?"
Kaiba stepped forward hesitantly, and turned to face Crystal, "My lady, your father has...signed a document stating that as soon as the palace is repaired, you and Rames are to wed."
Crystal looked, well, to be perfectly frank, shocked. "When did this happen?"
Rames looked at her, smiling. "Isn't it wonderful? It is the reason my visit is short, as I must return to oversee the rebuilding of the palace so we can be married as soon as possible!"
Crystal smiled faintly. "Lovely."
"Well, I must be off. I only came to be here when you heard the news. So, farewell to you all," Rames said before quickly leaving the room.
Before Yami could ask Crystal about all this, Kaiba spoke up, "My lord, if I may I would like to stay here in the palace with the Princess. She is a dear friend of mine, and I haven't seen her for a very long time."
Yami turned to Crystal to seek her thoughts on this, and she nodded, "Very well, Kaiba. You may stay here until the...wedding."
"Thank you, my lord. Perhaps I will see you later, then."
As Kaiba showed no signs of moving, Yami presumed that he was no longer wanted, and he left. Yami didn't like this wedding one bit, and he needed to get away from Crystal. She seemed quite happy with the arrangement.
"Very well. If either of you require my presence, I'll be in my quarters or my office."
Both the High Priest and Crystal nodded, "Ok."
Without another word, Yami left.
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After Yami left, Kaiba watched the door for a few moments before turning to Crystal.
"You can lie to the Pharaoh all you like, but I've known you since we were children, and you can't lie to me."
Those few words made Crystal collapse on the cushions behind her, and start crying, "Seto, why? Why would Father do this to me?"
Seto sat down next to her, and gently pulled her close to him. He held her for a long time.
After Crystal's tears had finally stopped, Kaiba said gently, "I am sorry."
She nodded, "I know. But why?"
Kaiba sighed heavily, "Perhaps he didn't know what he was doing."
Crystal looked up at Kaiba. "What do you mean?"
Kaiba looked pained. "Remember how I was trying to force you to marry me?"
"Yes. I sensed that you were somehow not yourself. Like Ishtar was, but not so evil..."
"Well, I'm glad you believe me."
"Of course I do Seto. I can see that you are now yourself, and I'm glad for it. You are one of my dearest friends. Anyway, do you know who it was that was controlling you?"
Kaiba shook his head, "I don't know. I only know this happened because this person released me from their control. I can only remember little about what I did. As for how I know, I could remember hearing this voice inside my head. It would tell me to do something, and I'd feel like I had to do it."
"Is that why you came here?"
"Partly. I wanted to make sure that we were still friends, and I thought it would be best if I told you the news."
Crystal smiled sadly. "You're right there."
"I did not mean to drop this mind-controlling thing on you."
"It's ok. It's not really affecting me, though. No offence."
"None taken. However, it should affect you, because I have reason to believe that the person that was controlling me is the one that has also controlled at various times, Prince Ishtar, Mai, your father and myself."
Crystal shrugged, "Well, as long as these people haven't caused any permanent damage, I don't think they are anything to worry about."
Kaiba looked pained at her words, and she noticed it. "What?"
He hesitated. "They have caused some permanent damage."
Crystal looked suddenly afraid. "What have they done? Seto, please tell me."
He turned his head again to look directly at her. "They killed the former Queen, and...your mother."
Crystal looked stricken at the news, and lowered her head, another tear trickling down her cheek. "Oh gods. I can't believe this. Who are they?"
"I do not know, my lady. I do know, however, that they are trying...to kill you."
As Crystal looked more upset, Kaiba became more concerned, "Perhaps you should do something to take you mind off this for a while."
"Alright. Do you have any suggestions?"
Kaiba smiled slightly, "I guarantee that helping Prince Yugi and my brother with their studies will distract anyone."
Crystal had a small vision of someone trying to teach the two boys, who were known as the troublemakers of the palace, and laughed, her previous sadness forgotten for the moment.
"Although I might be risking my sanity, I'll try it. I seem to get along well with those terrors."
"Terror is not the word used by their unfortunate teacher."
She laughed again, "When I get there I will probably agree. Where are the boys' study rooms?
"Across the hall from their bedchambers."
"That is definitely not a coincidence, and very smart of their teacher. No doubt they try to escape from lessons. I know I did."
Kaiba smiled at the memory of a 5-year-old Crystal running away from her teachers.
"What will you do while I'm with the boys then, Seto?"
"If you could write a note to Yami, perhaps he might tolerate a discussion about the festivals for this month."
"Why must I write a note?"
"Because otherwise he will ignore me. He dislikes me, and not just because of the way I used to treat you."
"Alright."
Crystal quickly wrote the note to Yami, and gave it to Kaiba, before hurriedly leaving the room.
Kaiba sighed to himself before he left the room. 'She has suffered too much already. The Pharaoh needs to know the truth,' he thought to himself.
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As Crystal made her way to the study rooms, Mana suddenly appeared beside her and started talking, as usual.
"Why so glum Crystal?" Mana asked, looking concerned.
"I guess it's just knowing that the people who killed my mother are still out there, ruining things again. Also, I'm afraid that Seto will tell Yami about the danger, and Yami will worry about me, and I don't want him to worry."
Mana smiled sadly, "He already worries about you. Mahaado told me that ever since he heard about Ishtar, and the previous attempts on your life, he's been restraining himself with extreme difficulty from never letting you leave your room, or leaving his sight. He cares about you a lot, you know."
"I know, Mana. In that case, he probably would lock me in my room, if he found out. Besides he's got his people to worry about. He is Pharaoh."
"So? He cares about you, and you probably care about him more than most of 'his people' do anyway. That gives him a right to worry about you."
Crystal sighed, "Fine. If I wasn't already going to see the boys, I'd play chess with you. This talk of worrying is getting depressing."
"I wouldn't have played you anyway. You always win."
"Why do you think I enjoy the game so much?"
"Hrmph."
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Yami had lied to Crystal and Kaiba. He had told them that he would be in his room, or his office, but he had come here, to the throne room. He didn't want to talk to either of them, especially Crystal. Because she had seemed so happy about the wedding plans, he knew that he would lash out at her if she spoke to him, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings, even though he was hurt himself.
In other words, he was not in a good mood, and the fact that Seto Kaiba was slowly walking towards him made Yami feel little better.
"My Lord?"
Yami replied crossly, "I do not wish to speak with you, Seto Kaiba. Please leave me."
Kaiba stepped forward so that he was standing in front of Yami, "I'm afraid you are going to listen to me if you care about Lady Crystal at all."
Yami snapped to attention, "What do you know about her?" he snapped, before remembering decorum. "And why should I listen to you after the way you treated her?"
Kaiba hung his head, "Because, as I was about to explain to you, that was not my doing. And if you do not believe me, Crystal wrote you a note."
Yami narrowed his eyes, but accepted the note in Kaiba's outstretched hand. This is what it said:
Yami,
Please listen to Seto. I know you dislike him because of the way he used to treat me, but now he's back to normal. I don't want two of the people I care about most to feud over me. Please listen to what he has to say.
Sincerely, Crystal.
Yami felt his face flush as he read the letter, but quickly hid it, "Fine, Kaiba. What do you know?"
Kaiba hesitated, "Well I haven't been forbidden to tell you, but I want you to promise that you will not tell anyone else, except Mahaado or Mana. But both of them must be sworn to secrecy, and they definitely cannot tell Crystal."
Yami was surprised by the request, but nodded. "I promise."
"Very well. To put it bluntly, I know who is making Crystal's life hell. You may or may not know who this person is."
"We'll see. Who is it?" Yami asked sharply.
"It is..."
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Angel: HAHAHA! Another cliffie! I love it!
Y.Ang: Judging by the looks I'm getting, I'd say the readers don't love it. I'd also say that if looks could kill, you have been murdered about 5 times.
Angel: (sweatdrops) That's not good
Y.Ang: No it isn't.
Angel: Well, if I try to update soon, will I be spared?
Y.Ang: Probably not, but it might help.
Angel: In that case, I will try hard to update soon!
C YA! Angel