Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
To answer some reviewers questions:
Anonymous: In the anime, yes Mahaado has brown hair, but in the manga it's blonde. And I wrote this after seeing a picture of Mahaado in the manga and before seeing him in the anime. So As far as I knew at the time it was blonde, and since that's the way Kazuki Takahashi originally intended him to be, I decided not to fix it. They change Mana's hair to brown as well, only I think she looks much cooler as a blonde.
Kate: Bakura will pro'lly be in this fic later on, but it won't be for a while. And they weren't ever really friends, so I don't think I'm going to make them friends, since it wouldn't fit in right.
DMoS13: The identity of Atemu's ka monster will be revealed in this chapter, but it won't be anything you've ever heard of because I made it up. Since people could summon their ka monsters without using a tablet, tablets weren't usually made of them, and therefore never had cards based on them. Most of the characters new ka monsters that were not previously introduced, but since Atemu's was never revealed in the show I decided to create one. The few exceptions of this would be Mahaado and Mana, who fused with their ka monsters, and people who had their soul monsters extracted from their bodies(which happens several times.)
And thanks to all my other reviewers: Pharaoh Atemu's Angel, Gotsdahotts4yamibakura, Caeli Et Terra, cwthewolf and nightmare magician.
Chapter 3Atemu woke up and blinked. He was in his own bed again. Had everything that had happened to him the night before been a dream? He felt his neck, nope definitely not a dream. It still stung pretty badly, and someone had bandaged it up. But what about that shadow monster? It had saved his life, but why? Was it his ka monster? It seemed to know him, and it had protected him. And for some reason, Atemu found like he knew him, liked he met him many times before. He knew, of course, that he'd never really even seen the monster.
A young woman Atemu recognized as one of the palace slaves entered the room. She was carrying a tray of food. She looked at Atemu and smiled.
"Oh good, you're awake. Here, I brought your lunch for you." She placed the tray down on his bedside table and bowed before turning to leave. Atemu was happy to have food because Gods, was he hungry. He began to gorge himself. Within minutes every last bit of the food was gone. He sighed and fell back onto the bed. He was still awfully tired, although he didn't really know why. He curled up under the thin covers of his bed and was just about to go to sleep as Simon entered the room. He grunted; he felt like he could just go to sleep forever, and Simon was interrupting that.
"Good morning, sunshine," Simon said in a voice that sounded a little too happy to Atemu, "How are you?"
"Tired." Atemu said dimly.
"Well, that's to be expected after you summoned your ka monster for the first time. Especially where your mind is still so young, and you only just learned to summon shadow monsters in general. So, what was his name?"
"It's Kekewey (1), I think. But I'm not sure how I know."
"Well, he told you of course! Your ka monster can communicate with you without words, he's a part of you, after all." So it had been Kekewey who had been talking to him. At least he knew he wasn't going crazy.
"I'll leave you to get some rest now. Your going to need it, since starting tomorrow you have to learn how to summon him on purpose." At that Simon left and Atemu fell asleep almost instantly.
If summoning his ka monster accidentally had taken a lot out of Atemu, doing so intentionally was seemingly impossible. He hit his knees again, after trying and failing for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. He got up and stumbled a little, falling down again. He was starting to get very dizzy.
"Let's leave it at that for today. I think you need a rest." Simon said, helping Atemu to his feet.
"No! I can do it, I know I can! Just let me try again." Atemu pleaded. Giving up had never been one of his strong points.
"My prince, you're going to exhaust yourself again if you overdo it."
"Let him continue, Simon." Akunamukanon, who had come to observe Atemu's lesson, said.
"Alright, my lord. Now Atemu, you know what to do by now, so just try again."
Atemu concentrated all of his energy on the part of his soul that contained his ka monster. He refused to fail this time; he was going to prove to Simon that he wasn't too young. He felt his knees buckling again, but he wasn't going to fall. Not this time. He kept his legs as strong as he could, although he could feel them shaking under the strain. Suddenly, he felt his legs loosen, and the strain on his mind faded. He felt something different in his mind now, a pulsating sensation, like a heartbeat. He opened his eyes and found his ka monster standing in front of him once again. A triumphant smirked adorned his face. He'd proven Simon wrong, just like he knew he would. He was always right, after all.
"Heh…looks like you did it after all." Simon smiled; somehow, he wasn't the least bit surprised by Atemu's achievement.
"Yup! I told you I wasn't too little."
"And you were right, as usual." Simon added sarcastically. Atemu failed to notice the tone, however, and smiled proudly. But, he was exhausted from the stress on the day's lesson, so he called his ka monster back into his mind.
"You're done for the day now, you're dismissed." Simon told him, and Atemu left, yawning as he did so.
After his lesson Atemu sat on his bed working on his millennium puzzle. He was doing pretty well on it now, and he felt like he was about half done. It only got harder as he got closer to finishing it, but he found, oddly, that when he was tired or frustrated from the day's other activities, working on the puzzle was much easier. The pieces seemed to magnet to each other, with him doing hardly anything, tonight. 'Maybe I'll finally finish it tonight!' he thought excitedly, fighting the urge to pass out right then. He was doing so well, he didn't want to stop. But exhaustion soon overcame him and he fell asleep, puzzle in hand.
Atemu had a very peculiar dream that night. It seemed too real to be a dream, however. He was in a ver strange place, it was cold, very cold, and he was surrounded by shadows. The darkness was so thick he could feel it, and the whole place sent chills down his spine. Suddenly, he heard footsteps; he looked in their direction and saw a dark figure approaching him. He looked around, but there was nowhere to hide, just endless shadows.
Much to Atemu's relief, that figure was Kekewey.
"I'm sorry young one, I meant not to frighten you. I merely wish to talk." He said, bowing to his master.
"It's fine, I'm just glad it was you and not someone else. But where are we? This place is creepy."
"We are in the shadow realm. This is where I, as well as the other shadow monsters, reside."
Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call your home creepy."
"That doesn't matter. What I've come to speak to you about is that puzzle you have been so diligently working on."
"YEAH! I'm almost done with it now, too!" Atemu stated proudly.
"Just please be careful, young one, completing that puzzle comes with a great responsibility. A responsibility that you may not be ready for."
"What do you mean? What responsibility?"
"That you must find out on your own…"
He awoke the next morning to find himself tucked in to bed and his puzzle sitting on the bedside table, along with breakfast. 'Hmm, I missed breakfast again. I really need to stop sleeping in all the time.' He ate his breakfast then got right back to work on his puzzle. Of course, he quickly found that he was stuck again. No matter what he did, he couldn't get a single piece to fit. After a while of failing to accomplish anything he decided to stop and find Seto. He hadn't told him about summoning his ka monster yet, and he couldn't wait.
Akunamukanon sat at his desk, his brother standing before him. Akunadin seemed far too calm, considering the position he was in. The pharaoh knew he was responsible for the attempt against his son's life, and he knew Akunadin was well aware of this. So why was he so calm?
"Pharaoh, you know I would never allow any harm to befall my nephew."
"That's odd, since the other day you were insisting he be executed."
"I was merely suggesting, and I do still think it's wise, but I would never have acted against your command."
Akunamukanon wasn't buying it. He knew full well that Akunadin would act against his command without hesitation. But still, his brother remained perfectly calm.
"I'll also remind you, my lord, that I have been out on business. You had requested that I speak with the king of Mesopotamia about some negotiations that need to be made. I left immediately after dinner that very evening."
No wonder he had been so calm. Akunamukanon had sent him on that trip to keep him away from Atemu, and he'd used it against him. Now there was no way he'd be able to prove his brother had help the thugs into the palace, and punishing someone without proof was equivalent to asking for a rebellion. Akunamukanon frowned; he'd have to let it pass this time.
"You are dismissed, now get out of my sight!" Akunamukanon ordered.
"Thank you, sire." Akunadin bowed and left the room.
"You summoned your ka monster? Come on, that's impossible." Seto exclaimed. His younger cousin was known for having a vivid imagination, but this was ridiculous.
"Nuh-uh! I really did!"
"OK, prove it."
"Well," Atemu stated, "For one thing he's standing right behind you."
Seto turned around and let out a gasp, falling backwards. Sure enough, the creature that was apparently Atemu's soul monster was standing right behind him; it's ruby eyes glaring at him menacingly.
"Umm…Atemu, are your sure it's safe to let him out?"
"He's fine, just a little mad 'cause you didn't believe me. Besides, he wouldn't do anything unless I told him to."
"Oh, how reassuring." Seto said facetiously. Atemu giggled mischievously. Are you sure we can trust him, young one? Kekewey asked Atemu. In this realm they could only talk mentally, and it still had a tendency to make Atemu jump. Of course we can, he's my cousin and my best friend, he'd never do anything to hurt me. At that Kekewey relaxed, allowing Seto to do the same.
"So, what's his name?" Seto questioned.
"It's Kekewey."
"Kekewey? Th-that's a great name. He added the latter after seeing a glare return to the monster's features. "Anyway, how strong is he?"
"He's super powerful! You shoulda seen it! He beat up those scary men who kidnap me the other day like it was nothing!"
"But you've never actually seen him fight another shadow monster, right?"
"Nope. Never."
"Well, that's the only way to find out how strong he really is."
"Simon said that I wasn't ready to do that yet though."
"Oh well, guess you're just going to have to wait. It's too bad; I'd like to see him in action, too. I can't wait 'til I summon mine!"
(1)Kekewey means "Darkness" in Egyptian. Creative, ne?
R&R!