I don't own Yu-gi-oh.
And seriously? Just two reviews?
Kisara's pov
After we finished cleaning the dragons' cages, we had a ten-minute break before Aksira's spell wore off. When it did, all of my fears came rushing back to me. I almost passed out, and Mana and Ayari literally had to drag me out of the dragon area because the fear that had built up for so long while Aksira's spell had its hold on me decided to paralyze me at the first chance.
Then we had to wax the floors in a hall and the descending stairs at the end. There was a ramp in the middle of the stairs, almost like it would be for carriages or wheeled vehicles so you didn't have to deal with the bumpiness of the steps. The smell of the wax reminded me of turpentine; it wasn't long before I started sneezing. It was a pain to wax them, and my long hair kept getting into the wax. To do the job properly, you started from the wall to the middle of the hall, and you worked your way towards the doors. It didn't take long for our slippers (really, they were short socks made of the same potato-sack-fabric as our "dresses") built up a layer of wax, which made us constantly slip around. It was hours before we finished that hall and stairs and were allowed to wait on the nobles for their dinner. We the slaves had to wait until all of the nobles and soldiers finished their meals before we were even allowed to touch our own plates of food. Many of the nobles were obese and kept stuffing their faces while we were forced to watch and appease their monstrous appetites ("Would you like some more biscuits, sir?" "Would you like another bowl of soup, ma'am?" "Do you want anything else to eat?"). On top of that, we had to tell them to take their time.
Yes, hudrik-zubera [fatty that needs to die]. We want to watch you stuff your faces while we wait on what will be our meager dinner, and we want you to take forever to do it so we almost pass out of hunger. And yes, we do see the fat going straight to your hips right as we serve you even more food. We'll keep on doing it until your thighs explode. Savvy?
It became worse when alcohol got involved. The men (mostly soldiers) reached out for the female slaves and tried to touch them inappropriately. More often than not, they drank too much and barfed all over the place (guess who had to clean it up). Or they tried to break into song with their slurred speech, hiccupping, barfing, and off-key voices. It made for a cacophony that even left the mildly drunk nobles begging for mercy. Brawls were fairly common, and even the inexperienced slaves like me stayed clear of the soldiers' tables.
Aksira got so fed up with their alcohol-induced revelry that she threw fireballs at them to shut them up. She seemed like she had experience doing it. However, it was only a few minutes before the awful singing started again. Any sane person would know that if they kept it up, she would punish them severely. It was only a matter of seconds before she stood up, walked over to the soldiers' tables, and aimed a series of miniature fireballs at their tankards to burn the alcohol. They yelped and scrambled away.
"Any more singing, and next time I'll see if I can burn the alcohol out of your blood system!" she announced with clenched teeth. "YOU ARE DISMISSED!"
Applause broke out almost immediately. A small number of soldiers were so wasted that they didn't register the command and joined the clapping, cheering and muttering some slurred words that no one could understand. One of them shouted, "ENNNGOOORRRE."
The idiot was so plastered that he couldn't even say encore properly.
Unfortunately for him, Aksira granted him an encore. She unsheathed her sword and charged it with garnet-colored flames. She struck the cobblestone floor with it, and lines of flame rushed towards the remaining soldiers.
They were so drunk that it took them several seconds to register that flames were running towards them and that if they didn't want to be burned alive, they'd better run away. Or rather, stumble away, since they couldn't even walk in a straight line.
Applause broke out again, and Seto actually whistled. It shocked me until I noticed a partially drained glass of wine. It must have gotten to his head, although he didn't have that look on your face that lets everyone else know you're drunk. Then again, he probably had a migraine. I sure did after all their "singing". I supposed that it was both.
After Aksira's encore, the nobles' dinner finished quickly, and we were finally allowed to eat and go to bed.
I woke up to lights, and not the bell. Aksira was shaking us.
"What's going on?" I said groggily.
"I still have a small grudge against the soldiers for last night. I think we should use their hangovers against them. We're headed towards the kitchens for pots, pans, anything you can use that makes a loud noise, and we're going to give the soldiers a nice, loud wake up call. Deal?"
"Sure," I yawned.
Mana was giggling gleefully, while Ayari was smirking.
After putting on our slippers, we walked in silence to the kitchens and grabbed metal cookware. I grabbed a carving knife to rub against the pans Mana picked up. I was still groggy, but I was really looking forward to bursting the soldiers' eardrums. The hallways were still dark, only lit by dim torches. It was still early in the morning; the sun was barely peeking out above the horizon.
Our procession passed through the hall we had waxed the day before. I stumbled on the slippery floor, and as I tried to right myself, I slid across and went down the ramp on the staircase. I kept going faster until finally, I hit a wall. I winced, but I was too tired to cry out in pain. I would definitely get a bruise from the impact, but I was lucky enough that I didn't cut myself on the knife I was still holding.
I cursed the wax on the bottoms of my slippers and carefully made my way back up the stairs. When I reached the top, to my dismay, Aksira and my fellow slaves had vanished. I had been at the very back, so I doubted they would have noticed me slip and fall. I wandered the hall they were heading to, but there was no trace of them. I turned to a side hall and continued wandering, searching for them. I wandered for about fifteen minutes before I finally heard voices. Excited, I headed towards the source of the voices.
It was a heavy wooden double door. Something didn't seem right about the voices, so I eavesdropped.
"Where is Aksira?" a rough voice demanded.
"I personally checked her chambers. She was nowhere to be found," an old woman's voice said. "Her slaves were missing in action as well."
"Thank you, Lady Tremaine."
"Shall we start without her?"
"Certainly, Lord Braeburn."
"So, how does ze siege on Gonaga go?" an accented voice said. I gasped.
"Not well, Zigfried. The temple clerics are maintaining a strong defense of the village."
"I vas not avare zat zey vere zere."
"They were visiting for a village festival. We chose our day of attack poorly."
"Ah, I see. You vere supposed to gazzer information, vere you not, Seto?"
"They showed up on the day of the siege. There was no way I could get the message to Lord Gozaburo fast enough. I was ordered to attack that night, so I did."
"Well, you did capture slaves and that captain," the rough voice said again.
Captain? Who's he talking about?
"What is his prognosis?"
"He has remained about the same," Colan said.
"So his decline has stopped?"
"It would appear to be so."
"Keep him alive. I want information out of him. Once you've gotten it, erase his mind and we can use his skills for our militia."
There was a pause while I digested the information about Alukan, for there was no doubt that it was him who they were talking about. Then Bakura spoke.
"I hope you realize that there is an eavesdropper outside these doors waiting with a knife in hand."
I looked down in horror as I remembered the knife in my hand.
There were murmurs. "I'll take care of this," Colan snapped, and I heard a chair scrape against the floor.
"No. I'll handle the situation myself," Seto said as I heard another chair scrape.
"I'll back you up!" Colan exclaimed.
"And me," Torik said.
I dropped the knife I was holding before realizing that I would relinquish my only weapon. I grabbed it again and began to run. The doors burst open, and the two men ran out and pursued me. Running had never been my strong point, and I was notoriously poor with endurance. It was only a minute before I had a side stitch, but I dared not slow down.
I heard a voice inside my head that reminded me of thunder. I am your inner power. Release me, and all your troubles will disappear.
I realized in horror that the Blue-Eyes White Dragon was trying to make me release it. It would probably kill everyone in the vicinity, including me.
The men were gaining on me. Torik was fastest. He grabbed my arm and twisted it so hard that I dropped my knife. He punched me in the eye as hard as he could. I had trouble keeping it open after that because I was in so much pain, and I knew he gave me a black eye. He grabbed my other arm and laughed triumphantly, holding me in the air.
With my adrenaline pumping, the White Dragon's influence over me became stronger. It started giving me advice.
His arms are occupied holding yours. Strike him in the fork of his legs.
As much as I hated dragons, this one's advice was ingenious. I went to knee him in the crotch, but my foot hit his right knee instead. However, the pumping adrenaline gave me unprecedented strength, and I shattered his kneecap while my strike was still going. I still kneed him in the crotch, and he dropped me, howling in pain.
Now release me, and I can protect you. I can kill him and the other two.
The dragon's first piece of advice had saved my butt, so I decided to humor it. I wasn't sure how to release a Ka, though.
Feel your anger. Let its power course through your veins. When you feel white-hot energy, concentrate on it, and then I can take form.
I started to run again, focusing on my anger. I started to speed up, and I realized that my dragon was giving me strength. Suddenly, I felt like my blood was burning. This must have been the energy the White Dragon was talking about. I focused on it, and I started to glow white.
That's weird. Why am I glowing?
I had forgotten about my pursuers while I was focusing on my energy. Colan and Seto were both fast runners. I ran into a hall lined with ornate pottery. I looked back and saw Colan pick up a jug.
"Colan, no!" Seto yelled.
It was too late. While running, Colan heaved the jug at me, and it struck my temple; then everything went black.
Seto's pov
"Colan, no!" I yelled.
It was too late. He heaved the jug at our quarry, which hit her temple. She immediately got a concussion and passed out.
To my dismay, the white glow surrounding her became even more intense.
A pale white mist, almost like glowing fog, began to materialize above her.
"Do you know what you've done?" I yelled at Colan.
He turned tail and ran; I stayed where I was, hoping, praying that my suspicions wouldn't be proved right. The mist condensed into a draconian shape, and the glow intensified so much that I had to close my eyes. When I could finally open them, I was mortified to see that the girl had a Ka. And it wasn't just any Ka. A Blue-Eyes White Dragon had materialized above her. It roared with killing intent and looked at me with piercing blue eyes. Eyes that had the look of a beast that had been confined and abused for years until it had finally escaped, and was now willing to kill anything and everything around it in retribution for all its years of suffering.
I knew I was doomed…
I'm sorry this was so short. I couldn't think of anything to add to this, and I figured you would want updates sooner. (I actually did this whole chapter today. Aren't you proud?)
I already wrote down the next chapter in my notebook, so I just need to transfer it to the computer. It'll be done by the end of this week.
REVIEW!
