Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

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Chapter 6

The wagon hit yet another rock; the wagon lurched and caused the person locked inside the cage hiss in pain. The Prince closed his eyes as the pain receded. He had been locked in this cage for days now; he'd been pulled from his cell a few days ago and forced into the small cage. From there he had been marched out of Rome. He was marching with the Roman General, Potitus Olcinus Cinna, and his armies. Some of the legionaries were marching behind the wagon and the others were in front of the wagon. The men following the wagon took to staring at the Prince; it was rather unnerving for Atem as he was getting sick of being stared at. Over the past three months he had been paraded around the city like an animal on the days were he hadn't been being beaten by the soldiers. He'd been forced to march around the entire city, with his bare feet until his feet bled. As he marched round the people had jeered at him, some had even thrown things at him. The cuts and bruises he received from that were not as bad as the beating. Those beatings sometimes involved a whip, so his back was now covered in long cuts and blood stained the back of his ripped tunic. Every time the wagon lurched one of the bars of the cage knocked into his cut back, sometimes reopening some of the wounds on his back. When the next lurch came Atem felt the skin break and blood roll down his back. As he opened his eyes he saw the closest legionaries sniggering at him. He took no notice of them; he was used to the Romans laughing at his pain by now. He repositioned himself slightly and gazed out of the side of the cage. But there was not much to see just a sea of flat green land. The sun was beginning to set; the sky had streaks of orange across it. They had been on the road for days now; sometimes he would fall asleep and woke up to find that they were still marching. How the Romans coped with that he did not know, maybe this was hope they disciplined their soldiers. But still the soldiers were only human and surely would need to stop and rest and some point. It was as though they had been reading his mind as all of a sudden they stopped. Atem peered out of his cage trying to see why they had stopped. He could just about see a wall of wood, which didn't really help to identify where they were. There was another lurch of the wagon and it began to move. They moved past the wooden walls where a small group of Roman soldiers stood guarding the enterance. The marching soldiers began removing their kit, intent on getting some rest. All around him the soldiers were settling in, this was obviously where they were going to rest for a while. The wagon had been abandoned by the drivers, the horses had been moved somewhere else to rest. Atem looked around; he saw the General walking away without looking back. No one had thought about the Prince in the cage, no one cared.

As the hours past the temperature dropped. There was a distant fire and the sounds of men laughing, enjoying being in the warmth, but in the cage the Prince shivered uncontrollably. Being from the desert he was not used to these temperatures. He wanted to rub his arms to try and generate some warmth but his hands were bound in front of him so that was impossible. The cold made his wounds sting, it was rather uncomfortable and he would rather it stopped but he would not show that he was in pain. He would not give the Romans the satisfaction of that. He may be a prisoner but he would still not submit to his captors. For a few more minutes the only sounds were of the fire, the sounds of men laughing and the Prince's shivering. But that was soon interrupted by the sounds of horns and men crying out. It wasn't a cry of sadness it was a battle cry. Over the top of the walls came a hail storm of stones came flying, showering the Roman camp. Around the cage the Romans were rushing around. Some units of soldiers had formed up and were advancing towards the incoming threat. Others were rushing trying to find their units whilst pulling on their armour. More stones came flying over the walls, somehow one managed to slip past the bars on the cage. It struck the Prince in the head; he blacked out and knew no more.

Potitus came hurrying out of his quarters pulling his helmet on. It was lucky that he had been still in his armour when he got word of the attack. A nearby commander rushed over with a horse for the General. Potitus mounted and rushed to rally the men. The main fight was at the main entrance to their fort. The Roman Legions had rushed the entrance meaning that their attackers were struggling to push through. Potitus sat astride his horse at a relatively safe distance that the enemy could not shoot things at him but at the same time he was close enough to his men to encourage them. Another commander came running over to him.

"General! The enemy seem to all be pushing this entrance. All the men are focused on this entrance."

"What?" Potitus spat, "Are you telling me, Centurion, that our flanks are exposed!"

The Centurion looked uneasy, he opened his mouth to respond but then there was a loud cry of somewhere on their right. Potitus was fuming.

"Get men to our flanks this instance and secure them."

Without another word the Centurion hurried away. Potitus glared after the Centurion, one mistake now could mean they abandon the fort. His men were holding which was good but if their flanks were not secure the enemy could overwhelm them. More men on horseback had joined him at this point. Potitus reared his horse with a shout of;

"Victory!"

There was an answering battle cry from his men and Potitus led his men into battle.

The battle didn't take long, in fact it turned around very quickly and the Romans took minimal damage. The opposing force to the Romans, the Gauls, had pushed one of their flanks but they had been defeated pretty quickly. The Gauls had caused some damage when they were momentarily unopposed. They had burnt some of the tents and pushed over a cage where the Prince had been. The Prince had apparently been unconscious at the time so the Gauls hadn't touched him, thinking that a mere Roman prisoner was already dead. But the encounter had left the Prince was a cut on the side of his head from where the rock had struck him and another from the contact with the metal bar of the cage when it had fallen. Potitus was planning a counter strike against the Gauls and he marched his men out of the fort the following morning. Seeing as they had recently taken a main settlement from the Gauls Potitus was not surprised by their attack. But he needed to draw out the main army from the Gauls as the Emperor was traveling from Rome intent on seeing the new settlement for himself. So it was essential that he engaged and destroyed the main Gaul resistance or it would not be safe for the Emperor. The Gauls took the bait and not a day after the attack on the fort a scout informed Potitus that large Gaul army was heading their way. His plan had worked.

Potitus was mounted on his horse, waiting. In front of him his legion were formed up and eager for battle. They knew that the Gaul army was not far away so it was a waiting game at the moment. He was sure that this battle would be another easy win for them; the Gauls were not really a threat. But if they were then he could call on another legion which was waiting in reserve. With that legion was a certain Prince of Egypt. Potitus wanted the Prince to see the power that was Rome. He wanted the Prince to admit to himself and his people that the might of Rome was not to be questioned. In the distance there was a sudden war cry. Potitus smirked slightly.

"Theirs's is not a subtle approach." He said.

"Sound very much like a herd of elephants, sir." A horseman replied.

"Elephants that fight like flies, easily squashed." Another added.

There was laughter from the men around him, Potitus had shared a smile.

"Right men." He said, calling for quiet, "Let's give it to them."

Atem was in his cage, gazing around at the men around him. This legion seemed to be on edge, all of them had their weapons in hand and seemed to be waiting for something to happen. As far as he understood, the Romans were engaging their enemy and this legion was merely waiting for it to end. The Prince did not know much about what happened, he'd woken many hours after the battle to find that his cage had been knocked over and Potitus was standing over him. No one had explained to him what happened, why would they? He was a mere prisoner. As soon as another wagon became available he was dumped into a new cage and placed upon said wagon and they had begun to march again. Atem's eyes locked with a nearby soldier, the same soldier who had cut his skin open when he'd first arrived. He was staring at him when such intensity. Atem sighed, what was he planning this time. He was about to say something to the solider when there were the sounds of approaching horses. The Prince looked around to see Potitus racing over, he was slightly blooded but Atem suspected that none of it was his own. The waiting soldiers looked at their General, they were not sure whether they were going to be called into action or whether the battle was won.

"VICTORY!" Potitus cried, punching the air with his fist.

The legion cheered and pumped the air with their fists. Potitus dismounted and approached the Prince, kneeling in front of the cage.

"Well Little Rat, you will witness the outcome of this battle."

Potitus motioned for the Prince to be removed from the cage. Two soldiers pulled the Prince roughly from the cage. Potitus had moved back to his horse and mounted it. Atem's legs were stiff having been in a bent position for days, so as he was pulled over to the horse his legs roared in protested. A rope was attached to his bound hands which were then attached to the side of Potitus' saddle. The rope pulled painfully on Atem's hands as Potitus set off. The cheers of the men followed them as they made their way towards the battlefield. It was difficult to keep up with the horse as a horse moved quicker than a human. He stumbled every so often and the ropes pulled painfully on his wrists. In the distant there was black smoke rising into the early afternoon sun. His attention was so focused on the smoke which meant that he failed to watch where he was walking. His foot caught on something and he fell over. Time seemed to slow as he opened his eyes and saw what he had fallen on. Eyes were staring back at him, eyes which were open and unseeing. Atem just stared at the fallen enemy soldier. Shock entered his system, his bound hands were shaking. There was a sharp tug on his wrists as the horse dragged him on. Atem was still in shock so he didn't attempt to try and stand, which would have been impossible anyway. He felt sharp things cut into him as he was dragged over the battleground, he felt his skin break and bleed but the shock what had just happened was still affecting him. He had just managed to regain control of himself when the horse stopped and Potitus dismounted. Another Roman dragged Atem to his feet while Potitus untied the rope securing him to the horse. Atem looked around, he was still shaking slightly. Bodies littered the ground, disguaded weapons lay everywhere. It was a frightening sight to behold.

"Look Little Rat, this is the might of Rome." Potitus said a smug tone in his voice.

Atem made no answer, just continued to around.

"This is what will happen to your people if they do not submit to us. We will crush them like the bugs they are and you… you will join them."

Atem looked at Potitus, he gave no impression that those words had affected him, but they had.

"Well Done General." A voice behind him said.

Turning Potitus saw the Emperor approaching him.

"Thank You Emperor, I was unaware you would get here so soon."

"I heard about this battle and hurried, wanting to see this for myself." He gestured to the fallen bodies on the ground.

He then walked around the General to where a commander was waiting with a couple of legionaries. Potitus followed the Emperor pulling the Prince behind him. The Prince's eyes fell on three people on their knees by the legionaries. All three showed signs of being in the battle and were bound; they all wore scared expressions on their faces. One of them looked directly at Atem.

"General, what are you going to do with these captives?"

"I am considering slavery but I feel they may be dangerous."

"I agree, as well we must show people are might."

The Emperor looked at the Prince, a smirk on his face. There was a certain expression on his face but Atem, still in a state of shock, did not notice it. Potitus motioned to his commander, who pulled out his sword. The Prince looked away; he did not want to watch what was going to happen. Potitus and the Emperor, however, did not look away. There was the sound of cries coming from the three men but then silence. The Prince closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to remain in control. Around him men were cheering, celebrating another victory.

"This." The Emperor proclaimed, "Is the might of Rome! Furture enemies take note! This is what happens when you cross us."

The Emperor made eye contact with Atem again. The Prince knew what that meant, he was being warned that if his people tried to rescue him then the Romans would wipe them off the face of the Earth. It was all over for him, he would not allow his people to be wiped out because of him. He was to be a prisoner of the Romans forever, it was all over.

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Thanks for Reviewing: Viofan238, Luckycat, xXAmethystCrimsonXx, Atem no koibito, dman-san

I would like to thank all of my reviewers for your amazing reviews, your kind words really inspired me to keep going so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

A bit of Atem action there, don't panic he's not broken yet! Just a little shocked!

I shall be back as soon as I can with more!

See Ya Soooon!

~RedRosePetal