Chapter 5


Disclaimer : I Don't own Yu Gi Oh!


Thought

Letter

-Telephone-

"Dialogue"

"Egyptian Language"

Emphasis

Dangerous tone


Teach Me How To Read Hieroglyphs


Gah! Stupid of me! What in the world had I done?! Yugi screamed inside his head as he banged his head to his Chamber's door, Questioning a Pharaoh? Really? Man! It's as if I asked him to kill me!

Yugi was in an adrenaline rush before, that's why he didn't think of the consequence of such an act, that's why he even dare to backtalking all those people. But now that he had calm down, all his words were crashing done to him and he felt like kicking himself in the ass. How could he did all that? How could he questioned the Pharaoh in public like that? Even though it's true what he said was necessary to be said to the Pharaoh, he should at least wait until he got the chance to talk alone with the Pharaoh!

Stupid, stupid, stupid,stupid, stupid, stupid . . .

"Yugi?"

Stupid, stupid, stupid,stupid, stupid, stupid . . .

"Yugi . . .?"

He stopped banging his head to his door, did he imagining the call?

"Yugi, are you in there?"

There, he didn't imagining things, he really did hear the Pharaoh's voice at the other side of his door.

Yugi inhaled deeply and prepared himself for the worst possible outcome of his action and opened the door then bowed to the Pharaoh, "Yes, Pharaoh?" He asked politely.

"What did I say?" The pharaoh asked, "I already said that I give you permission to call me by my name, Yugi".

Yugi looked at Atem's eyes shyly, "I thought that you are angry at me for my earlier action." He said sheepishly.

Atem smiled at him, "And how do you think I would react to that scolding?" He asked amusedly.

Yugi blushed, "I thought that you would have my head for that." He admitted honestly, causing the Pharaoh to pout, surprisingly, at him, "I mean, I did interrupted your Court by questioning your judgement and so on, so I thought that I had somehow breaking a law or something that would have me dead".

"I'm not heartless." Atem grumbled with a pout before smiling at Yugi, "What you did is not something that would require a punishment from my opinion, you simply taught me that I need to think for myself, to judge the criminals and punish them fairly. I couldn't let my Councils to decide what punishment is best for the criminals just because I'm bad at thinking of a punishment for a crime".

"Eh?" Yugi asked in surprise, "Really?".

"Yeah, that's the reason I asked my Councils what kind of punishment should befall the criminals." Atem confirmed with a nod, "That's why, there's no way I would punish you for teaching me something that I need to know. On the opposite, I'm grateful to you, Yugi." He smiled at the confused boy, "Thank you".

Yugi stared at Atem for a few seconds before he chuckled, "You're welcome." He answered in amusement.

Atem chuckled, "You must be very worried since then." He commented with a grin, "Well, I came here aside to thank you, I also want to ask if you would like to have dinner with me? In my Private Garden".

Yugi's eyes widened as he looked at Atem, "Your Private Garden?" He asked in surprise, Atem nodded in answer, Yugi bit his lower lip before he nodded, "Thank you." He said softly.

Atem smiled, "Oh, I moved your room." He said cheerfully, "Please follow me, I will show you your new room, so you can get changed into another clothes".

"But I don't have any other clothes." Yugi answered in confusion.

Atem chuckled in amusement, "Of course, I know that." He said with a nod, "I had ordered the Seamstress to make some clothes suitable for you while you are here." He explained, "She works fast, so I figured that she would be done by now and the clothes already being brought to your new bed Chamber".

Yugi smiled, "Thank you for your generosity." He said with a bow to the Pharaoh, "I really appreciate it, Atem".

Atem grinned, "Let's go then." He said and lead the way to Yugi's new bedroom.

XXXXX

"How is your sleep, Prince Yugi?" Mahad asked him right after he stepped into the Magic Training Ground, "Ah, I see that the Seamstress had finished your Royal outfit".

Indeed, what Yugi was wearing was something that looked like what Atem usually wore, only with less gold and the difference in color. Atem's cape was dark blue while his cape was light purple, Atem's upper cloth was light brown colored while his was black colored, and Atem's Shendyt was light brown and soft blue in color while his was black and amethyst in color. He didn't have any Jewelry with him save for his clipped on Golden earrings, the earrings with the Sun God engraved on it as a sign that he was recognized as a Prince in Egypt.

Yugi groaned, "Please, High Priest Mahad, call me Yugi." He complained with a pout, "Throw away that Prince stuff, I'm Yugi, only a normal boy Yugi no matter what outfit I wear, so just call me Yugi and not Prince Yugi".

Mahad chuckled at his respond while Mana, who was practicing her Magic, giggled and then her magic failed, the ball of water she tried to maintain floating above the pond dropped back into the pond. "Oops." Mana said sheepishly.

Mahad sighed, "Mana, you have to stay focused on your Magic even when you are talking with someone." He said patiently.

Mana laughed, "Well, I couldn't help it, I was reminded of Atem's reluctance to be called a Prince too in the past, and when he was newly crowned as a Pharaoh too." She said cheerfully.

"He did?" Yugi asked in surprise.

"Yeah." Mahad answered with a smile, "I know him since childhood, and just like Mana said, he was so reluctant to be called a Prince or a Pharaoh".

"Wow, I didn't know that there's a born Prince who is reluctant to be called by their tittle." Yugi commented before shrugging, "Well, every person have different personality, so I guess it's normal".

Mahad raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you an easygoing one?" He asked with an amused smile.

Yugi grinned, "Because in my time, my Older Cousin prefers to be called by Mister Kaiba or Kaiba instead of his first name, while I prefers to be called by my first name than with a Mister, my other Cousin is fine with both." He explained, "So it's not really surprising if there's a Prince who dislike to be called by his tittle".

Mahad nodded in understanding, "Let's start with your training then." He started before sending a look at Mana, who started over her own training right away, "We will start by finding your Magical Energy within your body and then summon your Ka".

"How to do it?" Yugi asked cutely with his head cocked to the side.

"With meditation." Mahad answered, "You may find a nice spot to sit and closed your eyes, emptied your mind so you could feel the pulse of Magic within you." He explained, "After you succeed in doing so, I will instruct you on how to summon your Ka".

"Meditation, huh? I guess it's not so hard." Yugi mumbled, he saw Mahad raised an eyebrow at him and explained, "My job back in my own time could be very stressful, I often went to meditation class to relax my mind, so I'm not a stranger to meditation".

"That's good then." Mahad nodded and gestured for him to find a spot he could sat on.

Yugi looked around and decided to sit below a tree, the Magic Training Ground was made to be like in the garden, so it's pretty comfy. He settled into a comfortable position before closing his eyes and began the meditation, throwing away all thoughts from his mind and focusing to find something that was usually overlooked by him.

It took a long time, or felt like a long time anyway, but he finally found what he was looking for. A pulse like a heart beat, warm and so comforable, deep within his consciousness. He would missed it if he didn't purposefully searching for it.

Mahad clapped his hands, "Very good." His words make him opened his eyes to see Mahad smiling at him, "You are very talented it seems, you had found your Magic within your body a lot sooner than other people, even Mana".

Yugi rubbed his eyes to rid of the sleepiness he had gained after closing his eyes for a long time, "I'm glad to hear it." He answered and stood up.

"Now, let's see if you can summon your Ka." Mahad said with a smile, "All you had to do is concentrating on your Magic and called out the name of your Ka, considering that your Ka had awakened and you had summoned him once even though it was done by your subconscious, there's no need for you to awaken your Ka anymore".

Yugi hummed in thought, "I wonder if I only need to call out his name like when I summoned him in a Duel?" He asked himself in Japanese as he looked at Silent Magician Card on the top of his deck.

"Excuse me, but I don't understand what you had just said." Mahad said with a raised eyebrow.

Yugi looked at Mahad and smiled, "It's not important, so it's alright." He answered in Egyptian and looked down at his Silent Magician Card again, he nodded to himself and took the Card from the top of his deck before he put his deck into his pocket again. He inhaled deeply and raised the Card on top of his head, "Silent Magician!" He called out using Japanese, since he was used to summon a Monster with his native language, all the time focusing on the warmth in his chest, his Magic.

A gust of wind circled around him before he saw the Card in his hand glowed and Silent Magician appeared, hovering in the air in front of him.

"Impossible!" Mana yelled out in shock, "He could summoned his Ka on first try?!".

Mahad nodded and clapped his hands again, "As I thought, you had a great potential in Magic." He said with a satisfied smile, "With more training, I'm sure you could surpass Mana easily".

"Master!" Mana protested with a pout.

Mahad chuckled, "It's the truth, Mana." He answered calmly, "You are just too lazy, if you continue like this, Yugi would be able to surpass you in just a month or so".

"Fine!" Mana huffed, "I will train harder, I won't lose to Yugi!" She then concentrating on her training again.

"Don't you think you were teasing her a bit too much?" Yugi asked Mahad, "It's impossible for me to surpass her in just a month." He looked at Mahad with a raised eyebrow as he hugged Silent Magician, the small Magician was too cute for him to ignore.

"It's not impossible." Mahad answered with a smile, "And I meant what I said, you could surpass Mana in just a month if she continued playing around like before".

Yugi wanted to argue, but he heard footsteps and looked up at the entrance to see Atem walking to them with a smile, "How is the training going?" He asked curiously.

"Everything's going alright, Pharaoh." Mahad answered with a bow, "Yugi is a very talented Magician, he could find the Magic within him in just a half hour and he could summon his Ka on his first try, I say he could surpass Mana in about a month, if Mana keep playing with her training, that is".

Atem chuckled, "Mana is still so easy going as usual." He commented before looking at Yugi, "I came here to ask something. Yugi, would you like to come and see the village with me? I'm sure this will be a valuable experience for you to learn our culture".

Yugi gasped in surprise before he grinned widely, "Sure, I would love to!" He answered enthusiastically before Silent Magician disappeared and the glow on his Card faded, he put the Card into his pocket with his deck and walked to Atem, "When are we going?".

"Now." Atem answered before he nodded at Mahad and waved at Mana, "Let's go, I had a servant to prepare us the horses already".

They rode the horses to the village and asking question to each other along the way, Yugi was too excited about going to the village that he didn't noticed that there were some guards following after them, or the fact that he was still wearing his Royal outfit instead of the clothes he wore when he arrived in Ancient Egypt.

"Woah, so big." Yugi said in awe as he looked around the village.

People were walking here and there, busy with their own stuffs to do, but when the people saw them, they moved aside and bowed, showing their respect to the Pharaoh.

"What are we going to do here, Pharaoh?" Yugi asked excitedly, he called Atem as Pharaoh since they were in public.

Atem understand this and could only sighed silently, "Looking around for something to buy, it's a long time since I take a break." He replied before he climbed down from his horse, Yugi followed his lead, "Also, I want to buy something for you, so feel free to tell me if you see something that catch your interest".

Yugi looked at Atem in surprise, "But why?" He asked in confusion, "I mean, it's not like you had to get me something".

"Because I want to." Atem answered calmly, "There's nothing wrong with giving your friend something, right?".

"I guess not." Yugi answered with a smile before looking around.

Yugi was fascinated with everything he saw, he wondered how the people from Ancient Egypt could make something so beautifully and so detailed without any advanced technology from the future. His eyes were sparkling when he saw the fabrics with a very detailed design, they were as beautiful as the fabrics made with advanced technology from his time.

When he was looking at the stand that was selling jewelry though, his eyes were glued to a pair of arm bands. The arm bands were not made from Gold like any other arm bands, the pair that were catching his interest were made from Silver with the Eye of Horus engraved on them. He heard that Silver was harder to get than Gold in Egypt, that's why almost all of the jewelry in Egypt were made from Gold, only the Pharaoh had some jewelry made from Silver.

"Do you like those ones?" Atem's voice cause him to jumped, he looked beside him to see that Atem was looking at the arm bands as well, while munching on an apple.

"They caught my interest." Yugi answered with a smile, "Where did you get the apple?".

"The fruit merchant over there gave me a bunch, why don't you try some?" Atem asked as he pointed at one of the guards who was carrying a basket of apple, along with many other stuffs Atem bought while Yugi was fascinated with everything he saw.

Yugi sweat dropped, "When did you get all of them?" He asked as he took an apple for himself, "I didn't see you buy them at all".

"Of course not, you were busy looking at anything and everything in here." Atem answered with a chuckle, before looking at the man selling jewelry, "How much are they?" He asked.

"20 Gold coins, Your Majesty." The man answered politely with a bow.

Yugi frowned as he heard that, as much as he didn't know anything about Ancient Egypt, he know that such an amount was too cheap for something made from Silver, a rare metal in Egypt. Could it be that this man lowered the price because it's Atem who buy them? He looked at where a woman who sell fruits that Atem pointed at, he frowned again when he saw the woman was so skinny, as if she didn't get enough food.

"What are you looking at, Yugi?" Atem asked curiously.

Yugi turned to look at Atem and smiled, "Nothing." He answered calmly, "Just looking around, I never came here before, remember?".

Atem smiled back at him and nodded, "That's right, I want to let you look around as much as you want, but sadly we had to return soon, or else Seth would scold me again." He chuckled before offering the arm bands to Yugi, "For you".

Yugi's eyes widened, "You sure?" He asked in surprise, he thought that Atem was joking about buying him something.

"Of course." Atem answered with a smile.

"Thank you." Yugi answered with a smile as well as he accepted the arm bands, he wore them immediately, "They are beautiful".

"Indeed." Atem agreed before they rode their horses again and heading for the Palace.

Yugi looked around again as they rode slowly to the Palace, now that he paid more attention to the people, he saw more and more oddity happened. Such as the normal people acting as if they were scared of the Pharaoh, considering that Atem was so kind and friendly, albeit still naive about ruling a Country, so why would they fear him? There's the fact that the peasants were more skinny than the rich people, too skinny even, until the level of unhealthy.

I guess, I can't do anything about it, for now. Yugi thought before focusing ahead of them, I have to find out the reason first.

After they arrived at the Palace, Seth immediately scolded Atem about leaving his duty behind, he then forced Atem to attend his lessons so he would have more knowledge about being a Pharaoh. Yugi raised an eyebrow at the sight, but Mahad said that something like that was not unusual and said that Yugi had to resume his training.

"Okay, that's enough for today." Mahad said with a smile after Yugi successfully controlling his Ka's movement and his Special Ability.

"Moo, Yugi is so strong, he could do all that in just a day!" Mana complained with a pout, "I thought I was the most talented Magician after Master, but now Yugi appeared and took my place".

"Don't be so childish." Mahad scolded her with an amused smile, "Yugi is at the level of a Prince, so of course you couldn't compete with him in the matter of talent, but you could still compete with him in the matter of skill".

Mana pouted and crossed her arms, "But you praised him so much, and you never praise me at all." She argued.

Yugi chuckled, "Maybe it's because you always messing around with your Magic?" He teased, "No one would praise someone who make a mess, right?".

Mana sighed, "I guess I really have to stop playing around so much and focusing more on my training." She grumbled before going off to train herself, "I will definitely able to lift a pot without destroying it this time!".

Mahad looked at Yugi, "You could coaxed her to stop playing around so much?" He asked in disbelief, "Not even I could do it".

Yugi chuckled, "What can I say? I'm just good with talking children to do something." He answered cheekily, "Mana is so easy going like a child, she would playing around even more if you scold her all the time, but if you simply tease her until she want to show you that she could do something right, she would surely train herself more seriously without you having to order her around".

Mahad raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have a weakness or something?" He asked curiously, "You are wiser than most children, you act so mature that you could put adult to shame, you are smart, and you are definitely talented in Magic".

Yugi laughed in response, "You really think so?" He asked in surprise, Mahad nodded, he shook his head, "You got it all wrong." He said with a grin, "I'm too used in acting this way because people wouldn't want to listen to my order if I don't show them that I understand what I'm talking about." He looked at Mahad with a big grin, "The real me is only an easy going boy, who love to play games and do as he please. The reason why you saw me like that is because you have yet to successfully pulling out my childish side. No one in this world is perfect, that's why I'm not perfect either." He bowed to Mahad, "I will take my leave then, High Priest Mahad".

Yugi turned around and left the Magic Training Ground and head for his room, he took a short bath before heading to the Dinning Room since he was hungry. He met up with Atem and they have a short chat before Atem retreated to his Bed Chamber, after Dinner, he headed out to the library, there's something he want to find out.

If my guess is right, the answer to my suspicion will be in the tax system. Yugi thought as he entered the library, as soon as he entered the library though, he remembered the biggest problem he had at hand, he didn't know how to read Hieroglyphs yet! He turned around and walked to the door before banging his head to the door, "Gah! Stupid me!" He scolded himself in Japanese out of his frustration.

"Why in the world would you bang your head to the door?" A curious voice caused him to jumped in place before turning around to see that Shimon was reading a scroll not too far from the entrance.

"Ah, Adviser Shimon." Yugi greeted him sheepishly, "Good Evening".

"Good Evening." Shimon answered, "But you didn't answer me yet, why did you do that?".

Yugi sighed, "I did it in my frustration." He admitted, "I want to read something but I just remember that I couldn't read Hieroglyphs".

Shimon chuckled, "Well, there's no need to banging your head to the door then." He said in amusement, "Come here, I will teach you how to read".

Yugi looked at Shimon in surprise, "Really?" He asked as he walked to where Shimon sat, "But what about your work?".

Shimon chuckled again, "I'm not working at the moment, just reading yesterday's report." He explained as he searched around before finding what he was searching for, "Here is the scroll we use to teach the children, let's see if you can keep up as fast as you did with your Magic Training".

Yugi blushed, "I'm not that fast." He argued with a pout, "I just happen to have a good knack in doing Magic, that's all".

"Well, let's get start, shall we?" Shimon asked with a warm smile.

And so, with Shimon guide him and taught him about Hieroglyphs, Yugi managed to mastered how to read and write Hieroglyphs in just a short amount of time. Thanks to Shimon's skill in teaching people, Yugi could read and write Hieroglyphs by the end of the week.

Now that he could read perfectly, Yugi was back in the library and reading a scroll about the decisions being made in the last year regarding the tax system and the laws, from when Atem's Father was ruling over Egypt to when Atem ruled Egypt until now.

"Hmm, as I thought, Atem really is being used . . . by who though? I couldn't find any clue about who did it, but I'm sure it's one of the Councils who aren't childhood friends with Atem. Because if they are his childhood friends, they wouldn't do something like this." Yugi mumbled in Japanese, to make sure whoever accidentally heard him wouldn't understand what he was talking about, as he rolled up the scroll and put it back to where he got it in the first place. Yugi sighed before he left the library, I have to open Atem's eyes, or he might become a puppet until the end.


To be continued . . .


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