Chapter 7
Disclaimer : I Don't own Yu Gi Oh!
Thought
Letter
-Telephone-
"Dialogue"
"Egyptian Language"
Emphasis
Dangerous tone
The Storm Is Approaching
They went back to the Palace and Yugi brought Atem to his room after they both changed their attires, Atem was furious when he read the report Yugi mentioned, which the boy hid very cleverly in the bottom of his bag, but he knew that anger wouldn't solve anything. Thinking quickly of how to help his people, Atem held an immediate meeting with all of his High Priests and High Priestess presented, while he asked for Yugi to accompany him during the meeting for a support.
"My Pharaoh, My Prince." Shimon bowed to him and Yugi, "If you would be kind enough, please enlighten us the reason why you hold this meeting so suddenly, when you had make it clear that you want to rest for the day".
Even though Shimon said that, there's a glint in his eyes that told Atem that he, somehow, know what was going on. Atem just nodded in answer before looking at all of them from his Throne, "The reason why I hold this meeting is to announce something to you all." He explained with a voice filled with authority that he rarely used, "I will raise the tax-".
"My Pharaoh!" Seth interrupted with a stern face, "Our people already suffered enough, you can't increase their burden like that!".
Atem raised his hand and nodded to his Cousin, "I know that, Cousin." He reassured him, "But please listen to my words before you say your opinion." He said firmly before looking at each one of his Council so that all of them understand that the message applied for them as well, "Like I said, I will raise the tax, but for the people who are rich. For the people who are poor and only have enough to feed themselves, I will lower the tax for them." He looked at them all, "Now, is there any of you who object to my decision?".
"I support you in this matter then." Seth said with a sigh before smiling at Atem, "This is the first time you make a wise decision, Cousin".
Isis chuckled, "Agreed to that." She said cheerfully.
"I have to agree to that." Mahad said with a nod of his head.
The rest followed and said their agreement and praised Atem for his decision, Atem smiled at them all and shook his head, "The sole reason why I could make a decision like this is because Yugi had opened my eyes to the truth." He said honestly to them all, "I had been so blind to the truth all this time, by believing that my people had been living peacefully without any problem, I didn't even know that my people are suffering".
"And here we tried so many times but you refused to listen to us." Seth said with a shake of his head.
Atem pouted, "It's all your fault too, if only you would let me go to the Market that time, when I dressed myself as a commoner, then I would see this problem sooner." He complained to defend himself.
"You shouldn't blame others for your own mistake, Pharaoh." Shimon gently scolded him with an amused smile.
Atem pouted even more in answer while Yugi chuckled at the sight, "Anyway, I hold the meeting was for that only, so I will take my break again." Atem said before looking at Seth, "Oh, and Seth, follow me to my room, there's something I want to talk to you about".
"Understood." Seth answered calmly and he, along with Yugi, followed Atem out of the Throne Room and to the Pharaoh's Royal Chamber, "So, what is it, Cousin?" He asked to the point as he closed the door behind him.
"Well, I already said that Yugi opened my eyes to the truth, right?" Atem started, earning a nod from Seth, he looked at Yugi and Yugi handed him the scroll, he then handed the scroll to Seth, "Yugi was, indeed, opened my eyes to the truth, but he also found out something that need an investigation upon it along the way".
Seth frowned and unrolled the scroll, his eyebrow raised, "Isn't this the report on your decision regarding the taxes?" He asked as he looked at Atem in confusion, "What's with this?".
"Read the report on the decision being made soon after he became the Pharaoh." Yugi explained calmly as he flopped down on Atem's bed, Atem soon joined him.
Seth looked down at the scroll again and read the information written on it before he gasped, "What?!" He exclaimed in shock before looking at Atem, "You . . . you raised the taxes?!".
"Not me." Atem answered seriously, "That is why this report is in need of further investigation, I never raised the taxes, let alone the other thing." He pointed at another scroll on his working desk, "A law was being made stating that the merchants had to lower the price of their merchandise when dealing with the people from the Palace, and before you ask, I never ordered for something like that to be made".
Seth's eyes widened as he stared at Atem in shock, "You are kidding." He breathed softly, Atem shook his head in answer, "But . . . this mean that there's a traitor among the Council, because only the one from the Council could do something like this".
"Yes, that's why I called you here." Atem agreed wit a nod, "You are good at observing people, so I chose you to invesigate this case and find out the traitor".
Seth's face set in a determined expression, "Count on me, I will find this traitor as soon as I could." He promised.
Atem and Yugi grinned at him, "We are counting on you!" They said together with a cheerful tone.
Seth smirked, "Right, count on me." He said as he rolled up the scroll in his hand and picked up the one on the desk, "Oh, do you want to ask for Shimon to check on the other stuffs in Library? To see if there's another fake order being made".
"Already done." Yugi said cheekily, "I had explained everything to Shimon the night before today, he helped me a lot in this, so he already know that there's something fishy happened behind the Pharaoh's back".
"You are so reliable, Yugi." Atem said in awe before yelping in surprise when Yugi flicked his finger on Atem's forehead, "What did you do that for?" He asked in confusion to the boy.
Yugi moved his finger from side to side, "No, no. You shouldn't rely on me, you had to start taking your position seriously, or your people might accuse me for using you." He said with a cheeky grin, "And so, let us see how much I can change that childish mind of yours before I have to return to my own time".
Somehow, Atem felt a shiver when Yugi said that. Seth, on the other hand, only laughed before shaking his head and left the room.
XXXXX
Months had passed, Atem become more mature and more responsible as a Pharaoh, by days passed, he grew more mature and wiser with Yugi there to guide him. No one know why Atem would listen to Yugi when he wouldn't listen to anyone else, but they let it go since Yugi never did anything bad and only change Atem for the better, Yugi had gained respects from the people because of it. The poor boy always felt annoyed every time the people would bow to him when he walked pass them, and there's nothing he could do to change it.
"You have that face when you are annoyed." Shimon said with a chuckle when Yugi entered the Library with his half pouting and half glaring face on, "What's happened this time?".
"The usual." Yugi answered with a sigh, "The people kept bowing to me whenever I go, no matter what I said to them".
Shimon only shook his head, "Now, what are you going to do with these again?" He asked as he motioned to the pile of scrolls on the table, "Are we going to making some research again?".
"No." Yugi answered with a shake of his head, he then shot the old man a big grin, "Back in my own time, I want to be an archaeologist like my late Grandpa. Well, now that I'm in Ancient Egypt itself, I want to learn as many as I could, from the scrolls and by watching with my own eyes." He explained as he picked some of them before returning them to the shelves in the Library, he then took more from the shelves once he finished returning the ones he had read earlier.
Shimon's eyes widened, "Do you mean . . . you already finished reading everything?" He asked in shock at the boy.
Yugi nodded, he opened the scroll and began reading, "I'm used with reading a more complicate stuffs, so this much is nothing compared to the complicate Math formulas." He said absent-mindedly as his eyes moving along the writting on the scroll, then picked another one and began reading again.
Shimon shook his head in wonder at the speed Yugi showed with his reading, "Well, I think I'm going to read more about the decisions being made in the past month." He announced and did just that.
For a long time they read the scrolls in quiet, Shimon because he know that Yugi wouldn't answer him when he was like that, while Yugi was just to engrossed with his reading to remember that he was not alone. So quiet it was, they jumped a foot in the air and get a fright of their life when a voice suddenly rang from the door, "Yugi, are you in here?".
They calmed themselves and looked at the door to find Seth walking into the Library once he saw Yugi, "Yes?" Yugi asked as he rolled up the scroll he was reading, "Is there something that I can help you with?".
"It's about the Pharaoh's Birthday Celebration." Seth answered with a smile. One other thing that caused the people to get shocked about Yugi was because he could make Seth to smile at him easily, instead of just the smirk he showed anyone else aside from Atem. "You are good at arranging stuffs, so we want to ask for you help with decorating the Palace for the Celebration".
Yugi's eyes widened, "Wait, you said the Pharaoh's Birthday Celebration?" He asked in surprise.
Seth nodded, "Yes, in a month away from now." He answered before raising his eyebrow, "He didn't tell you about it?".
Yugi shook his head, "No." He mumbled in thought, "The last time we talk, it's about what kind of games there is in my time".
Seth sighed, "You and Atem . . . you like games so much, huh?" He muttered to himself before looking at Yugi again, "Well, we need your help, so . . . will you come?".
Yugi nodded, "Yes." He said as he stood up, he turned to Shimon and nodded to the oldman before leaving with Seth, "Where is the Celebration will be held?".
"At the Hall, it's the biggest place in the Palace." Seth told him and then continued with what he was planning on doing before asking for Yugi's opinion.
XXXXX
Yugi finally finished with the details of where he want everything and head out to Atem's working room, he need to get something for Atem's Birthday, and he need to go to the Market to get the item he had in mind.
"No." Atem said sternly as soon as Yugi said that he wanted to go to the Market by himself.
"But-" Yugi started to protest, but Atem didn't let him.
"No buts, Yugi." Atem frowned at him, "You don't know how dangerous it is for you to go alone, I will come with you, wait a bit more and we will be ready to go".
"But you are needed here." Yugi protested, "I already told the others about the arrangement, but you need to see it for yourself and give your opinion. I don't want to bother you with something trivial, Atem".
"No, Yugi, it's dangerous." Atem argued, "What if you get attacked by thieves? What if you get lost? What if you met with a corrupted merchant? What if-".
"You can stop with the What Ifs, Cousin." Seth's voice entered from the doorway, they looked up to see the man entered the room while carrying some fruits. "Here is some food for you, Atem, you need them if you plan on pulling all nighters tonight. I will accompany Yugi to the Market today, so there's no need for you to worry about his safety".
Atem sighed, "Well, if you are with him then I can relax." He said with a nod, "Okay, you two can go to the Market, take your time." He waved them off before focusing back on his works.
"The Pharaoh had changed so much because of you." Seth commented as they walked along the hallway to the stabble, "Thank you, Yugi".
"You don't have to thank me for doing what I see as right." Yugi answered with a grin, "Anyway, what I did only is helping him to open his eyes, it's nothing big".
"Not really." Seth argued with a smile, "You had achieved something that no one was able to do it before, not only you opened his eyes to the truth, you had changed him for the better. The Pharaoh had grown under your watch, and we are all grateful to you for that".
"Oh, please." Yugi laughed with a shake of his head, "Anyway, thank you for coming with me." He said when they arrived at the stabble, "I need to get something being made for the Pharaoh, but I couldn't do it if he go with me".
"I figured as much, that's why I offered to go with you." Seth told him, "What are you planning to make anyway? Maybe I can help you".
"Something like this." Yugi showed Seth the design he had drawn on a paper, "I want for him to be able to remember me when I return to my own time, and I'm sure he would need something like this in the future".
"Are we going to go into a war, Yugi?" Seth asked in worry, "Could you tell us what will happen?".
"I'm afraid I can't." Yugi said with a shake of his head, "If I tell you, your time's Future and my time's Past would be changed, it would be disastrous then." He looked up at Seth, "I can't tell you much, but trust me when I say that Atem will become one of the Greatest Pharaoh to grace Egypt, and you will be victorious if a war happened to be broke".
"But that doesn't mean we could just lay low and doing nothing, right?" Seth asked with a smile, Yugi nodded in answer, "Thank you, for telling me that Atem will be a Great Pharaoh, I was afraid that he would forever be a spoiled brat like he was before you changed him".
"You are welcome." Yugi said with a smile.
"Ah, that's right." Seth helped Yugi to climb his horse before he climbed on himself, "I know the right place where you could make it, and I will pay it for you".
"Eh? Is that alright with you?" Yugi asked in worry.
"Yes." Seth said with a smirk, "I wouldn't say it in the first place if I isn't alright with it, and consider it to be my gift you him and you, I didn't give you anything as a Welcome Gift like the others, right?".
"Yeah." Yugi agreed with a smile.
They went to the place where Seth led them, Yugi showed the design while Seth asked for the item to be made and have to be ready by the time of the Pharaoh's Birthday. After that, the two of them was heading back to the Palace when their way got blocked by many men.
"Bandits?" Seth hissed as he pulled out his Millennium Rod, "I summon forth, Dios!" He called out his Ka to fight against the Bandits, "Yugi, you too, call your Ka!".
"Okay." Yugi answered and concentrated on the pulse of Magic in his body, "Silent Magician!" He summoned using his native tongue, the small Magician responded to his command and began fighting the Bandits right away.
Seth and Yugi were fighting quite well, but one mistake they made was they were too focused on their front that they didn't notice the Bandits that targetting them from behind. Yugi gasped when something hit him at the back of his head and his vision blackened, Silent Magician yelled for his Master but he disappeared due to Yugi's concentration being cut off.
Seth was seeing red, "Blue Eyes White Dragon!" He roared in anger when he saw the blood slowly make it way downing the back of Yugi's neck, meaning that Yugi was injured on his head. He pulled out his sword and jumped out of his horse, he commanded for Dios to protect Yugi while he and the White Dragon fought against the Bandits.
He was panting heavily due to him not used with fighting while keeping his Monsters out, it had taken a toll on him and slowed his movement. "Die, High Priest!" Seth's eyes widened when he heard the voice from behind, he whirled around to defend himself but it was too late and he felt pain at his stomach, the last thing he saw before everything turned black was the group of Bandits took Yugi with them.
To be continued . . .
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