Well here's the next installment a hell of a lot quicker than the last one. I don't really have much to say other than thank you to Aqua Girl 007 and angiembabe for reviewing this, they were lovely reviews.
Yugi felt incredulous. This had to be a joke. It had to be. What kind of people left their son, who happened to also be a prince, in a foreign country and just forget to mention it? That and Atemu had known about this, he had known and still not breathed a word of it to Yugi. He should have guessed really. The police officer's reaction, Seto's stress over this whole operation, Mahad's reaction to Atemu working… Little details that he had missed. He remembered Grandpa telling him that he didn't need to know these things because it was for the best. Well, he got that right he found himself thinking.
"Yugi?" It was Atemu, breaking through his confusion. Yugi turned to glare at his brother who shrank back a little. So he knew that he would act like this. Somehow that made everything worse.
"How could you keep this from me? I mean, I thought that after ten years you might drop every single bloody secret you had but no! You carry on lying to me!" Yugi shouted, angry at his brother, his father, his grandfather, angry at them all for the lies. Everything he had thought about his family was wrong. Even his own mother had lied to him! He didn't want to taint her memory like that but he couldn't help it. His entire life was a lie!
"I never lied to you Yugi. If anything, that was the one thing I tried not to do," Atemu said. Akhnankhamun was just sitting quietly, watching them. Yugi wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. If he had tried talking to Yugi he might have snapped at him or worse. And yet, the fact that he continued to ignore him irked Yugi, making him angrier.
"So what! You never told me the truth! My whole life has been a lie and none of you had the guts to tell me that!" Atemu eyes lit up in anger of his own and, too late, Yugi remembered how frightening his brother looked when he was mad.
"And what would you have wanted me to say? Hello, Yugi I'm your twin brother who's been locked away in a palace for ten years! And by the way you're a prince! You would have thought I was crazy!" Atemu shouted back. Yugi narrowed his eyes, hating to have to admit that his brother was right. Even though there was something dark to his words, Yugi ignored it, choosing instead to take a different track.
"Well, it might not have been such a shock if you had bothered to write! I went ten years without a single word from either of you! Nothing! And now you pretend to care about how I feel!" Atemu's eye widened and Akhnankhamun narrowed his own.
"I did!" Atemu shouted. Yugi got the feeling that he was holding back tears. "I wrote to you every week, every single year!" Yugi recoiled at that. He had? He had gotten nothing. Not a single scrap of news.
"Calm down," Akhnankhamun said, rising from his seat. "Both of you." This was followed by a pointed look at Yugi. He gulped and sat in the nearest available chair. Atemu sank into the one opposite him. "I think," Akhnankhamun said carefully, "that there has been a misunderstanding over the years. Someone has been stopping our mail it seems. I promise that I will look into that. As for now…" Again he paused and looked between the pair of them. "That will be all. Go to your rooms, meet up with friends, whatever you wish to do, the pair of you. I will speak to you again tomorrow about your little incident earlier in the month." Yugi cringed at the thought of their arrest. He had forgotten that that was the purpose of this visit.
Atemu was the first to get up and leave. Yugi followed him as far as the door and then decided to call Joey. Nothing failed to cheer him up better than his loud, boisterous friend. That and he needed someone to start helping him make sense of this whole crazy new world he was in.
Joey felt a little intimidated as he approached the hulking mass of the Kaiba mansion. He had never been in this area of Domino before and he had to admit that it was rather daunting. It was clear that these houses were designed for the best of the best and Kaiba's just seemed to stick out in some odd way. Probably because the front was rather plain compared to the rest of the street.
He felt very self conscious in only his signature blue jacket and jeans. It was almost as if the very houses were looking down at him for not being properly dressed for this area of town and Joey very nearly ran for it. But he steeled himself against those feelings. He was here for Yugi, he reminded himself. After all, he had promised his friend that he would be there for him through anything. However, right now Joey wasn't very sure what was wrong exactly.
Joey had been heading for the arcade with Tristan and Duke only an hour before when his phone had gone off. After listening to Yugi chatter at such a rate that nothing made sense, Joey had managed to get his friend to calm down and tell him why he wanted him there. Yugi had been very vague over the phone, stressing that he really needed to talk to him. Not one to let his friend down, Joey had complied. Now he was regretting the idea to even come here as the door was opened by a guy who looked as if he belonged in the desert rather than a stately home. He was tall, with coffee-coloured skin and a bald, shaven head apart from a single black ponytail. What really freaked Joey out was the tattoo of hieroglyphs covering the whole left side of the man's face.
"Um… I'm looking for Yugi… Yugi Motou…" Joey said uncertainly, wondering where Kaiba had found this guy. As burly as he was, Joey hadn't known that Kaiba was into scaring people away with freaky bodyguards. The man stood silently, glaring down at Joey as if he was something he had never seen before. Getting the feeling that the guy wasn't going to answer, Joey was just about to turn away when there was the sound of shouting and another man; this time one of Kaiba's regular-looking guards came running up.
"Mr Ishtar… thank goodness!" the poor man gasped, looking as if he had just run the entire length of the house. "Your brother and sister have been looking for you!" The bald guy just nodded, throwing Joey another odd look before walking off. The new security guard now turned to look at him questioningly.
"I'm looking for Yugi Motou," Joey repeated, now a little more confident since the freaky guard was gone. The man blinked and seemed to think for a moment before landing on an answer.
"Oh… yes! Mr Motou! Yes…" the man cried, muttering to himself as he ushered Joey in, shutting the door behind him and stalking off. It took Joey a precious moment to realise he was supposed to be following, which led to him having to run to catch up to the man who moved surprisingly fast. "Mr Motou is in his room," the security guard- Roland as his name tag said- informed him without looking over his shoulder. Joey just nodded, catching sight of Atemu out the window, leaning on the fence to a paddock filled with three horses. He wondered why the two were now in separate places. Ever since that guy, Mahad's, arrival, the pair had been nearly inseparable. Something was going on.
"Here we are," Roland said, knocking on the door they stood outside of. There was a faint call and Roland opened the door. The door slammed shut behind him and it took Joey a few moments to get used to the grandeur of the room. Yugi was sitting crossed-legged on the bed, his head on his knees. He was scrunched up small, looking deep in thought.
"Wow… Kaiba really does dress to impress as they say," Joey said, staring around the room. Yugi just shrugged from where he sat on the bed and, taking this as a sign that his friend was in need of him, Joey crossed the room to join him. "What's up?"
"Everything," Yugi muttered. Joey frowned, wondering what was wrong. Yugi didn't normally get upset for any reason.
"Whad'dya mean?" Joey asked, feeling a little uncomfortable. Normally it was the other way around, with Yugi comforting him over something while he was the one sitting there doing nothing. Ever since Atemu had come everything had suddenly turned on its head and Joey got the feeling that he didn't even know the half of it.
"I spoke to my dad today," Yugi muttered, unusually quiet.
"But that's good right?" Joey asked, confused. "I mean. The guy's ignored you for how long now and he's finally trying to make it up to you. That's gotta count for something."
"No, Joey, you don't understand. My dad happens to have dropped the biggest bombshell on the planet and just thinks that everything is going to be ok now!" Yugi cried, raising his head a little. Joey was shocked to find that his friend looked panicked.
"What did he tell ya?"
"He told me that he's the king of Egypt." Joey could feel his mouth hanging open but wasn't sure what to do about it. When Yugi had said the biggest bombshell in the world, he had meant the biggest bombshell in the world. This was… this was… "That's not the worst part," Yugi carried on, seeming to ignore his friend's shocked expression. "He also told me that I'm a prince. And the worst part about this whole thing is that everybody else, even bloody Bakura, knew about this and just forgot to tell me!" Yugi was looking at him now, tears tracking their way down his cheeks. "My own mother, Joey… even my own mother lied to me…"
Joey couldn't think of anything else to do other than put his arms around Yugi and hug him. Yugi wasn't related to him but Joey had always seen him as a younger brother and now he was glad of it. If it hadn't this situation would have been very awkward but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that there was another lying bastard in the house that Joey really wanted to have words with.
Atemu knew there was trouble just waiting round the corner when Roland informed him that Joey was here. The boy was loyal to a fault to Yugi and he knew that the moment Yugi gave him the story he would be out for blood. After he had comforted Yugi that was. Atemu closed his eyes against the thought of someone else playing the role of older brother to Yugi. If his father wasn't there it would feel as if he had lost everything in that one moment.
He tried to think back on his life, to work out how his letters had never been sent through. He had been so certain that it had only been the length of time that had Yugi acting the way it did but now… Why would someone stop his letters? What would be the point of that? Over the years he had thought that Yugi had just not known what to write or the mail had been messed up (that happened a lot considering they lived in the middle of the desert). He hadn't considered that Yugi might not be getting his letters at all.
Atemu sighed and turned away from the horse he had been making a fuss of. Animals were helpful at times like these, mainly because they were such good listeners. Khamet, his own horse at home, could tell when he was upset and wouldn't think twice about going wherever Atemu urged him to go. Hotep would always curl up beside him on a bad day and stare up at him with knowing eyes that had seen it all before. There was just something about animals that made them instinctively know when their master was having a bad day and would try to make it all better. And right now, Atemu would rather be faced with a lion than Joey's wrath. Because all Joey could do was make him feel worse.
"Family time not go to plan then?" came a familiar annoying voice. But for once, Bakura didn't sound completely mocking.
"Not really," Atemu muttered, leaning against the fence. Bakura frowned as he jumped on the fence and sat astride the top rung, dirtying the suit that Seto had probably forked out quite a bit of money to buy. "Father decided that now was a good time to tell Yugi all about New Thebes." Bakura breathed in sharply through his teeth.
"How did the shrimp take it?"
"How do you think?" Atemu snapped, resisting the urge to growl at Bakura. Sometimes the guy was a complete idiot.
"I'll admit, that was not your father's best idea," Bakura said, swinging his legs against the fence. "And I'm going to take it that's why the annoying pup's here."
"Why does everyone refer to Joey as a dog?" Atemu asked, if only to distract himself. Bakura just let out a short laugh.
"Oh, come on, don't tell me you haven't seen the way that he acts like a dog when his friends are in danger," Bakura laughed. Atemu only let a small smile grace his face.
"Being loyal is not the worst trait a person can have. I can think of worse ones."
"You mean killing and thieving?"
"I mean pride and arrogance. Even thieving can be a good thing sometimes."
"Don't start giving me Robin Hood crap," Bakura sneered and Atemu stared at him for a moment. Bakura seemed to realise what he had just said. "Oh, yeah," he muttered. "You don't know that story." Atemu turned his head away, wishing that Bakura had never said that.
"Hey!" And here comes the trouble Atemu thought as the sound of Joey's voice drowned out the background noise of nature. He preferred nature to the sound of someone shouting. "Hey!"
"What do you want pup?" Bakura sneered, using his mocking nickname for Joey. The boy in question managed to scowl deeper than he already was, something that had seemed impossible to Atemu.
"Don't call me that!" Joey shouted. "I'm not here for you anyway!"
"No, Bakura, he's not. Why don't you go give Father your report or something," Atemu said, hinting very unsubtly (because Bakura hated subtle hints, however good he was at picking them up) that he should be leaving now. Bakura frowned but launched himself off of the fence, landing like a cat and running away like there was something after him. Atemu watched him go, wishing that he could join him.
"You wanna explain what's going on," Joey snapped, ignoring Bakura's departure. Atemu sighed and turned back to the horses.
"I'm sure Yugi's explained it all to you perfectly," he said, reaching out to stroke a grey's muzzle which had been standing by the fence grazing quietly as he and Bakura had talked. There were ten acres to the Kaiba mansion apparently, more than enough for the six horses that Seto owned.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Joey shouted, grabbing Atemu roughly by the shoulder and forcing him around. Atemu bit his tongue to stop himself from lashing out with the shadows which would more than certainly knock Joey's soul into the shadow realm to be lost for all eternity. Whatever he did, he would not destroy Yugi's best friend.
"Is there something wrong?" Atemu wondered whether Odion had the gifts of the Millennium Necklace at times or whether his sister sent him to rescue him from awkward situations. Whatever it was, Joey certainly wasn't expecting it.
"No, Odion," Atemu said as Joey leapt away from him, staring at the inscription tattooed into Odion's face. He still remembered the day that Odion had had that done to him, the horror that both Marik and Odion were to be fated with the Nameless Pharaoh's prophecy upon their bodies until they died simply because of him would never leave him. Of course, Joey wouldn't understand this and Odion would not leave without knowing that Atemu was ok first. "I am fine." He could tell that Odion didn't believe him one bit but he relented, backing away towards the stables. Atemu knew that he would be keeping an eye on how violent things would be getting without having to look.
"Who the hell is that?" Joey exploded once Odion was gone. Atemu scowled, partly from the guilt, partly from the fact that Joey was judging the man on his tattoo rather than his qualities.
"His name is Odion Ishtar and his family has been friends with ours for a long time," Atemu said quietly, wondering how much worse the day could get. Very, by the looks of things. Joey just seemed to shrug, his anger over Yugi taking precedence over his feelings about Odion.
"Okay, now explain why you and your friends have been lying to Yug'!" he shouted, fists clenched. Please don't hit me Atemu found himself thinking. It will only make things worse. At best, if Joey lashed out, Odion would descend and Atemu could run off somewhere to release the overpowering shadows elsewhere. At worst, Joey would find himself soulless.
"I never lied. I just… didn't tell him," Atemu said through clenched teeth. Yugi would not be going to Egypt any time soon so there was no need to explain about Akhnadin and the possible rising threat of the Dark One. He could at least keep Yugi safe from that for now. Joey, however, didn't seem satisfied.
"Oh, so that justifies the lies and neglect does it? You're a piece of shit Atemu!" And there it was the inevitable fist that had been coming his way for the past five minutes. Three different scenarios ran through his head at that moment but none of them were what happened. A tanned hand grabbed a hold of Joey's wrist before the blow even landed and they both followed the arm back to its owner.
"Get back to the shrimp, mutt," Bakura growled. "And stick your nose in bowl that doesn't bite back." Joey opened his mouth to answer but cried out when Bakura squeezed his wrist to almost breaking point. Atemu had gained enough control over the shadows for the moment to at least calm the situation down a little.
"Bakura… let him go." He could feel the other boy's incredulous stare. "Now." Joey fell to the floor, a puff of air escaping his lips as he cradled his right wrist towards his body. Atemu didn't waste any more time in trying to control the situation any longer, stalking off before he could harm Joey himself. Bakura seemed to get the hint and followed a couple of paces behind. Atemu didn't look back to see Joey's expression.
So more friction in Domino. I warn you now this is where the story really starts jumping around, mainly because the two main characters are no longer in the same place.
Thank you Aqua Girl 007 for pointing out the spelling of Ishizu's name. I wasn't really sure so I went for how it sounded in my head. I have changed it t the correct spelling in later chapters.
Please leave a lovely review and resist the urge to flame.