I am so sorry that this is late in coming! I've been really busy so far with finishing up work with my extended project and revision for my A Levels that I almost forgot that this needed updating! Hope you all can forgive me for my tardiness and enjoy this next chapter!
Mana ducked as one of the many workmen nearly took her out with a table intended for the Great Hall. She was used to this though, being only an apprentice magician and generally considered a nuisance most of the time. It wasn't her fault she had been born clumsy, although it would help if she didn't fall over her own feet quite so much when executing a particularly difficult spell.
The target of this particular errand that forced her through the melee of workmen today though was her once-classmate-now-master Mahad, who would return from Domino today and she wanted to hear all about this strange land she would never see. Atem had mentioned the place every so often but his memories had blurred over time, although the excitement he had shown the day he had left was hard to ignore. She had pressed down the feelings of hurt that had risen at his joy to get away, knowing it had nothing to do with her. The prince had never made any sign that he thought of her as anything less than a friend and had promised to return safe and sound. The fact that today was also the day of the arrival of the Pharaoh back to the city amongst all the preparation for the prince's sixteenth birthday made Mana all the more excited. It meant that Atem would be home soon.
Mana loved it when she was allowed to be around Atem. He always had a funny story to tell her, always had a kind word when others found nothing but fault in her. She sometimes found herself wishing that she had not been born a commoner magician, if only so that she wouldn't be instantly discounted from the list of suitable brides. She had always harboured a crush on the prince and no wonder. It wasn't as if he was ugly, the opposite in fact. Mana often heard the other girls in her dormitory at night whispering about how handsome he was and how they hoped they were picked amongst the other girls to be his bride. She was the only girl there who was not of noble blood, and yet the only one who knew the prince personally.
It had always confused her as to how she had come to know Atem so well. One day she had been living with her parents in the cellars, tending to the needs of the lords with her mother, the next she had been playing in the gardens with the prince. To be fair, she hadn't known he was the prince then and he had sounded foreign, barely able to speak Wesret, that she had thought he was a fellow servant. It was only afterwards, when she had been called before the king by her old playmate Mahad that she had learnt about his true identity. The three had then become firm friends, with the addition of Akhefia and Ryou only months later. Atem was one of those people who made close friends easily, but withheld his trust from strangers until he knew them better. It was an odd combination but Mana loved that about him all the same.
She ducked another procession of workmen, this time carrying barrels filled the various beers and wines for the festivals and dashed through the gates. Unlike her fellow apprentices, she could go wherever she liked being only a commoner. The guards didn't care what she did so long as it didn't involve breaking the law as Akhefia often did. The market was busy but the approach of the king was marked by the bowing of the people as he came into view. All mana had to do was wait where she was for it to reach her. The she would know all she wanted about this place across the seas.
The first person she could make out clearly was Shadah, riding at the head of the column. This wasn't unusual. He, along with Karim and occasionally Isis, would lead the king's procession and guard his way through the masses. The Millennium Key allowed him to sense the Kas of the people around him, giving indication of whether or not there were assassins among the crowds. Seto would also be at the front with the power of his Millennium Rod; however he too was away in Japan, running that company of his. She had been forbidden to enter his rooms, no matter what the occasion. Only Kisara was allowed to enter and she only ever entered when Seto was around. Next came a plethora of guards, armed to the teeth in the protection of their king and then the king's litter with the silken curtains drawn. Mana knew that Atem preferred to ride whenever he had to be a part of the royal procession; however Pharaoh Akhnankhamun insisted that this only made his son more vulnerable if the assassins knew what he looked like. Atem often argued that it wouldn't matter since his crown marked him out as royalty in the palace anyway. She could understand Atem's view though, knowing that the litters were hot and uncomfortable, no matter how many cushions the servants laid out, having been allowed to ride in one once when Mahad had been hurt. She vowed never again. Bringing up the rear was Isis and her brothers, Marik and Odion. She knew that Marik, much to his disgust, was set to become a palace scribe and Odion had a reserved place in the prince's personal guard. Behind her was another bunch of guards and Mahad. She bounced lightly on her feet glad to see him looking much better. In all honesty, it wasn't that hard. The last time she had seen him she had been holding her hands over a large gaping wound in his side and praying he wouldn't die of blood loss.
The procession reached her in a few minutes and Shadah glanced down at her with surprise. "Mana," he said quietly, softly spoken as usual. It was rare to ever hear Master Shadah raise his voice. "Should you not be in training?" She shook her head as the end of the procession began to catch up and overtake the man.
"It was cancelled for the rest of the week in preparation for the prince's birthday feast," she replied. The feast was grander this year than any other considering this was the year that Atem would graduate into the ranks of the royal priesthood and be given the Millennium Puzzle to wear and protect. He would be the youngest Item Bearer ever. Even Seto had had to wait until last year, well past his seventeenth birthday, before he had been allowed to even attempt the trial that normally preceded the handing over of an Item. However, since it was the Puzzle, it was passed from father to son. Shadah simply nodded at this information and moved on. By this time Isis, Marik, Odion and Mahad had finally caught up with them.
"Mana!" Mahad exclaimed, leaping from his horse as she leapt towards him for a hug. They were not actually real siblings but Mana had always seen him as her older brother, even though she already had three annoying older sisters and a younger brother training in the guards' barracks. It was strange being above her real family and so she had come to see Mahad and Atem as a part of it as well. "How have you been all this time alone?" He sounded genuinely worried.
"I've been fine! Master Shimon handled the running of the palace while the Pharaoh was away and Master Akhnadin was put under house arrest before the King even left! So everything's now pretty peaceful again! But you must tell me everything about Japan! What are the people like? Is it hot there too? Is it true that grass grows everywhere and not just at the banks of rivers and oases?" Mahad barely blinked at the barrage of questions Mana threw at him, used to this kind of interrogation when he returned from pretty much anywhere. "And Atem how is Atem?"
"I am glad to hear you have been well. Prince Atem is well and will be returning very soon. He will be in Egypt within five days and back home by the end of the week, if you must know. Why don't you wait until then for the answers to your other questions? I'm not sure I can answer them well enough to your satisfaction." He laughed as Mana pouted at the knowledge that she still had to wait another week before she would know what Japan was like. She vowed quietly that one day she would visit this country across the seas. Isis and her brother had already entered the palace gates and Mahad ushered her in after them. She sighed, knowing that now would be as good a time as ever to go and feed Hotep since she wouldn't be getting any more answers and Mahad would surely have to report to the king. Although this action normally ended in her praying that her fingers would not become a part of the meal.
Seto Kaiba was usually too busy to take part in parties of any kind unless he was the one hosting them. However, since it was his cousins' birthday, he had cleared his schedule and left Roland in charge, knowing the man would not bankrupt the company in one day. He was apprehensive about the next few days, his orders to return to Egypt with Atem to make sure that Akhnadin didn't try anything on board the plane. As maniacal as the man was, he still wanted his son as Pharaoh and so would not do anything to harm him.
He was about to leave his room when the phone on the bedside table suddenly rang. He frowned. Few people had the number to that phone and it almost never rang. He slowly walked over to it, sitting on the edge of the bed as he picked it up.
"Seto Kaiba," he said. A moment later his eyes widened and he was on his feet, staring down the phone. "You want me to do WHAT? That's insane! What are you-" He was cut off as the person on the other end of the phone gave their own rant. He blinked, finding the bed again and sitting on it.
"I meant no offense, it's just… why?" Another explanation. Seto wondered if he was ever to get any sleep.
"I understand. I'll tell them…" The other person hung up the phone before he had a chance to ask any more questions. He sighed, returning the phone to its cradle, wondering if you could go grey early through stress.
"Hey, big brother, are you coming?" Mokuba asked, peering around the door. The pair was dressed in their most casual clothes, considering they were spending the day at the Game Shop. Mokuba felt strange seeing his brother wearing a pair of jeans and t-shirt considering he normally saw him in a suit or his long coats designed for intimidation.
"Yeah, I'm coming Mokuba… I'll be downstairs in a few minutes." Mokuba blinked at the tired note in Seto's voice but didn't question it. His brother would tell him in time, he was sure of it. Shrugging, Mokuba bounded downstairs to meet Atem and the limo driver. Seto followed a moment later, leaving instructions for Roland while he was out, along with a letter that he had hastily scribbled in the time between Mokuba leaving the room and leaving for the stairs. It wouldn't be delivered until later.
Yugi couldn't wait for the party to start. The past two days things had almost returned to normal, even with the looming day of Atemu's return to Egypt. He had even managed to nudge Trojan around the school for a bit on his own. He had never known that riding a horse could be so relaxing, but he supposed that you learnt something new every day. And now today they were sixteen!
Grandpa had shut the shop that day and spent most of the morning cooking food for the party. It wasn't every day that your grandchild turned sixteen and it wasn't every day that he and Atemu celebrated it together. This would be the first birthday they had celebrated together since their fifth birthday. And Yugi could barely remember that.
There was also a weird mix of guests to the usual. Tea was already there, helping Grandpa with all the food, while Tristan and Joey were facing each other at some motor racing game on the TV. Yet to get there however, were the other party guests and Atemu himself, apart from Bakura who had slipped in about five minutes ago. Yugi had wondered whether or not the other boy would come after the fiasco at the museum, but there he was, usual smirk in place. Yugi wondered if he was just trying to ignore what had happened and move on with life. Turned out he was pretty good at that. Seto and Mokuba were coming with Atemu and Yugi could barely sit still. He had no idea what to do.
He wondered how Atemu had celebrated his birthday before. Bakura had made some mention of stifling feats in his honour, where it was a farce over who sat next to Atemu, which made Yugi think that Bakura didn't enjoy them. And thinking on it a bit more, Atemu probably didn't either. He had been far too excited to be having a small affair for the two of them rather than a large one just for himself involving a whole kingdom.
"Err, Yugi," Tea said, suddenly appearing from the kitchen. The window there looked over the road out the front of the shop and both Tea and Grandpa would have a perfect view to watch out for his brother's arrival. However, he had forgotten that Tea didn't know about Seto, Atemu and all the weird stuff that was going on other than Daisuke (waiting dutifully at the door as usual. Yugi was beginning to have a soft spot for the guy.) "The Kaiba's limo is here. Why is that?" Yugi didn't answer her, too busy darting down the stairs to see Atemu again. He could the soft sounds of Joey and Tristan explaining why the Kaiba brothers were here and Bakura's laughter, probably at the look on Tea's face.
Atemu was just getting out of the limo when Yugi reached the front door. Daisuke didn't bother to go through the usual checks, probably because he knew who Atemu was and didn't dare to get in trouble with his boss. Nothing needed to be said to the Kaiba brothers either. He jumped out of the front door and tackled Atemu in a bear hug. He heard his brother laugh, as happy to be there as Yugi was to see him. He didn't care that in about three minutes tea would be firing questions at him as to why the Kaiba brothers were here and who his 'friend' was (but then again, Tea loved him making new friends and had warmed up to joey and Tristan after a while). The only person who was not at their party was Ryou, but that would be unfair to Bakura and anyway, he didn't know the other Bakura brother all that well.
Joey was waiting for them at the top of the stairs, a wary grin on his face. "Hey, Atemu," he said, half-heartedly trying to sound pleased to see him. Yugi knew that Joey was still conflicted on Atemu's presence but at least he wasn't attempting to pick a fight with him every five minutes. Tristan and Tea were just blinking rapidly. Tristan had only met Atemu briefly in the past and Tea not at all (and Yugi had to admit that he was jealous of the faint blush appearing on Tea's cheeks). Luckily, however, Kaiba took care of the introductions so Yugi didn't have to explain to his friends all the ins and outs as to why they had never met before.
"I'm sure the mutt's told you that we're cousins by now. This is Atem," Seto said, pushing Atemu forward slightly. Atemu shot him a glare, probably warning him not to touch him again, while Bakura just sniggered quietly in the corner. Atemu then gave Tea a gracious smile and nodded his head in her direction.
"I'm very pleased to meet you." Yugi wondered if Atemu used that voice on all the girls back home in Egypt. Tea's breath left her in a gasp and the little knot of jealousy grew in his stomach but Yugi forced it down. Make the most of today. You won't ever see Atemu again after this and it's your birthday. Don't get upset over something stupid like who Tea likes. Tristan just grinned and shook Atemu's proffered hand, shooting a look at Joey like 'why don't we like him again'. After that the party just moved on.
Yugi loved Grandpa's parties for a number of reasons. Owning a game shop meant that they had an endless supply of games to play and something bizarre always occurred during these games. More often than not, his grandfather would organise some kind of act to occur, usually getting Joey and Tristan to help him pull it off. One year, they had dressed as Duel Monsters and declared war on all those of the mortal realm. Another they had re-enacted a scene from the Lord of the Rings (and his tiny grandfather dressed as Gandalf had been a sight to behold). Coupled with good food, good friends and plenty of laughs, Yugi had never thought of spending his birthdays any other way. Except this year was a hell of a lot different in both presents and entertainment.
Clearly, the annual cosplay session was not happening this year but Kaiba had provided something else. From god only knows where, he had produced two boxes, identically wrapped, and given them to Yugi and Atemu, who had taken a look at each other before ripping the paper off of it. Inside was the latest gaming technology that Kaiba had come up with and after a few instructions, Yugi saw why the young CEO had told them to go outside. They were holographic projectors which were made for tournaments and for when you felt like making a duel come to life. They hadn't even started mass producing these yet but Yugi loved every minute of facing his brother in a duel, even though he lost every match (Atemu was ridiculously good at a game he had only recently started playing. Where he got half his deck from, Yugi was clueless to as well). Bakura's gifts had been cool too – a pair of daggers, one each for the pair of them. Yugi was sure they were Egyptian due to the glyphs marked up the side, each bearing the owner's name, but how he had gotten them past security he would probably never know. It was also a wonder that they hadn't been confiscated by the police as of yet. His friends had bought him various new games and books and Grandpa had compiled together an album of their time together. That only really rammed home the truth of the next day but Atemu had given him a comforting smile, laughing over some of the more embarrassing photos from when they had been babies (he was sure that was a joke on Grandpa's part). And then, surprisingly, one last gift had turned up.
"Your father left you both these for your birthday before he left," Seto said as he handed them both wrapped boxes, no bigger in size than a duel monsters deck. Yugi blinked, wondering what they were ad by the look on Atemu's face, he was as clueless as well. Shrugging, Yugi tore the wrapping off to find a folded piece of paper (paper and not papyrus for once) and a navy blue box. He put the paper to one side and carefully prised the lid off the box to reveal a cartouche pendent with inscribed hieroglyphs. It was carved in silver and was clearly designed to be worn, a thin chain connected through a loop at the top of the cartouche.
"Oh," Yugi said, unsure what the words meant. Atemu glanced over, an almost identical pendent in his own lap, except the glyphs were different in his cartouche.
"It's your name," his brother said quietly.
"What?" Yugi stared at his brother for a moment who gestured towards the pendent.
"The glyphs in the cartouche. They spell out your name. It is the same in mine." That made sense, kind of. A cartouche protected a name, even if he had only seen it applied to kings or in tacky tourist shops. It seemed rather touching that Akhnankhamun would leave one for him as well as Atemu considering how little he knew of him.
Of course all good things had to come to an end and Grandpa rounded the day off with home safe fireworks. Yugi hugged Atemu during the short display wishing that he had more time with him than this, that they could turn the clock back and never be separated. He wondered what life would have been like if Atemu had never left for Egypt and they had grown up together. Probably a hell of a lot different. Mum might even still be alive and dad wouldn't have left to rule a country… But then Bakura would still live on the streets and know nothing about his brother and have no friends at all. And Seto would never have found out who his real father was and badgered them all their lives… It didn't seem as if either world was perfect but at least he had got some time with Atemu. It was better than nothing.
Everyone left soon after that. Tea had stayed long past when her father had ordered her to be home and she rushed out with a quick hug to Yugi (he noticed that she rushed passed Atemu with burning cheeks, only managing to squeak out "goodnight," as she ran past). Tristan then left with Joey who stated that he could only avoid his dad for so long and that he had promised to call in on Serenity before he went home. Atemu had politely inquired as to how Serenity was and Joey had begrudgingly stated that she was fine and thanked Atemu for his generous donation (although now that Yugi thought about it, it probably hadn't made much of a dent in Atemu's bank account moneywise). Bakura disappeared without saying goodbye to anyone but Yugi didn't blame him. He had been avoided by everyone except himself, his brother, Seto and Mokuba. Grandpa had attempted to talk to him occasionally, but the wild haired boy wanted nothing to do with him and so spent most of the evening looking bored.
And finally, it was time for Atemu to leave.
"You'll write still, won't you?" Yugi asked, desperate to know that at least that form of communication wouldn't be cut off. Atemu nodded, giving him a smile but Yugi could see the sadness in his brother's eyes. This would be the last time they saw each other forever. Yugi would never be invited to New Thebes while their father was still alive and Atemu wouldn't want to put Yugi in danger. He could feel a lump building in his throat, but he swallowed back the tears if only so he wouldn't be seen to be crying by Kaiba.
"Just send a reply to Kaiba Corporation in Egypt. They'll send it to me from there," Atemu said as Yugi hugged him. It occurred to Yugi that his brother always smelled like exotic spices and desert sands, something he hadn't really appreciated until this moment. He wondered if he would ever be this close to Atemu again, if their paths would cross if only for a fleeting moment to savour another hug such as this.
"Goodbye Atemu," Yugi murmured into his brother's shoulder. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too, Yugi," Atemu murmured before he pulled away. Yugi stayed on the front porch and watched as the car drove further and further away until he couldn't see it anymore. He waited until he reached his room before flinging himself on his bed and crying through the pain of losing his other half all over again.
I swear I am not unnecessarily torturing these characters! Things will resolve themselves soon! Anyway, review answers which are long awaited:
Guest 1: I don't know how long this will be. It will be as long as I write it which could mean twenty five chapters or fifty six. There is, however, an end to it that I am mulling over for what I want in the sequel, but I think I've got that figured out now as well.
Guest 2: I'm glad you liked my little piece of Yugi's first riding lesson. I tried to channel the feelings I have every time I am forced to have long periods of not riding and then getting back up on a horse but putting that as being the first time. And I'm glad I haven't confused you at all.
Unknown and Mysterious Author: I appreciate that you reviewed twice and here is your update. However, exams are coming up and I kinda need to concentrate on revision and passing them to get into Uni in 2015 rather than fanfiction, so the next few updates will be rather slow I'm afraid.
Aqua Girl 007: As promised, Mana has appeared! I told you that she would be in this story eventually and I swear there is much more of her to come in later chapters! the last part is set in Egypt and she will have much more of a role in the sequel. Those books you recommended sound very interesting, especially as I love anti-hero characters at the moment, which is probably where my liking of the Thief King Bakura comes from. And I haven't watched the TV series of Game of Thrones either.
IMPORTANT: As I have said in a previous chapter and to Unknown and Mysterious Author, my exams start on 12th May. This means that I will be spending more time revising than concentrating on fanfiction which means the next few updates will be rather slow, slower than this time round. I apologise in advance over this but I am rapidly losing time through exams and other family circumstances which you don't really need to know. Suffice to say that the updates will come much slower than every three days.
But I promise you that this will get finished and I have decided on an ending and villain for the sequel. So don't worry. I won't drop off the face of the planet altogether.