Bed time story

Joey's POV

It really is interesting to travel with Yugi and the twins. It seems to me that Yugi is the only child with me and Seto and not my sister's little twin children. It is really fun to watch Yugi run around with Fenny and try to catch her. The twins are more quiet and reserved, or perhaps they're just more exhausted from the long ride they do during the days. We always have a break around noon to get out of the sun and rest a little and eat, but the day must still be exhausting to them. Aknamkanon is always riding with me, and Mana with Seto. The overprotective fool probably doesn't want to let her too close to me. How silly of him. The girl is four; what's the worst she can do, drool on me?

"You okay?" I hear Seto ask now that we rest next to the bank of the Nile for the night.

"I'm great," I say with a mocking smile. "Just like I was a few minutes ago when we arrived. Honestly you're more protective of me than Mokuba was with my sister when she was pregnant. I got some news, I can't have babies so you don't need to baby me around like this."

I see his face blush a tiny bit, "I still worry, especially with what you said about Mana. She seems to hate you, and if she doesn't hesitate to hurt Aknamkanon then I bet she wouldn't mind hurting you."

"Oh how scary," I say still with a mocking smile and an even more mocking tone. "A four year old is trying to kill me. Watch me die of fear. Honey I got stabbed by my mother and abused by my father and still managed to face him off and, surprise, I'm still here with you. Mana isn't going to finish what those two couldn't manage."

"But they got close," Seto says, using his old excuse to be overprotective. I sort of understand it since I don't even want to imagine seeing him as close to death as he saw me, 'a grand total of three times' as he always points out every chance he gets, but just because I understand it doesn't mean I like it. I'm far over 20 years and survived more than most do and I'm still standing here proud and strong, and nowhere near the weak and terrified slave I once was. A four year old isn't going to finish me off now. I'm much more worried about Yugi's Gramps. We still don't know what happened to him and we've been riding through the dessert for a while now, following Yugi's orders for directions.

"They were grown ups and hated my guts. She is a four year old that is pissed that I ruined her fun watching the pretty flames," I say, hoping that's really all that is to it.

"You said yourself that that isn't all," he says and I think, Unfortunately I did. I know that if I had kept my oversized mouth shut he wouldn't be half as protective right now.

"But she is still four years of age," I say for I don't know how many times now. "Honestly, what is she to do that can possibly be bad enough to hurt me?"

"I don't know," he says, and I'm about to say 'you see' when he adds, "That's what's worries me. There are so many ways she could hurt you."

"Say what?" I can't believe this. Is he really worried that a four year old is going to hurt me? "You got a choice now. Either you learn to have some faith in me, or you're going to need your hand to get some fun at night," I say, and love the shocked look on his face. He is just too cute when I say things like that.

I leave him to think about it and walk to the twins, who sit at the fire Seto has started to keep the dangerous animals that live in the desert away from us. They both sit on opposite sides of it, Mana looking at the flames and seeming to be in thought. The evil and happy smile from the visions isn't on her face, so I doubt that she just likes watching the flames without caring what they do or realizing the danger.

Aknamkanon looks a little afraid toward his sister. He looks at her with so much fear in his eyes and I can't help but wonder what is going on. In my vision they were holding hands and seemed to be one, just like they sometimes do now. They were a little older in that vision but the moments they hold hands are less often than they used to be. I sit down next to Aknamkanon and see Seto sit down next to Mana while his eyes are fixed on his highness, Yugi.

It feels strange to call him his highness just because he is married to the pharaoh. Yugi was the first friend I ever made, and I love him to pieces; we're very close and spend as much time together as we can. It is also strange since we both started out at the court as bed slaves and it is really hard to say 'your highness' to him, but luckily he doesn't give a damn and Atemu doesn't either as long as Yugi is happy the way things are. He isn't interfering in our friendship, and since I'm a high priest and one of his sacred guardians I got to know him a lot better too. He isn't nearly as bad as I thought he was at first. He is kind and caring and spends a lot of time thinking about what he can do for Egypt to make the lives of his people more comfortable and safer.

I also know by now that even though I thought he treated me like a toy at the start, he actually is against slavery but it isn't easy to change the beliefs and life style of so many people over night. He is, however, against unfair treatment of his slaves and was shocked when he found out how I was treated before I came to the palace; he now exchanges the guards regularly and keeps a closer eye on the treatment of his slaves there. I like that he is doing it because even though no one there was really a friend of mine or ever cared about me, I still knew them all by name and wish none of them anything bad, and hope they too will one day be free like I had the luck to become.

"Would you two like to hear a story before you go to bed?" I ask the twins and put an arm around my little nephew.

"Yes please," he says while the girl just looks at me with the same angry look she always has when she and Aknamkanon aren't close to each other.

I smile at the little guy and start to tell him one of my favorite stories, one that I first heard from Seto during my first week in the palace. "This story is a true one, so listen closely. It all happened in the time of the Golden Age. Back then the gods walked over the earth with us humans. It was long before the grandfather of our Pharaoh's grandfather was born.

At that time Osiris, the great grandson of Ra himself, sat on the throne of the gods and ruled over all of us in the living world while Ra ruled over the gods in the immortal world. This means that Osiris was also the first Pharaoh that we had. His Queen was Isis and they ruled for a very long time, keeping order and making sure that our beautiful world was peaceful."

"Like Atemu and his queen, Yugi," Aknamkanon says with a smile.

"Who are you calling a queen?" Yugi says with a little pout.

"Sorry," Aknamkanon says and cuddles closer to me with a fearful look, but Yugi just smiles at him and ruffles his hair a little before I can continue.

"But there was also a little problem back then; it came from Osiris's own brother. His name is Set and he is the defender of the Sun Boat and keeps it safe from Apep the Destroyer. He has a bit of a temper though, and is a very proud man. He was a bit jealous of his brother back then because he had all that power over the living world, and he also was jealous that Isis was the Queen and not his wife Nephthys. And in his dark mind he made a plan to kill Osiris and take all that away from him."

"Like Seto," Aknamkanon says, and I'm surprised. Set is a god of darkness and Seto is my light; I never thought that there could be any resemblance at all. "Seto is proud too, and daddy says that he always wants to send people to the shadows when they look at you too much because he's jealous."

I nearly laugh my head off and I'm not sure what's more amusing, what Aknamkanon said or the embarrassed look that it brings on Seto's face along with the slight blush.

"You're right, kiddo, they are a little alike. But Seto just wishes to do mean things like that, he would never really do them." I'm not really sure if this was the truth, but I hope it is. I don't like making a resemblance between Seto and Set. I'm a bit afraid of the god of darkness and respect him for his power. But I really love Seto, who brought back so much light into my life that used to be consumed by darkness. "Set did go through with his plan. He built a box and inscribed it with a wicked magic that chains anyone who enters it inside and stops them from escaping. Once he had it built he took it to the great feast of the gods. Once there he waited until Osiris had a bit too much beer.

"Why?" Aknamkanon asked, "Does he get as funny as Atemu when he had too much beer?"

"Yes he does," I say with a grin and remember the last feast where Atemu was drunk like always.

"It's not his fault though," Yugi says to protect his beloved husband. "He has to drink all that beer because it isn't polite to not drink with someone who drinks to your health, and it isn't polite to go to a feast of the Pharaoh and not drink with him to his health. And so he has to drink a glass with everyone there."

"Oh," Aknamkanon simply says "Poor guy."

'Poor Aknamkanon,' I think because he's the next in line and will know how that feels all too soon. Once he's of age everyone will want to drink to the health of the heir as well.

"What happened to Osiris then?" he asks me and looks up to me with curious eyes.

"Set is really smart and took advantage of the fact that the mind of Osiris was a bit clouded, due to the beer, and challenged him to enter the box in turns with him and to try and break it open with their sheer strength. Osiris believed in himself and the alcohol of the beer made his mind clouded like I said, and so he fell for the trick. He entered the box and Set quickly poured melted lead on him. Osiris tried to get out, but the magic kept him inside until he died in the lead. Set threw him, with the box, into the Nile and he floated away." I see that Aknamkanon was upset by this and see his sister watching me with interest now. I continue the story to reach the end faster and to ensure that they can learn from the past as our legends tell them.

"Set took the throne of Osiris and demanded that Nephthys would be his Queen. None of the other gods dared to stand against him since he is a very powerful god and Ra, who has more power, grieved for his great grandson Osiris; and the grief was so bad that he just looked away.

A dark time started that day because Set is very different from Osiris. He is cruel and unkind. He didn't keep our world in balance like Osiris had. He didn't care for law or for us, the children of the gods. It was war on the world and our people cried out to Ra to help, but he didn't want to listen in his grief over Osiris.

Only our blessed Isis remembered us poor, unfortunate, souls. And Isis is very brave and wasn't afraid of Set at all."

"Like you," Aknamkanon says to my huge surprise. I just hope he isn't going to say that I'm like a mum or a woman. "You're not afraid of Seto either."

I can't help but laugh at this, "No I'm not, but Seto wouldn't hurt me and isn't cruel now is he?"

"No," Aknamkanon says and eyes Seto once before whispering into my ears. "But he's scary."

I laugh even harder at this, "Maybe, but Set is more scary trust me. But Isis still searched everywhere in the Nile for the box. She wanted to find her beloved husband, Osiris, after all. She found the box tangled in a bush at the banks of the river, and the bush had turned into a mighty tree because the power of Osiris was still in his dead body. She opened the box and cried over the lifeless body before turning herself into a bird and using her magic to become a child with the help of the spirit from Osiris, which went into her for this spell. The boy was named Horus and she hid him carefully from his uncle Set so Horus could one day avenge his father's death.

After that Isis went to Thoth, the god of wisdom, and asked him for knowledge. She needed a spell that could bring Osiris back to life because she missed him. Thoth knows everything and that included the right spell that he wanted to perform with Isis, but because the sprit of Osiris had left his body it was now lost and they needed to create a new body that would attract his spirit. And so they created a new body for Osiris.

But before Thoth and Isis could perform the ritual to bring his spirit into the body and give him a new life, Set found out about their plan and stole the new body. He took it apart and hid the pieces all over Egypt. That way he was sure that Osiris could never be reborn.

But Isis was still brave and asked Anubis, the lord of the death who was raised as a child by Isis, for help and together they searched all the pieces and put them back together. They brought all the pieces to Thoth, who worked his magic on them. Once the body parts were together, which took a very long time, Anubis, the lord of the dead, put all the pieces together and then he washed the entrails and put balm on his body and wrapped it in linen like we do with our dead so they have a body for the day of awakening.

After that was done Anubis cast the Ritual of Life and the spirit of Osiris entered his new body through his open mouth and he was alive again. But nothing that had died may live in our world anymore, not even a god, because this is the world of the living. Osiris went to Duat, the land of the dead, and Anubis happily gave him his throne; since that day Osiris is the lord of the dead. There he stands in judgment over the souls now, and is very fair to every soul that dies just like Anubis had done before him. The just souls can go to the Blessed Land, but the wicked ones are condemned to be devoured by Ammit."

"How does he know who's wicked?" Mana asks to my surprise.

"He watches over us while we live and decides depending on our actions," I explain.

"But what if someone regrets something they did?" Mana asks. "Is there no way to make up for it?"

"Osiris is a fair and just god," I say. "I'm sure he understands that we can be weak at times and will give us a second chance somehow."

"To everyone?" Aknamkanon asks now, and I'm surprised that two four year olds think so much about what happens to ones soul once this person dies. They haven't even known anyone who isn't in the land of the living anymore.

"I like to think so," I say and think of my parents. "And we can certainly pray for those souls."

"Do you pray?" Aknamkanon asks. "I mean for your parents. I know that Mummy doesn't want to pray for them."

I'm sad to hear that Serenity doesn't even seem to pray for mother, who cared for her at least. "Yes," I answer and know that it will upset Seto. "They had a hard and challenging life and I understand why they were cruel at some times. And I love them no matter what."

"You're a liar," Mana whispers but stands up and leaves before I can continue, and I see that Aknamkanon looks doubtful.

"Let's continue," I say after a moment, unsure what I should make of this discussion. "Set was angry that Osiris was alive again, but glad that he could never return to the world of the living and he was sure that none could ever take the throne from him and he would rule over the living forever.

But Horus, the son of Osiris, grew to manhood and became very strong before Set found out about him. Once he knew that Horus existed Set send out serpents and demons to kill the child of Osiris, but Horus was strong enough to fight them all off. Once he was ready to face Set, his mother Isis gave him great magic and Thoth gave him a magic knife.

Horus fought Set for days and he won but he refused to kill Set because spilling the blood of his own Uncle would make him as bad as Set, and he longed to be just and good like his father. Set still wanted to rule, but Horus wanted to claim the throne of his father too. The gods, of whom some where on the side of Horus while others sided with Set, fought for a long time and disrupted the balance in this world even further as the rule of Set had done already. Banebdjedet leaped in and demanded that the gods end this struggle in peace to protect the world. He said that the gods would have to ask Nieth, who is warlike though wise in council, and he chose that Horus as the son of the former ruler was first in line and the rightful heir. Horus cast Set into the darkness where he still lives.

That is why Horus is watching over us to this day and is one of the biggest protectors and guides of the ruling pharaoh, while his father Osiris rules over the world of the dead. But Set still longs to rule, as well as for revenge, and he fights Horus at times. When Horus wins everything in our world is in balance, but when Set wins there will be turmoil. But we must never forget that no matter how dark the times might be, the light of Horus will find a way to get through the darkness towards us and save us once more and bring a better time until one day Horus will defeat Set forever and Osiris will be able to return to this world. On that day, the day of awakening, all the tombs will open and the dead that had a good soul will walk over this world again and all sorrow will pass forever."

"Will Horus watch over me too?" Aknamkanon asks me, his eyes focused on me intently.

"Yes my dear. The Pharaoh is a god himself and called a son of Horus because the royal line started with Horus. And you are from that line since your father is a cousin of Atemu," I explain with a smile, and I'm surprised to see him look sad.

"Does that count for the body or for the soul," he asks, and I'm even more confused now. I wish I could see into his mind and understand this strange question. I look at Yugi and Seto for a moment, but both look just as confused as I feel.

"Sure, it's both the same person isn't it?" I say and hope that it answers his questions enough, but he still looks thoughtful.

"It's getting late," Seto says. "You should go to bed, young prince."

Aknamkanon nods and leaves us to go to bed. I follow him to see if his sweet sister is already asleep; she isn't, and as soon as Aknamkanon enters the tent they reach out to each other and hold their hands. I see them look around confused and then look at me for a moment.

"I love you two," I say and see them smile a little.

"love you unca," both say together, and I notice for the first time that when together like this they aren't talking as mature as when they're more separated.

"Do you know where we are?" I ask and see them both shake their heads. "Do you remember the ride today?"

Both look at each other and then shake their heads again but seem to think this normal. It might be normal to them.

"Okay, don't worry. I'm here and Seto is too, and we both and your mummy and daddy all love you. Now sleep tight my little ones."

I tuck them in a little and return to the fire. Seto sees that I'm deep in thought and asks, "What is troubling you now? Did Mana do something?"

"No," I say and sit down next to him. "But both Mana and Aknamkanon held hands again and didn't remember anything from the ride today, or how they got here. I think someone or something is controlling them at times."

"Ha," Seto says triumphantly and I stare at him; he must have figured something out. "That means that someone older then four is in charge of Mana at times and playing you, so I do have a reason to worry about you and protect you."

"Are you crazy?" I ask and wish the kids weren't in easy hearing range so I could scream at him. "We're talking about someone possibly controlling the twins and all you think about is an excuse for you to be an overprotective jerk. Get a hold of yourself, Seto, and focus on what's important. They're our family." And with that I walk to my tent to make sure he gets the point that I'm angry. I know I'll forgive him as soon as he cuddles up to me later, I just love him too much to stay mad and I still understand his worries even though it annoys me, but I want him to see what's important too.

Authors note: In the next chapter Yugi will meet an old friend...Tristan!