AteKake: I'm incredibly sorry about the delay! I just need to make my little notes at the very beginning of the story actually faster. Well, school's been taking all of my time and my social life isn't as good as I hoped it would be, but at least I now have been able to update. Here you go!
Atemu relaxed a bit after letting Horus off of his arm, the falcon carrying an important message to Mana and Yugi. He just hoped that the falcon could find his way to the two teens.
Atemu sighed, "I bet Yugi would hate being my servant, but it must be for his own good. If he gets mad at me, I'm going to blame Seth." Atemu walked towards his bed, before flopping face first into it, sighing loudly. He just wanted to fall asleep right then and there.
Atemu then thought a moment, before getting up once more. He stretched before taking off the dark blue cape on his shoulders, then the upper part of his tunic, leaving his bare chest to the dry air. He sighed before exiting his chambers, headed somewhere besides his room.
Yugi and Mana toured the palace; so far Mana had showed Yugi the huge throne room, the first room that Yugi had actually been in.
"So you probably know that this is the throne room, after all, this is where every person judged is taken to. You know, kinda like when you were judged by the millennium items," Mana explained, walking around the huge, golden room.
Yugi was looking much more closely at the details of the throne room, the details that he completely ignored during his last visit to the throne room. Yugi walked and gazed at how much gold was put on every single piece of the room. He had never noticed how much detail the room actually held.
It was just all to amazing to him that he totally forgot about Mana, who was taking about the room itself and whatever she talked about. Mana just kept explaining more about what the palace was like and other things like that, while Yugi was comparing the room as to Japan's.
'This room is pretty large, yet I remember Japan's being much larger. It's been way to long since I was in Japan; I thought that everything was huge when I was little,' Yugi silently thought to himself, remembering the few years that he spent in that country.
"Yugi? Yugi? Hello~?" Mana curiously asked, waving her hand in front of Yugi's face. Yugi had somehow been too distracted in his own thoughts to even hear what she was saying. A pout came onto Mana's lips, "Come on! I won't show you anymore of the palace if you keep on ignoring me!"
Yugi's head snapped up, he broke out of the small daze of him wondering about his past life in Japan. He had barely remembered any of it, after all, he was only a few years old when he last was in Japan (A/N I finally found what I want for the main plot of this, so I hope that it will make sense).
"Hm?" Yugi asked in a sort of hum.
Mana gave Yugi a playful glare, before she sighed heavily, "Okay, so what was the whole zoning out thing about? Come on, tell."
Yugi looked at Mana with a sort of blank, yet confused look on his face. Did she even know that Japan was a country by now? He sighed heavily; he had to tell Mana, and not to mention Atemu, about his past sooner or later. "Well, I just was remembering what the throne room in Japan. It is so much different than the one here," Yugi plainly stated.
Mana looked at Yugi for a few moments. He had mentioned that he was from the country of Japan; she had never heard of the new country before Yugi came into the palace. "Yeah, well all countries are different from each other, so that would make sense. Where is Japan anyway?" Mana asked with a new interest in the unknown country.
Yugi looked at Mana, before bowing his head a little bit. He didn't know whether to tell her or not. 'I still don't fully trust her just yet. After all, these Egyptians all seem to want to do something to my Ka.' Yugi deeply sighed, feeling sorry for what he needed to tell her. "Mana, I am so sorry but I don't really want to bring up this subject yet. Maybe another time, alright?"
Mana understood why Yugi had said this, he just was basically forced to live in the palace for who knows how long, so it must be hard for him to trust every single person here. "Yeah, okay. Just when you want to, you can tell me."
Yugi smiled, at least he knew now that Mana was understanding of his situation. "Okay, so what are you going to show me now? Are there any gardens here in the palace?"
Mana's face immediately lit up; Yugi wanted to see the world known gardens of the Egyptian palace. She quickly grabbed Yugi's hand, before rushing and dragging him towards the outside gardens.
"You will just love the gardens Yugi! They are filled with so many beautiful and exotic plants! Even pretty flowers not even native to Egypt! And the water in the small pond there is so clear, and we keep many fish there. I've heard from Atemu that it isn't as beautiful as his private gardens, but it's still pretty!" Mana stated with a huge smile on her face.
Yugi looked at her, "Atemu has his own private gardens? Why haven't you gone in them? You are one of his best friends, though, and I right?"
Mana nodded, before stopping at a huge door that lead to the outside world. Of course, thought the gardens were closed off to peasants.
"Well, Atemu's gardens are specifically just for him, and he only goes in there by himself. I only see his old personal slaves go in there for cleaning. Most of his slaves though die off fast. I don't know why though…" Mana faded off.
Yugi was shocked, "Wait! So he kills them?"
Mana waved her hands in a fast motion, alarmed by Yugi's sudden thought, "Of course not! He loves all of his people, free or a slave! Atemu just always goes into his gardens, and it seems like he disappears to that place every night or so… I sometimes see him slip into the garden myself. He always has a sad look on his face…"
"Oh, I never knew that Atemu was like that. I'm sorry that I was so quick to judge," Yugi apologized quickly, bowing at the end of his sentence.
Mana watched Yugi bow to her, the gesture was strange and just so new to her. It must have been a tradition to bow for your mistakes in Japan. "It's fine. Now, how 'bout seeing the gardens, hm?"
Yugi eagerly nodded his head, watching Mana trying to push open the large door, which took a little while, but with Yugi's help. As soon as the large door was opened, Yugi's jaw dropped wide open, he had never imagined that the Egyptian palace would have plants with such color!
The enclosed garden was filled with exotic breeds of flowers, plants, trees, and all the vegetation that you could imagine. Mana laughed at Yugi's expression, "Amazing isn't it? Come on, I'll show you to the pond. Trust me, you'll just love the fish in there. They are all so beautiful."
Yugi followed Mana as she led Yugi to the pond; even though the garden was in an enclosed area within the palace, it seemed just endless with all the plants surrounding him. Mana stopped in her tracks, while Yugi bumped into her.
A quick, "I'm so sorry!" escaped Yugi's lips, before he saw the happy expression on Mana's face; she was smiling widely, before stepping out of Yugi's way for him to be able to see the clear pond filled with strange fishes that Yugi had never seen in his entire life.
Yugi's face immediately lit up as he rushed over to the manmade pond, dipping his fingers in where the fish were, scaring some away. The water was amazingly warm, considering that it was now night time in the palace.
Yugi sat down, before looking at Mana and patting a spot right next to him, "Come on Mana, sit next to me." Mana smiled at Yugi, glad that he seemed to be enjoying the gardens.
"Sure," Mana answered, before sitting next to Yugi. She gently took off her shoes before dipping both feet into the water.
Yugi noted the action before asking politely, "Am I allowed to do that as well?"
Mana looked at Yugi and giggled a bit, "Of course! If you get into trouble, I'll just take the blame, after all, everyone here would be way easier on me than on you."
Yugi smiled at the Egyptian before taking off the sandals on his feet, placing his worn out feet into the manmade pond. Yugi sighed, the water really was warm, even though the desert nights are usually freezing. "This is really nice Mana, I'm surprised that the water here is warm even through the cold night. Usually if I were to go down to the Nile by now, then it would be freezing," Yugi stated.
Mana once again giggled, "Yeah, the Nile can get pretty cold during the nights, but when Ra rises, then the waters get hotter once again."
Yugi and Mana shared a few more laughs before both the teens heard a cawing sound from above their heads. Yugi looked around for the source of the strange sound, while he watched Mana put out her arm, a huge leather cloth war across her arm.
"Mana what are you doing that for?" Yugi innocently asked.
Mana just smiled at Yugi as a flapping noise came slowly down upon the two. Yugi watched a huge bird land atop of Mana's arm, gently setting itself on top the leather. Mana smiled as she pulled her arm closer to herself, patting the top of the falcon with her hand. "Good boy, Horus. Now, let me see what you have for me." At that moment, Yugi noticed that there was a tubular item within Horus' beak. Horus gently placed the piece of parchment on her hand, before hopping onto her shoulder.
Yugi now watched as Mana read the paper, her face was surprised for a few seconds, before she called Yugi over. "Yugi, come over here, this letter concerns you."
Yugi looked at Mana with the 'Are you talking to me?' look, before he walked over and read the hieroglyphics.
Dear Mana and Yugi,
Mana, please be understanding of this, and you as well Yugi. My cousin has suggested that Yugi would be put under the title of my personal servant for his very own protection. It may seem like a personal slave, but please hear me out. Yugi, I would like for you to come to my quarters later tonight, as soon as you get this letter. I trust that Horus found you two in time. Now, Yugi I will make sure to explain a lot later. Mana, make sure also to watch over Yugi. I do not want anything to happen to the both of you.
Pharaoh Atemu
Once again so sorry about the delay. School takes up so much of my time, plus the stresses of life. Thanks to all who still are reading this no matter how long it takes me to update.