Warning scenes later on in this chapter are not suitable for children due to abuse, not for the faint hearted
"I still cannot believe you were able to do that with those swords" Yugi said as they were heading back to the Game shop, Myra meanwhile a sheepish look on her face due to being shy about the praise.
"To be honest, I never did that before nor did I think I could since I'm clumsy" Myra admitted surprising Yugi and Yami.
"B-But you looked natural doing it! You moved like a professional dancer" Yugi cried in alarm.
"I think I was more focused on the sword and stopping the Leviathan to notice" Myra commented to his dismay.
"Now I really wish I had a camera" he muttered weakly.
"Please don't... so what happened with Rex and Weevil? Rex appeared nicer to me than before" Myra commented with a confused look, blinking Yugi released a cry of realization.
"Rex wasn't absorbed by the seal, in fact the girl that keeps coming to help us spoke to him and it gave him a wake up call. So he said that he's planning to change his ways and Weevils, otherwise Rex is leaving him" Myra blinked in surprise.
"Oh... but Weevil wouldn't let him leave right? They're best friends" Myra commented while Yugi smiled.
"Right... I just hope the best for them, next time if Weevil shows up I hope he duels more fairly" Yugi said softly, Myra nodded in agreement.
"They will, but it would be a tough journey" said a female voice that startled them. "Hi Myra, hi Yugi how was the trip home?" the female asked while Myra stared at her slightly, despite the girls looking similar except their height Yugi shrugged it off as coincidental.
"Ah yeah, we were heading to home which is here" Yugi commented causing the female to look at the building, her eyes contained a nostalgic look that made Myra more suspicious.
"It's a good place I bet" the female said.
"It is, we even have a shop on the ground floor" Yugi said with a happy smile that made the female smile. "So what brings you here miss?"
The female paused before smiling widely at them.
"I'm looking for my cat, the cheeky rascal left doing who knows what" the female said before raising a brow at the building.
"That's not good, I hope you find it" Yugi said with a sincere smile.
"There you are you cheeky cat" the female said before picking up a purple cat who was resting on top of the door roof startling the pair who watched.
"Essy?!" Yugi blinked while Myra remained still from not knowing what to do or say thanks to this development.
"You know better than to go off like that, what troubles did you brew up when you were here?" the female smiled as she hugged the nuzzling cat "Thank you for looking after him, I trust he was being very behaved?" the female asked earning her a low growl from the cat that made Myra smile, shaking her head she watched the pair but was sad that Essy had to leave.
"Sorry we didn't know he was your cat" Yugi said weakly as the female allowed Essy to rest on her shoulders.
"It's fine, he knew that he had a part to play like everyone here. I'm just glad this area feels a lot more cleaner than before" the female admitted to their surprise.
"What do you mean?" but the female just smiled.
"Can't tell you I'm afraid, oh but before I forget. Yami in your memories follow the 'white rabbit' they will help you find what you need but you have to ask for it" the female winked while the group was left startled or stunned "bye now and good luck" the female said before leaving.
"She is always being cryptic-" Yugi froze before almost sighing "and she keeps vanishing" causing Myra to smirk.
"Shall we go in? I'm sure your mother wants to see you" Myra said to Yugi's dismay.
"She knows I got my soul taken?" Yugi asked weakly.
"I didn't tell her" Marium said smugly while Yami who was looking at them went pale, if Lily knew that it was him he no doubt was going to be sent over into the after life before he could do what he was suppose to do. Not that Marium would help him, she would just watch it unfold. Shrugging Myra just patted his back and went inside with him.
"YUGI! WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!" Lily's screams startled people once the door had opened and the children entered the shop. Quickly the door closed to avoid anymore unwanted attention but it didn't mean Yugi wasn't embarrassed. Whining weakly as Lily hugged him tightly before pulling back to assess any injuries, seeing none she relaxed… a bit.
"How did it happen? Who did it?" Lily asked before Marium coughed in her fist, she looked away from everyone while Yami squirmed beside Yugi who smiled weakly at him. Lily remained baffled while Solomon just allowed his daughter in law to do what she wanted, he was just lost on what was happening. Soon Lily felt something enter her mind when she looked at Yugi and then at Yami which made her eyes shone murder.
"You! You did it?!" she bellowed causing Solomon and Yami to shrivel under her scrutinizing glare.
"In his defence, the enemy purposely made him take the card during the duel so he only had that in his hand" Myra said while Lily glared.
"Why didn't you just throw it away?" Lily asked bluntly causing Yami to gulp.
"That's what I was asking!" Marium asked which made him want to cry inside, only she would be blunt and ask a common sense question. Why hadn't he?
"I… I don't know! I wasn't thinking" Yami explained before hearing a growl from a fuming Lily.
"Right! For the next month! You're minding the store and doing chores ALL around the house as punishment! That and you need to write everyone here an apology for what you did" Lily said stunning Yami enough to make his eyes bulge out of his sockets. Yugi however swallowed since they shared the same body, so wouldn't he be forced to endure every single one of those punishments?!
Lily sensing this smiled sweetly.
"If Yami has any sense, he'll find away" she said brightly causing Yugi to whine mentally.
"Thanks pharaoh…" Yugi muttered to a still mentally sobbing Yami while Marium tried not to smirk at his misery but was finding it hard to do so. In away this was payback and if Marium had her way, Yami would be unable to get off the floor after the first hour.
"Well might as well get started no?" Marium asked causing Yugi and Yami to tense up.
"What?" Yugi cried "I just got home!" while Yami was crying 'noooooooo!' while sounding like a wounded animal to her glee. Oh this was going to be fun!
"Let Yugi rest today, I'm sure he and Myra are jet lagged. I sure hope Seto gave you both a ride home" Lily said with a warning look.
"He did thank you, he was a bit sore that he had to allow Joey on the plane but he was somewhat okay" Myra explained causing Lily to nod in approval.
"Good, well we just finished making dinner. Do you two want to come up and get ready?" Lily asked before Solomon went upstairs to avoid Lily thanks to what she had in mind later on. He didn't want to dust her bookshelves again, it was too dusty and it was only one day since it had been dusted.
Yugi stretched as he sat on his bed, Myra rubbed her eyes before eyeing a doll wearily. Lily to her dismay had suggested letting Marium possess the doll, which in itself was odd since she already possessed the pendent so how could Marium enter the doll? Myra sighed before shaking her head and went to hold the doll, to her surprise she felt something leave her while the doll grew warm to the touch and the fabric of the doll became softer like she was feeling human hands. Hearing a gasp Myra opened her eyes and felt them go wide in shock as Marium smiled at her.
"You're getting good at this, all that training is paying off" Marium said before hearing Yugi's mind now think about Yami. "One spirit per doll Yugi sorry" Marium said causing Yami and Yugi to deflate weakly from her news.
"Well… I suppose I did say I would tell you all a story, but it will be short I hope" Marium said before the pair sat on the bed with their backs to the wall.
"What story is it?" Yugi asked with interested eyes while Yami continued to ponder until a thought came to him.
"Wait a minute- are you going to tell us how we met?" Marium smiled at Yami confirming his suspicions.
"Really?!" Yugi cried in excitement while Myra was left surprised, she was sure that Marium would want Yami to find out by himself.
"Yes, now calm down you three and sit down properly because I have to recount for whatever I know" Marium laughed before the pair settled. Yami however sat on the swivel chair while resting his arms on the head, the anticipation killed him a lot since this was the first time she was willingly giving him something to know about. "But I must warn you" her smile faded.
"It's not for the faint hearted" she said bluntly startling them, Yami then remembered how she told him about her father which now left him cold and anxious.
"Let us begin, it started with a five year old girl…"
A tanned girl with medium length hair and brown eyes held a bowl of fruit in her small arms. Her brown dress is tattered and had to be constantly stitched up as it kept being ripped. Despite being the age of five the girl had been forced to preform chores like sell fruit to her dismay but she did not complain, instead her eyes were almost glass like-empty as she swallowed her sadness and kept moving. As she was about to head into the bazaar she was immediately greeted with the sound of grunting and noises that made her want to groan- a gang was beating someone or some people up.
"Oh boy… what now?" the girl muttered to herself before approaching the source of where the noise had been coming from which was around the corner leading to an alley way but no one to her surprise had paid no heed or had tried to help stop the problem.
As she approached the alley way she saw a group of boys wearing shaggy clothes and were barefooted who continued to hit, punch and kick a small boy who was about her age. The worst part was that behind the alley way was a road that leads to a building involved some guards but she was sure that they wouldn't be able to hear or help since this was a daily occurrence to her dismay.
"Honestly why bother post solders here who don't care if someone's getting beaten up?" she muttered feeling herself get a migraine from the situation. As much as she wanted to get the fruits dealt with, this however became something she had to deal with so she approached them.
"Is there a problem boys?" the girl asked blankly but in a high tone as she spoke in a language that was not native to Egypt, one of the boys who was beating up the injured boy on the floor looked at her.
"No Marium" the boy replied given that he was familiar with her language thanks to her mother who had helped teach various people the language, the boy then glared at the one injured. Blinking she tilted her head.
"Then why are you picking on the boy then? You do remember that this is my mother's turf right?" Marium asked, as much as she wanted to say territory she was unable to say it without stuttering and faltering on the word. The second boy in the gang looked at her before frowning.
"Oh him?" he looked at the injured boy with distain "he just came here, it looked like he was intruding on your mother's domain" the boy replied causing her frown to deepen.
"Oh really? Because from where I see it, it looks like he's looking for someone but was beaten up instead" Marium said in a challenging voice that left the gang freezing slightly.
"No no Marium it's not like that!" the slightly taller boy in the gang waved it off while the others looked slightly uneasy from her look.
"Um Ramses, I think she knows" the middle sized boy muttered as she glared at them darkly causing them to go pale. Looking at the boy she noticed that he was in very bad shape due to how badly they had beaten him up.
"This is really bad! You injured someone without properly thinking that he needs help! Didn't I tell you all to not attack visitors or those who need help? Not everyone is bad you know, so show so respect! I am really disappointed in all of you" Marium scolded sharply "You're lucky the guards don't even care anymore enough to help, but what if you took it too far and killed someone? Then what would you do?" Marium asked now feeling more unhappy from their stunt.
"Oh shut up and stop trying to tell us what to do! You're not the boss of us, it's only because you and Ilayna's daughter that we have to listen at times so back off you b-" the short boy said sharply as he called her a word that made everyone stare at him in shock, Marium however trembled from the insult and bit her lip. It took a lot not to cry from his cold words but kept herself strong.
"Don't even try to get rude with me again! Otherwise I'm telling your mother about your activities and how you're saying such foul words you slime ball" Marium spat sharply causing all four boys to laugh at the one who insulted her.
"That's Marium for you!" the leader hooted.
"Always strikes back" the middle one grinned while the one who insulted her seethed in anger from being humiliated.
"Just wait until I tell your father!" he hissed causing her to roll her eyes.
"Oh honestly, he won't believe you and we know it! He knows what you're like so why bother?" she replied coldly causing his eyes to flare up in anger.
"Oh just leave us alone motherless brat" the boys went silent once more as they saw that this was a low blow even for him, everyone knew that her mother's disappearance had not been a normal one and even her father was sure it was murder. But who would have done it is beyond them.
Marium kept herself straight as she glared at him.
"No you leave, you have no business in insulting or hurting anyone. I've had enough of your insults so see if I care if it comes back to bite you" she bit crossly. The boy glared hatefully at her but said nothing, instead he ran away leaving the other boys to give her apologetic looks. She nodded before looking at the boy wanting nothing more than to be alone, but instead she had to deal with their mess. Hearing them biding her farewell they left silently to go after the boy who insulted her. Once she was alone with the boy she approached him.
"Are you okay?" Marium asked softly "can you walk?" she watched him try to get up but ended up slumping due to the lack of energy thanks to the injuries in his legs, biting her lip she watched him as she tried to think of a way to help him.
"I'm going to deliver these fruits, I'll be right back to help you. If you want, you can stay at my house until your strength returns" Marium commented as the boy looked at her with scared amethyst eyes, seeing her kind assuring smile left him feeling a little more relaxed. Nodding slowly not caring if it made his yellow bangs more dirty he winced from the injuries.
"Be right back!" Marium called before rushing towards the bazaar, once there she handed a vendor fruit before accepting the money he gave her. Smiling at each other she rushed away to his surprise before he could even speak to her properly.
"Must be important" he shrugged but allowed her to run, he did however worry as he spotted a slight bruise on the back of her leg near her ankle but he could say nothing. How could he when the solders didn't care about what happened here?
Marium spotted the boy immediately before helping him up, allowing his arm to rest on her other shoulder she helped him limp to her old home which looked like it had seen better days due to how it was not being maintained properly. Despite feeling uneasy about bringing him there she knew that she had medical stuff, the physicians to her dismay charged ridiculous amounts which made it harder for some to make their ends meet.
Once she spotted her bedroom she helped him sit on her bed before reaching for some pots and cloth.
"It's going to sting a lot so brace yourself" she said softly before tending to his injuries with the medicine and one of the pieces of cloth, the boy yelped but held himself together even as she placed some of the clothes on the ones that had medicine placed on parts of his body including his arms and legs.
"This is my mother's medicine, she says that if you leave the cloths on the where the medicine is it will heal you but don't touch them. The cloths will fall off by themselves" she instructed to the now surprised boy who looked at the cloth like bandages. "Stay here, I'll be right back" she said before going to make some soup since it was almost lunch time, despite being young she had at times been forced to survive since her father refused to help her while her older brother would just mock and spill what he had made for Marium right in front of her. It had upset her a lot but she could say nothing except remain in silence.
"So what are you doing here? I've never seen your face here before" Marium commented as she sat down with the soup but was careful not to spill it or both would get burned. The boy looked at her before looking at the bowl weakly, at first he stayed quiet due to being nervous before sighing heavily.
"I was running from the boy that was being rude to you, I was actually looking for someone that grew some rare fruit since they haven't come to my home for some time, dad wasn't happy and kept worrying about the person a lot" the boy replied as his shoulders and back sagged slightly from being unhappy. Blinking Marium stared at him with curious eyes.
"Well I'm sure you'll find the person soon, unfortunately I can't be of help" Marium said before relaxing on the floor to his worry since the floor he was sure was no comfortable "I have a sick brother so I have to make do with what I can give to the vendor" Marium explained to his dismay.
"Wait a minute! You had the fruit in your bowl when you found me!" the boy said in surprise " how old are you?" he asked causing her to almost frown at how nosy he was being.
"I'm five" she said bluntly "how old are you?" she asked causing his face to go red as he had a feeling he had upset her but he was deeply surprised about her age, how was it that a five year old girl was allowed to go outside unprotected when there were bad people outside? Wasn't her family worried about her?
"I-I'm six, s-sorry about that I was just shocked that's all" the boy admitted meekly causing her to stare still.
"It's alright…" she sighed heavily "I have a mean older brother so I'm use to being asked or told mean things" she said before taking a sip of her soup.
"So what's your name? My name's Marium" she asked before the boy piped up with a shy smile.
"Oh, my name is &%$£"
"Seriously! You won't tell me my real name?!" Yami whined while the pair stared at him blankly for interrupting the story.
"Not part of the deal buster now pipe down, I'm still trying to tell the story" Marium said sternly causing him to grumble weakly but kept quiet after that.
"Now as I was saying-"
"I didn't know that you spoke in a different language" the boy said with a curious look.
"Well… I am known to do a few things" Marium commented feeling shy.
"Like levitate stuff and see into the future, but you don't need to know that" she muttered mentally before resuming their talk.
"So who's your father?" Marium asked while Yami smiled fondly from the question.
"He's the Pharaoh of Egypt" Yami explained with a wide smile while Marium's eyes went wide in surprise.
"Really?! That's so cool! My mother use to work for him before, her name was Ilayna. You might have seen her before" Marium said before pausing and then recoiled weakly to his surprise from seeing her sudden change in behaviour.
"My dad… doesn't like the pharaoh, I never knew why though so I just kept to myself so I don't get into much trouble" she admitted meekly as fear of being hit entered her mind from even thinking about asking one question.
Yami however was happy to hear about Ilayna and that this was her daughter.
"That's really cool as well! I knew her for a bit before. She told me she had two girls and two boys. One day she was doing something at the palace but then they said she vanished, I never knew what happened" Yami explained with a sad but worried look on his face the moment he saw her grow sombre.
"She… she was killed when I was very young, they said she went missing but there was no body to confirm that someone had hurt her. Some even said that she ran away and were very mean about it, I didn't truly know her much except that I looked like her" Marium said while trying to keep the bitterness from her voice. "Dad a was a mess when she died, he started drinking and doing really mean stuff" Marium explained causing him to blink in shock.
"What does he do?" Yami asked in surprise while watching her pull her long sleeved dress sleeve down.
"He… he hits me and what's worse is that my older brother tells lies about me to him which causes father to hit me even more. I never knew why my older brother hates me, maybe he's hoping that I would stop looking like mum when I get scarred" Marium explains while her mind almost went blank at how badly she was trying to keep herself together, blinking she notices his hand on hers.
"I'm sorry, I really didn't know" Yami said feeling guilty for what she had to go through.
"Well sadly, no one will help. The solders just don't care about anything anymore, gangs just do whatever they want since they got fed up of trying to sort out the messes. I think after my mother died they stopped wanting to do anything and just use this area as a spot to do whatever they want" this made Yami shocked and angry at how the solders were acting, this was bad even for them and they worked for his father. How had no one reported this?
Soon two cat like foxes with brown fur appeared causing Marium to smile faintly and stroke them, she soon paused as she heard what one of her cats had told her.
"Father's coming here" Marium said before standing up.
"Ah- how did you know?" Yami asked causing her to smile in a brittle manner that left him worried.
"I've had these cats since I was little, they were from my mother so after spending time with them I end up picking a few things from them" she explained before seeing her father and brother enter the room, she swallowed her bile as her father stared at them with hard a hard look on his face.
"Hello father, how are you?" Marium asked politely causing him to grunt a bit.
"Fine, are you?" he asked bluntly but Marium was no fool, he was furious that she had brought someone inside and that she had not reported to him about the money she had earned from the selling.
"Just hanging out with the dogs I guess" her brother smirked as he spoke in a sly tone causing their father to glare at him from the corner of his eye, Yami who saw this felt intimidated immediately to his dismay. This man was definitely not to be messed with and even as he looked at Marium he was sure that she was scared of him as well, despite this Marium glared at her brother weakly for trying to stir up trouble once more.
"I was speaking to your sister Asim so hold your tongue" her father said sharply almost sounding like a whip had been cracked causing the children to nearly tense up.
"I-I am fine father, however Hemp had said a foul word and was beating this boy here to the point he cannot move" Marium explained causing her father's eyes to narrow slightly making her more fearful but tried to keep it in. "He will need to stay the night in order to heal if that is okay with you father?" she asked while keeping her face void of emotions, she could not tell her father that this was the prince otherwise it would no doubt end badly for the both of them. Straight away her father stared at Yami causing the boy to tense up in fear, soon her father nodded and left the room with a surprised Asim.
Once they were gone did Marium slowly relax and look at Yami.
"He really is scary" Yami said weakly to which she nodded meekly.
As the night went on Marium had spoken to her older sister a few times before Marium helped Yami get read for sleep, to his relief the injuries in his legs had all but almost vanished but did not take the bandages off as she instructed. However despite the fact he needed an extra day to heal Marium was sure that if she had asked her father would be more furious about how she didn't get his attention about this boy to begin with. That and the fact she brought someone in the house angered him enough. Marium on the other hand didn't want to tempt fate as she knew that she was in trouble later on.
The pair stared at the palace, just seeing the grand structure left Marium intimidated before Yami held her hand.
"It'll be okay, don't worry father will be happy to see you" Yami said with an encouraging smile.
"But my father was not" she commented mentally before they were stopped at the gates.
"Halt! State your name and why you wish to enter the palace" a guard barked not that Marium could blame him for not recognizing Yami, he did almost look like a mummy due to how many bandages she had to put on him.
"M-My name is (insert name Yami: Seriously?!) I am here with Ilayna's daughter, we just wanted to see my father" Yami explained while the guards stared at a now nervous Marium who wanted to hide behind Yami.
"Your mother has been missing for almost five years" the second guard said looking shocked about seeing this girl.
"We need to speak to my father about it, it's really important please" Yami pleaded to the guards who stared at him.
"You know the pharaoh is really upset that you left the palace without telling him, almost every solder here has been on the look out for you" the first one said sternly causing Yami to shrivel slightly.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to find any clues on Ilayna" Yami explained causing both solders to smile softly.
"Alright, come on in you rascal. Be sure to let Imhotep know you're here so he can escort you" the first one said before yelling at a guard called Imhotep to rush over and collect the pair.
"Sure, thanks Senfu" Yami said with a wide smile that made the guards feel uneasy but happy from how he made them want to smile despite being on duty, watching them Marium smiled faintly but kept to herself as nerves still latched onto her. Imhotep remained silent even as they arrived at the throne room, Yami immediately spotted his worried father and immediately grew guilty for making him worry.
"I'm sure your son will be found" said an advisor.
"But what if something happens to him, this unlike him to-"
"Father!" Yami called silencing the pair, everyone in the room looked at the three at the door causing Yami to blush from what he had done.
"Why?" Marium asked weakly causing Yami to chuckle weakly for not thinking about how this would affect everyone else, he was just happy to see his father again. Getting up the pharaoh Aknamkanon stared at his son with wide eyes, his mouth parted in disbelief.
"I… I have to go Yami, take care" Marium said hastily to Yami's surprise, as soon as he turned to face her she had already ran causing Yami to grow sad from how shy she was. Then again he didn't blame her, this was his world while hers was out there.
"(insert name Yami: Darn it!)! You have got some explaining to do!" his father yelled in anger startling Yami enough to look at his father meekly, he was upset now.
"Father, the girl who was with me helped me get better, she knows about-" Yami said now feeling uncomfortable about the eyes that were now on him.
"I was very worried, you left the safety of the palace without any explanation. You made your friends worry as well, do you have any idea of how dangerous that stunt was and why are you covered in cloths?" Aknamkanon asked sternly while Yami winced at how bad this was. Sure he pulled some pranks with Mana but this was bad even for him.
"I was, I was attacked by five boys and she helped me get better" Yami explained causing his father who was now standing in front of him to pause from thinking.
"How do you know that she's not part of the group and was not using this to her advantage so she could get close to you?" his father asked only to blink as Yami frowned at him.
"Father she's Ilayna's daughter! She would never do that!" Yami said sharply not caring if he was speaking out of line, soon some people began to gossip and murmur to his dismay, now he was aware of why she didn't want to be known. To them she looked like a street urchin who had lived life rough on the road, but she might as well be given what she had to put up with.
"How do you even know that the girl is Ilayna's daughter?" Aknamkanon asked sternly not believing his ears, after all she went missing for almost five years and her family had closed themselves off from him. Why would one of the members show up now?
"Because… she looks like her doesn't she?" Yami replied now feeling nervous from the stern looks.
"Could be coincidental my prince" the man who had been with his father said softly.
"But Shimon! It was her I know it and she speaks in a language that I don't know about, she's only five!" Yami added startling both males at how determined Yami was on proving that it was her. Blinking the males looked at the other and then at him.
"My prince, you would need more proof-"
"Her father keeps beating her up because she looks like her mother!" Yami screamed as tears of frustration filled his eyes "what other proof do you need?!" he added while the whole room went silent.
"I know I snuck out the palace and I'm sorry for making you worry, but it was her! She- when she helped me she was carrying the rare fruit Ilayna would bring. She was going to sell it and when she came back to help it was empty. She isn't lying so why won't you believe me?" Yami asked now feeling like he wanted to cry from how they were judging him and not listening to his words. He was the prince, yes his father was pharaoh but surely his words should mean something right?!
Shimon looked at the pharaoh who remained passive, kneeling down Aknamkanon placed a hand on his son's shoulder but was mindful of the injuries he had.
"Yami…"
"Her brother is sick and only she and her older sister are trying to help him. Her father's a drunk because of the death and her older brother just keeps making it worse by lying to him about stuff so their father could beat her" Yami's voice wobbled and shook but it was loud enough to startle Shimon, Aknamkanon and Imhotep who were listening due to how close they were. Yami felt his father's hand tighten slightly causing a distraught Yami to look up at him, soon his father looked at Shimon.
"I'll be leaving for a bit, I will not need any guards with me" Aknamkanon said to shocking them.
"Y-You believe me?" Yami asked fearfully almost anticipating a trick but his father's expression showed that he was trying to conceal some emotions which he understood a lot.
"M-My pharaoh" Shimon said softly.
"No buts Shimon, it is about time I try to make peace after Ilayna went missing. In the end the fault is mine and it was no doubt under my roof" Aknamkanon said softly before standing up. "Let's go Yami" The boy's eyes lit up knowing that help was coming for Marium he nodded.
"Thank you father" Yami said causing Aknamkanon to nod stiffly.
Marium ran home quickly knowing that if she didn't she would be in more trouble than she would have liked. Once she entered her home she placed her hand on the wall and panted heavily from forcing herself to run that far, after a while she composed herself and started to head towards her room.
"And where have you been?" asked a cold voice that left the hairs on her neck standing on their ends. "Who was that boy you brought here uninvited?" Marium turned to look at her father who looked furious to her dismay.
"His name is (insert name)" Marium replied softly while she stayed still, if she moved he would no doubt hit her for walking away when he didn't tell her to move.
"(insert name)? Sounds like the name the pharaoh chose for his son" Marium felt cold as fear trickled in "he wouldn't be the son of that man? Would he?" his father asked sternly causing her to almost swallow in fear.
"Y-Yes… he is" Marium replied while trying to keep calm, it was then his eyes narrowed.
"Say that again, who was that boy?" her father said now vocally furious to her dismay.
"He… his name is (insert name) and he is the son of the pharaoh, but in my defense he was being beaten up by a gang of five boys. No one was helping him" Marium explained now feeling determined not to be put down for doing the right thing, a scoff left his lips.
"So you decided to get involved and stop them? What a weak child" he said but she refused to be put down.
"Is it weak when someone is called motherless child and a b-" she said causing his eyes to flare up in anger.
"Who said this?" he spoke in a deathly cold tone while she kept her ground.
"Amon" she replied not hesitating to speak, nor did she cry after all she had nothing to be truly upset about. It wasn't her fault nor did she know who her mother was.
"I'm going to kill him" Marium went cold knowing that he was drunk again "I'm going to kill that boy!" he roared causing her to try and intercept him, only for him to hit her with his elbow causing her to fall to the floor once his elbow hit her face.
"Stay out of my way you retched girl! This is all your fault!" he roared in anger "if you hadn't gone near them! None of this would have happened! Why did you do this? This is all your fault! And… you're going to pay for this" he said darkly scaring Marium before sending her front onto the floor. She immediately panicked as the back of her dress ripped, she wanted to run and scream once she saw him pick up an object that looked broken and jagged. However she could not even utter a single cry one he hit her with the item. Her head hit the floor after the blow but he did not stop even as some blood hit various parts around them, however to Marium's relief her older sister entered the room with a cold look on her face.
"Dad that's enough! You're going to kill her!" her sister said sharply before grabbing the item after wrestling it out of his hand. "Do you want to kill your flesh and blood?" she hissed before gesturing to the tear stained sister who was on the floor while she was covered in serious cuts, some to the sister's dismay would need a physician but they could not go unless they wanted to attract attention, which would mean that she had to treat Marium. Stunned their father remained still while Marium was being helped by her sister, Marium at that moment just wanted to be alone so she could cry but did not even speak as her sister treated her straight away. Both were in tears while Marium looked at her sick brother who was in bed, all three felt sick and upset but they could not go against him. Who was to say he would not find a way to hurt all of them?
Her sister soon stood up and left the room, before anyone could process what was going on a slap entered their ears startling them.
"I hope you are proud of yourself" the eldest daughter spat not caring if she was covered in blood. "Mother would be furious with you, do you think that she wants you to do this? Why are you punishing such a small child who did nothing? She didn't make mum disappear so why take it out on the innocent?" she added causing him to bit the inside of his mouth, Asim however remained frozen as she glared at him.
"And you Asim! Shame on you!" she snapped crossly huffing she stormed back into the room Marium and their sick brother was in.
Their father placed a hand to his face to groan once he heard a knock on his door.
"Go away!" he said weakly only to hear a knock again.
"Did you not hear me? I said go away! Leave me alone!" he yelled louder, sadly the person at the door didn't listen and knocked even louder trying the father's patience. Storming towards the door with a new sharp object he spotted he opened the door.
"Are you deaf?! I told you to-" the father froze when he saw the pharaoh at the door, bitterness and anger filled him from just seeing the man who no doubt caused his wife's murder.
"Hello Masud, it has been a while" Aknamkanon said softly "I believe you have met my son (insert name)?" he gestured to his scared son who hid behind him in fear. Masud just glared at the boy which made the boy want to hide even more.
"Oh him…" Masud turned to look at the pharaoh "I thought that I told you to go away, I'm not in the mood for you to come and bother me" Masud said coldly. Aknamkanon narrowed his eyes as he saw some blood on the man, something he was sure was not there through normal means.
"I can see that" the pharaoh gestured to the object "that would definitely scare some intruders away for sure" Masud twitched in anger, it had been years and now this man was appearing at his house. Why? Did he think that he had the right to bother him? So what if he was pharaoh? Masud would never bow to him for anything.
"Why are you even here? You're not even welcome here" Masud snapped, hearing this the pharaoh sighed.
"I'm here to see Ilayna and Marium, I trust that they're inside" Aknamkanon said calmly, Yami's eyes went wide in horror at how his father could say that. He knew that she was dead so why ask for her? Looking at Masud quickly he saw restrained fury before flinching as the man threw the object near their feet.
"Get out!" Masud spat crossly "it's because of you she was killed! Now you want to have my youngest killed as well?" Masud yelled.
"How many more lives must you steal from me before you're truly happy?" Masud bellowed not caring if he was attracting attention, yes the pharaoh had been discrete in wearing commoner clothes but Masud was no fool. He recognized that face of his, ever since they met Masud was no fool. He would not allow anymore of that man to interfere with his life! Even if he had to commit treason. Slamming the door in their faces Masud left to go to his room and drink again.
Yami looked at his father who had a pained look on his face and grabbed his hand tightly.
"Father?" Yami called meekly before the man smiled faintly.
"In a ways, he is right. I caused her to die" Aknamkanon said before Yami shook his head.
"You didn't! You wouldn't do that!" Yami said causing his father to cry softly as he knelt down and hugged is son.
"But son, when you work in the royal court. There will be some who will try to make others vanish and no matter how hard I try, some will not live long enough to achieve good" Aknamkanon said while Yami hugged him tightly, pausing from crying Yami and his father heard sniffling. Hearing this Aknamkanon's eyes hardened in anger from hearing a child crying, releasing himself from his surprised father Yami knocked on the door quickly.
"Marium! It's me (insert name Yami: I just want to change my name now…)!" Yami said now willing for her to open the door, within minutes the door opened revealing a tear stained but shocked Marium who looked like she had just endured something horrible to their dismay.
"What are you doing here?" Marium hissed looking scared as she used the door to keep her steady to his horror, she cared not if she had blood or was covered in bandages. She could ask her sister to fix her dress later but right now she wanted Yami safe from harm.
"I came with my dad, we want to help you. What happened?" Yami asked as he moved forward to help her stay steady, seeing the state of Marium made Yami's father sick to his stomach. This was Masud's own daughter and he was beating her up! Why? What reason was there for doing this?
"Father lost it" Marium said looking ashamed "he knows who you are and he didn't take it well…" she added meekly, swallowing Yami felt guilt fill him.
"Can't you run away? Why not ask my father if you can stay with us?" Yami's words surprised her and his father, yes it would mean she was safe but the scrutiny of the people in the palace would be horrific even for her.
"I can't… Asim would tell father" Marium said now feeling tears stain her cheeks once more. She looked at her bare feet in despair, worry for her sister and sick brother would always be on her mind if she went by herself. There would be no peace and who was to say he would not attack her sister or sick brother?
"Ask your sister and sick brother to pack their stuff" Aknamkanon said to their shock. "If they are your main concern then they can leave with us, this cannot go on Marium. He is volatile and who knows when he'll fully snap" he explained causing her to look down.
"A… alright" Marium said meekly as tears continued to fall causing their hearts to break at how fragile she truly was. How long had this been going on? And it was under his nose to make it worse. Even after Yami had told him everything about what she told him he was still in disbelief. This was not how he wanted his kingdom to be and yet there was always going to be corruption no matter what he did.
"It's just…" Aknamkanon looked at her "I… I don't want to be a burden, I already know that I am one here" she spoke softly, fury filled him but he kept calm for her sake. No not just for hers but Ilayna's, he owed it to her to keep her last child safe if she was in danger and she was. At this rate the injuries would be infected and she could die despite having medicine that Ilayna had no doubt taught the eldest daughter. Only they could do so much before tragedy struck.
"You're not a burden!" Yami said before his father could speak "Marium, you're a nice person don't ever think that!" he said causing her to finally cry softly.
"If… if you say so" Marium said before he helped her inside to pack, Aknamkanon not trusting Masud would keep himself in wherever he was entered the house and looked round to see it was in a bad state compared to when he arrived here years ago.
Once Marium informed her siblings what was going on they went pale.
"But it's dangerous, brother cannot go outside. The air is dangerous to him" her sister said causing Marium to stare at them in dismay, Yami who had heard this bit his lip not knowing what to do.
"And what are you up to?" asked a voice that left them scared once more, turning they say Masud with an object that was not broken to their relief but was still dangerous regardless. Marium now feeling some determination thanks to Yami looked at him.
"We're going!" Marium said sharply to her siblings' dismay as they saw his eyes narrow.
"Oh really?" he asked calmly.
"Yes! I'm sick and tired of you hurting me! I'm sick and tired of Asim lying and finding ways to get me beaten! I'm fed up of being reminded that I look like mother and how it encourages you to hurt me! So I want to leave!" Marium snapped startling her siblings even Asim who stood nearby was surprised at how a five year old would speak like that. Looking at his father who huffed.
"Ungrateful wretch" her father said to her dismay but she exhaled and shook it off, it wasn't the first time he called her names. "By all means leave, who would want such a curse in our life?" he spat causing Yami to glare but Marium shook her head, instead she gestured him to go. Looking at her sister and sick brother she felt upset that she would have to leave them behind but she was sure her father would not attack them. But it would mean her sick brother would be in more danger thanks to the lack of help they would be getting. Just as she was about to leave the room she heard her father.
"But you won't be leaving this house alive" Masud said causing their eyes to widen.
"FATHER!" her sister screamed but was too late as he slammed Marium's already injured back causing her to hit the floor, he soon sent his distressed eldest daughter away as he hurt Marium again with the object until Aknamkanon entered the room thanks to Yami who alerted him, Asim as he watched was left in shock from not only the fact that his sister but the fact his father this time wanted to kill her. Whether or not he was drunk and they all knew he was.
"Stop it Masud!" Aknamkanon ordered but was almost hit as well from the object as he restrained the man who now was being caught in a lock with his arms. Yami meanwhile tried to get Marium's weakened form away from Masud while avoiding being kicked.
Marium sighed as she saw the horrified faces of Myra and Yugi, Yami meanwhile gritted his teeth as anger filled his eyes. Just hearing about this event, he could almost picture it actually happening in his mind.
"That… that actually happened?" Yugi choked as he felt tears well up in his eyes, he blinked in shock as she waved it off.
"It's in the past now, he changed after that day" Marium explained while Myra remained sullen from what she had heard, even now she could hear pain filling up inside Marium's voice but had tried to contain it for their sakes.
"What happened after that?" Yugi asked now wanting to know how things changed.
"Well… he stopped drinking after the pharaoh forced him to clean up his act. He also stopped beating me daily and instead punished Asim but without violence thankfully" Marium explained "Yami however slowly around a certain age according to one of his friends when I spoke to them years later had stopped playing and being a prankster, he had instead took his studies seriously" she added with a smirk while Yami's face went beet red.
"You? A prankster? That's like saying the moon is going fall, how is that possible?" Myra asked while Yami coughed into his fist to mask his embarrassment.
"I… um… don't know what to say to that" Yami said causing Marium and Myra to raise a brow while smirking, Yugi however looked at Yami in shock not knowing what to say to that.
"Okay children, bed time now" Marium said with a chuckle and left the doll to enter the pendent again.
"Oooh! I wanted to hear more!" Yugi whined not that Myra was complaining, she too wanted to hear what happened next.
"Another time" Marium said sounding amused, yawning mutely Myra bid Yugi farewell and went to her room to sleep.
"Night Myra!" Yugi called before looking at Yami. "So… what else have you been hiding from me?" Yugi asked with a grin that left Yami's smile twitching weakly.
"I- don't know what you're talking about" Yami stuttered violently despite trying to keep calm.
"Really? Because you and Marium have been real close lately" Yugi said with a glint in his eye that made Yami want to hide.
"Bed time!" Yami yelled before vanishing which made Yugi laugh at how easy it was to tease the spirit.
"Okay, but we are talking about this later" Yugi smiled before putting the puzzle on his nightstand and went to sleep.