Disclaimer: The stuff belongs to their rightful owners which is not me.
She could only hear the whooshing sounds in her ears, making her cling onto the king further, afraid to let go. For all she knew, they could be deep inside a volcano.
"Téa , you can open your eyes now," Atem told her, as Téa 's arms were currently too tight around him. "You are missing a great view."
Téa slowly opened her eyes, the sudden brightness making her flinch.
Téa 's sapphire eyes were wide as saucers when she saw what the king wanted her to see.
"We're flying?" Téa screeched, her arms tightening around the king's neck.
Atem winced slightly at Téa 's grip.
"Yes Téa . May you please loosen your grip just a bit? I may have magic but I still need my neck,"
Téa nodded, loosening her grip on the king's neck. 'Wait I'm so close to the king?'
Téa looked down, finding miles of green trees. Then she saw one tree moving slowly in a sort of a waddle.
"King Atem why is that tree moving?" Téa screeched, her eyes rushing up to meet the amused crimson eyes of Atem. "Trees don't move!"
"We all used to be humans Téa ," replied Atem, as he spotted his destination: a village that was small with a path that made its way up towards a hill.
Téa would have been shocked if she hadn't already guessed. She just assumed animals were turned into animals while humans turned into human like humans.
"How did you all end up this way?"
Atem did not answer her at first as he pondered how to answer this question. He could not tell her everything for he was afraid that putting pressure on her would not truly break the curse.
"One winter night a man came and cast a curse on us. All those of my kingdom were affected and no outsiders have been allowed to come in since you."
Téa 's mind registered his words, her heart reaching for everyone of this kingdom. It wasn't fair that a man had done this to all of these innocent people.
"How are you going to get rid of the curse?"
"I am uncertain of this. My bureaucracy and I have been looking for the caster for a long time. We have been unable to locate him hence why we frequently do patrols," Atem lied, the words slipping so easily from his lips. He did not want to lie to her but by knowing this girl for only a short time; she would do anything he asked her to do. Atem did not want her to force herself to love him; it had to be true love.
"I'm sure you'll find him someday soon King Atem. I have faith in you," Téa said, a bright smile on her face.
Atem nodded his eyes on the field where a bunch of cats with dark blue fur and white swirls were laying around.
"Téa I'm going to put a spell on you as a disguise. I don't want my people panicking when they see you," Atem explained as he neared the ground.
Téa blinked, confused at what the king had just said. "A disguise? Why would I need a disguise? Did Mana screw something up?"
"Do you remember what I said Téa ? You are the first outside to come into our kingdom in a very long time. If my people were to see you, they would panic or even worse," Atem whispered the last part as he gave his reasoning.
Téa didn't catch the last part as she just nodded her head.
"I understand King Atem," she moved a couple of feet away from him, standing tall.
Atem raised his hand and a dark yellow like color sprang forth. It crept towards Téa quickly before swirling around the sapphire-eyed beauty. It swirled around Téa until it wrapped her into a shape of a cocoon. Atem's fingers twitch slightly; the dark yellow magic completely disappeared with no trace whatsoever.
Atem had a proud smirk on his lips when he saw Téa ; he had feared that the illusion spell would not work on her at all.
"Did it work?" Téa peeped when Atem noticed she had her eyes closed tightly.
Atem made a mirror appear in front of her, "See for yourself Téa ."
Téa slowly opened her eyes, finding a mirror in front of herself. Her breath hitched as her eyes fell upon the woman in the mirror.
The woman in the mirror no longer had the outfit she had on earlier. In its place was a dress of white with deep rich brown metal plating. The shoulders had sleeves that looked like angel's wings with a precious gem on each shoulder. There was also angel like wings at the end of the dress. Téa's hair was no longer the deep rich mahogany brown, but a reddish violet color. Adorned on her head was a headdress with two angel wings pointing up. Each angel wing had a dark aqua orb with a dark emerald orb between the two wings. Téa noticed the gloves she wore as she never wore gloves often. They were pure white with a dark aqua orb on each. The boots were pure white as well but they had no special orbs or gems on it. She almost freaked out when she saw the wings, two dark aqua orbs on each that were soft to touch.
"So can I fly now?" Téa joked, as the wind caressed her wings gently.
Atem chuckled quietly before shaking his head. "Remember it's just an illusion on your appearance Téa ."
"But what if someone asks me to fly?"
"Téa no one is going to ask you to fly."
Téa rolled her eyes before her gloved hands found a resting place on her hips. "How often do you come to a village with someone who isn't a member of your bureaucracy King Atem? Your people are going to ask who I am."
Atem sighed, a bit annoyed at Téa's persistence and her ability to be stubborn.
Quickly, Atem cast an illusion of bandages wrapped around her wing, a bit soiled with a faint red color.
"Now the villagers will not ask you to fly. Would you like to go into the village now before it comes to the time we must leave?"
Téa noticed the bit of irritation in his voice so she only nodded.
Atem offered his arm for her, which she gently took.
"Téa I should warn you that not everyone in this village retained human appearances," Atem sent a casting look at the girl on his arm, seeing her eyes sparkle with curiosity at his words.
"What do you mean by that King Atem?" Téa didn't understand what Atem was saying. How did some people not have human appearances? The ogres that had hurt her had a bit of human like features to them.
"My King! It is good to see that you have arrived!" A female voice called out, snapping Téa out of her thoughts. A small gasp escaped her lips before Téa could stop it.
A light chocolate brown panther was kneeling before her and King Atem, dressed in a woman's warriors clothing with a dark top, most likely made of iron and a skirt of dark material. Wrapped around panther's neck was a very billowy and it reminded Téa of a toga. On the panthers hands- 'Or would it be claws?' Téa thought- was a pair of iron gloves.
The female panther had a giant golden shield in her had with simple circular designs. She carried a matching staff with a crescent shape under the giant circle.
"My king, it's an honor for you to have come today. My husband is in our house right now. One of our children is a bit ill and only my husband knows the remedy his mother created a long time ago."
"It is fine Hilda. No need to fret," Atem gave the panther a gentle smile as he made a motion with his gloved hand to rise. The panther returned his smile when her eyes fell upon Téa .
"I've never seen you before milady," The female panther started guiding them to her home, "May I be so bold as to ask who you are?"
"She recently became a friend of my cousin's wife, Serenity. Do you remember her Hilda? She has come to the village before," Atem answered for Téa when said girl sent him a pleading look.
"Ah yes. The children of the village love her. They love it when she turns to her other form and she flies in the sky with them on her back."
Téa 's brow raised a bit as her eyes widen when she heard Hilda mention Serenity's other form. 'What does she mean other form?' Téa asked herself before she looked to the king for an answer. Sapphire eyes met crimson that told her she would find out much later.
"King Atem is here! King Atem is here!" A group of high-pitched squeals cried out. Téa didn't know how much further her eyes could grow wider as she saw a group of children run. One thing was for sure Téa knew King Atem wasn't lying to her about not everyone having human like appearances. Her eyes caught a slightly chubby boy with only a white tank top, dark shorts and dark flips with a tiny pair of wings and a small girl dressed in a pale gold outfit with two triangular cones on top of her head. She carried a staff with her. Hopping along the girl was a small puffball that Téa realized was a rabbit. It had bright red eyes, like rubies that seemed to glaze over when it saw a patch of carrots near. A pink bird with a green collar and small bell flew over towards them, a bright smile on its face. The eyes of this bird reminded Téa of Mana's except Mana's eyes were so much brighter.
"King Atem we can't believe you're here again!" The bird exclaimed, panting heavily with her friends. "What are you going to Téa ch us today?"
"Children! Have you forgotten your manners?" admonished Hilda, a bit ashamed of their lack of manners.
"Sorry Mama," The girl in the golden outfit muttered as she and her friends awkwardly bowed or curtsied to King Atem.
Téa brought her hand to her face, covering her smile as the bunny and the boy nearly lost their balance.
"I'm sorry Melody but I'm not here to teach you anything new today. I am here to talk to Amelia's father," King Atem answered the bird's nearly forgotten question.
A chorus of whines rang out but the scary gaze of Hilda silenced them.
"But my friend Téa will gladly play with you." Atem gently removed Téa 's hand from his arm and gently pushed her towards the kids.
"I'll do what now?" Téa asked, nearly falling into one of the children from the unexpected push.
"You will play with them. I have seen how you are with Mokuba and I am sure the children will love playing with someone new. Now I have to go talk to Hilda's husband about important issues."
Atem and Hilda quickly left after Atem finished, leaving Téa to watch him head in the other direction.
Téa felt a small tugging on her dress, looking down to find Amelia there with her fist, gripping Téa 's dress.
"Hi Téa ! I'm Amelia and these are my friends Adam, Lily and Melody," Amelia pointed to the male fairy, the bunny and the bird. "My other friends will come out soon. They are in time out now for hitting each other."
Téa was speechless at the girl's friendless as she reached for Téa 's gloved hand and led her towards a valley filled with flowers, the other children in tow.
"Ms. Téa, do you know any fun games?" Lily asked as she hopped ahead of everyone. "We are tired of playing the same games."
Téa placed a gloved finger on her pursued lips, wondering what games they would like.
"How about grab 'n' go?"
The kids gave Téa a blank stare, making Téa chuckle nervously before sighing.
"How do you play it?" Amelia asked, her golden eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"My king, it is a great pleasure to see you once again," A black panther dark as night with elaborate blue and yellow armor on, greeted Atem as he and Hilda walked into a fairly stone house. In the far corner, Atem noticed the small fairy child, in his green robes and his large turquoise wings wrapped around him reach out for his mother. Soft cries came from the little fairy's mouth.
"Is Allister feeling better Alec?" Hilda asked, taking her child from his cot. The boy snuggled into his mother's fur, complete silence from him.
Alec nodded a smile on his face as he watched the exchange between his wife and son.
"Yes, he of course did not like the remedy too much."
Atem chuckled, remembering the days before the curse when he had to endure his grandfather's remedies for such trivial things such as a sneeze.
"Alec, your letter you sent to the castle requested my presence immediately over something you found recently. What is it?"
The dark panther nodded, gesturing towards the door. "If you may allow me my king, I will show you what I had found."
Alec waited until Atem left the stone house first before leading him to the dirt and stone path towards the forest. They followed
"This, my king," Alec raised his paw towards the tops of the trees, the sun shining in his eyes.
Atem's brow furrowed, confused by what the village leader wanted him to look at when he saw them.
"The leaves…They're changing color," Atem gasped, noticing the rich green leaves were tinted with shades of red, yellow and orange.
"Yes my king. I first thought that my eyes were merely deceiving me until my wife came to get me for dinner and she saw them as well," Alec looked away from the trees to his king, "The last time we had seen leaves change was the autumn before we all became like this."
Atem was puzzled at this sight. Time simply no longer existed in their world with the curse cast upon them. Atem remembered how people were confused that the sun would set or rise, but the season summer always remained, despite the number of days had past. Many completely forgo the concept of the calendar. They now just lived on a day-to-day basis.
"Thank you for showing this to me Alec. I will be returning to my castle to talk to the members of my bureaucracy about this and see what they think." Alec bowed his head to Atem before Atem took his leave to find Téa .
"No! Don't!" Atem heard the screams of Téa cry out, making the king's heart skip a beat.
"Téa !" Atem increased his speed to fly towards the direction where he heard Téa 's screams.
"Please stop!"
Atem froze when he heard that last scream, stopping in his tracks as he saw her figure running away from something.
Atem's heart fluttered with joy as he saw she was in no harm, she was only being chased by the village children whose cries of 'I'm going to get you Ms. Téa,' or 'Do not let her cross the line!' filled the air.
Atem strode over to the area where the kids had managed to tackle Téa to the ground.
Atem froze when he noticed one of the children that tackled Téa was Aden.
Aden faced the most struggles when it came to the curse as his entire body was made of fire. He had a hard time controlling himself when he got angry and he could not play in the rain with the other children of the village. He was an outcast to most outsiders and even some from his very own village yet Téa accepted him as easily as she accepted others.
"Téa," Atem's voice made all the children freeze, looking up to the king who was looming over them.
Téa blew some of her hair out of her face before turning her head slightly towards the king.
"Hello King Atem. What's going on?"
"We must leave now to get back towards the castle. I need to discuss something with everyone immediately."
"Aww! Can Téa stay King Atem? Pretty please?" Aden begged, his bright eyes shining.
Téa threw her arms open, inviting all the children into a group hug. "I'll come back soon okay? I pinky promise," Téa held out her pinky to every child there, the children's eyes shining with hope as they knew that pinky promises meant serious business.
Atem helped Téa up as the kids waved goodbye when Aden shyly went up to Téa and grabbed her hand. He placed a quick kiss on her hand before running off.
"Bye Téa ! I'll miss you!" Aden stuttered as he and some of his new found friends began running back to their homes.
Téa had a small surprised look on her face as where Atem had a smile that reflected his thoughts about how he thought this was all amusing.
"Ready to leave Téa ?" Atem swooped Téa off her feet and into his arms. He looked around the area, making sure no one was around. He quickly dispelled the illusion, Téa 's outfit and her mahogany locks appeared once more.
"Yes but can you not use magic this time?" Téa asked her arms wound loosely around Atem's neck. Atem nodded before he took off, leaving wind to breeze through the valley.
A small rectangular blob with two small yellow wings and a question mark on his head came out of the trees, his face expressionless.
"Must tell the boss," the creature said in a monotone voice. "Must tell the boss."
"Dude where is she?" Téa could hear Tristan's voice yell out as Atem made the doors open wide to let them enter the castle.
"Do you ever listen to anybody Tristan? Mana told us they went on an 'outing' to one of the local villages. Can you remember that or do I need to write it down for you slowly?" Duke's aggravated voice made Téa sigh at the boys.
'I can't believe they've been friends since elementary school. They sure don't act like it,' Téa thought as she and the king walked into the room where Tristan and Duke were.
"Can't you guys go with one day without arguing?" Téa asked loudly, making the two to turn towards Téa and Atem.
"Téa !" Both boys cried out, rushing to the girl. Tristan enveloped her into a hug and lifted her off the ground.
"Tristan! Put me down!" Téa 's cheeks flamed at Tristan's actions and when he did put her down, he refused to let go. He buried his face in her hair as Téa wrapped her arms around him.
"I thought I lost you," Tristan whispered, tightening his hold on Téa .
"Way to ruin the reunion with being all sentimental Tristan," Duke muttered before joining the group hug. Téa smiled one arm around each boy.
A cough coming from Atem broke the group hug very quickly, a blush from being embarrassed on both of the boys' cheeks.
"I am sorry to interrupt but I wanted to thank you Téa for accompanying me today. It was a pleasure and I hope you will join me again soon someday," Atem took Téa 's hand gently, placing a chaste kiss on it before taking his leave, "I will see you at dinner."
Atem disappeared before their eyes, leaving Téa 's cheeks to turn into a tomato while Tristan and Duke looked at the girl.
"You went where with him?" Both boys' voices pitches increased, almost similar to when they had begun puberty.
"None of your business," Téa replied as she folded her hands together.
So here are the Duel Monsters in this chapter:
Lady Panther, Panther Warrior, Mokey Mokey, Flamvell Baby, Sonic Chic, Smile Kid, Esper Girl, Dunames Witch, and Absorbing Kid from the Sky.
Review pretty please? :3