Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! and its cast. All I own is my OC!
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CHAPTER IV:
Unexpected Meetings Bear Mixed Feelings
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Domino City Museum looked like it was a mix of classical Greek architecture with a touch of modernism.
The main building had a portico that resembled those of the Greek Parthenon, the columns adopting a doric-style of design. The other buildings surrounding though were more modern in appearance, the styles resembling those of a typical Japanese University.
The place also had a nice view to it. The trees that surrounded the museum served as shades for tourists and art students alike- several of such students were lost in their own world as they sketched to their heart's content.
Flowers of different variety bloomed brightly from the bushes where they grew, their faint scent wafting past my nose in a dance of nature's natural perfume. It looked like today was a busy day for the museum too, my eyes catching the sight of a dozen buses filled with students ready to alight.
No wonder mother was so keen on me seeing the museum when we passed by it the other day.
The place had life to it, to be honest. I've been to a lot of museums thanks to mother and uncle's jobs yet none was as vibrant and intriguing as Domino City's museum.
"Yo, Michi! Over here." I shifted my eyes to the grand stairs of the museum and saw my uncle waving at me from the entrance.
He was dressed rather informally today, a plain light blue collared shirt matched with khaki shorts that reached until his knees. It's like he had just gotten back from a dig even though he never really left the museum.
"The museum's pretty busy today." I commented when I finally reached him; my hands adjusting my messenger bag before we proceeded to walk into the museum.
"The Egyptian Exhibit received a new set of artifacts yesterday. Apparently, they had something to do with that card game that's becoming the talk of the town." My uncle elaborated, my ears perking up when his explanation caught my attention.
"What are those artifacts then? I'm sure mother would have mentioned it yesterday yet I've only heard of it just now."
"They aren't much. Just a thousand-year-old khopesh and a long stone slab with the monsters on them." My uncle shrugged after we entered the atrium of the museum.
The center of the museum was humongous; several pillars lining each wall an an almost octagonal shape that reached until the ceiling. You could see the shape of the Parthenon's roof when you glance up, allowing you the experience of seeing what the Greeks saw when they entered a sacred temple during their time.
Each pillar had faux lights that resembled torches while banners showcasing the different sections of the museum fluttered like tapestry on each pillar. A lone circular desk was in the center of the atrium, behind it were several pathways that probably led to the different exhibits of the museum.
"The Egyptian exhibit is over there at the last hallway to the left. Of course, we're heading to the second floor offices to see your mother first before we head on over to the popular stone slab everyone's been talking about." My uncle led me to the opposite way of the said exhibit, my eyes never leaving the hallway that led to the slab he spoke of.
If my guess is true, then it'd really be no surprise why every duelist would want to see that slab. I didn't even know that Pegasus had based the game over such an artifact if that were the case.
Creativity always had its muse, I just didn't think Pegasus would find it in the hot deserts of an ancient civilization.
- o - o - o -
Atem's stoic facade hid well the tempest in his heart.
Even the Egyptian artifacts that Ishizu and Marik ordered over did nothing to quell the turmoil churning within him. Atem only ended up looking away from the mix of pictures and words on the papyrus, his sun-kissed hands rubbing his hair in frustration.
Meikou, ever since the Ceremonial Battle, had ended up shutting him out. Under the guise of smiles and simple nods, Atem knew they were nothing but pretenses to hide the fear and overwhelming guilt reflected in her eyes.
Atem wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that she probably didn't know what she was getting into in her past life. The gods themselves have said so- that she had done it because she was manipulated. She did nothing wrong and yet Atem knew saying those would only fall to deaf ears.
Atem could only blame himself for it. Leaving her without protection had cost them this fate.
"The Lady of Flame: Sekhmet." Atem snapped to reality at the voice behind him, enough to make him turn and face an older woman dressed in a plain white long-sleeved blouse and tucked into a pair of black slacks. Her hair was wavy, tied into a high ponytail, the color dark as obsidian.
She looked to be about Yugi's mother's age, her skin color that was almost identical to his told him that she wasn't born in this part of the globe.
Atem noticed her smile falter a bit before tilting her head, the Pharaoh himself realizing that he had probably been staring at her for far too long.
Coughing to regain his composure, he tried his best to utter a decent response but failed to properly articulate his thoughts out loud. "E-excuse me?"
"The papyrus you were observing." The woman gestured to the writings encased in a glass with a jut of her chin. "You had an intense look in your eye so I assumed you were probably wondering what's written on it."
It took Atem a second to absorb the woman's words, his eyes suddenly widening when he realized what the woman had said. "I'm sorry but I didn't properly hear the the first words you said. Could you please repeat them to me?" He asked her, hoping his lack of attention to her prior words didn't make him look rude.
Fortunately, the woman didn't seem to mind repeating her statement, her gaze leaving his to turn once again back to the set of scriptures inside the display case.
"The Lady of Flame: Sekhmet. The scripture behind you is a set of prayers written by temple priests to Sekhmet, asking for her blessing." The woman explained, her hand then pointing to a stone slab to which Atem followed its direction. "Above the scripture is another slab found by diggers at a derelict temple in Memphis. It depicts Sekhmet carrying the scepter made of papyrus and the ankh of life."
Atem's eyes remained glued on the design etched upon the slab, the design obviously reminiscent to that of a duel monster's card. Considering that Ishizu and Marik had explained that they would bring whatever clue they could find in Egypt to Japan, Atem concluded that this could be one of those artifacts that the elder Ishtar sibling was to discuss back at the game shop.
'Seek the soul whose life has been protected by the presence of Sekhmet...' Those were the gods words. Atem couldn't help but wonder if Pegasus had indeed created a card based on this carving.
If so, then chances are that its holder is the soul they were looking for.
"Masika! There you are." Atem followed the woman's shift in gaze to the source of the voice that was presumably calling for her.
A man, who looked identical to the woman, was waving from across the room with a wide smile of relief on his face. Atem easily identified them as twins, the only difference being the expression each one exhibited upon seeing each other. While the man looked rather happy, the woman held an almost forced smile that didn't really reach her eyes.
Atem took that as his cue to proceed on over to the next part of the exhibit, the momentary distraction the woman provided only served to make him recall his own prior thoughts about Meikou and the curse she had put them on.
- o - o - o -
Mother was nowhere to be found when we entered the office.
Typical of uncle, every time mother wasn't where she had last told him, he'd suddenly start worrying. Every common sense would be thrown out the window, even going so far as to leave me here before dashing out to locate mother. Television shows and cartoons made it look hilarious and endearing but in reality- it was just downright smothering to the person subjected to it.
The spacious office mother owned was reserved to no one else but her. Then again, uncle did mention that each curator had their own offices within the building.
A lone desk made of some sort of hard wood was situated in the center of the square-shaped office, the papers on them neatly stacked and assorted according to whatever order mother preferred them to be in. Behind the desk were two wooden shelves positioned on each side of it, each shelf filled to the end with books of which mostly were about Ancient Egypt and the like.
The huge window behind the desk overlooked a tree that decently covered the window to prevent too much of the sun's hot rays from getting in, the curtains colored in deep crimson were tied back by golden tassels to at least let some light in.
Overall, the room was simple and neat, something mother would obviously own considering how minimalistic she is.
It took me about ten minutes to fully explore the room before realizing that neither of the two would be returning anytime soo and decided to leave the premises to meet them halfway.
If they were going to do this to me, they should've just left me to explore the museum on my own. Better yet, they didn't have to invite me so that I could've spent more time at the game shop. While it's true that Yugi looked like he had important errands to do, that didn't mean that he was the only reason I wanted to stay. The shop was overflowing with Duel Monster cards, I could stay there the whole day and never get bored.
Closing the office behind me, I gave an exasperated sigh at the thought of that missed opportunity and proceeded to make my way to the first floor.
I gave a quick wave to the assistant eyeing me from the desk outside my mother's office, a curt nod her only reply before returning her gaze to the computer screen in front of her.
I then shifted my messenger bag to the other side of my shoulder as I made my way down, hoping to let my right shoulder rest from the slightly heavy bag I was carrying. If I had known this was going to happen then I never should have brought my reviewers and laptop with me.
Leaving it in the office is a no-go, the old dark brown bag my source of comfort and ease whenever I went out. It just didn't feel right with me to walk around town without it. It was only when I made it to the stairs that I realized I could have just left the unnecessary contents at mother's office, the idea making me groan when I realized if I did then I would have to walk back to the office, pull them out, and deposit then on the low coffee table by the door.
It was a tempting thought but then again what would be the point if I was going to come back for it and put them back in the bag again?
"Nevermind." I reply to myself in defeat as I descended the stairs.
The moment I reached the final step of the grand staircase that led down to the first floor, I decided to lift my head to scan the crowd for my mother and uncle.
Several children were gathered near the dinosaur exhibit, their matching uniforms reminding me that there was a field trip going on. The desk was filled with people asking for assistance, the two employees stationed there were running around like headless chickens as they tried to cater to all the visitors.
I slipped carefully into the crowd afterwards, keeping my eyes out for my mother. It was at that moment that I decided to turn my head to the left, failing to realize in time that I was walking straight towards someone.
The impact was instantaneous, the loud thud of my butt painfully greeting the marble floor making me whimper in pain.
"Are you okay?" The voice asked me, prompting me to slowly open my nearly teary eyes-
Only for time to stop when my view met the color of sharp royal purple eyes.
- o - o - o -
The sky was cloudless and hot, the arid heat of the desert beating down on the scorching ground.
My skin glistened with sweat as my brother and I fled to the shades, an impish smile on my lips when I jumped over a branch and intentionally failed to alert him.
A loud crack resounded in the area followed by a crash and faint groan. "No fair!" I could hear my brother groan in pain.
I skidded to a halt when I made it to the banks of the Nile, a victorious smile on my face when I returned my gaze to the shrubbery that rustled and revealed my brother's dirt covered form. His eyes were glaring daggers at me, the sight only serving to amuse me.
"You cheated!" He accused to which I shook my head while lifting my pointer finger and wagging it left and right.
"I would never, dear brother. You just reacted too late to notice the branch sticking out." I defended playfully, knowing he'd never believe me.
When our parents had told us that father would be going to the royal capital, my brother and I couldn't sit still from excitement. After all, it was extremely rare that we ever left our hometown, the trip too expensive for us to afford. It was only when father's master decided to depart to the capital to trade his goods did my brother and I put our plan into motion.
The trip would take at least five hours due to the large caravan that father's master brought with him. I'm currently nine now and my brother eight- our physique was enough to help us hide well inside the large wooden cage that contained the chickens.
It was easy to slip away when we arrived at the capital. The town center was completely filled with traders and villagers alike, the prosperity of the masses blessed directly by the Pharoah himself. It was his direct territory, so those who lived here were certainly more fortunate than us who lived in the small villages far from the royal capital.
We had at least an hour to look around before the caravan would leave for the village. My brother and I took that opportunity to explore the banks of the Nile that overlooked the royal palace.
The sight was majestic. No words could describe its beauty and grandeur. While the walls did cover most of the sight, just the length and distance of those huge structures were enough to demonstrate the power that radiated from the Pharaoh's home.
The artworks at home could never give it justice. To see it personally myself nearly steals my breath away.
"Do you think we'll ever see what's beyond those walls, sister?" My brother finally speaks, our prior argument forgiven and forgotten. His eyes mirrored my own entranced ones at the divine presence the palace blessed us with.
"Maybe." I couldn't help but give a rueful smile, the reality dawning on me. "Maybe if father's master permits it. After all, only the best builders are chosen to design the Pharaoh's palace."
"I'll make sure to do my best then. Once I succeed father and they see what I can do- they'll obviously let me join the master builders. If that happens, I'll take you with me." My brother passes me that hopeful and toothy grin, a chuckle escaping my lips as I ruffled his hair to hide the embarrassment radiating off my cheeks.
"I'm sure you will... I'm sure you will."
- o - o - o -
Atem didn't know this memory.
He was seated in a room that smelled of papyrus and charcoal-based ink. Before him was a huge piece of parchment, unrolled and filled half-way with writings about the weather and predictions of the following rains.
He lifted his hands and noticed that they were far smaller than usual, this memory- he theorized- must have happened during his childhood. A shuffle closing in on him prompted him to immediately lift his head, his eyes widening at the sight of Meikou- no, Nephthys- entering the room that he now assumed was the royal library.
While it's true he had memories of Nephthys being his childhood friend, this was the first time he would experience that childhood memory in finer detail. She looked completely different compared to the confident woman he saw her as in his much later memories, her long wig obviously weighing her down as her small shoulders tried their best to stand straight and regal.
Her eyes were shy and nervous, Atem seeing the shy Meikou in her as compared to confident and regal Nephthys. Her small hands were hidden behind her back, her eyes darting around the library suspiciously before finally speaking. "Is Mahad here?"
It took Atem seconds to register her question, his mind still reeling from the memory unfolding before him. Supposedly, his name was meant to return to him his identity- that meant, included his memories. Yet, this certain time and event eluded his mind, baffling him as to the reason why he was shown this specific memory. What did it entail? Did it have any significance as to why Nephthys did what she did 1,000 years ago?
"A-Atem?"
Atem shook his head, trying his best to compose himself before her. Of course, he had forgotten that this memory was like all the others, his actions unknowingly affecting how things transpired. If he hoped to get answers, then he had to be careful in his actions.
His deep royal purple eyes scanned the vicinity in one sweep, Mahad's familiar form nowhere to be found. Turning to Nephthys, he gave her a light shake of the head and spoke. "No, he appears to have left the premises."
Nephthys sighed in relief at that reply before looking behind her and then moving her hands forward. Atem watched with curiosity as she held before him a wrapped cloth, her lithe hands untangling it to reveal a loaf of bread and a clay container.
"I overheard from Mana that you were punished again for escaping your studies. I'm sure you're getting hungry since his Majesty forbade you from eating with us until you finished the report he tasked you with." She offered with a small smile, placing the cloth on the table before opening the container that was filled with sweet honey.
"You didn't have to." Atem shook his head, earning him a frown from the little girl. "If they had caught you then you'd be punished too."
The very similarity that Meikou and Nephthys shared was their willingness to put their lives on the line for others. It was probably what drew Atem to her in the first place. An undying loyalty to him and the whole kingdom of Egypt. By not consenting to her wish for him to eat, he hoped his father would be lenient with her should they be caught.
"That is- if she gets caught." Both Atem and Meikou nearly jumped from that additional voice that joined them, a slight haughtiness in the tone of their voice that showed their confidence in their words.
Atem's eyes moved away from Meikou to face the figure that entered the library, narrow dark turquoise eyes meeting his own purple ones. Her dark brown hair was styled in a wavy yet jagged bob cut that reached until her neck, her skin a shade darker than Nephthys'. She was dressed in a pale long-sleeved linen dress that reached probably an inch above her knees, a simple rope serving as a form of belt.
"K-Keturah! Thank goodness it is you." Nephthys heaved a sigh of relief, earning her a light chuckle from the person named Keturah.
Atem continued to scrutinize the said woman as she made her way to their side of the room, her face a complete mystery to him.
Judging by Nephthys' way of addressing her, this person was obviously someone she knew well enough to be comfortable around with. In Atem's memories, he and Nephthys were an inseparable pair since the day she moved to the royal palace. If such were the case, then it would stand to reason that he should know this Keturah person well enough not to forget her.
Yet, to his confusion, her name and face were completely foreign to him.
"What's wrong, my prince? You look as if you've seen a ghost." Keturah flashed her teeth at him, a teasing tone that earned her a reprimanding look from Nephthys.
"You scared us, Keturah! I thought for sure that we were caught."
"Fret not, my lady." Keturah assured her with a ruffle to her head, the action earning her a scowl of protest from Nephthys when the wig she wore went slightly askew from the action. "I told them that you retired to your chambers for an afternoon rest. The head servant is my close friend so she shall vouch for you and me."
Atem watched the banter between the two girls, his mind trying to wrack up any explanation for this hazy memory. The gods had told them that Nephthys had thrown away her memories as payment for the curse while the wandering soul lost their own memories due to the number of reincarnations they took without the blessings of Osiris.
What if the curse Nephthys had created also affected his memories as well? After all, he was bound to her fate because of her curse. It's possible he too could have been forced to give up something as payment as well.
If so- then could this be one of those memories that was unknowingly taken from him as payment?
"You should eat, my prince." Keturah's voice snapped him from his contemplating, her tone almost soft- a complete opposite to her prior mischievous ones. "You still have a whole day ahead of you."
Atem watched as she bowed before the two and turned to leave after giving her assurance that they were safe, her figure moving with an almost silent manner as if she were gliding. The moment she had turned and vanished from the corner of the room, that was when his vision had tilted- Nephthys' voice almost garbled as he did his best to decipher her words.
Atem could only close his eyes at the headache-inducing sight, the darkness taking over before he completely lost consciousness.
-To Be Continued-