Author's notes: I'm back and my baby is almost all grown up.
Toshiro: Yeah yeah, get on with the chapter, the sooner this very long chapter ends, the sooner till you start crying in my chest.
FireWing Pegasus: Mind outta the gutter, Drago-Shiro.
Toshiro: Fine, Hashira owns nothing but her OC, also she wants you to vote on her poll. Enjoy the chapter.
That night, well, early next morning, Bakura, Marik and I emerge from the dungeons with dangerous grins on our faces. "I haven't had that much fun in years!" Marik cheers as he spins around. "No kidding!" Bakura agrees before looking to Valon. "How long were we down there?" "Eighteen hours." Valon nods his head. "Looks like the bets a tie between the princes." "They always call it." I growl. "Let's worry about that later." Marik says. "Let's go tell the emperor what we found out."
"You're sure?" Sugoroku asks, obviously still trying to shake his sleepy brain awake. "Yes." I nod. "He's the one who did it." "Good." Aknamkanon nods his head. "Tell us this again in the morning, but no one else. We don't want your everyone to panic." "Will do." Marik nods his head and we head to bed. I see Toshiro curled up in shadow creature form, looking at me. I climb onto the bed and he wraps me up in his coils, puts his wing on me as a blanket and we sleep together like that for the rest of the night.
The next morning, I wake up to someone nudging me. I look and see that I'm in the same position I was in last night, and see that Toshiro is nudging me with his face. He says, /Rise and shine, my little fire horse./ I smile and say, "Morning, my little ice dragon." /Time to get up, remember what tonight is?/ I shake my head, "No." /The annual ball in celebration of rice harvest. It's one of our Matsuri./ "That's right." I reply. We get up, well, more like, Toshiro has me wrapped in his tail coils, and carries me, still in shadow creature form, all the way to Yugi's chambers. We see Bakura, pounding on the door. We see him walk in, hear Yugi say, "We're up.", and see a wet rag smack Bakura on the face. "Oh that's rich!" Toshiro howls after going back to human form. "No it's not." Bakura hisses and he pulls off the rag and glares at his fiancé, who is giggling his head off. "Yes it is." Ryou giggles some more.
"Ready for the festival?" Yugi asks as he finishes pulling on the last layer of his clothes. "Yes!" Ryou bounces on his toes. It's what he does when he gets excited. "I bet Joey and Malik are glad they're not expecting." Bakura comments as he scans Yugi's midsection. "I'm glad Toshiro hasn't gotten me pregnant yet." I also say, looking at Yugi's stomach. "Better than eight months and going to a ball." Yugi replies as we leave the room. "Fair point." Bakura admits.
"Begin the celebration." Sugoroku says this evening. "Please enjoy yourselves." The day has gone by quickly enough, when we can dodge servants trying to get us to try on clothing and flirting girls/occasional flirting boys, that is. "Why can't they understand that we're not interested?" Toshiro growls. "Behave yourself." I hiss back. "I don't want you to go into shadow creature form and start eating the guests." "How's everything going Hashira?" Mai asks as she comes up to us. "Besides the people who are trying to get into our bed and Yugi and Atemu's bed…" I trail off. "We're good." Toshiro and Atemu finish as they glare at another girl who tries flirting with them. "Keep glaring and your face will get stuck like that." Marik teases as he and Malik walk by, heading for the food table. "Ha, ha." Atemu says as he throws as small ball of magic at his friends retreating back. "Atemu!" Yugi hisses. "It will follow him for a few minutes and then knock into him." Atemu replies. "Still doesn't make it right." Yugi grumbles. "I think it's funny." Joey says as he and Seto join us. "Joey." Yugi moans at his friend's insensitiveness. "How did you get him away from the food?" Mai asks. "I have my ways." Seto smirks before watching his brother and Joey's sister run past. "I don't want to know." Yugi shakes his head. "But I can probably guess."
"Guys." Ryou comes up with a serious look. "Magic acting up?" Yugi asks. "Extremely." Ryou nods. "I just sense someone with angry thoughts about us being here, most likely the person who hired our kidnappers to kidnap us, but I don't know who it is." "Toshiro and I also sense an evil presence in this room." I say as Toshiro nods. "Now that you mention it…" Joey trails off. "What can we do?" Mai asks. "Act like we don't know this person is here." Yugi replies quietly. "Atemu and I will tell grandpa, the rest of you will spread word among the guards." "Hashira and I will search among the crowd, searching for the evil heart." Toshiro says while I nod. "Split off." Joey chirps and heads toward the food table again, but also Alister. "He is so weird." Mai shakes her head as she heads towards some of her girlfriends, and Valon who has stationed himself on the nearby wall. "I'd better stop Bakura from scaring the servants." Ryou turns. "Again."
Toshiro and I turn to each other and walk away. We start to use our noses and sense to find out which one of the guests it is. Toshiro says, \Uni-Shira, you were told who it is, last night, didn't you?\ I nod and say, /Yes, Drago-Shiro. Though all I know is his name, this is where I need your help./ \Sure, who is it Uni-Shira.\ /The name is Lord Pegasus./ Toshiro stops and says, \I know what he looks like.\ I follow Toshiro and see a man with long silver hair, amber eyes, and clothes that probably in his opinion are fabulous, and an evil heart, heading toward Ryou and Bakura. I see him about to assassinate poor Ryou and say, "Halt." Bakura and Ryou turn to see the man with a knife in his hands. Toshiro and I tackle him, while the guards come rushing over. Alister and Otogi drag him away, cussing all the way, out of the room and away from Ryou, who is hiding behind Bakura, who is sending death glares after him.
Toshiro and I turn to each other, smirk and head to bed. As we are leaving, we hear a loud bang. "Who did that!?" Marik's enraged yell reach our ears. "I forgot about that." Toshiro chuckles as we listen to the ranting on the way to our room. "Yeah yeah, you want to sleep on me this time." I say as I slip out of Toshiro's grip, and go to shadow creature form. Toshiro smirks and we head to bed, him riding me to our room, and I use my wing as his pillow, which he snuggles up against.
We get out of bed early the next morning early for some answers on the kidnapper. On the way to the throne room, we meet up with Yugi, Atemu, Ryou, an overprotective Bakura, Marik, Malik, Seto, and Joey, who also want to know who the man was, though, Bakura, Marik, Toshiro and me already know. "I wonder who it is." Joey says as we take our places in the throne room. "You've been wondering for the past hour." Seto replies as he positions himself just behind Joey's right shoulder, the place where the engaged or high ranking guest stand, and he fits both categorizes. "We're about to find out." Atemu says as he kneels on the cushions to the right of Emperor Sugoroku's throne with Yugi, who sits cross legged as it is easier on his back. I sit to the side of Atemu, while Toshiro sits to the side of Yugi. "Everyone ready?" Sugoroku asks. Light titters ring in the air, answering the question. "Yes your highness." Pharaoh Aknamkanon replies. "Bring in the prisoner." Sugoroku orders.
Alister and Valon open the doors, showing Raphael and Otogi leading in a man with chains. The man is the one amber eyes and silver hair, and stands at about 6' tall. His clothes, which looked fabulous at the party last night, are torn and dirty. "He tried to escape multiple times last night." Otogi says as he and Raphael force the man to his knees in front of the throne. "I haven't done anything wrong!" the captive man screams as he struggles against his captors and his chains. "Then why did you try to escape?" Malik asks. A new thing about the Japanese court that differs from the Egyptian one, is that the council, Lords, and all the royals can question the prisoner(s), but the emperor is the one who gives the final sentence. "There was no need for me to be there!" the man snaps. "Enough Lord Pegasus." Emperor Sugoroku snaps. "You are fast reaching the end of my patience." Pegasus clamped his mouth shut, and I see emotions flash in his eyes. Emotions I have seen before in the pharaoh's court. Pegasus is going to lie so he could get out of this mess.
"Pegasus," Arthur reads the charges from a scroll, "you are hereby charged with hiring men to kidnap and kill Prince Yugi, Lord Ryou, Lord Joseph, and Lord Malik. You are also charged with the attempted assassination of Lord Ryou. How do you plead?" "Not guilty." Pegasus declares. "There were multiple witnesses last night." Yugi shoots back. "Our guards would not have arrested you if you truly had done nothing wrong." "I did nothing wrong." Pegasus says angrily. "How about we asked your hired men, Panik, Para, Dox, and Doom, if that's true?" I smirk. "What men?" Pegasus says as he poorly feigns dumbness. "These men." Malik nods to the door. Panik, Para, Dox, and Doom are brought in, looking a little worse for wear. That, of course, is courtesy of Marik, Bakura and me. "I've never seen them before in my life." Pegasus declares. "You hired us to do your dirty work 10 years ago." Panik shouts as he tries to lunge at his employer. "And this time around when you saw them dock 3 ½ months ago." Doom adds.
"You're not getting out of this Pegasus." Sugoroku says. "Threatening the royal family and attempting to have them killed is an immediate death sentence. For you and your men. Take them back to the dungeons while we decided what to do with them." "Wait." Yugi stops the guards. "Pegasus, why did you want us dead?" "I wanted to be your husband from the moment I saw you." Pegasus replies, lust evident in his eyes. "I was 10 at the time. When your grandfather made the announcement that you were to marry the Egyptian Prince, I became angry. A few years later I made the decision that if I couldn't have you, no one would. Your friends were just in the wrong place at the wrong time at the time of the kidnapping." "You're sick." Ryou holds a hand to his mouth. "Take them away." Sugoroku snaps.
"That was productive." Aknamkanon says as soon as the doors close. "How are we going to kill them?" Bakura asks. "Yeah." Marik adds. "We still don't get some of the killing methods here." "One of the methods is hanging." Joey says. "Another is getting burned to death." "There's also crucifixion." Malik adds. "Impalement, flaying, disembowelment, etc." "Gruesome." Marik grins. "Let's just pick one." Yugi groans. "I agree." Mokuba nods as he stands with the Egyptian court members. I raise my hand and say, "How about a mix of flaying, hanging, and burn to death, while someone starts to cut the rope hanging them. They will be slowly suffocating, then the rope snaps and they fall into the fire, and with the flaying, they will be screaming in agony." Toshiro raises his hand and says, "I second the motion." "All in favor?" Sugoroku asks. "Aye." the whole room choruses. "Looks like it's decided." Sugoroku says pleased. "They will be executed as sunset."
"You sure you'll be fine?" Atemu asks as Ryou sits on the bed with Yugi. "Yes." Yugi nods his head. "Ryou and I don't need to see this. It's going to be way too gruesome for our taste. Even Isis isn't going, and I know for a fact that Seto and Joey are going to keep Mokuba and Serenity from going." "You got that right." Joey says from the doorway. "We'll let you know when it's over." "Thanks." Ryou smiles as he turns to the game of Senet he and Yugi are going to play while they wait.
Atemu, Toshiro, and I watch in silence as the five men screamed. The rope has already been cut and they are screaming in the fire pit that I made. Less than 5 minutes later, they are dead. "Let it be known that the traitors have been dealt with, and all others will be dealt with the same severity." Sugoroku calls to the crowd of people. "Glad that's over with." Mai comments. "I can't believe you didn't keel over." Atemu replies. "I'm going to be the empress on day." Mai smirks. "I have to be present for these executions, no matter how gruesome." "Finally, another girl who doesn't get sick at the sight of something gruesome." I exclaim making everyone laugh. "Let's get back to the others and let them know it's done." Joey says. "Yeah." Bakura nods. "Ryou's been a bit clingy since the ball last night." "Can you blame him?" Seto asks with a raised eyebrow. "Not really." Bakura shakes his head.
"They're dead?" Yugi asks as we enter the room. "Yes." Atemu nods. "Good." Ryou sigh and stands up. "I'm heading to bed." "I think I'll do the same." Yugi yawns. Toshiro and I nod and leave the room, planning on nothing, but a good night's sleep.
Author's notes: That's one more chapter done, and I'm not going to write the next chapter till 8/25 cuz that is when the poll closes.
Toshiro: Ahh man, why do I have to wait so long?
FireWing Pegasus: Cuz only 2 people have voted on the poll.
Toshiro: People need to vote on the poll, what's the score so far?
FireWing Pegasus: -sigh- 100% want you to come with me to Egypt.
Toshiro: -grins- Please review and vote on the poll up on the author's profile.
