Fire crackles at the sight of the explosion while smoke raises into the air. The combination of smoke and dust makes it hard to see, but that doesn't stop a certain figure from walking right into it. Previously watching from afar, he decided to take a closer look after seeing someone that looked very familiar to him. Originally seeing the prince walking alone, he saw it as an opportunity to ambush the son of the pharaoh.
But he wasn't expecting to see her.
Upon seeing her at the base of a chasm one day after she presumably took a bad fall, he didn't know what to think. A huge part of him was still in denial. With the wounds that covered her body, he couldn't completely make her out at the time. But this time he's certain it's her. After going so many years thinking she was dead, she's alive after all.
As he walks through the smoke, he centers his mind, reminding himself why he's here to begin with. After successfully being able to weaken the prince, he will be able to carry out his plan with ease. Then he'll take Mana with him and they can be reunited again.
Hearing coughing noises, he reaches toward his waist to pull out a sharp dagger. Only a few steps closer and he'll be able to initiate his revenge. First, the pharaoh's beloved son and then the entire kingdom.
The smoke finally begins to fade, allowing him to see the bottom half of the prince's wardrobe initially. Clenching the dagger, he waits patiently for the prince to be revealed in full, wanting to be able to stare into his frightened eyes as he snatches the life out of him. He slowly raises the sharp object into the air, preparing to bring it down with as much force as possible. The cold look in his dark grey eyes intensifies as he brings down the dagger.
The last bit of smoke disappears, revealing something so upsetting, he stops inches away from his target. Or what he thought was his target.
At the prince's head is none other than a woman hovering protectively over him, her arm over the top half of his body and her cheek pressed against his forehead as she glares tearfully at the foe standing above them. He knows she isn't able to see who he is with the hood resting over his head. The way she looks at him with fear and anger makes him drop his arm with the dagger still in hand. On top of that, she is protecting the prince which sends him into a mild frenzy as he stumbles back, clenching his face.
Why is she protecting him of all people? Doesn't she know what his father did? The death and destruction that was inflicted on his village and hers?
Grimacing, Atem partially opens his eyes, his sight first landing on the attacker and then Mana who holds onto him tightly. "Mana…get out of here. Save yourself. Please."
"No! I'm not leaving you here! I made a vow to myself to protect and I'm keeping that promise!" Mana declares before glaring at the mystery figure. "You hear me?! I'm not going down without a fight!"
This leaves the grey haired individual completely stunned. 'No…is she really willing to put her life on the line to protect the likes of him?! Has she been brain washed?' Maybe if he were to just reveal his identity to her, she will snap out of whatever 'trance' they have her in.
He goes to remove the hood, but a large green flash shoots in his direction and he jumps out of the way as the blast collides into a tree.
Mana eyes slowly lift as Mahad walks by. His hand is soutstretched with a green orb still glowing at his palm, preparing to strike once more. His eyes are narrowed and he radiates a righteous anger that she has never seen from him before. Normally he is poised and calm, but the sight of the injured prince and his dear friend must have immediately triggered him.
"It is highly advised that you surrender," Mahad cautions the mysterious foe.
The foe begins to grit his teeth in anger, his arm beginning to shake more violently. He is only mere feet away from the prince. Even though Mana is covering the top half of his body, he can still leave a devastating blow to his abdomen and let him bleed to death. He wonders how quick the brown haired man will react. He doesn't doubt that the moment he lifts the dagger, the man will retaliate with another blast.
Taking a subtle breath, he looks in the magician's direction, smirking his lips. Perhaps he will try 'attacking' in a different manner. "I see the pharaoh's son is just as inconsiderate as him. Sneaking out of the palace and putting not only himselfe, but others in danger as well in the process."
"Watch your tongue!"
"Strike a nerve?" He shrugs his shoulders, glancing at the item around Mahad's neck. "I'm no stranger to the king's careless and ruthless ways. He'd even go as far as to kill an entire village to get what he wants."
"That's not true."
"Oh? Perhaps you should inquire as to how that item around your neck came to be," the man replies before looking down at Mana. "I think its history may even surprise you, Mana."
Mana's eyes go wide. "How do you know my name?"
Seeing the seeds of doubt having successfully been planted. He turns to leave, slipping something out of his pocket that emits a thick smoke.
Mahad coughs, squinting his eyes through the fumes. "Prince! Mana!"
"We're still here!" Mana calls out to him in between coughs.
As the air clears, there is no sign of the mystery figure, leaving them all to ponder who he is and why he is seemingly out for revenge.
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"Do you know the amount of danger you put the prince in?!"
Mana stands up against a wall with her arms folded and her eyes averted from the man scolding her. It's not something she didn't expect. She did inadvertently put Atem in danger. Had she not been so care less and left the portal up in her room, he wouldn't have been put in that predicament. Then again, he was so bent on finding her after she went absent for awhile. Something tells her he would have gone great lengths in locating her even without the portal.
"Are you listening to me?!"
Her eyes slowly scroll over to the source. A tall man wearing a blue and white robe with a matching hat. His ice cold blue eyes glare at her as he waits for a response. It's the first time they've actually ever interacted, though this appears to be a one sided conversation. He never appeared to be approachable whenever they passed by each other. Perhaps that's what he wants anyway—to seem intimidating or maybe even to impress the pharaoh. Something tells her that even if she responds with remorse, it still will not be enough for Priest Seto.
Her eyes go down the hall where the prince is resting in his room. She hopes he is okay. With everything that's happened, the guards are heavily guarding his room to ensure he gets no visitors aside from his father.
"Don't even think about bothering the prince, understand?" Seto continues. "You've done enough already."
"Being loud doesn't make you a better priest you know," Mana mutters with a pout.
"What was that?" he growls.
"Priest Seto," comes an elderly man's voice. Shimon emerges from the shadows of the hall with his arms hooked behind his back. "I believe that's enough. I'm sure Mana understands the gravity of her actions. Isn't that right?" He turns his gaze to Mana who bows her head respectfully.
"Yes sir," she replies as Seto looks away, growling inwardly.
"Besides, I heard from Mahad that you were willing to put your life on the line and do whatever it takes to protect the prince."
Seto subtly looks at Mana from the corner of his eye. She doesn't look like much on the surface in terms of strength. Just an ordinary girl. Or so he thought until he heard what Shimon just said. What exactly is she capable of?
Mana lifts her head with a look of determination. "I wanna help people. And fight by his side someday."
"You're going to have to use better judgment if you want to do that," Seto scoffs as he walks away. "And from where I'm standing you still have a long way to go."
Shimon shakes his head while walking up to stand beside Mana. "He can be harsh, but he means well."
"I can tell," Mana replies, smirking.
In another part of the palace, in a room belonging to Mahad, there is a sound of something hitting against the wall and dropping to the floor. The golden item lies unscathed despite the amount of force thrown behind it. On the opposite side of the room, Mahad backs up to a wall, sliding down until he hits the floor while he clenches his head.
His breathing is heavy and his eyes are wide with horror. He doesn't want the Millennium Ring anywhere near him after the visions that just flashed through his mind. Initially he thought that sort of ability was exclusive to Isis' Millennium Necklace, but something was triggered within the Ring, showing him things he wished he could wipe from his mind.
He can still hear the screams, the scenes of villagers meeting their doom. But perhaps the most shocking thing he saw, was none other than a certain priest initiating it all.
"A nightmare…." he says, his voice trembling. "It was just an awful nightmare."
Perhaps you should inquire as to how that item around your neck came to be.
Remembering the words of his earlier foe, his heart drops into his stomach. "No…it can't be true…"
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The grayish blue clouds partially overtake the crescent moon, slowly moving across the dark skies. Aside from the sounds of fat chirping crickets, it is mostly quiet. Two soldiers stand outside of a bedroom, both wielding spears. They were given strict instructions not to leave their post and allow no visitors to the recovering prince. The final person to leave his bedroom was the pharaoh himself, who left somewhat relieved once ensuring that Atem was healing up nicely.
On the outer walls of the bedroom, an open window allows a nice cool breeze to flow inside. It also permits a certain sorcerer to sneak in with her magic. Using her concentration to levitate, sweat goes down the sides of her face as she moves up. She can see just over the edge of the window when her body suddenly drops. Yelping, she quickly holds onto the ledge as she dangles off the side of the wall.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she uses her physical strength to pull herself up and she tumbles in. Laying on the cold floor, she gives herself a moment to catch her breath. Her eyes go over to the bed and she sits up. His eyes are closed and his chests slowly moves up and down in a deep sleep. Frowning, she stands on her feet and walks up to the bed. He looks so peaceful, even after the day they've had.
She wishes she can apologize to him for putting him through that. It's her fault he's in this predicament right now.
Exhaling she gently sits at the foot of the bed, resting her elbow on one of her crossed legs and her chin in her hand. Thinking back to the altercation, she wonders how that man knew her name and if anything he said had any truth to it. She has known the pharaoh nearly all her life and he has always shown himself to be very compassionate and caring. It's no wonder Atem has turned out the same.
She looks out the window. The moon begins to peek from the clouds for a brief moment, shining a faint light into the room. All she can think about is her next move. Where to from here? She was so sure that she would be a student of Mahad's by now, but with a wedge being thrown in her plans, now what? As much as she can teach herself how to do tricks, nothing will ever compare to being taught by the greatest sorcerer in the world.
On the other hand, she is curious about the mystery figure they met in the desert. She isn't that well known outside the palace, so she does find it strange he seemingly knew her. If only she could walk up to the hooded figure and ask the questions swirling in her mind. But that could prove to be too dangerous.
"You seem to have a lot on your mind."
Mana's heart jumps and she quickly looks up to see Atem sitting up in bed, looking at her with curiosity. Holding her chest, she sighs. "You have a real talent for giving me a scare, you know that?"
"To be honest, I'm surprised to see you here."
"Sorry. I should get going." She begins to lift herself off the bed.
"No, stay," he quickly says to her surprise.
"You sure? I mean, you really should be getting your rest."
"It's fine. Really," he insists. "Besides, you really overexerted yourself back there as well. How are you feeling?"
She shakes her head. "Don't worry about me. It's you I'm concerned about."
"Hm?"
"I'm supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around."
Still confused, Atem cocks his head to the side.
"In order to be a great spell caster, I need to be able to act quickly in the moment and keep you safe," she explains before lowering her eyes with a look of frustration. "But I was caught off guard and acted too slow and you felt the need to protect me instead."
"I see," Atem replies, somewhat understanding where she's coming from. But that doesn't keep him from being any less confused. "You needn't be so hard on yourself all the time, Mana."
"You don't understand!" Mana suddenly exclaims, jumping to her feet and facing him. "I'll never become Mahad's top student, let alone a member of the kingdom's most trusted sorcerers if I can't even manage to protect anyone!" Finding herself getting frustrated, she turns away and to leave until she feels Atem's arm stop her with ease. She stumbles backwards as his arm guides her back to the edge of the bed and she plops down next to him.
"Atem stop," she says, as if resisting any sort of consolation from him.
"You were willing to put your life on the line for me. Shielded me from harm with your own body. And you still don't think you did enough?"
"Look at you. You're literally on bedrest because you had to jump to my rescue," Mana continues. "That's not how it's supposed to be."
"Don't you know how much you mean to me?"
She lightly gasps and slowly turns her head to him. Only he is capable of having such a serious yet warm gaze that has the ability to make her heart flutter the way it's doing now. She stubbornly searches for a rebuttal in her mind to push her point across, but instead, he has left her totally speechless.
"I don't care about formalities. I have no problem protecting those who need it or who are near and dear to me, regardless of my status. My role as future king is to protect and preserve peace in Egypt."
"And my future role is to do the same and make sure no harm befalls you."
Atem chuckles while shaking his head, causing Mana to raise an eyebrow at him.
"What's so funny?" she asks him.
"Someone as strong-willed as you will make for a great queen in the future."
Mana can feel her face turning red once she realizes he's referring to him marrying her someday. Although their feelings have been mostly unspoken, there is no doubt they have a close, unshakeable bond.
"You're so blunt!" Mana whines, blushing madly.
"I'm honest."
"Both can be true I suppose," Mana giggles.
A knock from the door. "Your highness?" a muffled voice from one of the guards calls out to him.
"Guess I should get going," Mana whispers, standing to her feet. "Rest up, okay?"
"Wait…how did you manage to get here in the first place if there are guards outside?" Atem asks, realizing she more than likely found another way in.
She leans forward, her face inches from his with a mischievous smile. "I never reveal my tricks."
Atem dims his eyes. "You came through the window," he concludes.
"Silence," Mana grumbles, mirroring his expression.
"Is that any way to speak to the future King of Egypt?" Atem teases.
Mana grins. "No," she replies before pecking him on the cheek, leaving his mouth agape and his eyes wide with surprise. "But you don't care about formalities, remember?"
The kiss has left him stunned to the point where he doesn't even see the manner in which she leaves his room. Her unpredictable ways never ceases to surprise him or keep him on his toes. Maybe that's another reason he's always been drawn to her and vice versa.
"Well played," he finally manages to say, gently touching where she kissed him as his lips curl into a smirk.
Mana snickers to herself after she jumps down from the wall, discreetly heading back to her side of the palace. Seeing the expression on Atem's face brought her much amusement. Him telling her how much she means to him really caught her guard, so she wanted to repay the favor by surprising him as well.
'His queen? What would that even be like? Maybe there's a training for that as well?' Mana thinks to herself as she sneaks past a few guards by staying low to the ground. 'He can be such a jokester. I'm not even fit to be queen.' She giggles to herself briefly before mentally snapping herself out of her fantasy. 'I need to master my training as a sorcerer. Only then will I be able to serve the palace and help protect people.'
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AN: This concludes another chapter. Leave a review and see you next time!