Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Harem ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Harem

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh and this fic was inspired by Unintentional Nightmare's fic `Raise the Red Lantern'.

Summary: Behind the beauty of the emperor's many concubines, there is the raging war for his love and for the power it brings. In the end, is power all that Malik, Ryou or Ryuuji need in life?

Author's Notes: Another chapter! I should be working on `Infernal Affairs' . . .

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Chapter Two

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Ryuuji sighed as he watched the dance troupe and its large entourage of people leave the palace. He had enjoyed their company immensely, having had a passion for dance since before he had entered the harem. Usually, someone in his status and position would not be allowed to participate in such past times, but the emperor had always made an exception for his concubines.

He had learnt three new dances. One was from his mother country, in the northern region of the empire, and he distinctly recalled watching it with his parents when he was younger. He enjoyed its fast-paced, vivacious and lively tune, perfect for festivals. The second was a dance picked up from the west, repetitive and catchy. The last was a slow dance and the movements were graceful and precise.

"You enjoyed yourself, I presume."

He cursed the lack of privacy in the gardens. Turning around, he came face to face with a smirking Malik, who was trailed by his eunuch. Not waiting to be invited, the blonde sat down on the stone bench across the pagoda, fingering the peonies that grew there.

"I had thought you were with his Majesty," Ryuuji replied.

"The empress is feeling unwell. His Majesty has gone to visit her."

"So now you have a lot of free time on your hands. Interesting."

"How was your lessons with the troupe master?" Malik asked lazily, fingering the peonies as he watched Ryuuji. "Did you learn anything new?"

"Why yes, in fact," Ryuuji drawled. "There was this one dance the emperor really enjoyed. He asked to see it again tonight."

Malik bristled and Ryuuji smirked inwardly. It was a deliberate jab at the blonde's ego. He had often boasted that each time the emperor arrived at his palace in the daytime, he would stay for the same night. This morning, the emperor had visited Lavender Palace, but he hadn't stayed.

"Now if you'll excuse me . . . I have pressing matters to attend to."

As he left, he heard a twig snap. Whipping around, he saw Malik tapping on the wooden pillar in a bored fashion with a small part of the peony plant. He started forward in anger. The plants belonged to him, a gift from the emperor representing his palace. To break a part off, no matter how small, was an insult.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Malik exclaimed, dropping the twigs. "I didn't mean to!"

"You -"

The blonde stood up. He turned to leave in the opposite direction, but not before he had reached out a foot to crush the fallen twig, breaking it into smaller pieces than before. Smirking at Ryuuji's infuriated glare, he swept away, back towards Lavender Palace. His eunuch bowed hastily to Ryuuji and followed.

"That bitch," Ryuuji hissed angrily. "That bloody bitch."

He saw the blonde regarding his own unspoiled flowers with pride before disappearing through the archway. Then his mind formulated a plan for revenge.

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The next morning, a cry of distress went up in the courtyard. Pegasus hurried out from Peony Palace towards the sound, closely followed by Ryuuji. Malik was standing over his prized lavender plants, looking positively livid with rage. When they approached, they saw the reason for his distress.

The plants had been singed and cut, mutilated beyond repair.

"Your Majesty!" Malik cried, kneeling at Pegasus' feet. "Look what has happened to my beautiful lavenders!"

"Who did this?" Pegasus demanded, looking around at the servants. "Where is the gardener? Bring him to me immediately!"

The man was brought in front of them, cowering and trembling.

"What devilry possessed you to destroy these plants that you were assigned to cultivate?" Pegasus asked him angrily. "Negligence is punishable by death!"

"Forgive me, your Majesty!" the man cried. "I tend each plant in the garden carefully, as if they were my own children. I have formed an attachment to each plant here, and I would not have the heart to destroy them so cruelly!"

Malik glared at Ryuuji. He already knew who had been behind this. The dark-haired, emerald-eyed man just smiled sympathetically at him, playing the part of nice person in front of the emperor. But Malik knew that the sympathetic smile was really a smirk, knowing he had taken his revenge.

"Your Majesty!" a voice cried.

A moment later, Yugi came running into view from the archway leading to Lily Palace. He dropped onto his knees in front of Pegasus, panting.

"Y-Your Majesty!" he gasped.

"What is it?" Pegasus demanded, glaring down at him.

"I-It's Master Ryou."

"What?" the emperor asked in alarm. "Has something happened to Ryou?"

Malik and Ryuuji exchanged startled glances. Neither of them had factored in Ryou, who was just as threatening to their position in the palace as each other. They paid close attention to what Yugi was saying.

"He refuses to eat, your Majesty! This morning, he threw his breakfast tray across the room!" Yugi said.

"I must see him then. Lead the way."

And Pegasus left with Yugi. Malik and Ryuuji watched them go, scowls setting across their faces. This wasn't the first time Ryou had cut into their plans with one of his own. His plans usually worked so much better than theirs at getting the emperor's attention. The blonde turned to his companion.

"Watch your back, Ryuuji."

"Oh?" Ryuuji raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"You may have destroyed my garden, but I'm not letting you get away with it."

"We'll see."

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When Pegasus and Yugi entered Lily Palace, they were surprised to find the usually neat and clean palace in a state of disarray. The sound of breaking china alerted them to the commotion within the master bedroom and they hurried towards it. Opening the door, they found Ryou stand over a shattered vase, eyes wild.

"Ryou!"

"Master Ryou," Yugi said. "His Majesty is here."

"What's wrong, Ryou?" Pegasus asked. "Why are you upset?"

"Your Majesty . . ." Ryou murmured. He dropped to his knees. "I am in no state to receive you at the moment, your Majesty."

"Nonsense. Tell me what's wrong."

Ryou raised his eyes and Pegasus saw he had been crying. Instantly concerned, Pegasus opened his mouth to inquire about it, when the albino's eyes drifted off towards the open window. Pegasus strode over to it and looked outside, before gasping. The garden had once been filled with lilies, which were Ryou's pride and joy, but was now just a burnt patch of earth.

"I-I woke up this morning and saw the garden like this," Ryou whispered.

"I'll have the gardener executed for this."

"No, don't, please, your Majesty," Ryou pleaded suddenly. "It's not his fault."

"But he has a duty to care for the flowers. Look what has happened to both yours and Malik's gardens! It is unforgivable."

"I'm sure he did not mean any harm to the flowers. I have seen him at work, Majesty, and he loves the gardens more than his own life. He could not have harmed them so badly. There must be another reason."

"Ryou, you are naïve," Pegasus said gently, but firmly. "Men like him can be the most hypocritical creatures on the face of the earth."

"But this morning . . ." Ryou reached into his robes. "Yugi and I found this."

Pegasus took it. It was a handkerchief of deep, imperial purple. Only the people associated with the empress would have owned one of these. The purple was embroidered with the markings of the Phoenix Palace, but nothing too elaborate. That meant that the person who had left it behind worked in the Phoenix Palace, but wasn't the empress herself. He clenched it in his fist.

"I will see to it," he promised. "I will find out what's going on for you and Malik."

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It was required, whatever the emperor's sexuality may be, that he have a female empress. She was given the task of overseeing the harem and making sure the concubines knew their place. Her firstborn son would also be the future emperor. For Mai, she had already given a son and so Pegasus did not need to come to her any longer. He gave her what she required and what she wanted, because she was the empress, but he had no interest in her. She was fine with it.

But he stormed into her palace that morning, taking her completely by surprise. She rarely even talked to the man, let alone have him enter her palace for reasons other than seeing his son.

"Your Majesty?"

He threw something onto the table in front of her, eyes flashing in anger. She stared at it in surprise. The handkerchief belonged to one of her handmaidens, one very close to her, in fact. How had the emperor gotten hold of it?

"Explain how this came to be in Lily Palace."

"I-I don't understand what you're talking about, your Majesty," Mai said, startled.

"This morning, Ryou found this in his garden," Pegasus said angrily. "Also this morning, both he and Malik found their gardens burned to the ground and mutilated beyond repair."

"Is your Majesty implying that I sent someone to do it?"

She had gotten over her shock and began to feel angry. Despite the fact that she wasn't Pegasus' favourite, she was still empress, and the mother of the crown prince. Her rank was still much higher than theirs would ever be.

"I want you to explain how this came to be in Ryou's garden."

"I have no control over what my handmaidens do in their own time, your Majesty," she replied coldly. "I did not send anyone to destroy Ryou or Malik's gardens, as I was in the nursery with your Majesty's son all night."

He looked at her through his single, amber eye. She was repulsed by the other one, which had been damaged in a hunting accident. But the other one seemed to pierce through her skin and straight into her soul, analysing her and her innocence. She stared back coldly, defying all customs as she let him judge her. Finally, he sighed and turned his back on her.

"I will not accuse you of any crime unjustly," he said. "But if I discover that you had any part in this matter, you can expect not to see your son, or myself, again."

Mai just gaped at him, speechless with indignation as he left. When the doors had closed behind him and the footsteps in the corridor died away, she raised a hand and swept the tea set off the table. It smashed into billions of pieces on the floor, beside the wooden tray it had been sitting in.

"He thinks that it would be a punishment to not be able to see him," she hissed. "Does he really think that our hearts belong to him? Just wait until he finds out just how devoted his precious Ryou, Malik and Ryuuji really are."

She looked at the handkerchief for a moment, before grabbing it off the table and tearing it up with her own hands. She went to the coal heater in her room and tossed the shreds of the handkerchief inside. It blackened and shrivelled, sending a smell across the room, but Mai ignored it.

"If those bastards," she hissed, referring to the three concubines, "ever harm my son, I will do everything in my power to destroy them."

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Two of the three said concubines were standing on the bridge overlooking the centre of the large pond. There were lilies, peonies and lavenders here, to show that this place belonged to all of them and not just one. The empress had no flower to symbolise herself. Her symbol was the phoenix and that was carved into the four bridge posts at either end of the large bridge.

Ryuuji and Ryou stood there in silence for a few moments, just looking into the clear waters. Yugi and Honda stood next to a bridge post each, heads lowered as they waited for their respective masters. The black-haired man spoke first.

"Two years ago, you told Malik and I that you weren't interested in our schemes," he said to Ryou. "That was the only reason why I felt I could get along with you."

"Nothing has changed," Ryou replied. "I am still uninterested in your plans."

"Then why must you interfere with them?" he asked. "Every time I put a plan into action, you counter it with one of your own. You continue to interfere with both our plans. What do you want?"

Ryou didn't look at him. The taller man watched him closely, almost as if he could read the answer from him by staring at him hard enough. The albino stood straight and proud, pale hands resting on the wooden railings of the bridge, barely visible under the heavy whites and blues of his robes. The top half of his silvery hair was braided and there was a single hairpin, ornamented with a lily, resting there.

"I only want to save those who are innocent." His dark eyes glanced at Ryuuji sideways. "If I hadn't interfered, the gardener would not have been able to return to his family with something as simple as fifty lashes."

Since he had first arrived in the palace, Ryuuji had found Ryou to be an enigma. He showed sincerity and kindness to everyone, including those who should have been his rivals. The albino had been a concubine a year longer than he had, and he had come here only two years ago. Soon learning that life as a concubine was full of danger and schemes, Ryuuji had been completely thrown off when Ryou clearly said that he was not interested in competing for the emperor's attention.

He looked at his own reflection in the water. His emerald green eyes were a rarity in this part of the empire, and his long, black hair had always been his pride and joy. Before he had come into the palace, he took to wearing loose, plain clothing, fit for dancing. His family had been a travelling group of performers. Now that he had become a concubine, he wore black and green robes that emphasised both of his recognisable features.

"I cannot sit by and watch you and Malik scheme at the cost of innocent lives." Ryou was speaking in a clear, quiet voice. "Otherwise, I could not care less if either of you receive his Majesty's attention."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you not care? If you don't care, why did you become a concubine? How could you not care if the emperor never looked upon you in favour again?"

And at this, Ryou smiled. Ryuuji had always found it fascinating how the albino could smile at everything, even if and when the subject was less than happy.

"Because I know that there are things more important to me than just being looked upon in favour and the power it brings." His expression grew wistful as a breeze picked up. "I did not choose to become a concubine. I was brought here when I was sixteen because the emperor had received word of me."

He turned to Ryuuji now.

"You chose your own path by coming here," he said. "You are fortunate. My path was chosen by my parents and his Majesty and I must live by the decisions they made for me. Don't risk the lives of others, because you will only end up with nothing. If you still continue thus, I will continue to interfere."

He walked past the other, cloaked in his quiet dignity and grace. His eyes were distant and almost sad, as he walked back through the archway he had come from. Ryuuji watched him leave. The albino was two years younger than his twenty one, but already he seemed to carry the burden of a thousand. How had he become so detached from the world?

"Come, Honda," he said to his eunuch. "Let's go."

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Pegasus read from the scroll he had been given, which contained a long list of names. They were the names of the successful candidates of that year's court examinations. He had to pick the top three essays and then have those three candidates given official positions in his court.

The first essay his advisers (and overseers of the examination) had picked was one by a candidate called Yami. He marked the name with red ink on the scroll, before moving onto the next one. The candidate this time was someone called Bakura. He marked the name. The last essay was by a man called Seto.

"These three essays," he told his advisers. "Bring the ones called Yami, Bakura and Seto into court in a week's time. I will give them ranking within the court and a job in the palace."

"Yes, your Majesty."

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The three candidates were sitting in a manor located within the capital city. The first, Yami, was looking sombre as he held up a wine cup and was turning it left and right against the light of the candle. His dark, crimson eyes were serious, and his oddly shaped hair cast shadows on the walls.

His two companions sat around the same table, each fingering their own wine cup. They had met on the way to the examinations and had travelled together, becoming fast friends.

The man with the wild hair was Bakura. He had tanned skin and a powerful build and his blood-coloured eyes looked to be ruthless and harsh. His grip on his own wine cup looked to be hard enough to crush it into dust.

The last was a well-groomed, brown haired young man called Seto. He had sapphire blue eyes that stared off into space more often than not, holding a determined and yet worry-filled expression in them.

"The emperor has chosen the three of us," Yami said, his deep voice breaking the silence. "We will be entering the palace in a week."

"Finally," Bakura breathed.

"Then we'll be able to make our mark," Yami continued. He stared into his wine cup broodingly. "And find the people who were taken from us."

At this, Bakura's eyes flitted over to Seto, who had remained silent.

"Seto? Are you feeling all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Seto said slowly. "We're going into the palace. That means I can see - him again. This is what I've been waiting for. Three years of hard work."

"At least it hasn't gone to waste," Yami said grimly.

"No, it hasn't . . ."

Seto put down his wine cup and went to the window. He pushed them open and leaned against the frame. From the manor, they had a perfect view of the palace, in all its splendour and grandeur. He looked wistfully at it, at the yellow tiled roofs and the bright red walls. Next week, he would be inside there. He had worked so hard for three years just so he could enter those walls and . . .

And what? His mind asked. What are you going to do in there? Gain the life you could have given to your only love much earlier before, if only you had enough sense to do so? What then? He has probably forgotten you already.

Pushing aside those thoughts, he returned to the table and took up the cup. Ignoring the looks Yami and Bakura were giving him, he drank deeply. When the contents of the cup had been drained, he refilled it from the terracotta bottle. He drained cup after cup of the well-watered wine, trying to forget everything for that one night. Taking their cue from him, Yami and Bakura picked up their own cups and joined him drinking.

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End Chapter Two

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Author's Notes:

Well, how was that? You know, I can't write a fic without Seto in there. I love him too much to not have him in the story. And I love Yami and Bakura too much to leave them out.

Responses to reviews:

SilentFeelings: Heh, disturbing eh? I can't help but like to disturb people!

Elle-Fate2x1-2: aw! * is blushing * I'm just doing my job as an author! I'm glad you like the fic! And I won't be killed that easily * huggles back *

ShrowdedAngel: You like? That's good!

AkinoBekyCarterBakura: You've got an interesting name! The fourth concubine is the empress and you've found out. In this fic, Pegasus is homosexual, but the law requires him to have an empress, so we bring in: MAI! Uh, as for Yugi, Honda and Jou, they're in the fic and I had to make some sacrifices * sweatdrop *

Hyacinthus: Oh yes, rivalry without love is very, very interesting. You never know what ulterior motives the people have! I'm fairly certain about where the fic is heading and I must say that . . . the majority of the endings aren't that happy. But just wait for it!

Kano Yuki: You watch Chinese serials too? Oh wow! ^__^ Have you watched the one that's been named `War and Beauty'? I just finished watching it in Cantonese and I love it! It's part of the inspiration I got for this fic!

Evilcourtney: Pegasus as the emperor was just a choice I had because I didn't want to use Sugoroku again ^_^; but I'm glad you liked my choice.

Elusia: ^_^ Your review is helping to inflate my already `ridiculously over-inflated ego', to quote Yami in the YGO movie. Intense rivalry is expected of these concubines if they want to survive. And yes, Jou, Yugi and Honda are eunuchs . . . just sacrifices made for the sake of originality ^_^; and I was thinking that people were going to flame me for doing what I did. But I'm going to leave the concubines as un-castrated people because it's important to the rest of the story, ok?

Kurayami ryou-sama: I've seen worse pairings too. Don't worry, though. The Pegasus part of any of the pairings now is only one-sided. He's convinced they can't live without him. We know differently ^__^;. We've got new pairings now!

Sadistic introvert: I love your name! ^_^ Reminds me of how I act normally . . . which is really different from how I act on the net. Yes, people have been weirded out by the fact that Pegasus is the emperor, but hey, what can I say? He's not important . . . and as for people getting banished into the `cold' palace, you'll have to read on to find out!

Wow! Ten reviews for one chapter! I'm thrilled! You guys don't know how happy this has made me! This is the most reviews I've ever gotten for one chapter - ever! * huggles everyone tightly * THANK YOU!

And I must announce this before I burst: MY BIRTHDAY'S COMING UP! Only 15 days left to go! I'M SO HAPPY! My friend, lifelessmidget, has already given me a manga for my birthday. Cheeky Angel . . . lol, so funny! SilentFeelings, I demand the DVD of the anime `Hungry Heart Wild Striker' that we saw in the city. Nah, it's too expensive. Never mind. Anyway, yes.

REVIEW!

Relinquished