Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Heart of the Cards ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Heart of the Cards: Chapter 5

 

Ancient Egypt

 

Atem watched Mana from his window. It had been nearly a week since the death of Mahaado. The one responsible for the magician's death still had not been found, nor had the stolen millennium item been recovered. He had a strong feeling that the two would be discovered together.

 

Perhaps the oddest development after the tragedy was the change in the relationship between Mana and Priest Set. No longer was the green eyed young woman causing mischief and the high priest provoking her. If anything it seemed as if Set had taken her under his wing to educate her in the stead of Mahaado.

 

The pharaoh turned away from his window and tried to give Shada his attention. It was simply too difficult to focus on something like national security when the death of one of his best friends since childhood remained a dark cloud over his heart.

 

“Pharaoh, perhaps we should discuss this later,” Shada suggested. His eyes reflected his wisdom and his sympathy in equal measures. “I can take care of the main details if you'd prefer.”

 

Atem sighed and forced himself to not look towards his window once more. “No, I need to take care of this myself. We must find this murderer.”

 

“I believe that to possess a Ka with the ability to defeat Mahaado this person must have a great thirst for revenge. Only a strong sense of justice or a need to be avenged could supply that much strength,” Shada explained.

 

Absently, Atem reached down to touch the millennium puzzle that hung around his neck. It almost felt as if it burned. No doubt the cursed items were somehow related to the tragedy that had befallen his magician. “I need to go for a walk.”

 

Shada watched as his king walked away from their discussions. It was going to be difficult to focus after such a devastating loss, but the pharaoh must never allow his emotions to hinder his capacity of leadership.

 

Mana sighed in frustration and bit her lip to keep tears of despair from falling. Set had been extremely patient, teaching her the best he could. He was a rather powerful priest, but he still paled in comparison to her beloved teacher. But then, everyone paled in comparison to Mahaado in her eyes.

 

“You're improving,” Set told her encouragingly as she produced her spirit Ka once more. It was still a fairly weak expression of magic but he had high hopes that under duress when the circumstance arrived that her powers would flare. If not, she was certain to follow in her master's footsteps into the afterworld.

 

“I appreciate your patience,” Mana answered. She saw the pharaoh walking outside of the palace into the gardens. He looked absolutely forlorn and what was left of her heart broke at the sight. “I understand if you have more important things to do though,” she trailed off.

 

Set followed her line of sight and saw his cousin trudging through the gardens, obviously deep in thought. “Go to him, I will meet with you after dinner if you are still interested.”

 

Mana turned to Set, a spark of brilliance in her emerald eyes as she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him close. Set almost choked in surprise, but managed to remain stoic in the unfamiliar situation. “Thank you Set, I promise no more locusts in your robes.”

 

Before he could respond, the young woman had run off in the direction of the pharaoh leaving nothing but a trail of dust in her wake. Set cleared his throat and straightened his hat that had been knocked askew. He looked around to make sure no one had seen the incident before returning to the castle, his step a little lighter.

 

Atem slowed his step once he heard the soft steps of his energetic friend. He could already feel parts of his heart mending back together at her approach. He turned towards her and felt a smile creep across his face when she wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face against his neck. He put his arms around her and held her close, breathing in the scent of her hair and finding a comfort he had lacked for far too long.

 

“It's about time you've come to me,” Atem commented, voice slightly muffled by the young woman's dark hair. He could feel Mana give a half laugh- half sob against his neck. “How has your training been with Set?”

 

“I'm learning.” She pulled away from him somewhat to look into his eyes. “I will be able to protect you when the one that defeated Mahaado comes,” she informed him confidently, a steel look in her eyes.

 

Atem's amethyst eyes grew dark at the idea of losing Mana as well as Mahaado. “No.”

 

Mana tried to pull out of Atem's arms, but found herself unable to do so. “What do you mean no?” Atem's arms tightened like steel bands.

 

“I'm not going to risk losing you too.”

 

Mana's hands curled against Atem's back as she leaned against him, giving up on pulling away from his desperate hold. “You won't lose me. I will become very strong.” She disentangled herself quickly and stood apart from her pharaoh. “I will not allow anything to happen to you,” she vowed.

 

The words engraved at the bottom of the stone that Mahaado's spirit now dwelt came to Atem's mind. He reached for Mana's hand and took it within his own. He knew it would be useless to argue with her, so he would simply have to find a different way to protect her from herself. “I could point out the fact that I am pharaoh and what I say is law.” He paused, “I hardly believe it would make a difference. Let us just enjoy the garden, shall we?”

 

oooooOOOOOooooo

 

Set gracefully jumped off his dark stallion, sand lifting in a cloud at his feet from the impact. He turned to look at the three men that had accompanied him. “This is where you have heard the rumor?” He asked skeptically. The village to which they had journeyed hardly looked worthy of note.

 

“Yes High Priest,” a short portly man croaked. “This is where the woman lives that had the dream.” A tall, lanky man stood beside him, nodding his head eagerly in emphasis.

 

Set's brow rose at the comment. “You brought me here to see a woman?”

 

“I hardly doubt it is just any woman if she had a dream of consequence,” Shada commented, calmly slipping off his own horse. He looked around at the impoverished village with a keen eye. He gestured towards a flash of white. “I believe that would be her.”

 

“Yes, that's Kisara,” the portly man, Hadarah agreed. “She is the woman whom had the dream,” he explained.

 

“Kisara,” Set whispered to himself in disbelief.

 

“You recognize the name,” Shada observed quietly at his side. Set turned to look at him with cold blue eyes. Shada kept his face free of affect. “Shall we listen to her dream?”

 

“Yes, you will really want to hear her story,” Ronam urged, an excited gleam to his dark eyes. He began to lead the way towards the young woman, a slight limp to his step.

 

Shada and Set walked alongside one another at a more sedate pace. “Something feels wrong about this,” Set confided softly to Shada. He scanned the area as best he could and felt it was unsettlingly quiet. The streets had no traffic and the only citizen around was Kisara, the girl from his childhood. The same girl whom he had so recently dreamt about. Things simply weren't adding up correctly.

 

The four men from the palace closed the distance between themselves and the woman. Kisara was waiting for them quietly on a stone bench in the empty square, near the water well. She smiled faintly in recognition of Set. “I knew you would come,” she told him when he stood in front of her.

 

“You have had a dream?” Set demanded, ignoring the urge he had to hug the white haired young woman. He purposely put his hands behind his back, grabbing hold of his left wrist with his right hand. His legs were spread apart, giving him a sentinel image.

 

Kisara blinked at him, unsure of his demeanor. “I had a dream about the pharaoh,” she began. “There was a red robe, white hair, and the millennium ring.”

 

“What else girl?” Ronam prodded her impatiently as he shook her urgently on the shoulder. Set ground his teeth in annoyance as the scrawny, lanky man dared to touch Kisara.

 

“Touch her again and I will personally cut off your arm,” Set coldly informed Ronam. The lanky man immediately snatched his hand away from the young woman and stepped two paces back.

 

Set knelt in front of the woman to look at her eye-to-eye. “Is there anything else you can tell me?” He asked, a hint of gentleness in his voice. Kisara looked deep into his cold blue eyes and was reminded of the brave young boy that had saved her all those years ago. She nodded her head.

 

“You must run!” She shouted as she pushed him down into the dirt as an arrow arched through the sky, landing at the precise location he was kneeling. Kisara had pulled him behind the stone bench, using the barrier as protection.

 

Shada stood with his staff in one hand and the other was raised directing his Ka to defend them. The perimeter was now teaming with life of the villainous sort. He noticed that both Ronam and Hadarah had been shot down, arrows piercing their respective hearts. They certainly were not the finest of the pharaoh's men, but they did not deserve a fate such as this none the less.

 

“Did you help them?” Set demanded, pulling Kisara beside him to the back of the wall. He was concentrating on summoning some of the magical creatures he had on hand. His dark clown of mischief was hardly helping at the moment. Alongside Shada's creature they barely had a decent defense.

 

Kisara tried to smile, but failed miserably. “I tried to help you,” she whispered. She pulled up the bottom of her shirt to reveal a blood soaked bandage. “I wasn't sure how long I would be able to live.” She paused, taking a deep breath as her strength was quickly leaving her.

 

“Kisara,” Set spoke her name softly in shocked disbelief. He took her into his arms and held his hand over her wound, pressing the bandage against it in a vane attempt to stop the blood.

 

She placed her hand over his. “My dream was true. Seek out the one name Bakura. He is the robber of tombs.” She took a deep shuddering breath. “You saved me once, now I shall do the same for you.” Her eyes closed and her face relaxed.

 

Set's eyes widened in horror as he realized she had just died in his arms. “No!”

 

“What is going on?” Shada demanded as he directed his Ka to fend off a particularly well aimed arrow. He glanced down at Set holding the deceased Kisara. “Oh.”

 

Set shook the dead woman in his arms. “Wake up! Don't you dare die when I just found you again!” He paused when he felt something stir within Kisara's body. He lost the capacity to speak when he saw her spirit take the form of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. The dragon swooped over the stones walls of the village square and annihilated the archers.

 

Shada and Set stared in disbelief as the dragon destroyed all harm to their life. The dragon paused beside Set over the body of Kisara. The dragon didn't speak but Set knew it was Kisara's Ka. Her spirit no longer dwelt within her body but had now transformed into the amazing beast before him. Suddenly, the dragon swooped once more and then transformed into a great stone tablet, similar to the one Mahaado's spirit left for the pharaoh.

 

Set fell to his knees beside the tablet, scooping Kisara's body into his hands as he read the engraving. It would seem that Kisara intended on saving him more than once. Shada turned away from the priest, giving him a few moments to grieve the unexpected and sudden loss of the young woman.

 

He discovered a mirror outside of the stone walls, along with the shattered tablet for archer. It would seem that someone had left a trap for them in the abandoned village. That same someone didn't want to hurt civilians, they only sought to kill those involved with the royal palace it seemed. It was quite curious.

 

 

oooooOOOOOooooo

 

Mana was pouring over the various books in Mahaado's library. She studied facing the window that overlooked the back entrance of the palace. The books were quickly forgotten when she saw Priest Set and Shada returning with two riderless horses and what appeared to be the body of a white haired woman laying across Set's lap.

 

She climbed over the window seal and concentrated on one of the spells she had learned to master that afternoon. It allowed her to gently float down the two stories to come to a soft landing in the shifting sands outside of the palace. She hurriedly ran towards the two riders. “What happened?”

 

Set glanced at her, a tragic look in his eyes. Shada was the one to answer. “We have a clue as to the one whom is responsible for Mahaado's defeat.”

 

Mana ignored the painful lurch in her heart at hearing Shada refer to her beloved teacher as defeated. “What is the clue?”

 

“We must inform the pharaoh first,” Shada explained. He slid off his horse and took the reigns in his hands. He then walked alongside Mana. “You should be there as well.”

 

Not another word was spoken between them. It didn't take long to track down Atem. He was practicing his sword fighting with Karim. When he saw Set carrying someone with white hair and the long expressions on their faces he knew that good news was not to be reported.

 

He sheathed his sword and stood beside Mana. “What did you discover?” Atem demanded, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards his cousin.

 

“The one we seek is someone with white hair,” Shada started. All eyes shifted towards whom Set carried. “And is wearing a red robe and the millennium ring,” he finished.

 

“If you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to,” Set announced. He turned without waiting for the pharaoh's permission to prepare Kisara's body for an honorable burial.

 

“I am to assume the white haired person my cousin carried was not the one with the red robe and the ring,” Atem asked Shada.

 

“Priest Set carries the body of the one whom saved his life by becoming the Blue Eyes White Dragon,” Shada explained.

 

“The what?” Mana inquired, she was wringing her hands ever since the mention of Mahaado's murderer. She blinked in confusion when she felt the pharaoh place his hands over hers to stop her nervous habit.

 

“I have a feeling we'll be needing all the help we can get,” Atem commented. He looked back over at Karim, not removing his hand from Mana's. “See that Set has all the preparations he requires for the young woman.”

 

“Perhaps Isis can use her millennium necklace to find this white haired man in red that we seek,” Shada suggested.

 

“I have a feeling that the millennium items are responsible for all this,” Atem confided.