Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Tiaa: Unseen ❯ Twisting Silence ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh!

Note: The italics and bold writing will most likely get messed up when I transfer this to mediaminer, so if something seems strange, just ignore it. What was SUPPOSED to happen was Yami would be in bold, Ti just regular, and Seto italicized. Please review!

Yami

My servant. She's my- my servant… When she had first told me, I didn't understand. Her soft words went into one ear, and straight out of the other. Then realization sunk in and I understood what she said. So she's my servant. I still don't understand what exactly she means. I didn't want to pressure her any more to talk about this obviously painful subject, so I left my room.

I went to the conference room, where Ti said she had been last. My papers had been stacked neatly, and the long table newly polished. Normally I would have dismissed this as the work of some servant, but now I knew it was that of Tiaa. Why? Why is she doing this work? She is my friend, not a lowly servant! But now that I thought of it, Ti had no parents and lived in the palace. I didn't know much about her at all… I had never questioned her existence. Who is she and why is she here?

I sat at my desk in the adjacent office room, folded my arms and laid my head down, thinking of this deceptiveness. Or did she mean it? Maybe someone is forcing her to do this work! Maybe she just really is a servant; one that I've befriended over the years and never really noticed who she was. No, I've never actually seen her labor. If she were a servant, she would make time for playing with me around her work. Ti spends time with me when she wants. I only wish I fully understood what-

"Ahem."

Seto, the High Priest was standing over me, looking down with one of his trademark smirks. I am the Pharaoh; no one stands over me! I stood up, to look him evenly in the eyes.

"I'm taking the day off, Seto."

He chuckled.

"Of course you are. Go play with your little friend."

He's mocking me. He knows.

"How did you know?"

"Everyone in the palace knows who she is, Pharaoh."

Everyone! Everyone but me…maybe he doesn't know as much as I think.

"Why would I take the day off to see Tiaa?"

"Don't you have a slight … situation to take care of? I saw you this morning."

Uh oh.

"It's not what you think! I didn't mean it. What do the advisors think?"

"They don't know. I'll keep this to myself, for your sake."

Yeah… he could use this information against me very well… at any time he wanted it. I think I would rather it be one of my advisors than Seto.

With that, he stepped out of the room gracefully. I banged my head down on the table. How did this happen? I went back upstairs to talk to Ti.

She wasn't there. I picked up the long leather whip, marked by traces of her blood. How could I be so cruel, and especially to my very best friend? I gripped the whip tighter, angry at my own actions. Where's that awful slave? WHAT? What did I just think? Where is she? She needs more punishment! I looked at the whip in my hands. I had that feeling of power again; the feeling I loved so much. It's corrupting me. I dropped it. Immediately I felt a loss, like some part of me had just been cut out.

A little while later, I felt back to normal. Well, I was still facing this problem. What is the mystery behind this strange whip? How is Ti doing; is she hurt? What does it mean that she is my servant? My brain was clouded with thoughts. I need to find her.

Tiaa

I had been sitting, head on my knees, on the bed when Yami left. It doesn't matter; I hadn't been talking to him. I was looking down at the blanket, purposely not making any eye contact. I didn't really tell him how I was his servant… I was too much in shock. I had never hinted at it in any way before, and now I just flat out told him. And I was in a lot of pain to talk… my arm was still bleeding severely. The whip had hit my brachial artery, I think. My face had slowed down, but it was still moving slowly. My stomach area hurt so much, where Yami had kicked me numerous times. After he was gone, I lifted up my dress to look at it. Luckily, I wasn't bleeding there, but I had many purple, green, and yellow bruises starting to appear; the pus was churning under my skin. I gagged and turned away. I needed help.

I don't know how I did it, but somehow I got up and half-crawled-half-walked to the door, leaving a gruesome trail behind me. There, I grabbed onto the stair and made my way down in this manner, sitting on each step, moving down only one each time. By this time I was in much more critical condition, and by the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, another one of the servants had noticed me and rushed to my aid.

I was losing consciousness quickly. I looked up. His name was… was…Ryou.

Seto

That awful Pharaoh! He can hardly fathom her pain… I went back to the main temple to continue to pray. Before I could commence, though, I had a great feeling of foreboding. I felt something was not right. I decided that my help might be needed, and that if I began my prayers I would be unavailable for several hours on end. I walked quickly back to the palace.

I'm sure I looked very out of myself, and I felt it. I was so panicked; I felt I could not breathe, though I'm sure I was of sound health. The servants milling around noticed this change, but didn't comment. How could they? I'm the high priest.

I saw a young servant running along an adjacent hallway. Actually, I rather heard him first-he was wearing reed-woven sandals and they slapped against the floor. I ducked into the hall, and saw him. In reality about my age, he had strangely white hair, and skin too pale to be that of an outdoor worker. He was carrying white gauze. He skidded, and suddenly turned into a room. I followed, heart beating faster, almost afraid of what I would find.

There was a crowd of servant women huddled around a bed, each doing a different job. One was dipping the gauzes in water; others were doing things I could not really see from my position at the door. I moved into the already crowded room to get a better look. The white-haired servant saw me first, and let out a revered gasp. This caused all the others to glance up, and then stop their work in awe. They backed slowly away from the bed, allowing me to look.

It was Tiaa.

Yami

I searched the palace for Ti, but couldn't find her anywhere. I realized that I really didn't know that much about my own home. I mainly stayed in my bedroom, the conference room, my private lounge, and the gardens outside. I didn't even know of some of these other passageways and rooms. I somehow wandered my way into the kitchens. The room was so large and busy! I'm sure I looked very confused, but none of the servants helped me. They were just in shock to see me in such a place. I turned quickly and just walked, unsure of which way to go.

I saw one of my servants, the strange white-haired one. He was running to the kitchens, arms full with bloody rags. I stopped him.

"What is that?"

"Pharaoh- there's no time…" he said, running into the kitchen to discard the stained wrappings.

"Well, which room?"

He pointed vaguely down a hallway. I figured I'd be able to recognize it. I ran down to where he had gestured. It was easy to find the room, it was the only room in the whole hall whose door was open and lights were on. I entered the room, but couldn't see anything. There were servants everywhere! I cleared my throat for their attention. As they moved to the side, I approached the bed. Seto was already there, mussing his purple robes in her blood as he sat on a stool, holding her hand and praying. Tiaa was unconscious, but still breathing, only barely. The slave women had removed her dress, and they had covered her chest with cloths. They had pulled up a blanket to her waist, leaving her stomach area open for them to care for. Her abdomen wasn't bleeding, but it was a horrible mix of black and green. Knowing that I had caused this only made me even angrier. I sat on a stool on the other side of the bed, across from Seto. He still didn't look up. I guess he was very deep in his prayer, hoping to help her.

The white-haired was back, with more gauze. Some of the women dipped it in water, and placed it on Ti's forehead, hoping to awaken her, or at least make her more comfortable. They had already bandaged the bleeding on her face, and were currently working on her arm, where I had hit her with the whip.

Finishing his prayer, Seto sighed and looked at me. He didn't dare say anything or do anything to reveal I was behind this. He let go of Ti's hand and got up, saying he was going to find a doctor.

The white-haired servant took his place on the stool. Frustrated, I put my hands on my head, messing my hair. I don't know why I did this; it always seemed to calm me a little bit, but not now.

"What's your name?" I addressed the servant.

"Ryou."

"How long have you been here, Ryou?"

"A few years. My parents vanished one day- I waited for so long for them to return, but they never did. All my neighbors believe them dead and so do I."

"So you came to work here."

"Yes."

"Are you good friends with Tiaa?"

"Yes, but she spends much more time with you."

"Yes, she does."

We were quiet after that, waiting for the doctor. The bleeding on her arm was beginning to be controlled when he came in with Seto.

Suddenly overcome with guilt and a raging sadness for my friend, I left the room. The doctor's face was surprised and grim when he entered; I didn't take that as a good sign.

I wandered the palace some more, not really looking at where I was going, but lost in my own thoughts. After a while, I looked up at a tall dark door that I had never noticed before. Well, I hardly noticed anything before. I was in a gloomy part of the palace, filled with cobwebs and grime. Not many people came here, that was certain. I turned the knob to the door, but it was locked. It wasn't surprising to me. However, being the Pharaoh, I had a master key that would open every lock in the palace. I brought it out and put it in the rusted lock. I could hear and feel the lock turn, but I could not open the door! There was something dark and magical about this door, and it frightened me very much.