.

All Bright

El3v3n

All characters belong to their respective owners.

( […] indicates telekenetic/speech into thoughts)

Serenity yawned, covering her mouth as if she could hide it. She was pouring over the scrolls on her desk, protesting sleep when a soft chuckle sounded from the divan.

"Your mother told you to sleep. Perhaps you should."

"I am not obedient to her every order."

"Oh? Why do I have a feeling that you are?" Serenity turned to shoot him an irritated look.

"Well, I am certainly not going to sleep when you refuse to tell me who you are." The young god, who had called himself Atem - a name she had never heard of nor believed belonged to him - threw his head back in exasperation.

"I have already told you. You are the one who refuses to believe it." She replied with a scrunch of her nose, that appeared more cute than angry. Determined to not let him get to her, she turned back to her study.

"My mother was right. The lot of you - you are all the same." She grumbled, receiving no response. "Changing your appearance and feigning injury to get into a woman's bedroom. Have you no shame at all? Your story is creative, I have to admit." The goddess turned her attention to a new document, though she was too furious to retain any information.

"Fess up, who are you? Ail? I heard about that little number you tried on Minako. Diamond? Showing up as some impossibly handsome stranger and sneaking into bed with an unsuspecting maiden? This has your name written all over it." When again, she received no response, she turned to look at him and was surprised to find him not on the sofa.

"Seiya?" She demanded, coming to her feet to scan the room. "This prank is not amusing. Where-" She paused, suddenly overwhelmed by a presence behind her. She didn't spend too much time among the other deities, but this felt different. The presence of the more powerful gods had weight and authority, but even being in the audience of Zeus didn't feel like this.

Serenity didn't have to look to feel him looming over her, swirling with a power that was mysterious - unfamiliar. It felt cold and dark, and capable of everything she was not.

Furrowing her brow, she spun around. She had a tirade ready for him on her tongue, but she was stunned silent upon meeting his gaze.

His eyes were arresting, not just because of their exotic color, but the way they regarded her with such fascination. She hadn't appreciated how tall he was until he was looming over her petite form. Almost everyone towered over her, but his entire presence made her feel small.

"Sorry to disappoint," he spoke quietly, "But I am not any of those whom you accuse me to be. You clearly do not believe me, how can I convince you?"

He had a point. While she was certain he was lying to her, the burden was on her to force him to reveal it. The Moon Queen, who was very wise to these sorts of tricks, probably knew of a spell that could force even Zeus to show his true form. She couldn't ask her without giving away the man's secret.

Perhaps he deserved to be outed. This was a mean-spirited trick to play on anyone, least of all Serenity who was never unkind to any person. If she had access to the library, she could likely come up with something, but, in the moment, she was being asked to prove her suspicions and could only rely on her own cleverness.

"Every true deity has a core power that is their's alone. No other God no matter how powerful can truly emulate it. As a true Goddess, I will be able to tell if you're trying to mimic the essence of another. Show me the power of your namesake, and then I will know if you are who you claim to be." To that he smiled, and there was something in the curve of his lips that made her stomach tumble.

"The same is true where I have come from. Yet, Amentet seems to be a different world than your Olympus — what if my power is mirrored by another here?" His voice was so pleasantly rich, her serious expression momentarily faltered. She liked the way he sounded when he spoke, she wanted to hear more, but was weary he was using that luscious voice like some sort of snare to reel her in close.

"Try it. It will be easier to prove your identity from just one other, rather than over a hundred."

"Alright," he straightened, appearing ever taller when not peering over her. He regarded her with a tilt of his head, making Serenity burn with curiosity. What was he thinking? Perhaps he was trying to fool her with something to distract her from the task he was given.

"Serenity, Goddess of all that brings light to the dark. I think you have met your match." He snapped his fingers and suddenly every orb of light flickered, and became dim until it was sucked away into the void.

Try as she might to focus, she could see nothing. When she turned out the lights before bed each evening, it only took a few moments before her vision adjusted to the dark, but this was different. The pitch blackness that surrounded her felt more like an entity than the mere absence of light. It weighed down on her, challenging her knees and wobbling ankles to remain upright. The cool but comfortable climate of her room was suddenly freezing, and she wrapped her arms around herself in the attempt to stay warm.

Was this an illusion? Reaching out, her fingers made contact with warm fabric, covering the lean figure of the man she had become acquainted with the night before. Even though she couldn't sense anything particularly sinister about him, she was suddenly frightened. Before she could implore him to stop, the weight was suddenly lifted and light filtered back into the room.

Her eyes widened as she took in his expression, making out his smug visage in the growing presence of light. He knew he had made an impression on her. Serenity wasn't skilled in concealing her emotions and surprise was etched across her face. Having regained her composure, she snatched her hand back and dared not meet his eyes when she heard a quiet chuckle.

"Well?"

Knowing she would have to address him eventually, she met his gaze and chewed her lip as she searched for the words.

"There is just one other with a power like this. Not that I have ever seen, but heard of," she rubbed her arm in thought. "Erebus is a primordial being, and as far as I know doesn't maintain a corporeal form."

It was true. The immortal foretold to wield power over deep darkness and shadows was one of her primordial ancestors that was born out of the chaotic void. They were celestial beings that didn't associate with the Titans or Olympians, and she couldn't think of a reason why one of them would bother with pestering her. Erebus and his wife Nyx, the Goddess of the Night, were particularly unlikely guests. They lived in the deepest and darkest pit of the underworld not because they were trapped there, but because they liked it.

"I believe you," she admitted, hating how victorious he looked at that. With a smirk curling on his lips, he suddenly extended his hand toward her.

"Then perhaps I can finally properly introduce myself, I am Atem - the future king of Amentet and all that thrive there."

"And I, Serenity," a blush tinged her cheeks when instead of shaking her hand, he brought to his lips for a chance to kiss her again.

"And I believe I already made my formal introduction..."

She had only had good intentions when she had rescued a stranger from the library, and yet she was paying for it as if she had committed a crime. This whole situation was becoming more of a mess by the moment, and at present she was too tired to think up a solution. Silently, she prayed her mother would wish to have a quiet lunch so she could come up with something during the meal.

Their midday meal passed with light conversation. Despite the free time to think, Serenity found herself focusing more on worrying about what Atem might be up to while she was putting in her appearances. He had assured her that he would not be found out while she was gone, but didn't elaborate how he planned on accomplishing this. She had encouraged him to stay in her room until she thought of something, but by the twinkle in his eye when she suggested it, she suspected he wouldn't comply.

She knew she should be focusing on a plan to send the young man back where he came, but she couldn't help but be fascinated by it all. The universe was vast and unlimited. Even the oldest and wisest Gods didn't completely know about everything that was out there. Was it really possible that there was another divine realm of immortals? Did they command and watch over mortals as well? Was their world like her own, or different? She was so lost in her thoughts, she barely registered that she had left the dining room and walked alongside the Queen in the halls. Her daily routine was so repetitive that she didn't need to lend much mental effort into following it.

"You still seem tired, Serenity," The Queen's comment woke her from her trance. "Perhaps you should take the rest of the day to rest. The full moon is in two nights and your powers will be needed at their maximum capacity."

"Thank you," she replied, wondering to herself how many times she had had this conversation.

Though she seldom saw her friends, they had told her many tales about Olympus and their journeys to the mortal world. While they weren't always pleasant recounts, Serenity couldn't deny how exciting it must be to go on adventures, meet others, and just not know what was going to happen next. She had never met a mortal, but apparently they envied the Gods for their beauty, power, and immortality. While the pain and uncertainty of a mortal life assuredly wasn't pleasant, she couldn't reason why anyone would wish for this life.

At least, not hers.

Day after day, night after night. The weeks turned into months and then years, and every moment passed predictably. Every once in awhile, one of her sisters - the ones she was close to - would come to visit and those times always filled her with joy. Queen Selenity tolerated them despite their relation to Zeus, but she never allowed any male Gods to associate with Serenity or step foot on the Moon. That didn't bother Serenity much, as most of the immortal men were absolutely insufferable company. At least the ones she had met. It seemed there would be little opportunity for her to meet anyone new under her mother's stringent rule. Serenity could only muse about how furious the Queen would be if she knew she was stowing away Atem. It was dangerous to have him here, but she had to admit, having him around was a little exciting.

Very exciting, actually, and terrifying too. But in this instance that didn't seem like such a terrible thing.

"Oh, hello." The Queen's voice interrupted her musings. She crouched and Serenity looked on as she stroked a cat with sleek spotted fur, vibrating contentedly upon her touch. There were a few animals that lived on the Moon, many of whom Serenity befriended. She had never seen this cat, but her mother didn't appear phased.

"Gorgeous, isn't he?" she mused, and Serenity agreed, leaning down to touch the animal when it neared. For a span of a breath, she swore she saw the cat smirk as he rubbed his face on her outstretched fingers and circled so her touch drifted over his back. She knew her mind hadn't been playing tricks on her, however, when a voice rang in her head.

[Not as satisfying as this morning, but still nice.] the cat said. Serenity gasped, retracting her hand quickly. The Queen gave her an odd look.

"What's wrong, Serenity?"

"N-nothing!" She answered quickly. Narrowing her gaze on the cat, she scooped the animal into her arms and paid no mind to his meow of surprise.

"I should be going, and I'll give make sure this little guy finds something to eat on the way back to my room." She babbled, dashing down the hallway before her mother could question her further.

The cat squirmed in her arms, but Serenity didn't let go, focusing on getting as far away from the Palace's main atrium as possible without drawing too much attention to herself. A string of low meows sounded from the animal in her arms, but it sounded much differently in her conscious.

[She surely doesn't know it's me, how could she?]

Glancing around for anyone that could be watching, she dropped him and glared when the cat landed eloquently on its feet.

"You should not underestimate me, Atem." she glowered, feeling momentarily smug when he had the decency to look surprised.

A.N: Hey all! Thanks so much for the feedback (even the person who sent hate, honestly you acknowledged my effort which is more than what most do around here)! Hopefully this was interesting I'm enjoying it so far. Most of the SM/YGO characters in this story will have Greek or Egyptian God counterparts but I will use their names as opposed to the mythology ones in this story (with more explanation on that later). Here's a short list of who's who so far (more details and more to be added later):

Serenity: Pandia (Greek Goddess)
Atem: Aten/Amun-Ra (Egyptian God)
Selenity: Selene (Greek Titan)

I appreciate everyone who reviewed so much! I will try to update all stories but will definitely update stories that get 10+ reviews on each update.

Love, El3