Mijikai: Summer is here, school is over and now I shall get back to my writing!

Yami: Then wait another year or two to update.

Mijikai: I will not!

Yami: You will too!

Mijikai: Will not!

Yugi: Ahhh, the familiar sound of the arguing author and Yami. You know, Yami missed you.

Mijikai: Oh did you?

Yami:…I did not!

Yugi: He missed arguing with you and even broke down, shouting at me to call him a pig headed idiot. Just yesterday he told me he wanted me to throw bricks at him. I thought he flipped.

Mijikai: Sounds like you have.

Yami: I don't have a problem!

Yugi and Mijikai: Sure…

:II:

Chronicle IV

The days passed by so slowly. And day after day was filled with one thing.

War.

Mwt (mother) was distant now, and it felt as if our bond was a bit strained now. She always stared at me with silent pleading eyes and soon they plagued me too much and I didn't visit her at all. I don't see Heba much anymore, yet I don't seem to see anyone. Only maps and I't (father). When I was released from one of the meetings two weeks later, I slowly made my way towards the garden that was farthest away from the stuffy room that I was in for what seemed like years.

The breeze felt good as I sat upon a bench and I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath. My feet gently tapped the water of the rippling pool beneath my feet and my eyes stared blankly at a boy that stared back with red eyes from lack of sleep with dark bags under the eyes. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair.

"I don't even recognize myself anymore…and the war didn't even start yet," I grumbled, and yawned. "And because of stupid Seito I'm having nightmares of the enemy running around their campsite with my head on a pike."

"That doesn't sound pleasant, your majesty," came a tired voice behind me and I glanced behind my shoulder to see Karim.

Smiling, I scooted over on the bench and he gratefully sat beside me, placing his bear feet into the water. No words were needed as we sat there, letting the wind play with our hair and letting the water lap onto to our soar feet. I glanced at Karim and the memory of Mahado and his argument came back to my mind. I couldn't help but wonder if what Heba said was true. Could Mahado love him? I'm not saying it was impossible. Karim is a very pleasant fellow to be with and he has a soft smile that could disarm anyone. But…I just couldn't imagine Mahado and Karim together.

'Although I couldn't imagine myself with Anzu yet some people think it's a cute match,' I thought bitterly and angrily smacked the water with the heel of my foot.

"What's on your mind, if I may ask," Karim asked quietly in his shy and timid voice.

I glanced at him, who stared at me with his soft eyes, and then back at my feet. Did I really want to ask?

"You know Anzu right?" I asked and he nodded slowly.

"I've seen her."

"Well…some people think we would be cute together…"

"And you wish not to be with her," Karim said and I nodded. "Ah, I've seen that happen many times. But she is a very nice girl."

"She's annoying," I grumbled. "And she admires Seito! They both bug me and they're not even brother and sister!"

Karim chuckled quietly.

"Your still a boy, your highness. There is no need to worry just yet."

"What about my great-great-grandfather that married at age nine?"

"…I'm afraid I don't know your highness."

"Atemu. Please. "Your Highness" was the only thing that's been said to me all day in that damn room. I rather hear my name right now."

"If it pleases you," he said with a nod. "Atemu…"

He didn't say anything more, and I bit my lip. I really wanted to ask him but…would it be rude? I didn't want Karim to be mad at me or embarrass him to the point he'd be uncomfortable sitting by me anymore. Taking a deep breath, rewording my questions I turned towards him.

"Karim."

"Yes Atemu," he said absently, staring at the floating lotus.

"How…how…do…you…you…how do you feel about Mahado!" I asked in a rush.

Karim didn't answer right away, but seemed to be thinking as he traced invisible patterns on the water's surface with his big toe. Finally, he let his feet plunge into the water and looked at me.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean…how do you feel about him?"

He frowned slightly.

"How do you feel about him…" he murmured. "Well…I feel he's a noble priest and that he is a great friend."

I didn't know whether to smack myself or push Karim into the pool.

"I mean do you love him?" I said more bluntly from my frustration.

Sometimes Karim wasn't the brightest of priests.

"Of course."

"Not as a friend," I said.

He seemed surprised.

"Do I love him?" he asked with his eyebrows raised, his eyes wide.

"Yes, do you?"

Karim cocked his head to one side, still looking bemused.

"Why do you ask?"

I flushed and looked away, shrugging my shoulders in answer.

"I'm just curious."

"…I…never really thought about it before," he murmured. "And…I don't think I'll really know."

Stretching his arms, he stood and started walking away. I wanted to call for him back and apologize for being stupid but he paused. I opened my mouth but he held up a hand and I stopped.

"I am not a thinker, that I know everyone knows. And I'm unsure about a lot of things, and this is one of them."

I thought that was it, but then he slowly turned to look at me.

"But I do know for sure, that I care about Mahado very much."

Giving me a small smile, he turned back and went inside the palace. I stood there for a moment, before heading inside myself. As I passed by a bushel of papyrus, I stopped. Swearing I heard something, I glanced behind it and my tongue went dry.

"Mahado!" I shouted in surprise and fear.

Mahado stood there, tears coursing down his cheeks before his hand came up and wiped them away.

"Did you…I'm sorry…I didn't mean," I stammered, afraid I had made a mistake in prying into business that wasn't my own.

After the tears were wiped away, he smiled and draped an arm around my shoulders.

"Let's go inside Atemu. I'm sure your I't will be calling another meeting soon."

Nodding numbly, I let him lead me inside. Whether I had done something wrong that day or not, I never truly found out until when I was older.

:II:

"I see it…I see your death. The enemy will find you as you scout the area…they will capture you…hit you with the butt end of their spears…whip you…have fun with you…then they will chop your head off and parade around the camp with your head on the end of a pike!"

"Yes, yes, you told me the same thing five times already!" I screamed in Seito's ear.

He frowned as he folded his arms.

"My visions are not to be taken lightly, Atemu."

"Except when you make up shit like this," I snapped.

"I make nothing up!" Seito shouted, face red with fury.

I couldn't help but smirk.

"Then explain to me why I didn't die at the age of eight like you predicted."

"I said you would be poisoned, I didn't say you'd die," he sniffed arrogantly and I imagined throwing a rock at his big head. "And if any of you had heeded my warning you wouldn't have suffered in the first place. I't (father) thought I was making it up also and I was beaten for it…until you were poisoned. Then my I't realized how special I was…he never laid a finger on me ever since."

I just looked at him weirdly.

"And I care because…?"

"You scoff now, but when my power grows it will be me mocking you," he spat and I wrinkled my nose at the wet spot upon the floor.

"Sure, but at the same time my powers grow," I shot back, and he smirked planting his fists on his hips.

"What powers?"

"The ones I threatened you to shut your trap with a couple of weeks ago!" I snapped.

"You have powers?" came a voice and we both turned towards the balcony and my eyes widened as I saw a familiar white haired boy sitting on the railing, his elbows on his knees and his hands propping his face up.

He watched us with wide innocent brown eyes as he cocked his head curiously, his white hair falling into his face. The rags and smudged dirt on his skin showed that he was obviously a commoner. But what confused me the most was how the hell did he get there without both of Seito and I noticing!

"Who are you!" Seito shouted, before I could say anything. "I'll call the guards on you!"

The boy looked startled.

"Oh please don't!" he shouted as he hopped from the railing and fell on all fours. "Please! I meant no harm! I heard yelling and climbed up here because I was curious!"

My eyes narrowed as I stared at him, trying to place where I've seen him before. I knew I've seen him before, the hair I couldn't forget.

"Ryou you idiot!"

'Oh, now I remember.'

"Oh no, it's Bakura," the boy, Ryou, whispered and started to run.

"Don't you dare!" came a snarl and my eyes widened as I saw another white haired boy climbing, or clawing, over the railing.

His face could have been identical to Ryou's if he wasn't baring his teeth and making his insane blue eyes very wide. The scar flashed upon his flesh more vividly then last I remembered and a lot more scars were seen upon his arm as he tumbled onto the floor. He seemed to not see or even care that Seito and I were there and ran after Ryou, grabbing his hair and yanking him backward. Poor Ryou let out a yelp of pain as he crashed to the floor.

"We specifically came to steal the golden statue of Ra and what do you do? You sit on the Ra damn rail and sit on your damn ass and stare at the snot nosed princes arguing about who cares what! What do I have to do? Crack your head against a wall to get the message through that shit made skull of yours!"

"I just wanted to know what made them both so mad," Ryou whimpered and Bakura rolled his eyes as he let go and slammed his foot into Ryou's ribs.

"If you haven't gotten us caught already," he snarled and turned his eyes upon us. "Well, thanks to my sorry excuse for a brother I'll have to kill both of you now."

At first I didn't think he was serious, until a blade suddenly appeared in his hands and he lunged at me. It happened so fast that I didn't even realize what happened, until I felt a hand roughly push me back. In a blink of an eye, I found myself on the floor staring at the ceiling. The sound of grunting made me scramble up and my eyes widened.

I think the Great Beyond froze over.

There, Seito was with Bakura trying to wrestle a blade out of his hands.

The hand that pushed me away was Seito.

The one who saved me was Seito…

'I will never live this down!'

Shaking off my disbelief, I rammed myself into Bakura and Seito was able to knock the blade out of the insane thief's hand. Once he was pinned down (and we made sure there were no pointy objects that he could stab people with) Seito made a call for the guards, but Ryou (who I forgot about till now) suddenly popped out of nowhere and grabbed Seito around the neck. Struggling, Seito let go of his hold of Bakura and grabbed hold of the back of Ryou's ragged shirt and flipped him over his shoulder.

Sometimes I wonder how a creep can do some really wondrous things…I can't even do that!

Because of my distraction, Bakura took that opportunity to bite my hand, really, really hard.

"Ow!"

A foot slammed into my stomach and as I lay there trying to gasp for air, a hand grabbed my hair and yanked my head back.

"Nobody move, nobody make a sound," came Bakrua's cool, yet panting voice.

Everything became silent and I sat there on my knees wondering what in Ra's name was going on.

"Let him go, and I will not harm your brother," Seito said and I could hear Ryou struggles and grunts.

"You think I even care about the little coward?" Bakura spat.

"Brother…?" came Ryou's quivering voice.

"Shut up and stop your sniveling! It's your fault we're in this situation in the first place. If it hadn't been for you screwing up, you wouldn't need to bargain for you life!" Bakura barked.

"I'm sorry, I won't make mistakes again! Please, help me!" Ryou begged.

I really wish I could see what was going on. But the hand that was tearing my hair out forced my eyes skyward.

"If you don't let him go, you'll find yourself in a very dangerous position," Seito threatened ominously.

"And how?" Bakura laughed.

"Oh, I have my ways," Seito said and I could just imagine him smirking right now.

"Seito? What the hell are you doing?" I hissed through my teeth and that earned me a rough shake that made the clouds spin.

"Shut up!"

"Just don't look behind you," Seito said ominously.

"Are you crazy, there's nothing be-AH!"

The hand released me and I slammed my foot into Bakura's shin before scrambling towards Seito and Ryou. From what I saw, what ever was behind me made Seito smirk and Ryou cower. Slowly I turned and I screamed.

A dragon. A huge white dragon floated lazily before the balcony and its blue eyes were staring at Bakura. Huge wings flapped gently up and down, its long tail lashing the ground. The scales looked so smooth that they didn't even look like scales at all but melded white flesh. And huge rows of teeth could be see as the creature opened its mouth.

"Bakura, let me introduce to you an old friend of mine. Blue Eyes White Dragon."

Bakura only toppled over, staring at it with wide eyes, his mouth gaping as his body visibly trembled. The dragon stretched its neck towards him and gave a great bellow that caused Bakura to scream with terror. Tears started forming in the tips of his eyes and I could clearly see the message they were screaming at the dragon. "I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die."

Seito was laughing at the sniveling thief, and I thought this too cruel. I wasn't even in the beast's line of vision and I nearly wet myself. But before I could say anything, Ryou suddenly ripped himself away from Seito's grip on his arm and ran in front of the beast, putting himself between Bakura and the dragon. I watched, amazed. Here, Ryou was, trembling, crying, and obviously had wet himself and yet he was still protecting his brother. A brother who had beaten him, called him names, and probably would have abandoned him after killing me…

"Get away from my brother!" he screamed at the beast.

The beast only roared and the balcony started shaking, but Ryou held his ground.

"Get away from my brother!"

The dragon continued staring at the boy before it let out another bellow and it disappeared. Once it was gone, Ryou collapsed to his knees, shaking.

We all just stood there, not knowing exactly what to do, when Bakura finally stood up and grabbed his brother by the arm roughly.

"Get up," he snarled and Ryou sniffed as he slowly obeyed. "And stop crying. You out grew this years ago!"

"I'm sorry," Ryou whispered. "Are you hurt, Bakura?"

Bakura looked down at Ryou for a moment, and he lifted his hand up. Ryou cringed, as if he expected Bakura to smack him, but instead it was placed upon his head.

"Let us go now, Ryou," he said quietly and the boy (startled) nodded.

Still shaking, Ryou climbed over the balcony and was gone. But Bakura turned towards us, his eyes still producing tears and his body still shaking but his eyes held pure hate.

"I will return the favor, priest," he snarled before jumping over himself.

Once they were gone, I turned to Seito, who looked very smug.

"What the hell was that!" I shouted.

"Teaching the little bastard thief a lesson he won't forget."

"The dragon could have killed them!"

"But she didn't, did she?" Seito asked calmly and turned. "And by the way, that is a debt you owe me for saving your life. I hope you'll be up to repaying me."

I rolled my eyes.

Why was I even surprised that he only saved my life so that I owe him?

"Fine, what do you want?"

"Not yet…in a couple of years from now maybe, but not yet," he said with a dangerous smirk that I did not like.

"If it's the hand and marriage of Anzu I completely approve," I said stiffly and he whirled around.

"Who says the repayment is permission to marry!" Seito shouted, his cool now shattered.

Now it was my turn to smirk and I shrugged as I passed by him.

"Well, how else will you get a girl?" I asked. "Obviously the girl and the father wouldn't approve, so you'll need me to over rule that. Although I'd feel really bad for the girl who ended up with you…"

"Prince or not I will pay you back for that comment!" Seito snarled, and stomped away.

I only laughed at him.

:II:II:III:II:II:

Mijikai: Well…the plot didn't move very much…but I hope you like it anyway!

Yami: I am in debt with Kaiba…You made me in debt with Kaiba…AHHHHH!

Mijikai: --

Yugi: I wasn't in this!

Mijikai: Next chapter.

Yugi: But I wasn't even in it!

Mijikai: NEXT CHAPTER!

Yugi: …Fine…

Ryou: I don't cry that much! And I wet myself! Are you trying to give people the impression that I'm a child!

Mijikai: Well, you are nine in this story… (Note: I know I didn't mention this yet, but Ryou and Bakura might be referred to twins because Atemu thinks so but they're not. Ryou is nine and Bakura is eleven. But they're same height…which pisses Bakura off)

Ryou: I am? Well…I guess then, it would be a bit understandable. I thought I was fourteen or something.

Mijikai: Nope. Now I have to go and hide before Bakura kills me for showing his "other side" to people.

Bakura: WTF! I'M CRYING?

Mijikai: If I haven't been forgotten…please review. Tell me if my style is slipping. Stupid school…