Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 6

“We could take a break if you want?” The Princess offered, easily able to see how frustrated her student was getting.

“No.” The thief grouched, glowering at the hieroglyphs. They were beginning to make sense, but it wasn’t as easy as she had thought it would be. She was actually embarrassed at the amount of trouble she was having. The Princess made it look so easy, but then the eleven year old had learned to read and write at a much younger age, mostly by sneaking into her brother’s lessons. “I’m going to get this.”

Doing so would make breaking in and out of tombs so much easier. She would be able to read the warnings that the architects had left for themselves so they could avoid traps. She would also be able to work out what scrolls were valuable and could be sold to certain parties for a high price.

She just had to understand what the hell each of the symbols actually meant. Hieroglyphs were really complicated and symbols could mean different things if they were paired with different symbols and the whole system of writing made no sense. Hieratic script had been much, much easier to understand, even if she still struggled with it a bit.

Still she had a fellow student now. She was pretty sure it was Mahad’s revenge on the Princess for dropping her on him. Mana, who had been the Princess’s best friend and who had gone home for a while after the Anubis, had returned to the palace to be there for the ‘Prince’ and Mahad. She, of course, had known the difference instantly and had had to swear herself into secrecy along with the rest of the Princess’s small group of confidents, but Mahad had decided that she could catch up on her missed studies by learning from the Princess as he didn’t have time to teach between his own studies and the investigation into Akenaten’s misdeeds.

Frustratingly Mana already knew how to read, but that was fine because Bakura was learning plenty from just watching the Princess try and teach the other girl magic.

“I do have one idea,” Mana commented as the Princess’s stomach rumbled, as she stretched, having taken a break, “What about a trip to the kitchens?”

“Food?” The Princess perked up, having been just as irritated as her student. She knew she was hitting a barrier with Ba-Khu-Ra and she wasn’t sure how to get around it. She wanted to, but she didn’t know how.

“Sure, whatever.” Ba-Khu-Ra wasn’t going to object to a free meal. Money wasn’t too much of an issue any more, not when she tended to make a slight detour each time she left the palace ground. However she had lived with nothing for so long that she wasn’t above taking advantage of free food. “I could use a break anyway.”

They quickly packed up, carrying their tools with them as they made their way past the throne room and down to the kitchens. They were nearly there, in fact they could smell the food cooking when they bumped into the Pharaoh and a couple of the priests.

Well aware of Ba-Khu-Ra’s feelings towards her father and the rest of the High Priests, the Princess subtly gestured to Mana as she spoke with her father. Unfortunately Mana didn’t get a chance to pull the thief girl aside before her father turned to the two girls.

“And who are you two?” He asked, looking them over.

“This is Mana.” The Princess spoke quickly, gesturing to the girl, “And...”

“I’m Ba-Khu-Ra.” The Princess only just managed to keep any signs of distress off of her features as the thief girl stepped forward with a bow and a surprising amount of deference. Still the Princess couldn’t help but hold her breath as the thief straightened and continued, “Of Kul Elna.”

The Pharaoh didn’t respond to the name but Akenaten did. If the Princess had had any doubts about the fact her uncle was involved in what had happened to Ba-Khu-Ra’s village, they vanished as she watched her uncle turn as white as a sheet and backup slightly, staring at the thief as if he had seen a ghost.

Now they just needed hard evidence and they could take it to her father and get justice for the thief girl’s home.

“They’re Mahad’s students.” The Princess spoke up, drawing attention back to her, “We’re learning magic together.”

“And where is Mahad?” The Pharaoh asked, “I require a word with him.”

The Princess hesitated. She wasn’t sure where Mahad was. He had spoke about needing to speak with some contacts and vanished a few hours ago. “I’m not sure.” She said slowly, thinking, “Lessons are over. We were just about to do some extra revision and get a snack.”

“If you see him, send him to the throne room.” Her father nodded, looking thoughtful. “Something important’s come up and I must speak with him urgently.”

“Yes, Father.”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 5

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

“You WANT her to come back?!” Ba-Khu-Ra grinned slightly at the outrage in Mahad’s tone as she waited for the right moment to reveal herself to the pair in the classroom who were about to start their lessons for the day. “My Prince, I say this with the deepest respect. Have you gone stark, raving mad?”

“No.” The Princess protested, “But we tied. That doesn’t happen!”

“My Prince, think about this for a moment. You want a thief in the palace purely based on the fact you didn’t beat her?” Mahad sounded irritated, “You cannot be serious.”

“I am.” The girl sounded amused by her friend’s mood, “Besides, I didn’t think she would turn down the chance to learn how to control her powers properly.”

“I wouldn’t.” Ba-Khu-Ra stepped out of the darkness, causing the Princess to jump. Her guardian drew his dagger and glowered at the thief in their midst. “So here I am.” She glanced down at the short, sharp blade, “I’m here to fight, I’m here to learn so put that away before you hurt yourself.”

“Mahad.” The Princess called, putting her hand on her guardian’s arm, “I’m the one who made this agreement so she’s my guest.” She looked at Ba-Khu-Ra, “But we won’t be visiting the treasury again.”

“A shame. I so enjoyed our last trip there.” The thief smirked at her. She still had the majority of the treasure she had liberated from the vault the last time she had been in the palace, squirreled away in a safe place where no one would think to look for it. “So how do we start this thing off?”

“With you sitting down and shutting up.” Mahad pointed to a table and chair, “And reading this scroll.”

“Reading?” The thief blinked, “I thought we were using magic. Where does reading come into it?”

“You don’t know how to read?” The Princess looked shocked.

“We had teachers in my village,” Ba-Khu-Ra shrugged, thinking about the extortionate fees the scribes had charged to teach children, “But that was a very long time ago, when I actually still had a village to call home.”

“What, did they kick you out?” Mahad spat.

“You haven’t researched anything, have you?” Ba-Khu-Ra shot back, angry.

“Why should I accept the word of a thief?” Mahad demanded, glowering back.

“You’re just as bad as the rest of them.” Ba-Khu-Ra snapped, magic beginning to manifest as a dark aura around her.

“Hey!” The Princess got between the pair of them, glancing between the two. “That’s enough. Both of you.”

“Step aside, your highness.” Mahad glowered at Ba-Khu-Ra over her head, “This thief isn’t fit to step upon the palace grounds.”

“Are you ordering me to move?” The Princess stared at him, shocked, “Seriously?”

“It’s a recommendation.” Mahad replied, pausing just long enough beforehand to realise how his last sentence had sounded.

“Look, Princess,” Ba-Khu-Ra made the title sound rude, “I don’t think this is going to work. I refuse to learn from some stuck up, arrogant ass who is so blind he refuses to see past the end of his nose.”

“You’re accusing the priests of evil.” Mahad glowered at her, “How can I take you seriously?”

The Princess paused and turned to Ba-Khu-Ra, a concerned and surprisingly unsurprised look on her features, “Which priests?”

“Finally.” Ba-Khu-Ra threw her hands up in the air, “Someone who’s willing to listen. Your Uncle is the worst of the lot, but those ‘golden treasures?’ Well,” She smirked at Mahad, “What’s your teacher taught you about blood magic?”

“That’s quite enough.” Mahad spoke over the Princess. “Your highness, I can’t teach her until she knows how to read, so perhaps you should find another teacher.”

“I’ll teach her to read.” The Princess informed him, “And until I have, I’m tasking you with finding out what in the names of the Gods my Uncle did.” She looked at Ba-Khu-Ra, “I know my uncle, I know he’s... wrong. I’ll listen, even if Mahad won’t.”

“You won’t like it.” Ba-Khu-Ra warned her.

“Even if I don’t like it, I will do what I can to fix it.” The Princess swore.

“You can’t fix it.” The thief scowled at her.

“Let me try.”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

“So...” Ba-Khu-Ra asked as she hovered around the Princess’s bed, unwilling to go too far while everyone was watching her carefully. “Does this mean I won?”

“No.” The girl shook her head, winced and brought a hand to the back of her head where it had hit the marble floor, “We got caught.”

“We were in the treasury.” Ba-Khu-Ra hissed, irritated despite the bag of gold and jewels hidden in her tunic. “I won.”

“No, we were in the doorway so technically neither of us won.” The Princess hissed back, “And I just saved your life, so a little gratitude would be nice.”

“Gratitude?” Ba-Khu-Ra snapped back, keeping her tone low, “When you’re trying to screw me out of my treasure?”

“Look,” The Princess glowered at her, her own voice barely above a whisper, “I’ve just gotten you permission to study magic with MY teacher. And I can see that full bag, the guards might have missed the extra lump in your clothes but I haven’t. You’re not as hard done by as you’re making...”

The thief scowled and moved away as the physician darted into the room and came straight over to their patient. He was closely followed by Mahad, who, though Abasi called him over, first darted over to the Princess’s side where he got into a very quiet but very intense conversation before he was politely shooed away by the healer.

“Outside.” Mahad growled at her, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her out. When Ba-Khu-Ra dug her heels in, he leaned in and whispered, “Unless you want me to tell the guards your secret.”

“I’ll tell them hers if you do.” Ba-Khu-Ra subtly gestured towards the bed.

Realisation settled on Mahad’s face, then anger. “Outside now.” He snapped, one hand reaching for the bronze dagger at his belt, the other still wrapped around her arm.

She was pretty sure she could take him in a fight. He was softer than her, more spoilt from the life inside the palace and while he had obviously been trained to defend himself and his charge, she was pretty sure that he would fight fair while she never had.

She followed him out of the room and down the corridor. Amusingly in the time it took them to find an out of the way corner, she had already worked out six different escape routes, none of which required magic to use.

“I should kill you.” Mahad snapped at her the instant they were alone and could not be overheard, drawing his dagger.

Bakura responded by stamping on his foot, forcing him to let her go. She slipped straight into the darkness, vanishing with practised ease but sticking close enough for him to hear her voice. “If your Princess wanted me dead, she could have had me killed already. But perhaps I’m not the one you should contemplate ending.” She moved around the room, circling him, keeping him off balance, “There’s far worse than me within your walls. But then I’m the only one who knows the evil for what it is.”

“What do you mean?” Mahad demanded, concerned and confused and still angry.

“Look into your priests and your precious golden treasures. And try asking about a village called Kul Elna.” Ba-Khu-Ra taunted, “Perhaps you’ll know what I know by the time I come back for my magic lessons. Or maybe not. Perhaps you’re just as blind as the rest of them.” With that she was gone, slipping into the darkness with practised ease and escaping out of the nearest window.

Ennead: Ancient Bit 3

Part 1
Part 2

“What’re you going to do now, brat?”

Ba-Khu-Ra tried to twist free of the man holding her, only to stop when his blade bit into her throat and her right arm was twisted further up her back, causing her shoulder to ache. A grimace worked its way across her features as her Ka beast stopped, mid-attack and turned to glower at her captor.

“You thought you’d finished me off, didn’t you?” The man sounded like he was smirking as he forced her to move forward, towards his boss who was watching her like she was a puzzle. “This is what you get,” He twisted her arm further, forcing a hiss of pain out of her as her shoulder went from aching to screaming, “For being such a smug...”

“Menes.” His boss snapped at him, “Don’t taunt the mage brat.” The woman came forward, one eye on Diabound, who was hesitant to try anything with his summoner held hostage, and one eye on the thief girl who had wiped out six of her seven goons.

“So, who are you kid?” She asked, looking Ba-Khu-Ra over, “One of the priest spawn? An illegitimate brat of the Pharaoh’s?”

“Don’t insult me.” Ba-Khu-Ra snapped at her, pain mingling with disgust at the suggestion to make her voice sharp and her eyes narrow. “I’m not related to any of these assholes.” Especially not the blasted Princess, who had fled at the first opportunity.

“So who are you?” The woman asked again, amused by the vehemence shown by the kid, “Because I’d like to know your name before I kill you for ruining my heist.”

“Me?” Ba-Khu-Ra let out a bark of laughter despite her irritation, “Ruined your job? You have any idea how long I planned this job? You’re the one who ruined mine!”

“You’re a thief?” The woman seemed to do a double take, “A mage brat? I don’t...”

The woman was cut off by an agonised bellow from Menes. He dropped the knife, allowing Ba-Khu-Ra to pull free and turn to find out what had happened.

To her shock Menes had a dagger sticking out of his side and the Princess, who she had thought long gone, was stood there, anger obvious on her features.

Menes, when he realised what had happened, lashed out, punching the Princess in the face, causing her to go crashing to the floor where she slammed her head against the marble stones and blacked out. Before he could advance on the unconscious girl, Diabound had picked him up and chucked him into the huge stone doors, which he hit with a crack.

The woman thief who had ruined Ba-Khu-Ra’s plans backed up, suddenly looking rather worried as she stared at the huge, grey skinned naga like creature.

“I’m not only a thief.” Ba-Khu-Ra informed her, smirking despite her plans having gone completely to pot, “I’m the best there is. Now, Diabound!” She gestured forward and the woman had time to let out a shriek before Diabound blew her away.

“Damn it.” Ba-Khu-Ra grumbled as the smoke from the blast dissipated, revealing all that was left was some ash, “She made me melt some of the treasure.” She knelt down by some of the melted gold and grimaced at the mess that was left as she collected a small bag of gold and jewels that she hid in her tunic, planning on coming back for more later.

“Wake up.” Ba-Khu-Ra nudged the Princess with her foot, wanting to rub in the fact that they had gotten into the treasury without getting caught by the guards. “Oi!”

“Halt!” Ba-Khu-Ra scowled as the guards finally arrived, having missed the action but in plenty of time to still catch her. She looked around for her Ka beast only to find it had dismissed itself and she didn’t have the energy left to call it up a third time this evening.

There was a pack of them at the door, headed by one of the Priests, a short, broad man with hair in three shades of grey that seemed to fly out in almost every direction under the headpiece, Millennium Rod in hand. Two of them checked over the mook that had crashed into the door as the rest entered the room, swords pointed at Ba-Khu-Ra.

It was the priest who reacted the most though as he spotted the form collapsed on the floor. “My Prince!” He shoved Ba-Khu-Ra aside, into the waiting arms of the guards and knelt by the girl, checking her over carefully and shaking her to try and get a response, “Wake up! Please!”

A pained groan emerged from the false Prince, causing relief to cross the priest’s features. The elderly man turned to glower at Ba-Khu-Ra as one of the guards scooped up the girl on the ground. “Who’re you?”

The girl glared back. The man before her held a Millennium Item, that meant he was one of those who were benefiting from what had happened to her home and her family. If he wanted to take her in, or take her down, she wasn’t going to let him do so easily. Tired or not, she would summon Diabound again and destroy herself to kill him if she had to.

“Abasi...” The priest paused, half turning to the dazed looking ‘Prince’ whose eyes were half open, unfocused and staring at him. “She’s one of the magic students.”

“My Prince?” Abasi asked, confused, “I don’t believe...”

“Are you questioning me?” The ‘Prince’ snapped, regal authority in her tone despite her current position. “I know who I study with. She IS one of Mahad’s students.”

“I understand, my Prince.” Abasi nodded, herding Ba-Khu-Ra out of the treasury, the guard carrying the Princess following, “Though you might want to inform Mahad of that fact.”

Sneak Peek - Ennead: For Those We Love: Chapter 2

Bakura paused as she stepped through the classroom door and looked over at her group of friends, who were gathered around a travel video player, chatting to the screen.

“Good morning?” She questioned, curious as Yugi looked up and nodded to her, then slumped back into her seat, while the others all gave her smiles that looked rather false. “What did my other self do now?” She asked as she moved over to the group.

“It wasn’t her fault.” She jumped a mile as the video player answered her, causing her to move around to see the screen. Yugi’s grandfather was on it, waving merrily at her, “Good morning, Bakura-chan.”

“G...Good morning, Mutou-san?” It was more a question and she glanced around at the others, noting Yugi had seemed to sink further into her chair. “Is he really...?”

“Yeah.” Jou nodded, his tone angry and his movement sharp. “Some prick with a Millennium Item challenged Yuge, cheated all the way through and sealed Ojiisan’s soul into the tape when she lost.”

Bakura could feel her other self shift at the back of her mind at Jou’s words and mentally grimaced. She was well aware of how close her other self had come to total victory just a couple of months ago. It was only the fact the she had sacrificed herself to halt the final blow that had saved her friends.

It had only been a miracle that had saved her life and the life of her Other Self, but they had been dead, at least temporarily, and while she was willing to do it again if she needed to, the spirit of the Ring had made it clear that she had no intention of dying again. Not for a long time at least.

This meant that, for the time being, Yugi’s Puzzle was firmly off the radar. Any other Items however were still fair game and Bakura couldn’t really bring herself to object considering that most other item holders seemed to be obnoxious prats.

“Can you get him out?” She asked, remembering how Yugi no Oneesan, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle had seemed to have no difficulty in helping her free those trapped in the game pieces from her Monster World set.

“No.” Yugi shook her head, seeming calm, though Bakura could see it was just a mask. She couldn’t help but wonder if the others could see the dejection hidden underneath. “Anesan tried. We just ended up with a headache for our troubles.”

‘Of course they did.’ Bakura flinched as the voice of her other self echoed in her head, still not used to being able to hear the thoughts of the spirit of the Ring and mostly wishing she still couldn’t, ‘The Penalty was set against them. They will have to fulfil the ‘out’ clause before they will be able to free him.’

“Could we do it?” Bakura asked the voice, startling them both. “Could we free Yugi’s Grandfather?”

‘I don’t know,’ The voice replied after a moment of thought, sounding amused for some reason, ‘And quite frankly I don’t care to try. The Pharaoh got herself into this mess and she can get herself...’

The Other Bakura paused, retuning into the conversation at the table in time to see Jou rolling his text book into a cone shape, pointing it at the Puzzle and yelling, “Hey Oneesan! If you can hear me in there, cheer up!” at the top of his lungs.

“Jonouchi!” Anzu shoved him away as Yugi tried to get some hearing back. “Seriously! I don’t think that’ll help.”

It had a little though, Bakura could see, as Yugi smiled for a moment, some of the despondency lifting a little in the face of her friend’s lunacy. 

Author Note: Okay...oops

Been working on a new project. When I have a chapter or two of it complete, I will post a link to it here. I'm not sure whether it will go up on Fanfiction.net or not as I will be posting it under a new username on a different website but I might post it on ff.net too.

It's this new project that has stopped me from updating on here for the last couple of days but I will be returning to my usual schedule as of tomorrow. Around 12pm tomorrow there will be a sneak peek of the new 'Ennead: For Those We Love' chapter and I will be updating at around that time every day, including Christmas Day.

I'm not sure what I will be updating with but there will be updates.

Shadow Treaty Bit that goes nowhere

“Duel!”

“I don’t know why they’re bothering,” DMG commented to Hermione from her seat on the wall at the bottom of the steps, recording the duel for later summarisation, “Tate and Lyle are one Duel away from being the British tag-team Duelling Champions. Alyss and Carnelian aren’t really a match for them, for all their decks work well together. They just don’t synch very well.”

“They probably just edited their decks.” Sweetybell commented from the other side, still fiddling with a piece of a Duel Disk, though this time assembly was taking place instead of the opposite. “Tate and Lyle normally duel whoever they can get ahold of in order to test their decks. Don’t be too surprised if they challenge you next.” She glanced at Hermione, whose hand went to her deck holster, still relieved that Atem had thought to retrieve it for her even with everything else that had been going on.

“I don’t mind. Though I’m not sure who I’d team up with, my deck is built for solo duelling.” Hermione shrugged in reply.

“Well you know how I run my deck.” DMG offered, confusing Sweetybell, “But while my magicians love me, my duelling skills...well...” She trailed off, looking embarrassed.

“I’ll team up with you.” Sweetybell offered, still wondering when Hermione and DMG had met before considering no one had heard of a ‘Hermione Granger’ before Shadowmorn, “I’m decent at the game and I know how Tate and Lyle work.”

“What do you play?” Hermione asked, watching as on his first turn Lyle started building up a wall of life point burning monsters.

“Madolche.” The engineering student replied, “Sweet and plushy monsters like my Baaple here.” She indicated the sheep that was asleep at her feet. “You?”

“Spellcasters, but with a life point burn twist.” Hermione returned, “Very good if I can get my combos out, a little fragile otherwise. I still don’t trust my instincts enough according to my teacher.”

“Considering you learnt Duel Monsters from Yugi, you should probably listen to him.” DMG teased.

“I know, I know.” Hermione sighed, “You’ve told me this before.”

“Huh?” Sweetybell asked. Before anyone could answer, DMG’s phone had gone off and the woman had wandered off to answer it, leaving Hermione and Sweetybell sitting on the wall in front of the castle to watch the duel fall out.

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