The boredom was finally getting to her with each passing day, night, hour, even seconds now as she just waited on the Pharaoh.
He was always having some type of meeting with an honorable scholar or priest of sorts. But what did she get to do? Just stand
there, almost as if to amuse the Pharaoh.
Why did she have to be the one stuck with this responsibility? Why couldn't it be Jade, she's perky enough, Reia however
wasn't. The blue haired warrior was too engrossed in being an actual soldier meant to fight, not meant for looking like a
statue. Jade had the patience for such a job, Reia definately didn't.
For the first time, Reia began to miss Jade. How the young blonde girl swore her allegiance to the Pharaoh when she was
only the age of sixteen and how eager she was to fight with all her heart. At first, Reia found Jade to be much too adventurous
and overly confident to really be of service to her kingdom, but she was proved wrong. In her first battle along Jade's side,
Reia saw the tenacity and fierceness the girl never displayed before - a striking courage a girl of her age would never show.
Over the three years that Reia had known the young warrior, she had begun to appreciate the companionship they shared, despite
their obvious differences. Jade was truly all she had and would hate to lose even though they lived lives of the fearless
warrior.
A faint voice from outside her mind began to interrupt her thoughts, calling her name in swirled tone. "Guardian Reia..."the
voice called again.
At last, her gaze focused on her company and realized High Priest Seth was standing merely inches from her face. Had she
really spaced out that much to not even notice one of the most important figures in her kingdom who was standing right in
front of her?
"Lord Seth! Forgive me!" she said immediately dropping down to one knee in humility.
"Do not worry, Guardian Reia. I have simply come to see you once again."he said cooly.
She had been too dumbstruck about her sudden encounter to even take notice of his words, whatever they were. They just
sounded like a low and gruff slur to her. "W-what?"she asked to his surprise.
"I have come to see you, Guardian Reia. I have heard much about you and your heroic tales on the battlefield. His Greatness
surely is privileged to have such a brave woman sworn in his alleigiance." Seth told her, a long, slender finger reaching
up to stroke her chin, all the while his gaze was lost inside her green rivers.
Why was the High Priest acting so flirtatious with her, especially in the hallowed presence of their Pharaoh whom had said
nothing of the small event. However, Yami had been paying attention despite his "important discussion" with an advisor, watching
how Seth's finger trailed down her face and nearly brush her lips. His disgust then began to ache until it grew into an uncontrollable
jealousy.
"Enough, Seth!"he commanded, the priest and warrior immediately freezing at their Pharaoh's booming demand. Yami stepped
down from his throne and approached the pair, his reddening amethysts glaring into Seth's sapphires angrily. "I suggest you
not agitate me further and be gone before I ask for your head on a silver platter."
Seth would have glared back, but instead only bowed slightly and left in silence, yet still stole one last glance at the
pale bronze beauty who stood poised with her lance. Everything was all becoming so confusing to her now she didn't know what
to think. First, she gets invited to be the Pharaoh's guardian of soul, she then meets the most powerful mage in Khemet who
warns her of a traitor that had been marching in the palace, and then the High Priest looks at her with a lust burning in
his eyes.
"Reia...I have to ask you..."Yami said, snapping her back to look at him, seeing his commanding presence before her, but
at a fair distance. "...Do you feel some sort of attraction for my High Priest?"
What kind of a question was that for a Pharaoh to ask? As a warrior, she was forbidden to fall in love with the Pharaoh
and those who served under him, including priests. "No, Great One. Lord Seth just caught me off guard."
"But as a warrior and my guardian of soul, you shouldn't be caught off guard by anything, remember?" he teased as she growled
frustratingly. He always seemed to point out her helpless flaws and use them to her disadvantage. Besides, even if she did
have some kind of advantage, she dared not enforce it to her Pharaoh and king. "I was only teasing you, Reia. Nothing to be
upset about."
"I know...but on the battlefield and elsewhere, I can concentrate without intervention. Yet here...I'm still becoming accustomed
to everything within the palace walls. You must forgive me, Great One."she replied, a sound of dismal failure evident in her
tone.
"I see, being alongside your comrades and your former duty made your senses more attuned to your surroundings." She was
unusually quiet after that statement. Had he tapped on something he shouldn't have brought up, or was there something else
troubling her?
Cautiously, he stepped in front of her and lifted her chin to stare into his eyes, while allowing his own sharp gaze to
memorize her face. He could sense the bewilderment and loneliness she concealed inside herself for fear of making her weaknesses
known, but Yami wasn't going to let her suffer if he could help it. Gently, he pulled his hand away and straightened himself
as if to impress her.
"Reia, there's no use hiding it from me any more. I can feel how lonely you are and I want to help. Tell me, is there anyone
at all you feel any sort of companionship with?"
Her thoughts trailed for a moment, trying to remember if she had any close friends or family still alive. But she came
up empty. Like she had told him before, her family had been murdered as an infant and she was raised among unkind strangers,
ones who were never willing to extend her any true welcome. At a young and fragile age, she pledged her life to serving him
after learning the ways of the warrior from the strangers who saved her life.
Yet even still, out of all the people she had known over the years, none were close to her except..."There is one. Her
name is Jade, a young warrior whom I have fought with for three years."
"Very good, then I would like to personally invite you and Jade to a private banquet for only the three of us. I desire
to know you both better and to help you open your heart." Yami said deeply, a dazzling smile playing across his lips.
Reia's heart beat faster than a chariot racing across the desert sands, the pounding thrusting up against her chest almost
painfully. She hated to see him walk away and back to his throne because somehow she felt secure in his presence, like a tranquil,
yet bubbling flood of mercy. It was like she sensed this powerful tingling course through her that would grant her unsurpassable
strength in anything she did.
But the moment was then and gone in a second.
She nodded her thank you as he gave the order for a messenger to deliver his invitation to Reia's young friend, all the
while, his guardian was gazing up at his supreme form. Everything about her Pharaoh whom she had originally interepreted to
be impeccably serious was instead divinely surprising and mysterious.
Hidden deep within the shadows, the two bewildered and amazed people of prestige were being watched by two pairs of glowing
eyes. Without any slight sound, they both departed for their respective duties, their targets of interest still never taking
note of their concealed presence.
"This isn't the end, Pharaoh, and it never will be."
"You have much more at stake than you can comprehend."
Chapter 12 - Invitation
"...How long has she been like this?"a voice from the outside asked in a barely recognizable tone.
"A couple hours."another more deeper voice replied."She should wake up at any moment now, Tristan."
"Yami...?"
He smiled and took her hand gratefully, holding it safely in his own grasp. "Hello again, Reia. It's nice to have you back
with us."he told her gently, erasing the memories of earlier away from his mind.
She took a few moments to soak in the change of atmosphere, four familiar faces hovering above her resting place as she
continued. "What happened...to me?"
"You passed out while you were with Seto Kaiba, Reia."Joey's voice responded quickly. "I don't blame ya either. Obnoxious
punk..."
"Seto...Kaiba...?"Reia muttered in return, utterly confused at the sound of the name. Her free hand rose up to touch her
forehead, as if trying to recall what happened the last time she was concious.
"Do you remember anything at all about your encounter with Kaiba, Reia?" She looked to see the oldest of the four, his
concerned and merciful eyes staring down at her with a grin.
"Hello, Solomon..."she managed to croak out. "I can remember sitting with Seto Kaiba at the park...I tried to show him
my shooting style...the next thing I knew, I was staring into blackness. That's all I can remember. After that I just dreamed....a
very odd dream at that."
Yami looked to his companion's, each boasting a perplexed glare that could be read with ease. The ancient spirit could
sense their bewilderment and decided a change of subject was in order. "Well, we were worried about you, Reia. I'm glad you're
all right."
She smirked in amazement. "Wow, even after that stab at your pride I gave you earlier?" Nice to know her sense of humor
had returned fairly quickly. "Which...I am sorry for."
"Don't worry about it." Yami replied, now stroking her fingers smoothly with every breath he drew in. Just looking at her
made it so difficult to breathe. Something about her had triggered this tranquil pain inside of him, affecting his mind, his
ability to obviously breathe, and his heart. Was he...falling in love for the first time?
"How did you guys know where I was though? I didn't share any details with you before I left."she inquired, unaware that
Joey and Yami had been spying on her during her sentimental moment with Kaiba.
The two men exchanged worried looks with one another, but gave in to her desire for the truth and broke the news. "We uhh..."Joey
started nervously. "When you left, Yami and I were really worried about ya, and we had this bad feeling something was going
to happen to ya."
"Yeah, that Kaiba guy can't be trusted."Tristan added, receiving a smile and confused stare from Reia all in one, but was
still grateful she at least acknowledged his presence.
"So, we decided to follow you, to make sure you would be all right." Yami finished, preparing to shield himself of her
wrath. "I know that you are probably upset and furious at us but we..."
He stopped, noticing the tears and delighted smile appear on her face as he continued. "...Didn't want to see you get hurt.
I promised I would never let any harm come to you again. I wasn't about to let a misunderstanding between us break that."
Carefully, Reia rose up from her resting place and reached out to cry on his shoulder, but maintained her steady rain of
tears to just a few that fell from her cheeks and into the black material of his jacket. He held her gently, stroking her
back in his famous soothing touches and hushing her quiet sobs with an innocent kiss to her forehead.
Joey felt somewhat left out and took to running his fingers through her hair, also steadying her trembling. He sure did
like this girl, but more in a sisterly perspective now, as Tristan and Solomon followed suit, each taking some action to calm
her.
Yugi was watching through his darkness' eyes, feeling the loving gestures Reia was receiving. He had been hoping for his
chance to meet the extrordinary woman, but the opportunity never presented itself for whenever she was around, Yami would
be in control at Yugi's proposal. Yami had offered that Yugi could spend a day with her and just say that he (Yami) had gone
off somewhere, but Yugi was insistent and nearly ordered Yami to stay in control. The light would get his chance some day.
/Yami.../
//Yes, Yugi...what is it?//
/Did you hear what Reia said? She said she had a dream while she was unconcious./
Yami chuckled slightly through their mind link.//Everybody dreams while they're unconcious, Yugi.//
/I know, but she mentioned it was an 'odd' dream./There was a long pause between the two, as if both were confused. /Will
you at least ask her about it later? It could answer a lot of questions./
//Yugi, I know what you're trying to say. But right now, I'm more concerned about her and her health than what this dream
could do with the one we experienced the other night. She's more important than finding out the secrets of my origin.//
...
//Hikari...//
/Hmm?/
//Thank you for caring so much as you have.//
Yugi smiled warmly./I made a promise, didn't I?/
"Thanks Yami...Joey...all of you for getting me out of that mess."Reia's voice cut off the mind linked conversation between
light and shadow.
"We couldn't just let you lie there for someone else to...well, enough about that."Yami replied, again trying to change
the subject.
"Wait, before we talk about something else, I want to do something to repay you all."The four now looked to her attentively,
curious of what she could possibly offer in this condition."After all this, I've decided to go home to Egypt for a few days,
and I'd be honored if the four of you came with me."
"Wow!! Ya mean it, really!?"Joey exclaimed, taken by sheer surprise of her offer.
"I'd love to go, Reia. I've been wanting to go back to Egypt for a long time now."Solomon chirped happily.
"Count me in!"
"I knew you'd wanna go, Tristan! That's my boy."Reia said, adding another teaseful wink to the tall brunette. "Yami...how
about you? Interested still, or do you think you can really tolerate my blunt attitude for a few days?"
He paused for a few moments, letting it all sink in that he'd be returning to the land from whence he originally came.
Maybe Reia was brought into his life for that reason - so he could return to Egypt and hope to uncover his secrets. "I'd be
more than glad to go, Reia. Your attitude is one of the many things I like about you, so being around it for a few days straight
would be heaven for me."
Reia chuckled and took his hand in a surprisingly firm grasp. "We'll leave tomorrow morning. I suggest you all get your
stuff together soon so we can leave on time."Joey and Tristan grinned and immediately dashed out the door to head home so
they could begin packing for the trip ahead, the other three shaking their heads in amusement.
"I think they're excited, don't you?"Reia commented with another smile, shifting her legs over the edge of the couch. "I
guess I should go get my stuff too."
"Nope."
"What?!"
"Sorry, doc's orders. Stay right here and Solomon and I will take care of all that."Yami ordered sternly, however playfully.
Reia couldn't help but smirk at him, the attractive man clearly determined to keep her under his observation. She had no
choice but to submit and rest against the couch back again, grabbing a nearby notepad and pen. After a few quick minutes,
she wrote down her list of necessary items and handed it to Yami.
"I'll take care of it."Solomon said with his sincere grin, taking the list from Yami. "In the meantime, Yami, make Reia
feel at home and I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, the elderly man was gone and out of sight, leaving the duo to
some more precious time alone, when an upbeat song played in their ears.
Do ya, do ya, do ya love me?
Do ya, do do do ya love me?
I, I'd like to think so
Do ya like the way I go all shy?
I just can't look you in the eye
"The teenagers next door like to keep their music loud..."Yami quickly interrupted, trying to push aside the all too appropriate
song out of his and her mind. "Can I get you anything, or would you just like to rest?"
"Actually, I'd like to hear the rest of the song."she replied honestly, Yami's eyebrow rising in surprise. Reia chuckled
a bit and started, well, more like tried to sing with the song.
Will ya stay here for a while
So I can watch you when you smile?
"Sure you can stay here, Reia."Yami teased, a rare burst of laughter erupting from the two. "There will be plenty of smiles
too. I'll be back in a few moments."
He stroked her cheek tenderly and walked off to the kitchen, Reia assuming he was going to try and cook dinner. This would
be interesting, she mused silently to herself, then the song from next door continued.
Well I hope I don't drive you insane
With my big right foot and my unkempt mane
Well I know you love me the way I am
So I'll change my ways if I think I can
"Do ya...do ya....do ya love me?"
//I'd like to think so...//
