Chasing Butterflies | Mahad x Reader [Yu☆Gi☆Oh!]

Chapter 1 ❀ Fate and Destiny

Fate and Destiny.

Acquaintances and friends, such as Isis and others, made those two words sound so mysterious and scary yet intriguing and beautiful at the same time. Personally, you thought that fate and destiny could be magical things, especially in matters of love, but reality wasn't as kind as to let you get a taste of your dreams and expectations. Perhaps that was because your fate had already been decided by your parents and not by yourself.

You were the only daughter of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep, both individuals being a priest and priestess who were amongst the most respected in ancient Egypt. Given their high statuses and very good relationship with the late Pharaoh Aknamkanon, it was almost completely predictable that both parties would want their heirs to join. And in what better way to do so if not marriage. Arranged marriage of course, if one dared to add since it wasn't all that difficult to guess. The fact that the two of you were to marry once the right time would arise had been decided by your families when both you and Prince Atem were mere children.

But rather expectedly, you happened to fall in love with another young man, not the prince of Egypt. That as well happened a very long time ago, when all three of you were just children. What made things worse, was that the individual you ended up harboring romantic feelings for was none other than Atem's faithful servant and childhood friend, Mahad.

You weren't sure when exactly you had started liking Mahad as more than just a friend or playmate, but you could remember any occurrence that involved him without problem, even if those events had taken place when you were much younger. There was that one special time of many...

...When your father and mother, Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep, were invited to the King's palace by Aknamkanon himself. You could clearly recall Atem being there as well, but you also didn't forget how awfully bored you had been, having to just stand in that huge hall and listen to the adults talk about topics that didn't interest you in the slightest.

Glancing over at Atem who seemed to be actually paying attention to what both your parents and his own spoke about, even though he didn't understand everything that was being said, you couldn't help but sigh. Your eyes soon found their way to the direction where one of the many balconies was located, and suddenly a defiant idea invaded your mind.

You made sure to move as quietly and unnoticeably as you possibly could as you slowly sneaked away from the Pharaoh, his son and your parents. This hadn't been the first time you were doing something one would call rebellious like this, so you had picked up some tricks and become quite skilled at making yourself disappear unobserved.

Once you had reached the balcony, you climbed over the edge of it and jumped down onto firm ground. The fall wasn't painful, one reason being the fact that the balcony wasn't very high to begin with, and the other perhaps being that you had landed on slightly dried grass which acted as a cushion almost perfectly. Now all that was left to do for you was to find Mahad. But instead of finding the boy, you ended up stumbling across an injured little bird on your quest.

Feeling sympathy for the poor creature that appeared to have hurt its wings, and due to it now being incapable of flying, you picked the small bird up, cupping it carefully so that you wouldn't accidentally squeeze it and inflict further injuries to it. "Mahad! Where are you, Mahad?" You called out, walking around and searching for the boy as you slowly started fearing for the small animal you held in your hands. It seemed like it was in so much pain, like it wasn't going to last much longer.

But Mahad was nowhere to be found and the bird's breathing was getting fainter and fainter and so was its pulse. Tears forming at the edges of your eyes, you slowly allowed yourself to sink to the ground, your knees placed firmly on the grass and back pressed against a fairly large tree. You wanted to save the little bird, but there was nothing you could do. Nothing except offering it your own body warmth, which you did by cupping the avian animal slightly tighter and bringing it closer to your chest, practically performing a gesture that made it seem like you were hugging the delicate animal.