||Redemption|| Yu-Gi-Oh! x Reader

|Chapter 8| |Seto|

With each passing day the reality sunk in more and more. It wasn't as if you weren't told about the role you'd be expected to fill. It wasn't as if this was all new information to you however it was taking a while for it to truly sink in. Your first fight outside and not in the training grounds had been an eye opener, now your first experience of commanding a battle would be when it really mattered...

That was all if you could take down the current war advisor, the blonde woman you'd seen little of in the court and could get no idea of, on how much of a challenge she may be. Was it a fight in the normal sense? Would ka be involved? Magic? You had no answers and around a week to prepare now, a date for your showdown had been set in stone. The anxiety struck you in waves, you trained as much as you could, offered to go on as many routine trips and outings because as long as you had something to focus on it kept your mind away from the reality that was staring in your face.

You had to fight, you had to win and then the real test began. Even if you won how could you, a normal girl who had been sleeping around for money with the lowest of the low, ever hope to effectively command the armies of Egypt? There was only so much training and so many things you could distract yourself with, the warm waters of the baths didn't still your thoughts, you had turned to wines and beers but they were a temporary solution and often worsened the doubting thoughts that ate at you anytime you had a moment to think. One morning you had yourself so wound up that after dressing you sat on the floor in the corner of your room, knees drawn close to your chest and it took everything you had just to breathe properly.

You reasoned with yourself that this had been prophesised for you and could not be wrong, that you had been training for months and even the most cynical of your reviewers had confidence in your ability now. You told yourself that this woman who was never here to do her duty, whom you'd never seen fight once was clearly a low bar for you to pass, that anyone would be better than a seemingly distant advisor to the Pharaoh himself. Despite your calm and rational thinking your brain just seemed to have a part, a section you wished you could mute or cut out that sneered at you, spat insults at you and for every rational argument you had threw an irrational reason you were doomed to fail back... and part of you believed it.

Religion had escaped you for much of your life, the last time you were at any shrine for a god had been the festival of min and before that you'd been only 14 years old, still living in a house with those you could call family. You shook your head the painful memories of your past bubbling up until you shoved them back to the darkest corner of your heart. You'd cut yourself off from that life and now you were here serving the Pharaoh as some sort of ironic repentance possibly. Was this a test from the gods to see if you could be saved?

You were kneeling in front of a shrine for the goddess of war, Sekhmet, your alias reflected in it and you wondered if the goddess was dissapointed, if she'd even answer your pleas given how you took up her name to hide your own. Still you begged for advice, for guidance and support, to be able to fulfil this role given to you. You kneeled in front of a towering statue for the goddess for what felt like eternity going over in your head the pleas for help and the gratitude to the gods if it may be granted. It was funny really, how suddenly religious you felt when faced with stress. When you finally stood again and left the shrine you were spurred on, perhaps given some clarity from your time with the gods, when you returned to the palace you would seek out answers.

What exactly was the test to succeed Phut, why exactly was she stepping down and why was she so distant from the palace? The Pharaoh had expressed you could speak to him about any concern or just plainly to chat to him but you had asked about Phut before and found his response... guarded. You felt like you wouldn't get an honest answer from him, perhaps that wasn't fair, but at least not the full picture. Besides you still found it hard to freely approach someone like a Pharaoh.