Welcome To The Fold

[hybrid_prince]

"We do it so they feel hope for the power their people can attain."

That was what Emperor Dorrek had been told when he was a teenaged prince and found himself expected to take the first member of his imperial harem. One person of each people of the empire, on the idea that some day he would choose his consort from among them, would sire a child and heir upon them. It was his duty, and the people's they ruled would know they were close to power through the subject who might one day rule next to him.

The problem with it all was that Dorrek found the whole thing repugnant. Most of those given to his 'imperial consorts' were women, which was a problem for him. Which made every instance of these moments in the court tiring. Here he sat, upon his throne, awaiting the presentation of the newest offerings for his harem. He would have to choose one to take into his family, someone he would no doubt eventually send back to the others, trying not to feel disgusted by the whole process.

"You are before his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Dorrek-Vell. Kneel before his splendor and know you are close to greatness," his herald calls out to the assembled and Dorrek tried not to yawn.

Comments

[millenniumpharaoh]

“I didn’t ask you to protect me and no one asked you to come to earth,” Atem says, unsure of himself and the bravado he’s been fighting to hold is wavering. After all, he might be pharaoh but he’s still very young, freshly appointed and already through a war and now… this.

Now, home is taken over by others and he’s… a world away. Is this any better than his spirit being locked away in a puzzle for 5000 years?

“What did they do with the items I had when I was taken?” The puzzle is gone he knows but his ancient duel disk and the modern cards he had hold of… does he have anything left?

There’s a heavy sigh and he supposes it doesn’t matter but… it does.

“It doesn’t seem like you want me in your harem, though. Are you going to end up sending me away?”

[hybrid_prince]

"Yeah, I didn't ask to come here the first time or this time. Though I miss it. You can't get good pizza in space."

His accent shifts to something a hell of a lot more New York City. Meanwhile he runs his fingers through his hair and sighs.

"I can ask after your things. They will be checked for dangerous tech or magic. And I can't. Not until I impress on you how fucking dangerous it would be for you to keep talking like you did. Last time one of the harem got like that... I'm pretty sure the dowager empress had her killed. My grandmother is... harsh is the nicest word."

[millenniumpharaoh]

Atem frowns. None of it really makes any sense to him. Why he’d come, why he’d been there before.

“I can’t be silent about the truth,” Atem murmurs, but he feels drained suddenly. He presses his lips together. “They did things to me with magic I didn’t understand. There’s more to being in your harem than protecting me. You get something too.”

[hybrid_prince]

"I won't force that," Dorrek insists, shaking his head. "I swear to you. I'm not..."

He can't admit that he's not really the power on the throne. That will just cause them both problems.

"They say the 'optics' of the Emperor bearing his own children would be bad. But I don't force people into my bed."

[millenniumpharaoh]

Atem looks away and it’s not the response he expected. He considers his options and desperately wishes his friends were here, any of them.

“I’ll allow it,” Atem says slowly. “But I want my things back. They’re useless against you but they have meaning to me.” He wants to go home but maybe he can do more for his people here.

[hybrid_prince]

Okay, 'I'll allow it' definitely doesn't make him any more comfortable with any of this.

"Like I said, I'll ask, and when security clears it then I'll see it comes to you."

Dorrek looks so tired now.

"Listen, Atem, you didn't sign up for this. Neither did I. I didn't exactly want to be emperor. I just wanted to live my life, enjoy college maybe in upstate New York, and make a life for myself. But I'm here now and that's about all I can do."

[millenniumpharaoh]

Atem’s arms cross and he moves closer to where the view is, staring at it. The loss feels so insurmountable. There’s too much for him to bear but he doesn’t have time for weakness. He keeps his head high.

“That is no way for an Emperor to talk. Are you going to allow yourself to be a pathetic pawn in someone else’s game?”

It would have been easy for Atem to do that. He’d been young and grieving when thrust into power with vipers all around in the guise of friends. “I will believe you will return my items. Use me to get your heirs and actually take responsibility for your position instead of acting like you’re merely a servant carrying out orders. Otherwise you’re not fit to lead.”

[hybrid_prince]

Seriously? Dorrek gets to his feet and moves to the pharaoh's side, looking annoyed.

"I'm sorry, but is the guy claiming to be a pharaoh when there hasn't been a pharaoh since Cleopatra really going to suggest he understands what is going on here?" he asks.

Because that is hard to believe.

"And no one wants the hybrid to rule if he doesn't fit their ideals of what a Skrull should be. You have no clue how this works."

[millenniumpharaoh]

“Cleopatra?” Atem looks confused. He sighs. “It’s complicated,” he says quietly. “You also wouldn’t understand.”

“How does it work then? My past doesn’t matter but the present does.”

[hybrid_prince]

Seriously? Seriously.

"Until a few years ago I was in high school in New York city before finding out I'm an alien prince. So I don't think there is much you can say that I won't get."

This was just beyond frustrating, because who was this guy to even claim that Dorrek wouldn't get it?

[millenniumpharaoh]

“I’m not from the present,” Atem sighs. He doesn’t think being in high school in New York really sets the other up for understanding. “5000 years of history isn’t really relevant to the current situation is it?”

He doesn’t want to share his past, at least not yet. It’s personal and it’s wrought with grief he’s still processing especially now pulled from his rest. He doesn’t know how it had happened that his time and place had gotten pulled into the same as the present but it had. The universe had a wicked sense of irony.

[hybrid_prince]

No, but New York sorta is rolling in super heroes, and there is so much Dorrek is not getting into. Though he's intrigued by the whole 5000 years of history comment.

"Not unless you have a lot of experience with politics."

[millenniumpharaoh]

“A court is always full of politics,” atem says warily.

[hybrid_prince]

Yeah, he definitely noticed.

"Any clue just how a dead pharaoh is not only apparently alive, but ended up before me?" He asks as he moves to stand next to the smaller man. "Because it's pretty confusing to me."

[millenniumpharaoh]

“My spirit has manifested in modern times before but… I’m not sure how it happened this time,” how his people and time got caught up in all this but spirit worlds and shadow realms are a tricky thing.

“I’ve never actually died… but I don’t belong in this space and time.”

He sighs, one hand going to his wrist where his duel disk should be. “The heart of the cards must have brought me here for a reason.”

[hybrid_prince]

Heart of the whatnow? Even the alien shape shifting emperor finds that a bit confusing.

"Well, I'm sorry you got dragged into this as a representative of Earth. I suppose no one fully explained what it means to be part of the imperial consorts did they?"

Dorrek hated the term Harem and tried not to use it when he could.

[millenniumpharaoh]

“Not fully,” Atem sighs, glancing at the other. One day he might explain the heart of the cards but there is a lot to explain and at the moment it isn’t… important to their situation. At least for Dorrek.

“My father had a harem, though,” Atem says, he had never been interested in one himself but he had been young too and not even pressured for a heir yet. Things had been happening too quickly for that. “Sex. I’m assuming children… somehow.”

[hybrid_prince]

Geez, that's a good reason for the guy to be disgusted.

"One consort from every subject world," he says as he moves to the bed and sits on the edge of it. It's clearly large enough for maybe seven people. Royal privileges of course. "In theory for sex or heirs. In practice I will one day choose my spouse for their number. If their lineage is sufficient they would also serve as a co-ruler. In practice they can also serve as the voice for their people, but apparently that stopped being a thing about six Dorreks back, which is somewhere around three thousand years ago."

Dorrek himself would prefer if they did that again. But again, his grandmother... she was basically using him to retain power over a throne that wasn't hers to speak for.

"And yeah, the... kids thing. I don't know what to say about that part. Trust me when I say I'm not expecting that here. If I was I wouldn't inflict that on someone. We Skrull are shapeshifters, and sex is... less set in stone."

[millenniumpharaoh]

Atem stares out the window longingly a while longer but he’s listening. He’s thinking. He represents more than just his people then and… he sees an opportunity. He straighten, dropping his hands to his side and turning to make his way over to Dorrek. They both have long stories.

“Return to that way… let me help you,” he says. Working together with someone is something he’s good at. He did share a body with someone for a year.

“Shapeshifter or not, they made sure I could carry your heirs if you chose I believe,” Atem, lifts the silk enough to reveal a strange marking on his lower stomach. He doesn’t know how it works but he had felt it’s magic working inside.

“Work with me and I will willingly carry your children.”

[hybrid_prince]

Magic. Because of course. Skrull enjoyed using magic to deal with shit like this. Dorrek looked away from Atem's stomach and shook his head.

"It's not going to happen," he sighs. This guy really was going to get killed by his grandmother. "I'm not the power here, Atem, if that wasn't obvious yet. And you don't understand what she's like. I'm pretty sure my grandmother had my mother killed for having me. For daring to have a child with our enemy, for hiding me away, for wanting to change how the empire works."

[millenniumpharaoh]

“Are you that afraid to try and make a better way?” Atem asks, he doesn’t drop the fabric and with the other sitting on the edge of the bed he moves closer. He’s acting with more confidence than he feels but that’s part of being a ruler. He reaches forward to put a hand on the emperor’s shoulder and then quickly climbs to straddle his lap his knees pressing into the bed on either side of him.

“I’m not afraid to try and make a better world for my people. I’ve faced impossible odds, enemies far darker than you can imagine, I’ve seen the sun swallowed up and all my hope fail but I saw my people continue to rise and fight and give me the strength to push on.”

Atem meets the others eyes if he Dorrek will look at him. “I will do anything for them, for what is right. Are you too much a coward to meet me halfway?”

[hybrid_prince]

Enemies darker than he can imagine? Dorrek scoffs. Big talk from a small guy that was being far too forward. So he shapeshifts again, going back to the large, powerful, and very green Skrull form. His hands settled on Atem's waist and he lifted the smaller man up and bodily moved him aside.

All done with as much effort as one might use to move a kitten. He was strong, far stronger than he looked.

"I've fought interdimensional demons, time travelers, and terrorist groups driven by hate. I've bounded to an artifact level magical artifact tied to my bloodline and brought peace to two races that have been at war for literally half a million years. And the people of Earth are my people too, because I spent thirteen of my nineteen years thinking I was human and living on Earth. And I am telling you that my grandmother R'Klll is a whole other force."

[millenniumpharaoh]

Atem didn’t react when the other shifted, though his heartbeat sped up with instinctive fear. He pushed against it and let out a soft growl as he was moved around so easily.

He sits on the bed then, crossing his legs and looking at the other leader.

“Then it will be difficult to defeat her but isn’t it worth trying? I guess maybe not for you but…” Atem’s shoulders sag then, the other has no reason to want to fight.

[hybrid_prince]

"Allow me to give you a tiny crash course in Skrull politics," Dorrek says as he rises and starts to pace. "I'm a half-blood. Our race, because of what we are, hybridize easily. Of course that is seen as 'unclean' and for most of our recent history, which spans back before the first pyramid mind you, hybrids were killed, usually as infants. My father was Kree, the greatest of their heroes and thus the biggest target of hatred of the Skrull who have been their enemies since humans were still in caves. And a large percentage of Skrull either don't trust me because I am young or because I am half-blooded Skrull. Making change is not easy. They could happily get rid of me. So this isn't something that is merely 'difficult'. Oh, and by the way, typically the imperial harem is not supposed to outlive the royal. So consider that too."

He's nineteen and terrified of his survival. What is he supposed to do but try and secure his position and minimize suffering in what ways he can get away with?

[millenniumpharaoh]

Atem takes in the information and sitting cross legged with his hands pressed down against one of his legs he does look incredibly young too and probably incredibly small. He feels a hint of doubt but he simply closes his eyes. He recalls the sacrifices made by those who believed in him. Almost his entire court. All the faith of his modern friends, rivals. His fingers curled and he couldn’t let doubt take hold. If Dorrek could not see a way then Atem would have to hold the hope. He will see that Atem is not easily swayed. He’s also not stupid.

“It is worth striving for better is it not? If you truly… want a better fate. You would rather cast my offer of partnership aside? I might be human and I might not know everything but I do understand politics and vipers in my midst.”