Labyrinth of the Dancing Shadows
Prologue
Bel um Ful smiled at the thought of his soon to be accomplished act and turned to the three groups who had come here to honour him for saving them from the dark times they had fallen upon. "Welcome to the peoples of the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms!" The crowds' cheer at his introduction was enough to prompt the young ruler to continue his speech, "Egypt, our time of crisis is over. The shadow magic shall be sealed away tonight and I will be sealed away with it to prevent this crisis from ever happening again, from ever threatening our world once more." The crowds' cheering fell silent and a question thought by all was asked, "But who will rule the throne in your absence?" The young ruler smiled in a way that seemed beyond his years, "Tomorrow, my cousin, the future pharaoh will take the throne, Ahmose the first will be a fine ruler." And then came the uproar, at the time Bel um Ful's cousin had not been the most well loved person in Egypt. While the crowd was distracted, the boy took his leave. He went back inside his room to rest until the ceremony was to take place. Bel um Ful smiled sadly, it really wasn't a choice to whether he wanted to be sealed away or not, the shadow magic would be absorbed into the golden items, the Millennium Items. Being as he would have to be wearing his for the spell to work, his soul would be sucked from his body with his magic. With a yawn and the close of his eyes the pharaoh fell into a deep, trance- like sleep.
When the pharaoh woke up, cold sweat gracing his arched brows, he set off to remove the Millennium Rod from his once-High Priest Seth. Once obtained, he sent Seth to wait outside the chamber with the guards at his side for 5 minutes before bringing his dirty being back into his ratty cell.
The spell gifted to him by the god Horus rang through his mind like silver bells in a breeze and soft words flowed from his tongue. Everything went black.
Painted Black.
The dark soul room echoed at his footsteps, the maze made no sense- had to ending and didn't seem to want to. The vast passages seemed to expand over time- seconds spent there. The passages rose up around him until all that was left that he could actually understand was that the large Egyptian style room in the centre was his living quarters. The proud X-Ruler sat on his bed and stared at the only possible exit. A door. But this particular door was looked like the many others in this mysterious place. Soon days staring turned into weeks, weeks staring turned into years, years staring seemed to turn into centuries, always staring. Sleep finally overcame him then and when he finally regained his consciousness the door handle was glowing. It glowed so brightly that it nearly blinded him.
Slightly disoriented, he stumbled to the door from his bed and twisted the handle. It turned. This time the opposing force filled his senses- light, bright, blinding, undeniable light.
Painted Red.
The violet eyes opened slowly to the world surrounding him through another's body. "Get up fool!" hissed a dark, angry voice nearby in my direction. Shakily I stood up. Burnt flesh filled my nose with its stench and I nearly lost it then and there. "What happened?" I heard myself whisper back, "What are you blind boy?! The roman's just took down the Egyptian Empire!! We're 'refugees', slaves to the Greeks!!" My clenched fists trembled, "What?" I asked and the voice hissed back more angrily this time, "The Egyptian Empire crumbled under the hands of bad rulers!"
The sun finally peaked over the horizon, illuminating the area. It was painted red- with his blood. Violet eyes turned to his, that of a girl, her long multiple coloured hair was matted to her head with sweat and in a softer voice than before she continued, "Oh, I, I didn't realise. I'm sorry.." I looked at her, "Why be sorry, you never did anything wrong. " She looked down, "But I did, " she confessed, and then she continued, "if I had not given up the throne to my brother, I could have stopped this, all of it." I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled meekly, "It's not your fault child, I'm a spirit who knows all about the throne, I was once pharaoh myself, and this boy possesses my Millennium Puzzle. Call me Bel um Ful, but I do-" The pharaohs' deep baritone voice faded out when his one time; his first hikari was dead before they could even meet. He was once again in a world of black, in his labyrinth of dancing shadows.
Back into the Black.
"For the love of Ra," began Bel um Ful under his breath when the door was once again locked. "I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!" he continued in frustration and then ran through a door, surprisingly it wasn't locked. Was the black labyrinth mocking his pride, his mind, and his sanity? Yes, that had to be it, thought the X-Pharaoh from the bottom of a pit in the room he had entered. "This puzzled is cursed!!" he screamed at the enigma around him while pounding on its walls with his fists. "No! No! No! No! No! No! LET ME OUT!!" The black pit changed. He was back to staring at the ra-forsaken door. "DAMN ANNUBIS TO EXILE!!" he yelled and threw a fit, throwing anything he could possibly manage to lift at the door until a loud crack resounded throughout his room. Bel um Ful looked up and gasped, "I broke the door." He stated walking out of his torture chamber and into the long corridor. He shuddered, death's stench filled the corridor and seemed to come from a ghastly green and grey door. Reluctantly, Bel um Ful pulled on the handle and opened the door. He nearly lost the last meal he'd had in Egypt.
Death was this room and this room was death. Pain shot up his arm as if somebody was digging a knife from his palm up his arm when he noted it's inhabitant, stuck in limbo, the cold, dead eyes of his first Hikari. He's stuck here, thought the pharaoh sadly. "Hello?" asked the lord of ancient Egypt, the blood soaked boy looked up and asked in a gurgly, water-like, indescribably disheartening voice, he sounded like he was drowning in his own blood, "Who are you? Did Ra send you to bring me away from the pain?" the innocence in the voice hurt him even more and he pitied the boy, a tear fell from the X-Pharaoh's eyes, "What is your name child?" he asked the boy quietly, "My name is Ma'al Itsuki.." answered the boy with the hopeless eyes. Bel um Ful bit his lip, if he were to free his hikari from the puzzle he would lose a piece of himself, it would be locked away in the deepest confines of his labyrinth of a mind. But that look, the look of pain etched across his hikari's features.
Bel um Ful placed his index, thumbs and forefingers on the sides of Ma'al's face and whispered in high Egyptian, "Let Horus guide you to the eternal light." Ma'al's week smiled grew stronger and then he changed, no more blood, just a boy, and a cheekily grinning boy at that. Ma'al saluted him like a soldier would a general and said wisely, "Thank you Yami, the yang. The kuro to my light." And then Ma'al and the room began vanishing, thinking quickly , the nameless one ran from the room and into the corridor where he watched the room disappear and a piece of him left him with it. The nameless one whispered before the darkness claimed him, "You're welcome Hikari, the ying, the light to my darkness." With those poetic words, the corridor faded out around him and the memories of his childhood disappeared into the deepest confines of his labyrinth of a mind.
Leaving the Ra-Forsaken room.
The unnamed one glanced at his dark surroundings, the words thank you Yami echoed in the recesses of his mind, "Am I Yami?. I must be." he asked himself for the hundredth time that hour, the unnamed one ran his fingers along the inscriptions on the walls, "I was a pharaoh.." The inscriptions and the papyrus drawings depicted him taking the throne after his father passed away at a young age and a great battle between good and evil, in the end, good had won. But at the bottom a papyrus depicted a legend of the evil returning to threaten the world once more. "Interesting." said Yami to himself. Yami looked up, the room was being bathed in a bright light after centuries of darkness. The door handle was once again glowing. Yami approached it cautiously and pulled it open, his courage was still strong when he stepped through the threshold and into the light. He was in some kind of yard and two boys were fighting, \\ Help me.// said a soft voice in his head. Yami noted that both the boys were unconscious. The bully turned on him, "Now Yuugi, hand over the puzzle." He sneered. Yami smirked, "How about we play a game, I send you to the shadow realm and see how much you like being bullied hmm..?" Both of the boys were in the shadow realm and monsters surrounded. The bully screamed and begged and pleaded, "Never bully anyone again or I'll be back and I won't be so merciful next time. " stated Yami matter-of-factly. They were both back and the boy ran. Yami returned control to his hikari, "Hikari, it's nice to meet you." He whispered to himself knowing that his hikari could hear him. // The same to you. \\ was the reply he got in return.
Prologue
Bel um Ful smiled at the thought of his soon to be accomplished act and turned to the three groups who had come here to honour him for saving them from the dark times they had fallen upon. "Welcome to the peoples of the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms!" The crowds' cheer at his introduction was enough to prompt the young ruler to continue his speech, "Egypt, our time of crisis is over. The shadow magic shall be sealed away tonight and I will be sealed away with it to prevent this crisis from ever happening again, from ever threatening our world once more." The crowds' cheering fell silent and a question thought by all was asked, "But who will rule the throne in your absence?" The young ruler smiled in a way that seemed beyond his years, "Tomorrow, my cousin, the future pharaoh will take the throne, Ahmose the first will be a fine ruler." And then came the uproar, at the time Bel um Ful's cousin had not been the most well loved person in Egypt. While the crowd was distracted, the boy took his leave. He went back inside his room to rest until the ceremony was to take place. Bel um Ful smiled sadly, it really wasn't a choice to whether he wanted to be sealed away or not, the shadow magic would be absorbed into the golden items, the Millennium Items. Being as he would have to be wearing his for the spell to work, his soul would be sucked from his body with his magic. With a yawn and the close of his eyes the pharaoh fell into a deep, trance- like sleep.
When the pharaoh woke up, cold sweat gracing his arched brows, he set off to remove the Millennium Rod from his once-High Priest Seth. Once obtained, he sent Seth to wait outside the chamber with the guards at his side for 5 minutes before bringing his dirty being back into his ratty cell.
The spell gifted to him by the god Horus rang through his mind like silver bells in a breeze and soft words flowed from his tongue. Everything went black.
Painted Black.
The dark soul room echoed at his footsteps, the maze made no sense- had to ending and didn't seem to want to. The vast passages seemed to expand over time- seconds spent there. The passages rose up around him until all that was left that he could actually understand was that the large Egyptian style room in the centre was his living quarters. The proud X-Ruler sat on his bed and stared at the only possible exit. A door. But this particular door was looked like the many others in this mysterious place. Soon days staring turned into weeks, weeks staring turned into years, years staring seemed to turn into centuries, always staring. Sleep finally overcame him then and when he finally regained his consciousness the door handle was glowing. It glowed so brightly that it nearly blinded him.
Slightly disoriented, he stumbled to the door from his bed and twisted the handle. It turned. This time the opposing force filled his senses- light, bright, blinding, undeniable light.
Painted Red.
The violet eyes opened slowly to the world surrounding him through another's body. "Get up fool!" hissed a dark, angry voice nearby in my direction. Shakily I stood up. Burnt flesh filled my nose with its stench and I nearly lost it then and there. "What happened?" I heard myself whisper back, "What are you blind boy?! The roman's just took down the Egyptian Empire!! We're 'refugees', slaves to the Greeks!!" My clenched fists trembled, "What?" I asked and the voice hissed back more angrily this time, "The Egyptian Empire crumbled under the hands of bad rulers!"
The sun finally peaked over the horizon, illuminating the area. It was painted red- with his blood. Violet eyes turned to his, that of a girl, her long multiple coloured hair was matted to her head with sweat and in a softer voice than before she continued, "Oh, I, I didn't realise. I'm sorry.." I looked at her, "Why be sorry, you never did anything wrong. " She looked down, "But I did, " she confessed, and then she continued, "if I had not given up the throne to my brother, I could have stopped this, all of it." I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled meekly, "It's not your fault child, I'm a spirit who knows all about the throne, I was once pharaoh myself, and this boy possesses my Millennium Puzzle. Call me Bel um Ful, but I do-" The pharaohs' deep baritone voice faded out when his one time; his first hikari was dead before they could even meet. He was once again in a world of black, in his labyrinth of dancing shadows.
Back into the Black.
"For the love of Ra," began Bel um Ful under his breath when the door was once again locked. "I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!" he continued in frustration and then ran through a door, surprisingly it wasn't locked. Was the black labyrinth mocking his pride, his mind, and his sanity? Yes, that had to be it, thought the X-Pharaoh from the bottom of a pit in the room he had entered. "This puzzled is cursed!!" he screamed at the enigma around him while pounding on its walls with his fists. "No! No! No! No! No! No! LET ME OUT!!" The black pit changed. He was back to staring at the ra-forsaken door. "DAMN ANNUBIS TO EXILE!!" he yelled and threw a fit, throwing anything he could possibly manage to lift at the door until a loud crack resounded throughout his room. Bel um Ful looked up and gasped, "I broke the door." He stated walking out of his torture chamber and into the long corridor. He shuddered, death's stench filled the corridor and seemed to come from a ghastly green and grey door. Reluctantly, Bel um Ful pulled on the handle and opened the door. He nearly lost the last meal he'd had in Egypt.
Death was this room and this room was death. Pain shot up his arm as if somebody was digging a knife from his palm up his arm when he noted it's inhabitant, stuck in limbo, the cold, dead eyes of his first Hikari. He's stuck here, thought the pharaoh sadly. "Hello?" asked the lord of ancient Egypt, the blood soaked boy looked up and asked in a gurgly, water-like, indescribably disheartening voice, he sounded like he was drowning in his own blood, "Who are you? Did Ra send you to bring me away from the pain?" the innocence in the voice hurt him even more and he pitied the boy, a tear fell from the X-Pharaoh's eyes, "What is your name child?" he asked the boy quietly, "My name is Ma'al Itsuki.." answered the boy with the hopeless eyes. Bel um Ful bit his lip, if he were to free his hikari from the puzzle he would lose a piece of himself, it would be locked away in the deepest confines of his labyrinth of a mind. But that look, the look of pain etched across his hikari's features.
Bel um Ful placed his index, thumbs and forefingers on the sides of Ma'al's face and whispered in high Egyptian, "Let Horus guide you to the eternal light." Ma'al's week smiled grew stronger and then he changed, no more blood, just a boy, and a cheekily grinning boy at that. Ma'al saluted him like a soldier would a general and said wisely, "Thank you Yami, the yang. The kuro to my light." And then Ma'al and the room began vanishing, thinking quickly , the nameless one ran from the room and into the corridor where he watched the room disappear and a piece of him left him with it. The nameless one whispered before the darkness claimed him, "You're welcome Hikari, the ying, the light to my darkness." With those poetic words, the corridor faded out around him and the memories of his childhood disappeared into the deepest confines of his labyrinth of a mind.
Leaving the Ra-Forsaken room.
The unnamed one glanced at his dark surroundings, the words thank you Yami echoed in the recesses of his mind, "Am I Yami?. I must be." he asked himself for the hundredth time that hour, the unnamed one ran his fingers along the inscriptions on the walls, "I was a pharaoh.." The inscriptions and the papyrus drawings depicted him taking the throne after his father passed away at a young age and a great battle between good and evil, in the end, good had won. But at the bottom a papyrus depicted a legend of the evil returning to threaten the world once more. "Interesting." said Yami to himself. Yami looked up, the room was being bathed in a bright light after centuries of darkness. The door handle was once again glowing. Yami approached it cautiously and pulled it open, his courage was still strong when he stepped through the threshold and into the light. He was in some kind of yard and two boys were fighting, \\ Help me.// said a soft voice in his head. Yami noted that both the boys were unconscious. The bully turned on him, "Now Yuugi, hand over the puzzle." He sneered. Yami smirked, "How about we play a game, I send you to the shadow realm and see how much you like being bullied hmm..?" Both of the boys were in the shadow realm and monsters surrounded. The bully screamed and begged and pleaded, "Never bully anyone again or I'll be back and I won't be so merciful next time. " stated Yami matter-of-factly. They were both back and the boy ran. Yami returned control to his hikari, "Hikari, it's nice to meet you." He whispered to himself knowing that his hikari could hear him. // The same to you. \\ was the reply he got in return.