Chapter 1- Once Upon A Time
Dark clouds loomed overhead. Thunder roared and lightning flashed. The people of ancient Egypt knew it almost never rained in their part. They raced out of the streets and into their homes. Overlooking the village was the palace of the Pharaoh. Its usually quiet manner was disrupted by a clash of breaking pottery and a woman's wails.
"Please, I beg of you, Atem. Forgive me! I did not mean to!" the woman sobbed, kneeling on the floor. She wore a long white dress, with bands of green and blue around the shoulders and sleeves. She was very pretty, with sparkling purple eyes and ebony black hair. Towering over her was the Pharaoh, whose handsome face wore rage like none could experience.
"DID NOT MEAN TO?" The Pharaoh Atem roared, throwing another vase across the room. It hit the stone wall and broke into pieces. "You fraternize with the enemy against my knowledge and now come to tell me you are pregnant with his child?"
"It...was an...accident!" the woman cried. "Please, brother, you must forgive me!"
"Never!" Atem replied, his voice booming. "Bianca, as my sister, you carry the honor of being Egypt's princess. Knowing that, you go and associate yourself with the most powerful enemy we face, Seth? I would have never let you near that over confident bastard if I knew of this."
"Don't say that! I love Seth-,"
"SILENCE!" Atem threw the next vase directly as Bianca, who managed to bend out of the way. She quickly got to her feet and backed away. "It is one thing to love him, but to carry his child? Do you know what you have gotten our family into?" Bianca sniffed and wiped away her tears, but more poured out.
"Please," she begged meekly. "Please..."
"For this, you cannot live!" Bianca looked up, horrified.
"You...won't...you won't kill me!"
"It is against tradition to carry one's child without marriage. Either you must marry him, which I will never allow, or be put to death!"
"No! Please, I beg of you! I will do whatever you say! No one will ever have to know! Just don't kill me!"
"I have no choice, Bianca, it is our law."
"What kind of Pharaoh are you? Will you send you own sister to her death for some lousy tradition?" The pharaoh raised his arm and struck her across the cheek. She screamed and fell to the floor.
"Never question me! I will do what I need to! Now, go out of my sight before I send you to someplace worse!" Someplace worse. Bianca knew that meant the Shadow Realm. She had heard of that place many times. When one entered, they never would return. It was a place where one's worst nightmares could come true, a place where one lived in agony every day. Those banished there were sent only because of punishment. To live there was worse than death.
"Go! I said go!" Bianca screamed again as a plate almost hit her. She ran from the room and into the hallway. Her worst nightmare was already lived out in this place. Why would the Shadow Realm be any worse? Bianca had always been obedient to her older brother. He told her every secret, and she told hers to him. He had been the first to know of her infatuation with Seth. He told her that was a dangerous path. Bianca promised she would have nothing more to do with Seth. That promise was easily broken.
She spent more and more time with Seth every day, lying about it to her brother. She hated to betray him, but hated to give up Seth all the same. She falsely hoped that everything would work out somehow in the future. She never realized the trouble she was going to get into.
Wiping away another tear, Bianca aimlessly walked down the hall. She loved Seth dearly, and she loved her brother as well. The only thing was, they had never ever gotten along. Seth had hated Atem ever since they were old enough to know the meaning of the word. Their hate only grew as the years past. Now, Bianca was caught in the middle.
Bianca sniffed as she headed down the hallway. She heard footsteps approaching her. Wiping her few remaining tears hastily, she straightened her skirts. She gasped when she saw Seth approaching. Something bad must have happened for him to be in the palace's corridors. Except for Bianca, he had denounced everything related to Atem or the royal family line.
"Seth?" she whispered. He narrowed his eyes on her.
"What do you want?" His tone was sharp, as if she was nothing more than a slave.
"Seth? It's me! You know me!"
"Yes, I know you. I also know that you are putting my reputation as stake! You carry something that should not be!" Bianca involuntarily put a hand on her stomach. "The only way both myself and the Pharaoh can make sure we are not seen going against our laws and traditions is if you are away from our lives!"
"Seth! After all that we have been through, you now act like I am destroying your life?"
"You are, Bianca. Destroying Egypt's standards! Unless you die, or run away, our honor is in jeopardy!"
"Do you not care the pain I go through?"
"You are out of my life, Bianca. I cannot let my honor be ruined. You carry my child without marriage. This is a shame unto you and unto me. No one can know about this. You must leave this place or face death!" Without another word, Seth vanished into the hallway. Bianca buried her face in her hands.
"Atem doesn't care, Seth doesn't care! They love me until it hurts their honor, and then they abandon me as if I cease to exist. No one knows the pain I go through more than I!" Bianca fell to the floor and sobbed. "I must go away!"
Few minutes later, she had made it to her room. Throwing stuff randomly in a brown carrying bag, and taking enough water for a three-day journey, she left. She fought the urge to say goodbye as she ran out of the castle. Just an hour ago, she had been a nervous wreck, pondering whether or not to tell Atem about her problem. Now, in a few mere moments, she had left her home behind her. The rain pelted her dress and hair, and making everything heavier from carrying rainwater. The wind lightly blew her hair to the side, and lightning flashed if Bianca dared to look up from the ground. Hugging the bag to her chest, she walked as fast as she could.
Bianca had no idea where she was going. She knew she could not stay anywhere near her home. If Atem and Seth wished her to be gone, she would be gone. It just troubled her to know that she was going to turn her world upside down. And to betray her brother while she was at it. It was all too much for Bianca.
Bianca's steps took her through the desert, across villages she never knew. It was almost evening and she had gotten quite far. The rain was long behind her and it was starting to get cold. Bianca had forgotten to bring a shawl. It would be a long night. Bianca couldn't walk any longer. She noticed a small growth of trees and walked toward it. Almost falling, she sat near one and almost immediately fell asleep.
It was morning so soon. The rays of the brilliant sun poured onto Bianca's face. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. A calm chuckle of water echoed behind her. She moaned and stretched. A look to the side showed that it was the Nile River. She had been too tired in the night to realize it. For a second, her mind was confused about why she was out in the middle of the desert instead of her soft bed. It suddenly hit her. Pulling her legs in, Bianca wrapped her arms around her knees. Suddenly, she felt so alone and helpless. She just wanted to curl up and die. She glanced at the river. It seemed as if it was laughing as its current swept across rocks and bent around the land. Other trees grew in clumps around the river. However serene the area was, all Bianca could think about was betraying her brother and Seth. She got up and walked over to water.
"Should I?" she said aloud. Her face reflected in the water. A beautiful face, but a face now neglected by the ones she loved most. She thought about what her brother had said. For this, you cannot live. Seth's words also echoed in her mind. Unless you die, or run away, our honor is in jeopardy. Bianca made her decision.
"If it is," she said, "that I dishonor my family and my loved ones, and their reputations are at stake, then I don't deserve to live!" She closed her eyes. She was afraid that if she opened them, she might resist what she was about to do. In front of her, the deep waters of the Nile bubbled its way across. Opening one eye, she cringed at the thought. She did not know how to swim. It would be over soon. Shutting her eye again, she jumped into the water.
Cold water surrounded her body in an instant. The dark blue hue seemed to swallow her whole. Her arms frantically searched for something to grab. She was afraid, and she knew it. Her body surfaced for a second. She tried to breathe as deeply as she could. Water forced itself into her mouth and her lungs. Her mind screamed for air and her thoughts seemed to waver. She felt herself sinking, and she could do nothing about it. She closed her eyes and let herself die.
Atem knocked fiercely at Bianca's door. "Open this door! I must speak with you!" He had left his sister alone a whole day. Now it was morning and he decided to speak with her. The door was closed, and however much he knocked she wouldn't open.
"She's not in there," a voice rasped. Atem whipped around. Seth stood there.
"What do you mean?" Atem asked. "You...didn't do anything else, did you?"
"And upset my honor again? Why, Pharaoh, I would not be that stupid. I have no more connection with that sister of yours!"
"Being the father of her unborn child, I would have thought you'd show more compassion!"
"As if," Seth remarked. He smirked. "I won't do anything that dishonors me."
"You...how dare you do this to my sister and make nothing of it! I swear by Ra, you will pay!"
"Relax, she's out of our lives now. I told her to be gone, and she has. Now leave that behind us and concentrate on our battle."
"Where did she go?"
"I do not know. Probably out of our lands." Atem's eyes widened.
"You bastard, you'll regret it if anything happens to her!" Atem pushed Seto to the side as he sprinted down the hallway. He was almost to the stairway door when it opened.
"Pharaoh, sir!" the servant who opened the door cried. "Princess Bianca's belongings and sandals have been found along the banks of the Nile River!"
"What! Where is she?"
"We do not know sir! Everything was either at the grove of the trees or at the side of the river. I think she drowned!" Atem sunk to his knees.
"It's my fault. I told her to go away and now she has. Bianca, how could you!" Tears flowed down his cheeks. In a sudden rage, he turned around. "Seth, this is your fault. If you hadn't done that to her, she would be alive!"
"Nonsense! You told her to go away!"
"I vow on the Egyptian throne! You will pay for what you have done!"
Crimson sat straight up in bed. Every time, her dream ended like that. First an argument, then running away, suicide, and then Atem vowing he would avenge his sister. Six months of this dream over and over. Crimson knew she could probably recite every detail of it clearly if asked. It made no sense to her why she was dreaming this.
"I must be going mad," she thought. She slipped out of her bed and onto the cold floor in her room. It was seven in the morning and the sun was just starting to filter its way into the room. It was another day at last.
Yasmine Motou, known as Crimson Streaks, was an ordinary sixteen-year old with too many secrets for comfort. Not only was she related to Yugi Motou, though no one knew it, she had a Millennium Item and a secret past. Her Millennium Anklet was probably one of the reasons why she had all those dreams. She could not interpret the dreams, but she definitely knew they had something to do with Yugi. She had been tracking him ever since she first realized their relation. Now, it was also to figure out the dream. Crimson was interested ancient Egypt and believed in destiny and fate. That was part of the reason she ended up with her Item half a year ago. Ever since, she had been having the same dream.
"I have to stop thinking about that. It's just some lousy dream," she muttered. To distract herself, she turned on the TV in her room. Unfortunately, it did exactly the opposite.
"Good morning, everybody. This is Channel 33 News with a special report from Duelist Kingdom!" the news reporter announced. Crimson, intrigued, moved closer to the TV. She had always wanted to learn and play Duel Monsters, but she never had the time. She only had one card, an Enchanted Javelin, which she kept for good luck.
"The Tournament, kicked off two days ago by Maximillion Pegasus, CEO of Industrial Illusions and creator of Duel Monsters, has already taken its toll. Half the participants have been removed from the island and the finals are drawing nearer. Who will win the title King of Games? Let's see on one of our air cameras." The TV zoomed in to a bird's eye view of the island. It flashed from a picture of one Duelist to another. Crimson shrugged and was about to turn off the television when a certain somebody caught her eye. A certain spiky haired kid traveling with his friends.
"Yugi!" Crimson ran to the screen and gripped it with both hands. Just then, the scene changed to another area. In frustration, Crimson shook the TV. "No!" As if the TV had heard her, the scene switched back to Yugi. This time, one of the crew, a blonde fellow with a green jacket, had disappeared. Crimson narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, the dream and everything made sense. As if a light had turned on in her brain, she figured out the connection.
"NO WONDER! That's why Yugi looks so familiar. He's like Atem in my dream. Why that must mean...that's no ordinary girl. I am Bianca! Seth must be someone I like...I don't like any brown haired guys. Well, anyway, I must go and figure out what this all means. I must go to Duelist Kingdom!"