Author's Notes:
A new series I'm starting. This will be a multi-chaptered story set in the time of Ancient Egypt. I've recently found my renewed love for Yugiou, which has stimulated me to research on Ancient Egyptian culture, history, and myths.
Disclaimer: This will be mostly about my take on the past reincarnations of Jounouchi Katsuya and Kaiba Seto. Please remember that this is fanfiction, something I've created with non-original characters. I've given them new names and will even introduce some new original characters, but ultimately, all recognizable characters belong to Takahashi Kazuki.
Enjoy, and please review.
Harbinger of Calamity
Chapter 01- Beginning of the End
There was no salvation. Only rain of fire and lightning.
There was pain and there was betrayal. But only the glow of a golden eye remained.
There was no redemption. Only a distant horrific laughter that resounded in the skies.
There was a memory and there was a will. But only the burning light lingered.
And there was nothing more.
He woke up not knowing who he was or where he was from. He opened his eyes and then choked up sand that had layered on top of him. He tried to sit up but the layer of sand had been thicker than he thought. How many days and nights had he been unconscious here that the sand threatened to swallow him up?
Coughing, he struggled to crawl out of his sand-prison, ignoring his body's protestations of moving. His mouth was dry and his eyes watered as he slowly dug his way out. He felt weak and tired, and he just wanted to close his eyes and sleep everything away. But he knew that he had to get out or he would die from suffocation.
Just as he thought he couldn't take it anymore, something reached out to grab his arm to pull him out. Startled but grateful, he used the last of his strength to help push his way out of the thick sand. He flopped limply to the sandy ground and then looked gratefully to his savior only to find no one there. Where…?
He was delirious. That had to be it. Where was the person who had helped pull him out of the thick layers of sand? Maybe he was really just breathing his last breath and hallucinating about his freedom. He took a couple deep breaths of the desert air and pinched himself hard, only to wince when he felt the pain. So it wasn't a dream.
The young boy frowned, eyes tired and body weary, and ignored the inherent feeling of something tingling down his spine. Whoever had helped him was gone now, and it was best not to think about it for now. Rather, he needed to find shelter, some kind of shade even, lest he burn under the bright scorching sun. The insides of his mouth felt like sandpaper, and he yearned for a drop of cold liquid to soothe his dry throat.
Making a tremendous effort to pick himself up, the boy caught a glimmer of red from the corner of his eye and whirled his head to stare at the thing that had shimmered at him amongst the sand.
Dropping to his knees, he brushed the thin layer of sand off the bright object and picked it up. Hanging on a thread of gold, was an intricate oculus shaped pendant with a pulsing and glowing red jewel set into the middle as the pupil. The boy felt an influx of renewed energy flowing through his veins as he held the jeweled eye in the palm of his hand, and he instinctively clutched it tightly in his fist.
He yelped as the sharp facets of the gemstone cut into his flesh and he would have dropped the necklace if he had not been concentrating on what was happening. The small drop of blood that had come into contact with the jewel began to sizzle and the boy watched in amazement as the ruby started shining a deep red and absorbed the small amount of blood he had shed. In return, the cut on his palm began to close until all remnants of his wound disappeared.
Confused and more than amazed, the boy fingered the Eye and hung the necklace on his neck, feeling that he needed to keep this valuable accessory close. He got back up on his feet once again and scrunched his eyes up in concentration as he tried to make out his surroundings.
There was nothing but an endless expanse of copper-hued sand stretching before him. He was stuck in the middle of nowhere, in the desert with no shade or shelter, no food, and no one to help him or to keep him company.
The boy trembled slightly at this realization, and he clenched his fists in desperation. He did not want to die. Despite not knowing his own name or where he was, he wanted to live. He did not know what fueled this motivation, but it was enough to keep him going.
Gathering his cloak around him to shield himself from the sun, the boy took a deep breath and then lifted a tired leg forward to begin his journey to nowhere.
End of Chapter 1