Author's Note: Rewritten Prologue. Be forewarned, I guess it could be considered a bit violent or graphic or whatever and not at all "Humor / Romance". So... Yeah. Enjoy.

Oh, and I realize I accidentally keep switching between past and present tense. (I'm not used to doing first person, but it seems like so much more would get told out of this fanfic if it was told that way, soo...)

Darkness isn't a shade. Nor a color. Nor a form of light. Darkness is infinity. It swallows you up like a black hole in space. There is no escaping, simply enduring. Maybe one day, the darkness will let up, and become one layer of black lighter, and lighter, until you can barely see the difference between the outline of your hand and the abyss. Or, if such a thing exists, a higher power may rescue you, save you from eternal damnation. But... in all my years of theories, I never imagined the way I would be let out of my prison.

Mortals really are, after all, the most troublesome meddlers of all time.

. . .

Cold. No matter how many times my hand touches the stone walls, no matter how boisterously hot it must get in the world above me, it's always cold, this stone. So is my body. I can't feel any warmth. Or maybe I just can't distinguish it anymore. I've dwelled here too long.

Where is here? Ah... My tomb, I suppose. Although that's not right. I'm not encased in a cage of metal. I'm free to roam about, even if there's not much room to. To be accurate, it's my cage. It contains my soul, the soul that should have crossed the River of Death millennia ago. But I've long given up on such a fantasy. What god would allow me to sit and rot in a lower world when I should be elsewhere? Is there even such thing as a soul? If so, what is the consciousness I am now? That of my soul, or that of my secular body? I know not. I probably never will.

A long, ragged groan escapes my mouth, echoing through the sheer darkness before me. So boring... I could sit and pace, lose count of minutes and hours that pass by. But there is utterly no meaning to. What to do, what to do... My hands raise up to my face, scratching and pulling at the bandages that wrap around my head. I long... for warmth... I crave... a new touch... I need... someone sane.

"Please..." I whimper. "Someone... Anyone... please..." My fingers find their way underneath the bandage covering my eyes, touching my eyelids. A sob escapes my mouth, echoing around the stone enclosure. "Why hasn't anyone found me...?" My fingers pry open my eyelids, infiltrating the rotten space. "Help me...!" I scream. I'm desperate. I can't let go of hope, no matter how hard I try. It's a universal mortal flaw. A sour smell of metal and rot excretes into the room. The lukewarm, thick, slow liquid drips down my face, slowly pooling down my neck, before collecting and dispersing yet again in a clumsy mess. Shattered sobs reverberate in my ears... Are these broken sounds really mine?

Pain is my only sensation. I've forgotten the others.

. . .

I know not how long it has been since my latest injury, only that it had been enough time for the blood to dry disgustingly to my skin. I'm filthy... I have been since the beginning.

The faint sound of scuttling catches my ears. "Oh...?" A visitor? Of what species? "Come here, come here, whatever you are...~" I hum, outstretching my hands as I wander blindly around my enclosure, searching for the beast. There! My hands grasp around it, feeling the small scratching of six long, delicate legs. A thick, hard shell in three sections... Ah, a beetle. "How did you get in here..?" I wonder aloud. "I haven't had a guest in quite a long while... Shall I give you a proper greeting?" I stand, keeping the beetle held firmly in my hand as I make my way back to the wall. Perhaps it could be my new friend. After all, it was a living being.

A sharp, sudden pain greets the hand holding the beetle, and I drop the insect with a yell. The damn thing had tried burrowing into my skin... "Shall... I give you a proper greeting?!" I scream, finding and picking the beetle up again before smashing it against the wall.

"DISGUSTING!"

The shell shatters, the wall becomes wet with the insides of the insect.

"DISGUSTING!"

I pound the wall again, smashing the bug further and spreading it's remains.

"DISGUSTING!"

Tears stream down my face as I hit the wall yet again, trying to numb the feeling that the insect had left within my hand.

"Disgusting..." I sob, pressing my forehead against the wall and slowly sliding down, my limbs going limp.

. . .

If one has ever been in an earthquake, they'd know the utterly helpless feeling you get as the ground trembles beneath you, threatening to upend you and everything around you. You know not where or when the ground could split, and depending on where you are, the sound can be deafening.

The same can be said of a collapsing structure.

At first it was a barely noticeable vibration. I thought I was officially losing my mind and bearings. That is, until the stone began shaking more and more. Pebbles and rocks on the floor clattered in a panicking dance. I stood up shakily, both from the events happening and my lack of energy. The shaking grew and grew until my legs gave out beneath me. I scurried as best as I could across the trembling stone before curling up against a wall. The sound of stones scraping and breaking surrounded my ears, it was inescapable, even as I pressed my hands against my ears and screamed against the unknown.

And then it was gone. But... where to? Surely it hadn't-

The sound and vibration rushes back ten times as strong, sending me into a more defensive position. It was indescribable- I have literally no words to explain my terror, my panic, the sound and feeling as I felt the stone I had known for so long break and crumble...

...setting me free.

A rush of hot, dry air washes over me. I sit up, unwrapping the last of the deteriorating bandages that had been around my head. Instead of black, I saw... Gray.

I quickly stood up, tripping over myself as I groped my way towards the new hole in the wall. There was no hesitation in my actions- I quickly escaped from the prison that had encased me for so long. A thundering behind me causes me to fall, smacking me to the ground as I scramble to get back up again. Rocks and fragments of stone fall from above... Just the thing I needed. Let's get a head injury!

I'd like to say I sprinted, even ran, but in truth, an awkward hobbling was the best I could accomplish with my physical ability. Luckily, finding my way out of the labyrinth wasn't too hard... It was easy following the paths with the driest air, signalling the closest way outside... to civilization. A flower of new hope seemed to bloom in my chest, mixing with the panic I already contained. Was the earth the same? Would a new kingdom and era greet me? Or had the world evolved way beyond my understanding...?

Another thundering sounded behind me, breaking my few thoughts. A crack came just overhead before a part of the ceiling caves in, rock and debris falling all over. I cover my head with my arms, but that doesn't stop the rock that falls and bruises my arms. My injured eyes sting as dust irritates them, and I rub them furiously to try to clear them, blindly stumbling over the wreckage.

"Damn it..." I mutter, blinking irritably as I continue my race. If I couldn't pick up my hobbling pace, I'd end up buried like I was actually dead. How comforting.

An ache bit at my legs, causing me to stumble even more often. My feet were already becoming sore, my head dizzy from movement. Honestly, could my body even hold up long enough for me to escape?

There! A right turn, and not even a hundred yards away- the exit! I scrambled for it even more desperately now that it was in sight. My hands outstretched in greed, as if to take the world... Seventy-five yards... Fifty... Thirty... Ten...

A terrifying, clear crack sounded above me. I froze. No. Not now. Not yet, I was so close! Dust and pebbles began to rain down on me, and I lunged for freedom as the stone structure collapsed.

But not unscathed, oh, not in the slightest. The stone above the opening fell onto my calf just as I had sprinted out, snapping it in half and pinning me to the ground, looking upwards... At the ghastly, yellow sphere hanging in the sky. I couldn't help it- I scream, saliva dripping down my chin. Pain seared into my retinas, I couldn't block out the light. I wanted to smash my head into the broken rock and gouge out my eyeballs. It was too much. My hands claw at my face, furiously trying to evade the light I had been separated from for so long. But I could do nothing, merely writhe and scream in agony into the deserted world I had escaped to.

. . .

It's later. Much cooler, might I add. The sun has sent up it's rays of crimson into the sky, painting the world above a rich red before merging with the deep blue of night. It still hurts to look anywhere near the sun. My eyes ache and my head throbs like a hammer in hell. My leg is still pinned by the rock; I haven't mustered the strength to move at all.

A foul, but somehow addicting smell travels towards me, and I very carefully raise my head up.

Two men, one with gray, and one with red hair, stand above me, as if analysing me.

I freeze. I hadn't notice them before at all. Had my senses really become this dull? I swallow.

The gray one takes a stick out of his mouth- the one with the strange smell- and stares down at me before conversing with his partner. I can't understand... I've never heard such a language. A series of monotone, serious sentences are said and nods exchanged before they look back at me. I would give them a quizzical look, but frankly I'm too busy being in pain. They immediately set to work removing the rock off of me. It's quickly done, with a flash of pain as the weight is lifted off my broken limb. Standing back up, they look at me again. A moment of silence passes.

They both outstretch their hand towards me, as if asking me to take them.

. . .

Author's Note: This was the previous Prologue. Erg, I'm not sure I recommend reading this, but do what you want. I changed a lot of crap around... And took out a bunch too.

The above is much better, heh.

. . .

"Are you lost, beetle?" I extend my hand toward it, letting it crawl onto my hand. "You don't belong here; you should leave." I whisper and crush it, listening to the sound of its newly shattered shell. "No one belongs here."

I close my eyes and lean against the cold stone. Inhaling, I open my eyes and look into the same darkness I can see behind my eyelids. I tighten the many bandages wrapped around my body and stand up, searching for a gap in my enclosure that I know isn't there.

This is my routine. Trying to live, trying to get out, and killing any trespassers.

Grinning insanely, I scratch the stone long and slow, sending an eerie sound echoing out of my prison and down the halls.

Come, prey, let me devour you.

No, I think, they are my people.

And they taste delicious, do the not?

I pause my music, twitching madly. "They do," I say to my voice, slightly laughing.

There are three persons at my beginning; would you like to feast on them?

What? Three? I lift my head up, noticing the newcomers' souls. The tips of my mouth go down, disgrace filling me for having not noticed earlier. No, it's only fair you have them.

Thank you, lord.

Ignoring the voice, I spit and tug on the bandage surrounding my head.

Less than half an hour later I hear… that.

"DISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTIN GDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTIN GDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTIN GDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTINGDISGUSTIN G- !" followed by these tremendous sounds like a boulder rolling off the top of a pyramid.

It seems my soul is losing its prey.

The voice ceases but I am nervous as I hear something like an earthquake beginning.

No, not an earthquake- my tomb is collapsing.

Immediately, I run to the stone sealing my room and try to force it open. "Ra, my father, help me!" The noise increases like a thousand howls in the wind and the boulder splits. I leap out just in time for my tomb to collapse.

Running awkwardly in my panic, I sprint as best I can through the labyrinth, and make it to the mouth of the building when it calls for me.

Why do you leave? I thought we were one!

Frustrated, I yell back. "You are the soul I left on the banks of the river of death, only to have it come back to my body! You are the reason I have dwelled in HELL all these years!" I turn to run, but too late- the building collapses and pins my leg to the ground, snapping it in half.

"Damnation…" With tears streaming down my cheeks, I cough and slit my eyes open to avoid the sudden light and the sand cloud swirling in the ruins.

"Well, well, it seems we've found a mummy, Spirit."

"I see that. Almost a kishin, too."

A rough hand grabs the bandages on my head and forces me to look up into the eyes of a gray-haired man with round glasses and a scar up his face smoking something foul. Behind him, I can see a red-haired man.

"Your stench is horrid. Like death and decay." The gray man slams my head back into the sand.

"Be more careful, Stein, he may still be of use." Says the red one.

"Hm." The gray one stands up and touches his foot against the knee of my broken leg, making me cry out in agony. "He's still human enough to feel that."

"Stein, watch out." The red one comes over and kneels next to me. "Our Lord Death has offered a second chance for a variety of people. It won't exactly be reincarnation, but you'll be able to live again. Would you like to try?"

I nod, a little unsure.

"Okay then." He frees my leg and props the upper half of my body up. "What's your name?"

I smile slyly. "Tutankhamen."