Long Lost Queen
By Suseh
Prologue
The Valley of the Kings
Pressing himself against the limestone wall of the elaborate tomb, Mutou Yuugi took a moment to remove the hat from his forehead and wipe the sweat that had gathered upon his temple with his forearm. The heat in the tomb was undeniable and Yuugi could not fathom how workers could have the ability to stay underneath in such conditions. There had been no air conditioners back then and he was sure that there were probably deaths related to the creation of such a tomb.
Reaching down for the water pouch at his hip, Yuugi removed it from his belt and snapped off the cap. Briefly his amethyst-colored eyes gazed at the wall in front of him. It had been decorated with scenes of a duel. The monsters that had been summoned from both sides seemed to have leapt off the slab of stone and out in front of it. For a moment, Yuugi was amazed at the idea of monsters actually existing during that time frame. It would explain how several archeologists had come across weird findings within several of the temples near Thebes.
Yuugi lifted the water pouch to his lips and took a sip of the still cold liquid within. He was grateful to his wife for insisting he take this with him. He had been against it in the beginning but Rebecca had been insistent as she pressed the pouch into his hands before kissing his cheek and sending him down into the tombs alone. If he got out of here alive, he was going to thank her by taking her to the vacation of her choice. She had been complaining anyways of the two of them never having the time to spend together.
Replacing the cap back onto the pouch and returning it back to his belt, Yuugi felt a renewed energy that he pushed himself away from the wall and continued down the long stretched corridor that seemed to come to a sealed door at the end. Either that or there was nothing further down the hall but Yuugi would have to make sure. He couldn't turn around and go another way. The games he had played all seemed to point him in this direction and he was certain that there was definitely something there. He just had to have patience and he would unravel this mysterious tomb. He knew he would.
Yuugi made his way down the corridor keeping his guard up and on alert. He wouldn't be surprised if there was another game waiting for him in the center of the corridor before he reached the end.
But as he came to the middle of the corridor, there was nothing waiting for him. Not a single test or riddle. It seemed that the young Nameless Pharaoh was certain that no one would have passed the tests in the beginning and perhaps saw no further reason to add anything else.
Thankfully Yuugi had always enjoyed games as a child. He had never been the athletic type, preferring to keep himself indoors and entertained with games and assortment of puzzles that caused him to think. It had also been the reason why he had been picked on as a kid. As a teen in high school, Yuugi was the constant target of older and taller boys in his class. They loved to torment him and beat him up from time to time. There had been a particular time when Anzu, his best friend from childhood, had saved him from two other boys.
And yet he never complained which bothered his best friend immensely.
Pausing in his steps, Yuugi found himself thinking of Anzu again. Ever since he had entered the tomb early in the morning, his thoughts had been of her. They had been close since they were children and it wasn't until Yuugi married that the distance between them began. She had gone off to New York to fulfill her dream of a dancer and Yuugi took the path of following in his grandfather's footsteps. He had not spoken to Anzu in years following since.
Now here he was in the middle of an empty corridor thinking of her. It was strange to have his thoughts swirling about her. He could only surmise that he missed her immensely and wished more than anything to have some sort of contact with her but neither he nor she ever had put the effort forward into any sort of correspondence. Of course Anzu sent him and Rebecca Christmas cards and for their wedding, she sent them both a beautiful antique table she had found while on tour with a dance company.
Yet he missed her. Missed her quiet companionship. Missed listening to her talk and most of all, missed the concern for him that often lay in the depths of her sapphire blue eyes.
Yuugi shook his head and pressed the thoughts of Anzu to the back of his head. Thinking of her would not do him any good. He had to get through this maze of games to reach the tomb. He just had to!
He moved forward carefully, allowing his amethyst eyes to roam over the structure in search of traps from above and also from below. He could not afford to mess this up. He knew the entire world had its collective gaze upon him and they were waiting with baited breath for him to announce his discovery of one of Egypt's lost Pharaohs.
Upon reaching the large doors, he turned his gaze to hieroglyphs upon the doors. Beware those who trespass upon this tomb. Death will come on swift wings.
He had seen these warnings before on other tombs he had been privy to explore. It had been used in the ancient world to keep the tombs safe from the robbers. Most tombs were raided the moment they were filled. It was thought that the robbers had been part of the construction workers since some of the tomb robbers seemed to know where the treasures were and those were the rooms often raided while others were left alone.
Yuugi had seen one tomb stripped of everything even the sarcophagus leaving the Mummy of the unfortunate pharaoh to lie upon the cemented floor.
But this tomb, the tomb of a Pharaoh long forgotten over the ages, seemed to be untouched and Yuugi understood why. The traps and games one had to play to get through the tomb were elaborate. Those who dared to invade such a vast tomb were signing their own death warrant. One had to be skilled in knowledge of the game to get past the traps.
But there was something about these games that triggered a distant memory within him. He could feel it niggling in the back of his head as if he had played these games all of his life before but it had been impossible. Some of these games he had never seen or even heard of until now.
Still the evidence before him had been clear when he had won them all.
Yuugi lifted his head up searching some way in but he found nothing, not even a single clue as to where the door opened. His eyes traced the hieroglyphs upon the opposite wall. He studied the images and moved his hands back to the door and did exactly what images had told him to.
The heavy door groaned as Yuugi struggled to push it even further apart. The dim light of the corridor crept in behind Yuugi's small form, giving him a view of the room itself. He reached for the flashlight at his hip but the sudden hiss from within the room halted his movement causing his amethyst-colored eyes to sweep across the half-darkened room in search for the sound and found the torches around the room being lit on their own. He had never seen such advancement within a tomb before but this wasn't no ordinary tomb
either.
As each torch was lit, Yuugi was given a full view of the extravagant room. Gold statues and objects lined up against the wall. A large marble box laid in the center of the room and off on the furthest wall something caught his eye. For a moment all around him ceased to exist as he made his way towards the glowing object.
He drew closer and realized what it was he had found - the sennen puzzle, an artifact many had been seeking. Most of the seekers looking to lay claim to the mysterious power within.
Howard Carter had been no different but he sought the sennen puzzle for an entirely different reason: fame. He knew it would booster his career more than anything and took it upon himself to begin search within the Valley of the Kings but in the end, all he had been able to find was that of another Pharaoh, Tutankhamen. He died before he had a chance once more to search within the valley for the tomb containing the puzzle.
Yuugi reached out and drew the item from the wall giving it a careful and thorough examination. It was shaped like an upside down pyramid with the Wadjet fixed prominently in the center. For a moment, Yuugi tried to imagine the unnamed pharaoh wearing the heavy object around his neck but could not. He knew he would not be able to handle such weight and could not fathom how the pharaoh himself had done it.
Stepping back away from the wall, Yuugi's amethyst eyes once again swept over the hieroglyphs painted upon the walls looking for the answers he had sought so hard to find and he found it.
At the far end were two names: Atem and Teana.
Author's Note: I have long decided to rewrite this story. I was never really happy with the first version of it and I really wanted to spend a bit more time working on it rather than rushing through it. This version will carry some of the elements of the original but not all of it.
I do not know when the next update will be on this. I am going to try to have another chapter up and soon but I cannot make sort of promises at this time. Mostly because my sister is due for surgery this summer (unless she finds a way to postpone it).