He could hear his breathing in the dark filled room. For a moment all he could do was attempt to get his breathing under control, unfortunately, all the shadows of his bedroom seemed to breath as well, expand and contract. For a moment he squeezed his eyes shut.

This brought some of the dream with it. He didn t understand what was so particularly scary about it. There was a HUGE house, a mansion. On the second floor a room, it was to be his. His parents weren't there, but Mokuba was - he was older though. The absence of his parents in the dream unnerved him unlike anything else, but not as much as that room that was to be his.

There were books; they were overly large and loomed in an ill manner. Everything in the room was overly expensive, there were paintings on the walls, thick carpeting. There was a stifling evil presence there; it weighed down on him with a malice he'd never encountered in his waking life.

Still trying to control his breathing, Seto opened his eyes. The pale moonlight fell upon the floor in spots, he was glad for it. His shaking wouldn t stop though. His body was still loath to move from its spot under the tangled covers. Much to his displeasure memories of his dream came unbidden, as his rational mind attempted to figure out where this terror came from.

There was a marble and iron staircase in the dream too. After he ran from the room, he was outside in the front. He assumed it was the front. There was a driveway of such length that he could not see the main road from the front of the house. The stair case, was over to the right, as he faced out ... out toward the paved drive. It was in the shadow of the house. He had seen a boy and a girl there. The closer he got, the more steps he climbed, the more that feeling of dread and fear overpowered him. Somehow, he knew they were dead and he didn t know why he was talking to them or why he could see them, even in the dream. The idea defied logic. There was something wrong about the death of the girl, she was sad, the wrongness about it terrified him, and he backed away. The boy... he mourned her torment more than his own death, she would scream and that evil presence filled him, the boy would throw up, and Seto ran. He ran down the white marble steps with the iron railing. He ran down the driveway, but never reached a road, leaving Mokuba behind.

Seto shuddered; even his warm blankets on this early spring night could not keep the chill of all that was wrong about that dream at bay. He had somehow managed to slow his breathing and sit up. His glow-in-the-dark clock registered 11:00 pm. His parents should still be awake. He got up, surprised by how cold he felt and fumbled around for his robe. Once he put on his slippers, he shakily approached the stairs, expecting that terror to grab hold and infect him. He stood for a moment looking at the polished wood, none of the feeling returned, perhaps because these steps were inside, and wood.... he crept down the stairs and across the hallway to the 'middle study'

He didn t know why he was creeping like this, but continued any way. The middle office was also something he didn t quite understand. Both of his parents had their own private study, but they were rarely in them, usually they were in the informal one. The middle. Sometimes he thought this was significant, but he wasn't sure how. He stopped outside the closed door, for a moment, all he wanted was the comfort of their voices. He wasn t sure he wanted to bother his father with having a nightmare; he would probably think it was silly. His mother, she seemed to think dreams significant, and would always ask him about them in the morning.

"To Egypt?!!" His father's voice filled with incdullity. "You want to fly to Egypt... What about Mokuba?" His stern voice dripped with aggravation.

His mother laughed, the sound was always like tinkling bells. "Your sister offered to take care of our Mokuba; she has no children of her own and is always begging to take him for a week, like she did with Seto when he was little. Besides, it s been six years since Seto had us to himself."

"He should be used to it by now then, shouldn t he?" His father asked as if the very idea was unfathomable.

"AND," he could hear his mother smile; she always enjoyed her arguments with father. "I haven t seen Jenn in over a year, and that was only because she was here for a funeral!"

"But to Egypt?"

Mother giggled. "Hmm, yes, quite." he could hear the rustling of paper. She even sent us tickets!"

There was a moment of silence as his father struggled to think of an excuse not to go. Seto wondered what would be so bad about going on a trip with just him to Egypt? He had liked looking at pictures of the art with his mother, and had several times imagined himself climbing the pyramids. Or discovering a long forgotten tomb, or encountering the impossibility of a priest of ages past. His mother would tell him stories, that even in this day and age people still practiced the old ways.

At first Seto thought that would be fascinating, priests who could fling all manner of spells! He often wondered if Pegasus Crawford was one of those who practiced the old ways, and the cards he collected were really magic!
But when his mother talked about the priests, the rituals and magick, it was very, very boring, and he would start to imagine more interesting things after the first few sentences, blocking her out completely.

His father would make sighing noises, he didn t believe in magic or things like that. He liked chess, and though the card game was good for learning to think not only critically, but strategically as well. His father had given him the art of war to read, and the book of five rings; they would have discussions on that and the importance of being logical before he would buy Seto cards.

Seto didn t mind this very much. He liked those books and he liked reading chess strategy.

"Need I remind you that we haven t seen our god-daughter in over a year as well? Jenn is like my sister, I have no family, and hers took me in when I was still in high school after they had passed."

"Yes I remember." His father said with resignation.

"She is an odd girl. A bit too out there for Seto, he is a good critical thinker! Very logical. I don t think he would even like her." Seto was proud of his father's compliment. He wondered what was wrong with the girl in question.

"I am worried about her. She really doesn t have anyone her own age to relate to."

His father made that thumping noise again.

"Her parents always have her is some broken down temple or tomb or another, its not surprising. Has that girl even LEFT Egypt in her life?"

"I don't think she has." Mother said pensively. Almost sadly.

"And then those.... cultists ... making her a priest, she was speaking that made up language and reading hieroglyphs before any other language! All that esoteric nonsense! It s ridiculous. I know that Shimazuryu is distracted as his muttering about all the time, but this!!!" His father began his rant.
Apparently Mother gave him a look. Nothing could silence father faster.

"Now, Ichiro, Jenn didn't make it up. She studied dialects from every tribal language that had commonalities with ancient Egyptian words in order to re-create a viable pronunciation base. Please don't insult my friend like that."

"Err... Yes, I know, it just seems like to much for a child." Seto could hear his father squirm "And granted, having spiritual powers like she does must be a burden...

Spiritual powers? Usually father said that stuff was all fake, smoke and mirrors. He leaned against the wall. What could have possibly have happened that his father would admit such a thing? Or believing it for that matter?

But to make her a priestess or what ever at such a young age? It s ridiculous. She is ... the same age as Seto."
"She isn t a priest yet... don t be ridiculous, it takes 15 years of study"

There was a pronounced silence and Seto, in his mind could see the aggravated look his father must have.
"It is said that the ancient traditions were secretly kept in some families. It's Shimazuryu and Jenn's life work to recreate it for the serious seeker." Mother said softly and patiently.
"He opened up a college for it somewhere in America." His father's voice was loaded with disapproval. "Even so he is still measuring things and ... and"
"Yes, that is true, their work is very serious to them, and Tamery is a very lonely girl. I want" his mother stressed that word with a longing that stunned Seto "her to have a friend like Seto, and play like a child while she still IS one. Jenn is like a sister to me, so Tamery is like my niece, and just in case you forgot, we ARE." now Mother sounded stern "her god parents."
"Seto may not even like her." his father pointed out again.
"I m sure he will make a good friend to her." She said in her soft voice.

Seto could hear his father sigh in resignation. "When do we leave?"

He could hear the rustle of papers and decided to make his way back to his room so he could at least act surprised at some thing. This was quite a lot to think about and digest. As he headed back to his room his mind began to go through the conversation. He though, for some reason, he didn t want them to know he had listened in on their conversation, he should at least be 'surprised' at 'something' even if it was only the date and time of their departure.

Seto's own body weight seemed to be hindering him. His eyes! Even though he wore sunglasses, the sun was blinding, the sand was blinding. The heat, making him stagger was not helping!!!! How did these people live like this? Since their arrival there had been a distinctly unpleasant odor in the air, he had noticed the water seemed more than foul. Why did people come to this place?

Still, Seto dared not complain, his father had always told him that complaining changes nothing and mother said it just made you focus on being miserable. He was miserable. The heat was a boulder pressing down on him; his clothes were completely stuck to every part of his body.

He was not happy when they reached the dig site. There was dust in the air making both him and his father sneeze in rapid repetition, it was loud and noisy. Many people were milling around, carrying things back and forth. How could they work under these conditions, he did not understand. As they neared the site, he recognized Jenn and Shimazuryu from their pictures. Just as he had imagined, (with help from his father) the man was almost constantly muttering about numbers, writing things down and measuring. He certainly didn t stop what he was doing when his mother and Jen embraced and greeted each other. He nodded at them once in acknowledgement, then handed his father a measuring tape, walking off, taking for granted that he would assist.

Seto could tell his father found this incredibly rude, mother made a waving motion with her had to for him to follow. Seto was certain his father's intelligible grumbles were swearing words of the highest order. Jenn and his mother giggled at his shrinking back like school girls. They seemed to find it inordinately amusing.

To Seto's physical discomfort Jenn greeted him with an exuberant hug, making sure he got contact sweat. She had given him such an open and friendly smile, so like his mother, that any aggravation he felt melted away and he felt mildly ashamed for having felt it in the first place. She then declared tea time and asked Seto to go find Tamery. She explained in great detail how to find the girl and gave him a box and canteen to take with him.

In ancient days, this valley was called Ta-Set-Neferu, which literally means the place of the Children of the Pharaoh. Jenn said while smiling. This is because queens of the Pharaoh, as well as princes, princesses and other members of royal families were buried together. This was mostly practiced between the 18th and 20th Dynasties. The tombs of the dead were to be maintained by mortuary priests that would attend to the bodies on a daily basis and also offer prayers for the deceased.

He wove his way through the dirt paths, as his sweat drenched body contrived to collect as much airborne debris as could possible. It seemed a rather *long* walk before he reached the 'steps' that he was to turn left at.
And he was standing before what very much looked like a hole in the ground. It was, of course cut out of rock. He stood for a moment, wondering how they cut it like that. There was a little stone 'fence' type structure crumbling before the gaping opening, which after about 15 paces, immediately turned dark.

He walked around the broken stones, watching his footing, and carefully entered the tomb. Hopping he didn t slide down. Immediately upon entering the 'dark' part, the temperature dropped drastically enough that he felt slightly chilled. Jenn, had giving him what she called a 'soft torch' (she said it wouldn t blind Tamery when he approached her). He lit it, standing still; a soft breeze from nowhere caressed his face. He took a deep breath, it felt like he was about to travel into some sort of shadow realm. He shook his head, clearing that thought.

As he traveled through the tunnel, he could see the writings on the wall, and slowed his pace. He wondered at the idea that this Tamery person could read this. Why were they measuring things? Was there more to it than keeping good records? Distracted he continued on his way. The tunnel seemed to abruptly stop in what looked like a door way. He turned and looked over his shoulder; it did look more like he had merely walked down a long hallway, instead of into the rocky earth. There was a feeling about this place, he couldn t quite place it.

He took the few steps to stand in the doorway. Tamery, he assumed it was her, as she was the only one here. That seemed rather odd. Why would her parents let her alone in this kind of place? She stood facing one of the walls, in a room that, to Seto's sensibilities, seemed too large to be a tomb. It was more like the reception room to a large house. There was another doorway further on, past where Tamery was standing, but it was shrouded in darkness.

It took him a moment to steady his mind, for the sheer volume of the wall art. It seemed to be very busy, it must be important to them, the dead, or the living who mourned them, but why all this in a tomb? Maybe the tomb priests needed this to feel important? He attempted to contemplate that the tombs in the Valley of the Kings were actually larger than what he saw here. This seemed like it was going a bit too far, in his mind. Even if Mother did tell him, that the tombs were like their houses. Tombs as houses barely made sense to Seto. What did the dead need houses to live in for?

He returned his attention to Tamery. He wondered if she had even noticed him at all. He hadn t exactly stomped in here, but there were no other noises, except for the inexplicable breeze. He didn t want to startle her; she was intent on her drawling.

She looked to be about his height. She wore a salwar kameez, what Hindu women wore, when they didn t wear their toga-like sari. Except that the pants were baggy. Where as the arab women wore volumous clothes that made them look like walking wraiths, or formless ghosts, this did not hide her curves. Without seeing her face, he would have thought her 16 or so. She, like the women native to Egypt, wore a veil, as well as something covering her hair, unlike the native women; her salwar kameez was all white. Even her shoes were white.

She was copying part of the wall in a large artists pad. Behind her a comfortable looking collapsible chair, that she had neglected for herself, but upon it she had placed a pack which more than likely, held supplies. He wondered if she ever got bored doing this.

As time inched past he began to get irritated. He cleared his throat, maybe she had been so intent on what she was doing that she rally hadn t noticed he had come in.
She didn t look at him, or even away from what she was doing. She did not stop, nor skip a beat.

"This one knows you're there." She said in Japanese, much to his surprise, he thought she would speak in English. Maybe her mother taught her? "This one is called Tamery. Pleased to meet you." He didn t feel as if she could be very pleased if she wouldn't even look at him. He also wondered if she was referring to herself in that way on purpose.

"I'm Seto. Your mom sent me here with the tea. She said we should play together." He felt distinctly silly saying this. The feeling was compounded when she stopped the movements of her pen, actually looking away from her project to stare at him the moment he had said that word.

He couldn't read anything from her expression, as he could only see her eyes. He refused to squirm under her scrutiny, he met her large almond shaped eyes unflinchingly, but surprised at their color. To his surprise, unlike her father and mother, who had dark brown, hers were a very deep blue. He'd never seen eyes that color before. Her skin was the color of walnut shells. He wished she wouldn t look at him as if he had said something incredibly strange.

"Play?" she asked. Her eyes, still boring into him, then, she looked past him, as if some one were there and had said something. He felt a slow chill climb up his spine. She gave a small nod, and went back to drawing.

The silence grew, her pen making overly loud scratching noises. "What are we to 'play'?" she asked as she again focused on the wall she was drawing.

He felt ridiculous. Why was she acting like he had said something idiotic? He felt his temper rise a notch up from mild irritation to aggravation. He didn't like that eerie feeling either.

"I can play chess, I usually do with my father." he wondered if that sounded as lame to her as it just did to him, but tag seemed to be out of the question. Not that he wanted to do that.

"This one will finish this part." She informed him tonelessly.

"You can play chess?" he asked, just for conversation sake.

"Yes."

She was not being conversational. There were odd echoes here and there with the odd breeze; he didn t want to pay attention to those things.

"What are you drawing?" he asked, taking steps closer to her. When he reached a two foot proximity, she flipped her pad over so that he could get a good look at it. He felt his eyes widen and his mouth drop in surprise. This was more than he expected, even after the discussion his father and mother had of her.
"It looks exactly the same!" She looked at it for a moment, then back at the wall and continued.
"This One has an audio and photographic memory." she said in the distracted tone. So she remembered everything she saw and heard. That seemed rather incredible to him.
"Mother said you were smart." again he felt silly saying such a thing, but he wanted to fill the silence some how even if he had to say something that sounded stupid.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment, and then continued. This One just has a good memory. That is all.

"I don t think anyone stupid would have said that." He retorted. Again, her eyes flickered to him for a brief moment.

He tried not to fidget. She didn t seem to feel the need to talk, though he did. Why don t you just take pictures?" he asked, the scratches of the pen echoing off the walls.
"The flash will degrade the paint further."
"Oh."
He felt uncomfortable, almost like he was intruding. He looked around, wondering what the walls meant, wondering if it would annoy her if he asked what they meant. Was his presence annoying her? Though she didn t seem to care... He finally remembered to put the box and tea down.

"Did they have games?" he asked and he chose a spot on the wall to lean against. She moved so fast, it was a blur, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, jerking him a step forward. "Don t do that." her eyes told him, that if it wasn t anything he said, he had just done something she'd found incredibly unintelligent as her voice betrayed irritation. He didn t know what to do; he really should have known better, he could feel his cheeks burning in embarrassment. "Would Seto-kun like to see?" She asked letting go.

He looked up, shocked, her tone completely bland, her head slightly to the side.
"See? See what?"
She blinked pronouncedly twice, and he though... she was grinning. She tossed the sketch pad in the chair she had so thoroughly ignored up until now. "Seto-kun asked if they had games. There are a few."
"Uh. Oh. We can't play chess?" he asked rather weakly. "Seto-kun can't do both?" she asked still looking at him "Yeah, I guess."
She took the white veil off her head and face, using a towel to mop of the sweat on her face and forehead. He felt himself starting, but couldn t look away. She was very pretty. Her thick black hair fell past her shoulders in thinly plaited braids. Each braid ended in what looked suspiciously like gold with a lapis lazuli inlay. She tossed him the towel and replaced the head veil, using a golden and blue woven cord to keep it in place. "I guess I should warn you, I m good at chess, I probably won't lose." he said to distract himself while he wiped his face. The towel smelled like cocoa and shea butter, nag champa and sandalwood.

She tossed a canteen of water at him, raising her eyebrows, "Is Seto-kun vain or confident?" she asked looking mildly amused.
He blinked. He wasn t sure. It had been something to say to try to egg her on...

She shrugged and picked up her bag, slinging it about her with ease, though it looked heavy. She spoke like an adult, not a 12 year old girl. He was beginning to be convinced she was closer to 16 than 12.

"There are passage ways most people don t know about." She held her hand out to him. "Come." He put his hand in hers, as she acted as this were a normal thing for them to do, as she lead him to a part of the wall directly opposite a pained door way, she shifted something on the wall, and it, in part, swung gently open in a way that rock should definitely not do.

The door closed shortly after he had passed through it, but she didn t stop walking. "W-wait!" He said stopping, he could see nothing. It was what he imagined being blind would be like.

She squeezed his had in reassurance. "This One is sorry, Seto-kun," she said quietly, "There is no flashlight." She continued walking forward, pulling him with her. "But ... how do you see? How do you know where you re going?" he asked, trying not to sound as frightened as he was.

"This One don t know." she said, as if she wondered that all the time. Did that mean she could see or ... what?

After a few minutes of walking, Seto's nerves almost frying, he again, felt a breeze. She stopped, and then gently took him by his arms, making him step backward. He found himself against a wall. "Stand here while I light the torches."
But how could she see?
For a brief moment, the flames were too bright, he covered his eyes with his hand, and he counted to ten, and then uncovered them again. He was struck dumb by shear amount of gold and objects, and writings that all he could do was look around him.

Tamery, seemed nonplussed, walked deeper into the room, to the near center tossing down her back. She stopped for a minute, looked to her right for a moment, nodded, and then looked in a specific direction as if someone had told her to. She then walked to large group of things so numerous that Seto's mind couldn t quite make out of what was there. She tugged on something that resembled a tall round coffee table, dragging it to where her pack was. Then, one at a time she retrieved two matching stools.

What was wrong with him? Why didn't help her?
"Where are we?" asked to try to cover up his inadequate behavior by looking around in wonder. It wasn t a stretch. This place tested the limits of his reality.

Again, she leaned her head to the side as if someone were speaking to her. "Hmm the original tomb of Twosret." She then smiled at him, her eyes sparked of a secret. "It hasn t been officially found yet." Her eyes glittered in the torch light like lapis lazuli, her skin, reflecting dark reds and golds.

"But." He could no longer take any of this. "That makes no sense, how can we be here if it hasn t been found yet!" He hopped she would be reasonable.

She looked toward an opening to one of the other rooms and shrugged. She smiled. "I did say officially. The Egyptian Grand High Vizier," her voice took a definite tone of sarcasm General Grandmaster of Antiquities, nor the Egyptian Government knows of its existence."

Just how many people are you talking about ? He asked Just the one, it is a long title he has, along with quite more power than he should.

How, then did she know. His eyes involuntarily looked toward the opening she had just looked at. "Why not? You don t want to tell him because is more powerful than your family? " he asked instead. The pit of his stomach and the base of his spine told him he didn't want to ask her how she knew it was here.

"They will take everything out and make it a tourist attraction." She responded, ignoring his comment in regards to power, as if it were either not said aloud or so thoroughly unimportant she needn t address it. "But we are here." he said in what he hopped was a sensible tone.
Again she looked toward that doorway, gave a small nod and smiled, her eyes glittered with fire. "Oh, I don t think Twosret-sama s shade will mind if we stay and play Mehen. But will Seto-kun prove 'Beloved of Re' or die under the claws and teeth of his 'Destroying Arm'?" She asked in a sweet pleasant tone.

This was going past 'too much.
"Shade! There is NO such thing!" he all but yelled. She looked at something in the left side of the room, smiling she ignored his outburst as if he's said nothing. "We aren't supposed to be here!" he attempted to bring the situation under a semblance of reality, but wondered, did reality exist in her presence?
She looked at him as if daring him. "If Seto-kun is afraid we can leave." she said simply.
"I am not." He said stubbornly.
She gestured that he take a seat. She unpacked the box of small sandwiches and cookies, then the small cups and poured the tea, making him feel inadequate. There was a drawer in the round table, she reached in and pulled out three long, thin cut stones. There were small hieroglyphs on each side. As Seto got a closer look, he saw the table top was made of tiles in order to resemble a coiled snake, complete with head and tail. There were even some more small pictures in the coils.

"Oh!" She looked up at him, as if surprised he was still there. Does Seto-kun want to play chess first?"
"Sure." he was actually interested in this weird game, but he wanted to do something that was familiar to him.
To his surprise, she pulled out a mini chess bored and peaces from her back pack, then another canteen and a large bag of nut mix with dried fruits. When she finished setting up she flashed a dazzling smile Set-kun goes first! she said with a musical, sing song lilt to her voice. The game did not take long, and he felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. It had only taken her eight moves. Instead of being happy, she hung her head.
What s wrong with you? You beat me! he demanded, feeling rather offended.
She looked up sadly, People get mad when This One wins. They should just take the challenge of figuring out how to beat you instead of wasting time getting mad at you! he began to set the board up.
He grinned at her I will beat you this time. She raised an eyebrow at her. That remains to be seen. He gnawed on something he hoped was a dried apricot. He was beginning to suspect foul play.
Seto-kun is mad? she asked We have played five times, and each time you beat me in eight moves. He sat up straight as he watched her eyes flicker across the room, he had an idea, but it was a flicker so he decided on sarcasm. Are you getting advice from the people I can t see or something? Eyes wide, she stared at him. How does Seto-kun know they are there if they can not be seen!? she shook her head and NO they are not telling me how to win. That answered at least one question. She didn t act crazy, just like there was some one else there talking to her. He decided not to think on that anymore, as it was a bit too odd.
Then you are letting me get to eight moves. How soon could you beat me? He leveled his eyes at her.
She attempted not to meet his eyes. Usually four. THEN WHY DON T YOU JUST BEAT ME AT FOUR!? He yelled, his voice echoing and rebounding. The eerie way his voice traveled made his skin crawl.
Well, because This One did not want Seto-kun to feel insulted. If you respected my intelligence you would beat me so that I can learn. That is why I can t defeat you after eight moves. He made sure to keep his voice down this time. If you were anyone else, I would think you are just playing head games. He growled more to himself.
He watched her face as they played again. It was absolutely blank, and she didn t look off in the distance as if someone else were talking to her. Four moves.
Do we have to play this again? she asked quietly.
He started at her for a minute. Tomorrow, I m going to figure out how to beat you. He said with determination.
She grinned at him. Ok, can we play Mehen now? He sat back and crossed his arms. Yeah. How do you play this?

It begins 4000 years ago with a desperate attempt to infiltrate an evil cult, and ends with a mummy crumbling to dust on the banks of the Nile . . . She began, her voice wistful. It is about a young priest, brave, and strong, killed by Nubian mercenaries almost within sight of the boundary stele of ancient Egypt, and the will to complete a mission gone awry despite death and the vastness of time. It is about powerful and magical lion amulets, a hapless astrogeologist, a golden papyrus tube hidden deep in the Sudan, greed, rescue, and resurrection . . . She let her voice trail away as far off as her gaze, as if she saw the story, on an invisible TV.

He waited patiently. He wondered if she did this often, starring out into space as if she were watching things? She seemed to do this quite often as if people were talking to her. Did being in these tombs all the time drive people mad? She didn t seem to have a disjointed mind maybe an over active imagination?

This game was banned, long ago. Mehen is the serpant, rather the opposite of Apep. Instead of being the ultimate evil which we say beta, that which is against ma at, order, what is right to make one justified; Mehen coiled around RA to protect him on his night journey through the Shadow Realms or the Duat, protecting him from the beta of Apep and his servents.

If Seto-kun notices.. She looked to the side, listened. there are cuts used on this bord to separate the playing squairs, some.. for a moment she looked as if she heard some one say something strange, then tried not to laugh Some of the more strict and serious Priests decided those cuts were dangerous, and could literally harm Mehen, maybe even kill her. Their claims being again she paused, as if she were translating, if RA was not protected, and something should befall Mehen, the sun may night rise in the morning, there would be cessation of all life.

Seto couldn t help but laugh. That is stupid ! Its just a game ! She looked at him in a very serious way, he almost felt scolded. Seto-kun, she said very softely, her eyes dropping their harshness, became pools of concern, In Kemet, and the Five Shadow Realms, everything connects, there is no such thing as just a game or just words or just names. Life, to a Netrurian one who practices the old ways, is not just you and me and this Realm, but also the dead, and the other spirits and beings that fill these realms. Also She looked in a specific section of the tomb, she dropped her voice as if the two of them were conspirators, and she didn t want to be overheard by the people he couldn t see. During her explanation, Seto felt a cold sensation climb up his back, and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. He could almost see these people there are lists here of those who played Mehen and lost, and died. For them, the sun no longer rose, for them, there was no more life in this realm.

For a moment, he felt like it was midsummer and he was telling ghost stories when he was six and still easily frightened by the other children s stories. His father, would have none of this, and began to explain to Seto how to be rational , while his mother smiled a secret smile and winked at him, as if she knew better, and it was Father that was mistaken and illogical. He felt the same now, as if his rationale and logic were but lies and there was something deeper, some mystery he couldn t fathom.

I don t like those things. It s not scientific it has no place with me. He demanded silently that his reality return to him.

The light played on Tamery s face, as she leaned her head to look at him and smiled, as if she were proud of him for saying that, even though he was sure she couldn t possibly agree. He felt his insides melt, and knew that again, he was starring. He wondered if she could see him blushing. He refused to look away. She was pretty and he was NOT going to be embarrassed because he liked to look at her.

Ok, these. She held up the slim stones, about the length of six in each, with hieroglyphs on them are the dice. These she held up flat circular glass pieces. These are tokens; a player can have more than one, but let s just start with one. She held the colored glass pieces out to him. He chose the light blue. She chose the red while looking into his face. He held her gaze wondering what she was thinking as she looked at him.

This is a race game. Now these are the lions. She held up strange looking flat stones with a design kind of like a face. These are also raced, but only after the marble goes all the way around and out. She handed him his loin.

This game isn t so much about winning as not loosing. She said with a wicked grin. There, the crocodile and the hippo she asked, pointing them out on the Mehen board. He nodded if a token lands on that a coil is lost. If a token lands on this, the ankh or this, the Djed pillar a coil is gained. Seto let his eyes roam the coiled board, picking out each symbol.

Now here are the dice. She looked up at him and took a deep breath, here is where it gets kind of complicated She picked up the three dice sticks. They were dark on one side, and light on another.

Ok, one white side up is a shinyat or magick spell , more on that later. Its very plain. She put the stone sick down for him to look at.

After that one, 2 white sides is two moves, and three whites are three moves. If you don t get any white sides up, that equals six.

Six? He repeated. Why one white equal one but dark does seem to This One doesn t think on rules that make no sense. It s the game so I just follow it. This made him wonder if she disregarded rules that made no sense in what other people regarded as real life when it suited her philosophy.

One does not move after each die throw by the way. Each turn has two parts. When a turn is started the dice are thrown until there is a 2. Then, the moving phase begins, the sum of the throws can be separated among the tokens.

Shinyat are not moves; they are used at special times to cross barriers. There is one shinyat in order to get on the board. A lion piece requires two shinyat. Now once the piece gets to the center where Ra is, four shinyat to get back on the board. The token has to land exactly on the inner circle, the shinyat can be used to make up what ever the difference is. Shinyat can be traded for moves, like say Seto-kun only wants to move three but doesn t want to take the chance and roll, they can be used then.

She paused to allow him to absorb this information. He picked up the sticks, they felt cool and smooth in his hand. He could feel her watching him. He decided he would not allow it to bother him if he was going to stare at her for long intervals. Though he wondered why she would be staring like this.

What happens if you land on your opponent s square? He asked The token is bump him back to the previous position, they exchange places. She was abscently eating what might have been a date watching him look at all the pieces and the bord, as if his behavior was a novelty worthy of interest.

Does anything special or interesting happen when the lion gets in the RA circle. He could hear himself pronounce ra the same way she did. He scowled at himself.

Once the lion has communicated with Ra, it starts its journey back and EATS any marble it meets or passes. This One will go first.

He got on the board first, with no spare shinyat. She looked to a different part of the darkness and smiled softly Remises, upon seeing himself abandoned by his troops in battle against the Hittites prays to Amun: what ails thee, my father Amun? Is it a father s part to ignore his son? Have I don t anything without you, do I not walk and halt at your bidding? I have not disobeyed any course commanded by you. How great is the Lord of Kmt, to allow foreigners to draw in his path! What weight heavy on my heart, Oh Amun, for these Asiatics so vile and ignorant of God?

He wondered why she said this?
Maybe she was getting in the mood, or maybe she was having a side conversation with the people he couldn t see. He didn t like that she would talk to them more than she would him.

She cast again, getting on the board, with 12 moves. Bumping him, she was almost done with the first coil, whereas he had only made it five spaces. His next cast was a bit better and he ended up just two spaces behind her.

Next, she moved thirteen spaces. And even though he had accumulated 12 shinyat he was still at least a coil behind her. And then finally she landed on the hippo, and they exchanged places. Much to his surprise the game was simple, but exciting, you never knew when you were going to get bumped or land on a crocodile, or ankh or anything else for that matter. He won the game, much to his surprise. "Are there other games?" he asked excitedly. She leaned her head back and laughed, she had truly enjoyed playing the game, whether she won or not. This made her an ideal opponent. She looked behind her, then looked around, finally her eyes fell where ... (ever the person he couldn t see told her to look - his mind whispered. He told it to shut up) "There are 20 squares, Hounds and Jackals and senet."
"Can we try each one?" He asked, leaning forward.
She rewarded him with a happy and excited smile that made his stomach jump. Again, she leaned her head slightly to the side, as if she were listening to someone, as her eyes moved, as if she were watching someone (that he couldn t see)
"This One thinks..." she said as she stood up, walking in to the dark room. He followed, she did not burn a light, he could not see her, but herd her rummaging about. She came out with several objects he didn t understand.

Something scratched up his spine, he started at her back, certain she felt it too, she immediately ran to her pack, shoved the objects in, then took his hand, and they were running in the darkness.

It was only after they had passed through the long dark corridor that he heard a rumble like a blast. He felt the ground shake and the dust smack him in his eyes and nose. Rocks fell around them haphazardly. To his surprise, she shoved him down, coiling around him, as if she were Mehen, protecting him, even though his eyes were closed, he saw a potent white light. He did not want to see it. He wanted to think this was an effect of fear. But he heard something to, like a defiant roar. After what seemed forever, she stood up, pulling him back to the tomb they started in.

Immediately after their return, his Mom and Jenn ran in and rushed to the two children.
Oh I was so frightened, there was a cave-in where that idiot down the way is excavating, I was afraid here might have caved in too. The mothers smothered their children in worried hugs, while their fathers stood in the door way.
Now come, it was too far away to affect this place. Shizamaryu said You never know! Jenn said as she eyed her daughter s bag. Why don t you two clean up, we will all go out for dinner, there is this new restaurant near the bazaar I want to go to. I still have work to do. You go with out me. Shizamaryu grumbled wandering off. Seto saw that his father noticed that he and Tamery were covered in dust, pebbles and other debris. He had a feeling Father was going to lecture him.

Instead of going to the bazaar, they went to Giza, to eat at a restaurant where one could have a view of the pyramids. His father had indeed lectured him about being safe in ancient places, while his mother wore a secret smile, like she knew exactly what they had been up to. This bothered Seto, and reminded him of Tamery and her invisible people. As they walked toward the Giza complex after dinner, he thought to confront her about it. On the way he noticed that the local people avoided even her gaze and would grab their children out of her way. The people at the restaurant muttered when they saw her, just like the local people did, in a dark way. He thought she did a good job at pretending not to notice. When the got to the Main pyramid, she started climbing, like it was the natural thing to do, so he did as well. There were two people on either side of them, but when one of the assistants noticed it was her, he drew his hands back as if close proximity to her burnt him. Again, Tamery pretended not to notice. Seto jerked out of the grasp of his assistant, glowering, feeling his hostility and offense at the way everyone had been treating the odd girl leek out of glare of his eyes. The man stepped back in shock, as if Seto truly had hit him. You know, he started as they climbed you shouldn t look at them when they talk to you. Hu? she stopped for a second.
The people no one else sees but you. It makes you look a little crazy. She stared at him before hoisting herself up another level. Do you think I m crazy Seto-san? she asked in a rather formal manner.
He thought about it for a moment before catching up with her. You don t talk crazy or rant or rave. Does Seto-san think I m just seeing things? she asked, still being formal.
I don t know. I know you can see it, I can t but I don t know about these things, my father doesn t like them at all, but he never said you were crazy or a liar. It makes Seto-san uncomfortable. She stated, he didn t like that she was using the formal vernacular.
Yes, it does but, it s because, I don t know anything about them. She stared at him, as tourists climbed past, the moon fell upon her countenance, illuminating her skin. Her veil was on so he couldn t see her expression. He didn t want to insult? Her? He wanted to give her some other reason a good reason . And in the back of his mind there was an odd whisper that made him shiver.

He looked at her, I swore I would not just that I wouldn t use magick or He squirmed When? she asked in a demanding tone I I don t know. But its there! He knew his look pleaded for her to understand\
Yes, Seto-san, it is still there, that vow. Seto-san is forced to spend time with this one? her eyes glinted silver white that made his stomach shrink into his intestines.

No, that isn t what I was trying to say! I don t your not me, you never said you wouldn t do that stuff But you should tell them to stand near someone in the room so you don t look crazy. He finished feeling rather more far gone than lame.

She continued climbing. He felt like he was being an asshole. I mean, if I cant see them that means they . What did that mean? Well you can t be using your eyes to see them right? You don t have to look; you can just see them anyway. You don t always talk to them out loud do you Tamery! he surprised himself with the accusation, but it made sense. She stopped and watched as she let him catch up to her. He stopped and she stared into his eyes. For a minute he felt like there were worms in his brain.
Seto-san is right. Still formal, she continued to climb. As he followed her, he wondered what it was that caused all the locals reactions to her. It couldn t just be her habit of seeing people that were not there. There was where his mind was uneasy . If they weren t there, how did she know when to start running before the cave in? Seto didn t like this, so he made the conscious decision to completely ignore that aspect of his friend. It made things much easier.
He caught his breath when he reached the top, standing next to her. She held his hand, confirming that she had not been at all angry with him, but surprisingly, taking him very seriously. It was an odd sensation to know that. It was very windy, and her veil blew off, she made no move to catch it, and didn t seem to mind. He wondered if she would get hurt by those things at the end of her braids, if they came out of the band holding all her hair back.

How did she see in the dark like she did? She stared intently over the city and he wondered what she was thinking, which startled him, because he never wondered about that kind of thing in regards to other people before. Slowly, she turned her face to him, and nodded toward the base of the pyramid, and they began their descent.

Foot Notes -most of my quotes, and where I obtained digital versions of this game are here:
- .com/~