The three, yami's now, faced each other. Red eyes closed in complete concentration as they began to jointly cast the spells they would need. Their items, Puzzle, Ring, and Rod, each began to glow, then shine, finally bursting into a light so brilliant that everyone watching threw up arms or hands to shield their eyes.
The light vanished abruptly after several long minutes, leaving three very changed individuals in its wake. One in the royal robes and jewels of Ancient Egypt, a heavy circlet with the golden wings of Ra over his ears, and the Sennen Eye of Darkness over his own mystical third eye; the other two clothed and turbaned as merchants or minor lords might be, one in the tans of the desert, the other in outrageous reds under his flung-back, tan outer robe.
Their flowing robes fluttered in the brisk air currents their transformation had caused to whip around the room. The Pharaoh turned and faced the Stargate, gesturing at the Iris which spiraled immediately open. Pools of purple-blue tinted blackness formed at their feet, inky wisps reaching up to caress as far as their knees, except for the Pharaoh. On the Pharaoh, the dark tendrils wrapped lovingly around his waist, and up along his arms to the shoulders. The light seemed to dim as the shadows strengthened and enveloped the base of the Stargate.
The murmur of many voices could then be heard, growing stronger, yet remaining indistinct and wordless to the outside watchers.
"Systems activated Sir." Even though the Sergeant had spoken quietly, he sounded unnaturally loud. The Stargate gained momentum and was soon spinning at full speed.
It paused, and to the amazement of all, two chevrons locked into place simultaneously. The ring of symbols was spinning again before the Sergeant could comment. "Chevrons One and Two, locked…"
Chevron three locked a moment later, the darkness in the room pulsing strongly as it continued to coax the Stargate to life. When the fourth symbol locked, the command room's observation window began to vibrate, resonating strongly with the pulse and rhythm of the chanting. "Get something to brace that window!"
Hastily padded bracers were brought in as Chevrons Five and Six locked simultaneously and the darkness deepened, filling the room as it seemed to feed and flow from and around the three men inside the Gate room.
The watchers could barely see the Stargate now, the three inside mere lights shining within the greater darkness, just as stars shine through the vast darkness of space. "Chevron Seven, locked…"
The Sergeant trailed off as his instruments indicated that the Gate had not yet formed the wormhole, and the darkness deepened, licking along the observation window greedily. "Searching for Chevron Eight Sir… Chevron Eight locked and encoded, Stargate activated and stable."
The inky darkness that had filled the Gate room suddenly vanished, leaving the three young men standing and staring at the softly glowing event horizon. Their clothes and appearance had returned to what they had worn that morning, but the three pairs of red eyes that stared so coolly at the first soldier to enter when the blast door opened gave evidence that the yamis were still in control.
"All right people, let's get the MALP moving! SG-1, you have a go. Godspeed." At General Hammond's words, they leapt into action – running down the stairs and into the Gate room.
"Let's do this right people!" Col. O'Neill called out loudly as people poured in from the still-opening doors. SG-3 ran through the gate in order to secure the gate and DHD from the far end. "Well boys, time to go."
His words snapped the three from their trance, and they stepped slowly up to the gently undulating surface. Yami reached up and tapped it gently, the ripples that resulted bringing a delighted light to his eyes and a small grin.
"I said, it's time to go." Col. O'Neill spoke directly behind them. When they didn't move after another moment, he nudged them into the Gate. "We'll call home soon Dad."
"Just stay out of trouble Colonel." Their friendly banter cut off as Jack stepped into the Stargate.
- - -
Col. O'Neill stepped down from the dais, the Stargate winking out behind him. He lowered his sunglasses over his eyes as he looked around at the semi-desolate plateau they had arrived on. Sand-colored rocks outlined a path, and it appeared as if someone had made an attempt at desert landscaping; artful clumps of cacti were dotted here and there along the path.
"SG-3, set up base camp. I want to get home when this is all over with." He began walking down the path with the rest of SG-1 and the trio of avatars in the middle, red eyes exploring everything they could see. "We're going exploring. I'll call you in, oh, say two hours. If you don't hear from us, get your asses home."
Col. O'Neill spun just as the leader of SG-3 opened his mouth to protest. "No arguments now. Just go."
"Yes Sir." They both knew that this was one order that was frequently ignored – and would be again if necessary.
They strolled along unhurriedly, the path leading to the edge of the plateau, then winding down a fairly steep trail. The desert seemed to stretch off as far as they could see, all barren desolate tan, save for a tiny patch of green near the bottom. Their descent soon brought them into this oasis.
Tall date palm and low brush gave off a faint pungent, but not entirely unpleasant smell in the heat. A fair-sized, shallow pool lay like a brilliant star sapphire, and in the center, a carved stele stood. Twice as tall as Teal'c, it was completely covered with Egyptian hieroglyphs, the lowest ones over halfway covered with water. Crowning it was an oversized Wadjet eye, in what appeared to be gold.
They gathered at the edge of the pool, backing up a few steps when the ground began to sink, squishing beneath their feet. Curiosity gained the upper hand with Yami, Daniel and the other two yami's; the four beginning to read the stele aloud in the language it was written.
They had managed the first two lines when a brilliant shaft of white light shot out from the eye. It swiftly touched each member of their party within the oasis, causing them to fall immediately insensible…
- - -
Two figures appeared as they walked out of the obelisk and across the surface of the water. "Three have awakened Ba, my brother."
"It has been a long time since Osiris sent us ones such as these."
"These others… only one is Jaffa… and he does not belong to Osiris."
"Perhaps… we shall see…"
Atemu awoke, slowly becoming aware he was laying, quite uncomfortably, on something incredibly smooth, cold and very hard. A shaped block of what felt to be the same material supported his neck and held his head still. A painfully bright light blinded him as he attempted opening his eyes. He groaned.
"One is awake brother."
"Send him back to sleep. It is still far too soon." The whispered voices hurt his ears horribly, and Atemu groaned again before losing consciousness.
- - -
Yuugi awoke slowly to the sensation of something cool and damp on his forehead. For some reason, he felt very stiff, sore and as if his head had been packed full with wet cotton. Even thinking took too much effort, and hurt besides.
Someone began humming very softly. The tune was unfamiliar, but soothing, and it made his head feel better. Tenderly, gently, it lulled him back to sleep.
A.N. I just wanted to thank everyone for reviewing and apologize for the necessarily short chapter, and long author note. I didn't think that this story would garner so many reviews... Hopefully I am keeping the characters (at least Stargate's) true to themselves, although I know the YGO pairs are a little off. Now in future chapters, I'm taking some (well, a lot) of artistic license with the Egyptian gods, hopefully I won't offend anyone. (Oh, and I'd love a couple cute little plot bunnies! I had a good idea for Bazu-chan's April Fic Rush, but I can't seem to make it work!)
So much to do… so little time…
:Bows humbly to receive thumps of constructive criticism: Now those are the type of reviews I like to see! Thank you all so much! I sometimes add an intentional error to see if anyone notices, but neither one was one of them… although my one paper from class has a symbol marked "du" which is a "tsu" with two lines… I'll have to ask my sensei when I see her next. And the corrections to the pairs of eyes have been made :blushes hotly: I really should have caught that one!
Regarding the words, I did look both of them up in 3 different dictionaries… All 3 said 'sugoi' was 'horrible' as the primary definition… But we all know how words change with the years…just look at the word 'gay' as an example! NO ONE says "a gay time was had by all" anymore. (gay meaning happy/fun here)
And, for those of you who are just dying and begging for translations, I am considering it. But think about this first:
(both in Chpt.5) Yuugi and his friends are in the other room making a LOT of noise while his Grandpa is trying to have a civilized conversation in another language… What would ANY parent say?
And Daniel was wondering if Yuugi understood what he was saying, only to be brought up short by Yuugi looking straight at him and replying "Hai." And doesn't it seem strange that with all the noise of the plane that Daniel has to shout, but Yuugi just seems to speak quietly? HINT HINT HINT
:gets hold of herself, bows deeply in apology: Forgive my last declaration. I have hints and foreshadowing throughout the story, and there is a reason for having Yuugi be the way he is, and for having the Japanese in there. If I knew Ancient Egyptian, or even Coptic, I'd be sticking that in there too… it would make the story so much better!
:Bows deeply again: Arigatoo gozaimasu minna-san!
