Phantom: Hi everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting! I have been a busy little beaver writing this weekend, but I wanted to ensure that I had enough material in the works, so I can give you updates more often! With that said, I'm going overseas in about two weeks, so if you don't get another update before then, I apologise profusely! T_T However…I am going to…..JAPAN! So, no doubt when I get back, I'll have LOTS of inspiration for future chapters! Hope you enjoy this one and, as always, let me know what you think!

La Danse Fatale

Chapter 21

xXx

"Come, Sahar! We must not keep His Majesty waiting!"

The palace, as I quickly came to find out, was colossal in every sense of the word. The cramped quarters in which I had been sleeping were exactly that—my quarters—and they were one among many small compartments that housed other servants of the palace. Atem's in-house staff included cooks, maids, gardeners, farmers and entertainers. Through the tiny window in my confined quarters, I was able to cast my eye across the city of Thebes, and what looked to be the construction of a great temple.

The city itself was walled, and water-tight moats surrounded the outer perimeters, serving as secondary protection against would-be invaders. In the far-off distance, if I craned my neck far enough out the window, I could see the great Temple of Karnak, which gave me a vague indication of the period of time I was in, as well as my geographical location. Indeed, when I had been sucked into the time portal, I had at least remained in the same part of Egypt.

This part of the palace was only a fraction of the whole complex, however, and I was struggling to comprehend the size of it all. The northern wing—being the coolest side of the palace—was where the Pharaoh and his Royal Council resided, together with the great hall, throne room and the balcony, where Atem would make his public appearances from. The southern wing housed the likes of people like Mana and myself, and the east wing was—apparently—where the prison and the stables were to be found.

Behind the enormous gates that shut out the common-folk and separated the city from the palace itself, housed the Pharaoh's military in a purpose-built barracks—the first line of defence, should the palace be somehow penetrated. Finally, a maze of lush gardens, ponds, fountains and sculptures sprawled almost as far as the eye could see, toward the north, affording Atem and his council stunning views of the gardens, and the Nile Valley beyond.

Mana had come to awaken me from my rest just after sunset, bringing with her a beautiful outfit consisting of Grecian-style gown made from pure white silk, papyrus sandals and a stunning carnelian, gold and lapis lazuli necklace. Mana, herself, looked exquisite in a pale turquoise, silk wrap-dress. A gold headdress with a scarab beetle appendage adorned her dark tresses, like a scintillating gold halo. No sooner had Mana placed a beaded headdress on my head and applied some kohl around my eyes, and we were off—hurrying down the vast, colonnaded corridors of the palace.

"Mana, please, slow down!" I shouted after the young magician.

She spun around. "I'm sorry! Are you alright?"

"Yes, I just…I don't really know what to expect, tonight. I have so many questions…"

"I guess your memory is still a bit hazy, huh?"

"I guess so…" I replied, touching my collarbone anxiously. "What is this festival all about, tonight?"

"Tonight, we are holding the festival of Nehebkau." She looked at me as if I should already know what that was. When I only looked at her blankly, she continued. "Nehebkau is a benevolent snake God who protects the Pharaohs and all the inhabitants of Egypt. He has the power to connect the Ka and the Ba to the Khat. High Priest Seth called for this celebration tonight, because he has a special demonstration for us!"

Seth? I thought. Could that be…Kaiba!? Well, this ought to be interesting…

"What do you think it will be?"

"I personally believe he is going to show us what power the Millennium Items are capable of." Mana replied, bouncily. "The Priests have been training for many months now, how to wield the items and harness their power, properly. I feel High Priest Seth has something very special to show us!"

I instantly felt on edge as we made our way into the throne room. Lo and behold, there he was in all of his shining, blue-and-gold glory—the incarnate of Seto Kaiba himself, High Priest Seth of Upper and Lower Egypt. So finely dressed was he—adorned in swathes of blue, cream and gold silk, resting against skin the colour of amber honey—that I felt myself go literally weak at the knees. His trademark blue eyes stood out in contrast against the hue of his complexion, like sparkling topaz gems. His mere presence had me bewitched.

Once I was able to tear my eyes away from him, I noticed the whole royal entourage was present—Isis, Mahad, Shada, Shimon, Karim and Aknadin, if I wasn't mistaken—all standing humbly by Pharaoh Atem's side, who looked like an Egyptian God himself, bedecked as he was in all his royal finery. Together, all lined up like that, they created quite the visual spectacle. Never before had I been in the presence of so many exquisite people!

My eyes connected with Atem's spell-binding crimson-violet orbs, as Mana and I entered the hall, but there was not even the remotest shimmer of recognition, behind them. For that, I was strangely grateful. To be anonymous in this world somehow seemed like it would be an asset, rather than a liability.

A faint smile graced Atem's lips as Mana and I bowed before him, paying our respects, and made our way across the floor to join Mahad's side. There were many other people gathered around, swilling back goblets of wine and socialising, looking to be having a swell time. Several of the guests looked distinctly exotic and were quite possibly from other lands. I was later to learn that they were royal visitors and distant relations from other parts of Egypt.

Young, scantily-clad women danced or played lyres softly at the fringes of the hall, and—to my utter surprise and terror—several live, exotic animals lay alongside them, among them being a cheetah and a black panther, yet they appeared to be placid. Alongside the giant colonnades that separated the throne room from the balcony, was a long table adorned with a spectacular feast—quite literally—fit for a king.

Standing with Mahad and Shimon was an elderly gentleman, who I assumed to be Sage Qar. He was a small man, slightly hunched over, and held a staff to stay upright, but there was kindliness and wisdom in his pale, milky blue eyes, which shone like stars in his russet face.

"I understand you had an incident with the fountain earlier, young one?" he chuckled in an ancient timbre, as I went to stand by his side.

I blushed. "Indeed…Master," I replied, wondering how to properly address him. "It was a most shameful accident. I shall be more careful, next time."

Out the corner of my eye, I noticed Shimon nod subtly to High Priest Seth, who then nodded in response, as if taking his cue. Seth then cleared his throat to capture the attention of the audience.

"People of Egypt!"

His deep voice boomed against the limestone walls, and I was momentarily surprised at how much he actually sounded like Kaiba. There was a softness to his tone, though, unlike the ruthless sarcasm that I was used to, from his modern-day incarnate. I decided it was pleasantly refreshing.

"On behalf of Pharaoh Atem and his royal subjects, I welcome you to the Royal Palace of Thebes. Many of you have travelled far and wide, and for this, we are humbled. Tonight, we will celebrate the mighty snake God, Nehebkau, and his unique ability to bind the Ka and the Ba to the Khat. There will be demonstrations of magic that you will need to see to believe! For now, however, we will honour Nehebkau in merriment. Let us feast!"

As if on cue, the dancers, singers and musicians stepped up the tempo, to liven up the atmosphere. All of the royal guests were ushered to the long table, and wasted no time in making short work of the feast laid out before them. I tried to remain inconspicuous—feeling like nothing short of an imposter—moving with Mana, Mahad and Sage Qar toward the table. Atem took his seat at one end, and the royal council sat next to him in an ascending order, with High Priest Seth at his right hand.

The following couple of hours—or what I assumed were a couple of hours, given that I now existed in an era before modern chronometry—played out how one might assume a banquet out of Classical Greek mythology, might. Servants came and went with trays of bounty, nectar from fruit of the vine and beer flowed seemingly without end. Dancing girls rolled their bodies and gyrated their hips to the cadence of the music, in a way that seemed utterly and shamelessly erotic—even to me, being a former dancer, myself. I felt my cheeks flush, watching them, but perhaps it was just the wine beginning to take effect.

"My dear, you are quiet. Are you troubled?"

I snapped back to attentiveness, turning to the elderly man at my side. "Oh…n-no, Master. I'm fine."

"Such a shy one," he chuckled. "You must watch your back, around the quiet ones."

"Why do you say that?"

He smiled knowingly at me. "Still waters run deep, my child."

I flushed, having heard that saying before, although not applied to me, personally. After all, I was, for the most part, an extrovert—given my love for the stage—but not in the conventional sense. When it came to social situations, being in the limelight made me feel acutely nauseous.

"I am just feeling a little awestruck, Master."

"Indeed, many of the nobility are here, tonight." The sage replied, wisely. "It is not often so many of our esteemed members of society are gathered in one place."

"Who are they all?"

"That man with the tall hat on at the end is the Vizier of Alexandria." Sage Qar whispered. "The young lady with the golden rings around her neck, is next in line to the Nubian throne. She is here to talk trade and peace, with the Pharaoh and his council."

There was so much more I was yearning to ask this man, but sensed that now was not the time—not with so many other people around. Perhaps I could glean some more information out of Mana, later on. I needed to find out as much as possible, if I was somehow to escape from this place, and find Malik, Ryou and Bakura. So, for the time being, I decided to remain quiet and observe the people around me—starting at the top:

Atem—like his past—or would that be future?—self, appeared to be much like how I remembered him: unassuming, mature, gentle and kind—listening to his subjects with interest, and speaking only when called for. His words, however few, were both meaningful and mindful.

Seth, sitting at Atem's right hand, ensured that the attention was on him, for the most part—much like his modern day counterpart. His mannerisms—though precise and methodical—were thoughtful, and he spoke with an intelligence that inadvertently made his underlings feel somewhat inferior.

There was not, however, the same bitter undertone in his nuances, that Kaiba so readily possessed and wilfully exercised. The one glaring difference between Seth and Kaiba, I deduced, was that Seth had no reason to be resentful of Atem—yet, anyway. Is this was what Kaiba might have been like, if he had never met or known Yuugi? Probably not, I figured. He would likely still be a self-absorbed egomaniac.

Sitting next to Seth, was Isis. Malik's sister. Or rather…Malik's sister's past self. It was uncanny how identical they looked. They even had the same name! If Isis was the holder of the Millennium Tauk, then how come she did not seal her spirit into the item, the same way Bakura had? Come to think of it, why had Atem, Bakura and Marik been the only ones that had done that? Did the other items not possess that kind of power? Perhaps the situation never called for it. Furthermore, how did Marik end up getting his hands on Seth's Millennium Rod? That was going to take some investigating…which I had a sinking feeling I was going to find out about, rather soon.

Perhaps the other Royal Council members had died without being given that chance…I thought, shivering as a queer chill ran down my spine, in the knowledge that I was effectively having dinner with people who were all already thousands of years dead.

Next to Isis, was Mahad—Master spellcaster and necromancer of the highest order. If what Yuugi claimed to be was true…then I was currently sitting opposite the Dark Magician in his originally human form. That I was sitting down to dinner with dead people and duel monsters was almost enough to make my head explode. Was this really happening!? I pinched my wrist.

Yep, still here.

Sable, you've just travelled three-thousand years into the past, have re-entered your past life's body, have taken up residence as some kind of pseudo-medicine woman with amnesia, and your mission is to find Bakura's past self and kill Marik's past self, to save Malik from a life of eternal misery.

Riiiiight.

Nothing should surprise me anymore, right?

Moving right along.

Aknadin, the creepy bearded guy with the Millennium Eye, was seated beside Mahad. Nothing of great interest to note there, oh—except that he was supposedly Seth's father and would one day attempt to destroy the ancient world as we once knew it, so his son—who had no idea he was his son—could fraudulently boot his cousin off the throne, and rule over Egypt, without more ado.

Yeeeaaahhh.

The guy was a nutjob.

But I couldn't tell them that, could I?

To my right, was Mana, the young lady who had helped me out of the pond and who I could consider to be my only friend in this world, so far. Once again, if I was to believe Yuugi and the others' accounts of their own adventure back to this time, then that meant that Mana…was one day going to be reincarnated as the Dark Magician Girl. I glanced surreptitiously at her, and then thought about the duel monster card that resided in Yuugi's deck. She had gotten him out of some tight spots on more than one occasion—together with the Dark Magician. They certainly made a formidable duo, in the duelling arena.

Through the course of the evening, I had caught Mana stealing glances at her Master. Every so often, he would catch her eye and smile back, at her. The chemistry between them was plain to see, and I wondered if their relationship was more than simply pupil and master, or if I was making premature assumptions. Mahad surely had to be a good five years older than Mana, at least—if not ten. Not that there was anything wrong with that—especially not in this age, where girls as young as eleven or twelve were married off to men twice their age and started having babies at fourteen. In that respect, Mana was ripe for childbearing.

If I was to hazard a guess at Mahad's age, I figured him to be between twenty-two and twenty-five. Atem appeared to be around the age of eighteen; I would have put Seth at twenty; Isis twenty-three, Shada and Karim in their mid- to late-twenties; Aknadin, perhaps in his forties, and Shimon in his fifties or sixties—which was a ripe old age, for this time period. And me? Well, I guessed I was about sixteen or seventeen, but who the hell was to know? Did people even record their ages, in this time?

Bringing up the end of the line-up across from me, were Shimon, Karim and Shada, of whom I knew next to nothing about—although Shimon did look uncannily like Yuugi's Grandpa. Why this surprised me, I couldn't tell you. Did that mean that Shimon was Atem's Grandfather? And if so, wouldn't that have meant that he had been the Pharaoh, once removed? Was he King Aknamkanon's father? Hmm…I may need to revisit that, I surmised, filing that particular hypothesis away, for later reading.

I vaguely recalled Ryou telling me about Shada, a long time ago. Shada—apparently also known as Shadi—was, as Ryou had put it, the "Guardian of the Millennium Items" and was able to enter the realm of the living, despite being a disembodied spirit. I glanced at the aknh pendant hanging from Shada's neck—the sacrosanct "Key to Everlasting Life". I assumed that the mystical item was what gave him the power to move between the planes of existence. But why? Did he know that history was going to repeat itself? Had High Priestess Isis foreseen the events of Battle City, three thousand years before it even happened!?

"Bring in the prisoner!"

I just about jumped out of my skin, as Seth's authoritative voice wrenched me out of my inner monologue. Having been more zoned out than I realised, I came to see that the guests had now focused their attention on Seth, Aknadin, Shada and Karim, who had all left the table to begin what I guessed was going to be this "demonstration" that Mana had spoken of, earlier.

I felt bile rise in my throat as two guards brought in a man, bound at the ankles by shackles.

Thank God it's not Bakura…

They threw him down unceremoniously at Seth's feet, and I noticed that he only had one hand.

"This man is a career criminal—a repeat offender of the most abhorred kind." Seth declared in revulsion. "As you can see, the loss of his hand has not kept him from stealing."

"Please! Have mercy!" the man cried. "I only wanted to feed my family!"

"Don't allow his lying tongue to fool you!" Seth boomed. "This man has spent his whole life wheeling and dealing in the illegal trade of horse theft—stealing prize steeds from established breeders and selling them on to the Berbers!"

There were collective gasps of betrayal from the audience, at the word 'Berbers'.

"He has no family to speak of." Seth continued. "His soul is as black as Anubis Himself!"

"No! It's not true! Please…I beg of you!" the man wailed, eyes wide with terror.

"Watch now, as we commence the Weighing of the Heart ritual," Aknadin ignored the man's pleading. "Priest Karim, please—come forward with your Millennium Scales!"

Karim stepped forward with the enchanted item. "I will now weigh the prisoner's sins against the Feather of Ma'at." The scale began to fluctuate, and finally, the side that did not hold the feather, tilted downward, and stayed there. "This man has been judged," Karim concluded. "He has an unspeakable darkness in his heart!"

"With the power of the Millennium Eye and the Millennium Ankh, we will now prove to you that this criminal is no longer worthy of walking this world!" Aknadin stepped forward, his Millennium Eye beginning to glow, ominously. "There is an evil that lies within this man, and it must be extricated!"

"We will now reveal the man's Ka!" Seth grinned maniacally, and I couldn't help but think he looked just like Kaiba, with that same irritating, power-hungry smirk. Damn, I was just starting to think he was alright, too…

I shielded my eyes as a blinding white light filled the great hall, as Aknadin and Shada both invoked the power of their Items, to look within the depths of the man's soul.

"Show yourself, demon!" Aknadin roared.

The prisoner cried out in agony and dropped to the floor. As the light faded, a frightful beast rose up and out of the man's mouth. The creature, I realised, looked like a duel monster—one that I had recalled seeing in Marik's deck a long time ago! It bore the resemblance of a giant red scorpion, and there was no chance of it being a hologram—not if we were 3,000 years in the past!

The giant thing drew gasps from the crowd, as guests fled from their seats and clung to each other in abject terror. I glanced at Mana, who was gazing up at the monster with round eyes, awestruck. She might be a magician in training, I thought, but she probably hasn't seen something in the likes of this before…

"This criminal harbours the evil spirit of Serkhet!" Shada cried, still holding the ankh up to it, in the same fashion a Priest might with a cross. I smiled wryly, in the realisation that the inception of Christianity was still 1,500 years in the future.

"We will now banish this monster forever, and this criminal will be no more!" Seth hollered, raising the Millennium Rod up to the creature. "Be gone, creature of the dark!"

The scorpion-like beast was engulfed in a bright light, emanating from the Rod, as Seth cast it—against its own volition—across the throne room, and banished it into a waiting stone tablet. The criminal that once harboured the dark entity choked out one final, strangulated gasp, and then lay still. I didn't need to guess that the extraction had killed him, and I thought I was going to vomit. The guards dragged the corpse away, as the audience was hushed into stunned silence at the spectacle that had just unfolded before their very eyes.

Seth paced the room, gazing at the horrified faces looking back at him. "The darkness harboured within that man was fuelled by his greed, arrogance and hatefulness of the world. Now, that darkness has been sealed into stone, unable to be released—but for the power of the Millennium Items. His light fingers will no longer worry the horse merchants of our lands.

"If all criminals are brought to justice in this way, we will live in a time of peace and prosperity. My Pharaoh…" Seth then got down on one knee before his king. "Do you approve?"

Oh Kaiba, I thought, with an inward chuckle. If only you could see yourself, right now, bowing on one knee before Yuugi…

Atem stood abruptly from his throne. "Seth…that man was a petty thief! Not a murderer!"

Seth's face fell. "But, Your Majesty…I wished only to make an example out of him. That man had been a bane on society, for many years!"

"That may be so," Atem replied, disappointment evident in his voice. "but his punishment was far beyond what he deserved, for his crime. From this moment on, I will be the one to decide a prisoner's fate. Is that perfectly understood?"

"Yes…Your Majesty." Seth replied grimly and bowed his head, taking his place back with the rest of the council.

Once again, Kaiba, you just got your ass handed to you, by Yuugi. I thought, with a laugh. I guess somethings really do never change…

"Very well." Atem nodded. "Shimon, please see to it that this is recorded in scribe. Only those who are proven murderers or rapists, or have committed other suchlike heinous crime, shall be fit for this punishment."

Shimon bowed humbly. "So it is said, so it shall be done, Your Highness."

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold…"

"Yes, Aknadin? You may speak."

"Our demonstration with the Millennium Items is one of many ways that may prove to be a powerful tool, against our enemies—those that wish to do us harm." he said, addressing the Pharaoh, as well as the guests at large. "What if there is one such enemy among us, right now?"

This drew gasps from the crowd. Rumours had been swirling of skirmishes with the Berbers to the west, over land, for some time, as I had learnt through the course of the evening. Or, perhaps he was referring to the Nubians, to the south. I had a sinking feeling, it was neither.

"We all know that there is always one bad apple," Aknadin continued, studying the faces of his spectators. "You cannot say that every person in your presence right now is pure of heart, can you, my Pharaoh? What if one of us has ill intentions? What if it was…her!" Aknadin pointed an accusing finger at a portly woman in the audience, who looked mortally offended. "No? What about…him!" the man he pointed to looked terror-stricken, shaking his head frantically.

Atem, I noticed, chose to remain silent, his forehead knotted into a disconcerted frown.

Aknadin scanned the crowd with his one seeing eye…and fell upon me. He raised a quaking finger at me. "…you!"

I gazed back at him impassively. I have nothing to hide, I thought. So, let's dance!

"Come now, Aknadin, she is but a child!" Sage Qar raised his gravelly voice, in objection.

"Quiet, old man! This girl is radiating evil; I can sense it!" he shouted, with a lustful gleam in his one good eye. "For this, I must search her soul!"

"No! She is an oracle! She must not be harmed!"

Before anyone could stop him, Aknadin invoked the power of his Millennium Eye, shooting out a beam of light in my direction. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough in my descent to the ground, and it hit me directly in the shoulder. I cried out, feeling momentarily electrocuted, and fell backward. An excruciating, probing sensation behind my eyes caused me to clutch onto my head and I reared up onto my knees, screaming in agony.

"Aaaargh! Oh God! The pain!" I shrieked, and through the miasma of unrelenting agony, I realised I had somehow lapsed into English.

"This girl speaks with the tongue of Osiris!" Aknadin cried. "Shada! Use the Ankh! Now!"

Finally, the vice-like grip on my head evaporated, and I noticed Shada advancing toward me. "No! Get back!" I screamed. "Don't come near me, you psychotic wizard!"

Shada said, somewhat apologetically, "This will not hurt."

He placed the key-like object up to my forehead. I closed my eyes fearfully, expecting another wave of agony to hit me, but there was…nothing. Instead, strange images began to form in my mind's eye—visions of lions pacing to and fro, seemingly irritable, then being provoked by unseen forces. Finally, they sprung to attack…

"Gods, have mercy!" Shada gasped and fell backward onto the marble floor. "A powerful Ka resides within this one, indeed!"

"My instinct proves correct!" Aknadin gloated. "Now, SHOW YOURSELF, BEAST!"

Aknadin and Shada jointly combined the power of their Millennium Items, and once again streams of bedazzling light were cast in my direction. In that instant, a strangely euphoric sensation came over me. I felt like I was floating off the ground, or being gently held, by an unseen pair of arms. The light from the Millennium Items was randomly intercepted, causing it to rebound off a pillar. I lay there, wide-eyed and apparently levitating, unable to move, as a gargantuan shape rose up from the depths of my soul.

Swathed in blood-red silk and dripping in gold and jewels, stood a creature like nothing I had ever seen before. The horrified faces and shocked cries of the audience, was testament to the fact that the terrifying creature was a known force to be reckoned with. Gazing up with round eyes, I could only describe the being as a lioness that had somehow fused with a woman's body—taking on the form of an anthropomorphic-feline hybrid.

A golden halo, with a rearing cobra in the front, encircled her huge lioness head, and within it—the solar disk, burning brightly like a mini sun. The lioness-woman—whom I was oddly unafraid of—had eyes that glowed like seething embers, her tail slashing from side to side, agitatedly. Casting a looming shadow above the humans below—trembling feebly, in her presence—she unsheathed her claw-tipped paws behind her, and let out an ear-splintering roar, ringing the very heavens above.

"WHO…DISTURBS…MY…SLUMBER…?!"

xXx

Phantom: XD I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist chucking in that reference (or ending this chapter on a cliffhanger—muahahaha!). Let me know if you can guess (or remember) where it's from! See you next time!