BG: Ok, I'm taking a break from humor, and I'm gonna write this story. This is a re-write of "Hotaru's Secret", with a new title, plot, and basically new thing all together. Hope you guys like it! ^_^
~*~ = flashback
~-~ = dream
\ = hikari to yami
\\ = yami to hikari
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Skyscrapers and short, box-like houses zipped by the limousine's windows. It was close to eleven o'clock, and the lights in the buildings were like fireflies against the night sky. Yumiko looked out the window and sighed. She had seen downtown Cairo many times, but not under such circumstances. She remembered the call she had gotten from the Egyptian president quite well. He had been quite frantic when he told her the situation. It scared her to know that strange things were underfoot.
~*~*~*~*~
"The phone is for you, princess."
"Thank you, Kaoru." She took the phone from her faithful personal assistant. From the look in his eyes, something was wrong. She sat down on the hotel bed, and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Princess Yumiko?"
"This is she." She instantly recognized the voice. It belonged to her long and faithful friend, President Yanhamu from Egypt. "What is it, Mr. President?"
"Oh, princess. I'm so glad I got a hold of you before you left back for the moon. Things are going so bad here…I…"
"It's going to be ok, don't worry. What is going wrong?" The princess had never seen her friend like this. He was always so calm and controlling. He had a certain commanding air about him. But from the sound of his voice, she could tell that something had gone terribly wrong.
"Oh, it's horrible. I can't tell you over the phone. You must come to Cairo, quickly! Only your knowledge of the ancient times can help us now."
"I have another peace conference tomorrow, afterwards I will be able to help you."
"There's no time! You must come, now!"
Yumiko was shocked at his tone of voice. He usually was so calm in the face of danger. She wondered what was so horrible that demanded her presence there, right at that moment. "I'll leave for Egypt immediately. I must leave for the airport."
"There is a private jet waiting for you there already. Come soon, please!"
Yumiko smiled, Yanhamu never missed a thing. "I'll come. But I must get off the phone now. I will see you in Cairo. Good bye."
"Good bye."
The moon princess put the phone down, a look of slight fear in her eyes. What was going on in Egypt? She told Kaoru that he must take her place at the conference she was to have the next morning, and that she had to leave for Egypt right then. She then was driven to the airport, where the waiting jet whisked her off to Cairo.
~*~*~*~*~
The limo made another turn, and the palace was looming off in the distance. Yumiko's brown eyes scanned the landscape of one of her favorite places in the world. She feared the worst, though, for she knew of the ancient prophesies, and she hoped to herself that they were not the problem.
The palace was closer now, as Yumiko's mind slipped into the past. Living for millenniums has its perks, she thought, for she could remember things from so long ago. She thought of ancient Egypt, and all its wonders. She remembered when the pyramids were finished, and when the mighty sphinx was created. She had been so small then. Her mind then drifted to the reign of the pharaoh who had created the shadow games. His deep crimson eyes could pierce through stone, right to a person's soul. She was very young when he ruled, but remembered him vividly. Him and his hair that reminded her of spear points. As a joke, she always called him "spear head" when they were small. They were great childhood friends, always inseparable. The moon and Egypt were great allies. Until the Day of Great Shadows came.
The limo pulling to a stop jerked her out of her memory trip. She shook her head slightly, awakening herself from her mind. She stepped out of the car, her skin-tight dress falling back into place. She walked quickly to the president's innermost room, where only certain people were allowed. Not waiting for her escorts, Yumiko threw the great marble doors open, rapidly walking in.
Yanahmu rose from his great wooden desk. He glanced at the princess face, the moon crest on her forehead glinted in the light. He was trembling with anxiety, for what he had always feared of was coming true.
"Princess Yumiko, you're finally here," his voice was trembling with the same emotions as his mind. She was the only one who could help.
"President Yanahmu, what is the matter?" This was quite an informal question, but being close friends gave her the leisure of talking however she wanted to.
"The prophecies are coming true."
"What? But, how…?"
"An archeologist stumbled upon the tomb and accidentally opened it up. The nation is on full alert."
"How? The tomb was locked and sealed with much magic. The only person who could have opened it is long dead now." A slight twinge of sadness filled her voice, as she again remembered the pharaoh with those lovely eyes.
"I don't know, your highness, but it has happened. And only your knowledge can save Egypt, and the world now." He hoped that she was up to the challenge. He feared greatly for his country, but for the safety of his friend, too.
She looked straight into his eyes, with a burning fire in them. "I will go. Let's leave quickly."
Yanhamu smiled inwardly. Yumiko was always one to jump into things. But he knew that the longer the problem persisted, the longer the world was in danger. "I'll take you to my dune buggy."
Yumiko looked at him funny. He smiled, "Limos can't drive over sand, your highness, you know that." She smiled, and he took her arm, and they walked to the presidential garage.
As they climbed into the back of the dune buggy, she wondered how in the world she was going to complete her mission. She had never, in all her years of ruling the moon come across a threatening situation such as this. As the dune buggy took off towards the site of the dig, she attempted to calm herself without much avail. The only person who could destroy the ancient evil was dead, and she teared up thinking that the mission bestowed upon her was impossible without his help.
The dune buggy bounced on, Yumiko's long black hair flowing out behind her. The site of the dig grew close, and Yumiko could feel the ancient evil presence, without even having to see it. Yanhamu looked over at her and saw a glint in her eye. He knew she could sense the evil; she was always good at that. He just hoped that the ancient evil would not kill off his one and only true friend.
They arrived at the dig, and Yumiko told Yanhamu that she had to go into the tomb alone. She would not risk her friends well being for something he could not control. She slowly descended down the old stone steps, cracking and breaking from old age. Near the end of the stairs, she could see a deep purple light emitting from something in the chamber. As she reached the bottom, she saw it. A portal to the shadow realm. It was like a small hole sliced through time and space itself. Purple light was shining from it, and what looked like bolts of lightning were coming through it. Yumiko approached it cautiously, but a large, booming voice stopped her advancing.
"You can help me with my mission, princess."
Yumiko swallowed a scream. "Who are you?"
The evil voice snickered. "You don't remember me? You should, seeing how you saw me almost take over Egypt so many years ago." The princess could sense a hint of resentment in the voice. "The creatures almost had destroyed Egypt! Then that stupid pharaoh had to sacrifice himself and save his beloved country." The last part of the sentence had sarcasm dripping from it. But then the memory registered in Yumiko's mind.
The Day of Great Shadows.
~*~*~*~*~
"What is happening?" screamed a young Yumiko. "Yugioh, help me!"
A young man rushed over to save her from a falling stone. He pushed her out of the way of the crushing death. As they both fell to the ground, the pharaoh looked over outside, and saw the enemy coming with great speed. The sky overhead was growing blacker and blacker each minute. He stood up and said with hatred in his voice, "Shoshenq. He's finally done it." Then, the pharaoh's eyes filled with deep sorrow, knowing what he had to do.
"Come on, Yumiko. We have to go." He pulled his friend up, and with her hand in his, they ran across the courtyard to the temple, where the nations only defense lay waiting. Yugioh busted the doors open and ran to the table that had on it seven items made of gold with the eye of Horus on them all.
Yumiko did not understand. "How will these save us?" The pharaoh turned around and looked straight at her, eyes filled with sadness and tearing fast. "You must not see this," he told her. "I'm…," Yumiko held a finger up to his lips. "Don't tell me, save Egypt." She looked at his eyes, and tears flowed from her deep brown orbs as she stared at him. "Good bye," were the last words she heard from his lips as he ran back inside the temple. He picked up the item that resembled a puzzle, chanted something in Egyptian, and the item glowed with a bright yellow light.
Suddenly, six other flashes of light filled the other six items, and they began to glow as well. The pharaoh took one last look at his friend before he was sucked into the puzzle. Tears filled Yumiko's eyes as the realization hit her; her friend was gone, forever.
The seven flashes of light sped towards the cause of all the trouble, with amazing speed. The tormentor looked up from his gloating, only to see seven beams of light hit him with full force. He, and all of his shadow creatures were gone, banished from the known realm forever.
~*~*~*~*~
The voice spoke again, "I can tell by the look on your face that you remember me. Ha, you should, seeing as how I'm going to be the future ruler of all the world, as well as the moon!"
Yumiko stared hard at the portal, hot tears of anger flowing from her eyes, as she loudly said, "You will never rule, NEVER! Yugioh did not die in vain, his legacy lives on, and I will stop you!"
The voice just laughed in her face. "You can't stop me! You're just some figurehead princess that the pharaoh never cared for! You think you were his friend? He never had friends! You were just a part of a grand master plan Yugioh had to take over the world himself! I just beat him to it…"
Yumiko stared at the portal, openmouthed. "How dare you insult the pharaoh in that matter!"
The voice just smirked and said, "Do you want to see your precious pharaoh again?"
The princess stared in shock. "You know where he is? No, it can't be, he's been dead for millennia! Stop messing with my head!" The voice knew he had her in his trap now. Anything he told her would lead the pharaoh right to him. It was all coming together.
"I'll make a deal with you, princess. You go and find him for me, and I'll leave the world alone. Deal?" The princess was unsure. Nothing would maker her happier that to see her friend again, but to put the world in danger? Could she do it? And still see Yugioh again? Or was he even alive still? Yumiko was so confused.
"I…I…," the princess stammered. She thought quickly. If he was still alive, then he could help save the world. If he wasn't…the world would then be in the hands of the enemy. She didn't have much of a choice. "I will find him for you. What do I have to do?"
"First, you have to give up your soul to me." Yumiko was scared. Never had she had to go through such things. "O…kay," she managed to stammer. Then a blinding flash of purple light filled the room, and Yumiko's body slumped to the ground. She was now a spirit, floating in front of the portal.
"Oh," the voice started, "while you're like this, you slowly start to lose your life energy, this ensures that you don't take too long." Yumiko felt that very slowly, she began to lose her energy.
"What are you waiting for? GO, NOW!" the voice screamed. Yumiko quickly floated out of the tomb, not sure of where she was going, or how she was going to find her supposedly dead friend. Tears welled in her eyes, as she flew northeast, searching for a sign that Yugioh was alive.
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BG: This is a shot at a somewhat serious story here. Please review if you think that I should continue this. ^_^