Attara: Hello again!

Aria: What happens to me next?

Attara: You'll see… Last time we left off where Aria got married to the pharaoh, and her leg was injured from an animal, or something.

Victorious Decisions

For many days I stayed in my chambers from the injury. As I felt the pain depart my leg, I found that Yami had a sister named Saka. She was often jealous of her brother since he inherited the throne by being a boy and older, but she never paid any attention to me. There was another person in the royal temple that had stirred many memories that were stashed away in my mind. I found Hiko as Yami's advisor to the throne. But Ryou was right; he didn't remember me at all. This was a great opportunity to start afresh, right? So we became friends, nothing more.

One day, Priest Hiko had brought in a white-haired man…with pale skin…a foreigner. Could it be?

"My queen, this man has been caught in the pyramids, robbing the tombs of the great pharaohs of Egypt." Hiko informed.

"Ryou?" I questioned.

"Princess Aria?" Ryou answered

"That's Queen Aria." Hiko practically strangled Ryou.

I looked at Ryou thoughtfully. I had been told that Yami had left the decision up to me, since he knew that I was acquainted with Ryou. Robbing the tombs was a crime punishable by death… I didn't know what came over me.

"He shall be killed at sunrise." I ordered.

"As you wish, my queen." Hiko replied.

Ryou looked at me with wide eyes. I could see that he assumed I would go easy on him…boy was he uninformed of my royal decisions. His eyes then told me something that I had always puzzled over: it was he who had wiped away Hiko's memory of me. I had expected myself to be enraged by this confession, but hadn't even given it another thought, and waved my hand to dismiss the criminal.

This was my first ruling as the queen…and I was still injured. But I was always a strong girl, so why should it change now? I could feel my leg healing with some magic, so I decided to roam the castle, exploring what mysteries it could unfold. I came upon a library filled with many hieroglyphics concerning numerous strategies for the Shadow Game. I studied this daily, hoping to achieve a new level of mastery over my favorite past time. Finally I had studied until not even the most powerful duelists (that had no special rank in the hierarchy of Egypt) were easily defeated by my skills. It was time.

"Your majesty, would you do me the honor of dueling me?" I asked.

"Hmph. I was wondering when you'd ask that." Smirked the pharaoh.

"When would you like to duel?"

"Hmm…follow me."

He led me to a concealed passage from the temple. (The pharaoh was not of age to exit the premises of the temple.) I quickly wrapped a cloth around my face and watched Yami do the same. A desire to be free overwhelmed my soul and I bolted towards the direction of my Shadow Temple. Yami did not catch up for several minutes, but I didn't mind at all. It was good to be home, or at least somewhere near it.

"Aria, I have a question to ask you." Stated the pharaoh.

"What is it?"

"Why do the two legendary monsters obey your orders?"

"I don't know… They just do, I guess."

"It's a great responsibility to control them, Aria."

"I know, your majesty."

I heard piercing screams in the air. Of course, Yami had to try to be the hero of this panic attack. Someone had opened the Shadow Realm and unleashed a duel monster that was terrorizing the village. How stupid was that? Yami quickly thrust out his hand and something similar to a laser beam shot out of his palm. (Don't ask me why I described it with something that wasn't invented yet. But it's easier to relate to that way.) He then returned to the forest calmly.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"Look what I have here." Yami pointed to his medallion.

There was an item that had the eye of Horus. It was shaped like a pyramid and was made of pure gold.

"That's a millennium item!" I gasped.

"Yes it is." Answered the pharaoh.

"Is your soul really part of the item now?"

"Yes it is."

"Doesn't it mean that your soul is immortal?"

"Yes."

"How did you get it?"

"I was the one who created it to make sure that the most talented duelists would be able to come back and seal the monsters in their tablets once more if the creatures were to come out."

"If you have an item, you get powers? Isn't that a little farfetched?"

"Don't you know how the shadow game was created? A dark and cryptic man approached my father and gave him abilities from another realm. My father created this game as a source of entertainment, but the monsters went out of control. That is when I concealed all of them into tablets of stone in order to control these monsters."

"How interesting…What about our duel, your majesty?"

"Ah yes, let's start, shall we?"

We entered the temple and Yami's millennium puzzle transported us to the Shadow Realm, where Yami called for his Summoned Skull. I decided to send my Baby Dragon. He then summoned his Dark Magician. I knew that by using the Time Wizard, I could age my Baby Dragon, but his Dark Magician would become more powerful as well…but I had another plan.

"Go Summoned Skull, attack the Time Wizard!" Ordered Yami.

I had chanted a spell that caused a mirror to appear in front of my monster, so the Summoned Skull hit that instead, which caused Yami a lot of pain. I had a Dark Magician of my own, so I called for him and started the Time Roulette on the Time Wizard. It landed on a time machine once again, and a millennium passed in the realm. Now, not only did I have a Dark Sage, like Yami's, but I also had a Thousand-Year Dragon. I combined these monsters to form the Supreme Dark Dragon. This was a definite good head start for me, so why was Yami smiling? Surprisingly, he sent out a Blue Eyes White Dragon and combined that with his Dark Sage. He then chanted a spell that lowered the strength of my monster. He then attacked my Time Wizard, but I had a crush virus concealed that prevented Yami from using any monster that was stronger than the Mystic Clown. He tried to recover by using the Living Arrow to combine the Mammoth Graveyard with my Supreme Dark Dragon. My monster would get weaker every turn. I quickly de-spelled the Living Arrow, so the Mammoth Graveyard stayed separate from my monster. I then killed the Mammoth Graveyard, which accidentally brought the pharaoh to a state of unconsciousness.

"Oh no! Your majesty, wake up, please!" I panicked.

I opened my pouch and sprinkled some water onto the pharaoh's face and found leaves to protect the wounds. It seemed like days before he started to move. Finally, he opened his eyes in puzzlement.

"You improved greatly…" I said optimistically.

"How long has it been?" He asked while rubbing his head.

"About three hours." I answered with a quick glance toward the sun.

We hurried back to the temple. I didn't see Yami for an hour or so until he entered my chambers that night.

"I have something for you, my queen."

"Really?" I sat up quickly, impatient for the gift.

"Here…"

He took off the ring he had given me on the wedding day and put on another with the eye of Horus engraved on it. I felt powerful magic enter my essence of being.

"Do you feel that rush?" He asked.

"It's hard not to notice…" I felt a dizziness from the overwhelming power.

"It's from the mysterious man that had confronted my father."

"I have a power? What can I do?"

"It's different than any of the other abilities for the millennium items. My father had given this to me for the queen."

"And what is the power?"

"I am not sure."

"Really?"

"I know that it is the Ring of Anat. It has many powers from the other millennium items and many others that you shall discover on your own. Hmph…my father had wanted the queen to be powerful…in fact…he wanted to see the union…"

"I am truly sorry for your loss." I saddened with the thought of my father.

"Many burglaries have occurred in order to seize the powerful item. It would be much safer if it were to stay in trustworthy hands."

"Thank you, Yami."

"You realize that that was the first time you have said my name?"

"Yes."

I guess that's when it all started…