*~*Disclaimer!*~* You guys know the drill by now, so I'm not going to go through it again. I feel a bit crappy right now, so excuse me if my fic sux right now...
*~*~*~*~*3003 BC, the Tribunal Hall*~*~*~*~*
The crimson blood ran down her slashed palms as the Queen of Egypt joined hands with the young guard Demona, creating a seal of mystical energies to send Midnight's soul into the heart pendant clasped around her neck.
"Isis, Mother Goddess... aid us in our plight. Send this soul from the realm of the dead into this object, so she may live to see another day..." murmured Demona, sprinkling jasmine petals across the body between them. AS the tiny flakes of flower hit, they began to shimmer, sparkle and shine a holy purple light, infusing into the dead woman's skin, and begging her spirit to return. From her heart, a swirling, shifting, gold, green and pink mist of twinkling stars began to appear, flitting and fluttering in the air like a crowd of fireflies. The bigger it got, the more it seemed to glow, until it reached about the size of a small area rug.
"Is... Is that..."
"Yes. It's Midnight's soul." Demona's canines flashed into a toothy grin, taking pleasure at seeing something as beautiful in spirit as it had been in life. Returning to the ritual, she continued chanting, "We pay our prices in blood, a holy sacrifice to cast the spirit of Midnight in her pendant, forever known as the Millennium Heart." grasping a handful of sage, she sprinkled this as well, except she did this over the pendant itself.
Like a thunderous whirlwind, the sage created a vacuum for the mystical spirit, drawing it closer and closer into the pendant until the spirit itself touched it. In moments, the spirit was gone, and a faint, gold, green and pinkish glow surrounded the charm like it was on fire.
"WOW." The Queen was, for once in her life, completely speechless. In a daze, she absently stroked the gleaming trinket, deep in thought. *Something so small, to have such power... the soul of my best friend...* Echoing in her mind was the memories she shared with Midnight, and, even as the walls fell around her and Demona, a parade of enraged Egyptian citizens crowded the small space and tore her dress, snatched at her jewels and drug her away, she still reminisced about the times long past her, and how one of the people she cared most of could be locked away, hidden in something so small.
*~*~*~*~*The Palace Dungeon*~*~*~*~*
"My Queen... Yamara..."
"Hmm?" Her head snapped up, as a puppet would have if their strings were pulled a certain way.
For the first time, she noticed the dim lighting, the dank stonewalls she was shackled to, and the cold, unrelenting floor she sat upon. The tattered remains of her dress had already seeped a puddle of water up, and the dirt from the building's ceiling had already dripped down her face with the moisture from above. The voice that addressed her was shackled as well, located on the opposite wall. Its owner was none other than Shadi, his cuffed ankle connected to Demona's.
"Shadi... Demona?"
The other woman stirred, lifting her fiery red hair to meet the queen's gaze. 'Your... Highness... we... we haven't much time..." Dried blood left a track of a ferocious beating down her left temple, her guard's clothes slashed to ribbons until only the fewest of private things were covered. Her eyes, usually bright auburn were dull and dark, the traces of an old soul welling up from within.
*She looks so... old. Haggard.* Thought Yamara, her heart feeling as though it would burst from within. Aloud, she addressed, "Demona... What?"
It was Shadi who spoke in response. "My Queen, the citizens of Egypt have taken over the castle, angered at us for supposedly displeasing the gods. High Priest Seto is believed to have helped in the impending chaos."
"SETO..." she hissed, spitting that name out with hatred, like it was the filthiest word she ever heard. "The black-hearted traitor!!!!! I'll..."
"You'll WHAT Yamara?" Demona's voice was sharp and crisp. "You have no power anymore, my queen. You would do nothing, because there is nothing that could BE done."
Yamara sighed, frustrated. "I KNEW that snake in the sand was nothing more than a coward..." she clenched a shackled hand into a fist.
Demona sighed tiredly. "That is not what threatens us now, my queen."
"What...?"
"The people are planning to please the gods with a sacrifice. The highest and noblest woman should serve their purposes..."
"Me... They want me to be the sacrifice and kill me to please the gods?" Her eyes widened, horrified.
"Yes, and if we don't... act quickly..." the redhead's eyes flickered, blinking rapidly to try and counteract the nagging exhaustion she felt.
Shadi finished for her. "If we don't act now, they will take you away, and there will be nothing left to save. If we act now, we may have a way to save Egypt."
"H-how?"
"By... casting your soul... into an item, like... Midnight..."
"H-how? You don't even have the ingredients!"
The other woman coughed, and spat out blood. "I... I am dying Yamara. I don't... have long to live, but you and Shadi must live on. If... If I used my power to... help..."
"Demona," Said Shadi softly, his raven black hair shifting from side to side. "No, I won't let you use the last of your gifts in a foolish attempt to save us both!" Cracking his knuckles, he tried and succeeded in standing, gathering his strength into a fighting stance. "I will protect you both before they come! They'll take ME INSTEAD!!!"
"No! Shadi no! You shouldn't! They... they want me." The midnight black-haired woman turned to her feminine friend, sadness overlooking in her eyes. "And they shall have my body... but my soul will be free... Demona, I... I will do it."
Suddenly, a loud clanking was heard, keys rattling in the door lock as five of Egypt's citizens thrusted themselves into the small cell, three gripping Shadi and holding him back as he kicked and screamed. The other two tightly gripped Yamara rather roughly; their sneering faces and blackened teeth sickening her stomach.
"NO! NO! STOP! STOP! YAMARA!!!!!!!!!!!" Shadi's voice carried throughout the halls, echoing in every chamber of every room. Forced to walk, Yamara feared this would be her last steps of life, tears streaming down her face. *Good-bye, everyone. Yami, my love... I pray to the gods that you are well, and that I will see your face among the ranks of the Afterlife...*
*~*~*~*~*Back in the Cell*~*~*~*~*
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! The bars held tight as Shadi gripped them tightly, pushing and pulling on them with all his might. "Curse the people who dare kill her!!!! No one should lay a hand on her!!!!!!"
"Sha-Shadi..."
"Demona?"
"I... I have a plan. Here, take... my hand..."
*I hope this works...* She thought, her thoughts becoming dim and hazy. *I hope... I have... enough power...*
Grasping the young man's hand, bloodied from punching the bars as well as from shaking them, her other hand clasped the armlet Yamara had secretly dropped, the same one Yami had given her for their honeymoon. *A sentimental gift...* Thought the fiery red-haired woman, smiling slightly. *I just hope... this works and her soul may... be bound to it...* She began to pray, "Isis, Mother Goddess... aid us in our plight..."
*~*~*~*~*The Executioner's Block*~*~*~*~*
The chanting of the monks and the fellow village people kept her calm and honor bound, her head held high as her eyes shone with fearlessness. *If they want to kill me, then I'll do it as a queen, not a lowly criminal.* She reasoned.
A sharp kick to the back of her knees brought her down to the ground, her head placed rudely across a rounded area of a board. A hard, padlocked top fitted snuggly the rest of the way around her neck; the clicking of the lock signaling its hold was tight. Glancing up at the hooded man to her left, she spoke, addressing her people as a whole. "You disgrace the gods for not seeing clearly. I pity your souls, for Sobek shall rip through your souls as they cry out in pain over your sin."
"Enough!!!!" Snapped the executioner, his voice crisp, sharp... and slightly familiar. "You have angered the gods, so I dispatch of your life!!!! FAREWELL YAMARA!!!!!" With that being said, the axe he held drew back above his head to the middle of his back, and was brought down with enough force to shatter the former Queen's neck bones.
His job done, it only seemed fitting to remove his hood. Wiping the axe blade on a cleaning cloth, his rough hand drew back the hood, and sneered at his victim with cold, chocolate brown eyes, his silver white hair falling across his face.
*~*~*~*~*3003 BC, the Tribunal Hall*~*~*~*~*
The crimson blood ran down her slashed palms as the Queen of Egypt joined hands with the young guard Demona, creating a seal of mystical energies to send Midnight's soul into the heart pendant clasped around her neck.
"Isis, Mother Goddess... aid us in our plight. Send this soul from the realm of the dead into this object, so she may live to see another day..." murmured Demona, sprinkling jasmine petals across the body between them. AS the tiny flakes of flower hit, they began to shimmer, sparkle and shine a holy purple light, infusing into the dead woman's skin, and begging her spirit to return. From her heart, a swirling, shifting, gold, green and pink mist of twinkling stars began to appear, flitting and fluttering in the air like a crowd of fireflies. The bigger it got, the more it seemed to glow, until it reached about the size of a small area rug.
"Is... Is that..."
"Yes. It's Midnight's soul." Demona's canines flashed into a toothy grin, taking pleasure at seeing something as beautiful in spirit as it had been in life. Returning to the ritual, she continued chanting, "We pay our prices in blood, a holy sacrifice to cast the spirit of Midnight in her pendant, forever known as the Millennium Heart." grasping a handful of sage, she sprinkled this as well, except she did this over the pendant itself.
Like a thunderous whirlwind, the sage created a vacuum for the mystical spirit, drawing it closer and closer into the pendant until the spirit itself touched it. In moments, the spirit was gone, and a faint, gold, green and pinkish glow surrounded the charm like it was on fire.
"WOW." The Queen was, for once in her life, completely speechless. In a daze, she absently stroked the gleaming trinket, deep in thought. *Something so small, to have such power... the soul of my best friend...* Echoing in her mind was the memories she shared with Midnight, and, even as the walls fell around her and Demona, a parade of enraged Egyptian citizens crowded the small space and tore her dress, snatched at her jewels and drug her away, she still reminisced about the times long past her, and how one of the people she cared most of could be locked away, hidden in something so small.
*~*~*~*~*The Palace Dungeon*~*~*~*~*
"My Queen... Yamara..."
"Hmm?" Her head snapped up, as a puppet would have if their strings were pulled a certain way.
For the first time, she noticed the dim lighting, the dank stonewalls she was shackled to, and the cold, unrelenting floor she sat upon. The tattered remains of her dress had already seeped a puddle of water up, and the dirt from the building's ceiling had already dripped down her face with the moisture from above. The voice that addressed her was shackled as well, located on the opposite wall. Its owner was none other than Shadi, his cuffed ankle connected to Demona's.
"Shadi... Demona?"
The other woman stirred, lifting her fiery red hair to meet the queen's gaze. 'Your... Highness... we... we haven't much time..." Dried blood left a track of a ferocious beating down her left temple, her guard's clothes slashed to ribbons until only the fewest of private things were covered. Her eyes, usually bright auburn were dull and dark, the traces of an old soul welling up from within.
*She looks so... old. Haggard.* Thought Yamara, her heart feeling as though it would burst from within. Aloud, she addressed, "Demona... What?"
It was Shadi who spoke in response. "My Queen, the citizens of Egypt have taken over the castle, angered at us for supposedly displeasing the gods. High Priest Seto is believed to have helped in the impending chaos."
"SETO..." she hissed, spitting that name out with hatred, like it was the filthiest word she ever heard. "The black-hearted traitor!!!!! I'll..."
"You'll WHAT Yamara?" Demona's voice was sharp and crisp. "You have no power anymore, my queen. You would do nothing, because there is nothing that could BE done."
Yamara sighed, frustrated. "I KNEW that snake in the sand was nothing more than a coward..." she clenched a shackled hand into a fist.
Demona sighed tiredly. "That is not what threatens us now, my queen."
"What...?"
"The people are planning to please the gods with a sacrifice. The highest and noblest woman should serve their purposes..."
"Me... They want me to be the sacrifice and kill me to please the gods?" Her eyes widened, horrified.
"Yes, and if we don't... act quickly..." the redhead's eyes flickered, blinking rapidly to try and counteract the nagging exhaustion she felt.
Shadi finished for her. "If we don't act now, they will take you away, and there will be nothing left to save. If we act now, we may have a way to save Egypt."
"H-how?"
"By... casting your soul... into an item, like... Midnight..."
"H-how? You don't even have the ingredients!"
The other woman coughed, and spat out blood. "I... I am dying Yamara. I don't... have long to live, but you and Shadi must live on. If... If I used my power to... help..."
"Demona," Said Shadi softly, his raven black hair shifting from side to side. "No, I won't let you use the last of your gifts in a foolish attempt to save us both!" Cracking his knuckles, he tried and succeeded in standing, gathering his strength into a fighting stance. "I will protect you both before they come! They'll take ME INSTEAD!!!"
"No! Shadi no! You shouldn't! They... they want me." The midnight black-haired woman turned to her feminine friend, sadness overlooking in her eyes. "And they shall have my body... but my soul will be free... Demona, I... I will do it."
Suddenly, a loud clanking was heard, keys rattling in the door lock as five of Egypt's citizens thrusted themselves into the small cell, three gripping Shadi and holding him back as he kicked and screamed. The other two tightly gripped Yamara rather roughly; their sneering faces and blackened teeth sickening her stomach.
"NO! NO! STOP! STOP! YAMARA!!!!!!!!!!!" Shadi's voice carried throughout the halls, echoing in every chamber of every room. Forced to walk, Yamara feared this would be her last steps of life, tears streaming down her face. *Good-bye, everyone. Yami, my love... I pray to the gods that you are well, and that I will see your face among the ranks of the Afterlife...*
*~*~*~*~*Back in the Cell*~*~*~*~*
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! The bars held tight as Shadi gripped them tightly, pushing and pulling on them with all his might. "Curse the people who dare kill her!!!! No one should lay a hand on her!!!!!!"
"Sha-Shadi..."
"Demona?"
"I... I have a plan. Here, take... my hand..."
*I hope this works...* She thought, her thoughts becoming dim and hazy. *I hope... I have... enough power...*
Grasping the young man's hand, bloodied from punching the bars as well as from shaking them, her other hand clasped the armlet Yamara had secretly dropped, the same one Yami had given her for their honeymoon. *A sentimental gift...* Thought the fiery red-haired woman, smiling slightly. *I just hope... this works and her soul may... be bound to it...* She began to pray, "Isis, Mother Goddess... aid us in our plight..."
*~*~*~*~*The Executioner's Block*~*~*~*~*
The chanting of the monks and the fellow village people kept her calm and honor bound, her head held high as her eyes shone with fearlessness. *If they want to kill me, then I'll do it as a queen, not a lowly criminal.* She reasoned.
A sharp kick to the back of her knees brought her down to the ground, her head placed rudely across a rounded area of a board. A hard, padlocked top fitted snuggly the rest of the way around her neck; the clicking of the lock signaling its hold was tight. Glancing up at the hooded man to her left, she spoke, addressing her people as a whole. "You disgrace the gods for not seeing clearly. I pity your souls, for Sobek shall rip through your souls as they cry out in pain over your sin."
"Enough!!!!" Snapped the executioner, his voice crisp, sharp... and slightly familiar. "You have angered the gods, so I dispatch of your life!!!! FAREWELL YAMARA!!!!!" With that being said, the axe he held drew back above his head to the middle of his back, and was brought down with enough force to shatter the former Queen's neck bones.
His job done, it only seemed fitting to remove his hood. Wiping the axe blade on a cleaning cloth, his rough hand drew back the hood, and sneered at his victim with cold, chocolate brown eyes, his silver white hair falling across his face.